MARQUETTE, Mich. - The 19th-ranked Northern Michigan University hockey program and Michigan Tech are set to battle in their first home-and-home series of the season. The two teams will meet at center ice at MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Friday night before returning to dual at the Berry Events Center, Saturday at 6 p.m.
The weekend series will mark the 154th and 155th meetings between the two squads with the Wildcats owning a slight edge over the Huskies, 75-64-14.
WEEKLY NOTES
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AGAINST THE HUSKIES |
Storied rivals, Northern Michigan have met 153 times, with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 75-64-14. The last time the two teams met, Northern Michigan boasted the series sweep, taking 4-2 and 3-0 victories over the Huskies in early March to conclude the 2018-19 regular season. It was the first weekend sweep for the Wildcats over the Huskies since October 21-22, 2005, where they earned 5-1 and 2-1 victories as members of the CCHA.
Former Wildcats netminder, Atte Tolvanen set an NMU program record in the teams' most recent tilt (March 2, 2019) with his 13th career shutout in the 3-0 victory. Tolvanen also made history when he scored a goal against the Huskies in NMU's 5-3 victory on December 7, 2018 to kick off the season series between the two teams. He became the first Wildcat to score from between the pipes, the second in WCHA history and just the 11th NCAA goaltender all-time to tally a goal.
Four current Wildcats found the back of the net in last year's four-game series, including junior forward Mitchel Slattery who recorded two goals against the Huskies during the stretch. Ty Readman tallied his first career goal for NMU in the 5-3 victory over MTU on December 7, 2018. Former Wildcat All-American and eventual WCHA Player of the Year Troy Loggins netted five goals to close out the series with a hat trick at Michigan Tech on Friday night followed up by a two-goal performance on senior night.
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FOLLOW ALONG |
Social Media: https://twitter.com/NMU_Wildcats and https://twitter.com/NMUHockey
Radio: http://www.rrnsports.com/
Live Stats: http://nmuwildcats.com/sports/mice/2019-20/boxscores/20191122_1re6.xml
Video: http://bit.ly/32loSGT
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LAST TIME OUT |
The Wildcats earned a spot atop the WCHA standings with their weekend split with Alaska and are now tied with UAF and Minnesota State Mankato with 15 league points apiece.
Northern Michigan came out hot on Friday night, with junior forward Joseph Nardi notching two power play goals to lead the team to a 2-1 victory over the Nanooks.
After falling down 2-0 in the first period, the Wildcats notable comeback squad looked to continue its success, tallying two goals in the second period to knot the game at 2-2. The Nanooks would score later in the period and carry that 3-2 lead to the final horn.
The Wildcats scored three power play goals on the weekend to improve their season success rate to 28.1 percent and extended their streak to six games with at least one goal on the man advantage.
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NATIONAL RANKINGS |
The Wildcats broke into the national rankings following their sweep at Ferris State before moving to No. 19/RV heading into their home-and-home series against Michigan Tech.
- Griffin Loughran's team-leading nine goals ranks first in the nation and ninth in goals per game (0.75). His classmate Vincent de Mey is eighth nationally in total goals with eight.
- With the first goal during their five-on-three opportunity against St. Cloud State, Vincent de Mey's five goals on the power play ranks third nationally while Loughran and Ghantous' three a piece is 10th in the country. They are all part of the sixth-best power play unit, finding success 28.1 percent of the time.
- De Mey also ranks sixth overall in total power play points, adding three assists to his five goals for eight total points.
- Posting two game-winners at Ferris State, sophomore forward Griffin Loughran is second in the nation in game-winning goals with three.
- At the last line of defense, Nolan Kent ranks in the top-15 of goaltenders in the nation, sitting ninth nationally with a .750 percentage behind a 3-1-0 record.
- Rookie netminder John Hawthorne also ranks 10th in shutouts following the 2-0 win in his first career start.
- The team has the 12th best scoring offense, averaging 3.58 goals per game and their .667 win percentage is 10th in the nation.
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AWARD WINNERS |
Vincent de Mey (forward) and Andre Ghantous (rookie) both earned Player of the Week honors following the St. Cloud State series. Ghantous, who posted a career-high two goals on Friday night, followed up by a goal Saturday now boasts a six-game point-streak (6-1-7) as well as a four-game goal-streak (5-0-5). De Mey tallied three points in Friday's tie, all on the power play, for a career-high night and led the league in power play and overall points for the weekend. He also recorded an assist on Saturday night for a four-point weekend. The Rookie of the Week honor was Ghantous' first WCHA recognition while being named Forward of the Week was de Mey's third of the season and his career.
De Mey was also named WCHA Forward of the Month for October. As the month came to a close, de Mey had found the back of the net in five different games while his three goals on the power play ranked second in the nation and his six goals and eight total points ranked tied for first among all Wildcats. Through the first four games of the season, de Mey had matched his rookie total of five goals, which includes recording his first career multi-goal game (two) in a 4-3 victory at then-No. 20/RV Boston University.
Averaging 1.00 goals per game through the first month of competition, de Mey ranked third nationally and sat second in the league in overall point-scoring with 1.50 points per game. He led the WCHA in total goals (six) and recorded the most points on the power play of any WCHA member with three goals and an assist for four total points. His streak helped carry the Northern Michigan Wildcats to their first four-win opening month since 2017-18 (4-2-0) and strongest start by win percentage since the 2014-15 season (4-0-1).
