Box Score FAIRBANKS-The Alaska Nanooks hockey team closed out exhibition play for the 2014-2015 season with a 3-1 win over the Western Ontario Mustangs at the Carlson Center Friday night. Sophomore right wing
Marcus Basara lit the lamp twice in the second period to earn top star honors in front of the 1,452 fans in attendance.
Senior left wing
Nolan Youngmun opened scoring. Youngmun took a feed from defenseman
Nolan Kaiser, and broke loose on a breakaway to bury the puck over the left shoulder of goalie Greg Dodds at 9:59 of the first period. Alaska led 1-0 after the first 20.
In the second period,
Josh Erickson found Basara on an odd man rush to put the home squad up 2-0. The winger from Port moody, British Columbia scored again just under ten minutes later. Junior
Nolan Huysmans put a heavy shot on goal, and Basara banged home the rebound for his second marker of the contest to make it a 3-0 Nanook lead. Freshman
Peter Krieger also assisted on the play.
Right Wing Kyle De Coste scored the lone Mustang goal, depositing the rebound of his own shot at 6:31 of the final stanza. Dodds finished the night with 38 saves for the visitors.
It was a team approach in net for the Nanooks each of Alaska's 3 goalies played a period.
Davis Jones got the start stopping each of the seven shots he faced in the first.
John Keeney was solid in the second, making nine saves, two of which came on mini-breakaways by the Mustangs. Keeney was credited with the win. Senior
Sean Cahill also made nine saves in 20 minutes of action.
"They didn't have a ton of shots, but the shots they faced were of high quality," Nanook head hockey coach
Dallas Ferguson said of his goaltenders. "I told the guys after the second period, you better thank your goalies. It's three nothing, but it could have easily been three-three with some of the quality chances that were given up.
With exhibition play in their rearview mirror, the Nanooks begin NCAA play next Friday evening in Anchorage. Alaska faces Wisconsin to open the 2014 Kendall Hockey Classis at the Sullivan Arena. Alaska plays Maine on Satuday in the tournament hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage.
