The Adrian Bulldogs are owners of the Peters Cup once again after sweeping St. Norbert in a battle of nationally ranked teams.
Adrian, the No. 1 team in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll,capped a perfect run through the NCHA with an 6-2 win over the fifth-ranked Green Knights Saturday.
Cameron Gray made 27 saves for his 16th win of the year and helped extend the Bulldogs’ win streak to 22 games.
Matus Spodniak scored a pair of goals and dished out an assist while Sam Ruffin also had a multi-point game as he tallied a goal and an assist Matt Eller dished out two assists.
The Bulldogs (24-1) and Green Knights (20-5) were tied at 1-1 after one before Adrian took control with a five-goal second period.
Carter Hottmann and Petyon Frantti both scored for St. Norbert, which saw its 19-game streak come to an end one night earlier in an 8-4 loss to Adrian.
The Bulldogs scored six goals in the third period to put that game away and clinch their third consecutive Peters Cup.
Spodniak scored and dished out an assist while Eller and Alessio Lucianni both tallied three assists apiece, Dante Spagnuolo scored two goals.
Ben Schmidling came through with a goal and an assist for the Green Knights, who end the the regular season as the runner-up in the conference.
Adrian ends the regular season with an 18-0 mark in conference play St. Norbert finishes 16-2.
Thunder sweep Vikings
Trine capped a sweep of Lawrence Saturday with a 7-2 win on a night where seven different players scored goals for the Thunder.
The sweep gives Trine its best finish in program history in the regular season.The Thunder is 17-7-1 overall and 11-6-1 in the conference.
Elias Sandholm made 22 saves to secure the win in goal and help Trine win its third consecutive game.
Six players finished with multi-point games, including Bobby Price, who scored a goal and dished out two assists. Brendan Pappas tallied two assists as did Jackson Clark.
In Friday’s 6-2 win, Thad Marcola scored a pair of goals to help Trine clinch home ice for the opening round of the conference tournament.
The Thunder actually trailed the Vikings 2-0 in that game before scoring the next six goals on their way to the big win.
Spartans finish off regular season on high note
Aurora heads into the NCHA tournament on a three-game winning streak after blanking MSOE 4-0 Saturday in its regular-season finale.
Ranked 14th in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll, the Spartans improved to 17-7-1 overall and 12-6 in the conference.
Simon Boyko scored twice and Derrick Budz dished out two assists. Josh Boyko racked up 37 saves as Aurora secured the third seed in the tourney and will open tournament play against MSOE this weekend.
The Spartans opened the weekend with a 6-3 win over the Raiders, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and never looking back.
Brayden Sampson scored twice, his final goal coming with 16 minutes left in the third period to give Aurora a 5-3 advantage.
Sampson also tallied two assists as did Adam Keyes. Riley Doyon came through with two goals in the win.
Blugolds continue to roll
UW-Eau Claire stayed hot over the weekend, sweeping UW-River Falls and captapulting itself into a tie for the second-best record in WIAC play.
Unbeaten in its last eight games and winners of two in a row, the Blugolds ended the regular season with a 3-0 win over the Falcons.
UW-Eau Claire is now 13-11- overall and 9-6 in conference play. UW-River Falls has an identical record but finished with one more point than the Blugolds in the standings.
Ryan Oulette made 14 saves and won his 12th game of the year. Jordan Randall, Andrew McGlynn and Ryan Green all scored goals for the Blugolds, who finished off the win with two third-period goals.
UW-Eau Claire, which hasn’t lost a game since Jan. 21, opened the weekend with a 2-1 overtime win over the Falcons.
Ty Readman delivere the game winner, his fifth of the year, scoring at the 2:31 mark of OT to lift the Blugolds to the win. Readman has tallied at least one point in each of his last seven games.
Noah Ganske had tied the game in the final minute of the third period to force OT before Readman came through with his clutch goal in OT.
Yellowjackets split with Blue Devils
UW-Superior salvaged a split against UW-Stout with a 5-2 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday.
The Yellowjackets ended a five-game losing streak with the win and wrap up the regular season with a 13-10-2 overall mark and 6-6-1 mark in WIAC play.
Jordan Martin, Dylan Johnso and Chad Lopez all scored a goal and dished out an assist in the win as UW-Superior got itself back on track.
Landon Pavlisin tallied 30 saves to earn the win.
On Friday, the Blue Devils ended their five-game losing streak by taking out the Yellowjackets
It marked the second time this season that they had beaten UW-Superior.
UW-Stout took control by scoring four goals in the second period. Logan Nelson led the way with two goals and an assist.
Brandon Connett came through with a goal and two assists and Dylan Rallis recorded a goal and an assist as UW-Stout won its eighth game of the season.
Auggies clinch title
Augsburg stretched its win streak to 12 games Saturday and also secured the regular-season MIAC championship with a 7-3 win over Saint Mary’s.
The title is the 11th in program history and the third since the 2015-16 season.
Augsburg, ranked fourth in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll going into the weekend, dominated offensively against the Cardinals, scoring five goals for the eighth time. Fritz Belisle helped lead the way as he punched in two goals.
Mason Palmer and Keenan Lund each tallied two assists. Kyler Yeo and Austin Koss both scored a goal and dished out an assist.
Augsburg, which is now 21-2 overall and 13-1 in the MIAC, scored twice in the third to secure the comeback win over the Cardinals, who had taken a 4-3 lead after two periods of play.
Nick Woodward and Austin Martinsen both scored goals in a span of one minute and 45 seconds to lift the Auggies to the win.
Nathan Solis, Warner Young, Gabe Potyk and Callahan Nauss all scored for the Cardinals, who were outshot 32-24. Jack Robbel made 20 saves for his 13th win.
Johnnies top Oles
Saint John’s came through with a sweep of St. Olaf over the weekend, winning the finale 3-1 on Saturday. The Johnnies won the opener 4-2 on Friday night.
Michael Magnuson made 25 saves for his fourth win of the year on a night when the Johnnies outshot the Oles 39-26.
Braden Altena tied the game at 1-1 after Sean Walsh had given the Oles a 1-0 lead while Jackson Sabo scored the game winner with just over four minutes to play in the second period.
Lewis Crosby’s empty-net goal finished off the scoring for the Johnnies, who improved to 15-6-2 overall and 8-3-1 in the MIAC.
The Johnnies opened the series wtih a 4-2 win. They scored twice in the third period to pull away for the win.
Matt DeRosa scored in the third to give the Johnnies a 3-2 lead and Dan Wieber punched in an empty-net goal with 1:02 left in the game. Mac Berglove made 19 saves and now has 11 wins on the year.
Royals and Cobbers split
Concordia snapped a two-game losing streak Sunday by knocking off Bethel 5-1.
Isaac Henkemeyer helped lead the way as he scored twice and also assisted on two goals. Concordia held a 40-32 advantage in shots and Jackson Nelson notched his 10th win of the year behind a 31-save performance.
Five different players scored for Bethel in its 5-3 win over Concordia on Friday night.
The Royals built up a 4-1 lead in the second period before the Cobbers tried to battle back.
Jake Harter, Jarrett Cammarata, Adam Bricker, Sam Wilhite and Jory McWilliams all scored for Bethel. Wilhite’s goal proved to be the game winner, the first of Wilhite’s career. Travis Allen made 11 of his 33 saves in the third period to help the Royals nail down the win.
Concordia is now 12-9-2 overall and 9-4-1 in the conference. Bethel is 13-9-1 overall and 6-7-1 in the MIAC.
