Tempers flare in Huskies win vs. NMU

MARQUETTE — The Michigan Tech Huskies won a chippy game Saturday night at the Berry Events Center, defeating rival Northern Michigan 3-1. The Huskies swept the weekend series against the Wildcats.

The two teams totaled 81 penalty minutes in the game. After the Huskies went up 3-0 in the second period, a scrum occurred behind the NMU net. Wildcats defenseman Zach Urban received a game misconduct and was ejected from the game. Wildcats forward John Siemer and Huskies forward suffered the same fate as Urban in the third period on two different penalties.

Tyler Heinonen opened the scoring in the first period for Michigan Tech on the power play. Tanner Kero and Reid Sturos added the other goals for MTU. Casey Purpur scored his first career goal with less than a minute to go in the game, deflecting home a shot from the point by Brock Maschmeyer.

Jamie Phillips stopped 20 shots in net for the Huskies (26-8-2, 21-5-2 WCHA). Michael Doan stopped 38 shots for NMU (14-16-6, 11-13-4 WCHA).

Michigan Tech is the No. 2 in the WCHA Playoffs. The Huskies face No. 7 Alabama Huntsville in a best-of-three series beginning Friday, March 13 in Houghton. Northern Michigan is the No. 6 seed in the WCHA Playoffs. The Wildcats will travel to Bowling Green, OH next week to face Bowling Green. NMU swept the Falcons in Bowling Green back in February.