William Rapuzzi's homecoming was a smashing success as he and Colorado College's special teams answered the bell and silenced the fog horn on Friday.

Rapuzzi struck for three of CC's four power-play goals, while Bill Sweatt and Mike Testwuide added shorthanded tallies, fueling the visiting Tigers to a 6-1 victory over the University of Alaska Anchorage in the opener of their two-game series at Sullivan Arena.

The triumph kept them in third place in the tight WCHA standings, with a 10-6-3 record in league play, and lifted them to within two points of front-running Minnesota Duluth, which dropped a 4-1 non-conference decision at Bemidji State. They're 14-8-3 overall.

Rapuzzi, an Anchorage native, scored in each period – twice on deflections and once on a rebound.  The freshman winger staked his team to a 1-0 lead when he tipped Gabe Guentzel's shot from the point past Seawolves goalie Jon Olthuis at 7:35 of the opening frame.

Testwuide, who also would cash in on a shorthanded breakaway early in the third stanza, completed a slam-bang passing play from defensemen Guentzel and Nate Prosser just 80 seconds after Rapuzzi's first red lighhter, beating Olthuis with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle for CC's second power-play goal and the eventual game winner.

Bill Sweatt logged his 100th career point with the Tigers down a man at 1:58 of the middle period, upping the count to 3-0 after taking a feed from Brian McMillin in the neutral zone, blazing past a stumbling Alaska Anchorage defender at the blue line and soloing in alone on Olthuis.

Joe Howe, who lost his shutout when UAA's Sean Wiles scored at 3:18 of the third period, finished with 23 saves as Colorado College out-shot the Seawolves, 26-24. Howe was one of eight Colorado College freshmen in the lineup, with rookie defenseman Joe Marciano logging his first career point on Rapuzzi's second goal.

Guentzel collected three assists, while Prosser and Ryan Lowery each had two.