Men's Ice Hockey | 1/19/2017 12:00:00 PM

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team continues their two-week Western Collegiate Hockey Road trip this weekend, taking on the Bowling Green Falcons in a two-game series at the Slater Family Ice Arena this Friday, Jan. 20 and Saturday, Jan. 21. Puck-drop is scheduled for 3:07pm AKST.

LAST TIME OUT
The Nooks earned a five WCHA points on the road last weekend, tying the Ferris State Bulldogs 3-3 in overtime on Friday before defeating the 'Dogs in overtime 2-1 on Saturday. Junior forward Austin Vieth scored in double overtime on Friday to give Alaska the extra conference point.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bowling Green Falcons hold a narrow 27-26-8 all-time advantage over Alaska, with their first meeting coming as a 6-4 loss for the Nanooks on Dec. 27, 1987. The matchup will be the third and fourth meeting for the Falcons and the Nanooks this season, as both teams split in Fairbanks only a couple of weeks ago on Dec. 16-17. Alaska earned their first Friday-night victory in a 3-2 battle on Dec. 16 before falling 6-3 on Saturday, Dec. 17.

WCHA STANDINGS
After the five-point weekend in Big Rapids, Alaska slides into fifth place in the conference standings with 24 points. The Nooks' weekend opponent, Bowling Green, currently sits in fourth place in the league standings with 32 points. Fifth through eighth place, which features Alaska (25), Ferris State (24), Alabama Huntsville (24) and Lake Superior State (24), are all separated by only two points.

DAVIS NAMED WCHA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior goaltender Davis Jones was awarded the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week honor on Wednesday for his performance against the Bulldogs last weekend. Jones backstopped Alaska in both games, collecting a league-high 81 saves in the two conference contests. Jones registered 36 saves, including four in the first overtime, in Friday's 3-3 tie before tallying 45 saves on Saturday to help the Nooks rally for a 2-1 win. Jones' 45-save performance, in which he tallied double-digit saves in each of the three regulation periods, is only three saves shy of his single-game career personal-best of 48. Jones finished the weekend ranking third in the conference with a .952 save percentage and a 1.91 goals-against average.

Furthermore, Saturday's 2-1 overtime win sealed Jones' 20th career win as a Nanook.

DEPTH CHART
Alaska's notably young lineup proved to be clicking last weekend, as 13 of the 20 skaters who dressed at Ferris State recorded at least one point, including five rookies. Freshman forward Tyler Cline was the only Nook to record a multi-point game or weekend, as the Blaine, Minnesota native tallied two assists in Alaska's 2-1 overtime victory on Saturday.

MARCUS, MARCUS, MARCUS
Senior forward Marcus Basara continues to lead the Alaska's offense, posting seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 24 games. Basara leads the Nooks in points per game (0.67) but is tied for first among his teammates in goals (7), goals per games played (0.29) and power play assists (5).

GOLDEN FRYE
Junior defenseman Zach Frye continues to be both an offensive threat and invaluable on the back end, as the Spokane, Washington native ranks second on the team in points with 14. Alone, Frye leads Alaska in assists (10), assists per games played (0.42), power play points (8), shots on  goal (69), shots on goal per games played (2.88) and blocks (37) and is tied for first on the team in power play goals (3) and power play assists (5).

DOUBLE-DIGIT DUDES
Only five players on this year's roster have competed in all of Alaska's 24 games this season, two of which are rookies. Basara and Frye are joined by sophomore Chad Staley (6G, 8A), freshman forward Troy Van Tetering (7G, 4A) and rookie forward Colton Leiter (6G, 4A).

Additionally, the group of five, along with senior forward Brandon Morley (2G, 9A), are the only Nanooks to record double-digit points so far this season.

CENTURY MEN
Basara (131), Morley (127) and senior forward Josh Erickson (113) are the only current Nanooks to play more than 100 career games in an Alaska sweater so far. The Alaska player closest to crossing the threshold is Frye (89), who's only 11 games away.

NOOKS LOVE FREE HOCKEY
After last weekend's overtime tie and win at Ferris State, Alaska is currently 2-0-3 in conference games that go into overtime. In all three of Alaska's games where it extends to double overtime or a shootout, Alaska has walked away with the extra conference point each time. The Nanooks (3-for-3) and the Bemidji State Beavers (2-for-2) are the only teams in the league that are perfect in games lasting beyond 65 minutes. 

ROOKIE CONTRIBUTIONS
Of Alaska's nine rookies who have dressed in at least one game this season, eight have registered at least one point. Six of Alaska's freshmen have posted five-or-more points, with Leiter and Van Tetering leading the charge, being the only Alaska rookies to pass the 10-point-or-more mark.

Additionally, Leiter leads all conference rookies in game-winning goals with two and goals per shots on goal with a .240 average.

Team Misc.
The Nanooks rank sixth in the conference in scoring, averaging 2.38 goals per games played. Alaska leads the league in goals when trailing (25) and goals in ties (11) and is tied for first in the league in overtime goals with two.

Scouting the Opponent – Bowling Green (12-13-2, 10-9-1 WCHA)
The Falcons are coming off of a conference split at then-No. 18th-ranked Minnesota State last weekend, posting a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory in overtime on Friday, Jan. 13 before falling 5-3 to the Mavericks on Saturday, Jan. 14. As a team, the Falcons rank second in the WCHA in goals per game with a 3.04 average. BGSU's Mitchell McLain is ranked second in the conference in overall scoring, posting 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points in 26 games for a 1.00 point per game average. Defenseman Mark Friedman ranks second in the WCHA in defensive scoring with six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 26 games for an average of 0.65 points per game average.

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