SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – It was a historic night for the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, as the Nanooks scored four unanswered goals to come back and defeat the Lake Superior State Lakers 4-3 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the Taffy Abel Arena.

The win marks first-year head coach Erik Largen's first career victory as bench boss and the Nanooks' first win of the 2018-19 campaign.

Alaska's overall record improves to 1-7-2 and 1-2-1-1 in WCHA play, while the Lakers drop to 5-2-1 on the season and 2-1-1-0 in conference contests. The win gives Alaska three points on Saturday night, with the Nooks walking away from the weekend with five WCHA points thanks to Friday's tie and double-overtime goal for the extra conference point. Alaska currently sits tied for seventh place in the league rankings with Bowling Green.

"Although we were undisciplined with too many penalties tonight, I am very proud of our resiliency our group showed," Largen said on Saturday. "To be down 3-0 and to come back and win in regulation shows a lot about where this team can get to. It's another step in the process for our group this year."

In addition to the victory, four Alaska Nanooks posted multi-point nights with freshman defenseman Chris Jandric, sophomore forward Steven Jandric and senior forward Chad Staley each with two, while junior forward Colton Leiter boasted a three-point effort.

After a scoreless first period, Lake Superior State opened up the scoring with three back-to-back-to-back power play goals within a six minute stretch. Scoring for LSSU was Anthony Nellis (13:28), Collin Saccoman (15:46) and Diego Cuglietta (18:54) to make it 3-0 late into the second period.

Directly after the Lakers' third goal, they received a penalty, sending the Nanooks on the power play. Leiter put the Nanooks on the board less than a minute later (19:39), with Alaska trailing 3-1 heading into the second intermission. Leiter's third goal of the season (all on the man-advantage) was assisted by Staley and junior forward Kylar Hope.

After the break, Alaska scored 1:12 in the third period with S. Jandric earning his first goal of the season and the first and only even-strength goal of the game. S. Jandric's early tally to pull the Nooks to within one was assisted by rookie defenseman Jordan Muzzillo and Leiter.

At the 10:55 mark, the Nanooks capitalized on the power play with S. Jandric netting his second of the night and of the season. The goal marks S. Jandric's first two-goal game since Feb. 15 at Bemidji State. S. Jandric's second tally against the Lakers was assisted by his brother C. Jandric and Leiter.

A late penalty by the Lakers proved to be detrimental, as C. Jandric scored his first game-winning goal and second goal in back-to-back nights on the power play at 18:47. C. Jandric's tally was assisted by senior defenseman Nikolas Koberstein and Staley.

With two goals and seven assists, C. Jandric now leads all WCHA freshmen and his teammates in scoring with nine points.

The Nooks went 3-for-6 on the power play, while Lake Superior State went 3-for-7 on the man-advantage. For the first time this season, Alaska outshot their opponent 23-22.

In net, freshman netminder Gustavs Grigals collected 19 saves in his first career win in only his second start for the Nanooks. On the other end of the ice, Mareks Mitens also registered 19 saves in Saturday's contest.

The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to the Carlson Center next week, hosting the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers in a two-game WCHA series on Friday, Nov. 16 and Saturday, Nov. 17. Puck-drop both nights is scheduled for 7:07pm AKST.

During next weekend's series, the Alaska Nanooks Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting their annual Canned Food Drive. The Alaska Nanooks SAAC is asking fans to bring canned food and non-perishable items both nights to be donated to the Fairbanks Food Bank prior to Thanksgiving.

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