Northern Michigan 4, Michigan Technological 3
 
Thanks to the gracious hospitality of Hockey-L member Bob Gilreath, I
was able to view the NMU Wildcats' first (finally!) victory of the
season from Bob's excellent seats in MTU's fine MacInnes Student Ice
Arena.  A friend and I, after a good deal of last-minute vacillating,
decided to take a chance on the suddenly-unpromising U.P. weather and
make the 100-mile drive to Houghton for the game.  Blizzardy conditions
were in effect, especially on the way back to Marquette, but the result
of the contest made us glad we took the chance.  Hope Bob doesn't regret
his hospitality!  :-)  Another Hockey-L member, Kathy (?) from the
suburbs of the Big Apple, who is a lifelong friend and fan of new Tech
coach Bob Mancini, also joined us for dinner before the game and then
the contest.  (Talk about a fan!  Kathy had flown all the way to
Marquette from New York just for the Mancini-watching hockey weekend;
she rented a car and drove up to Houghton yesterday afternoon.  She'll
be in attendance at Lakeview Arena in Marquette for the series
conclusion tonight.)
 
Again sophomore goalie Corwin Saurdiff was the primary difference for
the Wildcats.  He made 33 saves, and probably kept the game winnable
with his work of the first 3 minutes, when the Huskies continuously
buzzed the Northern goal following the opening faceoff, yet failed to
solve Saurdiff.  The first score came at 10:52 of the first period, when
Huskie (don't have first name) Stevens took a very nice pass from
Peterson right in front and flipped it past Saurdiff.  Just nine seconds
later NMU tied it as Brent Riplinger scored his third goal of the season
on a rebound.  Huskie goaltender Jamie Ram, who was as good as Saurdiff
and made 29 saves, had stopped the initial shot and the first rebound,
but couldn't prevent the goal on the second try.  Troy Johnson and
Kaebel were awarded assists.  Late in the period the Wildcats took the
lead as Steve Woog got his first goal of the season with an assist from
Bryan Ganz on another close-in play.
 
During the break between periods I briefly left myMarquette friend to
join Bob, his wife and Kathy in the Blue Line room.  I said, "I have to
gloat now, while I can!" We had fully expected Tech to beat the Wildcats
rather handily in this game, with our poor start, the Huskies' good one,
and the loss again of Joe Frederick.
 
Saurdiff really earned his place in the second period.  Early on the
'Cats were called for two minors within a few seconds of one another.  I
think he made five saves during the ensuing 5-on-3 and then 5-on-4
situation, and yielded no scores.  Then at 7:45 Northern increased its
lead to 3-1 when Mike Harding notched his first of the year with assists
from Geoff Simpson and Garrett MacDonald.  Right at the end of the
period Saurdiff for some reason gave up a very soft goal, much easier
(at least in appearance) of an attempt  than many others he'd stopped.
He may have been partially screened; the puck was bouncing along the ice
rather slowlythrough some other players and went between his legs; he
took a swipe at it with his glove but was a bit late.  That goal came at
19:18 and was scored by the Huskies' Hill, with assists from Young and
Figliomeni.  So, it was 3-2, NMU, after two periods.
 
In the third period the Huskies dominated play for much of the first ten
minutes, and were almost continuously in the Wildcats' end.  However, no
scores resulted throughout most of the period, although both teams had
near misses, especially the Huskies, who hit a couple of goal posts
during this time.  Mancini pulled Ram at about 18:30 to get the extra
atacker on the ice.  I said to my buddy, "An empty-net goal would be
nice!" and the Wildcats obliged when they got control of the puck and
quite carefully maneuvered it into the Tech end, where Harding ended the
play by scoring on the empty net from the right point at 18:52.  Jason
Hehr was given an assist.  The Tech goalie was pulled again following
the faceoff, and in a scramble in front of Saurdiff Lebel lobbed a sort
of knuckle ball shot over Corwin's right shoulder at 19:47.  This made
it 4-3, and although the Huskies managed to get it into     the Wildcat
zone, the 'Cats controlled it the rest of the remaining seconds.
 
Michian Tech had been leading the WCHA in power play percentage with
8/25 for 32%, but were frustrated on all five of their attempts in this
game.  It was a great game, which obviously could have been won by
either team.  Two great goaltenders and pretty evenly matched players
all around.  I was significantly more impressed with the discipline and
precision of the Wildcats' power play this time, even though they only
scored on 1 out of 5 opportunities.  Mainly, it was very important for
NMU to find it can win even without Frederick, and even on the road.
It was a clean game, with only eight penalties being called on each
team, and no fights.
 
The rematch tonight in Marquette should be a dandy.  We'll be seeing
Bob, Liz and Kathy at Lakeview, and are looking forward to more fun.
 
                      ***********************************
                     *      Steve Christopher, NMU       *
                    *  "Go 'Cats!''Goin' for it again in  *
                    *     '93--With a lot less "O"        *
                    *       but a little more "D"!        *
                     *        [log in to unmask]         *
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