MARQUETTE, Mich. - The NMU hockey team begins a four-week stretch that includes three series on the road, starting in Mankato, Minnesota, as the 'Cats square off against the no. 16 Minnesota State Mavericks for its third weekend of conference play.
"Every game is going to be a challenge, and we have to be at our best and learn from it," said head coach
Dave Shyiak in his weekly press conference. "Now we go on the road against a tough opponent… we need all of our guys playing their A or B game and we have to be good on special teams and goaltending. If we do that, we have a chance to win."
Puck drops between the Wildcats (1-9-0, 0-4-0) and the Mavericks (7-4-1, 2-1-1) is set for 8:07 p.m. ET Friday and 7:07 p.m. ET Saturday in Mankato. Streaming coverage is available on Midco Sports Plus, and radio coverage is available from 100.3 The Point.
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Friday, Nov. 15 - vs Minnesota State at 8:07 p.m. ET
Live Stats | Watch on MidcoSports | Live Audio
Saturday, Nov. 16 - vs Minnesota State at 7:07 p.m. ET
Live Stats | Watch on MidcoSports | Live Audio
Hear From Dave Shyiak
Despite a weekend with Lake Superior State that saw two losses, head coach
Dave Shyiak was optimistic with how his young group performed.
"The first night as you mentioned [being a 5-0 loss], as oddly as this will sound, I thought could have been 5-0 the other way. They won on their special teams and then we got out goaltended. For the first time this year we out chanced a team, we out shot a team, we won the faceoff dot, and I think the grade-A scoring chances after two periods were 19-9 us, we just weren't able to capitalize."
The Lakers took advantage of special teams opportunities, going 4/6 on the PP. Prior to that game, the 'Cats had only allowed four goals while short handed all season.
LSSU was also 4/4 on the PK against the Wildcats on Friday then 2/2 on Saturday to maintain the nationsl-best penalty kill, not having allowed a powerplay goal in its opening eight games (32/32, 100%).
The Wildcats ran into a hot netminder in Rorke Applebee, who eared CCHA honors as goaltender of the week after making 62 saves in the pair of contests. The 'Cats generated some of the most offense they've seen over a two-game weekend, as the team had a combined 6.22 expected goals-for between two games, according to CollegeHockeyNews.
"I've been saying all year long it's about the process not the results, and for us the first time out-shooting and out-chancing a team is a positive. [So far this season] our PK and goaltending has been good, but that night they were off, and when you're off that much and teams capitalize then you aren't going to win too many games."
After earning an early 1-0 lead on Saturday, the Wildcats relinquished two late goals in the final handful of minutes in the first period before ultimately losing 5-1.
"I think what happened there is an experience team finds a way to extend the lead, but instead the Lakers score two in the final three minutes… You want to go into the first period [intermission] feeling good about your lead, unfortunately that didn't happen for us, and then they were opportunistic in scoring their goals."
Not finding the scoresheet often has been a challenge this season for the young Wildcat group, but Shyiak offered insight on
"They're a young team, and we're putting a lot of guys into scoring roles where they may not be quite ready for. If you have an older team, those guys help you navigate through the rough waters… That's the essence of this team given the circumstances of what happened over the summer.
We continue to get better and take steps forward, and the guys love it [at Nortnern] and love coming to work every day. Are they disappointed we could have won a game or two? Yes, but that's a part of maturing as a team and the growing pains for sure."
Cat Nips
- NMU currently sits atop the nation in blocked shots (191)
- Ryan Ouellette ranks second in the CCHA in saves (301) and third in save percentage among goalies with nine or more games played (.920)
- Grayden Slipec ranks second in the CCHA in PPG (2) and 18th in the nation
- NMU is second in the CCHA in faceoff win percentage (.515)
- Billy Renfrew leads the Wildcats in faceoff wins (84), ranking seventh in the CCHA
- Jesse Tucker (78) and Jakub Altrichter (75) are right alongside Renfrew, ranking ninth and 10th in the CCHA in faceoff wins
A Look at Minnesota State
The No. 16 Mavericks will enter its third weekend of conference play with a 7-4-1 overall record and a 2-1-1 conference mark. The team picked up its two wins against Bemidji State and St. Thomas in its first two weekends of conference play.
Brian Carrabes and Rhett Pitlick lead the Mavericks in points with 10 each. Josh Groll has kept the offense moving with nine points, while Adam Eisele has put up eight points.
The Mavericks run a tight ship on defense with a conference-best 1.67 GA/G. Alex Tracy has been an integral part of the Mavericks' defense, starting all 12 of their games in the crease. Tracy ranks second in the CCHA in save percentage (.943) and GAA (1.50), and third in saves (299).
The Mavericks are also ranked third in the CCHA in blocked shots (160). Mason Wheeler leads the defense with 20 of the team's 160 blocks, while Luke Ashton and Jordan Power have put up 17 blocks each.
