INSIDE HOCKEY

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The Alaska Nanooks came back on Western Michigan late in the third and walked away with the extra point in the shootout Saturday night.

Alaska jumped on the board late in the first period with two quick goals from Ron Meyers and Derek Klassen. 

The Nanooks took the 2-0 lead into the second period, but Trevor Elias put the Broncos on the board with a breakaway goal at 8:31 in the second period.

The Broncos took the momentum and ran with it. Jordan Collins ripped a slap shot high over Scott Greenham’s Blocker to tie the game up just 28 seconds after Elias’ goal.

With just 1:20 gone in the third period, Alaska’s Dion Knelsen scored a power play goal to give the Nanooks a 3-2 lead. Knelsen picked up a loose puck just below the hash marks and snapped a quick shot past Riley Gill. Andy Taranto and Nik Yaremchuk the earned assists.

It didn’t take long for Western Michigan to respond. Chris Clackson found the back of the net after he banged in a rebound through a scramble in front of the Alaska net. 

Elias struck again with 4:41 to play. Elias walked into the zone and couldn’t find a handle on the puck but took a wobbly wrist shot that beat Greenham low to the blocker side.

“Any goal that puts you up one with four minutes left is going to jumpstart the team," Elias said. "We had a lot of momentum but we couldn’t hang on."

Western Michigan’s Ross Henry took a tripping penalty with 1:51 to play. Alaska head coach Dallas Ferguson pulled Greenham at 1:29 after a time out. With the six-on-four advantage, the Nanooks’ Joe Sova blasted a slap shot past Gill with 14 minutes to play.

Both teams had their chances in the overtime period, but neither ended the game, forcing a shootout.

After Alaska’s and Western Michigan’s first shooters missed, Taranto snapped a shot past Gill to put the Nanooks up 1-0 in the shootout. Max Campbell hit the post and Derek Roehl was stopped, giving Alaska the extra point.

“I’m very proud of our effort all weekend long,” said Western Michigan head coach Jim Culhane. “We battled extremely hard throughout both hockey games. There is no question in my mind that we deserve a better fate, better outcome then what we have this evening, but we’ll take the four points in conference play.”

Alaska will play host to Nebraska-Omaha, while Western Michigan will play a home-and-home with Ferris State next weekend.