Wisconsin-Stevens Point knocked off nationally ranked Augsburg on Saturday as the reigning champs proved they can’t be counted out yet. Wisconsin-River Falls also handed Augsburg a loss.
St. Thomas and Saint Mary’s both stole a win from each other in their critical MIAC series.
Lake Forest continued its impressive run through the season with another sweep and Adrian got all it could handle from Milwaukee School of Engineering in a two-game series.
Here are the big storylines from the weekend that was in the West region.
Pointers look impressive in win
For the second time in four games, UW-Stevens Point sent a message to a top five team. The Pointers skated past fifth-ranked Augsburg 3-1 Saturday at home.
Logan Fredericks got things rolling just over two minutes into the game and Collin Raver made the score 2-1 in favor of the Pointers (9-6-1) in the second period. UW-Stevens Point punched in its final goal I the third thanks to a goal by Austin Kelly. He scored on the empty-netter.
Eli Billing made 21 saves for the Pointers.
UW-Stevens Point swept Wisconsin-Eau Claire when the Blugolds came to town ranked No. 1 in the country. The Pointers now have another big win under their belt as they stretch their winning streak to four games. The team is a long way from that four-game winless streak it endured in late November.
On Friday, the Pointers battled Hamline and Carter Roo recorded a hat trick in the 5-2 win.
Falcons stun Auggies
UW-River Falls edged Augsburg 2-1 Friday night.
Jackson Nauss and Sam Anzai both scored goals for the Falcons, who held a 28-24 advantage in shots.
UW-River Falls limited Augsburg to just seven shots in the third period.
Zach Quinn came up big in goal, recording 23 saves as the Falcons improved to 9-4-2 while extending their win streak to four games. They have won two one-goal games during the streak.
UW-River Falls wrapped up the weekend with a 6-3 victory over Bethel, scoring four goals in the third period. Ryan Cusin paved the way in the attack as he scored two goals and dished out two assists.
Yellow Jackets dominate weekend
Wisconsin-Superior reaped the reward of sweeping another weekend of hockey. The Yellow Jackets moved up to No. 11 in the national poll Monday, marking the first time that has happened since 2009.
They cruised past Saint John’s Friday in a 6-2 win and capped the weekend with a 5-1 victory over Concordia (MN), extending their unbeaten streak to seven games — their longest streak in a decade.
UW-Superior has now won two more games than it did all of last season, improving to 12-2-1 overall. Troy York paved the way in Friday’s victory, scoring a goal and dishing out two assists. The Yellow Jackets cranked out 40 shots, marking the sixth time that has happened in a game this season.
In Saturday’s game against the Cobbers, Conor MacLean and Pavel Mikhasenok scored two goals apiece to lead the way to the Yellow Jackets’ 12th win of the year. Myles Hektor made 27 saves and earned his fourth win of the season. He is 4-0-1.
Tommies and Cardinals split series
St. Thomas and Saint Mary’s played a pivotal MIAC series, with the Tommies taking the opener 5-4 on Friday night before falling 4-1 to the Cardinals on Saturday in the finale.
The Tommies come out of the weekend tied with Augsburg for first place in the MIAC with 15 points. They are 7-6-1 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Saint Mary’s is in third with 12 points. The Cardinals 6-6-1 overall and 4-2 in MIAC play.
St. Thomas outscored Saint Mary’s 2-1 in the final period to secure the win. Spencer Zwiener and Jake Peterson both scored goals to secure the win. Cam Buggrabe made 32 saves.
Saturday’s game was a different story. Tommy Stang and Ryan Stoynich both extended their point streaks to five to help the Cardinals salvage a split. Stoynich scored a goal and tallied an assist on another goal and Stang also scored a goal. Brady Lindauer scored the second goal of his career in Saturday’s win. Al Rogers made 28 saves.
Johnnies salvage their weekend
After a loss to UW-Superior Friday, the Johnnies managed to end the weekend on a high note, edging Northland 3-2 Saturday.
Kurt Sonne scored his sixth goal of the year, tied for the most on the team, and Brady Heppner contributed as well, knocking in what proved to be the game winner. It was his sixth of the year and the 40th of his career at Saint John’s.
Mac Berglove was on his game in goal, recording 49 saves. He is now 3-1-2 on the year for the Johnnies.
Foresters on fire
Lake Forest pushed its win streak to eight with a sweep of Finlandia. The Foresters won 6-3 Friday and closed out the NCHA series with a 3-2 overtime win Saturday as they got all they could handle from the Lions in that one.
Austin Aksoy scored 52 seconds into the OT to give Lake Forest the win. He has scored eight goals this season, the most on the team. Boyd DiClemente made 17 saves to earn his 13th win of the year, tying him for the second most wins in a season in program history.
Lake Forest went into the weekend ranked 11th in the nation and is 13-2-1 overall and 10-1 in the conference. The win streak it is on is the sixth-longest in program history.
Four is the magic number
Adrian and MSOE skated to a pair of 4-4 ties over the weekend in their NCHA series. Adrian is winless in its last four games.
Matt McNair scored in the final minute of the third to help Adrian fashion a tie with the Raiders on Friday. MSOE had gone ahead 4-2 thanks to a gal by Brandon Turer in the second period. MSOE led 4-3 going into the final period of play.
Andrew Bellant and Sam Ruffin scored two goals and dished out two assists for Adrian. Jeff Makowski tallied a goal and an assist.
Adrian led 3-2 going into the final period Saturday. Two goals by Matt Hanewall propelled MSOE in front 4-3 before Dino Balsamo punched in a goal in the final minute of the third to forge another tie.
Adrian has played in school-record four consecutive overtime games and this is the fourth time the two teams have played to a tie in the history of the series.
Balsamo scored twice while Hanewall came through with a hat trick as well as an assist.
