NMU Hockey team ready for Ohio State

 

Courtesy of NMU Athletics

MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University hockey team travels to Ohio for the second weekend in a row with a trip to Ohio State for the second Central Collegiate Hockey Association road series on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 16-17). The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. on both days from Value City Arena in Columbus.

NMU is ranked No. 19 in this week’s USCHO.com top 20 poll. The ‘Cats were No. 16 last week. NMU is 4-4-2 overall and 1-3-2- in the CCHA after a loss and tie at No. 5 Miami last weekend. The ‘Cats are last in the CCHA standings with five conference points.

Senior forward Matt Thurber continues to lead the nation in assists, adding his 11th of the season on Saturday, assisting on junior forward Stephan Vigier’s power play tally. He is fourth in the CCHA in points with 11.

Freshman forward Cohen Adair leads the team with five goals. Sophomore forwards Reed Seckel and Ryan Daugherty each have four goals. Vigier has a goal and four assists.

Ohio State is 2-3-3 overall and 1-1-2 in the CCHA. The Buckeyes two wins are over Minnesota Duluth and Bowling Green. In the two CCHA series, OSU had a win and tie with BGSU. The Falcons won the shootout. Against Alaska, the two teams tied on Friday with the Buckeyes winning the shootout and the Nanooks won Saturday.

The Buckeyes defeated the Wildcats 4-1 in both meetings last year as the two teams met in Columbus. Junior forward Stephan Vigier scored in the series.

NMU leads the all-time series by a slim 36-35-3. The ‘Cats are 9-23-1 in Columbus. The two teams are 3-3 in the last six meetings.

Three of NMU’s goals at Miami were scored by players who earned their first tallies of the season. Sophomore forward DJ Vandercook and junior defenseman CJ Ludwig scored on Friday for their firsts of the season. Sophomore forward Ryan Kesti scored his first of the season on Saturday.

100.3 FM “The Point”, the official radio voice of the NMU Wildcats, broadcasts all hockey games. Wildcat hockey can also be heard on Eagle 107.3 in Escanaba and Eagle 96.7 in Newberry.