NMU beats Lake State & wins Cappo Cup
MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University improved to 14-13-6 with an 11-10-4 WCHA record with a 5-0 win over Lake Superior State as the Wildcats retained the Cappo Cup. Junior goaltender Michael Doan finished the game with 27 saves in his first career shutout. Sophomore forward Sami Salminen scored two goals on the night, while sophomore defenseman Brock Maschmeyer recorded three points with a goal and two assists.
“Yeah it was a really good effort, we have a lot of guys that couldn’t play and a lot of guys that had to play hurt. We also had a lot of guys that don’t play a lot when they do play and they had to bite off a lot of minutes,” said NMU head coach Walt Kyle. “They did a good job and we need to reload and come back because tomorrow we have to get the job done.”
Senior forward Reed Seckel opened the scoring for the game with his eighth goal of the season as he powered a shot past the glove of Laker goalie Gordon Defiel at the 14:14 mark. Sophomore forward Shane Sooth recorded his 14th assist on the play and freshman defenseman Jordan Klimek also earned an assist on the play.
The Wildcats held the early shots lead by a 15-10 margin as Doan started his night with 10 saves.
Northern Michigan was able to score on the power play twice in the second period with the first score coming from Salminen scoring his fifth of the season at the 6:58 mark. Junior defenseman Ryan Trenz sent a puck to the net that was tipped by Salminen to put NMU on the board 2-0. Maschmeyer also recorded his first assist of the night on the play.
Shortly after, Sooth found the back of the net for his fifth goal of the year just outside the crease off a rebound from junior forward Darren Nowick at the 9:33 mark. The assist was number 14 on the year for Nowick, while junior forward Cohen Adair passed the puck out to Nowick to receive an assist on the play.
NMU held a 22-18 advantage in shots on net after the second with Doan stopping all 8 pucks sent his way in the period.
Maschmeyer opened the third period scoring at the 11:27 mark when sophomore forward John Siemer sent the puck ahead to Nowick along the boards who then sent it across to Maschmeyer who buried the puck with an empty net in front of him. The goal was the ninth of the season for Maschmeyer with Siemer recording his 10th assist and Nowick his 15th.
Salminen was able to tip another puck at the net for his second goal of the night at the 14:11 mark for the final NMU goal. Adair brought the puck from the boards up to Maschmeyer who sent it to the net only to be redirected past the stick of the goaltender by Salminen.
Doan finished the night with nine saves in the third for a game total of 27 saves. The Wildcats were able to finish the night 2-5 on the power play and blocked 18 shots as a team.
(Information Courtesy of NMU Athletics)