Local Sports

Wildcat icers have rough weekend at No. 11 Augustana

MARQUETTE -- Needless to say, it was an inauspicious beginning to the CCHA campaign for the Northern Michigan University hockey team.

With their best line of defense unavailable, CCHA Preseason First Team goaltender Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, the Wildcats couldn't hold off an avalanche of shots by nationally ranked Augustana on Friday night in a 12-0 setback at the Vikings' rink.

Things were looking up on Saturday evening, with the score tied 1-1 after two periods until a mini-blizzard impacted NMU in the third period as their hosts skated off with a 4-1 win.

The Wildcats fell to the bottom of the CCHA as the only team without points, Northern now at 2-6 overall and 0-2 after its opening league series.

Next above NMU are a trio of teams with three points apiece, the worst being Lake Superior State as the Lakers have already played four CCHA games and are 0-2-2 in them.

Augustana, ranked No. 11 nationally heading into the weekend, is 7-0-1 and 2-0, good for six points and tied for the league lead with Bowling Green State, also 2-0 in the conference.

Next up for the Wildcats are back-to-back home series over the upcoming two weekends. This week Minnesota State-Mankato comes to town, while on Nov. 13-14 will be Bowling Green. In each series, the Friday game begins at 7:07 p.m. and Saturday's at 6:07 p.m.

Here are more details from Augustana:

Augustana 12, NMU 0

On Friday night, without Auyeung-Ashton available -- no reason was given by Northern -- two other goalies made their season debuts for the Wildcats -- Max Weilandt and Jack Fuller, who also made his first collegiate appearance.

With NMU giving up at least three goals each period, Weilandt started and lasted about six minutes into the second period, giving up five goals with 14 saves.

Then after Augustana's Heath Nelson scored his second of the night 5:57 into the second, Northern head coach Dave Shyiak elected to pull Weilandt in favor of Fuller, who suffered just about the same fate, letting in seven goals while making 22 saves in the final 34-plus minutes.

This was the Vikings' most goals scored in a game in the program's short history, the previous high just seven last December vs. Omaha, according to a game account provided by NMU Sports Information.

Augustana held a significant 48-19 shots on goal advantage over Northern, something not unheard of in the past several years for the Wildcats. But this time, NMU didn't have its All-American candidate between the pipes.

Nelson and teammates Nace Langus and Brett Meerman each scored two goals for the Vikings, with Nelson and teammate Leonid Bulgakov each collecting three assists, giving Nelson a five-point night and Bulgakov four points.

AU netminder Mathis Langevin finished with a 19-save shutout as Michael Burchill was one of four Wildcats with four total shots; he also led the team with three shots on goal.

Peter Cisar led NMU with three blocked shots, while teammate Owen Pitters led the way with 11 wins in 18 faceoffs.

Eleven Augustana goals came at even strength, the one that wasn't came on a power play by Hunter Bischoff exactly 30 seconds before his team's goal that took Weilandt out of the game.

Those two goals were among three scored in 68 seconds that ended with one by Cole Burtch with 13:25 left in the second period that made it 6-0.

Augustana 4, NMU 1

On Saturday night, the Wildcats were in an even game after scoring just before the midpoint of the second period, getting the second career goal from Colorado College transfer Merril Steenari a shade over a minute after the Vikings scored the first goal.

But Augustana potted a pair of goals 68 seconds apart early in the third period, and NMU had no answer, at least not on the scoreboard.

Weilandt didn't face quite the barrage he did Friday night, going the distance and making 35 saves as AU held a 39-21 shots on goal advantage.

Despite no scoring in the first period, both teams had double-digit shots on goal, the Vikings holding a narrow 11-10 edge.

Augustana then got the game's first score with 11:38 left in the middle period on a 2-on-1. Joey DelGreco began the play by sneaking behind Cisar to pick off a drop pass on a Northern power play, according to NMU SI. DelGreco then went 2-on-1 with Burtch, the former sliding a pass to the latter at Weilandt's back door for AU's second shorthanded goal this season.

Then on the same Wildcats' power play, Branden Piku made a power move at the side of the net and put up a close-in shot. Steenari was also in close at the top of the crease and found the rebound, knocking it home for his second goal of the season. Mathew Ward also picked up an assist.

With the score still tied, Weilandt came up big late in the second with several huge saves on an AU power play, while teammate Ian Engel also blocked a shot in front of a wide-open net.

After the shots on goal began tilting toward Augustana, 9-4 in the second period, the Vikings cashed in twice early in the third.

The first came on an AU power play when Bischoff received a cross-ice pass on the right wing and sprinted in on Weilandt, according to NMU SI, making a forehand-backhand move in tight.

The Vikings' Landon Fandel made it 3-1 just 1:08 later on a shot from the point.

Augustana added an empty-netter with 2:15 to go by Bulgakov.

Northern's Engel, Cisar, Piku and Jason Davenport each blocked two shots, while freshman Coster Dunn made an exceptional 11 wins on 15 faceoffs. Pitters and teammates Ward, Reilley Kotai

and Medrick Bolduc also had better than 50% winning rates on faceoffs.

Augustana 12, NMU 0

Friday at Sioux Falls, S.D.

Summary:

First period -- 1. AUG, Heath Nelson (Young, Bulgakov) 5:37; 2. AUG, Nace Langus (Fandel, Bulgakov) 10:27; 3. AUG, Leonid Bulgakov (Marshchanok, Nelson) 18:50

Second period -- 4. AUG, Hunter Bischoff (Meerman, Baumgartner) ppg 5:27; 5. AUG, Nelson (unassisted) 5:57; 6. AUG, Cole Burtch (Langus, Chakrabarti) 6:35; 7. AUG, Siamion Marshchanok (Bulgakov, Nelson) 13:30; 8. AUG, Brett Meerman (H. Hennen) 17:56

Third period -- 9. AUG, Owen Baumgartner (Fletcher, Nelson) 2:01; 10. AUG, Meerman (Baumgartner, Jastrebski) 6:58; 11. AUG, Landon Fandel (unassisted) 11:34; 12. AUG, Langus (Meritahti, Burtch) 13:16

Penalties-minutes: NMU 2-4, Augustana 3-6

Power-play opportunities: NMU 0 of 3, Augustana 1 of 2

Goalie saves: NMU 36 (Max Weilandt 12-2-x--14, Jack Fuller x-12-10--22); Augustana, Mathis Langevin 19 (10-3-6)

Augustana 4, NMU 1

Friday at Sioux Falls, S.D.

Summary:

First period -- No scoring

Second period -- 1. AUG, Cole Burtch (DelGreco) shg 8:22; 2. NMU, Merril Steenari (Piku, Ward) ppg 9:25

Third period -- 3. AUG, Hunter Bischoff (Meerman, Marshchanok) ppg 2:34; 4. AUG, Landon Fandel (Burtch, Langus) 3:42; 5. AUG, Leonid Bulgakov (H. Hennen) eng 17:45

Penalties-minutes: NMU 4-8, Augustana 3-6

Power-play opportunities: NMU 1 of 3, Augustana 1 of 4

Goalie saves: NMU, Max Weilandt 35 (11-8-16); Augustana, Mathis Langevin 20 (10-3-7)

Story contents based on a pair of Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases reviewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.