University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

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FAIRBANKS – Alaska will trek down to the Lower 48 to close out the calendar year with a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey road series at Bemidji State, Dec. 13-14.
 
The puck drops at 4:37 p.m. (AST) Friday and 4:07 p.m. (AST) Saturday from Sanford Center (4,373) in Bemidji, Minn. The game will be televised on KFXF Fox 7 Fairbanks with live coverage Friday and tape delayed to 8 p.m. (AST) on Saturday. The game can also be seen on WCHA TV and listened to on ESPN Radio 820 AM KCBF or online at 820sports.com.
 
The Nanooks (6-8-2, 3-7-0 WCHA) will look to build on their road split last weekend at Alaska Anchorage while the Beavers (5-8-5, 5-4-3 WCHA) will attempt to get off the theme of ties, with a pair of stalemates last weekend at Michigan Tech.
 
Last weekend, the 'Nooks went 1-1 at UAA with a 3-2 loss Friday, followed up by a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind win on Saturday to square the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup series.
 
UAA scored the game-winning goal 9:35 into the third period to take game one and game two appeared to being going the Seawolves' way until the Nanooks stormed back with three unanswered scores to earn two WCHA points.
 
Anchorage scored twice 33 seconds apart to grab a 4-2 advantage but Alaska responded with a Marcus Basara goal 49 seconds later to cut it to 4-3. Cody Kunyk changed the face of the game over the last eight minutes as he beat the entire UAA defense and goalie with an unreal move and dished it to Colton Beck for a wide-open goal. Kunyk put the nail in the coffin with 2:47 remaining as he took a centering pass from Basara out front and went top shelf for the game-winner.
 
Sean Cahill earned his first win of the season in net with a career-high 29 saves, many of which occurred while the Seawolves were on one of their eight power plays, including three 5-on-3 chances.
 
Kunyk moved into 22nd place on the program's all-time scoring list with his three points Saturday to up his total to 107 points (49-58—107). Beck and Basara both led the Nanooks with four points apiece as they had two goals and two assists each.
 
Among the WCHA leaders, Kunyk is tied for the league lead with 11 goals and is third with 17 points (11-6—17). Colton Parayko is also tied for third with 11 assists this season.
 
Scouting Bemidji State:
The Beavers enter this final WCHA weekend of 2013 with a 5-8-5 overall record and 5-4-3 mark in league play, which is good for third in the standings. BSU is 3-5-2 at home this year, including 3-2-1 at Sanford Center in WCHA play.
 
It is coming off a pair of road ties at Michigan Tech last weekend, with identical 2-2 scores.
Rookie goaltender Jesse Wilkins was selected the WCHA Rookie of the Week Tuesday after piling up 75 saves, a 1.85 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage in 130 minutes.
 
Cory Ward is tied for the league lead in goals with Kunyk with 11 scores this season. Markus Gerbrandt is tied for sixth in the WCHA with eight goals. Danny Matson has 11 assists, which is tied for third while Matt Prapavessis is tied for eighth with 10 helpers. Andrew Walsh ranks seventh with a .906 save percentage and ninth with a 2.89 goals against average. 
 
Important Links for this weekend's series:
Live Stats: BSUBeavers.com
Live Audio: ESPN Radio 820 AM KCBF
Live Video: America One Sports (WCHA TV)