Rally falls short, ’Cats facing elimination in game 2

            

       After losing to the Minnesota State Mavericks Friday night, the NMU Wildcats’ season is on the line tonight as the teams meet up for game two at 8:07 p.m.

           

     The Mavericks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead 3:44 into the first period last night, as junior forward Matt Leithner got the puck past Wildcat freshman goaltender Mathias Dahlstrom. The ’Cats appeared to tie the game minutes later, but after review the referees disallowed the goal, determining the puck was kicked in by freshman forward Dominik Shine, giving the Mavericks a one goal lead after the first period.

           

       Minnesota State scored two goals in four minutes in the second period, with goals coming from sophomore forward Bryce Gervais at 4:24 and freshman defenseman Sean Flanagan at 8:23 into the period. The Wildcats got on the board 15:01 into the period as freshman forward Shane Sooth, cutting the defecate to two goals heading into the locker room.

Freshman defenseman Brock Maschmeyer made it a one goal game early in the third period, scoring a Wildcat goal on Mavericks freshman goaltender Cole Huggins. The ’Cats would get no further in the contest however, as their rally would come up short and drop NMU down 1-0 in the best-of-three series and will face a must-win game tonight to keep their season alive.

NMU was out-shot 25-18 in the first meeting, while going 1-2 on the power play and 2-4 on the penalty kill.

Penalties were a killer for the Wildcats defense last night, as the team losses by one goal while allowing two power play goals. The team played with the Mavericks a lot better than most people gave them credit for coming into the series, but the ’Cats play was just not clean enough to earn a win last night.

NMU’s desperation play did not seem to show up until the Mavericks jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and when it did, it wasn’t for long. The rally wasn’t a too-little too-late situation, as the Wildcats had almost an entire third period to try and get a third or possible fourth goal in the game, but did not do enough to cash them in.

Hopefully we will see the Wildcats come out early in tonight’s game with the same intensity they had after Minnesota State’s third goal last night. The ’Cats seniors will need to step up their game tonight, as the only senior that made much noise on the score sheet last night was forward Stephan Vigier who assisted Maschmeyer’s goal in the third period. The freshman showed up last night and found the net, and now the seniors will have to do the same if they want their career in a Wildcat jersey to continue.

Last season, the Wildcats found themselves in a very similar situation as they fell behind the Michigan Wolverines 3-0 in the opening game of the CCHA playoffs. The Wildcats were able to make it a 3-2 game, but were unable to getting any closer in that game either as it ended 3-2 as well. The next night, the Wildcats did not show up in the final game of the season, losing 6-2 in the match. Hopefully history will not repeat itself in similar fashion, and this senior group of Wildcats will have one last chance to show up in the playoffs tonight and force game three, with a chance to win their first playoff series in their four year career.