FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Sophomore forward Colton Leiter netted two goals to help the Alaska Nanooks hockey team complete a Western Collegiate Hockey Association sweep over Ferris State University on Saturday night, as the Nooks took down the Bulldogs 4-1 at the Carlson Center. The victory improves Alaska's overall record to 11-15-2 and 9-12-1-1 in conference play, while FSU drops to 12-19-1 on the season and 9-14-1-0 in league games.

Alaska earns three crucial WCHA points in Saturday's victory and six points on the weekend, moving the Nooks up two spots in the conference standings from eighth to sixth place with 29 points. Ferris State drops from sixth place to seventh with 28 points, while the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers fall from seventh place to eighth with 27 points.

The weekend sweep also marks Alaska's second league sweep of the season and the first WCHA sweep at home for the Nanooks throughout the 2017-18 campaign. The Nanooks' last conference sweep at the Carlson Center came on Mar. 4-5, 2016 against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.

"I'm really proud of the way our guys played this weekend, earning a sweep at home in, what is basically playoff hockey, is really impressive," head coach Lance West said on Saturday. "I liked the ability to keep that intensity from last night's win and carry it into tonight's game and hopefully we can build on that."

Nine of Alaska's 18 skaters who dressed in Saturday's game appeared on scoresheet at least once, with Leiter leading the way with two goals.

After a scoreless first period, Ferris State scored their only goal of the night from forward Lucas Finner who tallied an even-strength goal at the 1:49 mark. Finner tipped-in a shot on the backdoor to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead for his fourth goal of the season. Finner's goal was assisted by Zach Yoder and Liam MacDougall.

Like Friday, Alaska responded quickly, as sophomore forward Troy Van Tetering netted a power play goal at the 6:49 mark to tie the game at 1-1. Fellow sophomore forward Kylar Hope played the puck off of the boards behind FSU's goaltender Darren Smith, which found Van Tetering backdoor for a quick shot. Van Tetering's seventh goal of the season was assisted by Hope and junior defenseman Nikolas Koberstein.

Twenty-six seconds later, the Nooks capitalized on a defensive breakdown by the Bulldogs, as Leiter's long shot from the top of the circles went off of a FSU defender and snuck past Smith to give Alaska a 2-1 lead. Leiter's first goal of the game and eighth goal of the season was assisted by senior defensemen Nick Hinz and Zach Frye. Frye's 17th assist of the year also puts him on a four-game point streak.

Senior forward Tayler Munson scored Alaska's second power play goal of the night, collecting his sixth goal of the season at the 5:19 mark of the third period. Junior forward Chad Staley made a quick feed to Munson from behind the goal line to catch Smith off of his post to make it 3-1 Alaska. Munson's second power play goal of the season was assisted by Staley, while freshman forward Steven Jandric was awarded the secondary.

The Nanooks sealed the sweep at the 19:25 mark, as Leiter capitalized on a FSU turnover in their defensive zone to score an empty-net goal and give the Nooks a 4-1 victory.

In net, Alaska's sophomore goaltender Anton Martinsson collected 18 saves from 19 shots, while FSU's Smith tallied 28 saves off of Alaska's 32 shots on goal.

The Alaska Nanooks hockey team will head on a two-week road trip on Tuesday, as they head to Marquette, Michigan first by taking on the Northern Michigan Wildcats in a two-game WCHA series this Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10. Both games are scheduled 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.