SATURDAY NIGHT GAME RECAPS

This story was written by NMU Sports Information

HOUGHTON, Mich. — The Wildcat hockey team (18-14-4, 16-11-1-1 WCHA) earned the weekend split with Michigan Tech (19-15-3, 14-12-2-0 WCHA) when senior Darien Craighead net his second of the series with 63 seconds remaining in the game for the 3-2 final.

The Huskies opened the scoring at 17:24 when a wrister off the faceoff beat Wildcat netminder Nolan Kent stick side. MTU would take that 1-0 lead to the locker room after one period with the Wildcats looking for the equalizer.

NMU tied things up with a tip-in goal from Luke Voltin at 4:08 of the second period. Less than a minute later, Andre Ghantous sent one trickling between the pads of MTU's Jurusik for their first lead of the weekend.

The Wildcats would take that 2-1 lead with them to second intermission with a 21-16 advantage in shots, including 16 through the second set of 20 minutes.

MTU tied things up late in the third period and all signs pointed towards overtime to determine a victor but Darien Craighead had other plans as he scored with 63 seconds left in regulation to secure home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

Brandon Schultz picked up the puck in the Husky zone and fired one towards net. Luke Voltin got his stick on it, deflecting it past Jurusik's blocker and into the back of the net for the tying goal.

Just 58 seconds after Voltin's goal, Andre Ghantous gave NMU the 2-1 lead when he picked up the puck behind the Husky net and tucked it home for the goal.

Nolan Kent left his net to break up a Husky rush late, chipping the puck away from the MTU forward. Darien Craighead then picked up the puck near the empty net and skated it the length of the ice, firing a rocket on net and hitting twine for the game-winning goal. Rylan Yaremko also picked up an assist on the goal, helping the Wildcats secure home ice through the first round of playoffs.

The Wildcats held the edge in shots, posting 29 on net to the Huskies' 24, including 16 in the middle frame as they jumped out to the 2-1 lead.

Sophomore netminder Nolan Kent made 22 saves on the night, including multiple chances on the penalty kill to keep the Wildcats on top for the majority of the night.
Darien Craighead now boasts 13 career game-winning goals and found his third of the season.

With a goal in the second period, Voltin joined classmates Phil Beaulieu and Darien Craighead with goals on their senior weekend. All three seniors found the back of the net during their final weekend of the regular season in a Wildcat jersey.

The Wildcats will host Michigan Tech next weekend in a best-of-three series for the WCHA Quarterfinals. The win at MacInnes Ice Arena secured a third place finish in the WCHA standings, accumulating 50 points with a 16-11-1-1 league record.


FRIDAY NIGHT GAME RECAPS

Story Courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics

MARQUETTE, Mich. – Michigan Tech won its fourth straight game with an 8-4 victory at Northern Michigan Friday (Feb. 28). Trenton Bliss had a hat trick as the Huskies scored their most goals ever in the Berry Events Center and tied for the most goals in a single game in the all-time series.
 

Tech also won its third game this season over Northern and improved to 19-14-3 overall and 14-11-2-0 in the WCHA.
 

"I liked the offensive creativity we had tonight," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "Our big players really stepped up. Going into the game, I thought that we could have success here on the big sheet and we did. I'm very proud of the effort."
 

The Huskies led 4-3 entering the third and blew things wide open. Logan Ganie scored the eventual game-winner 4:47 after the second intermission with his second of the season from Parker Saretsky and Seamus Donohue.
 

Bliss picked up his second goal of the night when he tipped in a shot by Brenden Datema 36 seconds later. Tommy Parrottino added the second assist as the Huskies went up 6-3.
 

Alec Broetzman finished off a shorthanded 2-on-1 break from Alex Smith at 11:17 to make it a four-goal game. It was Broetzman's team-leading 16th of the season.

Vincent de Mey scored on the power play for the Wildcats before Bliss finished off the hat trick with a spinning shot as the goaltender whiffed on the poke check with 3:09 left in the game. Parrottino and Colin Swoyer assisted on the 12th goal of the season for Bliss.
 

"The biggest thing tonight is that guys worked through some struggles early in the game and got better as it went on," Shawhan said. "Trenton's been great all year for us and pucks went in for him tonight."
 

The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Greyson Reitmeier scored his fourth career goal in Marquette and second of the season 10:52 into the game with assists going to Jake Crespi and Raymond Brice.
 

