Current Northern Michigan University hockey players, in green and white uniforms, greet a half-dozen members of the 1991 NMU national championship team during a ceremony held at the Berry Events Center in Marquette during an intermission of the Wildcats' game vs. Boston University on Saturday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

MARQUETTE — The 1991 national championship hockey players from Northern Michigan University could be proud of the 2021 edition of the Wildcats over the weekend as the current team swept Boston University at the Berry Events Center.

The teams met in a rematch of the ’91 NCAA Division I title game that NMU won 8-7 in triple overtime. A half-dozen players returned for a ceremony held between the first and second periods of Saturday’s game.

The current Northern icers won that game in a 6-2 blowout after escaping with a 5-3 victory on Friday as each game included a late empty-net goal.

The wins ended a five-game losing streak, all to nationally ranked teams, as NMU improved to 4-5. It’s just in time as the Wildcats play three of their next four games on the road, starting with a home-and-home series against Michigan Tech this weekend. Friday’s 7 p.m. game is in Houghton, while Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. game will be back at the Berry.

Here are details of the games:

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NMU 5, Boston University 3

On Friday, the Wildcats jumped out to 3-0 lead less than 13 minutes in before the Terriers tightened things up considerably down the stretch.

Northern captain Joseph Nardi and teammate Hank Crone both had a hand in each of the first three goals as they and teammate AJ Vanderbeck all finished with three-point nights. Vanderbeck had two goals and an assist, Nardi a goal and two assists and Crone three assists.

But it was NMU’s Tanner Vescio who opened the scoring with his first collegiate goal not quite four minutes into the game, assisted by Nardi and Crone. Vescio scooped up a pass at the top of the slot from Nardi and ripped a wrister over the blocker of BU netminder Drew Commesso, according to an account from NMU Sports Information. Commesso wouldn’t make it through the first period before being replaced.

With 9:20 left in the opening period, Nardi made it 2-0 with his first goal of the season and assists going to Vanderbeck and Crone. Vanderbeck’s pass from the corner found Nardi inside the near faceoff circle, according to NMU SI.

Then exactly 100 seconds later, Vanderbeck got his team’s third goal on a power play, assists credited to Crone and Nardi. Vanderbeck settled a pass from Crone at the point and beat Commesso, prompting his removal after making just one save in favor of Vinny Duplessis, who finished the game.

That might’ve lit a small spark for the Terriers, who pulled within 3-1 with 3:21 remaining on a power-play goal by Robert Mastrosimone. A back-door pass behind the net went to Mastrosimone, who was at the crease as he lifted the puck past Northern netminder Rico DiMatteo.

But Northern stemmed the tide with one last goal in the opening period with 1:24 left, a power-play tally by Hampus Eriksson with assists going to Mikey Colella and Andre Ghantous. It was Eriksson’s first goal at NMU as he, Ghantous and Colella combined on the rush with Colella passing the puck across the zone to an open Eriksson, who tapped it in.

As the Wildcats’ offense then dried up, it was left to DiMatteo to protect the 4-1 lead he was given until Vanderbeck netted an unassisted empty-netter with just over a minute to go. Vanderbeck skated in initially and fired a shot wide, but with NMU able to keep the puck in the BU zone, he got a second chance and hit paydirt.

BU increased its offensive intensity, peppering the NMU goalie with 11 shots in the second period and an even dozen in the third.

The Terriers scored one goal in each of the final two periods. Mastrosimone scored his second of the night with 7:10 left in the middle period, while Case McCarthy scored with 6:49 to go that pulled BU within 4-3.

DiMatteo finished with 27 saves, while Duplessis had 17 stops to go with Commesso’s one.

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NMU 6, Boston University 2

On Saturday, with most or all Northern players reportedly wearing 1991 replica sweaters, Colella notched his first collegiate hat trick in his sophomore season along with his best night for points — four.

The Wildcats also made quite a dent on special teams, scoring on the power play four out of six chances while killing off all five BU power plays.

NMU Sports Information vividly recalled the radio call in St. Paul, Minnesota, 30 years ago of “Beaufait to Plandowski and Plandowski scores!” from the third OT of the title game. Ghantous brought that back as he wore Darryl Plandowski’s No. 15 sweater to score the final goal with 1:46 to play into an empty net.

Before that, though, Colella got his current Wildcats going quickly just like the night before, scoring 5:14 in with assists going to Ghantous and Eriksson. After a battle at center ice, Ghantous controlled the puck and fed a pass to Colella at the blue line as he skated to the hash mark and shot it in, according to NMU SI.

Unlike Friday, BU answered right away when Ty Gallagher scored just 2:12 later for a 1-1 tie.

Then the Wildcats’ began a streak of three straight power-play goals, two coming in the final 2:07 of the opening period. Colella got the first, and his second of the night, with Ghantous and Cosgrove getting assists. Cosgrove started the sequence by ripping a shot at Duplessis, with the rebound going to Ghantous, who passed it to Colella as he scored from the bottom of the right circle.

Vanderbeck made it 3-1 in the final minute before the intermission honoring the ’91 team, with assists going to Crone and Ben Newhouse. Vanderbeck found his own rebound at the top of the slot and fired it back through traffic.

Most of the second period was quiet on the scoreboard, though Cosgrove made it 4-1 on yet another power play with 5:27 left with assists going to Colella and Ghantous. Cosgrove picked up a pass from Colella and ripped a shot from the point high glove-side, NMU SI said.

The Terriers attempted to get back in the game with a goal by Domenick Fensore about 5 1/2 minutes into the third, but Colella answered another 6 1/2 minutes after that by completing his hat trick on another power play that was assisted by Ghantous and Cosgrove. Ghantous carried the puck into the zone before passing it to Colella, according to NMU SI.

DiMatteo finished with 34 saves, including 18 in the middle period, for 61 of 66 stops on the weekend. Duplessis had to make just 19 stops.

Joining Colella, Ghantous also had a career-high night in points with five, netting a goal and getting four assists. Cosgrove also had three points, including a goal.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.