USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger look at money lines and over/under for five games (plus our “pizza money” game) on November 22, 2024:
St. Cloud State +100 @ Colorado College -130; over/under 5.5
Omaha goalie Simon Latkoczy has been a workhorse during his time in a Mavericks uniform (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).
A hockey scholarship funding pledge announced earlier this month by Omaha athletic officials stems from an idea hatched by some of the Mavericks’ original season ticket holders.
The Yano and Cindy Mangiameli Goalie Scholarship, awarded to UNO’s starting goaltender, is a gift that was pledged this fall through the University of Nebraska Foundation. The intent of the scholarship is to award the funds to the starting goalie at the beginning of each academic year. Once the scholarship is awarded, it will remain with that student-athlete.
This scholarship is the second role-specific one tied to the Maverick hockey program. Earlier this year, the Menke Family Captain’s Scholarship was announced for the team’s captain, which this season is graduate student defenseman Nolan Krenzen. That scholarship, the first position-specific one for any sport across Omaha’s athletic department, is named for Brandon M. Menke, M.D., a local ophthalmologist and lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Yano Mangiameli is a retired orthopedic implant distributor, and he and his wife Cindy have been staunch supporters of Maverick hockey since its inaugural 1997-98 season. Yano has long been a supporter and contributor to college athletics in the city. He was a volunteer play-by-play commentator for the baseball programs at both UNO and his alma mater, Creighton. He has also helped both schools’ baseball programs in other aspects, including through scholarships for both, and he recently floated the idea to start a goaltender-specific scholarship with the Mavericks.
It was a natural fit. After all, Yano was one of two people who simultaneously submitted an idea for the UNO Blue Line Club’s publication to be titled, “In The Crease.”
“If the other team doesn’t score, you can’t lose,” he said. “(That position) is the center focus of it all. Even back then, we realized (when deciding on a publication title) that everything centers around what the goalie can do.
“They had just done a scholarship with another family, the captain’s scholarship, and I thought that was a neat deal. I told them, ‘The most important position is a goalie. Do you have a goalie scholarship? Is there any family or person interested in doing that?’
“I think it struck a note with people from the foundation at the time, and we started talking about it,” Yano continued. “It went really quick, the last three or four months, and it’s not something that had been on my mind forever, but it was something that, once we thought about it, sounded like a good idea.”
The goaltender scholarship was another way for the Mangiamelis to help strengthen college sports in a city that, like the rest of Nebraska, strongly supports such programs amid a lack of top-tier professional sports franchises. Hockey has helped transform the image of Omaha athletics, a former NCAA Division II school for all of its other sports, and much has changed even in the time since Maverick hockey moved into the university’s own building, Baxter Arena, in 2015.
“(Former Omaha athletic director) Trev Alberts had it built with the cooperation of many civic leaders, and that is an absolutely wonderful hockey venue,” Yano said. “It’s kind of reminiscent of the old days at the Omaha Civic Auditorium (the Mavericks’ original home), and Trev was a good builder of things at UNO, and now that Adrian Dowell is charge, I think UNO Athletics is a department that’s on the move, and I like supporting people who have vision.
“With university sports, for this community, because we’re obviously professionally challenged here, if you would, I think it’s important that UNO and Creighton keep prospering, and that’s where I like to help out where I can.”
Coach George Roll will retire at the end of the season but has his Golden Flyers focused on success in the new six-team UCHC (Photo by Nazareth Athletics)
While the 2024-2025 season will be coach George Roll’s final campaign behind the Nazareth bench, he leaves a legacy of coaching that spans almost 30 years across the D-I and D-III landscape with not only success on the ice, but in the character of the players that have played for him beyond their college years. Roll has been Nazareth’s only coach since establishing the men’s program back in the 2012-2013 season and will be handing off to James McDonald next season as the current Coach-in-Waiting will assume full responsibilities for the Golden Flyers. That is down the road so for now the focus is the current team, the current season, and an opportunity to send-off one of the true gentlemen coaches in the college game.
“I got my start as a graduate assistant for Jerry York when I was getting my master’s degree, stated Roll. “Mark Morris was going to be the new coach at Clarkson and had a commitment from Pierre Maguire as an assistant coach, but something fell through with Pierre taking a different job and the opportunity opened for me at Clarkson. Since then, I have had a couple of stints with the Golden Knights and, of course, some great years at Oswego (with lifelong friend coach Ed Gosek) before coming here to Nazareth. Through all the ups-and-downs, I really have loved living and being in upstate New York and while I wished maybe we won a little more, I have loved coaching and all the players along the way.”
McDonald is the latest addition to the Roll “Coaching Tree” and has had a relationship with his mentor long before his time as a player for the Golden Flyers.
“I actually thought about retiring last season,” noted Roll. “I worked closely with our Athletic Director, Peter Bothner and the school on a good plan for the transition since I thought it was important that the next coach be an alumnus and having a strong connection to the institution. I have known James since he was young as our families had ties through parents and siblings. Of course, James had a great career here as a player and has been an assistant since his graduation in 2020. He loves the school and the program, and I wanted to leave a good situation for the Nazareth hockey moving forward.”
Originally from Illinois, Roll has found his place in upstate New York where he loves the environment and outdoor activities including fishing and golf. Outdoor activities aside, there is one must-do activity that the coach has participated in since his earliest coaching days as a way to refresh and rejuvenate from the rigors of coaching and the demands of the season and intense competition.
“I love to do a daily sauna and some breathing exercises,” said Roll. “I find it is a place where I can be quiet with my thoughts and separate from the hectic aspects of daily life. I have been doing it for a very long time and I am sure it will be something I do after I retire from coaching. It is a very relaxing thing for me.”
While McDonald has assumed more responsibilities in Roll’s final season, the head coach is still focused on having his team build for results in a six-team UCHC that has the demands of facing five very good teams four times this season in advance of the playoffs where Nazareth has come close to a title in recent seasons only to fall to Utica.
“Two years ago, we won a lot of games and battled right to the end,” stated Roll. “Last year was a tough one in terms of wins but I like this group and the character and talent we have. We opened with a nice win against Elmira and then really had a tough time against Utica which I think will help us be better as a team. We had good battles with Chatham last weekend and face Manhattanville this week with a focus on being better each time we play.”
This year’s team has been led by a pair of juniors in Blake Frost and Logan Tobias. Among the team’s leaders in scoring last year and already this season, the pair of forwards, along with the rest of this roster, are a big reason why Roll returned for one more campaign.
“I love all these kids, and this roster is a really close-knit group,” noted Roll. “I am thrilled that players like Blake and Logan chose Nazareth and represent our program and institution so well on the ice and off it. While hockey can teach a lot of lessons, and it would be nice to have a few more wins, I think I am most proud of the men of character that I have had the opportunity to coach and see their success in life beyond college and college hockey. No doubt I will miss the game and probably the time on the ice in practices the most but at almost three decades it is time to transfer the reins to the next generation and I know James will do a fantastic job for Nazareth hockey this year and going forward.”
The 2-2-1 Golden Flyers travel to face Manhattanville in a two-game series this weekend before closing out the first half of the season with SUNYAC’s Buffalo State, two games against Brockport and a matchup with NESCAC’s Hamilton before the semester break.
Ferris State coach Bob Daniels has been behind the Bulldogs bench for 33 years (photo: Ferris State Athletics).
The fraternity of college hockey coaches is small.
And the sub-fraternity of men’s college hockey coaches with 500 career victories is even smaller (17, to be exact).
Even smaller yet? The number of active coaches with at least 500 career wins.
Coming into the season just four active coaches were in the 500 club — Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson, Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold, Cornell’s Mike Schafer and Air Force’s Frank Serratore.
Last weekend, the 500 club expanded by one member. Ferris State’s 3-2 comeback victory over Lake Superior State in Traverse City, Michigan, on Saturday helped induct the Bulldogs’ Bob Daniels into that exclusive club.
Daniels, 65 and in his 33rd year behind the bench in Big Rapids, is the epitome of the gentleman hockey coach. He wasn’t too interested in talking about himself or his milestone.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Daniels said. “I think in the offseason, I’ll have a little more time to look back to cherish it a little bit and reflect on that sort of thing.”
Dnaiels did, however, talk about all the people that helped him build his program over the years. He started by name-checking fellow 500 (and more) club member coaches: Ron Mason, Red Berenson, and Jerry York, all of whom were coaching in the CCHA during his first season at Ferris State in 1992.
“Those were all really good coaches to learn from, not just coaching, but really in how to conduct yourself and how to run a program,” said Daniels, who also played for Mason at Michigan State.
He also mentioned the fact that his coaching staff (assistants Drew Famulak, Mark Kaufmann and Dave Cencer) have all been together and associated with the FSU program for nearly two decades.
