It’s Friday again, and with it, the rumble is returning to the Berry Events Center in Marquette for playoff hockey.

The Wildcats will host Bowling Green State University Falcons at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday (and Sunday, if necessary) at the Berry Events Center for the second round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Playoffs.

This best-of-three semifinal series will be the third time the Wildcats and Falcons have met at the Berry this year; NMU took the first game with a 5-2 victory, and won a shocker the following night with a 3-2 overtime victory on a goal with just seven seconds remaining in the OT period.

The home crowd did a good job last weekend to fill the Berry and show their support. We need that same effort for this weekend’s series, and then some.

The “white out” theme will return to NMU against Bowling Green, with fans encouraged to wear white to all of the games. The first 1,000 fans to Friday and Saturday’s games will receive a free Wildcat t-shirt courtesy of the game sponsors. On Friday, The Mining Journal is sponsoring the event, while Q107-WMQT and ESPN U.P. is sponsoring Saturday’s game.

The Wildcats got off to a lightning fast start in game one of their series against Alabama-Huntsville on March 2, scoring three goals on their first four shot attempts and helping them roll to a 7-1 victory. NMU fell 3-2 in game two, but claimed the deciding game three win, 5-2.

Once again, the support of the home crowd can go a long way to deciding the outcome of a game or a series. This is a team that has proven to be nearly unbeatable at home this season, with a current record of 15-3 at the Berry.

For the first time since the 2009-10 season, NMU has reached the 20-win mark (21-12-3) during the regular season. The team is currently at 23-13-3, and will have the chance to win 25 games in a season for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

These Wildcats have certainly earned our support, and that’s why we should all be donning white this weekend and packing the arena until the last ticket is sold. Go ‘Cats Go!