FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks picked up their first Friday victory of the season with a 3-2 triumph over the Bowling Green Falcons in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the Carlson Center. Freshman Colton Leiter scored the game-winning goal, sophomore goaltender Jesse Jenks made 21 saves and junior defenseman Nick Hinz registered two assists to help the Nooks earn three big conference points on Friday.
The win improves the Nanooks' overall record to 6-11-2 and 5-8-2-2 in WCHA play, while the Falcons drop to 8-11-2 overall, 7-7-1-0 in conference play. Prior to Friday's win, the Nooks were 0-7-1 on Friday nights, but post a 5-3-1 mark on Saturdays.
"It was a great win for our group tonight. I really liked how our guys stayed with the game plan for a full 60 minutes," head coach Dallas Ferguson said following Friday's win. "We had contributions from all parts of our lineup, it was a great team effort."
Senior forward Marcus Basara put the Nooks on the board first, scoring an even-strength goal at the 6:12 mark of the first period for his sixth goal of the season. Hinz was skating up-ice with the puck when he got tripped up in the neutral zone, before Basara swooped in to pick up where Hinz left off. Entering the Falcons' defensive zone, Basara fired a shot on net that got deflected by a BGSU defender's stick to make it 1-0. The goal extends Basara's current point-streak to three games.
Early into the second period, Bowling Green tied the game at a goal apiece when Mark Friedman scored a power play tally from the blueline at the 4:12 mark. Friedman was manning the top of BGSU's umbrella and fired a slapshot that found the back of the net, past a screened Jenks. Friedman's goal was assisted by Stephen Baylis and Alec Rauhauser.
Forty-four seconds later, the Nooks took back the lead when sophomore forward John Mullally cleaned up a rebound in front of Falcon goaltender Chris Nell to make it 2-1. Hinz broke up a play in the neutral zone that sent junior forward Tayler Munson into transition going the other way. Munson entered the BGSU zone wide and saw freshman forward Kylar Hope and Mullally crashing the net, firing a low shot on Nell from just outside the face-off dot. Hope occupied the other BGSU defender, while Mullally was able to pick up Munson's rebound for his second goal of the season. Hinz collected his second point of the night, while Munson picked up his first assist since Oct. 15 vs. Omaha.
At the 11:06 point of the second, Leiter netted an even-strength tally to make it a 3-1 game, while also registering his second game-winning goal of his career. The Nooks had pinned in the Falcons for a long shift, dominating puck-possession until freshman forward Tyler Cline tried a stuff-play on Nell, which popped out to Leiter behind the net. Leiter corralled the loose puck and was able to score on a wrap-around play for his fifth goal of the season. Cline and freshman defenseman Tristan Thompson were awarded the assists on Leiter's goal.
Within the final minute of play, Bowling Green scored with an extra attacker at the 19:54 mark to pull the Falcons to within one goal of the Nooks. BGSU's second goal of the night was scored by Lukas Craggs and assisted by Mitch McLain and Baylis.
Alaska was able to fend off their defender in Bowling Green's late push, improving their home record to 3-8-0. The Nooks outshot their opponent 29-23, as Nell made a game-high 25 saves on the night. Bowling Green was able to capitalize on the man-advantage, going 1-5 in power play opportunities, while the Nooks were held to 0-4.
The Nanooks will face the Bowling Green Falcons again tomorrow, Dec. 17 in another conference matchup at the Carlson Center. Puck-drop is slated for 7:07pm AKST.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page.
