North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey team lost 2-1 in overtime to the No. 19/20-ranked Colorado College Tigers during their home opener at the Berry Events Center on Friday night. The Wildcats held a 1-0 lead until halfway through the third period, but the Tigers scored late in regulation and again in overtime to secure the win.

Freshman goaltender Oliver Auyeung-Ashton started for the second consecutive game and made 43 saves out of 45 shots, recording a .956 save percentage. Auyeung-Ashton, from Coquitlam, British Columbia, now has a goals-against average of 1.70 and a save percentage of .960 across three appearances this season.

Medrick Bolduc scored Northern Michigan's only goal in the first period with assistance from Jakub Altrichter. The Tigers tied the game with just over nine minutes left in regulation when Klavs Veinbergs scored, assisted by Seth Constance and Ryan Koering. Koering later secured the victory for Colorado College in overtime by scoring on his own rebound.

The Wildcats were outshot 45-17 over the course of the game. Northern Michigan took four penalties compared to three for Colorado College; neither team converted on their power play opportunities.

"It was a winnable game and we've talked about the growing pains we are going to have to go through," said head coach Dave Shyiak after the game. "Our physical play was good and we had segments where we had them pinned down… but we need more of it."

Bolduc led NMU with five shots on goal, while no other Wildcat registered more than two shots. Kyle Bettens led all players with four blocked shots as NMU recorded a total of 27 blocks compared to Colorado College's 11.

In the first period, NMU faced an early penalty kill after Bettens was called for slashing but managed to keep Colorado College off the scoreboard thanks to several saves by Auyeung-Ashton. Bolduc’s goal gave Northern Michigan an early lead following an offensive zone faceoff win by Altrichter.

NMU continued strong defensive play throughout additional penalty kills in both periods but struggled offensively, being outshot significantly as the game progressed. Despite holding onto their lead into the third period, they conceded two unanswered goals—one late in regulation and another during overtime—to lose their opening home contest.

Northern Michigan will conclude its series against Colorado College at home on Saturday evening at 6:07 p.m.