“It was a gutty performance tonight,” NMU coach Walt Kyle sad. “Last night we’re down by two and get the win and tonight we’re down by one and end up getting a tie.”
 

The two teams played in overtime for the second night in a row as NMU defeated UAF 4-3 after scoring 52 seconds into the frame on Friday. Northern is now 5-6-3 overall and 2-5-3-1 in the CCHA. UAF is 6-5-3 and 4-4-2 in conference play.

“I like the way we came out and played early and then it seemed like we backed up and there was a little apprehension,” Kyle added. “They did a great job coming at us and we just couldn’t quite get into the flow of things because we were changing lines and playing with a short bench.”

The ‘Cats trailed 2-1 entering the third period before sophomore forward Reed Seckel tied up the game with a tip in on a shot off the stick of sophomore defenseman Mitch Jones. Junior forward Erik Higby won the faceoff back to Jones for the second assist.

Junior goaltender Jared Coreau made 34 saves in the game, including 12 in the third period and three in the overtime. He stopped Andy Taranto on a short-handed breakaway in the third and stopped both chances in the shootout.

Jones was the first shooter for NMU in the shootout. He used a double move to get the puck past UAF goaltender John Keeney. Freshman Ryan Aynsley scored the second shootout chance as he wristed a shot over Keeney’s blocker.

It was NMU’s first shootout win in its third chance this season and the first time the ‘Cats capitalized on a shootout chance.

“Coreau was good tonight and the two guys in the shootout did a great job,” Kyle said.

Junior forward Stephan Vigier opened the game’s scoring with his third of the season 6:09 into the first. Seckel fed Vigier out front and senior defenseman Scott Macaulay also assisted on the goal.

The Nanooks answered with two goals in the first. Nolan Kaiser scored less than a minute later (6:57) and Tyler Morley scored 12:35 into the first for the 2-1 lead.

Keeney finished the game with 29 saves and is 2-2-1 on the season.

NMU took a season-low two minor penalties. UAF had seven penalties for 25 minutes and killed off a five-minute major as NMU was 1-for-6 on the man advantage. The Nanooks were 1-for-2 on the power play.

UAF outshot NMU 36-31. It was the second time this season NMU had over 30 shots.

The two teams meet in Fairbanks on Jan. 25-26 for the second series of the season.

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FRIDAY'S WILDCAT-NANOOK GAME RECAP

The Northern Michigan University hockey team scored a short-handed goal in overtime for a 4-3 win over the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Friday night from the Berry Events Center.

Senior captain Scott Macaulay streaked up the right side of the ice and shot the puck into the upper corner of the Nanooks net for the game-winner.

NMU trailed 2-0 entering the second period but scored three goals to take the lead. UAF tied up the game with 56 seconds left in the third with a short-handed goal.

The Wildcats are now 5-6-2 overall and 2-5-2 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. The Nanooks are 6-5-2 and 4-4-1 in conference play.

“It was a big win and a win we needed,” NMU coach Walt Kyle said. “It felt like we had a cloud over our head but Scotty made a big time play and when you’re struggling it takes something like that to take yourself out of it.”

Junior forward Jake Johnson brought the ‘Cats to within one with his first goal of the season and second of his career 3:08 into the second.

Freshman forward Robert Lindores assisted on the tally.

Three and half minutes later, senior forward Kory Kaunisto tied up the game at two with his second of the year from Macaulay and Johnson.

Junior Wade Epp gave Northern the 3-2 lead with a blast from the blue line. Assisting on Epp’s second of the year was junior defenseman CJ Ludwig and sophomore forward Reed Seckel. UAF tied up the game in the third with a goal by Andy Taranto.

Macaulay’s game-winner came 52 seconds into the extra session.

Adam Henderson opened the game’s scoring 7:19 into the first. Jarret Granberg made it a 2-0 lead for Alaska 15:43 into the opening frame. Junior goaltender Jared Coreau had 23 saves between the pipes and is now 5-6-2 on the season.

Steve Thompson (2-2-0) had 14 saves for UAF. Each team took four minor penalties and both were 0-for-4 on the man advantage.
 

The two teams meet for the series finale at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday.

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