Freshman goalie Craig Kowalski stopped 25 shots to help earn Northern Michigan its first win of the season, a 5-3 triumph over visiting Ohio State at the Berry Events Center Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Five different players scored for the Wildcats, who avenged a 5-3 Friday night loss to the Buckeyes with an offensive explosion of their own, outshooting Ohio State, 39-27.<\/p>\n
“(Kowalski) started strong,” NMU coach Rick Comley said. “He made a lot of good saves. He’s an outstanding young goalie.”<\/p>\n
Kowalski stopped 11 Buckeye attempts in the first period. His counterpart, Mike Betz, made a total of 34 saves for Ohio State.<\/p>\n
NMU sophomore Chris Gobert opened the scoring when he tipped in teammate Terry Harrison’s shot at the 18:15 mark of the first period. Junior defenseman Sean Connolly earned an assist, as well.<\/p>\n
But the Buckeyes wasted little time in knotting the score, as Jean-Francois Dufour notched a power-play goal with just 37 seconds left, getting assists from Scott May and Andre Signoretti. It was Dufour’s third goal of the weekend.<\/p>\n
The Wildcats took the lead for good, however, when Fred Mattersdorfer tipped in a power-play shot by Mike Sandbeck, giving his team a 2-1 lead 5:33 into the second period. Connolly earned an assist on the goal as well.<\/p>\n
NMU defenseman Jimmy Jackson scored his first of the season at the 17:17 mark, with Ryan Riipi and Mike Stutzel assisting.<\/p>\n
“I thought the defensive trio of Connolly, Sandbeck and Jackson played very well,” Comley said. “They really stepped it up tonight.”<\/p>\n
But again, the Buckeyes quickly countered, as Doug Andress scored on the power play at 18:01. Assists went to Luke Pavlas and Jaisen Freeman.<\/p>\n
Junior center Chad Theuer gave NMU a 4-2 lead when he scored off a pass from Bryce Cockburn at the 1:35 mark of the third period. Cockburn later iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:10.<\/p>\n
“We needed the upperclassmen to stand up,” Comley said. “We have such a young team some nights we’re going to look good and some nights we aren’t. [Ohio State] jumped out on us last night, but I thought we did a good job tonight of neutralizing their speed.”<\/p>\n
The Wildcats improved to 1-1-1 overall and 1-1-0 in the CCHA. The Buckeyes are 1-1-0 overall and in conference action. <\/p>\n
NMU will continue CCHA play next weekend when it travels to Ferris State for a pair of games against the Bulldogs. Ohio State will host Niagara for a non-conference game next Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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