This story was written by NMU Sports Information

MARQUETTE---Northern Michigan University Men's Ice Hockey (9-10-0, 8-4-0 WCHA) earned their second series sweep of the season with a 4-2 victory over Ferris State University (4-13-1, 2-9-1-0 WCHA) Saturday evening in the Berry Events Center.

It did not take long for the Wildcats to grab an early lead when freshman forward Griffin Loughran(West Seneca, New York) scored his second goal of the season. The goal came just 2:36 into the game with assists going to senior forward Denver Pierce (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) and sophomore forward Joseph Nardi (Edmonton, Alberta). For Pierce, it was his third assist of the season while Nardi picked up his fourth.

Nearly 12 minutes went by without a score after Loughran's goal, but the Wildcats would quickly add two more goals before the first intermission. Senior defenseman Tony Bretzman (Mendota Heights, Minnesota) found his third goal of the season with six minutes to play, putting NMU up a pair. Freshmen forwards Ty Redman (Edmonton, Alberta) and Loughran each recorded assists for their third and first of the season.

With less than three minutes remaining in the period, senior forward Adam Rockwood (Coquitlam, British Columbia) scored his third of the season. Loughran recorded his first career multi-point outing when he was credited with an assist on the goal along with junior forward Darien Craighead (Surrey, British Columbia) who also picked up his third of the season.

The Bulldogs attempted to mount a comeback in the opening minutes of the second period. They scored less than three minutes in and then cut the deficit to one in the seventh minute of the period. It was Nardi who thwart the comeback bid for FSU with his second goal of the season nine minutes in. It was Loughran who again picked up an assist for his second of the game and third point of the evening. Senior defenseman Ryan Black (Stillwater, Minnesota) sent the puck to Loughran for his third assist of the season.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the final period, giving NMU the 4-2 victory. It was the second sweep of the season for the Wildcats who now move into fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings with 24 points. NMU will look to carry the momentum into 2019 after finishing the 2017-18 regular season campaign with 10-3-1 mark after the calendar year began.

Senior goaltender Atte Tolvanen (Vihti, Finland) picked up his ninth victory of the season in-goal after making 24 saves. He now has 490 saves on the season which are currently second-most in the NCAA and needs just 412 more to break the NMU all-time saves record. Tolvanen also now owns a .919 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average this season.

Junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu (Duluth, Minnesota) skated in his 100th career contest for NMU on Saturday joining Loggins, Tolvanen and senior defenseman James Vermeulen (Stony Plain, Alberta) as current Wildcats to accomplish the feat. Craighead, junior forward Luke Voltin(Blaine, Minnesota), and senior defenseman Connor Frantti (Spring Grove, Illinois) could also reach 100 games this season.

The Wildcats will now get two weekends off for the holiday's before beginning 2019 on the road. NMU will spend two weeks in Alaska for a series against the University of Alaska Fairbanks on January 4-5 and series with the University of Alaska Anchorage January 11-12.

This story was written by NMU Sports Information

MARQUETTE---The Northern Michigan University hockey team earned a 4-1 victory over Ferris State University (4-12-1, 2-8-1-0 WCHA) in the Berry Event Center. The two teams will meet again on Saturday before a two week break for the holidays.

It was Ferris St. that jumped out to an early lead with a goal just two minutes into the game. Their lead was short-lived as senior forward Troy Loggins (Huntington Beach, California) found the back of the net at the eight-minute mark.

His eighth goal of the season knotted the game at one with sophomore defenseman Adam Roeder (Ballwin, Missouri) and junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu(Duluth, Minnesota) picking up their first and 11th assists of the season.