Houghton forward Gunner Gullstrand carries the puck in his own defensive zone during a game against Brother Rice Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Alternate captain Noah Maillette scored twice and captain Connor Arko had a goal and three assists as the Houghton Gremlins hockey team earned a 6-5 win over the Brother Rice Warriors Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

As excited as he was that his team scored six goals, Gremlins coach Micah Stipech was less than enthusiastic about the fact that his team took a 6-3 lead and had to hold on in the end.

“It’s a win that feels like a loss,” he said. “The six games that we’ve won before this, we didn’t resemble that team. It happens. But, we’ve got to get back to what got us here and playing Gremlin hockey.”

Houghton came into Friday night not having lost since a 6-2 drubbing at the hands of Escanaba back on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025.

Houghton struck four times in the middle frame to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead, but then took their foot off the gas pedal.

“We didn’t manage pucks,” Stipech said. “We weren’t on the right side of pucks. We lost battles at the blue lines.

“They know what happened, and Brother Rice played hard. They’re a good team. So, it’s frustrating for us, but we just have to correct it and move on, because we’ve got some tough games coming up.”

Maillette broke the seal to start the game just 1:37 in when Arko fed a pass into the slot and alternate captain Jack Sayen redirected the puck to Maillette, who fired off a quick wrist shot for the tally, his 17th of the year.

He struck again with 1:01 left in the middle frame when he skated into the offensive zone with Arko on a 2-on-1 and Arko fed him a pass across the top of the crease for a tap-in.

The Warriors twice answered the Gremlins’ early one-goal leads to come away from the first period with a 2-2 tie.

On the second Gremlins’ goal, which came on the power play, sophomore forward Gunner Gullstrand picked up his first career point in his first career game by feeding the puck back to sophomore defenseman Wesley Mattila at the point. Mattila’s shot was tipped in by Sayen at 3:22.

Stipech liked a lot of what he saw in Gullstrand’s game.

“He’s so talented,” said Stipech. “He’s twitchy, quick, hard on his stick. He really sees the ice. He’s an excellent passer and finds guys. We’re going to get him integrated in the team game and connected more with how we’re playing as a group, and he’s going to be OK. It was a good first step for him tonight.”

The Warriors took a brief lead early in the second period when Drake Spring, a former teammate of Gullstrand’s with Little Caesars last season, scored at 3:46, on just the second shot of the period for Brother Rice.

Sophomore forward Braden Kari then scored the first of two straight goals to even things at 3-3. His first tally came at 5:31 when he found a quiet space on the backdoor and buried a pass from freshman forward Liam Frick.

Kari then struck again at 13:59 when Arko passed the puck down to Gullstrand in the bottom of the left circle. Gullstrand quickly fed the puck over to Kari in the right circle, and he fired off a one-timer that beat Warriors goaltender Drake England.

Not finished finding offense, Arko, who already had three assists, found the net himself with just 16 seconds remaining in the middle period when he knocked a rebound off a shot from Sayen past England.

Brother Rice got a power play goal off the rush by Logan Jardine, and pulled within two with 8:06 left in regulation.

The Warriors pulled England for an extra attacker, and were in the process of drawing a power play, when Spring scored his second goal of the night at 15:16.

“I think kids took their foot off the gas,” Stipech said. “I know it’s a cliche, but we backed off. Guys start thinking about points, and then you allow a team back in.”

From there, the Gremlins kept Brother Rice from evening things.

Gremlins 6, Wings 1

Saturday, the Gremlins scored three goals in each of the first two periods and closed out the game strong, earning a 6-1 win over the Waukesha Wings at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Gunner Gullstrand got things started for the Gremlins with his first career goal at 8:01. Kari and junior forward Brody Donnelly earned assists on the goal.

Arko made it 2-0 for Houghton with just 64 seconds remaining in the period when he scored his 12th of the season. Sayen and Maillette earned assists on the tally.

Donnelly and Gunner Gullstrand then connected again, this time with Donnelly getting the goal at 16:40.

Maillette struck for the 19th time this season while on the power play 7:05 into the second period. Arko and Sayen also assisted on the goal.

Senior forward Gage Gullstrand found then for the fourth time this season when he scored at 11:54. Sophomore forward Calvin Rinkinen and freshman defenseman Jake Mattson both earned assists on the play.

Rinkinen then added a goal of his own with 37 seconds left in the period. His second goal of the year was assisted by junior defenseman Ian Hembroff and senior goaltender Cooper Flachs.

Joshua Thombs broke Flachs’ shutout bid with a power play goal at 6:42 of the third period.

Flachs stopped 17 of 18 Wings’ shots to earn the win.

Up next

Houghton will host Gabriel Richard Wednesday at Dee Stadium. Opening faceoff is set for 6 p.m.