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Jakub Altrichter

Hockey Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

PREVIEW: Wildcats vs Bulldogs in Pivotal Weekend

The Wildcats sit just two points behind the Bulldogs and the final spot in the CCHA playoffs

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- After the weekend bye, the Wildcats hit the road to Big Rapids, Michigan, where the Bulldogs await for a critical weekend in the CCHA landscape.

The Wildcats (3-25-0, 3-17-0 CCHA, 11 pts) are currently in ninth place in the CCHA standings, on the outside looking in on the postseason. The Bulldogs (5-25-0, 4-18-0, 13 pts) sit just two points ahead of NMU in that final playoff spot, priming this weekend for a playoff-like atmosphere. 

"[Ferris] came away with some important points against Bemidji on the road [last weekend], which is a hard feat... they're one of the older teams in college hockey, they play hard, and they make it hard to win in their rink. Our mindset going into this weekend is that this is a playoff series; I think everybody knows how tight it is, and we have to get points against Ferris this weekend."

Puck drop from the Ewigleben Ice Arena is set for 7:07 p.m. ET on Friday, February 13, and 6:07 p.m. ET Saturday, February 14, where the Bulldogs will be honoring its seniors. The games are available for streaming on Midco Sports Plus, and fans can also tune into the Radio Results Network (100.3 The Point) to listen on the airwaves.
Hear from Head Coach Dave Shyiak
The Wildcats are exiting its final bye week of the season to face what is the most important weekend of the season. And while the 'Cats are looking ahead to an important weekend, head coach Dave Shyiak had praise for his team after earning crucial CCHA points to stay in the playoff race.

"We've gotten two big wins recently to put ourselves into a position to battle it out with Ferris [for the eighth and final CCHA playoff spot]. I thought we responded great [from Friday night] with our win at Michigan Tech [on Saturday], then winning at home against a very good and fast Bemidji team, and now we're exiting the bye week... we've started to get some bodies back, still not quite 100%... but we like what we've seen over the bye week."

Part of the team's success comes between the pipes from freshman phenom Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, who is a Hobey Baker nominee and was recently named to the Mike Richter 'watch list'. Auyeung-Ashton recorded his first career collegiate shutout at home against Bemidji, making 38 saves in the first Wildcat shutout since the end of the 2023/24 season.

"[Oliver] is highly competitive, he's a winner, he works at his craft, and I think the greatest trait he has is his self-assessment of his games. When he's on top of his game, he gives our team a chance to win... He's calm, cool, and collected, always battles for secondary saves, and we're happy he's playing really well for us."

Since the 3-2 win in Houghton, the line of Peter Cisar (0-3--3), Tobias Pitka (2-1--3), and Matthew Argentina (2-1--3) each have three points in three games, recording nine of the 'Cats 16 points in that frame and helping give the Wildcats some much needed goal scoring.

"It's been a struggle to score goals, and part of that is we haven't been able to have continuity to our lineup since really early in the season. Since putting that line together a handful of weeks ago, they've had some success, they've got chemistry, and they're balanced in how they play the game. It's nice as a coaching staff to have a line that's producing and who we feel that we can match up with anybody... That line gave us a spark and some energy, and they have been rewarded by putting some goals in the back of the net."

After the retirement of legendary head coach Bob Daniels, Brett Riley was named the sixth head coach in program history after being head coach of Long Island since 2020. Ferris State is one of the oldest teams in college hockey, and will honor 12 graduating seniors ahead of the clash on Saturday night, which will prove a unique challenge, combined with the unique layout of Ewigleben Ice Arena, says Shyiak.

"They're one of the older teams in college hockey; they have no [true] freshmen, and they play hard. They make it difficult to win in their rink, and they're built for that rink: they're physical, they're structured, they're in your face, and we need to counterattack that... I think that [Riley] wants a team that forechecks aggressively and makes it difficult for other teams to make plays... They're in a similar situation as us: they're fighting for a playoff spot and playing with some desperation and urgency, and we're going to have to match that."

After 12 consecutive losses, the Bulldogs had a crucial weekend of performances at Bemidji State last weekend, first winning 6-3 on Friday before coming back from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime and earn another CCHA point. The Bulldogs are led by seniors Gavin Best (12-9--21), Max Itagaki (6-10--16), and Josh Zary (10-6--16), and have five skaters who average more than 19 minutes of ice time per game: Jack Mesic (21:29), Christopher Lie (19:51), Valtteri Piironen (19:36), Xavier Jean-Louis (19:22), and Best (19:03). Junior Hobie Hedquist (4.12 GAA, .879 SV%) and sophomore Martin Lundberg (3.06 GAA, .882 SV%) have split time between the pies this season with 16 and 13 games played, respectively, but it was Lundberg who played in both the win and overtime comeback against Bemidji last weekend. 


 
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Players Mentioned

Matthew Argentina

#28 Matthew Argentina

F
5' 11"
Senior
Peter Cisar

#12 Peter Cisar

F
6' 0"
Freshman
Tobias Pitka

#19 Tobias Pitka

F
6' 4"
Freshman
Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

#30 Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

G
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Matthew Argentina

#28 Matthew Argentina

5' 11"
Senior
F
Peter Cisar

#12 Peter Cisar

6' 0"
Freshman
F
Tobias Pitka

#19 Tobias Pitka

6' 4"
Freshman
F
Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

#30 Oliver Auyeung-Ashton

5' 10"
Freshman
G