FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Sophomore goaltender Anton Martinsson made 26 saves to earn his first collegiate shutout on Friday night, as the Alaska Nanooks hockey team took down the No. 8/6th-ranked Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks 5-0 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the Carlson Center. The victory improves Alaska's overall record to 9-12-2 and 7-9-1-1 in conference play, while the Mavericks drop to 16-7-0 on the season and 14-5-0-0 in league matchups.

At the time of article, Alaska earned three points with Friday's win but remains in seventh place in the conference standings with 23 points. Conversely, the Mavericks stay in first place with 42 points. In Alaska's first shutout of the season, the Nanooks handed Minnesota State only their second loss in nine games.

"What an outstanding effort from our team tonight, the only real thing I can think to say is that I thought our guys earned that win tonight," head coach Lance West said on Friday. "All 20 guys paid the price and deserved what they got. The only words to describe tonight's game was that it was a complete and total team effort."

Although the Nanooks' offense was on-point on Friday, Alaska's defensive efforts proved to be the game-changer as the Nooks combined for 20 blocks against Minnesota State's 58 attempted shots. Alaska also killed off two 5-on-3 power play opportunities from the Mavericks while Martinsson backstopped his team with 26 saves from all of MSU's 26 shots on-target.

Against the Mavericks, nine Alaska skaters appeared on the scoresheet, including five Nooks with multi-point efforts. Senior defenseman Zach Frye tallied two power play goals, freshman forward Steven Jandric recorded two assists while sophomore defenseman Tristan Thompson, senior forward Tayler Munson and junior forward Ryker Leer each registered a goal and an assist.

Frye opened up the scoring with a power play tally at the 11:23 mark of the first period, his fourth of the season. Frye faked a shot at the point, getting the MSU defender to bite before walking into the high-slot and firing a low wristshot to make it 1-0 Alaska. Frye's first goal of the night was assisted by Jandric and Munson.

At the 3:38 point of the second period, Thompson corralled a loose puck at the offensive blueline before stepping into a slapshot that found the back of the net to make it 2-0. Thompson's even-strength goal and fourth of the season was assisted by sophomore forward Aaron Herdt and Leer.

Before the second period could end, Munson and Jandric found themselves on a 2-on-1 odd-man rush before Jandric saucer-passed the puck across the crease to Munson, who buried his second goal of the season backdoor. Junior forward Chad Staley was awarded the secondary assist.

At the 1:40 mark of the third period, Leer posted his second point of the game after batting in a rebound in front of Minnesota State goaltender Connor LaCouvee. Leer's fifth goal of the season was assisted by sophomore forward Ross Heidt and rookie forward Max Newton.

Frye collected his second goal of the night at the 7:37 mark of the third period, capitalizing on a five-minute major penalty by MSU's Zeb Knutson. Like earlier, Frye released a shot in the high-slot area that snuck past MSU's LaCouvee to make it 5-0 in favor of the home team. Thompson recorded his eighth assist of the season on Frye's goal.

The Alaska Nanooks will face the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks again tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 13) with another WCHA matchup at the Carlson Center. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:07pm AKST.

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