Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Hallum’s OT goal for hat trick lifts Michigan past BU
Junior forward Jackson Hallum picked an opportune time for his first career hat trick. His overtime goal propelled No. 11 Michigan past No. 5 Boston University 5-4 to clinch a sweep at Agganis Arena on Saturday night.
“The bench energy was great tonight, so that makes (overtime) even better,” junior forward Josh Eernisse told the Michigan Daily. “When all the guys are up, everybody’s rolling, there was just a great feeling on the bench. I think everybody knew that we were gonna come out with that one.”
The win came on the heels of a 5-1 Michigan win the previous night. After entering the third period trailing 1-0, Michigan scored five consecutive goals to win. Evan Werner scored his first two goals as a Wolverine and added an assist for a 3-point night. Logan Stein stopped 22 of 23 shots to earn his third win of the year. The next night, Cameron Korpi made 24 saves in the overtime win.
2. Denver goes east, rips Yale
Long distance trips to the east coast might befuddle other western programs, but No. 1 Denver is well known for handling said treks with ease. That trend continued this weekend when the NCHC’s Pioneers took a pair at Yale by an aggregate score of 11-1.
“We’ve been good the entire year taking it weekend by weekend,” said Denver goalie Freddie Halyk, who was seeing his first action in almost 11 months on Saturday night. “I thought we stuck to our game.”
Denver’s run to last year’s NCAA championship saw the Pioneers travel to Springfield, Mass., for the regionals, which resulted in a pair of 2-1 wins vs. Massachusetts and Cornell. That clinched Denver’s 19th trip to the Frozen Four and paved the way for its 10th national championship.
Saturday’s 5-1 win was the program’s 1,600th win all-time. The Pioneers joined Minnesota, Michigan, Boston College, Boston University and North Dakota as the only college hockey programs to reach that milestone.
3. Minnesota continues dominance of Penn State
No. 4 Minnesota has now won six straight over B1G rival Penn State (No. 18) following a weekend sweep at Mariucci arena.
The teams skated to a scoreless draw for 59 minutes and 34 seconds on Saturday until Jimmy Clark scored on a redirect, and the Gophers held on for a 1-0 win. Minnesota led the nation in team scoring entering the game, averaging more than five goals a contest. Clark has already reached double-digit points in just eight games, totaling three goals and seven assists.
Gophers goalie Liam Souliere earned his first shutout of the season against his former team, stopping 28 shots.
“I thought it was a great, gutsy effort from both teams and I’m really proud of how we just continued to dig in,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “Both goalies were dueling it out and both looked great. The few times (Liam) was really under pressure, he never felt it, and then made some critical saves.”
4. BC sweeps at St. Cloud State
No. 2 Boston College came from behind for a 2-1 win at No. 10 St. Cloud State to complete a weekend sweep. The Eagles trailed 1-0 after the first period but scored in both the second and third periods to claim the victory. BC goalie Jacob Fowler finished the weekend with 44 saves.
“The guys really dug in,” Eagles coach Greg Brown told the BC student newspaper. “We got a couple great blocks, tough shots from the flank, and we did a great job clearing the pucks from the front of the net. And Jacob was solid as usual.”
It was the second time this season that the Eagles have trailed after the first period, and both times BC has come back to win.
5. Cornell finally opens season, sweeps NoDak
Cornell has perched itself in the top half of the first five editions of the USCHO Division I men’s poll, and even had one voter convinced it was the No. 1 team in the country. Quite a feat for a team that, until this weekend, had yet to play a game.
The Big Red proved themselves worthy of its high ranking over the weekend with a sweep of No. 6 North Dakota, by scores of 4-1 and 5-3.
Saturday was the 12th all-time meeting between Cornell and North Dakota, with the Big Red increasing its lead in the series to 7-5-0. Cornell has won six of its last seven meetings against North Dakota. Cornell’s five goals was its highest output against North Dakota in the 12 meetings.
6. Maine keeps rolling
No. 7 Maine continued its hot start with a pair of blowout wins vs. Merrimack, outscoring the Warriors 11-0 over the weekend.
Harrison Scott and Thomas Freel had two goals each in Saturday’s 6-0 win. Scott had four points on two goals and two assists while Freel had three points on two goals and one assist. Taylor Makar and Brandon Holt each had two assists.
The weekend marked the first time Maine (6-0-1) has posted back-to-back shutouts since a three-game shutout streak in 2010-11. It was also Maine’s first time blanking an opponent during a weekend series at home since doing it against Mercyhurst in 2002.
7. CC takes Pikes Peak Trophy
Colorado College had its way with crosstown rival Air Force over the weekend, winning 3-2 at home on Friday night and 6-1 the next night at Cadet Ice Arena.
Six different Colorado College players scored as the Tigers improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season and moved their overall record to 68-15-2 against Air Force, retaining the Pikes Peak Trophy.
8. Providence takes two from UNH
Providence improved to 5-1-1 after sweeping a home-and-home series vs. New Hampshire. The Friars won 6-3 at home on Friday night and won 3-0 the next night at the Whittemore Center.
Zachary Borgiel made 43 saves on Saturday for his third career shutout and first since joining the Friars as a transfer from Merrimack. He made a highlight-reel save on a clean breakaway by Liam Devlin early in the third period with his team clinging to a 1-0 lead.
“I knew he was thinking about shooting,” Borgiel said. “I kind of usually look at the eyes. His eyes were up the whole time. I thought he was going to shoot. He ended up deking, and I held my ice.”
9. Minnesota State, Bemidji State swap one-goal CCHA nailbiters
Minnesota State and Bemidji State provided CCHA fans a pair of thrillers over the weekend, with Bemidji earning a 1-0 win on Friday night and Minnesota State returning the favor the next night with a 2-1 win. Both games were at BSU.
In the highly anticipated weekend bout between two of the league’s top goaltenders, Minnesota State’s Alex Tracy made 63 total stops for a .969 save percentage while BSU goaltender Mattias Sholl had 52 saves and a .963 save percentage, including a shutout on Friday.
“It was a great response from our team tonight,” said Minnesota State coach Luke Strand after Saturday’s game. “They played a very selfless game. Thank you also to the MSU soccer team for attending our game and supporting us.”
The MSU women’s soccer team was on hand following a 3-0 win at Bemidji on Friday.
10. Niagara, Mercyhurst split in AHA
Niagara, which leads the Atlantic Hockey standings, earned a split of a home-and-home series vs. Mercyhurst over the weekend. Niagara won Friday night’s matchup 5-3 while struggling Mercyhurst earned a 4-3 upset at home on Saturday.
With a thrilling power-play goal by Boris Skalos in overtime on Saturday, the Lakers improved to 2-7-0 on the season and 2-3-0 in Atlantic Hockey play, while Niagara fell to 4-3-2 overall and 3-1-1 in conference action. Ten different Mercyhurst skaters recorded a point in the win.
