Wildcats return home to meet Minnesota State
SIOUX FALLS, SD — The NMU hockey team rounded out opening weekend of CCHA play Saturday night against the #11 Augustana Vikings.
The Wildcats (2-6-0, 0-2-0 CCHA – 0 pts) got the second career Wildcat goal from Colorado College transfer Merril Steenari, finishing off a play from Branden Piku and Mathew Ward on the power play.
After the two teams were tied 1-1 through two periods, the Vikings (7-0-1, 2-0-0 CCHA – 6 pts) found two goals and an empty-netter in the third, continuing its exceptional run of form and remaining undefeated through its first eight contests of the season.
Sophomore netminder Max Weilandt got his second consecutive start, making 35 saves for a .921 save percentage. Jason Davenport, Ian Engel, Peter Cisar, and Piku all blocked two shots apiece.
The Wildcats went 1-3 on the power play, 3-4 on the penalty kill, and allowed a short-handed goal to open the scoring.
Coster Dunn was exceptional in the faceoff circle, winning 11 of his 15 draws and leading all skaters in faceoff wins. Reilley Kotai (5-3), Mathew Ward (4-1), Owen Pitters (4-3), and Medrick Bolduc (2-0) all won their respective faceoff battles.
The Wildcats responded to last night’s defeat well in the opening frame, firing 10 shots on target to the Vikings 11 and generating a few quality chances in the first 20 minutes of play. The Wildcats were successful in killing its only infraction in the period and generated looks on its own man-advantage, highlighted by some heavy one-timers from Darik Olson.
The Vikings struck first, as DelGreco snuck behind Cisar to pick off a drop pass on an NMU power play. Two-on-one with Burtch, DelGreco slid a pass to Burtch on the back door, who scored the second short-handed tally for Augustana on the season.
On the same man-advantage, the Wildcats drew level just a minute later. Piku made a power move at the side of the net and threw a shot on target from in tight. Steenari was on top of the crease and found the rebound, burying his second of the season in his fourth appearance for the Green and Gold.
Perhaps the biggest play in the second period was the successful penalty kill late in the frame, as Weilandt came up with some massive saves and Engle made a desperation block on a wide-open net to keep the game level.
The Vikings capitalized on a power play to open the third period and regain its lead. Bischoff received a cross-ice pass on the right wing and burst down on Weilandt, making a forehand-backhand move in tight to beat the goaltender.
Fandel extended the lead just a minute later, as a shot from the point found its way through the wickets of the Wildcat netminder through traffic.
Head coach Dave Shyiak pulled his netminder with just under three minutes remaining, and Bulgakov found the back of the net with two minutes to go.
Up Next
The Wildcats return home for two consecutive weekends, starting with a meeting against Minnesota State on November 6 and 7, 2026, at the Berry Events Center.