“Then you’ve got to take a minute to think about all the great players I’ve had the privilege to coach, and you just think about how blessed you are. And you know, it goes beyond that, too. You have to think about all the great athletic directors,” Daniels said. “I’ve been very fortunate to be at a place for 33 years, and we’ve always had great athletic directors here, and very supportive administration. So, it’s nice to kind of sit back and think about all the people that you know have touched the programs over the years.”
Lake Superior State head coach Damon Whitten — another former MSU player-turned CCHA head coach — had lots of praise for Daniels.
“I had the good fortune to play for Ron Mason, who’s a legend for college hockey. Rick Comley, I worked with a couple different occasions. And you know, Coach Daniels is up there, with coach Mason and coach Comley in terms of what he means to college hockey. He’s been an institution in the NCAA and certainly a Ferris State,” Whiten said. “I think one of the things I’m always amazed at is his coaching tree, you know, from Derek Lalonde with the Red Wings, to Seth Appert, to all kinds of NCAA guys. So I think that says a lot about who coach Daniels is that he’s developed a passion for the game from so many different guys, and they stayed in the game, whether they coaching youth hockey and their kids or, up to the National Hockey League and all across college hockey. To me, that’s pretty awesome to see.”
Under Daniels, the Bulldogs won three regular season titles — two in the CCHA and one in the WCHA — one conference tournament championship, four NCAA tournament appearances and were national runners-up in 2012.
But all of that in the past. Like any good college hockey coach, Daniels is more concerned about how his team is doing now. The Bulldogs are 3-9-2 and were on a six-game losing skid before the victory over the Lakers last weekend.
“You wouldn’t know it by our record, but we’ve been really limiting teams in terms of shots on goal,” Daniels said. “Our last three games, in the third period, we outshot the opposition like 46-8 combined. We’ve been close, and we’re actually playing pretty good hockey, I think.”
The Bulldogs came into the season somewhat unsure of who they were going to be offensively. They lost their top two scorers (senior Antonio Venuto and all-CCHA rookie team member Luigia Benincasa) to the transfer portal, and also lost Stepan Pokorny and Jason Brancheau to graduation.
In their stead, a trio of transfers (Max Itagaki from West Point, Cole Burtch from Western Michigan and Caiden Gault from Michigan State) have stepped up to try and generate some offense for Ferris. The three are currently FSU’s scoring leaders; Gault leads the team with five goals.
“They’re all playing on our top nine and they’ve done pretty well,” Daniels said.
Another player who Daniels hopes can make an impact is junior forward Tyler Schleppe, who scored three goals on the weekend against Lake State, including the game winner on Saturday. Schleppe had 15 points as a freshman but a shoulder injury his sophomore year caused him a setback and he only scored three goals and 10 points a season ago.
“He’s a finisher, and that’s going to be a welcome addition back to the team,” Daniels said. “He’s on the right track now. He’s trending in a really positive way so I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a really good second half for us.”
Another headache for Daniels coming into the season was losing all of his goaltenders. Logan Stein and Noah Giesbrecht transferred to Michigan and RPI, respectively. Coming in to compete for the job were Noah West–a transfer from Michigan–and freshmen Martin Lundberg and Connor McDonough. So far, West has gotten the majority of the starts.
“Noah has played well,” said Daniels. “He’s a veteran goaltender with five years experience, and I think he’s kind of been a beneficiary of our team playing better team defense, than what we’ve had the past couple years. We still will give up an odd man rush, but we’re really starting to keep our shots on goal down. We’re more defensively conscious than I think we had been the past couple of years. And so that’s why I’m pretty optimistic about this team.
“We find ourselves in every game, if we can just find a way to score more goals, well, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
Last season the Bulldogs gave up slightly more goals per game than this season (3.47 compared to 3.43) but this year’s number has been slightly inflated by a bad 8-0 loss to St. Lawrence that saw Ferris give up three goals on a five minute major penalty in the third period–obviously numbers that still count against you but perhaps a little atypical from normal team defense. In general, Ferris’ 19 goals allowed on the penalty kill is by far the most in the country (the next closest is Stonehill with 15). Their power play hasn’t been much better (just two goals scored in 40 attempts).
“We’re on the wrong side of special teams. We’re not scoring on the power play and we’re giving up too much on the penalty kill, but I think our five-on-five has been pretty good,” Daniels said.
Daniels isn’t looking too far ahead this season, but despite the Bulldogs’ record he said he likes how the team is trending. They host Augustana this weekend, then take a week off for Thanksgiving before closing the first half of the season out with a series at Northern Michigan.
“There’s not a game we were going to go into where we don’t feel like we have a good chance to win. I think we’ve shown that we’re highly competitive, and it’s a matter of learning, like anything,” Daniels said. “When you’re trying to break habits, like a losing habit. It’s not easy. But I’m very optimistic, not only in the remaining four before break, but throughout the rest of the year. I just like this team quite a bit, and they work exceedingly hard. It’s a close-knit group. We showed some resilience in coming back in a lot of games we have, and I think they’ve got the mental makeup to continue to work hard and improve.”
The 1980 Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y., will continue to host the ECAC Hockey semifinals and final through 2026 (photo: ECAC Hockey).
A couple of years ago, I scanned the Internet and found myself in a wormhole of older college hockey stories.
It killed a good couple of hours while I sat in a nursery room with a rambunctious infant refusing to sleep, but it opened the lid on a time capsule capturing how we looked at the sport for any given week in any given season.
More specifically, I revisited stories written by folks who no longer grace these pages with their prose, but landing on Dave Hendrickson’s list of 20 things that made him thankful for covering Hockey East triggered my mind towards my newfound landscape in ECAC Hockey.
Reading and marinating on his thoughts sent me into a sleep-deprived emotional reflection on my own on-ice stories, so I revived his column with a list of 10 things for which I’m thankful. It wound up cleansing my own crusty sportswriter’s soul, so for the third straight year, here’s my take. I look forward to some young journalist finding it one day and maybe thinking about the weird college hockey landscape in 2024.
10. Going to arenas
This one won’t change much from previous years because it’s always the first thing about covering college hockey games, but I absolutely love stepping outside of my primary work-life balance by transforming into a life well outside of my day-to-day grind. There’s nothing like the feeling of stress and trouble melting away as arenas come into view, and the energy surrounding a building is unlike anything that exists in my email inbox or to-do list.
It’s a decompression, and stepping into that world releases negative energy. The routine of a home game broadcast – the coffee, the conversation, the high fives, the music, the fans – it’s all putting distance between the real world and this hockey fantasyland. It breathes life into all of us who attend its community church-like feel.
9. Talking to coaches and players
I wasn’t a hockey player in my childhood. I didn’t grow up by attending 5 a.m. practices at Hockeytown in Saugus (though if you know what I just said, I see you), nor did I learn how to skate until I dated a former hockey player in my late teens. I don’t understand the nuance of planning for a 1-3-1 system or an umbrella power play, but my learning increased hand-over-fist because players and coaches took me under their collective wing.
I’ve gotten better at seeing and understanding the game because they took time to explain things to me, and even officials outline how or why they call certain penalties to help my digestion of a particular scenario. Asking a clarifying question always helps, but outright admitting that I have no idea what they said usually leads to a teachable moment. As a former baseball player, I appreciate the desire to understand why a pitch – sorry, play – was thrown in a particular situation, and coaches and players are incredibly forthcoming about what they were thinking in certain areas if you just, well, ask.
8. The student bodies
Six or eight years ago, I was handed – almost literally – a college sophomore who just wanted to get involved with a hockey team. He had no idea how to broadcast and didn’t grasp the technical side of what we did, but he transitioned into a certified color analyst over the next three years because he carried a passion for his school’s hockey team. By the time he graduated, he became a good friend and trusted confidant, and I consider him one of the greatest blessings from my 15 years behind the microphone.
That’s what separates college hockey from the professional game. College students ideally receive four years to live this charmed life on a campus with other students who might not share anything other than their school’s name in common. They might not know each other, might not care about one another, but they all put the same colors over their head and chant the same chants. I look at the divided world and occasionally really get upset at how people treat one another, but then I arrive at a rink and hear students telling a goalie that he’s a giant sieve. I remember being that student – I apologize to almost every goalie that ever skated against UMass-Dartmouth at Hetland Arena in New Bedford, Massachusetts…almost – and I love seeing students living for the moment like that.
7. Little kids!
The two-time #girldad in me is a sucker for the intermission break mini-games and the parents holding their cameras as their kids skate 5-7 minutes in front of those same student sections.
You ever seen the look on a seven-year old’s face when he scores a goal in front of a sold-out student section? The horn goes off, the strobe lights hit, and the crowd goes wild. That kid has to feel like he’s Alex Ovechkin holding the Stanley Cup.
