By JAMIE GLENN

Houghton Daily Mining Gazette

HOUGHTON — As college hockey teams get to the end of the season, they look to seniors for leadership.

The Northern Michigan University Wildcats got just that Friday night on the road at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena as the Wildcats got a hat trick from Troy Loggins en route to a 4-2 win over Michigan Tech.

Loggins struck twice in the opening frame and then was the recipient of a pass from Adam Rockwood to deposit a puck into the empty net to seal the win.

“It’s a really hard building to play (and) win in,” Wildcats coach Grant Potulny said. “Early in the game, they just had great jump; we just had to continue to stay with it (and) weather the storm early.

“Then I thought we found our footing. It (was) the third game in a row (that) our structure and our puck management were outstanding.”

The Huskies dominated much of the opening 10 minutes as they forced Wildcats senior goaltender Atte Tolvanen to make numerous stops before NMU finally settled down and started to find ways to attack the Huskies’ defense.

The Wildcats’ patience paid off at 9:54 when Loggins lifted a pass from captain Denver Pierce over MTU goaltender Matt Jurusik’s right shoulder.

Loggins’ second goal of the period came on another defensive breakdown by the Huskies as he again found open ice and beat Jurusik from the slot at 14:58 to make it 2-0.

Despite the mistakes, Huskies coach Joe Shawhan was pleased with his team’s effort throughout, as they outshot the Wildcats 60-27.

“(We had) a few breakdowns that ended up in our net,” Huskies coach Joe Shawhan said. “I couldn’t ask any more of our players in the way that they executed, the way they performed, the way they played.

“I want them to come out of this feeling confident. We didn’t win the game. At this point in the year, that win sure would’ve been very nice. Right now we want to gain confidence and move ahead, and I think we gained a lot of confidence tonight.”

Pierce also picked up the primary assist on Northern’s second goal as the Wildcats’ veterans led by example.

“I give Northern credit,” Shawhan said. “They have some players that can certainly make plays and can make the the difference in a hockey game. Those players do that and they do that all the time against everybody that they play.”

Still in the first period, Michigan Tech cut the visitors’ lead in half by taking advantage of a lengthy two-man advantage. A slap shot by senior defenseman Keegan Ford from the left point at 17:00 made it 2-1 with assists by freshmen Brian Halonen and Colin Swoyer.

“I think we had a good game plan going in,” Ford said. “For the most part, I think we had 60 shots (on goal). You can’t really ask for much more. Tolvanen is a good goalie and he proved that tonight. I think we just have to keep playing the right way and hopefully we’ll start putting some more pucks in the net.”

The goal was Ford’s third.

“It was a 5-on-3 (and) Brian has a really good shot, so it kind of opens up some other things for other guys on that unit. We’ve just got to capitalize and luckily I was able to on the pass back from him. Everyone just shifted over and opened up a lane for me.”

The Huskies evened the score in the latter stages of the middle frame when co-captain Dylan Steman carried the puck through the neutral zone before feeding it over to freshman winger Alec Broetzman. Broetzman made a quick fake to the slot and then cut back to his left before beating Tolvanen with a wrist shot at 14:14.

“Dylan just got the puck in the middle and I just tried to catch up to him and made a good play,” said Broetzman. “(I) tried to beat the guy wide and just looked for the spot.

“I think we played really well in the offensive zone, made plays, got the pucks in the net. I think we made some mistakes in the defensive zone that are fixable, but we’ve just got to get ready to go for tomorrow.”

Northern regained their one-goal lead 7:02 into the third period when Vincent de Mey skated halfway around the back of the net and pushed the puck into the right side.

The Huskies forced Tolvanen to make 58 saves.Northern will also send off their senior class in tonight’s matchup at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.

“Atte (Tolvanen) has been, and is, our best player,” Potulny said. “When you go on the road, you have to pack your goaltending (and) special teams and your defense. Sixty shots (on goal against is) a school record. It was a great effort by him. I can’t say enough about him.

“(To)night is about the seniors. They’ve helped transform our program and we’ve had a little bit of a bump-and-grind season. Hopefully we’re getting hot at the right times and we want to make sure we’re sending those guys out with a win.”