Nanooks Best Falcons 4-1

Saturday, October 30

Fairbanks, Alaska

11:05 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Alaska

October 31, 2010 | Ice Hockey

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Bowling Green was topped by the No. 15 Alaska Nanooks for a second straight night on Saturday at the Carlson Center (Fairbanks, Alaska). Alaska jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening frame before backing into a 4-1 victory, completing the weekend sweep of the Falcons.

Box score (.html) | Box score (.pdf) | Updated statistics (.html)
Post game audio (.mp3) - Chris Bergeron | Cam Wojtala
Post game video - Chris Bergeron & Cam Wojtala (click here)

Bowling Green did itself no favors by allowing three goals in the first period of action, two of which while at even-strength. The Nanooks littered the Bowling Green zone with 41 total shots in the first period, 25 on goal.

Reigning CCHA Rookie of the Year Andy Taranto scored first when he took advantage of a loose puck that each team fanned on before the sophomore gained possession and went top shelf on BGSU goaltender Andrew Hammond (Surrey, British Columbia).

The pressure continued to mount against the Falcons when later in the period, a BGSU penalty put UAF on the power play. As the power play time wound down, Nanook defenseman Aaron Gens tipped in his first goal of the season when teammate Kevin Petovello sent the puck in toward the Falcon cage.

The Nanooks added their third goal of the period playing five-on-five with the Falcons when in the fifteenth minute UAF created a turnover in the neutral zone and created a two-on-one opportunity. Gens again in on the action sent a tape-to-tape pass to Adam Henderon who found the top shelf and his first goal of the season.

The bright spot of the Falcon offensive came from Cam Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.) when he lit the lamp for the first time in his Bowling Green career. Early in the third period, UAF again was applying pressure to BGSU, but the tides turned when defenseman Max Grover (Kentwood, Mich.) delivered a crushing hit on Colton Beck opening up the Alaska defense. Jordan Samuels-Thomas (South Windsor, Conn.) delivered two shots on Nanook goaltender Scott Greenham and the second took a bounce toward Wojtala setting the freshman up for a wide open look at the left side of the net. He then hit the back of the net with a simple wrist shot to draw the deficit to 3-1.

Bowling Green had a chance to draw within one of the Nanooks when the hosts committed a penalty in the eighth minute of the second period, putting BGSU on the power play. Unfortunately, the Falcons' woes while a man up continued and they could not muster a quality scoring opportunity.

Alaska piled on their fourth goal later in the period to take back the momentum of the game when Taranto struck again for the second time in the game. Hammond made two saves off a pair of UAF shots before the second rebound strolled too far away from the sophomore and Taranto found an open area to shoot for and scored again, sealing a 4-1 victory.

Bowling Green finished the night 0-for-3 on the power play and stood unsuccessful on ten attempts on the power play over the weekend. Alaska went 1-for-4 Saturday night and finished the weekend 4-for-11 against BGSU.

Alaska recorded an astounding 25 shots on goal in the first period, setting the tone for a 48 shot-on-goal performance. Bowling Green countered with only 13 shots on goal on the evening.

Andrew Hammond set a new career high in saves in a single contest with 44 Saturday. He previous high was recorded a year ago to the day when he had 43 saves in a tie with Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 30, 2009. He made 22 stops in the first period alone and added 11 more in both the second and third periods.

Bowling Green (3-5-0, 0-4-0-0) will return to its home ice for a weekend set with Notre Dame (5-1-1, 3-0-1-1) next weekend, Nov. 5-6. Both games are set to begin at 7:05 p.m. EST.

To help support the “Bring Back the Glory” campaign, former NHL defenseman Rob Blake will be returning to campus on Nov. 6. A special pre-game reception, featuring guest emcee Mike “Doc” Emrick, will be held at the Mileti Alumni Center will be open to the public upon registration for the event. For more information on the event of how to register, call 419-372-2424 or email respond@bgsu.edu.