6. USCHO.com
My favorite college hockey story involves one too many cans of Red Bull and a 2012 playoff game between Bentley and RIT. I was a little hyper for the game and not knowing anything about USCHO.com or the players or the other team or literally anything, I lost my mind on Twitter after Bentley lost the second game of a best-of-three series. I took it out on RIT’s broadcast team and went off to the degree that Chris Lerch responded to me.
I’m pretty sure I called him a no-talent bad name, but he forgave me enough to bring me into the USCHO.com fold a couple of years later when Atlantic Hockey’s coverage split between the eastern and western contingents. He became a mentor for me – as did Ed Trefzger – and I spent the next decade working with some incredible people. My trips to the Frozen Four are legendary in my mind, and getting into college hockey’s weeds with Jim Connelly and Paula Weston brings me joy on a weekly basis.
We have a pretty cool little college hockey family at this website, and I’m eternally grateful for Chris for looking after a stupid little 20-something who only knew the sport from schools that began with a B.
5. Empty arenas after games
My kids obliterated my body clock after arriving on this planet within 17 months of one another, but I never complained about a lack of sleep even before they were born. I’m still a night owl and early bird all at the same time, which is why I probably enjoy – a little too much – those last minutes in an empty arena before I head home.
I mentioned how driving to games decompresses my mental state for those few minutes before I get on the air or into a press box, but leaving the arena when the lights are mostly low and the janitorial staff is cleaning the quiet recesses of the building is a pretty cool feeling.
4. Training staff
I never really understood the importance of sport-specific training until I walked into a basketball facility and realized that the players don’t have the same weight training equipment as a football team because nobody wants a beefcaked basketball player with no agility whatsoever. Having now learned about the differences, I’ve grown increasingly enamored with team doctors and trainers who help bodies recover during the week-to-week grind associated with a college hockey season.
These guys on the ice are finely tuned machines, but even tough guys get bruises over the course of a season. A slap shot off the wrist or a bad check at the end of a long shift is all it takes to send these guys into the cold tub after a game, but over the course of a season, nobody’s ever going to feel perfectly right. Training staff and doctors keep them moving, and it’s extending beyond simple weight training in the modern era. Mental breaks and understanding the emotional toll while monitoring food intake and exertion output? It’s all pretty impressive to me.
3. Staff members
It takes a village to make these games and columns happen, and I’m eternally grateful for the folks who arrange interviews and provide number checks and corrections on a weekly basis. It’s difficult to sacrifice time when weeks are stuffed with personal obligations, but I’ve never had a negative experience in this league – a league that introduced me to college hockey in the mid-1990s, for what it’s worth.
I’m including the other staff members in that list because players don’t step on the ice without equipment managers, academic advisors, directors of hockey operations and the sports information directors, in particular. I’m sure they don’t love waking up to my Sunday morning emails, regardless of whether or not it’s part of the package, so I appreciate invading their football-watching hours with my emails asking for availability.
2. The fans
It’s the most obvious part about covering ECAC for this website, but without readers, I’m just kilobytes on a random webpage.
Fans keep us going. This website has been around long enough to watch the Internet evolve into a 24/7 accessible piece of everyday life, so I hope we’re doing right by your time being spent on this page. I said it last year, but I hope we’re generating the conversation that gets you through your weeks because the higher powers know that the conversation gets me through my week. I love seeing reaction to content on our message boards, on our comment sections, on our social media pages, and on whatever website is not going to get me investigated by whatever Elon Musk is doing these days (that was a joke! A joke, I say!).
I can’t wait to see what we’re going to do together for the rest of the year. Also, on a special note, to the person who meme’d me last year, you still haven’t told me who you are, but you sure continue to give my friends a good amount of entertainment, so…I hope we’re in on the joke now?
1. The family
College hockey is a family sport for the Rubin clan. I love being a dad at home, and waking up on those Saturday mornings to play soccer with a three-year old makes it all the more easy to operate on no sleep after a Friday night turnaround. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I especially love it when they visit me in a rink or attend a game with me…which is becoming more and more frequent as they get older (at least while they still think I’m cool).
(Also, as per the usual, shoutout to my wife for getting them to games, but I’ll save her more expansive discussion for later in the year.)
I can’t express enough how college hockey is about family, and I don’t think I show them the necessary gratitude sometimes. But beyond all of that, it’s worth offering special space to my brother, Mike, who is largely responsible for getting me into college hockey. We don’t operate in the same circles as much anymore, but big brother is still the best broadcast partner I’ve ever had. I miss calling games with him at Brown, and I especially miss the days of painting faces in the bathroom at Bright Hockey Center ahead of a Brown-Harvard matchup in 1998 (during his undergraduate days).
As a 13-year old kid, I fell in love with college hockey because of those memories. I’m sharing those memories now as a 39-year old dad. One day, my future generation will unearth this column and remember what all of that was like. For the rest of the season, let’s see where it leads us.
Here’s a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. May your table, however it forms, enjoy the light and love and warmth it so richly deserves. Everyone deserves happiness, and I hope this week defines it as perfectly as possible for lives well lived.
The Nov. 20, 2024, edition of USCHO.com’s PodKaz features Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski giving their thoughts on news that emerged this week at St. Thomas, where coach Joel Johnson resigned days after he wasn’t on the bench for the second game of a WCHA series at Bemidji State.
No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State split their series in Columbus, and the hosts weigh in on that series as well as No. 3 Minnesota’s road sweep of No. 4 Minnesota Duluth.
Longtime Sacred Heart coach Thomas O’Malley joins the show to talk about his team’s 9-3 overall start and first-place standing in the NEWHA.
And Nicole and Todd react to some PWHL news and look ahead to this week’s NCAA women’s hockey games.
The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for our mailbag? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].
Yellow Jackets coach Eric Lang confirmed it to me in a text and later issued the following statement to social media:
AIC has been the place I've called my home for over 15 years of my life, as a player, a graduate assistant, and Head Men's Ice Hockey Coach. There have been some stops here and there along the way, but something always brings me back to the institution I love.
The next day, the school officially made the announcement, explaining that this action was due to cost-saving measures, euphemistically referred to as a “Pathway to Progress” for the university. The school also announced the elimination of the men’s wrestling and women’s tennis programs.
We’ll get to the human impact of this decision in a bit, but first, there’s the hockey component.
AIC is a Division II school playing “up” in hockey. The school carries a large roster compared to most, usually 32 or 33 players. The NCAA currently limits scholarships for D-I hockey at 18.
American International elevated its program in 1997 when it joined the newly-formed MAAC hockey conference. Before that, AIC and other Division II programs played in the ECAC East, a collection of Division II/III schools. There was a Division II NCAA Tournament from 1978 to 1984 and 1993 to 1999. The elimination of the D-II tournament in 1999 precipitated the formation of the MAAC Hockey, which was spearheaded by then-Quinnipiac Athletic Director Jack McDonald, who saw a way to find a home for these schools as well as increasing the field for the D-I tournament. Quinnipiac, Iona, Fairfield, Bentley, Canisius, Mercyhurst, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, and Connecticut reclassified their hockey programs to D-I. At the time, the NCAA allowed schools to play “up” in one men’s and one women’s sport.
The MAAC made sense at the time to sponsor this new hockey conference, because it included as members three MAAC schools. But Iona and Fairfield dropped hockey in 2003, leaving Canisius as the only MAAC school.
That led to the transition from the MAAC to Atlantic Hockey, which eventually brought in Rochester Institute of Technology and Air Force in 2006 and Niagara and Robert Morris in 2010. Quinnipiac and UConn departed for ECAC Hockey and Hockey East, respectively.
Lang, a former AIC player and assistant coach, was named head coach in 2016, replacing Gary Wright, who retired after 29 seasons in Springfield, Mass. Wright, who wrote a book about his hockey experiences, did not have a lot of success on the ice due to limited resources, but held things together at AIC for decades.
Lang was given an expanded budget that included more scholarships as well as the school moving the program’s home ice from the Olympia Ice Center to the Mass Mutual Center, an AHL rink downtown.
Lang’s recruiting strategy included taking “International” to heart, looking for players from Europe. Besides the usual collection of players from the US and Canada, the Yellow Jackets roster typically includes players from four or five other countries.
To say Lang’s efforts at AIC were transformative would be an understatement. Before his arrival, the Yellow Jackets typically finished at or near the bottom of the standings, averaging just under 7 wins a season.
Lang’s teams have averaged 18 wins a season, and only his first two were below .500. His teams have recorded 20 or more wins in four of his previous eight seasons. AIC won its first regular-season and playoff titles in 2019 and then proceeded to win three more regular season and two more playoff titles from 2020-2022.
In 2019, AIC knocked off overall top seed St. Cloud State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Lang has been named coach of the year in Atlantic Hockey three times.
