No. 16 Huskies Fall to Northern Michigan in Series Opener

MARQUETTE, Mich. – Michael Neville notched his first goal of the season and goaltender Jamie Phillips turned aside 42 shots, but the No. 16-ranked Michigan Tech hockey team fell to Northern Michigan, 4-1, in the first game of a Western Collegiate Hockey Association home-and-home series tonight (Oct. 23) at the Berry Events Center.

"We have to get back to basics," said head coach Mel Pearson, who was behind the bench against Northern Michigan for the 13th time in his career tonight. "We showed some cracks last weekend and I thought we showed some more tonight that surfaced. That being said, Jamie had a heck of an effort tonight and really played well. Tomorrow we'll come out looking for a chance to salvage the weekend in front of our great fans."

Neville put the Huskies up, 1-0, just 2:28 into the game when he scored off an offensive-zone draw. After winning the puck back to Alex Petan, Neville scooped up a loose puck and sent a backhander into the top corner. The lone assist on the goal was credited to Petan, his ninth helper all-time against Northern Michigan.

NMU knotted the score at 1-1 midway through the period when Casey Purpur found a bouncing puck at the edge of the crease and knocked it past Phillips.

The Wildcats added a pair of goals in the second to open a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. John Siemer found a lane and beat Phillips with a shot through traffic at 9:10 before Denver Pierce converted after Tech turned the puck over behind its own net.

Darren Nowick tucked a shot just inside the far post to make it 4-1 NMU 2:32 into the third stanza to close the scoring. 

Michigan Tech (1-2-0 overall; 1-2-0 WCHA) and Northern Michigan close out the two-game series tomorrow (Oct. 24) at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. Limited tickets for the rivalry game still remain and can be purchased at the SDC Ticket Office or online at BuyHuskiesTickets.com. 

NOTES: Northern Michigan outshot Tech, 46-21 … The Huskies went 0-1 on the power play while the Wildcats connected on two of their five chances with the man advantage … Neville's goal was the first of his career against Northern Michigan. The junior center now has four points (1-3) in eight games against NMU … Phillips' 42 saves is one shy of his single-game high, which was 43 on Feb. 27, 2015 at Minnesota State.