Freshmen score all three goals; Oliver Auyeung-Ashton makes 30 saves on banner-raising night
MARQUETTE, Mich. — The NMU hockey team began its 50th season celebrations with a win, blanking the (RV/RV) Miami (OH) RedHawks 3-0 at the Berry Events Center.
The Wildcats got first career collegiate goals from freshmen Coster Dunn and Darik Olson in the second period before Ian Engel added his first collegiate tally into the empty net. Sophomore netminder Oliver Auyeung-Ashton was fantastic between the pipes, stopping all 30 shots on frame to earn the second shutout of his young collegiate career.
“It was a team effort and a team win,” added head coach Dave Shyiak during his post-game media availability. “Our guys battled and battled. We had to face a lot of adversity with the penalties, but our penalty kill did a heck of a job. We lost two forwards to injury, so we had a short lineup; but even through all that fatigue, you have to learn to battle through adversity, and we’ve talked about that. We gotta step up and block shots, make strong plays, and get pucks out.”
The Wildcat special teams were the highlight on the box score tonight: Dunn’s game-winning goal came shorthanded off of assists from Mathew Ward and Engel, Olson’s tally came on the man advantage after finishing off a passing play with Joe Schiller and Branden Piku, and Engel’s empty-net tally came on the power play. For the game, NMU went 2-for-6 (33.3%) on the power play and was a perfect 6/6 while shorthanded.
There were a total of 18 penalties called between the two sides, with a grand total of 58 penalty minutes. The ‘Cats were responsible for 11 of those 18, and 33 of the 58 minutes, including a 10-minute game misconduct penalty assessed to Reilly Kotai.
“Obviously we want to be an attacking team, but it’s our first game of the year, and when you have to kill all those penalties, especially late in the third period when our bench was really short, our guys found a way, and it was a total team effort… And when we needed somebody to come up big for us, Olly was awesome in net. So, just happy for our crew. It’s a tight crew, [they’re] energized, and to beat a team in the NCHC is tough to do, and it doesn’t happen very often, and we were able to do that tonight, and what a better way to do it on a celebration night… I’m just happy for a guys… We’ve got more to give, and it’s about taking the steps forward and progress and doing things the right way, but I loved our win tonight, and I loved our battle level.”
Not only did the Wildcats get a win to start off the 50th season, but the team got a win in front of current Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell, whose jersey was the first to be retired in program history. Joining Waddell in the rafters are teammates Tom Laidlaw and Steve Bozek, key figures of the original 1976 team and 1980 NCAA runner-up squad. The three of their jerseys will now forever be hung in the rafters of the B.E.C.
Shyiak mentioned in his first press conference of the season that he believes his team is a step ahead of where the team was at this point last year. And while the ‘Cats may be one of the youngest in college hockey, he believes that there are major contributors up and down the lineup that are ready to make an immediate impact for the Green and Gold.
“I just think we’re more skilled; we’re faster, I think we’re grittier and heavier, and it’s a young group. We’re going to continue to grow and progress, but the buy-in and the tightness of this group was real evident early, and they showed it out there even. Even though we took some bad penalties, which you don’t want to take, we stuck together and got the job done on the [penalty kill], and when we needed a goal, we got one… It’s early in the season, but it’s always nice to ge the first one.”
Part of the success of the young group was the play of center Dunn, who scored the game-winning goal early in the second period. Dunn was trusted in all situations: on the power play, penalty kill, and taking crucial faceoffs late in the game. Dunn was 54.5% on faceoffs, winning 12 on the night, and was 6 of 9 (66.6%) in the third period alone.
“[I] told him early that ‘we’re not going to gift you minutes, you got to earn it’, and he did tonight. He was good on faceoffs, he made smart plays on the [penalty kill] and power play, and obviously he’s a guy we think can be an offensive guy for us.
“We had a lot of freshmen step up,” continued Shyiak when speaking about the contributions from freshman Olson, scoring his first career goal, and underclassman Engel, who only played one game at North Dakota last season, and tallied a goal and the secondary assist on the game-winning goal. The Wildcats got seven points across the lineup tonight, a mark that was only hit or surpassed seven times last season. “We’re going to have to score by committee. It’s hard to score goals; I’m glad those guys were able to chip in, and we gotta do it again tomorrow night.”
The Wildcats will look to rest and recover for the second game of the weekend double-header, as the teams return to the Berry Events Center for a 6:07 p.m. ET puck drop.
