Brady Risk plays the puck down the boards in the Carlson Center.
Miles Jordan

Men's Ice Hockey Nathan Kyle Pearsall

Hockey Returns to Action with Road Trip to RPI

FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks hockey team is back in action with a road trip to Troy, New York for a two-game matchup with the RPI Engineers. 

Friday, Nov. 18
Rensselaer | Live Stats | Live Video ($$) | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Online)
3:00 p.m. | Houston Field House | Troy, New York 

Saturday, Nov. 19
Rensselaer | Live Stats | Live Video ($$) | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Online)
3:00 p.m. | Houston Field House | Troy, New York 

Where to Watch
Catch this weekend's action on ESPN+ with a monthly subscription. You can also listen live for free on KSUA 91.5 FM or online at KSUAradio.com. Live stats are also available for free using the links above.

#NookNotes
  • This game will end the Nanooks two-week bye period. They have not been on the ice in-game since their trip to Marquette, Mich. ended in a series split after a 2-1 game one win and a 3-2 game two loss. 
  • This weekend's matchup with RPI will be the only ECAC matchup for the Nanooks on the season. This season they'll face the Big Ten, NCHC, Independent, Atlantic Hockey, ECAC and CCHA conferences. 
  • GARRETT PYKE leads the Nanooks in scoring, tallying all seven points on assists. He is still looking for his first goal of the year after tallying four a year ago with 15 assists for 21 points. The blue-liner is comfortable offensively after playing three seasons with the Oakville Blades in the OJHL as a D/F combo. 
  • HARRISON ISRAELS and JONNY SORENSON lead the way in lighting the lamp with four goals each. The sophomore forward (ISRAELS) is fresh off of a two-goal performance on Oct. 29 at Northern Michigan in the Nanooks' 3-2 loss. That was the fifth multi-point game of the season by a 'Nooks skater. PYKE also tallied two points against NMU on 10/29, assisting on both of ISRAELS' goals.
  • The Nanooks are one of the most penalized teams in Division I hockey. They are fourth in Division I averaging 16.00 minutes per game with 160 total minutes (10th in DI). 
  • HARRISON ISRAELS is currently 29th in the NCAA DI for faceoff wins - he has won 112 and is the leader of all independent players. 
  • MATT RADOMSKY is currently 28th in the NCAA with a 2.29 GAA. ETHAN PEARSON of Princeton currently leads the country with a 0.67 and TJ SEMPTIMPHELTER currently leads the independent DI ranks with a 2.17 GAA.
  • Alaska leads all independent teams with their 50.9% faceoff win percentage. They are also first in penalty killing percentage and are tied with ASU for first in short-handed goals with one. They are one of 33 teams to score a shorthanded goal this year. 
  • These two teams play for the second-straight season. The Engineers came to Fairbanks a season ago for a 2021-22 matchup that lasted four games in the Carlson Center. RPI took game one 4-1 before the Nanooks went into their holiday break on a three-game winning streak with a 4-0, 3-2 and 4-1 win over RPI.
  • This will be the Nanooks first time in Troy, New York and the Houston Field House since Nov. 28, 1986 when the Nanooks played Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for the first time in program history. That game ended in a 5-4 win for Alaska. 
  • The Nanooks hold a 5-1-1 record against RPI with the lone-loss coming last season. The other matchups came on Oct. 17, 2009 (T, 1-1 - SOW) in Fairbanks and Oct. 17, 2015 in Fairbanks (W, 4-2).
Meet the Engineers and RPI
  • RPI enters this weekend's matchup with a one-game win streak. They recently knocked off Dartmouth College on Saturday, Nov. 12 with a 2-1 win on home-ice. The night before the Engineers fell to Harvard 3-2 in OT, being handed their first loss on home-ice. RPI is now 6-1-0 in the Houston Field House and 0-4-0 on the road.
  • JAKOB LEE is the the clear scoring leader for RPI as through 11 games, he's tallied four goals and six assists for 10 points. He has a .211 shot percentgae, second on the team and leading the way for players with more than one point. 
  • JACK WATSON is the leading netminder for the Engineers as he's been the goalie of record in all games this season. He holds a 6-5-0-1 record, 265 saves for a .911 save percentage and 2.41 GAA. 
  • RYAN MAHSHIE and TJ WALSH also have four goals on the season for the Engineers as they both have four goals and one assist for a total of five points. JACK AGNEW is the team's second-scorer with six points on one goal and five assists. He also leads the way in blocked shots, tallying 21 through 11 games played. 
  • LEE leads the way in the faceoff circle with 108 faceoff wins and a win percentage of .532. 
  • RPI scores early; they have tallied 10 first period goals, nine second period goals and seven third period goals. They allow lots of goals late, having allowed 17 in the third period alone. They've given up six first period goals and five second period goals. 
  • RPI is averaging 2,225 at home this season in their 4,800 capacity Houston Field House.
  • RPI is coached by Dave Smith. He's been the head coach of Rensselaer since April of 2017 after a dozen years as the head coach at Canisius. 
  • Eight players have tallied more than five points on the season for the Engineers and they've had 19 players score on the season. 
  • RPI is a two-time national champion having won it in 1954 and 1985. 1985 was also the last time the Engineers made it to the Frozen Four. RPI has made it to nine NCAA Tournaments with their most recent coming in 2011. They are three-time conference tournament champions (1984, 1985, 1995) and five-time conference regular-season champions (1952, 1953, 1954, 1984, 1985).
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic is located in Troy, New York on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. It has close ties to Albany and is one of the three major centers for the Albany metro area, which has a population of 1,170,483 people. Troy has a population of 50,401 according to the 2020 census.
  • RPI is a private research university and is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It opened back in 1824 under the title Rensselaer School (1824-1834) before changing to Rensselaer Institute (1834-1861). According to 2019 statistics, RPI had 8,142 students, 6,203 undergrad.
  • RPI is currently #41 in the PairWise Rankings. Alaska is #37.
Looking Ahead
  • The Nanooks will have a quick turnaround following two games at RPI. Immediately following their games in Troy, NY, the 'Nooks will head to University Park, Penn. to matchup with the Penn State Nittany Lions. PSU is currently #6/#6 in the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine men's college polls. They currently come in at #3 in the PairWise Rankings. 
  • After Penn State, the Nanooks will have a couple more bye weeks before the return of the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Dec. 9-10 in the Carlson Center. After the UAA games in the Carlson Center, the 'Nooks will head south to Anchorage for two games on the road in the Governor's Cup. 
  • Following the holiday break and right around the new year, the Nanooks will hit the road for another lengthy road-trip. This time they'll head to Notre Dame on Dec. 31, 2022 and Jan. 1, 2023 to bring in the new year at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind. 
  • Following UND, they'll head West to Denver for a matchup with the Denver Pioneers. This will be the second-straight season the 'Nooks travel to Magness Arena for a matchup with the Pios. Last season the 'Nooks fell in game one before taking the eventual National Champions to a 4-4 tie.
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. 
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