BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Despite an early lead, the Alaska Nanooks hockey team fell 2-1 to the Bowling Green University Falcons in their first Western Collegiate Hockey Association game of the 2017-18 season on Friday night at the Slater Family Arena. The Nooks fall to 2-4-1 overall on the year and 0-1-0 in WCHA play, while the Falcons improve to 3-3-0 overall, 2-1-0 WCHA.

"Tonight's game was exactly the type of game we expected to play against Bowling Green; a hard, heavy and physical game with very little open ice," head coach Lance West said on Friday. "We played a strong game but weren't able to capitalize on enough of our opportunities. We're playing well and continuing to work hard but we have to keep working through the tough areas until we find a way to be the team who makes the last play."

Alaska was edged in shots by their opponent 26-27 with sophomore goaltender Anton Martinsson collecting 25 saves between the pipes for the Nanooks. On the other end of the ice, BGSU goalie Eric Dop also tallied 25 saves against the Nanooks including 14 in the third period alone. Neither Alaska nor Bowling Green was able to capitalize on their special teams throughout the night, as the Nanooks went 0-for-3 on the man-advantage while the Falcons went 0-for-2.

Sophomore forward Troy Van Tetering opened the scoring on Friday night, giving the Nooks a 1-0 lead at the 7:15 mark of the first period. Van Tetering tipped in a wristshot from the point from junior defenseman Nikolas Koberstein, while junior forward Chad Staley was awarded the secondary assist for his first point of the season.

Midway through the second period, Bowling Green tied the game at 1-1 with a shot from the point from Mitchell McLain. McLain's goal was assisted by Carson Musser at the 11:06 mark of the second period.

Only 55 seconds in to the third period, BGSU officially took the lead as Alec Rauhauser tallied his first goal of the season to register the eventual game-winning goal. After a shot from teammate Lukas Craggs, Rauhauser picked up the rebound left by Martinsson before making a wrap-around move to seal the victory.

The Alaska Nanooks face the Bowling Green Falcons again tomorrow (Saturday), Oct. 28 in another WCHA tilt at the Slater Family Arena in Bowling Green. Puck-drop is scheduled for 3:07pm AKT.

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