The hockey Huskies (5-6-2, 3-5-2 WCHA) took a split this past weekend against the 20th Northern Michigan Wildcats (6-4, 4-2 WCHA). The Huskies took game one in Houghton 4-1, but the Wildcats came back to dominate Saturday 4-0 over the Huskies.
On Friday, Nov. 10, the Huskies Sophomore Raymond Brice started out the scoring by knocking the puck past the unsuspecting goalie for the 1-0 lead, assisted by Freshman Greyson Reitmeier. Just about seven minutes later Senior Brent Baltus found the back of the net to take a 2-0 lead, assisted by Sophomores Keegan Ford and Alex Smith. Tech from there went on the power play for charging the goalie, which unfortunately Tech couldn’t capitalize, to end the first 2-0 Tech.
Sophomore Gavin Gould found the back of the net at the 7:01 mark, assisted by Junior Jake Lucchini, to make it 3-0 black and gold. Just over two minutes later Baltus slipped the puck past the goaltender for his second of the night, assisted by Smith and Junior Jake Jackson, for the 4-0 lead. Freshman Seamus Donohue received a penalty for interference at the 13:42 mark, which the Wildcats capitalized on just over a minute later to get their first goal of the weekend.
The third period had no goals, as the Huskies went on to defeat the Wildcats in front of 4,058 fans on Military Appreciation Night 4-1.
“I was extremely proud of the complete level our team had and the balance we got offensively,” Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. “All lines contributed in all facets of the game. I’m thankful for the support we got from the community tonight. We haven’t given them much to cheer about lately. I’m very pleased that the people who deserve it were able to go home happy tonight.”
Tech outshot NMU 32-21, while Junior Packy Munson saved 20 of the shots. Tech was 0-6 on the powerplay while having five penalties for ten minutes in the penalty box.
On Saturday, Nov. 11, produced a traditional rivalry game, as both teams had penalties within the first three minutes. However, Smith, and a Wildcat player both received five-minute majors for facemasking at the 6:27 mark. The Wildcats slipped the puck past Munson at the 16:12 mark for the 1-0 lead. Just over a minute later the Wildcats struck again for the 2-0 lead to end the first.
The Wildcats struck gold at 8:30 as they took the 3-0 lead on the powerplay after Gould was called for interference at the 7:26 mark. After the goal, Munson was pulled, and replaced with Senior Devin Kero, who finished out the rest of the game for the Huskies.
The third period saw the Wildcats take the 4-0 lead at the 8:45 mark. About five minutes later the Wildcats received a five-minute game misconduct for head-butting, which resulted in the ejection of the NMU player. However, that would be all the action in the game as the Wildcats took game two 4-0.
Northern outshot the Huskies 28-19. Munson made 12 saves on 15 shots, and Kero made 12 saves on 13 shots in net for the Huskies. Tech went 0-5 on the powerplay, and had nine penalties for 21 minutes in the penalty box, while NMU went 1-7 on the powerplay but had eight penalties for 30 minutes in the box.
The Huskies will be on the road next week, as they travel to Alaska for two-weeks. Tech will be taking on the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves (1-7-2, 1-2-1 WCHA) this Friday and Saturday night at 11:07 p.m. The Seawolves are looking to rebound off of a 5-1 loss and a 3-3 tie with the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers this past weekend.
