NMU Hockey team to face BGSU Falcons
Courtesy of NMU Athletics
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University hockey team plays its final Central Collegiate Hockey Association road series this weekend (Feb. 22-23) at Bowling Green State. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. both nights from the BGSU Ice Arena.
NMU is 13-15-4 overall and 7-13-4-1 in the CCHA. The Wildcats sit in ninth place in the CCHA with 26 points. The ‘Cats are coming off a loss at Michigan Tech and a CCHA series split at Michigan State last week. The two teams below NMU in the conference standings are Michigan and Michigan State.
Senior forward Matt Thurber (5-24) leads NMU with 29 points. Sophomore forward Reed Seckel (12-10=22) and junior forward Stephen Vigier (5-12=17) also have over 16 points. Seckel leads the team with 12 goals while sophomore forward Ryan Daugherty has nine. Junior goaltender Jared Coreau is 13-15-4 on the season with a 2.63 goals against average and a 91.8 save percentage.
BGSU is 12-15-5 overall and eighth in the CCHA at 9-12-3. The Falcons are five points ahead of NMU in the standings and have won four of their last six games. Ryan Carpenter (13-13=26) and Dan DeSalvo (3-17=20) lead the offense while goaltender Andrew Hammond is 8-10-3 with a 2.52 goals against average and 91.7 save percentage. BGSU split at Ferris State last weekend.
The Falcons lead the all-time series 39-37-8. The two teams met five times last season with NMU winning three games, including a sweep in Ohio. The Falcons won the final two in the CCHA Tournament to end NMU’s season for the second year in a row.
Last weekend, NMU split a series at Michigan State. The Wildcats picked up their first CCHA road win of the season on Friday with a 5-3 win. The Spartans had a come-from-behind 4-2 win on Saturday. Thurber and Seckel each scored two goals and added two assists on Friday. Junior forward Erik Higby had a goal and an assist on Friday. Coreau had 31 saves on Friday and 39 on Saturday. Senior forward Brian Nugent had an assist on Friday and a goal and assist on Saturday. It was his first goal of the season. Three of Nugent’s eight career goals are against Michigan State.
Thurber has seven multiple points games this season. His 24 assists lead the CCHA and is tied for fifth in the nation. Coreau has over 30 saves in 16 games this season. NMU is 6-0-1 when scoring more than four goals. NMU is 0-8-1 when allowing four or more goals.
Northern is 4-12-1 on the road this season, including 1-10-1 in CCHA play. The one conference win was at Michigan State (Feb. 8) and the tie was at Miami (Nov. 10). NMU also defeated Nebraska Omaha (Oct. 20) and St. Cloud State (Jan. 4-5)
NMU has played in five overtime games and are 1-0-4-1. The one win came over Alaska (Nov. 23). The lone shootout win was the next night against the Nanooks. Senior defenseman Scott Macaulay has the only overtime game-winning goal.
100.3 FM “The Point”, the official radio station 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.