Conference playoffs took center stage Friday night, with four conferences in action, while Hockey East and the NCHC began their final weekend of the regular season.
SCOREBOARD | POLL | PAIRWISE
ATLANTIC HOCKEY (best of three)
Holy Cross 4, Canisius 3
Jack Stockfish’s goal at 10:04 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and Holy Cross held on for the 4-3 win from the Hart Recreation Center in Worcester, Mass.
No. 19 RIT 7, Robert Morris 0
Tyler Fukakusa scored twice and Tommy Scarfone made 21 saves in the 7-0 rout for the Tigers at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.
Niagara 6, Sacred Heart 3
Carter Randklev went for two goals and an assist as Niagara downed SHU 6-3 from the Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Conn.
AIC 3, Air Force 1
Josh Barnes’ goal at 15:11 of the third period broke a 1-1 deadlock and AIC defeated Air Force 3-1 from the Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. Nils Wallstrom made 31 saves in goal for the Yellow Jackets.
BIG TEN (best of three)
No. 14 Michigan 5, Notre Dame 4
A two-goal third-period comeback propelled Michigan past Notre Dame in a 5-4 decision on Friday night at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. Rutger McGroarty potted two goals to lead the way for the Wolverines while Seamus Casey added four assists.
Ohio State 3 at No. 5 Wisconsin 1
Ohio State beat Wisconsin 3-1 Friday from the Kohl Center in in Madison, Wis., as Max Montes scored the game winner on the power play at 2:21 of the third period.
No. 8 Minnesota 5, Penn State 1
Eleven different players recorded a point as Minnesota defeated Penn State 5-1 Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn. The Gophers netted four unanswered goals, including two from Rhett Pitlick, to seal the game.
CCHA (best of three)
Bemidji State 5, Ferris State 4 (OT)
Eric Pohlkamp’s goal 37 seconds into overtime won it for the Beavers after Eric Martin’s second goal of the game tied it at 19:20 of the third period at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn.
at Michigan Tech 5, Bowling Green 0
Michigan Tech opened the playoffs with a commanding 5-0 shutout of Bowling Green on Friday at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The Huskies scored one in the first, two in each of the last two periods, and Blake Pietila earned his fourth shutout of the season and 24th of his career.
Lake Superior State 4, St. Thomas 1
Lake Superior State pulled away for a 4-1 victory over St. Thomas Friday night from the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minn., as Connor Milburn collected a goal and an assist for the Lakers.
Minnesota State 2, Northern Michigan 1
Jordan Power notched his first career goal and Lucas Sowder put away the game winner as Minnesota State turned in a 2-1 victory over Northern Michigan Friday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn. Mavericks goalie Alex Tracy made 32 saves in the game.
ECAC HOCKEY (single elimination)
at St. Lawrence 4, Yale 2
The Skating Saints got goals from four different scorers and Ben Kraws made 37 saves in net to propel St. Lawrence to a 4-2 win over Yale on Friday night at Appleton Arena.
at Harvard 1, Princeton 0
Harvard battled to a 1-0 victory over Princeton on Friday night at the Bright-Landry Center. The Crimson were outshot 38-17 by the Tigers, but Aku Koskenvuo’s 38-save shutout stole the contest. Crimson captain Ian Moore scored the game’s lone goal in the first period.
No. 10 Colorado College 4, No. 4 Denver 3
Denver entered the third period trailing 4-1, scored two goals, but Colorado College held on for a 4-3 win Friday night from Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Ohhh my goodness, this Laba shorty is a just…🤌🤌🤌#CCTigers pic.twitter.com/SVBbf2eUmP
— CC Hockey (@CCTigerHKY) March 9, 2024
Noah Laba scored two goals for the Tigers, Max Burkholder and Gleb Veremyev added one each, and Kaidan Mbereko finished with 20 saves in goal.
For the Pioneers, Tristan Broz had a goal and an assist, while Jack Devine and Rieger Lorenz also scored. In goal, Matt Davis made 27 stops.
No. 9 Maine 2, No. 12 UMass 1
Maine topped UMass 2-1 on Friday night from Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. With the victory, the Black Bears clinched third place and home ice in the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East tournament.
The Minutemen took a 1-0 lead just under three minutes into the contest on a goal by Michael Cameron, but Bradly Nadeau evened things up before the first intermission.
BOOM 🧨
💻: https://t.co/wyYf5aWUJ4 | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/vTUe1s7LUY
— Maine Men’s Ice Hockey (@MaineIceHockey) March 9, 2024
Thomas Freel finally broke the deadlock with 4:17 to play in the third period with a power-play goal.
Albin Boija’s save at the left post in the final minute locked up the 2-1 win.
Boija finished with 26 saves and Michael Hrabal made 27 for the Minutemen.
No. 16 Omaha 3, No. 3 North Dakota 2
North Dakota dropped a 3-2 decision to Omaha on Friday night from Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.
UND, who has already locked up both the Penrose Cup and No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCHC postseason, was looking to play spoiler, but Omaha captures a big three points to remain alive for the final home ice spot in the quarterfinals heading into tomorrow’s final day of the regular season.
Omaha goalie Simon Latkoczy (32 saves) was tested through the final 20 minutes, as UND exploded for a 14-4 shot advantage in the final frame, but Latkoczy stopped all 14 shots fired his way to keep the Mavericks in front by a goal and secure the victory.
After the Mavericks jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal from Jacob Guevin near the halfway point of the first, UND answered back a few minutes later with the man advantage. Former Maverick Cameron Berg wired home his 20th goal of the season in his first game back at Baxter Arena to even the contest at 1-1 after the opening 20 minutes.
Take a bow young fella, take a bow!#OmahaHKY | @TannerLudtke pic.twitter.com/naKdf078Qj
— Omaha Hockey (@OmahaHKY) March 9, 2024
UND looked to build some momentum in the middle stanza after drawing a pair of penalties to give the visitors a 5-on-3 advantage for over 90 seconds, but the Mavericks killed off both penalties and took control of the contest by striking for a pair of goals in a 1:16 span from Tanner Ludtke and Victor Mancini to quickly grab a 3-1 advantage.
Logan Britt pulled the Fighting Hawks within a goal shortly after the quick strikes by the hosts, skating behind the net and banking a shot off the goaltender and in, but that was as close as UND would get with Omaha holding onto the 3-2 victory.
North Dakota goalie Ludvig Persson finished with 20 saves.
