MARQUETTE, Mich. -  The Northern Michigan University Wildcat hockey program is set to kick off the second half of their season with a weekend series in Bowling Green, Ohio against the WCHA rival Falcons. The meeting will be their first tilt since the 2018-19 WCHA semifinals in Marquette where the Wildcats fell in the best-of-three series. 

Following a succesful first half of the season which saw the team peak at No. 16 in the polls, the Wildcats are ready to continue their hopeful run to the post season with the series against Bowling Green State University. Currently, NMU sits just two points behind the Falcons in the conference standings while both teams have seven conference wins in their pocket.

The Widlcats' first game of the new year is set to start at 6:07 p.m. on Friday, January 3, 2020, before a 7:07 p.m. start on Saturday at the Slater Family Ice Arena.

WEEKLY NOTES

AGAINST THE FALCONS

The two teams are set to kick off the new year with their first meeting since the WCHA Semifinal matchup last season in Marquette, Michigan which saw the Falcons win the best-of-three series and advance to the conference championship game.

Dating back to their first meeting in 1976, the Wildcats and Falcons have met 111 times, with Bowling Green holding the slight edge, 49-53-9. Last season the two teams met six times where the Wildcats went 2-4 against the Falcons, including a weekend split at Slater Family Ice Arena. Six current Wildcats tallied at least one goal against the WCHA rival last season, including senior Darien Craighead who led the team with two goals in the season series.

FOLLOW ALONG

Social Media: https://twitter.com/NMU_Wildcats and https://twitter.com/NMUHockey

Radio: http://www.rrnsports.com/

Live Stats: https://bgsufalcons.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary

Video: http://bit.ly/32loSGT

LAST TIME OUT

The Wildcats earned a weekend split with top-ranked Minnesota State to round out the 2019 calendar year. A strong first half of the season came to an end Saturday night when Northern Michigan topped the Mavericks, 4-1, to earn the split and post their first win over the No. 1 team in the nation since October 2011. 

Friday night's scoreboard did little to show the strength and resiliency of the Wildcats efforts. Dropping a 5-2 decision, the team held its own in shots, with the Mavericks holding the narrow edge, 28-25, but the Wildcats were unable to beat the nation's top goaltender in Dryden McKay who allowed just two goals all night. The Wildcats also led in blocked shots, jumping in front of 18 in Friday night's loss with Ben Newhouse leading the way with five.

Bouncing back from a tough loss Friday night, freshman defenseman Mike Van Unen, playing at forward for the weekend series, stepped up to the offensive plate and broke the 0-0 stalemate for the Wildcats just under three minutes into the second period when he tallied his first career goal. The Mavericks tied it up later in the period but Newhouse was quick to answer with his first game-winner in a Wildcat sweater, scoring a power play goal at 14:14 of the middle frame. 

With their goaltender pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Andre Ghantous and Griffin Loughran both tallied empty net goals late in the third period to seal the win for the Wildcats heading into the holiday break.

Nolan Kent was named first star of the game for his efforts between the pipes Saturday, stopping 30 of 31 shots faced for a career-high .968 save percentage while improving his career and season record to 5-2-0.

FIRST HALF IN REVIEW

The Wildcats hold a 9-7-2 record heading into the holiday break. After a hot start to the season which saw the team hold a 6-1-2 record, including an eight-game undefeated stretch, the Wildcats faltered slightly towards the end of November. Getting back in the win column with a 3-1 victory over Alabama Huntsville, the team went on to post a weekend split with then top-ranked Minnesota State to round out the first half of the season.

Once a question of the offensive power this year's team would bring, all doubts seem to be washed aside as the team's top two scorers hail from the sophomore class in Griffin Loughran (21 pts.; 13-8-21) and Vincent de Mey (16 pts.; 9-7-16). The Wildcats' third-highest goal scorer is Andre Ghantous, a rookie forward out of Glendale, California, who boasts eight goals and ranks tied for sixth on the team in total points (11). Over half of the team's goal total comes off the tape of Loughran, de Mey and Ghantous who have combined for 30 goals this season or 51.7 percent of the team's total. At the holiday break, Loughran's 13 goals ranks atop the nation while he is currently second in the country in goals per game, averaging 0.72.

In total, the Wildcats have won eight WCHA weekly awards this season, while de Mey was named Forward of the Month by the league for his stellar play through the first month of competition. De Mey has been named WCHA Forward of the Week on three occasions and Loughran has earned the honor once this season. Andre Ghantous (rookie) and Nolan Kent (goaltender) also earned a weekly conference recognition during the first half of the season. To close out 2019, Ben Newhouse (defenseman) and Michael Van Unen (rookie) earned their first conference honors following the team's weekend split with Minnesota State.

NATIONAL RANKINGS

• Griffin Loughran's team-leading 13 goals ranks second in the nation and third in goals per game (0.72).
• 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 seventh nationally.
• Posting two game-winners at Ferris State, sophomore forward Griffin Loughran is seventh in the nation in game-winning goals with three.
• Philip Beaulieu's 15 points in 18 games (1-14-15) ranks 12th in the nation among all defensemen in points per game (0.83).
• With a season record of 5-2-0, sophomore netminder Nolan Kent owns a 0.714 win percentage for eighth overall.
• Averaging 3.22 goals per game, the Wildcat offense ranks 11th in the nation in scoring and are 12th overall with the man-advantage, finding the back of the net on 17 of 70 chances for a 23.4 percent success rate.

AWARD WINNERS

After a weekend split with Minnesota State, junior defenseman Ben Newhouse and freshman Michael Van Unen earned WCHA Player of the Week honors. Newhouse, named Defenseman of the Week, scored his first-ever game-winning goal as the Wildcats defeated the top-ranked Mavericks, 4-1, at home. He also led the league in blocks over the weekend, jumping in front of eight shots to keep Friday's game close before helping clinch the victory on Saturday by stepping in the way of the puck three times. Van Unen opened the scoring in Saturday's contest, breaking the 0-0 tie in the second period when he tallied his first goal in a Wildcat sweater. He went on to post an assist on Newhouse's goal for the first multi-point night of his career. Stepping in at forward, the offensive-minded defenseman jumped in front of four shots to preserve the lead and help the team to a weekend split with the Mavericks.

De Mey was 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.

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

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. 

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.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats will return home to host the University of Alaska Anchorage, January 10-11, following their weekend tilt in Ohio. Last season the Wildcats swept the Seawolves, 4-0, with 10 current Wildcats highlighting the box score. 

A standout goal scorer for the Wildcat green and gold in 2019-20, sophomore Vincent de Mey tallied his first career goal in a shutout win at home against the Seawolves while Garrett Klee registered the first goal of his career on January 11, 2019 in Anchorage. Their classmate Jarrett Lee followed up with his first collegiate goal the following night to help the team to the regular season sweep.