FRIDAY RECAP: No. 1 Gophers earn split with No. 8 Penn State, No. 4 St. Cloud State upset by No. 17 Western Michigan, No. 7 UConn ties No. 9 Providence

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Minnesota rebounded from a Thursday loss to Penn State with a win over the Nittany Lions Friday night (photo: Brace Hemmelgarn).

Bryce Brodzinski scored twice in 66 seconds during the third period, lifting No. 1 Minnesota to a 3-1 victory over No. 8 Penn State Friday night from 3M Arena at Mariucci.

The win earned the Gophers a split in the series after the Nittany Lions took a 4-2 win.

“We were a lot better tonight,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “When the game was kind of quiet, we just hung in there until we could get a power-play goal. Once again, we’re playing a very veteran, very good hockey team. Then our veterans took over and that’s what we needed.”

The Gophers turned a season-high, 33-save performance from goaltender Justen Close into a home win. Minnesota’s offense came alive for the final three goals of the contest, all of which came in a 12-minute stretch, after Penn State took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Christian Sarlo.

Mason Nevers tied the game at 16:49 of the second period and then Brodzinski scored at 6:55 and 8:01 of the third period to seal the game for Minnesota. Jaxon Nelson assisted on both goals.

For Penn State, Liam Souliere made 30 saves in suffering the defeat in goal.

No. 2 Denver 3, No. 12 North Dakota 2

A trio of freshmen connected for the game-winning goal in the third period to give No. 2 Denver a 3-2 victory over No. 12 North Dakota Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Jared Wright tallied his first career goal on a rebound at 6:33 of the third period off assists from Lucas Olvestad and Aidan Thompson to break a 2-2 tie.

The win was DU’s first over North Dakota since Jan. 17, 2021, ending a six-game losing streak in the all-time series. The Pioneers also picked up their first win over the Fighting Hawks at Ralph Engelstad Arena since Dec. 8, 2018, ending a seven-game streak.

Thompson also netted his first career goal in the game for the Pioneers while Carter King tallied as well. Kyle Mayhew registered two assists for a multi-point performance and goaltender Magnus Chrona made 21 saves and now hasn’t lost in regulation in the last seven games.

The Fighting Hawks twice knotted the contest after trailing, but the Pioneers responded each time to regain the lead.

Griffin Ness and Chris Jandric scored for North Dakota and Drew DeRidder finished with 16 saves.

No. 3 Michigan 5, No. 18 Notre Dame 1

Four straight goals in the second period, including a pair in a 21-second span, propelled No. 3-ranked Michigan past No. 18 Notre Dame 5-1 win on Friday night at Compton Family Ice Arena.

Back between the pipes after missing last week’s split at Penn State with an illness, Erik Portillo stopped 23 shots.

Mackie Samoskevich opened the scoring and added an assist for his sixth multi-point game of the year while Adam Fantilli chipped in a pair of assists for his seventh multi-point performance in 11 games.

Eric Ciccolini, Dylan Duke, Jackson Hallum and TJ Hughes also scored for the Wolverines.

Ryan Bischel made 39 saves for the Fighting Irish with Nick Leivermann netting the lone goal in the loss.

No. 17 Western Michigan 4, No. 4 St. Cloud State 2

The 17th-ranked Broncos scored the game’s first two goals and never trailed in downing No. 4 SCSU 4-2 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

Aidan Fulp, Jamie Rome, Max Sasson and Luke Grainger scored for WMU and Grainger and Sasson added assists for two-point games.

In net, Cameron Rowe made 19 saves for the win.

For the Huskies, Micah Miller and Grant Cruikshank scored and Jaxon Castor turned aside 26 shots between the pipes.

No. 5 Quinnipiac 4, Brown 3

Rhode Island native Michael Lombardi scored a pair of goals in his home state, the final two for No. 5 Quinnipiac in a 4-3 road win at Brown on Friday night at Meehan Auditorium.

The Bobcats, who won their fourth game in a row, erased deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 before taking the lead for good on the Lombardi tallies. Ethan de Jong and Jacob Quillan both scored to tie the game twice in the second period.

Skyler Brind’Amour joined de Jong and Lombardi with a multi-point night, providing a pair of assists on the final two goals of the night.

Yaniv Perets stopped 21 shots for the Bobcats in getting the win in goal.

James Crossman and Tony Andreozzi scored for Brown, Cole Quisenberry had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Bottrill two assists.

Mathieu Caron made 32 saves in the Bears’ cage.

No. 7 Connecticut 1, No. 9 Providence 1

Chase Yoder scored short-handed in the third period and Philip Svedebäck made 26 saves as No. 9 Providence skated to a 1-1 tie with No. 7 UConn on Friday night at Schneider Arena.

The Huskies claimed the extra point in the Hockey East standings with the shootout win.

Logan Terness had 35 saves for UConn and Justin Pearson scored the equalizing goal late in the third period.

UConn’s Sami Salminen was the lone scorer in the shootout.

Michigan State 4, No. 10 Ohio State 3

No. 10 Ohio State fell 4-3 at Michigan State Friday night at Munn Ice Arena as the Spartans swept the series after winning 4-2 Thursday night.

The teams were tied at one less than seven minutes into the first period, but the Spartans scored back-to-back goals for a 3-1 lead after the opening stanza.

Nicolas Muller scored twice for the Spartans while Miroslav Mucha and Tiernan Shoudy added goals to back Dylan St. Cyr’s 33 saves in goal.

Muller and Mucha also chipped in with assists to fashion multi-point games.

Ohio State drew within one twice but was unable to get even.

For the Buckeyes, Joe Dunlap, Davis Burnside and Travis Treloar scored as Jakub Dobeš had 28 stops in taking the loss between the pipes.

Canisius 5, American International 2

Members of the senior class scored all five goals to lead Canisius to a 5-2 victory over AIC Friday night at LECOM Harborcenter.

Keaton Mastrodonato scored twice while Markus Boguslavsky, Simon Gravel and Ryan Miotto also found the back of the net for the Golden Griffins. Mastrodonato, Boguslavsky and Miotto all added assists to give the three players multiple points for the game.

Jacob Barczewski made 27 saves between the pipes to pick up the win, moving within one save of reaching the 2,000 save plateau for his career.

For the Yellow Jackets, Oscar Geschwind and Blake Bennett scored with Jarrett Fiske finishing with 26 saves in the AIC cage.

Northern Michigan 2, Bemidji State 0

Northern Michigan goaltender Beni Halasz picked up his first career shutout and Artem Shlaine and Kristof Papp each had a goal and an assist to lead the Wildcats over the Beavers at the Berry Events Center.

Halasz made 25 saves for NMU.

At the other end, Mattias Sholl collected 33 stops for the Beavers.

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