NMU goaltender Atte Tolvanen scores in Wildcats’ win over Tech

By @MichaelCaples –

They always say you never know what to expect in a rivalry game.

Certainly held true Friday night at the Berry Events Center, as Northern Michigan beat Michigan Tech 5-3…with goaltender Atte Tolvanen scoring the final goal for NMU.

At the 18:53 mark of the third period, the reigning WCHA goaltender of the month fired the puck the length of the ice into an empty Michigan Tech to record his first career NCAA goal (probably the first of his career, but who knows what happened during his youth hockey days in Viht, Finland).

Per College Hockey Inc., Tolvanen is the 11th NCAA goaltender to register a goal and fourth to do so by literally shooting the puck down the ice.

Here are a few different videos we have found from the game:

NMU Goalie Atte Tolvanen scores for NMU! pic.twitter.com/25RJcvhcoX

— Jerry Taylor (@jerrye_taylor) December 8, 2018

@NMUHockey goalie Atte Tolvanen just scored a goal on Tech!!!!!!#GoCats pic.twitter.com/aq8nHhwvV0

— Shooter (@SJReddinger) December 8, 2018

The senior netminder also made 23 saves in front of his own net, helping NMU give Tech the Huskies’ first WCHA loss of the season.

Denver Pierce, Ty Readman, Darien Craighead and Troy Loggins took care of the more traditional scoring for the Wildcats, who improve to 7-9-0 on the season and 6-3-0-0 in conference play.