|
TOLVANEN UNBEATABLE: Wildcats Sweep Tech
 Thes stories were written by NMU Sports Information MARQUETTE---Senior Atte Tolvanen (Vihti, Finland) set two school records as Northern Michigan University Hockey swept Michigan Technological University with a 3-0 victory Saturday night that saw the team honor their seniors prior to the game. Prior to the game, the team honored a class of eight seniors. Troy Loggins (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Adam Rockwood (Coquitlan, B.C.), Denver Pierce (Sault, Ste. Marie, Mich.), Ryan Black (Stillwater, Minn.), Tony Bretzman (Mendota Heights, Minn.), James Vermeulen (Stony Plain, Alta.) Connor Frantti(Spring Grove, Ill.) and Tolvanen were honored along with their parents for the contributions each made to the NMU hockey program. By getting the start in goal tonight, Tolvanen set a new school record for games played for a goalie and has now played in 133 games in his career. With the shutout, he also set a new NMU record with 13 career shutouts.
NMU outshot the Huskies 12-5 in the first period and capitalized on the advantage by taking a 1-0 lead with 10:02 on the clock. Loggins scored his fourth goal of the weekend and 20th of the season to give the Wildcats the 1-0 lead. Loggins scored off passes from Rockwood and junior Philip Beaulieu (Duluth, Minn.). It was Rockwoods 23rd assist of the season and 63rd of his career as a Wildcat while Beaulieu got his 25th this year and 71stin his career. The Wildcats again outshot the Huskies in the second period, getting 14 shots on goal. 12:21 into the period, the NMU managed to find the net for the second time. At 17:02, the team notched a second goal in the second period and moved to a 3-0 lead heading into the third period. Loggins continued his big weekend by scoring the team's second goal of the night to give him five for the weekend. Scoring on the power play, Bealieu tallied his 26th assist while Tolvanen involved himself on the offense with his second assist this season. Sophomore Mitchell Slattery (Lino Lakes, Minn.) found the net at 17:02 in the quarter and scored his third goal of the year to move NMU up 3-0. Rockwood notched his 24th assist of the season with sophomore Darien Craighead (Surrey, B.C.) recording his ninth assist this year. The final period saw the teams post six shots each but neither team was able to score. The Wildcats ended up outshooting the Huskies 32-20 on the night and also finished with a 33-26 faceoff advantage. On Sunday, the hockey team welcomes the NMU community to Skate with the 'Cats. Beginning at 3:30 at Lakeview Arena, fans of NMU hockey can skate with the team. NMU improved to 19-14-2 and 18-8-2 in the WCHA while Tech fell to 14-18-4, 13-12-3-1 in league play. The Wildcats will enter the WCHA Playoffs as the #2 seed and will host the #7 seed, University of Alaska Fairbanks, in the first round. The series begins Friday and Saturday night will both begin at 7 p.m. If a third game is necessary, Sunday's matchup will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets for the first round of the WCHA Playoffs are now available online and through the Berry Events Center Ticket Office. Fans can find tickets online HERE. To buy tickets in person, the Berry Events Center Ticket Office will be open Sunday from 1-4 p.m. It will then be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, tickets will be available from 10 a.m. to post-game.
The game stayed even for nearly the first 10 minutes but the Wildcats managed to score 9:54 into the period. They then added another goal at the 14:58 mark to go up 2-0. However, the Huskies were able to take advantage of a power play opportunity and made it 2-1 with three minutes to go in the first. Loggins put the Wildcats on the board and scored his 51st career goal when he scored 9:54 into the game. Senior Denver Pierce (Sault Ste Marie, Mich.) notched his eighth assist of the season while sophomore Adam Roeder (Ballwin, Mo.) recorded his third. Loggins then put the Wildcats up 2-0 at 14:58 to post his 100th career point. It was also the 20th goal this season for the senior. Pierce picked up his second assist of the night as well, with senior James Vermeulen (Stony Plain, Alta.) getting his fifth assist this year. In the second period, the Huskies managed to tie the game at the 14:14 mark. The teams entered the third period tied at 2-2 but the Wildcats added two goals to secure the victory. The Wildcats struck first 7:07 into the final period for what resulted in the game-winning goal. Then with three seconds remaining, NMU took advantage of the empty net to take a 4-2 victory. 7:02 into the third period, freshman Vincent de Mey (Los Angeles, Calif.) put the Wildcats back on top by scoring his third career goal and first game winner. Senior Tony Bretzman (Mendota Heights, Minn.) tallied his seventh assist at NMU while junior Luke Voltin (Blaine, Minn.) recorded his fifth assist of the year. With just three seconds left in the game, Loggins recorded the hat trick of his career by scoring his third goal of the night after Michigan Tech pulled their goalie for the empty net goal. Senior Adam Rockwood (Coquitlam, B.C.) notched his 22nd assist this season along with Vermeulen getting his second of the night. Tolvanen set a new school record with 58 saves on the night, breaking the old record of 57 saves set by John Corrigan versus Boston College on December 8, 1984.
|
