This story is courtesy of NMU Sports Information; Photo from UW Hockey

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Northern Michigan University hockey team completed a series sweep of No. 18 Wisconsin with a 4-1 victory over the Badgers Saturday night at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. in front of a crowd of 4,599.

The Wildcats improved to 2-0 overall on the season while handing Wisconsin their fourth straight loss on the season.

Junior forward Darren Nowick put the Wildcats on the board in the first period when he scored a power play goal on assists from sophomores John Siemer and  Sami Salminen at the 7:41 mark of the opening frame.

NMU took a 2-0 lead when junior defenseman Ryan Trenz scored a full strength goal on assists from sophomores Dominik Shine and Shane Sooth just 2:08 into the second period. Shine then scored an empty net goal at the 18:10 mark of the third period on an assist form Sooth.

Wisconsin's Brad Navin scored his first goal of the season just 17-seconds later on assists from Chase Drake and Ryan Wagner to cut the NMU lead to 3-1.

NMU senior captain Ryan Kesti tacked on an empty net insurance goal with just 11-seconds remaining in the game to set the final frame.

NMU sophomore goalie Mathias Dahlstrom Made 24 saves including 11 in the opening frame to pick up his second win of the young season for the Wildcats.

Shine led the Wildcats with three shots in the contest while NMU was outshot by the Badgers 25-18. Wisconsin's Grant Besse led all players with seven shots in the game.  

NMU was 1-2 on the power play while Wisconsin was 0-7 on their power play opportunities. The Wildcats open Western Collegiate Hockey Association action at Lake Superior State Oct. 24-25. Puck drop on Friday is set for 7:37 p.m. (ET) while action on Saturday gets underway at 7:07 p.m. (ET).


Story from Friday night's game, courtesy of NMU Sports Information:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Northern Michigan University hockey team picked up an opening night win with a shutout victory, 2-0, over No. 18-ranked Wisconsin Friday night at the Resch Center in Green Bay with a crowd of 3,526 on hand.
 

It was opening night for the Wildcats while Wisconsin has now lost third-straight to begin the season.
 

"Going into tonight's game I was a worried because they (Wisconsin) had games under their belt and we didn't," said NMU head coach Walt Kyle.  "I expected that we would make some first game mistakes, which we did early, but the guys played through it and they played hard."
 

Sophomore forward Dominik Shine lit the lamp for the first Northern Michigan goal of the season.  Shine took a pass from fellow sophomore forward Shane Sooth off a power play win and banged a wrister off the right post that found the back of the net to give Northern Michigan the 1-0 lead with 10:33 in the period.
 

Shortly after, the Wildcats took advantage of their first power play opportunity when junior forward Darren Nowick took a pass from behind the net and one-timed it to beat the goalie and extend the NMU lead to 2-0.

Sophomore forwards Gerard Hansonand John Siemer each recorded assists on the goal for their first points of the season.  The Wildcats pressure continued and with the end of the period Northern Michigan held a two goal advantage.

Northern Michigan was able to outshoot Wisconsin by a slim 10-7 margin in the opening period.

The NMU penalty kill was on point in the second period as they were able to fight off a pair of Badger power plays to open the period.  Despite not scoring, Wisconsin was able to use the power plays to build some offensive continuity.

This Badger momentum shifted to Northern Michigan's side in the second half of the period when NMU was given a pair of power play opportunities.  The Wildcats provided a good push in the power plays but were unable to find the back of the net leading to a scoreless second period.

The Wildcats were able to put more shots on goal in the second period as well and after two periods held a 20-13 advantage in the category.

The NMU penalty kill continued their strong play in the final period as they held Wisconsin to one shot on two Badger power plays.  The defenses continued to pack it in inside their zone and were able to keep Wisconsin off the board giving NMU the 2-0 victory.

The Wildcats finished the game 1-3 on the power play, where the penalty kill blanked the Badgers at 0-5 on man-advantages.  Northern Michigan also held a 28-18 advantage in shots on goal for the game.

Sophomore goalie Mathias Dahlstrom earned his fourth career shutout making 18 saves on the night.

"Mathias is an exceptional goalie. He played well and in this type of game that isn't easy," said Kyle. "The team protected him well, so he didn't get pounded, but when he had saves they were big saves."