It was a week full of jaw-dropping action in the Midwest. There were some surprise upsets of some ranked teams, as No. 4 Adrian, No. 8 Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), and No. 13 St. Thomas were beaten by unranked opponents.
Adrian Thanksgiving Showcase
Wis.-Eau Claire was crowned champion of the Adrian tournament. The Blugolds defeated host Adrian and Buffalo State en route to victory.
Buffalo State used a third-period power-play goal by Trevor McKinney to beat No. 13 St. Thomas 3-2 in the opening game of the tournament Saturday.
Tyler Romasco scored the game-winner a little over two minutes into the second period as Wis.-Eau Claire held on to upset Adrian 2-1 Saturday.
Robby Philipp scored the game-winning power-play goal in the third period for St. Thomas, as it defeated Adrian 3-1 in the consolation game of the Adrian Thanksgiving Showcase tournament.
Wis.-Eau Claire won the tournament by defeating Buffalo State 3-1. Brandon Stephenson made 18 saves and only allowed two goals during the tournament.
MCHA/NCHA Showcase at Marian
St. Scholastica stole the show in Fon du Lac this weekend by winning both its games, and St. Norbert won one and tied another as teams from the NCHA did not lose to their MCHA counterparts.
St. Norbert extended its dominance over Lawrence, improving to 31-0 all time, with a 5-1 win in the first game of the MCHA/NCHA Thanksgiving Tournament at Marian University’s Blue Line Family Ice Center. Alain Joanette scored two goals for St. Norbert in Friday’s victory.
St. Scholastica rallied past Marian on the strength of three third period goals. Chris Sinclair scored the game-winner for St. Scholastica in the second game of the MCHA/NCHA Showcase.
St. Scholastica cruised to a 6-1 victory over Lawrence Saturday.
St. Norbert and Marian skated to a 5-5 overtime draw in the final game of the showcase.
Other Thanksgiving week games
St. John’s had a three-goal outburst in the second period to defeat Concordia (Wis.), 5-2, on Friday, in St. Cloud. Jascha Pettit led St. John’s with two goals.
The two teams skated to a 2-2 overtime on Saturday, November 26.
Goalie Steve Papciak recorded 21 saves as St. Olaf shutout Lake Forest 5-0 Saturday. Bryan Glenn and Derek Grogan had a goal and an assist each to lead St. Olaf offensively.
Ross Trousdale scored a power-play goal in the third period that proved to be the game-winner as St. Olaf beat Lake Forest 4-1 Sunday.
Bethel defeated Northland College 5-3 Friday. Chris Fiala scored two goals and added an assist to lead Bethel.
The following afternoon saw a reversal of fortune for Northland, as it beat Bethel, 8-4. Northland used five goals in the second period to erase a 3-0 Bethel lead. Northland scored three more in the third. Colin McIntosh registered the natural hat trick for Northland.
Derek Stauber and Pat Dalbec each scored two goals apiece to pace Wis.-Superior to a 6-1 victory over Concordia on Wednesday, November 23.
St. Mary’s earned its first win of the season by defeating MSOE 2-1 in overtime Tuesday, November 22. Bob Marx blasted a slap shot past MSOE goalie Connor Toomey three minutes into overtime to give St. Mary’s the victory.
MSOE, the No. 8 team in the USCHO.com poll, bounced back the next night and beat St. Mary’s 6-0.
