The Northern Michigan University hockey team split its weekend series with the Bemidji State Beavers, winning 2-0 Friday night before losing Saturday's rematch, 7-1.
SATURDAY GAME RECAP COURTESY OF NMU SPORTS INFORMATION
MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The NMU hockey team dropped game two of the weekend series against the Bemidji State Beavers by a score of 7-1.
The Beavers came out of the gate with a lot of jump and capitalized using their speed, as Bemidji scored three goals on the rush in quick succession. Former Wildcat Reilly Funk scored back-to-back tallies, Vann Yuhas added the Beavers' third, and a stunning minute and a half stretch saw Bemidji take a late 3-0 lead into the first period intermission.
It was the 'Cats who came out with speed in the second, and this time it was goalie Max Hildebrand who was forced to make key saves for his team. The 'Cats would break through with a goal from Caiden Gault on the power play, but Bemidji scored twice in the final ten minutes to carry a 5-1 lead into the locker room. Bemidji's Peer had two five-minute major penalties, along with receiving a game misconduct infraction in the dying seconds of the middle frame, and the Wildcats would have 4:35 of power play time left to start the third period.
The 'Cats failed to convert on the man advantage to start the final frame, and goals from Luke Roelofs and Adam Flammang would serve as the final tallies.
FRIDAY GAME RECAP COURTESY OF NMU SPORTS INFORMATION
MARQUETTE, Mich. -- Carrying momentum from the victory on Saturday against Michigan Tech in Houghton, the Wildcats scraped out a 2-0 win against the Bemidji State Beavers to open the weekend series.
Hobey Baker award nominee and Mike Richter Award 'Watch List' representative, Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, made 38 saves to earn his first career collegiate shutout, earning first star honors and playing a pivotal role in tonight's outcome.
"Being able to build off of the momentum that we gained last weekend was huge," added Auyeung-Ashton in a post-game press conference. "Getting a win against our rival in their arena was big for our team, and the goal at practice this week has been to keep [that momentum] going into the game tonight."
Head coach Dave Shyiak was also complimentary of his goaltender during his post-game media availability.
"Bemidji was very good; they're fast, they counter really well, they're good off the rush, but I think the difference in the game was that Oliver was outstanding in the net. He was the best player on the ice.
While Auyeung-Ashton will get the spotlight for an unblemished performance, the netminder had a lot of praise for his teammates who were blocking shots and getting into shooting lanes down the stretch. Tynan Ewart and Mathew Ward led all skaters with four, while Joe Schiller, Nicolas Ardanaz, and Kyle Bettens all recorded three blocks. The Wildcats blocked 28 shots for the game, a mark that is the seventh-most since 2012, and setting a new season-high.
"It was good to see the guys sacrificing the body and blocking shots down the stretch there… [the Beavers] know how to work the offensive zone, and it's really helpful when our guys sacrifice their body [to block shots]."
The 'Cats jumped off to a hot start, scoring on the first shot of the game off a point shot through traffic from the stick of Warren Clark just 54 seconds in. Tobias Pitka capitalized off a Beaver turnover in the neutral zone and made it 2-0 with just over three minutes left in the opening frame.
"I liked our start, we got the [early] first one and were able to extend the lead, then I thought the ice tilted a little bit into [Bemidji's] favor."
The Wildcats were out shot 39-17 on target with shot attempts 87-31 in Bemidji's favor, with a big reason for that was the Wildcats early goals Beaver's desperation to get anything past Auyeung-Ashton. The Beavers fired 18 of their shots on target and 46 of the attempts the third period alone. The Beavers pulled starting netminder Max Hildebrand with just under five minutes of game time left, and the 'Cats were able to weather the 18 shot attempts
"We didn't manage the puck well and we had too many turnovers in the middle of the ice, but they're a good team and you have to give them credit. I thought the last ten minutes [of the game] we did a lot of good things, and then when the game counted the most at the end when they pulled the goalie, we won a handful of key faceoffs, had some good blocks, and Olly came up with some saves. Big win for our guys."
With the win, the Wildcats now move two points ahead of Ferris State in the CCHA standings and into the final playoff position. While Shyiak may not be 100% pleased with the complete team effort, remarking that "an ugly win is better than an ugly loss", he emphasized that his young club has "more to give" as the season begins to wind its way down and inch closer to the post season.
"There were some things in the game that as a coach I really liked, but there were other segments where we have to do a better job… We're a team that's learning how to win the right way; there were times where we showed a bit of panic, and we have to show more poise in all three periods… Bemidji is a good team, and we can't give them easy offense by turning pucks over."
