Michigan sweeps away Northern

By Susannah Nichols/ Northern Michigan Beat Writer

In the last regular-season series for both teams, Michigan defeated Northern Michigan twice on the 'Cats' home ice: the Wolverines delivered a 3-2 win on Friday and a 5-0 drubbing on Saturday.

On Friday, Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Mac Bennett and David Wohlberg.

Jake Johnson scored his first of the season to bring the 'Cats within one, but the Wolverines took their two-goal lead into the second intermission after Chris Brown lit the lamp.

Andrew Cherniwchan scored for Northern early in the third, but Michigan dug in their heels to preserve the lead, killing off two Northern power plays in the last fifteen minutes.

Shots were even at 23 for both teams: Shawn Hunwick had 21 saves for the Michigan win; Reid Ellingson recorded 20 for Northern's loss.

Saturday's game was all Blue: Carl Hagelin led the offensive charge with two goals (including one on the power play) and an assist. Matt Rust also had a banner game with two assists and a shorthanded goal.

Luke Glendening and Wohlberg each added a goal, and Scooter Vaughn and John Merrill each contributed a pair of assists.

Michigan outshot Northern 33-16. Hunwick made 13 saves, and Bryan Hogan, who entered the game with six minutes left, made an additional three. Ellingson had 17 saves before being replaced by Jared Coreau, who stopped all of the 11 shots he faced.

The Wolverines (23-9-4, 20-7-1-0 CCHA) headed back to the lower peninsula with the CCHA title in hand and a top-seed ranking heading into the tournament. The 'Cats (14-17-5, 12-13-3-0 CCHA) finish sixth in the conference and will host Bowling Green in the first round of conference playoffs.