Auyeung-Ashton makes 27 saves for Wildcats
MARQUETTE, Mich. — The NMU hockey team skated to a convincing 5-1 win over (RV/RV) Stonehill on Friday Night at the Berry Events Center.
“You know what, we did a lot of good things,” added head coach Dave Shyiak when speaking to nmuwildcats.com post-game. “We knew they were going to be hard and heavy; they’re real physical, they don’t give up easy offense, and I thought first of all we started great.”
The Wildcats got great production from the third line of Owen Pitters, Michael Burchill, and Nik Gudmundson.
Pitters had his best game as a Wildcat, scoring his first collegiate goal and notching two assists for a three-point night. Pitters’ goal came from the stick of Burchill, whose spin-o-rama assist entered his name into the hat for goal of the year candidate. Gudmundson also collected his first career collegiate point, facilitating the breakout pass to Burchill on his assist.
“Obviously, Pitters’ line, I thought, was really good. They did a lot of good things, and they were rewarded and got some points. It was nice to see [production] from some young guys.”
Freshman defenseman Darik Olson notched a pair of goals, with one on the power play as the ‘Cats special teams unit went 1-3 (33.3%) on the man advantage and a perfect 3-3 on the penalty kill.
Mathew Ward notched his first of the season after stealing a pass coming off the bench, alternate captain Joe Schiller added a pair of assists to his ledger, and both Peter Cisar and Evan Depatie added assists of their own.
Netminder Oliver Auyeung-Ashton was stellar between the pipes again, making 27 saves for a .964 SV%.
The only offensive line to not have anyone record a point was the top line of Girts Silkalns, Grayden Slipec, and Aapo Katavisto. Despite not showing up on the offensive scoresheet, head coach Shyiak had praise for how hard that line was to play against.
“Silkalns line, even though they didn’t get points, I thought they were one of the best lines on the ice because they’re hard, they’re heavy, they protected pucks, they took care of the (defensive zone), they chewed up good minutes in the (offensive zone), and they drew some penalties.”
The Wildcats had a controlling start to the game, scoring first after Olson threw a puck toward the net that took a fortunate bounce off a Skyhawk defender. NMU outshot STO 10-3 in the opening 20 minutes and carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
“I thought we were better in the first period,” added Shyiak, who saw his team hold the Skyhawks to just one shot on goal in the first 12 minutes. “We talked about getting out of our zone quicker so we could have more time in the offensive zone. We threw a puck to the net, and it went off them. You have to get pucks and bodies to the net, and you get lucky once in a while, and [Olson] did a good job of that.
“Getting the first goal of the game is really good, especially at home here. We’re a young team still growing and getting better. We’ll watch a little bit of film tomorrow, and we talked a little bit in the locker room; we just gotta bring it and sustain that attacking mode for 60 minutes by taking care of the puck and playing the offensive zone.”
The Wildcats got three goals in the second period, all coming on the rush from counterattacks and turnovers. Burchill fired a quick one-timer on an odd-man rush, Ward stole the puck after jumping onto the ice and scored, and Pitters added his tally after a quick breakout and slick pass from Burchill.
“I thought in the second period (Stonehill) had a real strong push where we couldn’t generate anything. They were physical, and they didn’t go away,” added Shyiak. The Wildcats were outshot 16-10 in the middle frame, and allowed its only goal of the night with 30 seconds left in the period as ex-Wildcat, Matthew Romer, snuck one past Auyeung-Ashton. “Our puck play a little bit in the third, no matter what the score is, we have to make better puck decisions at the lines. We talked about that, and we gotta clean it up for tomorrow, and learn to play the right way for 60 minutes.
“Tonight, I thought maybe for 45 plus minutes, we played the game the right way; special teams were good, Olly came up with a couple good saves, and that’s a tough team to play against; I give them credit for that.
“Happy for guys to get the win, we gotta come back tomorrow and get the job done.”
The Wildcats will celebrate the win tonight, but know that coming back tomorrow and finishing the weekend is equally as critical. Puck drop from the Berry Events Center is set for 6:07 p.m. ET.
