Northern Hockey Earns Split With 5-1 Win In Sault

This story was written by NMU Sports Information

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — The Northern Michigan University hockey team (17-13-4, 15-10-1-1 WCHA) earned the weekend split with Lake Superior State University (11-21-4, 9-12-4-4 WCHA), 5-1, snapping their losing streak and returning to the win column at Taffy Abel Arena Saturday night.

The Wildcats drew first blood when Mitchel Slattery found twine at 3:46 of the opening period, picking up the rebound from Darien Craighead on the doorstep for the 1-0 lead.

After Nolan Kent stifled a few shots on a two-on-one rush to keep the Wildcats on top half way through the period before Luke Voltin scored his second of the weekend to give his team the two-goal lead with just over four minutes to play in the opening frame.

Despite being outshot, 10-7, to start things off, NMU took the 2-0 lead to the locker room for their first intermission.

A pair of power play goals on a LSSU major penalty gave the Wildcats the 4-0 lead through 40 minutes of play. Joseph Nardi scored the first goal of the period and third for NMU on the night before his linemate Griffin Loughran found the back of the net just 1:35 later to put the team up 4-0 late.

Nolan Kent stopped two huge breakaway chances for the Lakers in the final three minutes of play to keep the home team off the board after two periods of hockey.

The Lakers spoiled Kent's shutout bid at 8:06 of the third period, finding the back of the net on a backhander past the Wildcat goaltender to cut the NMU lead to 4-1.

Playing six-on-four as the Lakers pulled their netminder late in the third period, Brandon Schultz and Nardi combined to find the empty net and give the Wildcats their final score of 5-1.

Nolan Kent posted 31 saves in the victory, including a handful of huge saves late in the game to maintain the Wildcats' four-goal lead.

Mitchel Slattery opened the scoring for NMU with 16:14 to play in the opening period when he picked up the rebound out front and snuck it past Lakers netminder Mareks Mitens' blocker for the 1-0 score. Darien Craighead, who had the initial shot saved, was fed the puck by Grant Loven along the boards as both were credited with assists on the goal.

Luke Voltin extended the lead to two when he found twine for the second straight night and his first career goal streak with 4:23 to play in the first period. Voltin won the faceoff in the Laker zone and although his first shot was turned aside, he was able to corral the puck and fire it home, unassisted, to give the team the 2-0 lead through the first 20 minutes of play.

Joseph Nardi extended the Wildcat lead with his five-hole goal at 14:48 of the second period with a power play goal. Vincent de Mey leapt in the air as the Lakers tried to clear their zone, knocking the puck back to the ice and passing it up to Nardi for the tally.

Just 1:35 later, the nation's leading goal scorer (at the time) snapped his scoring drought as Griffin Loughran tapped the puck in at the near post to give NMU the 4-0 lead.Ty Readman carried the puck up before sending it back towards the blue line where Philip Beaulieu tried a one-timer at the net. Initially stopped by Mitens, Loughran picked up the loose puck and buried it for his 22nd of the season.

Shorthanded and with the Laker net open, the Wildcats sent the puck flying into the LSSU zone with less than a minute to play in regulation. The Lakers picked up the puck but Brandon Schultz picked it off a defenders stick deep in their zone and fed it over to Nardi for his empty net goal and second tally of the night.
Hank Sorensen led the team in shots on net, posting five but was unable to crack Mitens in the Laker goal. A handful of forwards sat close behind Sorensen with four a piece in Griffin Loughran, Joseph Nardi and Luke Voltin, all of whom posted at least one goal in the victory.

Three Wildcat defensemen posted three blocks each for the team lead. Ben Newhouse, Rylan Yaremko and Michael Van Unen all jumped in front of three Laker shots to keep the Wildcats ahead Saturday night in the Soo.

Griffin Loughran now boasts the second most goals in the nation as he recorded his 22nd of the season in the second period of tonight's matchup at LSSU. He also leads the team in points with 37 while 11th in the nation in the same category (22-15-37).

The men return home to the Berry Events Center for their final home game of the regular season as they host night one of a home-and-home series against rival Michigan Tech.

Puck drop for Friday night is set for 7:07 p.m. before a 6:07 start the following night in Houghton, Michigan.

Prior to puck drop on Friday night, the team will honor their three seniors in Philip Beaulieu, Darien Craighead and Luke Voltin.

This story was written by Lake Superior State Athletics

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State hockey team's three goal first period propelled the team to a 6-1 victory against the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Friday, Feb. 21 at the Taffy Abel Arena in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) contest.

The Lakers scored three straight goals in the opening period to hold a 3-0 lead over the Wildcats at the end of the first period. Max Humitz would net his team-leading 18th goal of the season at 7:47 as he tallied his 60th career goal as a Laker. The play began when Pete Veillette kept the puck in the offensive zone to prevent the Lakers from going offside on the play. Veillette found Louis Boudon who then wrapped a pass to Humitz.

Humitz fired the shot past Wildcat goaltender Nolan Kent to give the Lakers a 1-0 advantage. With the goal, Humitz became the 22nd player in Laker history to record 60 career goals, and the first to reach the milestone since Sean Tallaire during the 1994-95 season.

Ashton Calder doubled the Lakers lead at 8:40 of the first period when he capped off a strong individual effort with his 11th goal of the season. After Hampus Eriksson fed a pass up the boards to spring Calder out of the zone, the Sault Ste. Marie native skated into the offensive zone and would toe drag the puck around the Wildcat defender to get the shot off for a 2-0 Lakers lead.

The Wildcats would make a goaltending change following the goal from Calder, replacing Kent with John Hawthorne.

Humitz would net his second goal of the game and his 19th of the season at 18:35 of the first period. The play opened with the two Upper Peninsula rivals taking a faceoff in Northern's defensive zone.

Boudon and the Wildcat centerman would be tied up on the draw, with the puck sitting on the dot before Veillette would skate in and grab the loose puck. Veillette sent a pass back to Humitz who fired a one timer to give the Lakers a three goal lead.

At 13:06 of the second period, the Lakers would close out a strong penalty kill with a shorthanded goal by senior forward Brendan McKay. With only a few seconds remaining on Tyer Anderson's tripping penalty, the Lakers would skate in on an odd man rush with McKay and Brayden Gelsinger.

Gelsinger would get the initial shot on goal that Hawthorne made the save on but let out a big rebound that McKay would bury the puck into the open net for the 4-0 lead.

The Lakers special teams continued to provide a spark for the team in the second period as Veillette scored his 10th goal of the season while the Lakers were on the power play. With the team having solid movement of the puck on the man advantage, Lukas Kaelble and Dustin Manz were the last two Lakers to have possession of the puck before Veillette sent a blast in off the post to give the Lakers a 5-0 lead at 15:24.

In the third period, the Wildcats got on the board at 5:41 whe Luke Voltin scored his fifth goal of the season to make it a 5-1 game.

Before the end of the game, Bryan Basilico would score his first goal of the season at 13:32 of the third period after being set up by McKay. The senior forward would cap of the game's scoring, making it a 6-1 game.

The Lakers outshot the Wildcats by a final score of 33-26 including 15 shots in the first period. Mitens finished the game with 25 saves while the goaltending duo for the Wildcats combined for 27 saves in the game.