BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - The Northern Michigan Wildcats (4-1-1, 2-0-0-0 WCHA) swept the Ferris State Bulldogs (2-3-0, 0-2-0-0 WCHA) Saturday evening at Ewigleben Arena behind a hat trick performance from sophomore forward Griffin Loughran and a career-high outing for Nolan Kent who stopped 39 shots faced in the win.

The Wildcats found the back of the net four times in the opening frame to give the team a 4-1 lead heading into the first intermission. The Bulldogs got two back in the middle period before tying the game at 4-4 late in the third with a powerplay tally at 17:24. With overtime in sight for the two, Griffin Loughran scored his second and third of the game, and third and fourth of the weekend, to give the Wildcats their first road sweep since Alaska Anchorage last season (January 11-12, 2019). 

GOALS

• Mitchel Slattery opened the scoring for the Wildcats just 42 seconds into the tilt in Big Rapids when he picked up Luke Voltin's rebound at the top in the slot and tucked the puck between the pads of Bulldogs' Salmenkangas. Hank Sorensen also got his stick on the puck in front also for the primary assist.

• Adam Roeder scored his first of the season off a one-time rocket out front to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Caleb Schroer was credited with the lone assist on the goal.

• Shortly after Ferris State cut the lead in half, Griffin Loughran scored an unassisted goal for his third of the season and extended his point-streak to a career-long five games (3-3-6).

• Less than a minute after Loughran's goal, Vincent de Mey scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season with a wrister just outside the near face-off circle. Ty Readman earned an assist on the play for his second point of the weekend.

• With under two minutes remaining in the final period and overtime looming, Loughran scored his second of the game and third of the weekend to put Northern Michigan back on top, 5-4. Darien Craighead passed the puck up ice to Loughran who carried the puck over the blue line on a breakaway and beat Ferris State's goaltender, McPhail top shelf. 

• Loughran completed his first-career hat trick at 19:18 of the third frame with an empty net goal. Rylan Yaremko was credited with an assist on the final goal for his first of the season.

KEY STATS

• Nolan Kent stopped 17 shots in the first period to help the team to a 4-1 lead through the first 20 minutes. He finished the game with a career-high 39 stops and a .907 save percentage.

• The Wildcats posted 27 shots on goal, led by Griffin Loughran who scored on half his attempts, recording three goals on six shots.

• Six individuals continue their point-streaks with the victory, including Vincent de Mey (6 gm., 6-2-8), Griffin Loughran (5 gm., 6-3-9), Darien Craighead (4 gm., 2-3-5), Ty Readman (3 gm., 1-2-3), Adam Roeder (2 gm., 1-1-2) and Caleb Schroer (2 gm., 0-2-2)

UP NEXT

The Wildcats return home to host seven of their next eight games at the Berry Events Center. They welcome Alabama Huntsville to town next weekend (November 1-2) for their first home WCHA action before St. Cloud State travels to Marquette November 8-9 for a non-conference series. Alaska (November 15-16) and Michigan Tech (November 23) will also visit the Berry Events Center in November to round out the homestand with a trip to Houghton on November 22 for the Wildcats.