What happens next
We know for sure that AIC will leave Atlantic Hockey at the end of this season. It will honor the scholarships of any player deciding to stay.
We can assume the following:
1. AIC will join the Northeast-10, the only Division II league in college hockey. That league doesn’t permit scholarships (schools can offer 12.5 scholarships in Division II) which will complicate matters since in theory, a scholarship player who decides to stay at AIC might not be able to play in the Northeast-10.
2. The majority of players will enter the transfer portal, and recruits will be looking for spots elsewhere.
3. Lang and his staff (assistant coaches Matthew Woodard and Brendan Riley) will move on as well. Lang has turned down multiple job offers in the past to stay at AIC.
Impact to American International
The hockey budget at AIC is currently around $1.7 million, and recent changes to the NCAA landscape, including limiting roster size/scholarships from 18 to 26 per the House vs. NCAA ruling, would likely raise the price tag. The team typically carries 32-33 players, which means a lot of them are paying tuition, so limiting the roster size to 26 will be an income hit. One can assume that was a factor in downgrading the program.
This move will likely save upwards of $1 million, but at what cost?
The “Pathways to Progress” report says that the move will “allow it to be competitively positioned among peers and offer a greater level of impact than if the program were to stay in Division I.”
That defies logic. I’m not sure how you can compare playing in a Division II conference that is frankly not even on a par with several D-III leagues as having more impact than its current Division I status when the team’s recent success at that level includes making the D-I NCAA Tournament three times and knocking off the No. 1 team in the nation, but maybe that’s just me.
I wonder how many people didn’t know AIC existed before watching it knock off St. Cloud in 2019. I’ll bet more than a few.
Corporate “wordsmithing” aside, this is bad for everyone. Bad for the coaches, players, and their families. Bad for American International.
Minnesota captain Jimmy Snuggerud has been a consistent point producer for the Gophers this season (photo: Brad Rempel).20
Two weeks ago, Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said, “You don’t win championships early, but you can lose them.”
After the Golden Gophers split a home-and-home series with Bemidji State, losing 3-1 in the Beavers’ barn last Saturday, Motzko made some remarks that echoed those he made about early season mistakes and successes.
“We made a blunder 10 seconds into the game and that happens,” said Motzko, “but for the next 58 minutes, we had many, many chances.”
That blunder Motzko referred to led to Kirklan Irey’s first goal of the game 21 seconds into the first period, a solo effort capitalizing on a neutral-zone mistake.
Nine minutes later, Irey made the most of the Gophers’ inability to clear the puck from their own zone and gave Bemidji State a 2-0 lead.
“This is a frustrating sport we play sometimes,” said Motzko.
That loss Saturday, only the second of the season for Minnesota, halted the Gophers’ nine-game win streak.
Asked by the Minnesota radio crew after Saturday’s loss what he might have done differently, Motzko joked, “Well, I wouldn’t schedule Bemidji.”
On the “Gopher Weekly Hockey” show Monday, Motzko credited Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore and the way Bemidji State has risen to the occasion against ranked teams for years.
“Our guys played their tails off,” said Motzko. “Bemidji played their tails off.”
Against the Beavers, Motzko said he’s noticed a pattern that’s emerged in games that are too close for his liking.
“We’ve done this a few times now,” said Motzko. “We missed the net on paper 24 times and we went back and watched it on film and it was 15 times that we missed the net. The one-nothing win versus Penn State [Nov. 2] where we scored with 27 seconds to go in the game, we missed the net 19 times. Our game with Omaha when we had the 50-some chances, we get a little cute and we have to stop that.”
That game against Omaha was a 2-1 loss in the title game of the IceBreaker tournament Oct. 12.
“Sometimes,” said Motzko, “we just think we’re going to score, well the other team’s trying so hard and defending so hard – and Bemidji blocked 24 shots on Saturday – we have to be much more patient. We’ve got to bunt to get on base, and we’re going for home runs.”
The Gophers outshot the Beavers 26-10 in the final two periods of that loss, beating Bemidji goaltender Mattias Sholl just once when Matthew Wood scored with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.
As the Gophers were suffering their second loss of the season, long-time rival Wisconsin was sweeping Penn State on the road, 5-4 (OT) and 6-3, improving to 4-8-0 overall.
The six points the Badgers earned in the weekend brought them to 11 total, tied with Minnesota. There is one enormous difference between the Gophers and Badgers that factors into that points total: Wisconsin has played eight Big Ten games to Minnesota’s four.
Another difference: after the first 12 games of the season, Minnesota is seventh in the PairWise rankings and Wisconsin is 37th.
Heading into the series against Penn State with just one B1G win to the Badgers’ credit, Mike Hastings said that because “results need to change,” Wisconsin had to continue its “process.”
Part of that process includes healing a banged-up blueline and getting scoring from a variety of sources.
In his weekly presser before the Penn State series, Hastings said, “We’re a little healthier on the blue line, so that allows us to move Jack [Horbach] back up front. He’s the guy who’s crossed a lot of Ts and dotted a lot of Is for us. Whatever we’ve needed him to do, he has done, and so he’s earned the opportunity to move back to his natural position and I’m hoping he can energize a line just like he did our ‘D’ core.”
Horbach earned his first point of the season in Wisconsin’s 6-3 win to secure the sweep Saturday, the second assist to Christian Fitzgerald’s goal at 7:38 in the first. That was the Badgers’ third goal of four scored within the first 10 minutes of the game.
Nine different Badgers accounted for the 11 goals scored against Penn State, with a Ryland Mosley and Cody Laskosky notched a goal in each game, and the two scored on the same five-minute power play late in the third period of the 6-3 win.
Before the series, Hastings said that he was looking for the return of injured defensemen like Zach Schulz, out for a month with an upper-body injury, to take lengthen the bench a little for the offense.
Said Hastings, “I’m hoping that interjection of just some consistency can help us a bit offensively.”
The breadth of scoring and the first goals of the season by Fitzgerald and Tyson Dyck contributed to a weekend in which Wisconsin’s goal production increased by 38% in just two games. The Badgers had scored a total of 18 goals in their first 12 games of the season.
“Our starts have gotten better,” said Hastings. “Our secondary scoring has gotten better, and when we needed our power play to come through, it did.”
Even before facing off against the Nittany Lions, Hastings was feeling the pinch of time.
“We’re at a point where we’ve got two games left in our last segment here [before a bye week], and we’ve got to squeeze as much out of it as we can, so whatever needs to be done needs to be done,” said Hastings.
That injured Badgers have a bye this week before returning to action Thanksgiving weekend, when they host Alaska Anchorage. Incidentally, the Gophers will host Alaska the same weekend.
These two former WCHA rivals will finish the first half of the season against by facing the same Big Ten opponents in December. Wisconsin hosts Michigan State Dec. 6-7 before traveling to Michigan Dec. 13-14. Minnesota hosts Michigan Dec. 6-7 and Michigan State Dec. 13-14.
Minnesota travels to Notre Dame this weekend (Nov. 22-23), where they’ll face a Fighting Irish team looking to snap a five-game losing streak.
Michael Hrabal is off to a solid sophomore season for UMass (photo: UMass Athletics).
If the well-worn phrase is true — that the best defense is a good offense — then the Massachusetts Minutemen might be onto something this season.
The No. 20 Minutemen (5-5-2 overall, 1-3-2 Hockey East) overcame a sluggish effort in a 2-1 loss at home to Providence last Thursday to rebound with a 5-1 win at the Friars’ home rink two nights later.
Two UMass goals in Saturday’s win came off the sticks of defensemen, continuing a positive trend for the Minutemen. Defensemen have scored at least one goal in 11 of UMass’s 12 games so far.
“I expect we’ll start getting more goals from our forwards, but it’s great when you can count on (defensemen),” said ninth-year UMass coach Greg Carvel. “If you’re getting a goal a game from your defensemen, that’s like getting a power-play goal a game. So it’s a huge plus.”
Carvel acknowledged goaltending has been an issue. He pulled Michael Hrabal — who had started all of UMass’s games to that point — 14 minutes into a 4-0 loss at Vermont on Nov. 9 after the sophomore gave up two goals. Fellow sophomore Jackson Irving took over and kept the Catamounts scoreless the rest of the way (UVM scored twice with an empty net).
On Nov. 14 vs. Providence, Irving turned away 26 shots in his first collegiate start to keep the Minutemen in the game. Carvel went back to Hrabal for the second game of the Providence series, saying the decision wasn’t a difficult one, citing Hrabal’s two wins vs. the Friars the previous season.
It seems Carvel doesn’t mind having two goalies he can count on.
