Aurora is off and running, or should we say skating, in the 2024-25 season.
The Spartans won the Key City Collegiate Classic at Dubuque, edging Augsburg 5-4 on Saturday for the title after knocking off nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point 7-2 the night before.
Landry Schmuck delivered the game winner for the Spartans (2-0), scoring 37 seconds into overtime to cap a wild comeback.
Aurora trailed 3-1 before Matt Weber, Chase Broda and Jacob Brockman all scored in the third to tie the game.
Schmuck finished with two goals while Weber and Mathis Bedard each dished out two assists. JaCob Mucitelli racked up 23 saves.
That win came on the heels of a dominant performance against the No. 6 Pointers, leading 6-0 before allowing a goal.
Two players, Riley Dekowny and Lukas Sedlacek each recorded three points while four others finished with two points.
Dekowny racked up a pair of goals while Sedlacek, Andrew Schultz and Hassan Akl all racked up two assists. Mucitelli was on top of his game as he made 33 saves.
Here are more highlights from the opening weekend.
A battle of nationally ranked teams
Adrian and Utica didn’t disappoint in their opening weekend series. The Bulldogs, ranked third in the nation, salvaged a split on Sunday against No. 4 Utica, earning a 5-3 win.
Not only did Adrian win, but head coach Adam Phillips won his first career game as the head coach of the Bulldogs.
Tied at 3-3 after two periods, Adrian scored twice in the third to secure the win.
Ian Amsbaugh scored twice and also came through with an assist while Will Bowman added an assist to go along with his first collegiate goal. Patrick Saini and David Clark each dished out two assists while Dershahn Stewart made 34 saves.
The win makes up for Friday’s heartbreaking 3-2 loss where Utica scored in the final minute.
Stewart racked up 31 saves and David Clarke’s first career goal gave Adrian a 2-1 lead before Utica rallied for the win. Theo Thurn also scored a goal for Adrian.
Green Knights dominate at home
St. Norbert is a top five team in the country for a reason. Facing two of the best teams out of the MIAC, the Green Knights were on top of their game in an 8-4 win over St. Olaf on Friday and a 5-2 win over Bethel Saturday.
Fifth-ranked St. Norbert scored seven goals in the first two periods to open up a a commanding 8-3 lead over the Oles on Friday.
Eight different players score goals in a matchup featuring two teams who have met in the last two NCAA tournaments. Hunter Garvey racked up 21 saves. Blake Ulve scored once and dished out two assists. Byron Hartley finished with three helpers in the win.
A 3-0 lead after one period against Bethel was all the Green Knights needed to complete an opening weekend sweep. Logan Dombrowsky scored a goal and tallied an assist. Liam Fraser dished out a pair of assists. Grant Adams made his debut in goal and came up with 24 saves.
Sabres shine
Marian is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2019-20 season after finishing off the weekend with a 4-0 win over St. Olaf.
The Sabres improved to 6-5-1 all-time against the Oles behind the strength of Andreai Proctor-Ramirez’s second career shutout. He stopped 27 shots.
Blake Stafford came through with two assists and Brandon Modde scored his first career goal in the win.
On Friday, Marian edged Bethel 2-1 in overtime after Caden Carlson scored his second goal of the game. It took him just 39 seconds into the extra session to find the back of the net. The performance by Carlson marked his first multi-goal game at the collegiate level.
Marian has won five of its last six against Bethel. Cole Carlson dished out two assists while Proctor-Ramirez made 29 saves.
Cobbers with the sweep
Concordia seems to have a knack for winning openers. The Cobbers did it again on Friday, scoring five times in the fifth period for a 5-2 win over Concordia (WI).
They are 7-2-1 in their last 10 opening night games and closed out the weekend with a 2-1 win over the Falcons. Again, all of the Cobbers’ goals were scored in the third.
Hanson O’Leary and Braden Costello scored in Saturday’s win while Dane Couture made 18 saves.
Mason Plante struck for a pair of goals in the opener and Joe Harguindeguy added two assists. Couture racked up 24 saves.
Tight battle between Saints and Raiders
A weekend series between St. Scholastica and MSOE featured a shootout on Friday and a 3-2 win for the Saints on Saturday.
The Raiders and Saints played to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime before MSOE prevailed in a shootout on a goal by Seth Bernard.
Bernard also scored in regulation, as did Carson Jones, while Austin Schwab racked up 31 saves.
Saturday was just as close before St. Scholastica edged MSOE in overtime thanks to a goal by Hunter Hanson a little over a minute into the extra session.
Steve Guo had forced overtime a little over eight minutes into the third period.
Elino Rissanen made 29 saves for the Saints. Schwab stopped 27 shots.
Falcons fly high
Four goals in the third period proved to be the difference in UW-River Falls’ 5-1 win over Saint John’s in the season opener for both teams on Saturday.
Alex Davis, Cole Teleki and Adisen Brueck all scored their first collegiate goals. Davis and Burke Simpson finished with two assists apiece and Brennan Boynton made his first appearance in goal and stopped 25 shots.
Solid night by Stout
Tyler Masternak was impressive in goal, stopping 31 shots and helping UW-Stout roll past Lawrence 7-0 on Saturday.
The shutout was the fourth in Masternak’s career with the Blue Devils, who used a lightning quick scoring outburst to take control.
They scored three goals in 39 seconds in the opening period, the fastest since scoring three in 37 seconds in November of 2022.
Nicolas Pigeon scored twice for the Blue Devils and Tyler Pfiester added a goal and two assists as UW-Stout opened its season with a win. Lawrence came into the night riding the high of a 5-2 win over Northland.
Dubuque nearly pulls off upset
After dropping its opener 3-0 to Augsburg on Friday, Dubuque came back on Saturday and battled No. 6 UW-Stevens Point in the consolation game of the Key City Collegiate Classic.
The Spartans lost 2-1 in overtime despite a 40-save performance by Ryan Piros. Jack Paweski scored the lone goal for Dubuque, which is in its second season of hockey.
