Road trip roundup: UAF Rifle lone bright spot in tough weekend for Interior Alaska teams away from home

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - They may not have been dodging potholes while driving down the Alaska Highway in a teetering van, but Interior Alaska sports squads still dealt with plenty of bumps on their weekend road trips.

One team did find a smooth path, with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) rifle team enjoying a sweep at Navy.

Fairbanks Ice Dogs

The New Year hasn’t been kind to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, and they dropped their fourth and fifth straight on Friday and Saturday in Anchorage to the Wolverines.

Saturday’s loss also means it’s the second weekend running that the Wolverines have swept the Ice Dogs, with four of the five losses in the current streak coming at the hands of their in-state rivals.

The Wolverines’ offense simply proved too much to handle Friday, outscoring the Ice Dogs 5-1 in busy second and third periods.

A slow and scoreless first period was quickly forgotten after the Wolverines netted three unanswered goals.

Although Nolan Abraham did put one home for the Ice Dogs, the cliche fits: It was too little, too late, and the Wolverines capped off the game with two additional goals.

The Ice Dogs net saw even more attention Saturday, as Anchorage’s offensive onslaught buried seven in another four-goal loss for Fairbanks.

The back-to-back sweeps have pushed the Ice Dogs down in both Club 49 Cup and NAHL Midwest Division standings.

Fairbanks is now second in the Club 49 Cup race, 11 points behind first-place Anchorage and just one point ahead of the Kenai River Brown Bears.

In the Midwest Division, the sixth-place Ice Dogs are falling further off pace, trailing the division-leading Janesville Jets by 17 points.

The Ice Dogs return home for a three-game series against the Wisconsin Windigo, with the first meeting Thursday at 7 p.m.

UAF Basketball

Down in Washington, the UAF Men’s Basketball team got its offense rolling Saturday — but not rolling as fast as the Western Washington Vikings.

The Nanooks offense sunk 92 points against the Vikings, the most they’ve put on the scoreboard during regulation all season. The only time UAF’s offense scored more was a Jan. 11 double-overtime loss to Northwest Nazarene University, when the Nanooks finished with 93.

Alaska also outshot the Vikings from behind the arc Saturday, scoring 56% of their 3-point attempts, and even stretched a first half-lead to double-digits on more than one occasion.

But ultimately, it just wasn’t enough. Western Washington scorched the courts in the second half, scoring 62 points after the break.

And the Nanooks’ positive offensive display was matched by their worst defensive outcome of the season, giving up a whopping 119 to the Vikings.

The loss sees the Nanooks men’s record fall to 3-12 overall, 1-6 in GNAC play. Their next game is at home against Saint Martin’s on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The story was similar for the UAF Women’s Basketball team, with a bright start soon dimmed by their opponent’s high-flying offense.

The Lady Nanooks took on the Central Washington Saturday, with their road trip also not proving favorable in a 64-47 loss to the Wildcats.

UAF grabbed the lead early on through an Emma Wass layup and Kayla Johnson jumper, getting the Lady Nanooks on the board first.

But the wildcats fought back to tie the game at 10 within just minutes, and then never looked back. Central Washington went on an 8-0 run to finish out the first quarter and carried the lead out of reach as the game progressed.

The Lady Nanooks never led the game again.

For their next matchup, the Lady Nanooks will also look to bounce back against Saint Martin’s in a Thursday home game at 5:15 p.m.

UAF Rifle

The long shadow cast by other Interior teams’ losses stopped short of shrouding the UAF Rifle team.

The Nanooks fired their way to victory on Saturday and Sunday, starting their New Year off right with back-to-back away wins at Navy: 4712-4695 on day one, and 4724-4704 on day two.

The Nanooks not only beat out the Midshipmen on aggregate but also separately in the two disciplines, getting the edge in smallbore and air rifle on both Saturday and Sunday.

Nanooks shooter Rachael Charles also posted dominant performances both days, topping the individual standings with an aggregate score of 1185 the first day and 1186 on Sunday.

The win moves the Nanooks to 7-2 on the season, and they remain 3-2 in the Patriot Rifle Conference. They stay on the road for the next matchup, Feb. 1 at Ohio State University.

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