Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. No. 14 Notre Dame knocks off No. 1 Michigan twice in OT
Top-ranked Michigan came close both nights, but the Wolverines weren’t able to keep their hot streak going this weekend. Notre Dame beat Michigan 3-2 on Friday night and 5-4 Saturday, handing the Wolverines their first sweep of the season (and their first losing streak).
On Friday, Michigan’s Brendan Bisson broke a scoreless tie late in the second period then the Wolverines went up 2-0 on Matty Beniers’ power-play tally early in the third.
But the Irish didn’t go away. Hunter Strand cut the lead to one just a minute after Berniers’ goal before Ryder Rolston tied it with less than 10 minutes to play. In the overtime period, the Irish were given a power play opportunity and Rolston cashed in with the game-winner.
Saturday’s game was a more back-and-forth affair. In a game that featured four ties and lots of scoring, the Wolverines three times fought back from a one-goal deficit, including Thomas Bordeleau’s tally in the third which made it 4-4. That was the score as the teams went to 3-on-3 overtime, but in the end, Max Ellis finished off his hat trick with the game-winning goal.
Still, it wasn’t a total loss for the Wolverines, who earned two points in the B1G standings and stayed on top of the league (by one point, over Minnesota).
2. Duluth, North Dakota split the spoils in Grand Forks
No. 6 North Dakota retained its early hold atop the NCHC standings over the weekend after splitting a pair with U.S. Highway 2 rivals Minnesota Duluth.
The fourth-ranked Bulldogs won Friday night’s opener 4-1 behind two goals by Casey Gilling and 23 saves from Ryan Fanti. UND’s Gavin Hain had opened the scoring early in the first period but the Bulldogs scored four unanswered to win the game.
On Saturday, the Fighting Hawks won a tightly-contested affair. Minnesota Duluth took a 1-0 lead midway through the second period before Ethan Frisch scored with just seconds remaining in the frame to have the teams go into the second intermission tied. Brendan Budy then scored what turned out to be the game-winner five minutes into the third period, giving UND their fifth NCHC win in six games and denying the Bulldogs their chance to earn their first conference sweep.
3. Western rallies with sweep
What a difference a week makes.
After suffering their first sweep at the hands of Denver last week, No. 13 Western Michigan rallied with two massive victories against No. 2 St. Cloud State.
The Broncos beat the Huskies 6-2 on Friday thanks in part to Ethen Frank’s four-goal night. Frank became the first WMU player since 2006 to score four goals in a game. On Saturday, a 4-0 victory, four different players scored and Brandon Bussi made 38 saves to notch his second shutout of the season.
The Huskies, after winning five in a row earlier this month, are now in the middle of a three-game losing skid and have a week off before travelling to North Dakota the first weekend of December.
4. UNH splits with UMass
New Hampshire scored early, then allowed UMass to tie the game with just seconds remaining before holding on to win 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night, earning themselves a Hockey East series split.
The Wildcats had allowed the Minutemen to tie the game on Scott Morrow’s extra attacker goal with 1.1 seconds to go in regulation. But UNH’s Jackson Pierson made sure the Wildcats were going to get something from the series, redirecting Eric MacAdams’ shot just 37 seconds into the extra period.
The Minutemen were still able to earn four points on the weekend, however, as the defending national champions shut out the Wildcats 3-0 behind 21 saves from Matt Murray and goals by Bobby Trivigno (who scored twice) and Colin Felix.
UMass, now a point behind Providence in the Hockey East standings, faces instate rivals UMass Lowell next weekend while UNH steps outside the conference to take on Harvard and Holy Cross.
5. UConn fights back to earn split
UConn snapped a three-game losing skid Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 win over UMass Lowell. The Huskies scored twice in the second period with goals from Ryan Wheeler and Jake Flynn, then held on after Andre Lee scored for the River Hawks later in the second. Darion Hansen made 30 saves for UConn, who were outshot 11-3 in the third period.
For UML, it was the first loss since their season opener at Arizona State on Oct. 2. Until Sunday, they had gone 7-0-2. On Saturday night in Lowell, Lee scored twice and Reid Stefanson added a third in their 3-0 victory.
