SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Sophomore forward Troy Van Tetering's first career hat trick helped the Alaska Nanooks hockey team snap a three-game losing streak on Friday, as the Nooks pushed past the Lake Superior State Lakers 5-3 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup at the Taffy Abel Arena. Alaska's overall record improves to 5-10-2 and 3-7-1-1 in WCHA play, while the Lakers drop to 3-9-3 overall and 2-5-2-0 in conference contests.

The three-point victory separates the Nanooks from their three-way tie with Bemidji and LSSU in the league standings and bumps Alaska up to seventh place with a total of 11 conference points. Bemidji and Lake Superior fall in a tie for ninth place with eight points, while Alaska Anchorage's loss to Ferris State drops them to eighth place with nine WCHA points.

"Tonight was a good team effort on the road," head coach Lance West said on Friday. "We were able to win some puck battles and were rewarded with being gritty around the net. I also thought we did a good job on the penalty kill late in the game and overall, played a solid defensive game down the stretch."

The Nanooks came out firing on all cylinders on Friday night, netting three goals in 42 seconds in the first period. The last time Alaska scored three goals in under a minute (28 seconds) was on Oct. 10, 2003 in a 5-3 victory at home against Alaska Anchorage.   

Friday's game was the third time the Nanooks have registered three goals in the first period this season, following Oct. 13's 6-3 loss at St. Cloud and Oct. 20's 6-2 win at Alaska Anchorage.

Redshirt-senior defenseman Justin Woods opened the scoring at 12:16 mark of the first period, sneaking in to clean-up a loose puck for his eighth goal of the season. Woods is now on a three-game point streak and two-game goal streak with sophomore forward Colton Leiter and sophomore defenseman James LaDouce picking up the assists.

Leiter tallied his second point of the night only 12 seconds later, giving the Nanooks a 2-0 lead at the 12:28 mark of the first period. Leiter tipped in a shot from senior defenseman Zach Frye for his eighth assist of the season, while freshman forward Steven Jandric picked up the secondary assist.

Thirty seconds later, Alaska lit the lamp once again (12:58) with Van Tetering registering his first goal of the night. Like the two goals prior, net presence proved to be the difference-maker as Van Tetering cleaned up a rebound from junior defenseman Nikolas Koberstein's shot.

Lake Superior State's Gage Torrel put the Lakers on the board at the 15:42 mark of the first period, as a defensive zone breakdown by the Nanooks left Torrel alone in the slot for LSSU to pull to within two goals of Alaska.

Fear not, as Alaska was able to register a power play goal before the end of the first 20 minutes to make it 4-1 heading into first intermission. Sophomore forward Tyler Cline passed the puck to fellow sophomore forward Kylar Hope from the half-wall to the high-slot, with Hope able to pull the LSSU penalty killers with him toward the strong side of the power play. Hope made a quick pass to Van Tetering, who was alone backdoor for a quick one-timer to register his fourth goal of the season.

Van Tetering completed the hat trick at the 9:36 mark of the second period, as the Nooks were able to capitalize on a neutral zone turnover by the Lakers to give Alaska a 4-on-2 odd-man rush entering the offensive zone. Cline dished the puck to Van Tetering, who was crashing the net for a quick shot, for his fifth goal of the season and Cline's second point of the night.

Van Tetering becomes the first Alaska player to register a hat trick since Nov. 13, 2015 where former Nanook Brandon Morley netted three goals in a 4-3 win at Bemidji State.

Lake Superior State was able to get on the board twice more throughout the night, with Max Humitz scoring at the 16:04 mark of the second period before J.T. Henke was able to tally a power play goal at the 7:43 mark of the third.

All in all, nine of Alaska's 18 skaters who dressed on Friday night appeared on the scoresheet with three posting multi-point nights.

The Lakers outshot the Nanooks 26-24 with Alaska sophomore goaltender Anton Martinsson collecting 23 saves on the night. On the other end of the ice, Marek Mitens registered five saves in the first period before being relieved by Nick Kossoff, who posted 13.

Both the Nanooks and the Lakers were able to capitalize on the man-advantage, as Alaska went 1-for-4 while LSSU went 1-for-6.

The Alaska Nanooks and the Lake Superior State Lakers will face each other again tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 2) in another WCHA matchup at the Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie. Puck-drop is slated for 3:07pm AKST.

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