UAH (5-16-3, 4-12-0 WCHA) vs. Northern Michigan (9-6-5, 6-6-4 WCHA) Jan. 16-17, 2015 - Von Braun Center - 7 p.m. CTLive Stats: uahchargers.comLive Video: WCHA.tv
Game Notes: uahchargers.com
Weekend information...
PROMOTIONS: Friday night's game will feature the fifth trading card set of the season, and then on Saturday UAH will be giving away Chargers hockey pucks to the first 500 fans in attendance.
KIDS IN FREE: Children ages 12 and under receive free admission to all UAH hockey games for the 2014-15 season, courtesy of Huntsville International Airport. Fans can purchase hockey tickets by visiting the VBC Box Office or by calling (256) UAH-PUCK to purchase group tickets. Tickets can also be purchased through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or at Ticketmaster.com.
About the Chargers...
ROOKIE LEADING: UAH points leader
Max McHugh (Seattle, Wash.) currently sits at 15 points (7g-8a) on the season, despite being held scoreless in two games at Bemidji State. McHugh is tied for 15th overall in points for the WCHA, while ranking second among all rookies. His 15 points to lead UAH are the most since the 2010-11 season when five different Chargers totaled 15 or more tallies.
RECENT ACTION: UAH was swept in this past weekend's series at WCHA rival Bemidji State by scores of 4-0 on both Friday and Saturday night. The Chargers have eight WCHA points from a 4-12-0 record in league games, good for eighth place in the conference standings.
IN GOAL: Carmine Guerriero (Montreal, Quebec) made one start over weekend and picked up a loss to bring his season record to 5-9-2. The sophomore posted 29 saves despite the loss, giving him 526 saves this season to lead the UAH goaltending core. Guerriero's .931 save percentage is good for 16th in the NCAA and third in the WCHA.
DEFENSIVE ANCHOR: Sophomore defenseman
Brandon Carlson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) leads the NCAA with 60 blocks in the 2014-15 campaign, while also boasting seven points (4g-3a). Carlson has played in each game this season for UAH, totaling a season-high five blocks on two occasions most recently in the series opener against Alaska Anchorage (Jan. 2). Overall, UAH is second in the nation with 372 blocks as a team.
YOUTH THRIVING: The UAH freshmen have combined for a team-best 40 points on offense this season, led by McHugh with 15 points (7g-8a).
Brandon Parker has nine points from a team-high nine assists, followed by
Brennan Saulnier at seven points (1g-6a). Fellow rookies
Richard Buri,
Josh Kestner and
Cody Champagne have combined for nine points to round out the freshman class.
DIFFERENCE IN A YEAR: UAH has posted 114 offensive points from 41 goals and 73 assists, which surpasses the total from the entire 2013-14 campaign that totaled 113 points from 41 goals and 72 assists. The Chargers ended last season with four players in double-digit scoring, which has already been met by this season's team as McHugh,
Jeff Vanderlugt (5g-5a),
Jack Prince (3g-7a) and
Chad Brears (2g-8a) have met the mark.
SPECIAL TEAMS: The Chargers penalty kill has been successful thus far, owning a .836 success rate which is good for 28th in the country and sixth in the WCHA. Similarly, UAH is fourth in the league and 29th in the NCAA with a .169 rate of success in power-play opportunities.
About the Wildcats...
MATCHUP HISTORY: UAH and NMU had a nonconference series at the Wildcats earlier this season, in which the Chargers tied in the opener and lost in the finale. UAH holds a 0-8-2 all-time record against Northern Michigan and 0-3-1 when hosting the Wildcats.
RECENT ACTION: Northern Michigan went unbeaten in a recent series against No. 11 Michigan Tech, tying in the opener 3-3 and then winning in the finale 5-4 in overtime. NMU is tied with Ferris State for fourth place in the conference with 16 points.
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WILDCATS PROFILE: NMU is led by sophomore Dominik Shine with 15 points (5g-10a) in the 2014-15 season, followed by junior Darren Nowick with 14 points (5g-9a). Sophomore defenseman Brock Maschmeyer owns a team-best seven goals. Mathias Dahlstrom has logged the most time in goal and has posted a 1.94 goals against average and a .928 save percentage.
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