FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks hockey team is in Omaha, Neb. for two games against the Mavericks of the Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha. 

Friday, Oct. 21
Omaha | Live Video ($$) | Live Stats | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Online)
Baxter Arena | 4:00 p.m. | Omaha, Nebraska

Sunday, Oct. 23
Omaha | Live Video ($$) | Live Stats | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Online)
Baxter Arena | 11:00 a.m. | Omaha, Nebraska

Where to Watch
This weekend's matchup will be streamed on NCHC.tv. For a fee, you can view the games using a game-to-game basis, monthly purhcase or annual. You can also listen live on KSUA 91.5 FM as Bruce Cech brings you live play-by-play for the 34th season. u

#NookNotes

• The Nanooks are fresh off of being swept on their home-ice by Michigan Tech. This was the first time the Nanooks were swept at home since their Omaha series last season on Nov. 19-20, 2021. 
• HARRISON ISRAELS is the first underclassman to wear the captain's 'C' since DARREN TIEMSTRA. TIEMSTRA played for the Nanooks from 1997-2001 and wore the 'C' from the 1998-99 season and on until his graduation. TIEMSTRA was a 6-2, 218 lb defenseman from Edmonton, Alta. who played in 128 games for the Nanooks, tallying seven goals and 18 assists for 25 career points.
• The Nanooks look to capitalize on the road against Omaha. Alaska is currently 1-1-0 on the road and 1-2-1 on home ice. 
• GARRETT PYKE and BRADY RISK have taken over the scoring lead for the Nanooks as each have posted three points in six gams. PYKE has tallied three assists and RISK has recorded one goal and two assists. Eight other Nanooks have tallied two points on the season. 
• ARVILS BERGMANIS has put his body on the line all year long. The sophomore defenseman leads Alaska with seven blocked shots through six games. MARKUSS KOMULS and A.J. MACAULAY have six each.
• HARRISON ISRAELS is currently third in NCAA Division I with his 69 faceoff wins. He is number one in terms of all independent teams as well. He also holds on to a .622 win percentage.
• Alaska's 52 penalty minutes is the 17th most in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey. The third most among independent teams; Arizona State leads with 96 and RIT leads the nation with 102. 
• COLIN DOYLE and SIMON FALK are eighth in the nation with one game-winning goal. DOYLE is also in the top-50 for faceoff wins, checking in at 47 with 38 wins in the circle.
• MATT RADOMSKY is 29th in the nation with his 2.34 GAA. He is 41st in save percentage with a .897%.
• CADE NEILSON is averaging 0.5 points per game as he's tallied a pair of assists in four games played this season. 
• DANIEL ALLIN checked in for his first minutes this past weekend against MTU. he saw 31:01 in net, allowing two goals while making 11 saves. He came in after RADOMSKY gave up four early goals on Friday, Oct. 14 in the Nanooks' 6-2 loss to the Huskies. 
• The Nanooks are yet to score in the third period or OT this season. They've tallied 11 goals with three in the first period and eight in the second period. The 'Nooks are currently outshooting opponents 177-139 with 57 in the first, 58 in the second and 56 for a 29.5 shots/game rate.

Meet the Opponent

• The Omaha Mavericks enter this weekend's matchup with the Nanooks at 1-2-1, 0-0-0 NCHC. They opened up the season with NIagara in Baxter Arena and were swept by the Purple Eagles. 
• In their season-opener the Mavs lost 4-3. Niagara jumped out to a 2-0 lead before JACK RANDL tallied the first goal of the season for the Mavericks. Niagara put up two more, making it 4-1 before TYLER WEISS and RANDL scored in the second and third making it a final of 4-3. Game two played to the same score. Omaha struck first 8:41 into the first on the PPO as JACK RANDL tallied another. NOLAN SULLIVAN and BROCK BREMER scored the other two but Niagara scored two unanswered to take a 4-3 lead and the win away from the Mavs on their home-ice. 
• The Mavericks got their first win of the season on Oct. 14, 2022 in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. with a 3-1 victory over Lake Superior State. Omaha got on the board 1:50 into the second when TY MUELLER netted the goal. LSSU tied it up on the power-play 26 seconds into the third before Omaha tallied two unanswered to win it 3-1. 
• The two teams skated to a 4-4 tie on the final night. LSSU posted four in the first before Omaha battled back to score three in the middle stanza and one in third.
• Omaha enters the weekend #52 in the most updated Pairwise Rankings. They are 1-2-1 with a .375 win percentage, a 52 RPI ranking and a 38 in win percentage rank. 
• Through four games, JACK RANDL leads the way averaging more than a point a game. He has seven points on five goals and two assists. Two of his goals have come on the power play. 
• CAMERON BERG and BROCK BREMER have tallied the other two power-play goals for Omaha this season. The Mavs have not scored a shorthanded goal, however they have allowed one. 
• JAKE KUCHARSKI has led the way in net for Omaha, seeing 169:25 minutes in goal with three games played. He has allowed five goals while making 43 saves for a GAA of 1.77 and a save percentage of .896. He is 1-1-1 on the year. SIMON LATKOCZY has played in two games for 72:45 minutes inbetween the pipes and has allowed eight goals (6.60 GAA) and made 27 saves (.771%).
• Omaha is coached by MIKE GABINET who is entering his sixth season as the bench boss after spending the 2016-17 season as the Associate Head Coach. He led Omaha to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, their first time since the 2015 tournament. They fell to Minnesota in the Regional Semifinals. Minnesota, the #3-overall seed, beat Omaha 7-2 in the West Regional played in Loveland. 
• The Mavs play at Baxter Arena, a 7,898 seat arena in Omaha, Nebraska. Their program was started in 1997 and competed in the CCHA from 1999 to 2010 before joining the WCHA. They eventually joined the NCHC starting in 2013-14. 
• The Nanooks and Mavericks shared the CCHA and played many times during the 11 years the two were in the CCHA. Omaha leads the all-time series record 18-25-11 and has a seven-game winning streak going against Alaska. 
• The Nanooks won the first-ever matchup on Jan. 22, 1999 in Fairbanks, Alaska. They won that game 4-0 before winning the next night 7-0.

