The long-standing rivalry between Michigan Tech and the Northern Michigan hockey teams gave the crowd a dramatic series over the weekend, with both teams gaining victories.
On Friday night in Marquette, the newly ranked No. 19 Huskies came out with complete control of the scoring during the first and second period, climbing to a seven-goal lead, with top scorers including Isaac Gordon and Teydon Trembecky. The Wildcats were unable to answer, scoring two goals late in the third period, but not before Trembecky scored one more goal, securing Tech’s sixth straight win against Northern.
The series took a turn on Saturday night when Tech played here in Houghton. The first goal that the Huskies scored against Northern Michigan in the first period had some controversy, and after some back and forth between the Northern Michigan Coach Dave Shyiak and the Lead Referee, with Shyiak challenging for a possible goaltender interference. Upon further review, referees called a goaltender interference from Michigan Tech. Dirk Hembroff announced at the game, “That’s a tough call. Two players going in there, and Trembecky was not in the direct line with the goaltender until it appeared he made contact with a green jersey, but that was the official’s view of it.” The replay showed that Michigan Tech was coming in with their foot, catching the goaltender, while a Northern Michigan player was coming in after, bringing them all out of the goal crease. Since the official call was that Michigan Tech was the cause of the interference, their goal against Northern Michigan was removed. This didn’t shake the Huskies, though, because they came right back with a legitimate goal through the back door, made by number ten, Elias Jansson.
The game continued as Northern Michigan player number 19, Tobias Pitka, came back with a score against the Huskies using the back door. Though looking back at the game replays, it seemed that Michigan Tech’s number two, Tom Leppa, was about two feet from the pass to Pitka without his hockey stick. Northern kept strong and scored against the Huskies once again by sifting through three Michigan Tech players, with the final blow made by number 28, Matthew Argentina.
This shook the Huskies so much that they played with an empty net for the remainder of the game to try to get an edge on the Wildcats. This was quickly followed by a long shot goal against the Huskies made by Argentina, with the goaltender missing in action. Michigan Tech stayed strong and pushed forward with Trembecky taking the lead and scoring a goal against Northern Michigan, bringing the final score to two to three.
Despite the losses, hockey games are still a major highlight for Michigan Tech students.
