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MARQUETTE — The national pollsters call this an almost even matchup, but the players and coaches will decide who is the best on the ice this weekend when the Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech hockey teams clash in their usual home-and-home series format.

On Thursday, NMU announced that due to health and safety guidelines, tonight’s game scheduled for the Berry Events Center in Marquette has been moved to Sunday and the start time moved to 6:07 p.m.

NMU Sports Information also announced that tickets purchased for tonight automatically will be honored for Sunday, but for those requesting a refund, that must be done by 2 p.m. Saturday. Refund requests can be emailed to tickets@nmu.edu, done in person during business hours or by calling 227-1032.

Northern Michigan University's David Keefer, second from left, collects the puck in Wildcats' offensive zone as teammates A.J. Vanderbeck, second from top right, and Colby Enns, lower right, look on during the first period of a college hockey game against Alabama-Huntsville on Feb. 16 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. Also pictured are the Chargers' Dayne Finnson, left, and Quinn Green. (Photo courtesy Shannon Stieg)

Saturday’s game remains at 6:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton.

Both games will not only be broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, but also be televised. They are scheduled for WLUC-TV6 on Saturday and Fox-U.P. on Sunday.

NMU (13-9-1, 7-8-1 CCHA) moved back into the USCHO.com poll at 19th this week, while the Huskies (12-8-1, 9-5-0) rose two spots to 17th in that same set of rankings.

All-time, Northern has the tiniest advantage of 77-76-14. Nothing changed in the series when these teams met in mid-November with the Wildcats winning 3-2 in overtime in the opener in Houghton before MTU bounced back for a 5-2 win in Marquette.

Northern sophomore goaltender Rico DiMatteo made 43 saves in the OT win, a career high in saves, as AJ Vanderbeck scored the game winner.

Last weekend, the Wildcats had an impressive split against the No. 1 team in the CCHA and NCAA Division 1, Minnesota State-Mankato. NMU won the opener 4-2 before falling 4-1 on Saturday. Despite the split, the Mavericks are still 21-5 overall and 15-3 in the league.

Northern’s Andre Ghantous scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season last weekend as the Wildcats are now 10-5-1 at home and 3-4 in away games this season.

Here are some other statistics gleaned by NMU Sports Information about the Wildcats’ national rankings:

• Hank Crone’s 24 assists in 23 games tops the nation, while his 33 points are No. 2 and 1.43 points per game is sixth. His lone shorthanded goal puts him tied for ninth.

• Linemate AJ Vanderbeck leads the country with 17 goals, while his 30 points is tied for sixth and 1.3 points per game is 14th. He also has taken 94 shots to rank third as he has more goals than the two more prolific shooters ahead of him.

• Vanderbeck has seven power play goals for a tie for fourth.

• Senior defenseman and alternate captain Ben Newhouse has 76 blocked shots in 23 games, leading the country, while fellow blueliner Mike Van Unen is tied for ninth with 44.

• DiMatteo has made 520 saves, 10th best and No. 2 in the CCHA, while he is eighth in wins.

• Mikey Colella has 13 goals to tie for 13th overall and tie for fourth among underclassmen.

• Ghantous has 15 assists to tie for 25th.

• The Wildcats as a team average 3.87 goals per game, third best in Division I and second in the CCHA, and their 24.5% power play percentage (25 goals) is 10th. And their 144 assists is sixth.

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Senior captain Joseph Nardi is up to 169 consecutive games played, an NMU record for both consecutive and overall games played.

NMU reminds fans that a mask is required to be worn by all, including visitors and both vaccinated and unvaccinated, in all indoor facilities, including athletic venues. The only exception is when actively eating or drinking.

Fans can follow @NMUHockey on Twitter, @nmu_hockey on Instagram, NMU Hockey on Facebook and @nmuhockey on TikTok.

Online information is available in these ways — radio at https://streamdb7web.securenetsystems.net/ce/wupt, video at https://www.flohockey.tv/ and live statistics at https://nmuwildcats.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary.

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

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