North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey team was defeated 4-1 by the Michigan Tech Huskies on Friday night at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Michigan. The game marked the start of a rivalry weekend between the two teams.

Jakub Altrichter scored his first goal of the season for Northern Michigan, which was also the team's only goal of the night. The shorthanded tally came midway through the third period after a lead pass from Mathew Ward. Stiven Sardarian led Michigan Tech with two goals and an assist.

Michigan Tech took an early lead, scoring just 22 seconds into the game and finishing the first period ahead 2-0 while holding a slight advantage in shots on goal. Northern Michigan improved its play in the second period, outshooting Tech but falling further behind after another Huskies goal. By the end of two periods, Northern trailed 3-0.

In total, both teams combined for 13 penalties and had five power-play opportunities each, but Altrichter's shorthanded effort was the only special-teams goal. Tynan Ewart led Northern with five blocked shots as part of their 20 total blocks compared to Tech's 14.

Wildcats goaltender William Gramme started and made nine saves before being replaced by freshman Oliver Auyeung-Ashton midway through the second period. Auyeung-Ashton stopped all 18 shots he faced in his rivalry debut. On the other side, Owen Bartoszkiewicz made 26 saves for Michigan Tech and nearly scored a goalie goal late in the game.

The loss leaves Northern Michigan winless at 0-11 overall and 0-3 in Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) play this season. Michigan Tech improved to 6-3 overall and remains undefeated at 3-0 in league competition.

The Wildcats will try to even the series when they host Michigan Tech at Berry Events Center on Saturday night with puck drop scheduled for 6:07 p.m.

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