Tech’s Justin Misiak (17) fires a shot on NMU’s Atte Tolvanen on Feb. 23 at the MacIness Student Ice Arena. Tech and NMU play tonight at 7:07 p.m. for the WCHA Championship and a spot in the NCAA tournament. (Daily Mining Gazette/David Archambeau)

HOUGHTON — Like a pot with a lid, the Michigan Tech Huskies have had something brewing below the surface all season. There all along, just not visible to outsiders. Sometimes, if you got close enough, one might hear a little something, or get a peek inside. But now, the lid is off, and the Huskies are boiling.

After a season that can’t be qualified as anything better than mediocre, Tech (21-16-5) hit the road and swept Bemidji State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, before beating No. 3 Minnesota State in overtime of game three for a spot in the championship game.

All season momentum was a foreign concept, and consistency was unheard of, but now the Huskies are one victory away from qualifying for the NCAA tournament for the second season in a row.

“Even against Arizona State we were starting to put together a consistent effort, and we were doing it without a lot of guys in the lineup,” coach Joe Shawhan said of when he started to see the pieces come together. “We have a lot of guys trusting in each other, playing for each other and believing in each other. The character of the group has come to the forefront, and that is what we have been riding.”

It turns out, the Huskies were building something all season. It may not have been visible, but it was there. Now, it’s in full view.

“We’ve known since the beginning of the year that we had a good team,” Jake Jackson said. “We knew all along we could win the WCHA playoffs, but we are here now and we have to do it now.”

All that stands in the way of the Huskies and the NCAA Tournament is a single foe: No. 16 Northern Michigan.

If the Huskies want to play on the big ice come tournament time, they will have to get past their most hated rival, today at 7:07 p.m. at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.

The Huskies and the Wildcats have met four times this season, splitting, with each team winning twice at their respective arenas.

This time Tech has something it didn’t in each of the previous meetings: a healthy squad.

“The first half we were doing well, and then right around Christmas people started getting injured,” Jackson said. “It was sporadic, it was like pieces of our team were getting taken out of the lineup, and I think it really takes more of a toll than you can see. When you have all these players, but you lose a piece like Brent Baltus, or Alex Smith or Mitch Reinke it really takes a toll on the lineup.”

With a full roster at their disposal, the Huskies will be tasked with stopping forwards Troy Loggins (47 points, 23 goals, 24 assists) and Adam Rockwood (48 points, 40 assists, 8 goals), and an offensive-minded defense led by Philip Beaulieu (42 points, 31 assists, 11 goals) and Robbie Payne (34 points, 10 goals, 24 assists).

NMU boasts an assortment of offensive weapons, but Jackson thinks that could end up being a weakness, ripe for exposing.

“We have to contain their good players, those defensemen that like to carry the puck and their forwards that have 30, 40 points,” Jackson said. “We have to keep them in their zone. I think they don’t like to play defense; their one downfall is all their defenseman are offensive, and their forwards like to score goals, so if we can keep them in their zone and stay out of the box that will be a huge part of the game.”

Tech will also be trying to get the best of Atte Tolvanen in the net. He has 171 saves on the season with a 90.6 save percentage.

The Huskies own goalie situation hit a snag last weekend when Devin Kero went out with an injury, forcing Shawhan to go with Patrick Munson who hadn’t made a start since Feb. 2. But Munson ended up pulling off two of his best games of the season, leading Tech to the sweep of Minnesota State.

“Our goaltending has been phenomenal,” Shawhan said. “I’m proud to say last weekend I think out goaltending won us some hockey. It didn’t just not lose us games, it won us games.”

Kero had earned the starting gig down the stretch, starting the last eight games before his injury. Shawhan says he doesn’t know which goaltender will start tonight.