“If (Hrabal) plays the way he played on Saturday night, he’ll own the net,” Carvel said. “(Irving) has earned a lot of trust just through his time here. (He’s) improved dramatically. (You) know what you’re going to get — you’re going to get good, steady goaltending. That’s all you ever want as a coach. Spectacular goaltending is great, and it wins games for you, but if I can get a goaltender to give me a .920 save percentage, that’s all I ever asked for as a coach. That’s asking a lot, maybe, but Michael should be capable of that.”
The Minutemen are 5-0-0 this season when scoring at least four goals and are winless when scoring three or fewer. All five UMass goals were scored from long range in the win over Providence, and while he’s not complaining, Carvel said he would like to see his team finish on more close-range opportunities.
“I’d like to see us score some more rebound goals, deflection goals,” he said. “We need to get better at going to the net, and more urgency to be around the net. But I’ll take five goals any way we can get them.”
Sophomore forward Aydar Suniev scored twice against Providence on Saturday and now has eight goals on the season, leading the Minutemen. Carvel said Suniev is hungry to score.
“He’s the kind of kid that, he’s not happy unless he’s scoring,” Carvel said. “That’s not always what you’re looking for, but it’s not the worst thing in the world either.”
UMass will take a break from Hockey East action on Friday when it hosts Harvard (7 p.m. on ESPN+), then will host Vermont Sunday at 3 p.m. (NESN).
Carvel said he hopes the pieces are in place for UMass to put its up-and-down start to the season behind it and find more consistency.
“We knew we had a young defense at the beginning of the year. We made a lot of mistakes. We gave up a lot of odd-man rushes. That’s changed,” he said. “We’ve hardly given up any in the last couple of weekends. Then it was the goaltending, and in the last couple of games we’ve had outstanding goaltending. And then it was the scoring — we couldn’t score. Then we got five goals. We put those three things together, and I say this all the time — limit the other team to two, we score three. (I) think we’re capable of that.”
North Dakota, in partnership with Ralph Engelstad Arena, H-E-B Center, and Visit Austin, announced Tuesday that H-E-B Center at Cedar Park will play host to the 2026 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Oct. 31, 2026.
This special event features North Dakota and Michigan State at 7:07 pm (CST).
“We’re looking forward to hosting a premier college hockey event that will provide an unmatched life experience for our student-athletes and offers our fans an exciting destination game weekend,” said UND coach Brad Berry in a statement. “The game, featuring two premier college hockey programs promises to be an outstanding game. We’re excited about playing a very good Michigan State team in the Live Music Capital of the World.”
“We’re looking forward to playing in the Hall of Fame Game and our trip to Austin,” added Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale. “It promises to be an outstanding matchup between two storied college hockey programs that combined, have won 11 NCAA national championships. We’re honored to be a part of this fantastic event.”
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Nov. 12, 2025 at 10 a.m. CST.
Preliminary Schedule of Events:
Thursday Night Gathering – Thursday evening, October 29 NoDak Golf Tournament at the Avery Ranch Golf Club – Friday morning, October 30 NoDak Palooza at Austin City Limits Live (ACL Live) – Friday evening, October 30 Pregame Party – Saturday afternoon, October 31 2026 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game – Saturday, October 31 at 7:07 p.m. CST
Joel Johnson was named St. Thomas coach in 2021 after 16 seasons at Minnesota in two stints (photo: Minnesota Athletics).
St. Thomas women’s hockey coach Joel Johnson has resigned, the school announced Tuesday, amid questions on why he was not with the team for its most recent game.
The school confirmed Johnson’s resignation in a two-paragraph release that didn’t indicate any reason for the departure. Assistant coach Bethany Brausen will be the team’s interim head coach starting with a series Friday and Saturday at No. 1 Wisconsin.
The Tommies are 5-8-1 and 2-7-1 in the WCHA after they were swept on the road by Bemidji State last weekend.
Johnson was behind the bench for Friday’s 4-1 loss but video of Saturday’s 4-3 defeat did not show him as part of the coaching staff on the bench or in postgame handshakes.
A St. Thomas spokesperson didn’t return a message seeking information earlier Tuesday on Johnson’s absence from Saturday’s game. The school on Wednesday issued a statement from athletic director Phil Esten that referenced an incident.
“I can confirm we immediately started an investigation after concerns were brought to our attention following Friday night’s game,” Esten said in the statement.
The school did not respond to a question about the hiring process for a new full-time head coach.
St. Thomas was 28-88-4 in three-plus seasons with Johnson as head coach, although he missed parts of his first season, 2021-22, while he was head coach of the U.S. Olympic team that won a silver medal.
He was named St. Thomas’ coach on June 7, 2021, as the St. Paul, Minn., school made the transition from Division III to Division I. Johnson was an assistant at Minnesota for 16 seasons over two stints around a stretch from 2004 to 2010 in which he worked with the Bethel men’s hockey program.
Many of them seem destined to work against smaller schools or smaller budgets. We’ve expressed concern in “print” and on our podcasts that we might lose some schools at a time when there’s more of a need for Division I hockey programs than ever before.
But first I’d like to comment on how it was handled by the college. On Wednesday, AIC announced its “Pathway to Progress” plan, addressing enrollment and budget issues, and specifically how athletics would be affected. Men’s wrestling and women’s tennis will be dropped entirely.
The news release outlining the plans included some FAQs, including this one about hockey:
“How will the College handle funds that have been donated to men’s ice hockey?
“Funds raised for the men’s ice hockey program will continue to be utilized to support the ice hockey program, allowing it to be competitively positioned among peers and offering a greater level of impact than if the program were to stay in Division I.”
If I can quote a somewhat coarse phrase, “Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.” It’s hard to see how there could be any bigger impact to AIC as an institution than to have a national brand on the highest level of D-I athletics.
Before the No. 16 seed Yellow Jackets upset No. 1 St. Cloud in the 2019 NCAA regionals, American International wasn’t exactly a household name. But a stretch of success in Atlantic Hockey and three NCAA appearances should be the envy of every team in that league and in D-I in general.
It also emphasized the “I” in International, as coach Eric Lang pioneered recruiting a large portion of his team from Europe.
Clumsy public relations aside, there are a lot of people personally affected by this, and D-I men’s hockey is also impacted. Let’s take the rest of today’s column to focus on those.
Jim: I agree with everything you said, Ed.
This is a dark moment for college hockey. I won’t harken back to the days when programs dropped like flies – Fairfield, Iona, Wayne State – among those to fall in that tragic stretch. But this concerns me.
Though AIC put out a very cute public relations statement of their vision of the future, it certainly doesn’t consider the student athletes of the present who made concerted decisions to attend AIC. Many of those players arrived there because of the win in the 2019 regionals that you referenced, one of the biggest upsets in NCAA hockey tournament history.
This, to me, strikes as a massive financial decision that is shortsighted at best. Somehow, Eric Lang has turned this program into a national contender year in and year out. It has brought national attention to a school that isn’t exactly known for its academic reputation and given that school some national brand equity in athletics that it really had no other reason to have.
I have been fortunate to grow to know UMass president Marty Meehan, who as an administrator I consider one of the best around these days. I have heard him say numerous times that athletics are the “front porch” of a university. Which means people learn about your school because of the success of athletic programs.
Who knew about Gonzaga before they made their basketball run? Same can be said about AIC and many other college hockey schools. Quinnipiac is a great example. The success of hockey on their campus has elevated their school.
So AIC making a short-sighted decision to cut off the men’s hockey team at the knees is taking away that “front porch.”
I question how hard it might be for many going forward to even find the front door.
Ed: I guess the one thing we don’t know is how dire the financial situation is at AIC. An interim president and an interim athletic director are charged with making these decisions. Do they appear short-sighted to us? Absolutely. Are they urgent measures being made to keep AIC afloat as an institution of higher learning? It appears that way.
Public relations and marketing might not be your top priority when you’re just trying to keep the lights on.
But let’s consider the situation for all the various hockey stakeholders (for lack of a better term): players, coaches, Atlantic Hockey America, and NCAA D-I hockey overall.
First of all, the student-athletes. They’ve made a commitment to the program based on promises that are now being broken. Many players have no doubt had other options to consider, but found the situation and the offer made by Eric Lang and his staff to be their best route for hockey and for an education. Now the rug is pulled out from under them only a third of the way through the season.
These players – assuming that they don’t stick around for a D-II season – are going to have to find new places to attend school and play. The timing on that couldn’t be worse, considering that the supply of players has now increased with major junior eligibility at D-I. I suppose the early announcement gives a little more time than there would be after the season, but it’s still a lousy situation.
There’s even one player on the roster who has been at three programs in three seasons, and could end up on a fourth team next year.
I’m sure that Lang and his staff are gutted thinking about the players.
What about the situation for the coaches? They’ve also made a commitment; they’ve made decisions that affect their careers and families.
