FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Despite a game-high 26 save effort from sophomore goaltender Jesse Jenks, the Alaska Nanooks fell victim to a four-goal third period by the Bemidji State Beavers on Friday night, eventually falling 6-2 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the Carlson Center. The Nanooks' overall record drops to 3-6-0 and 2-3-0 in conference play, while the Beavers improve to 7-2-0 and remain undefeated (7-0-0) in WCHA matchups.

Jenks received his third-straight start on Friday night, collecting double-digit saves in both the first and second period. Jenks' counterpart Michael Bitzer of BSU posted 16 saves on the night.

The Nooks saw offensive contributions from two rookies, as freshman forward Colton Leiter tallied his second goal of the season, while freshman defenseman James LaDouce registered his first collegiate point with a goal.

Bemidji's Charlie O'Connor struck first in Friday's game, scoring an even-strength goal at the 13:33 mark of the first period. O'Connor tipped in a shot from the point, with assists awarded to Dillon Eichstadt.

The Nooks responded soon after, when a broken-up breakout from the Beavers left the puck unattended in the neutral zone. LaDouce had just stepped onto the ice when he was able to corral the puck and skate it in. LaDouce looked to pass the puck to his teammate, who was crashing the net backdoor, and caught Bitzer cheating off the post. LaDouce fired a wrist-shot upstairs short-side to tie the game at one apiece.

Bemidji's Kyle Bauman scored the only goal in the second period, picking up the puck in transition and shooting five-hole to give the Beavers a 2-1 lead at the 4:41 mark.

Bemidji's Phillip Marinaccio score 1:02 into the third period off of a backhand shot at the Face-off dot in the Nanooks defensive zone to extend the lead to 3-1. Four minutes later (5:23), Gerry Fitzgerald got on the board with a one-timer on the power play for a 4-1 lead. Ftizgerald scored once more in the exact same fashion at the 8:03 mark, posting his second power play goal of the night on the 5-on-3 advantage to make it 5-1. Fifty-seven seconds later, Bauman scored his second goal of the night off of a wrist shot in the slot to extend the lead 6-1.

At the 16:54 mark in the third period, Leiter scored his first power play goal of his career to cut the Beavers lead to 6-2. The Nooks were moving the puck along the perimeter of the power play when freshman defenseman Tristan Thompson kicked the puck across the blue line to his partner Zach Frye. Frye shot the puck on net, when Bitzer's rebound went off of Leiter, who was battling a Beaver defenseman backdoor.

The Alaska Nanooks hockey team remains in sixth place in the WCHA standings with six points, while the Beavers remain seated in the number one spot.

The Nooks will look for redemption tomorrow (Nov. 5), as they host the Beavers in another WCHA contest, with puck-drop slated for 7:07pm AKT. Alaska currently holds a 3-1 record in Saturday games.

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