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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] * ***********************************