Jim: I think there was a day and age where I felt worst for the players. But in the modern day of the transfer portal, and I don’t mean to sound highly insensitive, but I feel less for the players. Any qualified player will end up on another Division I roster next season. Some won’t, but conceivably there is another option – Division II hockey – for these players (though admittedly, I’m not sure that Division II is desirable, at least not more than Division III, where you compete for a national championship).
I always feel for the staff. The head coach and coaches, equipment guys who plug massive hours. The people who put in miles on the road trying to attract and sell that program to young players. You’re a coach out there telling a player that there is nothing better than going to American International College. Then when you arrive, that same school pulls the rug out from under you. It’s a horrible situation, and the coaches who sold that program probably feel awful.
To me, this is a massive red flag. The way things have fallen in NCAA hockey over the last half decade or so – transfer portal, NIL, House v. NCAA settlement, now CHL eligible players – part of me looks from a business side and, as much as I call it short-sighted, I understand how highly uninformed administrators at many colleges and universities might look at the situation and throw their collective hands in the air.
How can we handle all of this?
I will admit I get pretty fired up about it all. I’ve been around long enough to watch programs rise and fall. Too many to count at this point.
But the one thing we can’t underscore enough when it comes to AIC is the unprecedented success the Yellow Jackets have had since Eric Lang took over as coach. Many coaches likely think that if you win your games, win tournaments, qualify for the NCAAs (and pull off major upsets) that your job, your program is safe.
Security is what is lacking right now in college athletics. This is a gross reality.
Ed: I agree about security. There is so much uncertainty right now that even informed administrators also have to be throwing their hands in the air about what happens next.
The decision at AIC also blindsided Atlantic Hockey America, a conference that just got back Robert Morris last season. At RMU, a fundraising effort and pressure on that university’s administration returned the men’s and women’s programs – and ultimately cost its president his job.
AHA commissioner Michelle Morgan said on Wednesday that she was shocked and disappointed by the news. And that was news that AIC’s administration didn’t even communicate directly.
“Like many others, we were first informed via social media, yet have waited to understand all facts from the institution,” Morgan said in a statement. “We recognize that these difficult decisions are not made in a vacuum, as they effect the lives of so many individuals. Our immediate focus is on the remainder of the 2024-25 season, in which AIC will remain an active member. The AHA will continue its work in elevating all facets of our newly united league, while remaining nimble in the ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics.”
There are two or three independent programs that could slot into Atlantic Hockey. But will the league’s athletic directors want to take a program with an uncertain future? I suspect the conference will stay at 10 for a while unless a program shows a serious commitment, perhaps with a more serious poison pill than the league’s $60,000 exit fee.
Although CHI’s Hogan had a positive take on continued growth in D-I – and I hope he’s right – would you agree that this could put the brakes on other schools looking to add D-I hockey?
Jim: Unfortunately, if I am an administrator at a school that is actively exploring Division I hockey – both at the men’s and women’s level – this headline from AIC makes me take pause.
Why would a school make a significant investment, somewhere north of $20 million is a likely minimum these days, if not higher? It’s dangerous, but there can be a payoff. Let’s go back to that “front porch” comment. I will say it again: How many people had ever heard of American International before that 2019 game against St. Cloud State. You and I knew the school. But I remember the number of college hockey fans asking me, “Who are they?”
People have known schools like Penn State and Arizona State long before they added Division I hockey. But many people I know were shocked to know those schools had hockey before they made the NCAA tournament. I guarantee you, there are tens of thousands who have no idea where Augustana or St. Thomas are. But let those schools make one NCAA Men’s Division I Ice Hockey tournament and those questions become answered.
Honestly, as someone who has spent the last 33 years of my life in college hockey, I hope this doesn’t set the sport back. There has never been more qualified players to play this sport at a high level (and we haven’t even talked about the expansion of the player pool with the addition of CHL players beginning next season).
This should be the glory days of the sport. It’s sad that one school’s decisions that seem guided only by the bottom line could dampen the excitement.
Denver had the offense firing on all cylinders last weekend at North Dakota (photo: Russell Hons).
With all 50 first-place votes this week, Denver is again the top team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll.
Michigan State moves up two to No. 2, Boston College is down one to No. 3, Minnesota is down one to No. 4, and Maine is up two to No. 5, tied with Michigan that stays fifth.
USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll – Nov. 18, 2024
Colorado College is up one to No. 7, Cornell is down two to eight, Western Michigan jumps up four to No. 9, and Providence stays 10th.
North Dakota falls out of the top 10, going from No. 9 to No. 12 in this week’s poll.
Clarkson (No. 19) and UMass (No. 20) join the rankings this week after being previously unranked.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 14 others received votes this week.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review games of the weekend and news of the week.
No. 1 Denver continues its winning streak, while Boston College faces challenges ahead without their top goaltender on Tuesday. Minnesota splits with Bemidji State, and Michigan State likely rises to No. 2 in the USCHO poll. They look at Dartmouth’s win over Cornell, and Colorado College’s weekend results at Western Michigan. The discussion shifts to AIC’s surprising move to Division II, pondering the implications for the program and college hockey expansion.
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and Hosts
00:26 Denver’s dominance and North Dakota’s struggles
03:18 Boston College’s loss at UConn, Fowler suspension
08:51 Minnesota vs. Bemidji State split
12:44 Michigan State’s impressive streak
14:53 Dartmouth’s surprising performance
16:35 Colorado College and Western Michigan showdown
17:55 NCHC Standings and Team Analysis
21:32 Balancing league schedules: challenges and solutions
26:34 Providence vs. UMass
28:37 Wisconsin’s turnaround
31:18 Quinnipiac’s prospects at 5-5-0
32:36 AIC’s announced drop to D-II
42:24 The broader impact on college hockey
45:22 Final thoughts and wrap-up
Forward Andrew Kurapov paced Endicott’s offense in a pair of wins over UNE this past weekend (Photo by Edward Jacobs/Team Shred
Maybe it was the “Super Full Moon” that saw a ton of upsets among favored and ranked teams including Skidmore, Plattsburgh, Trinity, and UNE to name but a few. Conversely, there were teams finding their game like Endicott, Elmira, and Plymouth State who all had big weekends along with Connecticut College in the first week of play for NESCAC. This season is really bearing out the fact that any team can win on any given night and with just three weekends in the books we are setting up for one of the most exciting seasons across all the conferences in quite some time. Here is the recap of the action that have a lot of people, including this prognosticator, scratching their heads in the east:
CNE
Endicott and the University of New England played a home-and-home series and once again the Gulls found a way to win on the road with Andrew Kurapov delivering an overtime win with a breakaway goal against the previously unbeaten Nor’easters. At home on Saturday, Kurapov led the Gulls attack with a pair of goals as Endicott found their offense in an 8-1 win. The Gulls started fast with three goals in the first period and blew the game open with four unanswered goals in the second period. Peyton Miller also scored twice for the Gulls.
Curry looked to keep their winning ways in a pair of contests against Western New England. On Friday, the Colonels took advantage of 23 saves from goaltender Shane Soderwall and two goals from Alex Duncan in a comfortable 5-0 win on the road. Back on home ice on Saturday, Curry was led by forward Eelis Laaksonen who scored two goals as Curry cruised to a 4-0 lead before the Golden Bears scored two times late in the third period for a 4-2 final and weekend sweep.
Nichols faced a Suffolk team coming off a 5-1 non-conference win on Tuesday against Worcester State but it was the Bison who brought the offense to the Friday night contest. Gabe Temple scored two goals as Nichols opened a 3-1 lead in the second period and Nathan Carl sealed the 4-1 win with a tally in the third period. Goaltender Nick Anderson stopped 35 shots to earn the victory. On Saturday, Temple added his third goal on the weekend in the third period to tie the score at 1-1 and the teams finished with an overtime tie and the Bison earning a shootout win over the Rams.
Johnson & Wales played Wentworth and each team took a win to earn a split of the series. On Friday, the Leopards rallied from a 2-1 first period deficit to skate away with a 5-2 win. Ethan Lim scored one goal and added a pair of assists for Wentworth. On Saturday, it was again the visiting team that took control of the scoring as the Rams scored five unanswered goals to break open a 1-1 tie on the way to a 6-1 win. Bret Beale scored a pair of goals for Suffolk while Harout Torosian added a goal and an assist.
MAC
Stevenson faced-off against newcomer Misericordia in a weekend series and despite outshooting the visitors by a 49-26 margin, the Mustangs eked out a 2-0 win. A goal by Gage Parillo in the first minute of play and an empty-net goal from Jack Karlsson was all goaltender Ford DeLoss (26 saves) would need to earn the shutout win. On Saturday, goals from Ryan Karbach and Patrick Toomey gave Misericordia a 3-2 lead entering the final period. Stevenson tied the score in the final three minutes of regulation off the stick of Blake Benson and the teams finished with a 3-3 overtime tie before Stevenson won the shootout.
