Oct 14, 2025
Northern Michigan University goaltender Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, left, gets down to make a stop with skaters from both teams at his doorstep during a game at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday. (Photo courtesy NMU)
MARQUETTE — There are some silver linings in four straight losses to open the season for the hockey team at Northern Michigan University.
Obviously, they don’t come in the win-loss column, where the Wildcats are 0-4 after losing at national No. 16 Ohio State 5-2 and 3-1 on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
That follows 5-3 and 4-1 setbacks at No. 15 Massachusetts the previous weekend.
But NMU head coach Dave Shyiak has to be encouraged with a couple of gold-nugget finds in his group of goaltenders, a position he had to start over from scratch this season after last year’s star Ryan Ouellette finished his college eligibility and his backups all left via the transfer portal.
After week 1 star William Gramme earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors for setting three program records for saves at UMass, this time freshman Oliver Auyeung-Ashton came on in relief in the first game and started the second at OSU to win CCHA Rookie of the Week honors.
Not surprisingly, Gramme got the nod to start the Ohio State series after he made 107 saves while allowing just six goals in the games in the Northeast.
Things didn’t go nearly as well in Columbus, however, as he gave up his fifth goal just 29 seconds into the third period of NMU’s loss on Friday night. He made 28 saves in the first two periods and one more in his brief stint in the third for a total of 29 before second-year head coach Dave Shyiak elected to try Auyeung-Ashton.
And the 20-year-old who most recently played in the British Columbia Hockey League was up to the task, able to stop all eight shots he faced in the third.
He then got the nod to start Saturday, and while taking the loss, allowed just two goals while making 45 saves as the Buckeyes scored an empty-netter in the final minute for a two-goal victory.
That prompted the CCHA to give another NMU goaltender a player of the week honor.
Auyeung-Ashton’s 45 saves on Saturday was the most by a Wildcat freshman in his first start since the start of the “modern era” in 2004, the most saves by a Northern freshman goalie since Atte Tolvanen made 46 on Oct. 30, 2015, and just the ninth freshman goalie in the country with 45 or more saves in his first start over the past two decades, along with just the second to do that nationally over the past seven seasons, according to a news release about the award from NMU Sports Information.
Tolvanen went on to make NCAA history with five straight shutouts in January and February of 2017 for the Wildcats.
In 78 minutes spanning the two games, Auyeung-Ashton stopped 53 of 55 shots for a 1.53 goals-against average and .964 saves percentage. He was No. 1 in the league in goals-against and saves percentage, and also No. 2 in saves for goalies playing at least 20 minutes over the weekend.
Nationally, he was fourth in saves percentage for goalies playing both games and 10th in goals-against under that same criteria.
And just for good measure, Auyeung-Ashton leads the CCHA in goals-against, saves percentage and has the fewest goals given up for goalies playing more than 20 minutes.
Auyeung-Ashton, a native of Coquitlam, British Columbia, was with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies for three seasons, posting a 50-29-12 record with eight shutouts and 14-10-1 record in the league playoffs. He left that team as its all-time leader in games played by a goalie, career wins and shutouts to go with a .916 saves percentage that is No. 3 all-time for the Grizzlies.
“Oliver has had an exceptional track record during his time in the BCHL,” Shyiak said in his preseason comments about incoming players. “He comes highly recommended as a goaltender, teammate and competitor.
“On the ice, Oliver has a lot of traits that we look for in our goaltenders; he’s an exceptional skater (who) tracks the puck very well and never gives up on a play.”
The Wildcats won’t likely find the going any easier this weekend despite their coming back to the Berry Events Center for their home opening series. That’s because they’re facing another nationally ranked team, which is almost guaranteed to happen each of the first four weekends this season.
Coming to Marquette will be Colorado College, ranked No. 19 in one major national poll and No. 20 in another. Games are at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 6:07 p.m. Saturday. A Blue Line Luncheon, one of only two this season, is also scheduled during the day of the opening game.
The following week, the Wildcats remain home but face their highest-ranked opponent in Michigan State (currently Nos. 3 and 4) on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24-25, with the same game times each night.
Here are details from the OSU series:
Ohio St. 5, NMU 2
On Friday night, after spotting the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead, Northern freshmen Peter Cisar and Michael Burchill scored barely more than two minutes apart in the middle of the second period, assisting on each other’s goal so that each had two-point games.
But that was all the Wildcats would get as OSU upped its lead less than four minutes after NMU’s scoring with another in the first 30 seconds of the third. That was when Gramme was pulled in favor of Auyeung-Ashton.
The Wildcats might’ve been fortunate to get the scoring they did, considering they were outshot 42-15. Gramme and Auyeung-Ashton combined for 37 saves, while the Buckeyes’ Kristoffer Eberly had just 13 stops, and never more than six in any period.
