Cosgrove Scores Two; Peterson Makes NMU Debut

Click the AUDIO buttons to hear Marquette's Jakob Peterson's post-game ocmments after his first start, and Trevor Cosgrtove's comments after playing against his former team.

MARQUETTE, Mich. — The Northern Michigan University Wildcat hockey program opened 2022 in dazzling fashion with a 4-2 victory over visiting Colgate University.

Marquette native, Jakob Peterson, who signed with NMU at the semester break, made his first career start for the Wildcats in Friday night's win.

"It was awesome," Peterson said. "It's something you dream of your whole life, and you come here and you watch some of these guys, and you see it for the whole 15 years, all the guys that have played here. But it's something you want to do your whole life, and for it to happen, it was surreal. It's been a dream of mine to play for Northern. It's awesome, and it happened so quick."

Trevor Cosgrove, who joined the Wildcats at the start of 2021-22 as a grad transfer from Colgate, scored the first goal of 2022 with a shot off the top crossbar at 10:29 of the first. Hampus Eriksson tallied an assist on the play to make it 1-0.

Cosgrove scored again minutes later to extend the Wildcat lead to two goals before the Raiders cut that lead in half with a power play goal with 1:14 to go in the opening frame.

"It's exciting to be playing against the guys I played with for four years," Cosgrove said. "I definitely had this one circled."

Joseph Nardi and Alex Frye combined for a pair of goals part way through the second stanza to make it 4-1 in NMU's favor.

The Raiders got one back at 12:29 of the period following a net front scramble for the final goal of the night and the 4-2 score.

The third period saw a handful of close calls for both teams as the Wildcats and Raiders each had multiple chances on the power play.

After killing off a five minute major midway through the final period, the Wildcats saw consecutive power play chances but each shot was denied as they looked to find twine again.

With two minutes left in regulation, the Raiders opted for the extra attacker and peppered Rico DiMatteo with shots but the sophomore netminder stood tall to secure the Wildcat win.

Cosgrove continued his scoring ways with a floater from beyond the blue line just minutes after his first tally. The senior defenseman scored his fifth of the season at 15 minutes even in the opening period with assists to Joseph Nardi and Bo Hanson.

After Colgate sliced the Wildcats' lead in half, Nardi found the back of the net for his third of the year when he capitalized late on the power play to make it a 3-1 game. Mikey Colella and Andre Ghantous each earned assists on the third goal of the night.

Alex Frye scored less than two minutes later to give NMU a three-goal lead at 8:59 of the second frame. AJ Vanderbeck's shot from the point was deflected by Frye out front to light the lamp. Cosgrove picked up his third point of the evening, a career high, with an assist on the goal.

Rico DiMatteo finished with 26 saves in the contest and a .926 save percentage en route to his 11th victory of the season.

Trevor Cosgrove led the team in points with three, including two goals and an assist. His two-goal and three-point night are both career highs.

Captain Joseph Nardi also boasted multiple points in the contest with the game-winning goal and an assist.

Cosgrove, along with AJ Vanderbeck, led the team with seven shots.

In total, the Wildcats outshot their opponent, 38-28, including a doubling up on the Raiders in the final period (14-7).

The Wildcats combined to block 15 shots, with Ben Newhouse stepping in front of four shots and Bo Hanson registering three blocked shots in the victory.

The two teams return to the Berry Events Center tomorrow night (Jan. 8) as they conclude their season series. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:37 p.m.