Wilkes hosted Lebanon Valley for a pair of games and swept the Flying Dutchmen by scores of 5-2 and 4-1. On Friday, the Colonels jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals from Leyton Pettypiece only to see LVC tie the game before the end of the first period. Two goals from Nick Swain sandwiched around one from Patrick Roglinski led to the 5-2 final score. On Saturday, Jordan Carter opened the scoring and finished the scoring as he completed a hat trick with an empty-net goal in the third period to help Wilkes earn a 4-1 win.
Alvernia played host to King’s for the weekend and the Monarchs stunned the Golden Wolves on Friday night earning their first win of the season by a 3-1 score. Kent Lee and Ethan Hersant gave the visitors a 2-1 lead before Patrick Nowak iced the win with an empty-net goal for the 3-1 final score. Goaltender Ben Williams was outstanding in goal making 49 saves as King’s was outshot by a 50-22 margin. On Saturday, Alvernia started fast with four first period goals and cruised to a 5-2 win. Will White, Frazer Dodd and Matthew Imbriano each scored a goal and added an assist to help Alvernia earn a split of the two-game series.
MASCAC
Fitchburg State took a non-conference win over Assumption on Tuesday by a score of 5-2. Alexandre Bauvais and Elowan Orme Lynch each chipped in with a goal and assist. Looking to remain unbeaten, the Falcons opened conference play against Salem State and captured a 2-1 road win to remain unbeaten at 4-0-0 on the season. The teams traded first period goals, and the goaltenders took over until Isaiah McKinney netted the game-winner for FSU midway through the third period. Goaltender Frederick Soderberg stopped 32 of 33 shots in the Falcon win.
Plymouth State kept the win streak going at three games with an 8-2 win over Worcester State in their MASCAC opener. Ethan Stuckless, Dante Moretti, and Cam Patton each scored two goals to pace the offense for the Panthers.
Rivier played a thrilling game on Tuesday where they took a 6-4 win over in-state rival St. Anselm. Jake Laville scored twice and added two assists while Damon Kiyawasew added a goal and two assists for the Raiders. In their MASCAC opener on Saturday, the offense was hard to come by as Salem State started fast with three goals in the first period on the way to a 6-2 win. James Tatro recorded a hat trick for the Vikings while goaltender Will Nepveu picked up his first win stopping 34 of 36 shots.
Framingham State picked up their first win of the season in a non-conference game against Franklin Pierce on Tuesday. Sam Larkin led a group of six players with two-point games as the Rams broke open a 2-2 first period tie with four unanswered goals for the 6-2 win.
NE-10
After Tuesday’s loss to Fitchburg State, Assumption returned to NE-10 action with a weekend series against Franklin Pierce and skated off with a pair of wins to remain unbeaten in league play. On Friday, the Greyhounds scored twice in each period on the way to a 6-3 win over the Ravens. Ronny Paragallo scored twice for Assumption in the win. On Saturday, two power -play goals and a pair of shorthanded goals helped lead Assumption to a 7-2 win and weekend sweep. Paragallo chipped in with a goal and two assists while Jonathan Surrette (1G-2A-3 Pts) and John Wornle (0G-3A-3 Pts) also recorded three-point games.
St. Michael’s was looking to keep pace with Assumption with a sweep of SNHU over the weekend to remain unbeaten, but the Penmen had other ideas. On Friday, SNHU took a 2-0 first period lead and stretched the advantage to a comfortable 5-2 win on the road. On Saturday, Ben Baxter got the Purple Knights off and running with a pair of goals as the home team took a 3-0 lead and cruised to a 5-2 win to earn the weekend split.
After a Tuesday loss to Rivier at home, St. Anselm traveled to play Post for a weekend series. The Eagles were fresh off an overtime win over Westfield State on Tuesday and carried that momentum into Friday night where they took a 4-3 win over the Hawks. Baxter Kimball’s power-play goal in the first minute of the third period proved to be the game-winner for Post. On Saturday, the Eagles took a 3-0 lead only to see St. Anselm rally back with four goals, including two with the man advantage for a 4-3 win to split the series. Luke Mix assisted on three of the four goals for the Hawks who moved to 3-1-0 in NE-10 action.
NEHC
After opening the season 0-1-1, Elmira has their game going in NEHC play with back-to-back weekend sweeps. After taking a pair of games from Southern Maine last weekend, the Soaring Eagles played host to nationally ranked Skidmore and took wins by scores of 3-2 and 5-1. On Friday, Nathan Young and Cole Tucker scored third period goals to rally the home team from a one-goal deficit to a one-goal win. Goaltender Brody Haynes made 33 saves for Elmira to earn the win. On Saturday, Young and Tucker were again featured in the offense as Elmira took a 3-0 lead and converted the advantage into a 5-1 win over the Thoroughbreds.
Hobart hosted Massachusetts-Boston looking to extend their win streak to six games to start the season. Khalil Fontana’s hat trick helped lead the Statesmen to a lopsided 7-1 win on Friday night. On Saturday, Hobart completed the sweep scoring the first five goals of the game including two from forward Shane Shell, on the way to a 6-2 win.
Newcomers Salve Regina traveled to Babson looking to remain unbeaten in NEHC play and took Friday night’s contest by a 5-3 score. Trailing 3-2 in the third period, the Seahawks scored three goals including Aidan Connolly’s game-winner with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Logan Calder iced the win with a goal in the final five seconds. On Saturday, both teams combined for 13 goals in a crazy 7-6 win for the Beavers, who picked up their first win in conference play on the season. Babson scored five times in the first forty minutes including a hat trick from Jimmy Fallon and held on for the one-goal win.
New England College opened their conference campaign hosting Norwich and surprised the Cadets with an overtime tie and win in the two-game series. Goals were hard to come by for both teams as evidenced by Friday’s 1-1 tie where the Pilgrims’ David Novotny tied the score in the final second of regulation. There was no overtime winner, but NEC captured the shootout. On Saturday, Novotny was again the hero for NEC as he assisted on Paul Waldhauser’s third period goal before providing an insurance goal in a 2-0 Pilgrim win. Goaltender Anthony Beaulieu stopped 31 Cadet shots to earn the shutout win.
Albertus Magnus moved to 2-2-0 in conference play with a pair of one-goal wins over VSU-Castleton. After Friday’s 3-2 win, the Falcons needed a third period comeback from a 3-1 deficit. Goals from Zane Kindrachuk and JJ Berdal tied the score at three and William Lavigne gave the home team the 4-3 win in the first minute of overtime.
NESCAC
Connecticut College pulled a major upset to start their season as the Camels knocked off the defending conference champions from Trinity on Friday by a 4-2 score. Two power play goals from John Harrington and Rocco Testa-Basi helped pace Conn College to a 3-1 lead but after Trinity closed the gap to a single goal Jack Luca’s empty-net goal sealed the upset win. On Saturday, the Camels continued their hot start with a 4-1 win over another in-state rival in Wesleyan. Three first period goals from Andrew Eberling, Devan Newhook, and Harrington paced the Camels to a comfortable victory and weekend sweep.
Middlebury also skated away with two wins to open the season and conference play as the Panthers defeated Bowdoin and Colby to start 2-0-0. On Friday, Jin Lee scored two goals, John Burdett chipped in with three assists and goaltender Andrew Heinze earned the shutout win in a 5-0 decision. On Saturday, the Panthers surrendered Will Molson’s goal in the first minute of play before scoring shorthanded and power-play goals before the end of the period to take a 2-1 lead. Jack Silverman scored in the second period and that ended all the scoring in a 3-1 win over the Mules.
Hamilton played a single conference game against travel partner Amherst on Saturday earning a 5-2 win behind a four-point game from Jackson Krock who recorded a hat trick and added an assist in the Continentals win over the Mammoth. Luke Tchor also added a goal and two assists for Hamilton in the road win. On Sunday, Hamilton stayed productive on the road as they knocked Anna Maria from the unbeaten ranks with a 5-1 win over the AmCats. Five different players scored for Hamilton who launched 50 shots against Anna Maria netminder Matthew Hennessey.
SUNYAC
Anytime that Plattsburgh plays Oswego you should just throw out the records and roster analysis because the rivalry always trumps the paper analysis of who should win the hockey game. On Friday, the Lakers entered the third period holding a 1-0 lead and scored four third period goals to down the Cardinals, 5-1. On Saturday, Oswego moved to 2-0-0 in SUNYAC play with a 6-1 win over Potsdam. Six different players scored goals led by Drake Semrad and Travis Baker who scored a goal apiece and added an assist each.
