The NMU hockey team had a home game this past weekend, which ended in a loss for the Wildcats. The team has a current record of 1-5-0. The team competes against Michigan Tech this upcoming week on Friday and Saturday. The team lost both matchups against Arizona State, with scores of 1-3 and 0-2. 

The first matchup between these two teams ended with a 1-3 loss for the Wildcats. The game was a very close and aggressive one, with both teams getting checked back and forth. Ryan Ouellette, senior goalkeeper, was very strong at the goal, getting 37 saves, with a .949 percentage.

Head Coach Dave Shyiak said in the first press conference, “I talked to our group and I don’t want them to sag their heads. [Arizona State] is a good skating team, they were starving to get a win, and they’ve got 10 or 11 seniors that have played a lot of college games. But when push came to shove, our guys showed urgency; we had to kill that five-minute major, which is tough to do against a skilled team, and it was 1-1 in our building… we were right there, I thought the game was there to be won tonight, and I liked a lot of what we did tonight.” 

Freshman Anthony Cliche scored a goal during Friday’s game, tying the game with the point. Tynan Ewart and Danny Ciccarello gave some assistance. With the assist, Ciccarello was able to clock in his first point at NMU. 

In the second game, Coach Shyiak said in the post game conference, “ I thought that was the best game we’ve played this year. We competed hard, we made it difficult for them to generate plays off the rush, we had some more time of possession… We did everything to win the game except put the puck in the net.”

Ouellette shined above the rest, making 36 saves at the goal, with a .973 percentage after the game. Senior Jesse Tucker and freshman Jakub Altrichter also played amazingly well in the circle, with Tucker going for 17/21 and Altrichter going 13/17. These past two games ended the non-conference games that will lead the team into the conference matchups for the rest of the season. 

In the upcoming weeks, the Wildcats will begin to face a lot of hard competition. This upcoming weekend, the team plays against rival school Michigan Tech, on both Friday and Saturday. Friday’s game is hosted at the Berry Events Center starting at 7:07pm. The team then travels on Saturday to Houghton to finish the rivalry matchup for the weekend. That game is at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, starting at 6:07pm.