Warriors Take Two from Northern Illinois in Home-Opening Series

FREMONT, Neb. – Taking its home ice for the first time this season, Midland University hosted conference-rival Northern Illinois University on Friday and Saturday inside Sidner Ice Arena. The opening night saw a high-scoring game as the Warriors held on for a 7-6 win over the Huskies. Saturday's game was controlled from start to finish as Midland earned the sweep with a 6-1 victory.

FRIDAY: Midland 7, Northern Illinois 6

The first period saw lots of action on the scoreboard the teams traded goals early and often. Tommy Wardas broke open the game with a goal at the 1:49 mark off assists from Andy Larsen and Zach Eddington. Just under four minutes later, NIU punched its first goal into the net, tying the game just past the five-minute mark.

Just as the goal was being announced, Midland found the back of the net to move in front as Fletcher Chun scored. Assisting on the goal were Milan Breczko and Jared Wisely. The Warriors' lead grew just before the midway point as the same trio hooked for the score on the powerplay. This time it was Wisely and Chun feeding Breczko to make a 3-1 advantage.

As time came to a close in the period, the Huskies caught a break as they were able to score a short-handed goal with 1:09 on the game clock. Midland's lead was cut to 3-2 heading into the first intermission.

After the break, a flurry of goals broke out once more. Midland scored for times in the second while Northern Illinois found the back of the net twice.

Scoring for the Warriors were Logan Wotton (assisted by Cody Shearer and Wardas), Eddington (assisted by Trevor Timm and Shearer), Chun (assisted by Eddington and Ian McHenry), and Eddington once more (assisted by Timm and Jack Royer).

Penalties were also heightened in the second as Midland was whistled for three infractions and NIU was sent to the penalty box for five violations.

Things quieted in the final period. The Huskies scored early in the period to keep their hopes alive but were mostly held in check by the Warriors' defense. A powerplay goal with 3:19 remaining pulled NIU to within a goal, but that proved to be the last score for them as Midland won 7-6.

In goal, Liam Tereposky earned the win while picking up 20 saves. The Warriors outshot the Huskies 47 to 26.

SATURDAY: Midland 6, Northern Illinois 1

The Warriors were in control from the opening puck drop to the final buzzer on Saturday as they once again dominated the shots, 55 to 25. That translated to six goals from six different players as they completed the series sweep.

Jared Wisley found the back on the net on the powerplay in the opening period. Fletcher Chun and Milan Breczko assisted on the goal at the 15:39 mark.

In the second period, Hugo Lukacovic scored his first collegiate goal with Zak Justice picking up the assist just under five minutes in. Two minutes later, Albin Augustsson scored as Ian McHenry and Trevor Timm earned apples on the goal to put the Warriors up 3-0.

Following a powerplay score by the Huskies, Justice and Logan Wotton found Tommy Wardas while the Warriors were on a man advantage. Midland took a comfortable 4-1 lead into the final intermission.

During the final period of the weekend, Andy Larsen and Luke Guarienti scored. Larsen's goal was aided by Zack Weber and Wotton at the 13:34 mark while Guarienti's was set up by Timm and Augustsson with just under three minutes to go in the game.

Earning the in the net was Nahuel Veyan who corralled 24 saves on the night.

"As a team, we are happy to earn the weekend sweep," commented head coach Jan Dam. "The boys have put in a lot of effort, coming together as a team and learning to play with each other. For us to take both games was rewarding. The next few games will be a test for us as we play our next seven games on the road. This week we'll challenge our guys to continue to show the consistency they played with this week as we travel to face Colorado State."

Midland (3-2) will head west to Fort Collins, Colorado for a pair of games against Colorado State (0-0). The two-game series gets underway on Friday night with a 10:00 p.m. CT puck drop at the Edora Pool and Ice Center (EPIC).