Each team had just three two-minute shorthanded situations to kill off, though with nearly back-to-back penalty calls on NMU, the Wildcats faced a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation for just over 90 seconds in the opening period.
Ohio State scored earlier on Chris Able’s shot from the point that was deflected in by teammate Max Montes, according to NMU SI.
On the 5-on-3, Felix Caron scored his first of two goals in less than 90 seconds on a tic-tac-toe play.
Then just at the back end of those penalty kills, a 5-on-4, was expiring, Caron again found the net to make it 3-0 with 5:51 left in the first. Technically, it wasn’t a power play goal as he scored the exact second NMU’s final penalty expired.
OSU kept that advantage for more than nine minutes into the second. With 10:48 left in the middle period, Cisar netted his first goal after passes from Burchill and Northern captain and defenseman Tynan Ewart.
Exactly 2:11 later, Burchill bagged his goal off passes from Cisar and Anthony Cliche.
But with 4:55 left in the same period, OSU bumped its edge back to 4-2 when Davis Burnside found a soft spot in the bumper and fired home a one-timer that snuck under Gramme’s arm.
The back-breaker for Gramme early in the third was the Buckeyes’ Riley Thompson finishing off a 2-on-1 play.
Caiden Gault, who scored a goal in each game at UMass, was joined by teammate Kyle Bettens in getting off three shots on goal, while the Wildcats’ Tobias Pitka and Danny Ciccarello each had seven faceoff wins.
Ohio St. 3, NMU 1
On Saturday, Northern again had to weather an early storm before mounting a comeback that fell short.
NMU dominated the early going — outshooting OSU 6-1 in the first seven minutes — before being called for three first-period penalties.
But Auyeung-Ashton didn’t give up any power-play goals, facing eight shots on goal in the first two circumstances.
Then Ohio State broke through twice in the final five minutes of the period even strength. Nathan Lewis knocked in a loose puck out front, then Minnesota State-Mankato transfer Adam Eisele took a wicked wrist shot after toe-dragging around a defender that made it 2-0 after one period.
The Wildcats cut that deficit in half when freshman Landon Ma
cDonald got his first goal in his first college game with 11:55 left in the second.
He received a breakout pass from Girts Silkalns with speed, beating his defender wide on the left side. MacDonald drove the net and made a move to the backhand from in tight, beating Eberly from in close, according to NMU SI, as Joe Schiller also got an assist.
The Wildcats appeared to tie the game just a few minutes later, but a goal scored by Northern freshman Evan Johnson was waved off for goalie interference after a challenge from the OSU bench.
Down the stretch, Ohio State was whistled for a penalty well past the midpoint of the third, and while NMU got several good looks, they couldn’t bag the tying goal.
Overall in the third, though, the Buckeyes outshot Northern 19-6 that included an empty-net goal by Caron, who had the power-play and pseudo-power-play goals on Friday, with 55 seconds remaining.
For the night, Auyeung-Ashton had 45 saves while Eberly had to make just 23.
Ohio St. 5, NMU 2
Friday at Columbus, Ohio
Summary:
First period — 1. OSU, Max Montes (Able, Eisele) 5:33; 2. OSU, Felix Caron (Karabela, Sabo) ppg 12:44; 3. OSU, Caron (Burnside, Sabo) 14:09
Second period — 4. NMU, Peter Cisar (Burchill, Ewart) 9:12; 5. NMU, Michael Burchill (Cisar, Cliche) 11:23; 6. OSU, Davis Burnside (Caron, Straky) 15:05
Third period — 7. OSU, Riley Thompson (Caron) 0:29
Penalties-minutes: NMU 3-6, Ohio St. 3-6
Power-play opportunities: NMU 0 of 3, Ohio St. 1 of 3
Goalie saves: NMU, Oliver Auyeung-Ashton 45 (15-12-18); Ohio St., Kristoffer Eberly 23 (8-9-6)
Ohio St. 3, NMU 1
Saturday at Columbus, Ohio
Summary:
First period — 1. OSU, Nathan Lewis (Weis, Thompson) 15:48; 2. OSU, Adam Eisele (Montes) 17:59
Second period — 3. NMU, Landon MacDonald (Silkalns, Schiller) 8:05
Third period — 4. OSU, Felix Caron (unassisted) eng 19:05
Penalties-minutes: NMU 4-8, Ohio St. 3-6
Power-play opportunities: NMU 0 of 3, Ohio St. 0 of 4
Goalie saves: NMU, 37 (William Gramme 13-15-1, Oliver Auyeung-Ashton x-x-8); Ohio St., Kristoffer Eberly 13 (5-6-2)
Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing/previewing the games/meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.
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