University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

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Game Notes (Game #21, 1/10/14)
 
FAIRBANKS – Alaska begins its annual two-week road trip this weekend, Jan. 10-11, when it plays a pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association games at Bowling Green in Bowling Green, Ohio.
 
The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. EST on Friday and Saturday from the BGSU Ice Arena (5,000). Both games can be seen on WCHA TV and listened to on ESPN Radio 820 AM KCBF or online at 820sports.com. Saturday's game will be televised on KFXF Fox 7 Fairbanks on a tape delay, immediately following Fox's NFL coverage of the New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks NFC Divisional playoff game.
 
The Nanooks (8-9-3, 5-8-1 WCHA) will look to reinvent last year's success with the annual four-game January road trip as they went 4-0-0 in last year's trek at Notre Dame and Michigan. They will face Northern Michigan in Marquette, Mich., next week. The Falcons (11-9-4, 8-6-2 WCHA) open up a six-game homestand and have won three games in a row entering the series.
 
Last year, Alaska went 0-1-1 against BGSU with a 3-2 loss and 3-3 tie (1-0 SOW) in Fairbanks in both teams' final year as members of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Nanooks control the all-time series with a 25-22-6, including an 11-11-3 mark in Bowling Green.
 
Last weekend, Alaska split its home series with WCHA preseason favorite Minnesota State, taking a 4-2 victory Friday before falling 6-4 in Saturday's finale. Senior left wing Colton Beck (Langley, British Columbia/Business Administration) was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after leading the team with five points (2-3—5) to go with a +2 plus/minus rating. He accumulated all three of his Friday points in the third period in which he tallied the game-winning goal and assisted on two other scores.
 
Sophomore center Tyler Morley (Burnaby, British Columbia/Business Administration) had four points (2-2—4), including a career-best three points in Friday's win where he had his first multi-goal game. Junior defenseman Trevor Campbell (Kansas, City, Mo./Mechanical Engineering) had his first three-point game on Saturday as well with a goal and two helpers in Alaska's loss.
 
Senior center Cody Kunyk (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Business Administration) scored his 50th career goal Friday as he tapped in an empty-net goal in the closing moments of regulation and also moved into 20th on the program's all-time scoring list after accruing three points in that game, all in the third period with a pair of assists to go with his one goal.
 
Rookie goaltender Davis Jones (St. Albert, Alberta/Business Administration) went 1-1 on the weekend between the pipes and picked up the win Friday after making a career-high 37 saves before stopping 27 shots in Saturday's loss.
 
Among the WCHA leaders, Kunyk is tied for first in both points (22) and goals (12) while senior defenseman Michael Quinn (Surrey, British Columbia/Geography) moved up to a tie for third in the assist category (12). He is also tied with sophomore defenseman Colton Parayko (St. Albert, Alberta/Business Administration) for fifth among defenseman scoring with 13 points. Freshman right wing Marcus Basara (Port Moody, British Columbia/Business Administration) is also tied for third out of the rookie class with 14 points.
 
Scouting Bowling Green:
The Falcons open up a six-game homestand this weekend as they bring in an 11-9-4 overall record and sit third in the WCHA standings at 8-6-2.
 
They are coming off a pair of wins (7-0, 4-1) at Alabama Huntsville and have won three in a row entering the series. BGSU is 6-2-1 on home ice this season and is its first home game since Dec. 7, when it handed UAH its only win of a season -- 4-3 in OT.
 
Bowling Green is third in scoring this season in the WCHA with 3.12 goals per game and rank fourth in scoring defense, allowing 2.54 goals per game. Dan DeSalvo is tied with Kunyk for the league lead in scoring (6-16--22) while Bryce Williamson is tied for fifth in points (9-11--20).
 
DeSalvo and Ralfs Freibergs both lead the conference with 16 and 15 assists, respectively. Freibergs is also the leading point scorer (1-15--16) by a defenseman in the WCHA.
Tommy Burke is 8-2-4 this season with a 2.30 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
 
Important Links for this weekend's series:
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com
Live Audio: ESPN Radio 820 AM KCBF
Live Video: America One Sports (WCHA TV)