Loughran Leads Wildcats To Sweep At Ferris State

This story was written by NMU Sports Information

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - The Northern Michigan Wildcats (4-1-1, 2-0-0-0 WCHA) swept the Ferris State Bulldogs (2-3-0, 0-2-0-0 WCHA) Saturday evening at Ewigleben Arena behind a hat trick performance from sophomore forward Griffin Loughran and a career-high outing for Nolan Kent who stopped 39 shots faced in the win.

The Wildcats found the back of the net four times in the opening frame to give the team a 4-1 lead heading into the first intermission. The Bulldogs got two back in the middle period before tying the game at 4-4 late in the third with a powerplay tally at 17:24.

With overtime in sight for the two, Griffin Loughran scored his second and third of the game, and third and fourth of the weekend, to give the Wildcats their first road sweep since Alaska Anchorage last season (January 11-12, 2019).

Mitchel Slattery opened the scoring for the Wildcats just 42 seconds into the tilt in Big Rapids when he picked up Luke Voltin's rebound at the top in the slot and tucked the puck between the pads of Bulldogs' Salmenkangas. Hank Sorensen also got his stick on the puck in front also for the primary assist.

Adam Roeder scored his first of the season off a one-time rocket out front to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Caleb Schroer was credited with the lone assist on the goal.

Shortly after Ferris State cut the lead in half, Griffin Loughran scored an unassisted goal for his third of the season and extended his point-streak to a career-long five games (3-3-6).

Less than a minute after Loughran's goal, Vincent de Mey scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season with a wrister just outside the near face-off circle. Ty Readman earned an assist on the play for his second point of the weekend.

With under two minutes remaining in the final period and overtime looming, Loughran scored his second of the game and third of the weekend to put Northern Michigan back on top, 5-4. Darien Craighead passed the puck up ice to Loughran who carried the puck over the blue line on a breakaway and beat Ferris State's goaltender, McPhail top shelf.

Loughran completed his first-career hat trick at 19:18 of the third frame with an empty net goal. Rylan Yaremko was credited with an assist on the final goal for his first of the season.

Nolan Kent stopped 17 shots in the first period to help the team to a 4-1 lead through the first 20 minutes. He finished the game with a career-high 39 stops and a .907 save percentage.

The Wildcats posted 27 shots on goal, led by Griffin Loughran who scored on half his attempts, recording three goals on six shots.

Six individuals continue their point-streaks with the victory, including Vincent de Mey (6 gm., 6-2-8), Griffin Loughran (5 gm., 6-3-9), Darien Craighead (4 gm., 2-3-5), Ty Readman (3 gm., 1-2-3), Adam Roeder (2 gm., 1-1-2) and Caleb Schroer (2 gm., 0-2-2)

The Wildcats return home to host seven of their next eight games at the Berry Events Center. They welcome Alabama Huntsville to town next weekend (November 1-2) for their first home WCHA action before St. Cloud State travels to Marquette November 8-9 for a non-conference series. Alaska (November 15-16) and Michigan Tech (November 23) will also visit the Berry Events Center in November to round out the homestand with a trip to Houghton on November 22 for the Wildcats.

FRIDAY'S GAME RECAP

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - The Northern Michigan University Wildcats (3-1-1, 1-0-0-0 WCHA) opened conference play with a win over the Bulldogs of Ferris State (2-2-0, 0-1-0-0 WCHA) Friday evening in Big Rapids, Michigan.

Four different Wildcats found the back of the net in the 4-3 victory, including three who netted the first of the season. Freshman forward Andre Ghantous opened the scoring for the Wildcats with a powerplay goal in the second and it was all Wildcats from there.

Scoreless after one, the Bulldogs lit the lamp first before Ghantous and Ty Readman netted back-to-back goals to put the Wildcats up 2-1 at the 11:44 mark of the second period. Ferris State answered with a goal of their own before the two teams skated into the second intermission in a 2-2 tie with 20 minutes left to pull ahead.

Garrett Klee put Northern Michigan back on top just 2:26 into the third period before Joseph Nardi scored the eventual game-winner on the powerplay for the Wildcats' fourth goal of the night.

Andre Ghantous picked up Grant Loven's pass just outside the crease, lifting the puck over Ferris State's goaltender Salmenkangas' glove for the first of his career. Vincent de Mey also tallied an assist on the goal to extend his point-streak to a career-long five games.

Just over two minutes later, Ty Readman scored his first goal of the season when Loven made a similar pass towards the crease for Readmna to send home, giving the Wildcats the 2-1 lead halfway through the game.

Shortly after the second intermission, Garrett Klee found the back of the net for his first of the season. Caleb Schroer earned the primary assist on the goal as he crossed the puck over to Klee who beat the Bulldog goaltender glove side for the 3-2 lead. Adam Roeder was also credited with an assist on the play for his first point of the season.

The game-winner came at 13:15 of the final period as Griffin Loughran carried the puck into the Bulldog zone, passing it across to Nardi where he tapped in the backdoor feed. Darien Craighead was also credited with an assist on the play.

Northern Michigan posted 26 shots on goal in the victory while John Hawthorne stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced for a .914 save percentage.

The special teams held strong for the Wildcats on Friday night, capitalizing on two of their five chances with the man advantage while killing four the their five penalties.
Four Wildcats continue their point streaks while Ty Readman starts one of his own with his goal tonight after an assist last Saturday at Boston University (1-1-2).

Vincent de Mey extends his season-long point-streak to five games with his assist on the first Northern Michigan goal and now has seven points through five games with five goals and two assists.

Griffin Loughran's assist on the game-winner brings his current streak to four games (2-3-5) while Darien Craighead (2-2-4) and Joseph Nardi (2-2-4) are both riding three-game streaks.

The Wildcats and Bulldogs close out the season series tomorrow evening at Ewigleben Arena at 6:07 p.m. before Northern Michigan returns home where they will host seven of their next eight games.