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Box Score]
BOWLING GREEN, OH - It was a rough night on the road for the No. 9 Alaska Nanooks, who suffered a 3-1 upset at the hands of the Bowling Green Falcons Friday night at the BGSU Ice Arena. Alaska, which outshot the hosts 25-17 but was held scoreless in five man-advantage opportunities, moves to 6-2-1 overall and 3-2-0-0 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
Hungry for their first win of the season, the Falcons set the tone early and forced the Nanooks to try to keep pace with them most of the night. Jordan Samuels-Thomas beat Alaska's sophomore goalie
Scott Greenham at 2:47 of the opening stanza to gain the early advantage for the host Falcons. The Nanooks earned a power play chance two minutes later but was incapable of getting set up and did not manage a single shot. At 14:35, BGSU's Brian Peltoma was whistled for hooking, but Alaska could only muster two shots without reaching the result that they were seeking.
Although they trailed by a goal after the intermission, the break appeared to give Alaska time to refocus their energy and efforts. Their answer to the Falcon's tally came off the stick of sophomore defenseman
Scott Enders (Edmonton, AB). Rookie winger
Nik Yaremchuk (St. Albert, AB) tallied the lone assist on the equalizing marker.
The rest of the period was controlled by the Falcons as the Nanooks, who have been one of the least penalized teams in the CCHA this season, assessed three more infractions before the period was over. Alaska held BGSU to just two shots while on the penalty-kill, however, the short handed minutes added up to longer shifts for several Nanooks and gave the home team a boost that eventually paid dividends. The Falcon's Josh Boyd beat an Alaska defender and Greenham high on his gloveside to make it 2-1 at the 12:46 mark and the Nanooks were unable to respond.
Looking to knot the score a second time, Alaska turned up their offensive pressure. Unfortunately for the Nanooks, BGSU's netminder Nick Eno was solid between the pipes and did not surrender another goal to the visitors. Compounding the frustration, back-to-back Nanook penalties set the Falcons up for their third lamp-lighter of the contest at 10:06 of the third period, when Tommy Dee cashed in on the 5-on-3 power-play opportunity.
Trialing by a pair of goals with the clock ticking down, Alaska pulled Greenham in favor of the extra attacker but could not solve the stingy Falcon goalie. For BGSU, the upset snapped an eight-game winless streak and proved their first win of the season and first three-point win in the CCHA.
Both teams return to action Saturday at 3:35 p.m. AKT. The game will be televised live in Fairbanks on KFXF Fox 7 at 3:35 p.m. AKT. Live internet video, audio and statistics can be found in the multi-media section of alaskananooks.com.
