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GREEN BAY, WI -- Courtesy:  NMU

The Northern Michigan University hockey team defeated the No. 15-ranked University of Wisconsin 2-1 on Friday (Oct. 13) night from the Resch Center after two third period goals. It’s the second year in a row the two teams met in the season-opener and the second year in a row the Wildcat came out on top with a one-goal win.

"They’re a good team but we came up with some big plays," NMU coach Walt Kyle said. "We were very disciplined tonight and our leaders stepped up and took control."

Freshman forward Cohen Adair scored the game-winner with a power-play goal at 9:07 in the third period. Freshman forward Justin Rose and junior forward Stephan Vigier assisted on Adair’s first of his career in his first game in the Green and Gold.

Playing in the same building he played his junior hockey, sophomore forward Reed Seckel tied the game at one 18 seconds into the third.

Assisting on Seckel’s ninth career goal were seniors Kyle Follmer and Matt Thurber.

Wisconsin (0-1) opened the game’s scoring at 14:25 of the second period when Michael Mersch found the back of the net on the man advantage.

Assisting on the goal were Mark Zengerle and Tyler Barnes.

NMU junior goaltender Jared Coreau picked up his 18th career win with 19 saves. Joel Rumpel had 19 saves for the Badgers.

"We made a ton of mistakes, many that were forced by Wisconsin, but there were some areas that I though we did well in and have improved on since last season," Kyle added.

Northern took three penalties for six minutes. Wisconsin had four penalties. The ‘Cats were 1-for-3 on the man advantage while the Badgers were 1-for-3.

The two teams faceoff at 8 p.m. Eastern from the Resch Center on Saturday (Oct. 13) to wrap up the non-conference series.

Wildcat fans in Green Bay are invited to attend a pregame tailgate party inside of Shopko Hall, beginning two hours before gametime. Tickets are$15 for adults and $10 for kids. A full buffet will be available with a cash bar.

Game Notes: Seckel scored the game-winner in last year’s opener at Wisconsin in overtime…Attendance was 3,176…Thurber has three assists in three games against his former team.