HOUGHTON, Mich. — The #19 Wildcats of Northern Michigan (7-4-2, 5-2-0-0 WCHA) fell to Michigan Tech (6-6-0, 4-5-0-0 WCHA) Friday night at MacInnes Student Ice Arena, 3-2.

The two teams held strong in the first period, limiting each other to just four shots on net a piece through 20 minutes of play. Nolan Kent helped send the Wildcats to the first intermission with the 0-0 stalemate with a series of big saves, including a 2-on-1 opportunities for the Huskies that Kent stifled. 

The Wildcats broke the stalemate in the opening minute of the middle frame with a tap in from Griffin Loughran crept passed the skate of MTU's Jurusik. 

Shortly after the Huskies scored the equalizer, Joseph Nardi put NMU back on top with a spin in front of the crease before firing the puck home. 

The Huskies would find the back of the net twice during the final period for the 3-2 final although the Wildcats peppered the MTU zone as the clock wound down. 

A close game on the board, the two teams both fired 26 pucks on net through three periods. Nolan Kent finished with 23 saves while the Wildcats blocked another nine. 

GOALS

• Griffin Loughran opened the scoring at 52 seconds of the second period when Philip Beaulieu's shot bounced off the pad of Huskies goaltender Jurusik where Loughran was able to tuck the rebound away. His 10th goal of the season put him atop the nation in goal scoring with assists credited to Beaulieu and Roeder.

• The Wildcats took the 2-1 lead with a goal from Joseph Nardi at 13:49 of the middle frame. After picking up a pass from Caleb Schroer, Nardi danced around the front of the net to beat Jurusik stick side. Beaulieu also picked up an assist on the play for his second point of the night.

KEY STATS

• With his goal in the second period, Griffin Loughran led the nation for a brief time, tallying 10 through 13 games. Northeastern's Tyler Madden's hat trick elsewhere late Friday moved Loughran into second nationally.

• Philip Beaulieu now has 107 career points (21-86-107) following his two-assist night in Houghton. With 11 points this season, Beaulieu ranks 20th nationally in points per game among defensemen and is the top scoring active defenseman in total career points. 

• Nolan Kent now holds a career record of 3-2-0 and boasts a .881 season save percentage.

• Averaging 0.77 goals per game, Loughran ranks 10th in the country. 

• The Wildcats offenses is 11th in the nation, averaging 3.46 goals per game while their power play has found success on 16 occasions for a 27.1 percentage and are seventh nationally.

• NMU killed five of its six penalties in the contest Friday night to improve their season kill total to 83.1 percent (49 of 59).

UP NEXT

The home-and-home series continues tomorrow night, November 23, at 6 p.m. at the Berry Events Center. It will be the 155th meeting between the two teams, with the Wildcats owning a 72-64-14 record over their rival Huskies. 

Fans are encouraged to wear white to the game to white out the rink.