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FAIRBANKS — The Alaska Nanooks are taking advantage of a week off from Central Collegiate Hockey Association play after winning half of their first six conference games.

On the way to the break, the Nanooks upset two nationally ranked rivals. Alaska downed the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines 4-1 Friday in the Carlson Center, eight days after posting a 2-1 victory against the then seventh-ranked Miami RedHawks in Oxford, Ohio.

“Everybody is feeling good right now; confidence is really high,” senior defenseman Steve Vanoosten said after Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Wolverines, keeping the Nanooks from their first sweep of Michigan in the 43-game history of their rivalry.

“We lost tonight, but we felt good and we felt that we did a lot of good things,” Vanoosten said. “We’re happy with the weekend, and it’s not too often that a lot of teams get two points out of Michigan, or even Miami for that matter. The fact that we got two points from those teams in the last two weekends is a good thing for our team.

“It’s a well-deserved week off; we’re going to get rested up and there’s things that we need to work on before we go to Ferris.’’

It’s highly likely that Alaska, which is tied for seventh with Nebraska-Omaha at 3-3-0 CCHA and 5-4-1 overall, will work this week on maintaining a defense that leads the CCHA and is tied for third nationally with Air Force. Through 10 games, the Nanooks allowed 15 goals for an average of 1.5 per game.

Despite Saturday’s loss, Alaska’s defense made the Carlson Center a tough place for the Wolverines.

“They play very defensive, and they play a game that can frustrate the other team,” said Michigan sophomore center Louie Caporusso, who scored Saturday. “We would have the puck in their zone cycling it, and we couldn’t seem to bury it, and then they’d get a goal.”

Caporusso said each Nanook seemed to know his role.

“They’re not out there to make a highlight-reel goal or get a bunch of points,” he said. “They’re out there to win the game, and they don’t care how they do it. They’ll block shots, they’ll lay down in front of the net; I don’t know how many times you had five guys surrounding the crease.

“That’s the thing about that team — they’re all committed to winning, and they do it defensively.”

The Nanooks are hoping that commitment carries over to a series against Ferris State on Nov. 21-22 in Big Rapids, Mich. Alaska is 6-0-2 against the Bulldogs since the 2004-05 season, and the Nanooks’ five seniors have never gotten one point in the standings after playing against Ferris State.

“It’s going to be a huge weekend for us,” Alaska senior goaltender Chad Johnson said of this weekend’s series at Ferris. “We just have to make sure that we stick with our game plan like we did this weekend. It showed that we can play with anyone in the country as long as we stick to our game plan.”

Molle’s presence

It was uncertain before the Michigan series if junior defenseman Dustin Molle would be able to play after he was rocked in a hit by Miami wing Justin Mercier during a 5-0 loss Nov. 1.

Molle seems to have recovered well because he was physical in the corners against the Wolverines and effectively cleared the puck from the Nanooks’ zone.

“I like to try to play physical and knock them off the puck and get it up to the forwards as soon as possible,” Molle said

Molle wobbled when he tried to get up after the hit by Mercier in front of the RedHawks bench. He said there was concern about whether he’d be ready for the Michigan series, but he said he felt better last week.

“As the week progressed, I started feeling better and better,” he said, “and I figured it was fine for me to play, and it really wasn’t a bad injury or anything like that.”

Alaska head coach Dallas Ferguson was happy to haveMolle’s 6-foot-2, 214-pound presence last weekend at the Carlson Center.

“It was kind of one of those weeks where you didn’t know if he was going to be playing or what his status was going to be,” Ferguson said. “He’s a consummate warrior, and there’s not many battles that he’s not going to win. He’s all about the team, and he’s a very valuable person on our back end right now.”

Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.