Last Time Out
The Nanooks hockey team fell to Michigan Tech on Friday, Oct. 14 6-2 to fall to 2-3-1 on the young season. MTU moved to 2-1-0 on the season with the victory. 

The Huskies got the scoring started 16:02 into the first as Jake Crespi scored off of passes from Nick Nardella and Parker Saretsky. After Saretsky played the puck in the corner to the left of Alaska netminder, Matt Radomsky, Nardella put a shot on goal. Following Radomsky's stop, Nardella made an extra pass to Crespi, who beat a leaping Radomsky for the 1-0 lead. The second goal of the night was scored early into the second period as Brett Thorne capitalized on another set of Crespi and Nardlella passes. Crespi played the puck to Nardella near the wall, who then found Thorne in front of the Nanooks net for the goal, making it 2-0 only 1:12 into the second period. 

Alaska got on to the scoreboard 2:24 into the second as Garrett Pyke played the puck to Matt Koethe redirected the defensman's shot from the blue-line, beating Blake Pietila, making it a 2-1 Michigan Tech lead. Four minutes later, Tech answered back, making it 3-1 on Trevor Russell's first-career goal. Ryland Mosley played the puck to Chris Lipe, to the right of Radomsky, who then played the puck to Russell, putting the shot away for the 3-1 lead. Logan Pietila added another, making it 4-1 Huskies 8:59 into the second. His opportunity came while shorthanded. Parker Saretsky played the puck up-ice to Pietila just before the Nanooks' power-play opportunity ended and he slotted the shot in the back of the net, extending the lead to three. 

Following the goal, Radomsky was subbed out for Daniel Allin. 

Parker Saretsky tallied his third point of the night 13:39 into the second, scoring a goal to make it 5-1 Huskies. He took the pass from Nick Nardella from behind the Nanooks' goal and put the shot away. Harrison Israels got another goal back for Alaska, taking a pass from T.J Lloyd and Brady Risk, making it 5-2, but Jack Works put it away 7:05 into the third. He intercepted an Alaska puck and beat Allin, making it 6-2 Huskies. 

Radomsky made two total saves while Allin made 11.

Looking Ahead

• Alaska goes to Omaha for the first time since last year. They lost all four to Omaha a season ago. The last time these two met in back-to-back years was the 2008-09 and 2009-10 season. In those games, Omaha led the eight game series going 0-2-3-2. The Nanooks had three wins vacated, they tied three times, with the Nanooks winning the extra point in two shootouts and Omaha won the other shootout alongside their two wins. 
• Following Omaha, the Nanooks head to Marquette, Mich. for a matchup with Northern Michigan, their first since the WCHA days. Alaska last played at NMU on Nov. 15-16, 2019. NMU won the first game before the 'Nooks won the second (since vacated).
• They then come home for a three week break before hitting the road for a matchup on Nov. 18-19 against Rensselaer Polytechnic in Troy, N.Y. at the Houston Field House. These two teams met four times last season with the 'Nooks going 3-1-0 against RPI.
• After RPI, the Nanooks will head to University Park, Penn. for a matchup with Penn State. They then come home for the first time on Dec. 9-10 for UAA and the return of the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup. The 'Nooks are looking to win their 12th-straight cup over the Seawolves who have officially returned to the NCAA Division I ice hockey ranks.

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