The Wildcats play their home opener in a nonconference game against Alaska-Anchorage at 7:07 p.m. today, then come back and do it all over again at 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

With both games to be broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, fans can also follow @NMUHockey on X (formerly Twitter) to get updates leading up to the games and for live updates during them. Or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuathletics.com and look under the hockey schedule for links to ticket information, live video, live audio, live statistics and a series program, preview and history.

Both teams are winless in this early stage of the season after facing nothing but opponents from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference so far.

NMU is 0-2 after taking now-No. 11 Colorado College to overtime in their season opener last Friday before falling 4-3. The Tigers came back on their home ice for a 6-1 victory on Saturday, a game that was 2-1 halfway through.

Northern Michigan University’s Grayden Slipec, right, celebrates a goal scored by Tanner Latsch, left, during a college hockey game played against Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., last Friday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

“I liked what I saw from our young group,” new Northern head coach Dave Shyiak said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the series. “That’s one of the best teams in the NCHC and a group that’s looking to get into the NCAA (tournament).

“We showed real good resiliency, good resolve, and no quit…. We’ve talked about taking steps forward and building blocks, and we’re going to use the positives from that series to help prepare for Anchorage.”

It marks the first home games for Shyiak as head coach as he was a Wildcats assistant for about a decade under current NMU athletic director Rick Comley and also Walt Kyle until he took over the head coach’s position at Anchorage from 2005-13.

And it’s also the first home games for a vast majority of Wildcats, 24 players of the 28-man roster new to the program this fall.

“I’m looking forward to this weekend,” Shyiak said. “Everyone knows we’ve got a lot of youth, and seeing their growth week to week has been a positive for me. It’s another weekend for us on Friday night, so how do we get better and win our first game.

Northern Michigan University’s Ryan Duguay, left, celebrates his goal during a college hockey game played against Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

“It’s about the process for us right now, and I see us trending in the right direction.”

The Seawolves are 0-4 after being swept by No. 1 Denver 6-2 and 4-1 at home two weeks ago, then going to Miami (Ohio) and falling 3-2 and 4-1 last weekend.

After being a member of the WCHA for a number of years, including when Shyiak was head coach there

, Anchorage became an independent when the Midwest-based teams from that league re-formed into the CCHA in 2021.

Northern has an impressive 29-13-1 record all-time against the Seawolves, including 21-4-1 at home and 11-1 in their last 12 games in Marquette.

And the Wildcats are 17-6 in the last 23 home openers, counting both two-game series and single games.

Last weekend, the Wildcats had to feel fortunate to be in both games for just about five of the six regulation periods, considering they were outshot 85-31 for the weekend.

That was thanks in large part to new goalies Ryan Ouellette and Ethan Barwick. Ouellette, the only NMU goalie with previous college playing experience, made 45 saves on Friday, the most by a Northern goalie since Atte Tolvanen — of five-shutouts-in-a-row fame — made 58 saves on March 1, 2019.

Barwick finished with 30 saves on Saturday. After giving up two goals in the first three minutes, he stopped CC cold until just past the midpoint of the second period and trailed only 3-1 entering the third.

Teammate Matthew Romer made a game of it on Friday. A sophomore who played sparingly at Arizona State last year, he scored his first two collegiate goals with the Wildcats’ opening goal not quite nine minutes into the game, then the overtime-forcing goal in the final minute of regulation.

Another sophomore and one of this year’s four returnees, team captain Tanner Latsch picked up where he left off last October, scoring a goal and assisting on Romer’s late third-period tally. Last year, Latsch played in just eight games before his season was cut short by injury, but scored seven goals in that time to win multiple CCHA weekly and a CCHA Rookie of the Month honor.

On Saturday, Ryan Duguay countered the Tigers’ early strikes with his first NMU goal about halfway through the first period.

“Anchorage is a big team, they get after you physically, and they put a lot of pressure on the puck in their forecheck,” Shyiak said. “We’re going to have to make a lot of plays under pressure, and if we do that, hopefully that leads to a little more offense in the other end.”

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.