Northern Michigan broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and went on to a 4-1 victory over Michigan Tech, courtesy of four different goal scorers and some solid goaltending by Craig Kowalski.
“I thought we gave a pretty solid effort,” said Michigan Tech head coach Mike Sertich. “We got some really solid performances. We’re not happy with the loss certainly, but we’ll use the next week and a half to get ready for St. Lawrence.”
It was 1-0 NMU after one period as Chris Gobert put one home from the top of the left faceoff circle. The Huskies appeared to even the game later in the period, however, sophomore Brett Engelhardt’s marker was ruled to be kicked in.
Michigan Tech tied the game on Werner’s goal early on in the second before NMU took the lead for good on Terry Harrison’s tally at 9:32 of the second. It was 2-1 after 40 minutes.
The Huskies had a 13-8 shots on goal edge in the third, with several good chances, but NMU scored twice, including once into an empty net, to account for the 4-1 final.
Craig Kowalski picked up the win in goal with 30 saves, while Tech’s Cam Ellsworth recorded 25 stops.
Northern Michigan (1-0-0) will play Boston University in the first round of the IceBreaker on Friday, while Michigan Tech will travel to St. Lawrence for two games in two weeks.
