The UAF Nanooks hockey team likes a challenge.

At the beginning of the season, the Nanooks defeated and tied with the No. 1-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers; two weeks later they won and lost games against the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines.

Last weekend they won and lost against the No. 1-ranked Miami Redhawks, making them the only team in NCAA hockey to have defeated three separate No. 1-ranked teams this season.

In Friday's game, the Nanooks jumped out to a quick lead as Lucas Burnett ricocheted the puck off a Miami defenseman's skate and into the net at 1:13 in the first period. Several minutes later, the Redhawks received two penalties within 33 seconds, giving the Nanooks a 5-on-3 advantage. The 'Nooks capitalized after just 30 seconds, when Curtis Fraser took a Darcy Campbell pass and scored his 10th goal of the year at 5:36.

UAF continued to pressure Miami offensively, and at 15:41 in the first, Kyle Greentree gave the Nanooks their sixth 3-0 lead of the season. Adam Naglich setup Greentree on a 4-on-3 advantage, scoring his 20th point of the season at 15:41. About a minute later, MU broke the shutout when Nate Davis took a rebound from UAF goalie Wylie Rogers, and sent it home for a power-play goal at 16:42. Despite the goal, UAF was able to take a 3-1 lead into the locker rooms.

After dominating the game throughout the first period, UAF took a backseat in the second, as Miami nailed two more goals to tie the score. Matt Davis scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 1:14, after stealing the puck from UAF's Steve Vanoosten to make it a one point game, and Ryan Jones scored the equalizer at 5:26. Miami continued its offensive against UAF, outshooting the 'Nooks 15-5 in the period, but they were unable to score further.

In the third, after blowing a 3-0 lead, UAF played in a more defensive mode, generating only six shots in the period, but the first one of them counted, as Ryan Muspratt took an interception from Burnett and scored the game-winning goal. The Redhawks didn't give up and pulled the goalie with 59 seconds to go in the game. Twelve seconds later, UAF's Jordan Hendry was called for cross checking, giving MU a 6-on-4 advantage, but despite five shots at the end of the game, the Redhawks were unable to score, giving UAF a 4-3 win. Rogers netted a career-best 41 saves for UAF.

"The biggest thing for our team right now is getting off to a good start," said UAF coach Tavis MacMillian. "By the end of the game our guys were tired, but I thought we did a good job with that."

The loss was only the second at home all season for the No. 1-ranked Redhawks and the first time Miami of Ohio allowed four goals all season. It was only the second time since being swept 5-1 and 5-4 by the Nanooks last Feb. 18 and 19. The victory was also UAF's first at Miami's Goggin Arena since January of 2002.

On Saturday, both teams approached the game with measured expectations. Miami no longer took a victory for granted, and UAF played with the realization that they could best another No. 1 team.

Miami led off the scoring Saturday, as Nate Davis sent the Redhawk's first shot of the game past UAF goalie Chad Johnson for a 1-0 lead after just 26 seconds. The 'Nooks struck back midway through the period when Trevor Hyatt scored his first collegiate goal on assists from Tyler Eckford and Justin Binab, tying the score at 8:06. The rest of the period was scoreless and very clean, without a single penalty.

In the second period, UAF's offense was crippled by penalties totaling nearly nine minutes, including more than two minutes of 5-on-3 play. Despite several good scoring opportunities and a number of shots, the Redhawks were unable to score a power-play goal, thanks to the team's outstanding penalty-killing unit, currently ranked the fifth best in the country.

Miami did manage to score during the period during even strength play when Raymond Eichenlaub fired a one-timer past Johnson, scoring the game-winning goal at 10:21.

In the third period, the Nanooks turned it up a notch, firing 17 shots on goal to Miami's 5. Goalie Jeff Zatkoff, however, was able to turn away all of them, keeping UAF scoreless and securing the Redhawks 20th win of the season.

The Nanooks are now 3-2-1 against No. 1-ranked teams this season, which is the best in college hockey. The team has proven it can beat any opponent in any arena, but the challenge is in consistency. If the 'Nooks hope to secure home ice in the CCHA playoffs, they must remain consistent in their upcoming games, two home series games against the Bowling Green Falcons and the Western Michigan Broncos before a road series against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.