Wildcats reflect on series vs. Mavericks

MARQUETTE, Mich. – Nothing went right for the NMU hockey team Friday against Minnesota State. The ‘Cats lost that game, 4-1 against the Mavericks. Saturday’s game was a much different story for the home team.

Despite trailing not once, but twice in the contest, the Wildcats and Mavericks skated to a 2-2 draw. NMU scored both goals on the powerplay. Although they were not at all satisfied with a tie, Saturday’s game was a much–needed confidence booster heading into this week’s series against Michigan Tech.

“We’re not happy with the tie, a win would be nicer,” said NMU defenseman Mitch Jones. “When we play hard, we can compete with anyone. That’s a very good team. They’re the No. 1 team in the nation (Pairwise Rankings) and we competed with them.”

“We’ve been really stressing to improve our powerplay,” said Wildcats forward Dominik Shine. “Moving the puck around, we actually created some opportunities. It felt really good that now our power play is going a little bit now. We’re not satisfied with the tie, but I think that was a big step for our team. It felt good to compete against them and we were right there, taking steps forward every time. It felt good coming off the break with a pretty solid weekend.”

“We never feel good about a tie, particularly at home, nor should we nor do I want our guys to,” said NMU head coach Walt Kyle. “I feel good about the way we played… that was the message I said to the guys after the game. We want to be a good team. We played hard and I’m proud of their effort.”

We will have much more on the Wildcats upcoming series with the Huskies later this week in sports.