HOUGHTON, Mich. - Alaska hits the road for a Michigan/Minnesota road-trip. Their trek begins in Houghton, Mich. with the Michigan Tech Huskies this Friday and Saturday.

Friday, Oct. 13
at Michigan Tech | 3:07 p.m.

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Saturday, Oct. 14
at Michigan Tech | 2:07 p.m.

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Last Time Out
The Nanooks were swept by #4/5 Denver last weekend at home. In game one, Jonny Sorenson got the scoring started before Harrison Israels added two goals. The 'Nooks fell in game one 7-3. The next night, Chase Dubois tallied a pair of goals but Alaska fell 5-2. 

Looking Ahead

• Following this weekend's matchup at Michigan Tech, the Nanooks will head to St. Cloud State to face the Huskies for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
• They dropped both games at home 2-3 and 2-6.

#NookNotes

• Alaska was swept by #4/5 Denver this past weekend in Fairbanks. They gave up 12 goals in their opening-weekend series, the most goals given up in week once since the 2000-01 season when Western Michigan came to Fairbanks. The two sides tied game one 4-4 before WMU won game two 8-5.
• The Nanooks had a pair of two-goal scorers this past weekend. Harrison Israels tallied two in the season-opener before Chase Dubois posted both goals on night two. 
• A.J. Macaulay had a four-game point streak snapped in game two of the Denver series. He had a point in his last four games, dating back to Feb. 25, 2023 (at ASU - 4-2 win).
• Payton Matsui's six-game scoring streak was snapped in the season-opener (dating back to Feb. 17, 2023 vs. LIU) - he tallied a point in game two of the Denver series. 
• After one week, Brady Risk is 21st in the nation with 1.00 assists per game, he is first among independent skaters.
• Harrison Israels is a staple in the circle for the Nanooks. The captain is ninth in the nation with 24 faceoff wins. He won 15 of his 17 bouts on Sunday, Oct. 8's game against Denver. 
• Payton Matsui joins him in the top-20 in the nation with 20 faceoff wins, he currently ranks 19th. Chase Dafoe is 34th in the nation with 16 wins. 
• Chase Dubois and Harrison Israels are tied for eighth in the nation for goals per game. They both average 1.0 per game through one weekend after they each scored two goals in each game, Israels in game one and Dubois in game two. 
• Harrison Israels will wear the captain's 'C' for the second-straight season. Last year, he became the first underclassmen to wear the 'C' since Darren Tiemstra. Tiemstra played for the Nanooks from 1997-01 and was captain from the 1998-99 season on until his graduation. Tiemstra was a 6-2, 218 pound defenseman from Edmonton, Alta. who played in 128 career games for the Nanooks, tallying seven goals and 18 assists for 25 career points. 
• Jonny Sorenson will don the other 'C' this season. A year ago, Sorenson led the Nanooks in points with 28 (tied with Payton Matsui). He scored 10 goals and had 18 assists. He is in his final season of college hockey after playing three seasons with Minnesota and playing his senior year last season with Alaska.
• Sorenson played in both of the first two games this season. He entered the season with the eighth-most played games by active forwards (134).
• T.J Lloyd, Payton Matsui and Brady Risk will all wear the 'A' this season. Last season was Lloyd's first year with the Nanooks. He has now played in 140 games. The most by active defensmen in NCAA Division I hockey.
• A season ago, Matsui posted a career-year with 28 points, tying him with Sorenson for the team-lead. He scored nine goals and assisted on a team-high 19. Risk nearly matched his rookie season of 24 points, posting 23 on 13 goals and 10 helpers. His 13 goals was a team-leading.
• Chase Dafoe scored his first-career point against Denver after playing in eight games at Providence last season. He appeared in both games for the Nanooks at home.

Meet the Opponents

• The Michigan Tech hockey team is ranked No. 9 in this week's USCHO.com Poll and No. 10 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live College Hockey Poll.
• The Huskies jumped a spot in each poll from their preseason ranking.
• No. 10 was the highest preseason ranking the Huskies have had in their hockey history.
• Tech was ranked No. 13 in the final polls after last season.
• Last season, the Huskies were in the top 20 since November 28 and climbed to as high as No. 10 on March 6.
• No. 10 Michigan Tech skated to a 2-2 tie at No. 17 Minnesota Duluth in the US Hockey Hall of Fame Game Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
• The Huskies twice came back from a one-goal deficit in the season-opener and got goals from Ryland Mosley and Patriks Marcinkevics.
• Blake Pietila made a career-high 48 saves with 20 in the first, 11 in the second, 15 in the third, and two in overtime.
• Saturday was the most saves by a Michigan Tech goalie since the 2010 GLI when Josh Robinson had 45 saves against Michigan in a 4-2 loss.

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