This story was written by NMU Sports Information

MARQUETTE---Northern Michigan University Men's Ice Hockey (7-10-0, 6-4-0-0 WCHA) settled for a series split after falling to No. 20 Michigan Technological University (9-6-1, 8-1-1-1 WCHA) Saturday evening, 3-1. The Wildcats and Huskies have now split the past four series.

After MTU took an early lead and went up 2-0 late in the period, sophomore forward Mitchel Slattery (Lino Lakes, Minnesota) scored his second goal of the season to pull the Wildcats within one. A shot by junior forward Luke Voltin (Blaine, Minnesota) deflected off of Slattery and into the goal.

For Voltin, it was his second assist in as many nights giving him his first scoring multi-game point scoring streak of his career.

The game's final goal came near the end of the second period when the Huskies added a power play goal to go up 3-1. NMU nearly managed to hold off the high-powered MTU offense that took 16 shots in the period. The goal came at 13:44 with the Wildcat defense going on to make 15 saves in the period.

Neither team was able to add a goal in the final period despite 21 combined shots. The Wildcats did kill off a pair of Huskie advantages in the period, but MTU went on to capture a 3-1 victory and series split. Over the past six regular season matchups between the two programs, the home team has taken the victory on their home ice.

After a 36-save outing, senior goaltender Atte Tolvanen (Vihti, Finland) now has 448 on the season, currently third-most in the NCAA. His save percentage and goals against average for the season now sit at .918 and 2.37 after his 38th career outing with 30-or-more saves. Tolvanen's next shutout will tie the program record with 12 while he needs 454 saves to break the school record.

Senior forward Denver Pierce (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) led the Wildcats with five shots on-goal during the contest while four others each attempted three. Sophomore forward Caleb Schroer (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin), freshman forward Garrett Klee (Morrison, Colorado), and junior forward Darien Craighead (Surrey, British Columbia) each attempted three tries at the net while junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu(Duluth, Minnesota) was the lone Wildcat blue-liner to record three shots on-goal.

NMU will wrap-up the 2018 calendar year next weekend when they host Ferris State University. Puck drop is set for Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Berry Events Center. Both nights will feature a "Community Night" with Ishpeming being celebrated on Friday and Gwinn on Saturday. Youth 18-and-under from this communities can purchase free tickets while adult residents can purchase $7 tickets.
 

Northern Michigan University Men's Ice Hockey (7-9-0, 6-3-0-0 WCHA) made history in the Berry Events Center Friday night with a 5-3 victory over No. 20 Michigan Technological University (8-6-1, 7-1-1-1 WCHA) in front of a sellout crowd.

Senior goaltender Atte Tolvanen (Vihti, Finland) became the first Wildcat goaltender in history to score a goal. After MTU elected to pull their goaltender, trailing 4-2, Tolvanen corralled the puck and sent it down the length of the ice into the Huskie net with 1:07 remaining in the contest. Tolvanen also picked up his seventh win of the season between the pipes after making 23 saves.
 

The goal marked just the second time in Western Collegiate Hockey Association history that a goaltender has scored a goal with the first coming in January of 1989. It was also just the 11th time in NCAA history that a goaltender has found the back of the net. To make the goal even more impressive, it was just the fourth time that a goaltender has ever scored off their own shot.
 

For the season, Tolvanen owns a .918 save percentage and 2.33 goals against average. The WCHA Goaltender of the Month for November now has 412 saves on the season which are currently third most in the NCAA this season. He is within reach of five career goaltender records including shutouts and saves. Tolvanen's next shutout will tie the program record with 12 while he needs 490 saves to break the school record.

The Wildcats wasted little time taking a lead in front of a sellout home crown. Senior forward Denver Pierce (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) netted his third goal of the season just 6:20 into the contest when he intercepted a puck in front of the MTU net. He quickly fired the puck into the net to give NMU the early 1-0 lead that would last until the first intermission. 
 

Pierce also lead the team in shots during the first period with three chances at the net. As a team, the Wildcats killed a penalty near the end of the period and a second one that spanned into the second period.

NMU killed a penalty to begin the second period, but the Huskies quickly evened the score with a goal at 3:55. The score was tied for more than ten minutes before MTU managed to take the lead with their second goal of the period. The score came at 15:17 but the Huskies lead was short lived.
 

Freshman forward Ty Readman (Edmonton, Alberta) scored his first collegiate goal less than three minutes later. A shot from senior defenseman Tony Bretzman (Mendota Heights, Minnesota) was knocked down by the MTU goaltender where Readman was able to get his stick on it for the score. Bretzman picked up his second assist of the season on the play while junior forward Luke Voltin (Blaine, Minnesota) recorded his first.

The goal came at 18:02 of the period and sent both teams into the second intermission deadlocked at two goals each.

In the final period, junior forward Darien Craighead (Surrey, British Columbia) scored just 51 seconds into the period for his seventh of the season. The goal gave NMU the lead at 3-2, and the Wildcats would hold on to that lead the rest of the way. Junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu (Duluth, Minnesota) and Bretzman recorded assists on the Craighead goal.
 

Before the end of the contest, senior forward Troy Loggins (Huntington Beach, California) netted an unassisted goal for his seventh of the season to put the Wildcats up, 4-2. Just over two minutes later, Tolvanen scored his rare goalie goal to all but seal a victory with a minute to play. The Wildcats went on to 5-3 victory at the final buzzer.