Hockey closes out 2012 against Bowling Green
December 11, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
The Alaska Nanooks (6-7-3, 4-6-2-0 CCHA) close out the first half of the 2012-13 season by hosting the Bowling Green Falcons (2-9-3, 1-6-2-1 CCHA) for a pair of CCHA games this weekend at the Carlson Center.
Here are the need to know notes about the Bowling Green series and Alaska Hockey:
Alaska is amidst a five-game winless skid (0-4-1) and looking to rebound this weekend as they closeout the 2012 portion of their schedule against Bowling Green.
The Nanooks lead the all-time series against the Falcons 26-21-5 and are 17-10-2 in Fairbanks. The Nanooks and Falcons have met 10 times under head coach Dallas Ferguson, with Alaska holding the advantage at 7-3 in those contests, including a 4-1 record in the last five
The Blue and Gold are 14-5-1 in the lasts 20 contests against BGSU and 7-3 in the last 10 played in Fairbanks. Last year, Alaska took three of their four meetings, including both games on the road via shutout before they split games in January.
Senior right wing F Andy Taranto became the 18th player in program history to score 100 career points with Alaska's first goal of Friday's 5-2 loss. He has 49 goals and 51 assists in 125 career games. After being kept off the scoresheet in Alaska's four non-conference games at the start of the year, he has scored at least one point a weekend since and his team-leading 10 points (6g, 4a).
The Nanooks were swept for the first time this season, marking just the sixth time under head coach Dallas Ferguson's tutelage the team dropped back-to-back regular season league games on a given weekend.
Saturday's shutout was the first one suffered by the Nanooks this season and the first since their season-ending 2-0 loss at Lake Superior State on Mar. 3. It was also the first time this season that Alaska was outshot by an opponent (34-33).
The Nanooks and RedHawks combined for 75 penalty minutes in their weekend series, propelling them to the top of the league for penalty minutes and penalty minutes per game, respectively. Alaska has the most PIM on the season with 237 overall and are averaging 14.8 minutes per game, while Miami averages a league-high 15.1.