Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. No. 1 Denver sweeps Northeastern on banner raising weekend
There was a celebration fitting of a 10-time national champion in Denver this weekend, and on the ice, the Pioneers delivered, sweeping Northeastern by identical 5-2 scores. This Denver team is now 4-0-0 on the season. That extends Denver’s winning streak to 13 games over two seasons, including its impressive run to the national title with four wins in which the Pioneers allowed one goal or less in the NCAA tournament.
2. No. 9 Maine earns a two-game home sweep of No. 7 Quinnipiac
It was the only series of two teams in the top 10 of the USCHO.com poll, and Maine provided plenty of fireworks for its fans in a two-game sweep of Quinnipiac. After holding on for a 2-1 win on Friday, the Black Bears took a 4-1 lead on Saturday before allowing the Bobcats to score four straight to take a 5-4 lead. Brandon Holt scored an extra-attacker goal with 28 seconds remaining to force overtime before David Breazeale notched the game-winner on the power play with 36 seconds left in OT.
3. Augustana sweeps No. 12 Omaha
In just year two of its program, Augustana continues to impress. After a weekend split with LIU last weekend, Augustana opened plenty of eyes this weekend with a pair of wins, 2-1 and 4-0, over Omaha. Goaltender Josh Kotai made 67 saves in the two-game series, allowing just a single goal. Augustana won exhibition game against North Dakota two weekends ago that made some people take a little notice. This weekend’s sweep should make college hockey fans take a much larger look at the Vikings.
4. Minnesota State shuts out No. 5 North Dakota on Saturday to earn weekend split
The back-and-forth start to Minnesota State’s season took a nice step forward on Saturday as the Mavericks shut out North Dakota at home to earn a weekend split with the Fighting Hawks. North Dakota won Friday, 3-2. Alex Tracy made 27 saves to earn the shutout on Saturday, which combined with 19 stops on Friday gave him 46 on the weekend. The Mavericks are now 3-3-0 on the season having split all of their first three weekends.
5. Shutouts abound between No. 10 Michigan, No. 13 St. Cloud State
Michigan’s Logan Stein made 21 saves on Friday for 3-0 shutout while counterpart Isac Posch stopped all 24 shots he faced on Saturday for St. Cloud as both the Wolverines and the Huskies each posted a shutout in the weekend split between the two top 20 programs.
6. Minnesota crushes in-state rival Minnesota Duluth, 7-5 and 5-1, to improve to 4-1-0
The Golden Gophers, coming off a loss to Omaha in last weekend’s IceBreaker title game, got back on stride as their offense exploded for 12 goals over in-state rival Minnesota Duluth. Friday’s 7-5 game seemed closer than it was as UMD scored twice late, while Saturday was a rout from the beginning. The Gophers have scored 25 goals in five games, and that includes just a single goal in the team’s only loss, a 2-1 overtime decision against Omaha.
7. Robert Morris sweeps Miami in home-and-home series
The Colonials put forth likely its best weekend since returning to Division I hockey a year ago, posting a two-game home-and-home sweep of Miami, 4-1 and 5-1. Robert Morris, which played three exhibition games a week ago, Croix Kochendorfer finished the weekend with 48 saves on 50 shots as the Colonials helped boost the AHA’s non-conference record with the two victories.
8. Alaska earns first win of season with 1-0 upset of No. 18 Notre Dame
Shutouts were rampant this weekend and Alaska joined the party on Saturday in South Bend as they whitewashed Notre Dame 1-0. Transfer Nicholas Grabko stopped all 37 shots he faced and Broten Sabo scored the game’s only goal at 11:50 of the second as the Nanooks earned their first win of the season, a night after the Fighting Irish earned a 4-1 victory.
9. Providence rebounds from loss at North Dakota with two-game home sweep of Arizona State
The Friars returned home to Schneider Arena in style, with a two-game sweep of Arizona State, 4-1 and 2-1. Goaltenders Philip Svedback and Merrimack transfer Zachary Borgeil split the duties in net, each allowing a single goal in a two-game series that the Friars never trailed.
10. Western Michigan stays perfect with 6-2 win over Bowling Green
It is early in the season, but there aren’t a ton of teams that have played games (Ivies excluded) that remain perfect – unbeaten and untied. Western Michigan is one, as they knocked off Bowling Green 6-2 at home on Thursday. After a home-and-home sweep of Ferris State to begin the season, the Broncos will now face their stiffest test this weekend, traveling to No. 2 Boston College for a single non-conference game next Saturday.
