MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Wildcats of Northern Michigan will play host to top-ranked Minnesota State Mankato this weekend to conclude the first half of the season
The puck will drop at 7:07 p.m. at the Berry Events Center on Friday, December 13 before a 6:07 p.m. start on Saturday night.
The Wildcats are offering a holiday special on tickets to Friday night's game. All adult tickets are just $8 with the code "HOLIDAY" here. Friday night will also feature a Sock Toss sponsored by MAHS.
NMU Athletics and SAAC will host the annual Teddy Bear Toss during the first intermission of Saturday's game. Saturday's game is also Youth Night at the Berry Events Center. All youth in an athletics jersey will receive free admission with a paid adult ticket.
WEEKLY NOTES
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AGAINST THE MAVERICKS |
The Wildcats will close out the first half of the season December 13-14 at the Berry Events Center when they host top-ranked Minnesota State Mankato. The two teams have met on 20 occasions with the Wildcats looking to improve upon their 2-5-3 record at the Berry Events Center with the upcoming series.
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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/20191213_gr8l.xml
Video: http://bit.ly/32loSGT
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LAST TIME OUT |
Northern Michigan earned a weekend split at Alabama Huntsville last weekend. After falling to the Chargers 4-2 on Friday night at the Von Braun Center, the team bounced back to post a 3-1 victory Saturday.
Nolan Kent posted a career-best save percentage Saturday night with a .941 average while he saved 30 for 31 shots in 102:39 minutes of playing time for a weekend percentage of .971.
Sophomore forward Griffin Loughran also posted a goal in Friday's loss. His team-leading 12th of the season was scored on the power play and he now leads the nation in total goals while holding the sixth place spot in points per game (20; 12-8-20). Loughran's fellow classmate, Garrett Klee, scored the team's first short-handed goal in an offensive spark Saturday evening to spur the 3-1 victory. His first career short-handed chance came just over five minutes into the game. Luke Voltin then scored his first game-winning goal of the season to put the snap a season-long four-game losing streak.
Finding the back of the net with 32 seconds remaining on Friday night, Grant Loven followed up on Saturday with an assist for his second multi-point weekend of the season and first since their opening series against Michigan State. Garrett Klee also recorded a multi-point weekend with an assist on Friday before his short-handed tally Saturday night while Philip Beaulieu recorded an assist both nights to continue his season-long point-streak of six games.
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NATIONAL RANKINGS |
- Griffin Loughran's team-leading 12 goals ranks second in the nation and second in goals per game (0.75).
- 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 fourth nationally while Loughran's four is 12th overall.
- Posting two game-winners at Ferris State, sophomore forward Griffin Loughran is fifth in the nation in game-winning goals with three.
- Philip Beaulieu's 14 points in 16 games (1-13-14) ranks 13th in the nation among all defensemen.
- With a season record of 4-2-0, sophomore netminder Nolan Kent owns a 0.667 win percentage for 13th overall.
- Averaging 3.25 goals per game, the Wildcat offense ranks 14th in the nation and are 12th overall with the man-advantage, finding the back of the net on 17 of 70 chances for a 24.3 percent success rate.
- Their penalty kill also ranks among the best in the nation, with only 10 goals allowed while down a man, the Wildcats kill operates at 85.7 percent and is tied for 12th with fellow WCHA team, Bowling Green.
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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 will enter the holiday break following the Minnesota State series. The team will hit the road to start the new year when they travel down to Bowling Green State University January 3-4 in a rematch of the 2018-19 WCHA Semifinals.
