Wildcats find revenge in Round 2 with Spartans

By @MichaelCaples –

Freshman goaltender John Hawthorne made his first NCAA start for the Northern Michigan Wildcats Saturday night.

He certainly made the outing count.

The native of Chemainus, B.C. stopped all 15 shots sent his way, making sure that an impressive defensive outing from his Wildcats teammates turned into a 2-0 victory over Michigan State.

The win evened the weekend series for NMU, after the Spartans spoiled their home opener the night before.

On Saturday, Griffin Loughran scored a first-period power-play goal, and Vincent de Mey was the recipient of a fluky play to give the Wildcats all the scoring they needed.

Drew DeRidder stopped 24 shots between the pipes for the Spartans.

Northern Michigan now travels to Boston University for a pair of road games Oct. 18-19; Michigan State hosts the USA Hockey National Team Development Program on Oct. 18.