Big Rapids, Mich. – Freshman goaltender Jesse Jenks made a career-high 36 saves to give the Alaska Nanooks hockey team one point in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings, as the Nanooks skated to a hard-fought 2-2 tie against Ferris State University at the Ewigleben Ice Arena on Friday night. The tie marks Alaska's first of the season and advances the Nanooks to 4-6-1 overall (2-4-1 WCHA), while Ferris State will move to 5-5-3 overall (4-4-1 WCHA).

"Tonight was a great college hockey game," Head Coach Dallas Ferguson explained of the night. "The pace was high and both teams created lots of plays at the net. We moved pucks out of our zone effectively and that allowed us to generate more time in the offensive zone."

It was a dual between freshmen goaltenders tonight, as Jenks and Ferris State's Darren Smith each made 36 saves. Jenks remains unbeaten between the pipes, as the Crofton, British Columbia native made his third career start for the Nanooks and improves his career record to 2-0-1.

It was an evenly matched game through the end, as both Alaska and Ferris State put 38 shots on goal. The Nanooks outshot the Bulldogs in the overtime, as well as the first and second periods. After a rough start to the season in penalty killing, the Nanooks were perfect against the Bulldogs Friday, going 5-for-5 on the kill.

Ferris State put themselves on the board first, when senior forward Sean O'Rourke fought off a Nanook defender and deflected a shot past Jenks at 14:44 in the first period. Senior defenseman Zac Tierney was looking to put the puck on net from the blue line when he was awarded the assist. The secondary assist was given to junior defenseman Ryan Lowney.

However, Alaska answered three minutes later, when senior forward Alec Hajdukovich put the Nanooks on the board at the 17:43 mark late in the first period. Sophomore defenseman Zach Frye picked up his eighth assist on the season, after the Spokane, Washington native ripped a slapshot on net, with junior forward Josh Erickson tying up a Ferris State defenseman in front of the net. Erickson's screen seemed to have helped Hajdukovich, who had no trouble picking up the rebound in front of a scrambling Smith before going backhand top-shelf to tie it up 1-1.

The Bulldogs went back on top 2-1, starting at the 1:36 mark of the second period, when freshman forward Corey Mackin went on a lone breakaway and beat Jenks blocker side. Sophomore forward Tyler Andrew and Tierney assisted on Mackin's fifth goal this season.

Alaska fought back to tie the game once more ten minutes later, when Josh Atkinson put the Nanooks back on the board at the 11:44 mark of the second period. Atkinson scored his first goal of the season by firing the puck on net with traffic in front, just inside the Ferris State blueline in a 4-on-4 situation. Junior forward Brandon Morley collects his seventh point of the season on the assist, while sophomore defenseman Nick Hinz receives his second assist of the year.

"Our penalty kill did a great job in the third period, we worked well as units and that kept them off the board. I'm proud of our penalty kill tonight," Ferguson said.

The Nanooks killed a three minute penalty to keep the third period scoreless and was faced with another penalty kill in overtime. Alaska's gritty defense completely laid out in front of Jenks, blocking shot after shot to keep the game tied at two.

Alaska and Ferris State will face off again tomorrow at the Ewigleben Ice Arena at 3:07pm AST. For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks Hockey on Facebook.