TRAVERSE CITY — If there were any questions about whether or not the Petoskey hockey team was ready for the start of the 2025-26 season, they made things pretty clear by the end of Friday night.
Opening the season on the road at Traverse City Central on Friday, Nov. 14, the Northmen made a statement.
While it might look like just a 5-2 victory to begin the 2025-26 campaign, the win holds weight for the intentions of the season and sends a message to those ahead.
The victory comes against a team the Northmen have had little to no success against this decade, while in a place that’s been just as unkind.
It’s the first win in Traverse City – against any of the three TC teams – since an early February of 2022 victory over Traverse City West. They had been on an 0-8 stretch since.
You have to go back to that same season to find the last win over Traverse City Central for the Northmen, with a 4-3 January victory the last. Since the 2019-20 season, the Northmen are now just 2-12 against the Trojans, including the postseason.
Entering the season with some key scorers back on the ice, all of them played a role in the victory Friday.
The Northmen pulled in a 3-1 advantage heading to the final period, then added to it in the third period to hold off any kind of comeback attempt by TC.
Anderson Ward scored the first two for the Northmen, the second coming shorthanded. Chase Lafaive added a goal and two assists, then Madden Pateman and Evan Williams scored, with Williams’ coming on a powerplay.
The Northmen killed off all of the Trojans’ powerplay opportunities, going 8 for 8 in what was a busy night in the box for both teams.
Nick Timm got the start in goal for Petoskey, making 22 saves on the Trojans’ 24 shots.
While it’s a heck of a win to hang a helmet on, the Northmen (1-0) don’t get an opportunity to rest on it long. They’ll be back on the ice Wednesday, Nov. 19 for their home opener against Alpena (2-0).
The Wildcats will enter as the defending Big North Conference champions, though both league losses during an 8-2 BNC season came from Petoskey a year ago.
Petoskey had dropped four straight against Alpena before last season.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey hockey gets statement win over TC Central to begin 2025-26
