North Michigan News

In his first start for Northern Michigan University, goaltender William Gramme set a new NCAA milestone by recording 65 saves in a 5-3 loss to the No. 15-ranked University of Massachusetts Minutemen on Saturday night in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The Minutemen started strong, scoring just over three minutes into the game and outshooting the Wildcats significantly. Gramme stopped 34 shots in the opening period alone, establishing a new NMU record for saves in a single period. Despite being outshot 35-7 in the first period, Northern Michigan took a 2-1 lead into intermission with goals from Joe Schiller and Caiden Gault.

The second period saw fewer chances as both teams combined for 26 shots. UMass tied the score through Lukas Klecka, and the teams remained even after two periods.

Northern Michigan regained the lead early in the third when Medrick Bolduc scored after pressure from Jakub Altrichter. However, UMass quickly responded as Vaclav Nestrasil redirected a puck off his skate to tie it again.

Gramme surpassed NMU’s program record for most saves in a game seven and a half minutes into the third period. His total of 65 stops ranks as the second-most by any netminder in regulation during the modern NCAA era (since 2004). The previous NMU single-game record was held by John Corrigan, who made 57 saves against Boston College on December 8, 1984. The NCAA modern-era regulation save record is held by Jocelyn Guimond of RIT with 66 saves on October 10, 2005.

UMass scored what would be the deciding goal late in the third with a shot from Dell'Elce before adding an empty-net goal with ten seconds left. The Minutemen finished with a decisive shot advantage, firing 95 attempts to NMU’s 45; of those, UMass put 70 on target compared to Northern Michigan’s 26.

Special teams played a role as well: Northern Michigan killed all four UMass power plays and went one-for-two themselves but could not capitalize on their final man advantage late in regulation.

Altrichter led all skaters at faceoffs with fifteen wins (62.5 percent), while Tobias Pitka added an assist and eleven faceoff victories (68.8 percent). Warren Clark matched Slipec for team-high shots at six each; Altrichter led with four shots on target.

Schiller returned from injury to score his first collegiate goal since November last year. Transfer Caiden Gault also scored his first goal as a Wildcat during a power play opportunity. Bolduc recorded his third career collegiate goal after scoring early last season as well. Altrichter had two assists—his fifth career multi-assist performance—and Pitka earned his first collegiate point with an assist on Schiller's tally.

Reflecting on individual achievements: “Gramme made 65 saves in the game, setting a career-high and breaking the NMU program single-game record that had stood for 41 years,” according to team records provided following Saturday’s contest.

Northern Michigan will face UMass again Sunday at Mullins Center at 4 p.m.