Broetzman scored his first of the game on the power play at 14:23 from Brian Halonen and Eric Gotz to make it 2-0.
 

Smith found the back of the net 2:05 later from Halonen and Broetzman for his sixth of the season.
 

NMU (17-14-4, 15-11-1-1 WCHA) cut into the lead with a pair of 5-on-3 power-play goals by Philip Beaulieu and Darien Craighead.
 

Bliss scored his first of the night 3:41 into the second with a power-play goal from Keegan Ford and Tommy Parrottino.
 

Griffin Loughran made it a 4-3 game with 7:00 left in the second.
 

"I enjoy this group," added Shawhan. "I like what the seniors have done and what the leaders have done. We continue to get better and grow as a team and you can't ask for more than that."
 

NMU was credited with 38 shots on the night. Matt Jurusik had nine saves in the first—including a huge stop on a 2-on-1 2:00 into the game—10 in the second, and 15 in the third. He improved to 17-9-3 on the season. Nolan Kent had 22 saves on 30 shots for NMU.
 

Tech was whistled for six penalties and NMU had five. Each team scored three power-play goals.
 

Bliss joins Broetzman (Robert Morris – Oct. 6), Tommy Parrottion (Bowling Green – Oct. 26), and Logan Pietila (GLI vs. Michigan – Dec. 31) who have also recorded hat tricks. The last time Tech had 4 hat tricks in a season was 1991-92 and the last time the Huskies had 4 hat tricks from 4 different players was 1983-84.
 

Broetzman's shorthanded goal was his second of the year after scoring the game-winner in overtime at RMU on Oct. 5. The Huskies now have four shortys this season.

The two teams will wrap up the regular season on Saturday at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
 

"We gave ourselves a chance for home playoffs tonight," said Shawhan. "They're going to be a hungry team tomorrow night. I expect they'll bounce back and give us their best."

The puck drops at 6:07 p.m. Seniors Raymond Brice, Keegan Ford, Matt Jurusik, Todd Kiilunen, and Alex Smith will be honored after the game.


This story was written by NMU Sports Information

MARQUETTE, Mich. — The final home game of the regular season turned into a barn burner at the Berry Events Center as the Northern Michigan University hockey team fell to Michigan Tech, 8-4, Friday night.

The Huskies jumped out to a quick three-goal lead before two Wildcat seniors scored in the final minutes of the first period to head to the locker rooms down by one, 3-2.

NMU evened the shots up through the middle frame, with both teams firing 22 shots on net. Both teams added a goal to their tally as the Wildcats entered the third period still down by one, 4-3.

Vincent de Mey would score once more for the Wildcats in the third period but it was not enough as the Huskies found the back of the net four more times for the final 8-4 score.

Phil Beaulieu got the Wildcats on the board at 17:59. As the Wildcat net stood empty due to a delayed penalty call on the Huskies, Beaulieu capitalized on the six-on-three chance to bring his team within two late in the opening period. Darien Craighead and Vincent de Mey picked up the assists on the goal.

His classmate, fellow senior Darien Craighead tallied the next goal just 29 seconds later during the Wildcats' five-on-three opportunity. Playing a game of tic-tac-toe, Beaulieu's initial shot was blocked by a Husky defenders before Vincent de Mey fired one on net. Craighead and Loughran both tapped at the puck on the doorstep before Craighead was able to corral it for the score.

Following a Husky goal early in the middle period, Griffin Loughran brought the Wildcats back within one as he scored his 23rd of the year as he slid up the slot to Jurusik's blocker side and caught him in motion for the third goal of the night. Joseph Nardi fed Loughran the puck for his 19th team-leading assist of the season.

The final Wildcat tally came off the stick of de Mey. On the power play, the Wildcats rush, led by Brandon Schultz and de Mey, beat a handful of defenders into the offensive end. With no open lane in front, Schultz sent the puck over to de Mey who picked up his third point of the night and first goal.

Averaging 0.68 goals per game, Loughran currently ranks sixth among the nation's best in goals per game while his 23 goals is second overall.

With 3.20 goals per game, the Wildcat offense is operating as the 14th highest in the country this season and third in the WCHA.

The Wildcats close out the regular season Saturday night with a trip to Houghton, Michigan for the final meeting between them and the Huskies of MTU this month.