Sports · Marquette
NMU hockey swept at No. 11 Augustana, 12-0 and 4-1, as the Wildcats head home to face Minnesota State Nov. 6–7
MARQUETTE, Mich. — Northern Michigan’s hockey team opened CCHA play with a rough weekend in South Dakota, losing 12-0 and 4-1 at No. 11 Augustana, and now comes home for two straight weekends at the Berry Events Center, starting with Minnesota State on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6–7.
The Wildcats are 2-6 overall and 0-2 in the league. Augustana is 7-0-1 and 2-0 in the CCHA after the sweep at Midco Arena in Sioux Falls.
Saturday’s game was much closer than Friday’s. Sophomore goaltender Max Weilandt made 35 saves, and NMU went into the third period tied 1-1 before the Vikings scored twice early in the period and added an empty-net goal.
Friday: a record night for Augustana
Augustana’s 12 goals on Friday were the most in a game in the program’s history, breaking its old mark of seven, NMU’s recap said. Heath Nelson had two goals and three assists, Leonid Bulgakov had a goal and three assists, and Mathis Langevin made 19 saves for the first shutout of his career.
NMU was short a goaltender. Oliver Auyeung-Ashton was unavailable, so Weilandt made his first start of the season. He allowed five goals on 19 shots before Jack Fuller came on in the second period for the first college game of his career, stopping 22 of 29. Augustana outshot NMU 48-19. Peter Cisar blocked three shots, and Owen Pitters won 11 of 18 faceoffs.
Saturday: tied through 40 minutes
Augustana scored first, short-handed, when a Vikings player picked off a drop pass during an NMU power play and set up a two-on-one goal. The Wildcats answered on the same power play about a minute later. Branden Piku drove to the net, and Colorado College transfer Merril Steenari knocked in the rebound for his second goal of the season. Mathew Ward also assisted.
NMU killed a late second-period penalty with help from big saves by Weilandt and a desperation block by Ian Engel in front of an open net. Augustana scored on a power play early in the third and again about a minute later on a point shot through traffic. Coach Dave Shyiak pulled Weilandt with just under three minutes left, and the Vikings scored into the empty net with two minutes to go.
Augustana outshot NMU 39-21. The Wildcats went 1 for 3 on the power play, killed three of four penalties, and freshman Coster Dunn won 11 of his 15 faceoffs.
Next up
Minnesota State visits the Berry Events Center for a two-game CCHA series Nov. 6 and 7, the first of two home weekends in a row for the Wildcats.
Sources:
NMU Athletics, “Wildcats on the wrong end of Vikings’ historic night” (Oct. 30, 2026; recap and box score), https://nmuwildcats.com/news/2026/10/30/hockey-wildcats-on-the-wrong-end-of-vikings-historic-night.aspx
NMU Athletics, “Third-period surge powers #11/11 Augustana over Wildcats” (Oct. 31, 2026; recap, box score, next games), https://nmuwildcats.com/news/2026/10/31/hockey-third-period-surge-powers-11-11-augustana-over-wildcats.aspx
Photo: Berry Events Center, Tomhol811, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berry_Events_Center.jpg
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