HOUGHTON, Mich. -  Sophomore Brett Olson recorded his first career hat trick and picked up an assist on the other goals for Michigan Tech in a 5-3 win over arch rival Northern Michigan in the season opener for both teams in front of a crowd of 3,409 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena Friday (Oct. 9). The win was the third straight for the Huskies over the Wildcats.

"It was a great night with a super crowd," said head coach Jamie Russell. "I thought we really moved our feet an awful lot tonight. We didn't take a lot of penalties and we were really disciplined."

NMU was the first to get on the board first after Erik Gustafsson sent a wrist shot past sophomore goalie Josh Robinson at 7:26 of the first period.

Olson evened the score less than two minutes later when he sent the puck on net and it deflected off a skate before finding its way into the net. Freshman Aaron Pietila picked up the lone assist on the goal.

Junior Jordan Baker, who led the team in points (27)and goals (16) last season, gave the Huskies the lead with a power play goal at 13:36 of the first. Olson picked up his second point of the night with the assist and freshman Steven Seigo record his first career point with the other assist.

Senior Malcolm Gwilliam laid a hard hit on an NMU player along the boards to set up Olson. Olson sent a slap shot past goalie Brian Stewart at 17:42 for his second goal of the game. Sophomore Ricky Doriott also assisted on the goal.

The Wildcats scored their first of two power play goals on the evening with 15 seconds remaining in the period with a goal by Greger Hanson. Gustafsson assisted on the goal for his second point of the evening and Matt Butcher also picked up an assist.

After a scoreless second period, Olson completed his hat trick with a power play goal at 1:10 of the final period. Seigo picked up his second assist of the night on what would hold up as the gamewinner. Junior Deron Cousens recorded his first assist of the season on the goal.

The Huskies picked up their third power play score of the evening off the stick of senior Malcolm Gwilliam at 14:12. Olson tallied his fifth point of the evening with the assist while Seigo recorded his third assist.

NMU coach Walt Kyle replaced Stewart with Reid Ellington following the goal. Ellington would not be forced to make a save before he was pulled in favor of the extra attacker.

The Wildcats would get a two-man advantage by way of a Tech penalty late in the period. Brian Nugent would net the final goal for NMU at 18:12.

Robinson (1-0-0) made 15 saves on 18 shot for Tech.

"It was a tough game for Josh to play because we had a lot of momentum, and when he's facing shots it's on the power play."

Stewart (0-1-0) gave up all five goals and made 29 saves in 55 minutes of work for Northern. Ellingson made zero saves over less than 90 seconds of duty.

Tech finished with a 34-18 advantage in shots and finished 3-for-9 on the power play. NMU was 2-for-6 on the man advantage.

Tech will close out the weekend with a game against Lake Superior State Sunday (Oct. 11) at 5:07 p.m.