Box Score FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks utilized three goals in a huge second period to defeat the No. 19 nationally ranked Northern Michigan Wildcats, 3-0, on Friday night at the Carlson Center.
Tyler Morley, Marcus Basara and Colton Parayko all scored in the second period, and Davis Jones stopped all 18 shots he faced in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory.
The game got off to a sluggish start, with neither team able to find a groove offensively. The first period ended 0-0, with Alaska (7-6-0, 2-5-0 WCHA) forcing Mathias Dahlstrom into 11 saves and holding the Wildcats (7-3-1, 4-3-1) to just four shots in the frame. In fact, Northern Michigan only mustered two shots on target for the vast majority of the period, and only adding two more in the closing stages.
Alaska wasted no time upping the tempo in the second, however, as Tyler Morley slammed home a rebound after Kyle Froese's effort was deflected off Dahlstrom right to the stick of the assistant captain. The Nanooks would tally two more on the power play late in the period, to cap off a stunning three-goal effort that left Northern Michigan deflated. First, Marcus Basara scored his seventh goal of the season as he finished off a slick passing play from Trevor Campbell and T. Morley. Campbell fed Morely beneth the circles before Morley fired a centering pass which Basara was able to hammer into the net. Then, with just 8.6 seconds left in the period, Parayko fired a blast from the point into after an effort from T. Morley came inches away from going in.
The third period saw similar action to the first period, and though Northern Michigan did have more efforts on goal (8), Jones was able to turn every one aside in earning his fourth win of the campaign.
Alaska hosts the Wildcats again tomorrow night, at 7:07 p.m. looking to earn its first conference series sweep of the season.
