Andrew Langford scored five goals against Northern Michigan on Friday night. The Lake Superior State captain scored another on Saturday, as the Lakers (2-0) beat the Wildcats (0-2) 6-3 at Taffy Abel Arena.

The Lakers went off on another first period outburst, hours after annihilating the Wildcats 12-1. Charlie Sullivan scored at 6:12 of the first period, with an assist from freshman Luke Vega. Unlike the prior night, the Wildcats quickly countered. Less than a minute later, Carsyn Hinkson struck for the Cats, tying the game at 1 apiece. He'd add another late in the first period, but it was a very different game by that point.

Because Langford struck at 10:20, Derrick Brown tallied at 13:07, and Hunter Rop scored at 13:32. By the time Hinkson scored his second, the landscape had changed significantly.

"We got down when they first tied it up, but it shows our resiliency there," Brown said postgame. "We got back to it, eventually pushing forward and not letting them come back the next time."

Lakers head coach Steve Kaunisto felt it was important for his team to get challenged that way early in the season. "He said, It shows mentally where we're at on the bench, to see if we can fight through adversity and it showed that we're able to."

The Cats competed well, putting up much more opposition than the first game on Friday night. But the Lakers were too fast, too strong, and too skilled. The forward group excelled, and the defenders left little room in high-percentage areas for Wildcat forwards to attack toward.

"I think they came out a little bit harder, and we might have come out a little easier," Brown said. "But we transitioned really well into the second and third and kept it on them."

Seth Stock notched three assists in the win for the Lakers. Langford had a goal and two helpers, while Sullivan added a goal and as assist.

It was a dream start for the Lakers, who outscored NMU 18-4 on the weekend. Teams dream of an opening weekend that features devastating wins over a major rival.

"It's what you want to have happen," Kaunisto said. "We know that rivalry weekend, our energy's higher, everything's higher. Now we focus on Concordia (WI) and have to simplify our game to get to where we need to be to compete against them."

Luke Anderson played in the Laker goal on Saturday, making 31 saves. He faced much more quantity than Sean Piotrowicz had the night before. But with the Lakers defensive structure and intensity, they kept the Wildcats largely on the perimeter of the zone, with not much traffic in front of the net.

The Lakers host Concordia (WI) on Friday, October 3^rd at Taffy Abel Arena. Fans get in free of charge for all Lake Superior State ACHA men's and women's home hockey games.