Previous Wildcat honors include Vincent de Mey who was named WCHA Forward of the Week following his three-point weekend against Michigan State. He earned the honor for the second consecutive week after his three-goal weekend at Boston University. Griffin Loughran and Nolan Kent also earned WCHA recognition following the Wildcats' first weekend sweep of the season at Ferris State.
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NEW AT HOME IN 2019-20 |
New this season, a hospitality room will be available for fans to purchase tickets to ahead of time. Located in the Wildcat Room of the Berry Events Center, admission will include a pre-game dinner buffet, bar, snacks and coat check.
Single game tickets are now on sale for the NMU Hockey Hospitality Room and can only be purchased in advance of the game not on the night of the game.
- Single game tickets are $30 per ticket/person
- Season tickets are $360 per ticket/person
- Half season tickets are $200 per ticket/person (either Friday or Saturday)
Your ticket to the hospitality room includes:
- Pre-game dinner buffet (e.g., burger bar, gourmet pizza, pulled pork station, etc.) served from 5:45 - 7:07 p.m. on Fridays and 4:45 - 6:07 p.m. on Saturdays
- 2 drink tickets per game (i.e., soda, water, beer, wine, and call liquor) to be used during pre-game or intermissions
- Coat check
- Intermission snacks (e.g., pretzels, popcorn, etc.)
Tickets can be purchased through NMU ticketing (online at tickets.nmu.edu or through the various ticket outlets). The NMU Ticket Office at the Berry Events Center is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by calling 906-227-1032. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be available the night of the game.
-Tickets are limited and will be sold on a first come, first served basis.
-Entrance to the room will be limited to ticket-bearers, alcohol sales will be limited to those over 21 with valid ID.
-Tickets are issued on a game-by-game basis (similarly to hockey tickets). The ticket bearer will then be exchange their ticket at the entrance to the Wildcat Room for drink tickets and room access for the night. This will also then allow you to have the flexibility to have different users use the tickets on different nights if you use the season ticket option (similarly to season hockey tickets).
-Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be available the night of the game.
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ON THE RETURNERS |
Seventeen members of the 2018-19 squad will lace their skates up again for the Wildcats this season. Nolan Kent looks strong in net as the last line of defense, taking over for all-time Wildcat program leader Atte Tolvanen who was named WCHA Goaltender of the Year in 2018-19. On the blueline, the Wildcats return three members of last season's team, including reigning WCHA Defenseman of the Year in senior captain Philip Beaulieu. He is joined by fellow senior Rylan Yaremko and junior Adam Roeder. Eleven Wildcats are back at the front, in two seniors, three juniors and six sophomores. The offense talent amassed 114 of the Wildcats' total 282 points last season.
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FRESH FACES |
The Wildcats add nine newcomers to the team in 2019-20 as well as junior defenseman, Ben Newhouse, who sat out the 2018-19 season due to transfer requirements. The team also added three goaltenders in the offseason, two of which look to split time between the pipes with sophomore netminder, Nolan Kent.
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MAKING UP POINTS |
In the off-season, Northern Michigan lost 46% of their point-scoring to graduation but the 2019-20 squad seems poised to fill those shoes. Two rising seniors made up part of the team's top-five scorers last year in Philip Beaulieu (6-29-35) and Darien Craighead (10-10-20). The veteran duo now looks to lead the young team to even more time in the offensive zone
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PRESEASON RANKINGS |
The Wildcats were pegged to finish fourth in the WCHA this season as voted on by the league's coaches in the 2019-20 Mankato Free Press WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The media picked Northern Michigan to finish third through the regular season, behind only unanimous favorite Minnesota State and Bowling Green.
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2019-20 CAPTAINS |
Having served as an alternate captain in 2018-19, senior defenseman Philip Beaulieu (Duluth, Minn.) was named captain of the 2019-20 squad prior to the season.
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YEAR THREE UNDER COACH POTULNY |
The third head coach in NMU Hockey history enters his third season behind the bench in 2019-20. In two seasons with the team, Potulny has led the Wildcats to two 20+ win seasons and boasts a career head coaching record of 46-31-5. Last season the team went 21-16-2, which included a berth in the WCHA semifinals where they faced Bowling Green. In his first season at the helm of the Wildcats, Potulny's team recorded a 25-15-3 season, it's first 25-win season since 2001-02 and advanced to the WCHA Championship game.
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50 YEARS OF WOMEN IN SPORT |
Throughout the 2019-20 season, the Wildcats will celebrate the history of Women's Sports at Northern Michigan. Fans are encouraged to contribute with their favorite and most memorable moments and athletes of NMU women's sports. Please go to THIS LINK to contribute your favorite or most memorable moment and athletes. More information on this year's celebration can be found HERE.
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UP NEXT |
The Wildcats get back on the road for the Thanksgiving holiday with an upcoming trip to Huntsville, Alabama to close out the regular season series with the Chargers, November 29-30. NMU hosted Alabama Hunstville to start the month with a weekend sweep, November 1-2, with 5-3 and 4-2 victories. Wildcat goaltender Nolan Kent picked up his first career point in Saturday's victory with the primary assist on Caleb Schroer's goal.
