ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team snapped a seven game winless streak Friday night, as the Nanooks defeated the University of Alaska Anchorage 2-1 in game one of the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup at the Sullivan Arena. Friday's victory marks the first road win for the Nanooks since defeating the Bemidji State Beavers on Nov. 13. Alaska improves to a 5-10-2 overall record and a 3-8-2 record in Western Collegiate Hockey Association contests, while the Seawolves drop to 8-7-2 overall (5-5-2 WCHA).

"Tonight was a great college hockey game," head coach Dallas Ferguson explained. "The pace was high and both teams created quality offensive chances. It feels good to get a win because we really needed those two points. Our entire team was committed to the game plan, which makes the coaching staff very happy."

Senior forward Alec Hajdukovich scored the game winning goal for the Nanooks, with junior forward Marcus Basara netting the first goal of the game. Alaska edged the Seawolves in shots on goal 27-26, while the Nanooks were backed by an incredible performance, once again, from freshman goaltender Jesse Jenks. Jenks made 25 saves on the night, stoning the Seawolves from multiple odd-man rushes and second chance opportunities. At the other end of the rink, UAA's sophomore goaltender Olivier Mantha also made 25 saves.  

After a tight first period, the game seemed like it could go either way, with Alaska possessing the puck for the majority of the period but the Seawolves kept flying their own defensive zone, which caused the Nanooks' defense to spread out, creating some offensive opportunities UAA. The Seawolves took three penalties in the first period and, although the Alaska power play looked much better than in previous weekends, the Nanooks weren't able to capitalize on the man-advantage.

Basara put the Nanooks on the board first, scoring at the 3:25 mark of the second period to put the Nanooks up 1-0. After putting on extensive pressure on the forecheck, the Nanooks were able to start cycling the puck in the offensive zone. Junior forward Josh Erickson chipped the puck up to sophomore defenseman Zach Frye up at the blue line, before Frye fired a slapshot on goal where Basara was battling a Seawolf defenseman on the screen. Basara was able to fight off the UAA defender to slide it past Mantha for his fourth goal of the season (six points), while Frye continues to make a difference to the Nanooks offense marking his 10th assist this season and Erickson's second.

Alaska-Anchorage tied things up five minutes later (8:24), when freshman forward Alex Jackstadt exited the penalty box and flew up the ice on a breakaway. Nanook sophomore defenseman Justin Woods was able to make contact with Jackstadt but the Seawolf had enough of a step on Woods for the officials to call a penalty shot. Jackstadt was able to put it behind Jenks on the penalty shot, tying it up 1-1 in the second period.

At the 5:22 mark of the third period, freshman forward John Mullally received the puck down low in the Seawolf zone before making a heads-up play to create time and space for himself below the goal line. After realizing that no one was pressuring him, Mullally walked to the net where Erickson was tying up a UAA defender. Mullally waited for Mantha to go down into the butterfly before trying to upstairs, but Mantha was able to make the initial save before giving up a crucial rebound that Hajdukovich was able to clean up. Hajdukovich's game winner is his third goal of the season (six point) and Mullally's third assist (four points).

In fitting Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup form, two of the three goals from Friday's game were scored by Alaskans, as Jackstadt hails from Anchorage and Hajdukovich was born and raised in Fairbanks.
  
"Both of tonight's goals were scored how we expected them to be scored," Ferguson explained. "We've been trying to reiterate the importance of burying rebounds and battling in front to get sticks on the puck. The game winner came from a great shift by our fourth line. We need everyone adding value to our game and tonight we had that."

Game two of the Alaska Airlines' Governor's Cup is slated for Saturday, Dec. 12 at the Sullivan Arena with puck drop at 7:07 AST. Reminder that the game will be shown live on Fox 7 in Fairbanks, with coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m.

"Tonight we want to feel good about our effort, but we know we need to reset and prepare to dig deeper tomorrow. If we want the same results as tonight, we need to come back better tomorrow," Ferguson concluded.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team on Facebook.