MADISON, Wis. – Although they outshot Northern Michigan 36-17, the Wisconsin men's hockey team (4-3-0, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) dropped a tough, physical matchup by a score of 5-2 to the Wildcats (3-5-1, 1-4-1-0 WCHA) on Friday night.

"I think in a game like that, you are frustrated. I think we expected a little bit better for us, their team came in hungry," head coach Tony Granato said. "They made the most of their chances, especially in the first period. They basically scored on their first two scoring chances."

UW found themselves in an early 1-0 hole as NMU found the back of the net just 33 seconds into the beginning of the contest.

"I think our start was not what it needed to be, the first half of game we didn't play our game, we didn't battle like we needed to, and they took advantage," sophomore forward Seamus Malone said. "In front of the nets you could tell that we didn't bear down and score our chances and they did."

The Badgers responded to their early deficit with a beautiful, coast-to-coast, power-play goal scored by Trent Frederic. The freshman picked up the puck in front of his own net and skated down the ice through two defenders before roofing the shot over the Wildcats' goalie Mathias Israelsson's shoulder. Assists on the play went to Tim Davison and Max Zimmer. The assist marked Zimmer's first career point.

The highlight-reel goal would not hold up in the first period as Dominik Shine beat Matt Jurusik with under five minutes to play in the first to give NMU a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Early in the second period, Shine scored his second goal of the game to make it 3-1, then 88 seconds later, the Wildcats potted another goal to give themselves a three-goal lead. Freshman Jack Berry went on to replace Jurusik following NMU's fourth tally.

Berry stopped all six shots he faced after entering the game.

"It's been the same every time he's come in for us. He's been really solid, he kept us in the game," Granato said. "He gave us a chance to come back. Their goalie made some big saves there when we were down to keep the lead what it was. We hit the post there a couple times in the third that could have given us a little better chance, but Berry was really solid."

The Badgers entered the third period down by a score of 4-1 and Seamus Malone's fourth goal of the season, on a penalty shot, pulled UW to within two goals with five and a half minute to play. The Wildcats' lead proved to be too much, however, and an empty-net goal sealed the 5-2 NMU victory.

Malone's penalty-shot goal was UW's first penalty-shot tally since Oct. 30, 2015 when Cameron Hughes scored against Arizona State.

The Cardinal and White now drop to 1-2 on the season against Northern Michigan, including the opening series of the season, where each team won a game at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

"We all know what we need to do. We're winners in there and this doesn't sit well with us," Kunin said. "Coach came in and talked to us and we have to come out and do better tomorrow, and that's what we are going to do."

The two teams will finish off their weekend series tomorrow night at the Kohl Center with puck drop set for 7 p.m. The game can be streamed online on BTN Plus or will be available for radio broadcast on WIBA-AM 1310.

Following the game tomorrow night, the U.S. national sled hockey team, coached by former UW head coach Jeff Sauer, will play a 20-minute exhibition in preparation for the upcoming World Sled Hockey Challenge in early December. Fans are encouraged to stick around after the game to check out the team.