FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team suffered their first Western Collegiate Hockey Association sweep of the season on Saturday evening, as the Nooks fell 5-3 to the Ferris State Bulldogs at the Ewigleben Ice Arena.
The loss drops the Nanooks to 3-7-2 overall on the season and 1-4-1-1 in conference play, while the Bulldogs improve to 4-6-1 overall and 2-3-1-0 in WCHA contests. The Bulldogs will walk away with six points on the weekend, while Alaska receives zero.
A pair of sophomore forwards had multi-point nights against the Bulldogs, with Alaska's Kylar Hope registering a goal and an assist and Colton Leiter posting two assists.
Ferris opened the scoring for the second-straight night on Saturday, with Nate Kallen giving the home team a 1-0 lead at the 10:45 mark of the first period.
The second period saw a combined five goals with the Nanooks registering two even-strength goals courtesy of senior forward Tayler Munson and Hope. Munson's first goal of the season was assisted by Leiter and junior forward Ryker Leer, while Hope's goal was assisted Leiter.
Junior defenseman Nikolas Koberstein made it a 3-4 game at the 13:04 mark of the third period for his first goal of the season. Koberstein's even-strength tally was assisted by Hope and rookie forward Steven Jandric, whose now on a two-game point streak.
At the 18:27 mark, Ferris' Mitch Maloney scored an empty-net goal to seal the Bulldogs' victory in the third period.
Alaska outshot their opponent 34-32 with sophomore goaltender Anton Martinsson collecting 27 saves against Ferris State. On the other end of the ice, FSU's Justin Kapelmaster registered a game-high 31 saves, including double-digit saves in both the second and third period.
Ferris was able to capitalize on the man-advantage on Saturday, going 1-for-6 on the power play while Alaska was held to scoreless on six power play opportunities.
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to Fairbanks for a two-week stay at home, first hosting the Northern Michigan Wildcats in a two-game WCHA series at the Carlson Center Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18. Puck-drop is slated for 7:07pm AKST on both nights.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
