Men’s ice hockey: Northern Michigan sweeps No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth

MARKET, I. – The University of Northern Michigan Wildcats hockey team completed a sweeping top-ranked University of Minnesota – Duluth in convincing fashion on Saturday night, beating the visiting Bulldogs, 5-2.

Bo Hanson immediately flashed the lights, firing a shot into the back of the net in just 97 seconds. After scoring on their first shot in the contest, the Wildcats would go on to outperform the Bulldogs, 9-5 in the opening period. .

The Wildcats extended their lead to 3-0 with an early second-period goal by AJ Vanderbeck and a power play goal from Alex Frye.

UMD pulled one back at 12:27 of the second stanza to deny Rico DiMatteo but the second-rate netminder continued to fire after shot to the side, making 15 saves in the period.

On five minutes of strength play, David Keefer capitalized on the last goal of the period, giving NMU a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

The Bulldogs cut the Wildcats’ lead in the half just two minutes into the final period when a quick shot beat DiMatteo for a 4-2 scoreline.

It would have been the last goal allowed by the hosts Wildcats while NMU found the back of the net at 17:57 when UMD selected an additional striker.

The Wildcats improved to 10-6-1 this season and are unbeaten in their last six contests.

TARGET

• Bo Hanson scored his first Wildcat goal in just 97 seconds of the game when his shot hit the crossbar and bounced into the net. David Keefer got the puck back to Hank Crone who was standing on top of the close circle. He concentrated a pass to Hanson who slid through the slot for the first goal of the night, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
• From his usual place in the slot, AJ Vanderbeck extended NMU’s lead to two with a quick flick of the wrist. Trevor Cosgrove reached out for a long icy cross, finding Vanderbeck alone on the line to slide undisputedly.
• Alex Frye scored his first goal of the season in power play. The match winner finally came at 11:42 of the second period when the loose puck up front was tapped by Frye to make it 3-0, NMU. Crone and Vanderbeck each provided assists to score.
• Rushing into a play of power, Mike Van Unen fed David Keefer who shot the puck over Patt UMD’s gloves for a 4-1 scoreline late in the second period.
• The Wildcats’ final goal of the night came from an empty net as Hank Crone picked up the chip on neutral ice and slid into the offensive zone. From the top of the far circle he fired the puck into the open net to seal the deal for the 5-2 final.

KEY STATUS

• The Wildcats scored 10 goals in the weekend series against a UMD defense averaging 1.25 goals against per game.
• NMU’s 4.12 goals per game ranks third nationally behind only Denver and Cornell.
• With four points Saturday night, Hank Crone now leads the country on 27 points (7-20-27) and is second in assists.
• Despite outshots by a narrow 33-31 margin, the Wildcats had 21 shots blocked in the win. The Houses’ Cats also blocked 14 shots of their own, led by Ben Newhouse with four.
• Eight Wildcats highlight box scores, including four with multi-point nights.
• Crone lead the team in points tally with a goalless net and three assists while David Keefer (1-1-2), AJ Vanderbeck (1-1-2) and Bo Hanson (1-1-2) all scored one goal and one goal. assists for two points each.
• The two Wildcats scored their first goals of the season in a win as Hanson scored his first for NMU and Alex Frye turned the lights on for the first time in 2021-22.
• With his second-half goal, AJ Vanderbeck extended his goals and points record to five games, a team best. He now boasts six points over that stretch.
• The other four Wildcats currently have straight points from two or more games, including Crone who has seven points in his last three games (1-6-7). Trevor Cosgrove, who provided an assist on Saturday, has collected six points in his last three games. David Keefer and Vincent de Mey each have two goals at the weekend and an assist for two games in a row.
• Rico DiMatteo made several improbable saves in the game as he improved to 10-5-1 this season with 31 saves in Saturday night’s win.

NEXT

The Wildcats are back in action at the Central Collegiate Hockey Association next weekend with a trip across the Upper Peninsula to Lake Superior State University, December 10-11.