North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University men's hockey team lost its Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) opener to the Augustana Vikings, 2-1, at Midco Arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Northern Michigan entered the game with a challenging non-conference record and is now 0-9-0 overall and 0-1-0 in CCHA play. Augustana improved to 4-3-0 on the season and picked up their first conference win after being ranked as high as #21/22 in Division I polls earlier this year.

Wildcats goaltender William Gramme started for the fifth time this season and was credited with keeping the game scoreless through the first period. Gramme faced significant pressure early, stopping multiple dangerous attempts as NMU was outshot 17-14 in the opening frame. The Wildcats held an advantage in faceoffs during that period, led by Jakub Altrichter who won four of five draws.

Augustana opened scoring late in the second period when freshman Leonid Bulgakov recorded his second collegiate goal. Brett Meerman and Owen Baumgartner each earned their first assists of the season on that play. Through two periods, NMU maintained a lead in faceoff wins, with Girts Silkalns leading with eight wins out of ten attempts.

In the third period, Augustana scored again on its first power-play opportunity after going without a power-play goal for four games. Meerman scored off an assist from Bulgakov to give Augustana a two-goal lead six minutes into the final frame. NMU had a five-on-three power play but could not convert despite Caiden Gault hitting the crossbar. Shortly after that opportunity ended, Tobias Pitka scored for NMU following a pass from Grayden Slipec, cutting Augustana’s lead to one goal.

Gramme made several key saves during another Vikings power play late in regulation before NMU pulled him for an extra attacker with about ninety seconds left but could not find an equalizer.

For the game, NMU was outshot by Augustana 69-47 overall and 48-25 on target. The Wildcats went scoreless on three power plays while killing off one of two penalties faced. They won 35 faceoffs compared to Augustana’s 23—a differential of plus twelve—marking their best performance of the season in that category.

Pitka recorded his second goal of the year and his first CCHA point. Slipec broke a six-game scoreless streak by assisting on Pitka’s goal and is now tied for second-most assists on the team this season. Warren Clark earned his first point since transferring from St. Cloud State with a secondary assist on Pitka’s goal.

Gramme finished with 46 saves for a .958 save percentage—his highest single-game mark this year since recording 65 stops against Massachusetts at season's start.

Altrichter led all players by winning seventeen of twenty-five faceoffs and also contributed three blocked shots; Silkalns added eleven wins out of fourteen attempts at center ice.

Game two between Northern Michigan and Augustana will take place tomorrow night at Midco Arena.