Just two weeks ago on Dec. 29, the Wildcats faced off against the No. 1 team in the nation, Michigan State, and hung close until the end, losing just 2-0 in a semifinal at the Great Lakes Invitational in Grand Rapids. The following day, Northern played CCHA third-place team Michigan Tech in the event’s third-place game and extended the Huskies to overtime before falling 4-3.

Now NMU is back home with nearly two weeks off and ready to take on CCHA leader and national No. 12 Minnesota State-Mankato tonight and Saturday evening at the Berry Events Center.

On paper, this looks like a real mismatch, the Wildcats struggling at 1-18-1 overall and 0-11-1 in the league, while the Mavericks are riding high at 14-4-2 in all games and 9-1-2 in the conference.

The same was said before the GLI, too.

Northern Michigan University’s Wolfgang Govedaris, left, passes to a teammate during a semifinal game at the Great Lakes Invitational tournament played against Michigan State at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on Dec. 29. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

And Northern picked up its only CCHA points this season at Mankato. After losing 3-0 to the Mavs on Nov. 15, the following night NMU took the game to the end of overtime and won a shootout to pick up the second league point.

This weekend’s games will be broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point and also available streaming on MidcoSports Plus. Fans can also visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the hockey schedule for links to live video, live audio, live statistics, ticket information, a series preview and the matchup history.

In addition, the season’s second Blue Line Luncheon is scheduled for Slabz Bar & Grill inside the Ramada Inn of downtown Marquette at 11:45 a.m. today, which is when the doors open. Lunch is to be served promptly at noon with the program beginning at 12:15 p.m.

Tickets that include lunch from Slabz are $25 per person. Speakers scheduled include Wildcats head hockey coach Dave Shyiak, NMU athletic director Rick Comley and several Northern players.

Following the GLI, the Wildcats’ Tynan Ewart was recognized as CCHA Defenseman of the Week and Ryan Ouellette as CCHA Goaltender of the Week.

Ewart led league blueliners with his two assists, two points and eight blocked shots during the event, making four blocks each game and assisting on two of NMU’s three goals scored in Grand Rapids, all against MTU.

Ouellette figuratively, if not literally, stood on his head against the Spartans, stopping 41 of 43 shots, including the last 32 he saw, for a .953 saves percentage before he had to exit late in the game.

Freshman Grayden Slipec leads Northern in goals, points, power play goals and shots, ranking in a tie for third in the CCHA with three power play goals and tied for seventh with his eight points among league freshmen, according to a preview of this weekend’s series released by NMU Sports Information.

NMU captain Tanner Latsch, alternate captain Matthew Romer, freshman Aidyn Hutchinson and defenseman Anthony Cliche share the team goal lead with three apiece, while Ewart and freshman Jakub Altrichter lead the Wildcats with six assists apiece.

Here are some other CCHA leaders from NMU:

• Ewart is third with 41 blocks and Rasmus Larsson fifth with 38, while among freshmen, Larsson leads the way in blocks, Cliche with 29 is second, Billy Renfrew with 21 is fourth, Altrichter with 16 is sixth and Slipec with 14 is eighth.

• Ouellette leads the CCHA and is third in the nation with 561 saves and is fourth in league saves percentage at .921.

In NMU’s shootout win at Mankato on Nov. 16, Altrichter scored the lone goal of the shootout as Ouellette stopped all three shots he faced then.

Since that shootout loss, the Mavericks have won six straight, outscoring the opposition 20-9. That doesn’t includes a pair of exhibitions — a 6-1 win against Manitoba on Dec. 30 and 5-5 tie vs. St. Norbert on Tuesday.

Here are some other facts about Mankato:

• Junior goalie Alex Tracy leads the nation with 20 games played and 14 wins, also leading all netminders with a 1.39 goals against average and .945 saves percentage among goalies with at least seven games.

• Not surprisingly, Mankato allows the fewest goals per game, 1.48, in Division I.

• Senior forward Rhett Pitlick leads the team with eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points, along with three power play goals and four game-winning goals.

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Unlike the young Wildcats, MSU is the fifth-oldest team in Division I — average age 22.7 years — have the second-largest senior class with nine players, and the second-smallest freshman class with four.

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