6. Beavers, Michigan Tech split
An entertaining two-game series in Bemidji saw Bemidji State and Michigan Tech each win a pair of 4-3 games at the Sanford Center.
Both games were up-and-down, back-and-forth affairs. On Friday, BSU scored first before Tech fired back with three unanswered (two from Tristan Ashbrook and one Ryland Mosley) and took a 3-1 lead into the third period. Bemidji’s Owen Sillinger scored early in the third to get the Beavers back into the game but Tommy Parrottino netted what turned out to be the game winner just six minutes into the final frame.
In Saturday’s finale, the Beavers again scored first, and the Huskies again re-took the lead in the second period. But unlike Friday night’s game, the Beavers found a way to limit the damage. Tech scored once in the first and once in the second but this time it was the Beavers who scored three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead going into the intermission. Tech got back within a goal midway through the third period but the Beavers held them off to earn the split.
Sillinger, who scored on Saturday, finished the weekend with four points (a goal and an assist in each game).
7. BG rallies to sweep Lake State
After a pair of embarrassing losses at the hands of Minnesota State — one in which the Falcons gave up 14 goals over two games to the Mavericks — Bowling Green bounced back in a big way this weekend with a sweep over Lake Superior State.
The Falcons scored 11 times over the course of the weekend — a 5-1 victory on Friday night and a 6-2 win on Saturday. Coale Norris had a four-point night on Friday (two goals and two assists) while Alex Barber had an identical four-point game of his own in Saturday’s win.
The wins moved Bowling Green up to third place in the CCHA standings, with 15 points from eight games. And they are a perfect 5-0 at home in Slater Family Ice Arena, outsourcing opponents 24-9 in those games.
BG travels to Northern Michigan next weekend for a key mid-table battle while Lake Superior, which has lost five straight games, have another tough series with Minnesota State to look forward to.
8. Cornell wins twice
Cornell had a solid home weekend, earning four points thanks to a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over Brown on Friday and a 3-0 victory against Yale the next day.
Matt Steinburg scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime, to give the Big Red the victory after Brown had rallied from a 2-0 deficit with goals by Cole Quisenberry and Michael Maloney.
Nate Macdonald made 30 saves for Cornell on Friday then turned around Saturday and stopped 14 shots, earning his first career collegiate shutout in what was just his fourth start. Senior forward Liam Motley also scored his first collegiate goal for the Big Red, who are 7-1 and three points clear atop the ECAC standings.
9. Quinnipiac wins big, keeps unbeaten streak alive
In what was a rematch of last year’s ECAC title game, No. 5 Quinnipiac put up eight goals to blank St. Lawrence and move into a tie for second place in the ECAC standings.
The Bobcats beat the Saints 8-0 behind a hat trick from Ethan de Jong as well as two goals from Ty Smilanic and a goal apiece from Joey Cipollone, Oliver Chau and Wyatt Bongiovanni. Yaniv Perets earned his fourth shutout of the season with 23 saves.
It was something of a bounceback for the Bobcats after they tied Clarkson 2-2 on Friday night. Griffin Mendel and Guus van Ness scored for QU, who had to rally from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime. The Bobcats, who eventually won in a shootout, haven’t lost in regulation since their Oct. 23 game against North Dakota and are 7-0-2 since.
10. RIT sweeps Holy Cross to move to top of table
Coming into the weekend, Mercyhurst had a one-point advantage over RIT at the top of the Atlantic Hockey standings. But the Tigers, thanks to a sweep of Holy Cross and the Lakers’ split with Canisius, jumped to the top of the standings over the weekend.
On Friday night, Will Calverley scored twice while Carter Wilkie scored the game-winner in the third period at RIT knocked off Holy Cross 3-2. Saturday’s game was also a close contest. RIT scored three goals to open the first period then held on to win 4-3. It was the first sweep of the season for the Tigers.
Meanwhile, Mercyhurst and Canisius played a home-and-home series in which the visiting team won big each night. Friday’s game saw the Griffins beat up on the Lakers 6-1, with Keaton Mastrodonato and Cooper Haar each scoring twice. On Saturday night in Buffalo, it was the opposite situation, with the Lakers outgunning the Griffins 5-2. Mercyhurst scored three times on the power play and goalie Kyle McClellan made 38 saves to lead the Lakers to three points.
