[Box Score]
MARQUETTE, MI - It was a tale of two halves of hockey as the host Northern Michigan Wildcats held off the valiant No. 12 Alaska Nanooks to take the first game of their second round Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series at Berry Events Center Friday night. Nik Yaremchuk (St. Albert, AB) and Kevin Petovello (Sparwood, BC) each recorded two points for Alaska, who rallied from an early 4-0 deficit.
Bryant Molle's third tally of the season got the Nanooks to within one, 4-3, with just under four minutes to play in the game, but it was not enough despite a frantic finish. The loss snapped the Nanooks' 10-game unbeaten streak and left them winless against the Wildcats this season in five tries (0-2-3-2).
The Wildcats got on the board only a minute into the game when Kyle Follmer picked up the puck behind the Nanooks' net and found Greger Hanson, who beat goaltender Scott Greenham (Addison, ON) for the 1-0 lead.
Northern Michigan quickly struck for two more goals in a span of 37 seconds to make it 3-0. Andrew Fernandez found the back of the net on assists by Andrew Cherniwch and Justin Florek followed by a Tyler Gron goal moments later for the three-goal lead.
Alaska got their chance to answer back at the tail end of the first period when two Wildcats went to the sin-bin to give the Nanooks a 5-on-3 power play. The Nanooks failed to score during the extra-man advantage, but came dangerously close as Andy Taranto (Woodridge, IL) rang the goal pipe with a one-time shot.
NMU extended their lead in the second period when Follmer scored on a shot from the point just seconds after Alaska had killed off a Kaare Odegard (Red Deer, Alberta) penalty.
For almost 35 minutes of play the Nanooks could not solve Wildcats goaltender Brian Stewart until Alaska scored three straight goals on the senior netminder in the second half of the game.
Dustin Sather (Wanham, AB) tickled the twine with his 11th goal of the season, a power-play goal, at the 14:38 mark to get the Blue and gold on the board. Sather gathered the puck after Stewart made consecutive saves on Petovello and Dion Knelsen (Three Hills, AB) and put the puck into an empty net.
Yaremchuk went to work for the Blue and Gold and took a feed from Jarret Granberg (Foremost, Alberta) to pull Alaska within two midway through the third period. Bryant Molle (Anchorage, AK) notched a power-play tally from Yaremchuk and Scott Enders (Edmonton, AB) to breathe life back into the Nanooks.
They took control of play late in the final period, but would not beat Stewart again as the Wildcats held on for the victory and the 1-0 series lead.
Consequently, the let down marked the Nanooks first since January 30 when they fell to the same Wildcat team 3-2. That game also featured Alaska coming back from an early 3-0 deficit.
Alaska outshot Northern Michigan 35-24 for the game, including 11-5 in the final period, and went 2-for -7 on the power play.
Greenham made 20 saves in net, while his counterpart, Stewart, stopped 32 shots.
Alaska returns to the Berry Events Center for the second encounter with the 'Cats in the best-of-three series Saturday night. Opening face off is set for 3:35 p.m. AST.
