MARQUETTE – The Northern Michigan University women’s club hockey team came into this season with high goals and now it appears that they could achieve them.

After making the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II national tournament last season, the Wildcats are the No. 1 team in the West Division and are surging toward the postseason again.

With a record of 15-2, Northern hosts Rainy River Community College of International Falls, Minnesota, at the Berry Events Center this weekend for a key matchup with the playoffs rapidly approaching.

Admission is free to watch this successful team represent the Green and Gold.

The Wildcats would like to play their top rivals in front of a good crowd and NMU sophomore defenseman Kelsey Weyland thinks that fans will enjoy the experience.

“We play at a high level,” she said. “We aren’t allowed to hit like the boys are, so we have to work more on the puck movement aspect and we’re able to move the puck well.

“Since the Berry has Olympic-sized ice, we have to move it well because we have such a large area to cover. It’s not NHL-sized, so it’s a lot wider. It’s fun to watch and it’s obviously fun to play in. It’s just good hockey.”

Northern plays Rainy River at 1 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday at the BEC.

Weyland said that she was confident in her team at the start of the year, and so far, it’s been a great experience.

“Going into this season, I definitely thought we would be just because of how last season went,” she said. “We had a lot of good returning players and we also got a few great rookies on the team this year.

“I knew we would be playing at a high level and I was hoping that it would be even better than last year. It has been so far.”

The Wildcats are stacked offensively with the top five scorers in the country. Allison Carlson leads the way with an incredible 70 points including 38 goals in those 17 games, with Sierra Rusinek (44), Ciara Kangas (41), Kendall Turro (39) and Carlie Kangas (35) are next in line.

Katie Pryor is currently eighth overall with 25, so potent would be an understatement for this offense. Northern may be known for its scoring, but the Wildcats are also strong at the other end of the ice. Jenna Bales is the nation’s leading goalie with a 0.77 goals-against average and a .956 saves percentage.

But Rainy River should prove to be a tough opponent. The Voyageurs are one of two teams that have beaten Northern this season, so the Wildcats look for revenge this weekend.

“They’re a huge rival for us,” Weyland said. “Last year was the first year when we were a big competition in the league. Rainy River was a force to be reckoned with. We got invited to the tournament that they host every year and when we played them, we didn’t win and that was frustrating for us.

“We’re playing them again in the regular season to strengthen our schedule. Ever since then, they’ve been kind of our rival. They’re game strengtheners and just a great team to play. It’s good for us to be playing another high-level team.”

Northern has three more series, including one at home Feb. 6-7, before the Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association playoffs. Whoever wins the tournament gets an automatic berth to nationals, which is what the Wildcats are hoping for.

Last year, Northern lost in the playoffs and had to play the waiting game, hoping that they would be one of the schools chosen.

“It was nerve-racking last year,” Weyland said. “We lost to Michigan State in a shootout at playoffs, which was a huge disappointment to everyone. We really wanted to win the playoffs so we could get in and not wait for the rankings.

“We didn’t, unfortunately, so we were sitting on the edge of our seats for a few days waiting for the rankings to come out. They were supposed to come out on a Monday and then Tuesday. So one of our teammates actually emailed the ACHA commissioner and said we’re looking for some piece of mind here. ‘Is there anything you can tell us?’

“She said they’ll be coming out Wednesday morning. So I was in class Wednesday afternoon when they came out. One of the girls had sent in our group chat that the rankings were in. So we all checked our phones and freaked out because we beat out Wisconsin-Stout by one point. I’ll never forget that day, that’s for sure.”

Due to their great start, the Wildcats might have an easier time making nationals this year and Weyland feels positive that they will get there.

“I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m feeling pretty confident,” she said. “I’m really excited. I’ve been looking forward to the rest of the season since winter break. I’ve been sitting at home waiting to play hockey again.

“I’m fairly confident that we’re going to do well in the playoffs, so we won’t have to be waiting like we did last year. If we continue the way we’ve been playing, I think we have a great shot of winning the whole thing.

“Last year (at nationals), I think the excitement got the best of us because we didn’t know what to expect. But I think this year will be a whole different ball game.

“Now we know what to expect with the kind of game play and the caliber of hockey, I think we’re going to be a lot more prepared. If everything goes the way I hope it will, we’ll have a lot of time to prepare with pre-nationals the week before. Last year, it was on our spring break, so we didn’t have time to practice.”

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.