Men's Ice Hockey | 2/11/2017 7:56:00 PM
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team outshot their opponent 48-24 but couldn't break past Northern Michigan's goaltender Atte Tolvanen as the Nooks fell to the Wildcats 2-0 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Berry Events Center on Saturday night. The loss drops the Nanooks to 9-18-3 overall on the season and 8-13-3 in conference play, while the Wildcats improve to 11-17-4 overall and 9-12-3 in WCHA games.
"The puck possession and scoring opportunities were there tonight. It can get really frustrating when it does not go in but I thought our team stayed with it and kept pushing," head coach Dallas Ferguson said following Saturday's game. "We have been snake-bitten the last three games. We have to keep grinding and pushing through it, the chances are there, so that's half the battle. The other half is finishing and we will eventually start scoring."
Tolvanen's shutout is his fifth-straight, tying him for the NCAA record for most consecutive shutouts. The Nanooks threw 13 shots on net in the first period, 20 in the second and 15 in the third but wasn't able to find the back of the net.
Alaska's Davis Jones collected 22 saves on the night in his eighth consecutive start.
Both of Northern Michigan's goals came in the second period and both being scored by Robbie Payne. Payne scored at the 13:53 mark to make it a 1-0 game before tallying a power-play goal only three minutes later at the 16:59 mark to extend NMU's lead to 2-0.
Despite NMU's power play goal, Alaska's penalty kill unit killed off six other penalties to keep it a tight game throughout its 60 minutes.
The two-game sweep on the road drops Alaska from fifth place in the conference standings to being tied for eighth with Alabama-Huntsville, both teams with 30 points each. The eighth place position is the final WCHA playoff spot. From the fifth place position to Alaska and Alabama-Huntsville's tie for eighth place is only separated by two points.
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to the Carlson Center next week, hosting the Lake Superior Lakers for a two-game WCHA series on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18. The upcoming weekend is Alaska's last home series of the 2016-17 regular season with Saturday being Senior Night. 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.