Plattsburgh bounced back with a 7-1 win over Canton to earn a split of their weekend games. Jake Lanyi, Brannon Butler, and Jack Ring each recorded a goal and two assists in the Cardinal victory.
Buffalo State started their SUNYAC season with a sweep of games against Morrisville and Cortland by scores of 4-1 and 5-3. Against the Mustangs, a three-goal second period launched the Bengals to a comfortable three-goal win. On Saturday, Don Powell and Vadim Kiriakov led a four-goal outburst for the Bengals who needed an empty-net goal by Andrey Manov to secure a 5-3 win over the Red Dragons.
UCHC
Utica faced Brockport for the first time in UCHC action and took a pair of wins over the Golden Eagles to move to 4-0-0 in conference play. Matt Wood scored a goal and added two assists to pace the Pioneer offense in a 5-2 win on Friday night. On Saturday, Utica took advantage of four first period goals from four different players for an easy 5-1 win. Transfer Johnny Mulera scored one goal and picked up a pair of assists to lead the Utica offense.
Both Geneseo and Manhattanville entered their weekend series unbeaten in early season conference action. The Knights were ready to go from the drop of the puck on Friday as seven different players scored goals in a 7-1 rout of the Valiants. Luke Panchisin scored one goal and added three assists to pace the Geneseo attack. Things were a little tighter on Saturday as the teams skated to a 1-1 tie after two periods of play. Geneseo’s Cannon Green scored the game-winning goal in the third period to give the Knights a 2-1 win and weekend sweep. Goaltender Jacob Torgner picked up the win making 23 saves as Geneseo outshot Manhattanville by a 57-24 margin.
Nazareth and Chatham played a two-game series with Friday’s game ending in a 3-3 overtime tie before the Cougars earned a 1-0 shootout win. Anthony Quinlivan scored a shorthanded goal in the final minute of regulation to tie the score at 3-3 for the Golden Flyers. On Saturday, a pair of power-play goals from Blake Frost and Logan Tobias in the third period broke a 1-1 deadlock for a 3-1 Nazareth win.
Three Biscuits
Andrew Kurapov – Endicott – scored the overtime winning goal that gave the Gulls a 4-3 win over UNE on Friday that took the Nor’easter from the list of the unbeaten. Kurapov added two more goals on Saturday in an 8-1 romp for the weekend sweep.
Jimmy Fallon – Babson – scored a hat trick in the Beavers’ 7-6 win over Salve Regina to earn a weekend split and give the Seahawk their first loss of the season.
Jackson Krock – Hamilton – recorded a four-point game in the Continentals 5-2 win over Amherst on Saturday. Krock scored a hat trick and added an assist in the season opening win.
Week three really showed that anything can happen regardless of position in the standings or what conference you play in. No doubt every team is showing up ready to play but no team can take its opponent lightly because the margins are just so thin across the talent playing at the D-III level and we the fans are enjoying the tremendous action accordingly.
The Aurora Spartans swept Adrian in a battle of nationally ranked teams. (Photo Credit: Steve Woltmann/Aurora Athletics)
As far as statements go in NCAA Division III hockey, Aurora made a big one over the weekend.
The Spartans completed a sweep of the No. 2 Bulldogs Saturday with a 4-2 victory on the road. They won the opener on Friday by a 4-1 score.
Not that the sweep is a complete surprise. Aurora came into the weekend ranked 11th.
Four different players scored in Saturday’s win for Aurora, which is 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the NCHA.
Chase Broda tallied a goal and an assist to help lead the way while JaCob Mucitelli racked up 39 saves.
In Friday’s win, the Spartans scored three times in the third, with Landry Schmuck scoring twice, as the Spartans secured a 4-1 win.
Jason Kirk also scored twice while Lukas Sedlacek and Simon Diaz each tallied two assists. Mucitelli made 30 saves.
Aurora has scored four or more goals in every game it has played in this season.
Green Knights survive Sabres
St. Norbert held off Marian in overtime Saturday, winning 4-3, to cap a sweep of the Sabres. Liam Fraser scored the game winner 36 seconds into the OT.
The Green Knights are now 7-0 and 4-0 in the NCHA.
St. Norbert held a 52-19 advantage in shots. Grant Adams made 16 saves.
Logan Dombrowsky stepped up in a big way, scoring a goal and dishing out two assists for the fifth-ranked Green Knights.
Jack Christen scored a goal and had an assist while Dayton Delcs finished with a goal and assist.
On Friday, St. Norbert scored twice in the third to finish off a 3-0 win.
Fraser scored the 62nd goal of his career in the victory, tying him for fifth all-time in school history. He’s eighth in career points with 133.
Dombrowsky dished out two assists to help pace the offense.
Trine stays unbeaten
The Thunder came away with a tie and a win in its weekend series with Dubuque.
The No. 14 team in the nation finished off the series with a 3-1 win. scoring all three goals with a man advantage.
Aleksa Babic and Josh Wright each tallied a goal and assist. Michael DiPietra dished out two assists. Kyle Kozma made 22 saves.
Trine improved to 5-0-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the NCHA.
In the opener, Trine outscored the Spartans 3-1 in the third to secure a comeback victory. The Thunder then won the shootout 2-1.
Babic came through with three assists, DiPietra dished out two assists and Sam Antenucci finished with a goal and assist.
Zach Burfoot, Jack Paweski and Owen Hardy all tallied a goal and assist for Dubuque, which led 2-1 going into the third.
Dubuque is 0-5-1 overall and 0-3-1 in the league but continues to be competitive in its second year. Dubuque has two one-goal losses.
Cobbers clutch again
Concordia scored twice in the third period to pick up a 3-1 win over UW-Eau Claire on Friday.
It’s the fourth time this season Concordia has scored more than one goal in the final period.
Tai Halliday and Hanson O’Leary scored the third-period goals in Friday’s victory. Dane Couture finished with 29 saves for his fourth win. It’s the third time in five games he’s given up just one goal.
Concordia ended the weekend with a 1-0 loss to UW-River Falls and is 4-2 on the year.
Falcons grind out a win
On the road against one of the better teams in the MIAC, No. 15 UW-River Falls earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Concordia.
The Falcons are now 4-1 on the season after a game-winning goal from Alex Atwill. He scored in the third and the goal was the first of his career.
Great goaltending did the rest as Brennan Boynton made 27 saves on his way to his first career shutout with the Falcons.
The teams had a combined nine power play chances but neither converted. UW-River Falls won despite being outshot 27-16.
In the win column
Gustavus held off St. Olaf 6-5 on Saturday to not only salvage a sweep with the Oles but also earn its first victory of the year.
The win is the first for head coach Tyler Walsh at the helm of Gustavus.
Jack Suchy helped lead the way as he came through with a hat trick. Marko Belak racked up 18 saves.
Gustavus improved to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the MIAC. St. Olaf won the opener of the series by a 3-1 score.
Rivalry win over Yellowjackets
UW-Superior and St. Scholastica are no strangers to each other. They used to be conference rivals and they still play each other every year.
Friday’s game marked the 145th time the two teams have met, and the night belonged to the Yellowjackets, who prevailed 2-1.
Justin Dauphinais scored the game winner for Superior with 1:04 to go and Jack Boschert helped seal the deal with 26 saves over the final two periods. He made 29 saves in all.
Evan Axell scored a goal and dished out an assist, marking his second consecutive multi-point game.
Superior is 2-1-1 on the year after losing 4-3 to Bethel Saturday.
Big night for Blugolds
Leo Bacallao stepped up big time for UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, recording a hat trick as the Blugolds topped Augsburg 5-1 for their first win of the year.
Bacallao scored twice in the final 10 minutes to help Eau Claire seal the deal.
Max Gutjahr came up big in goal, stopping 24 shots for his first win of the season. Eau Claire is now 1-2-1 on the year.
Cardinals sweep Pipers
Saint Mary’s won both games in its MIAC series with Hamline, winning the finale 3-1.
Collin Tushie tallied a goal and an assist to help lead the way offensively and AJ Rushkowski made 17 saves.
Saint Mary’s won the opener 6-1 on Friday as six different players scored in the victory. The Cardinals are 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the MIAC.
Alaska and Alaska Anchorage split their Governor’s Cup series over the weekend in Anchorage (photo: Stephanie Burgoon).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Twelve – make that 21 – in a row
Denver’s road sweep of North Dakota improved the Pioneers to 12-0-0 on the season. With No. 8 Colorado College’s overtime loss and tie at No. 13 Western Michigan, and No. 17 Dartmouth’s 4-4 tie vs. Colgate, DU is the last team this season with an unblemished record.
“It’s a really hard place to sweep,” said Denver coach David Carle. “Our first one-goal game of the year, our first 3-2 game of the year, and we feel fortunate to come out on the right side and come out of here with six points.”
Denver’s last defeat was the penultimate game of the 2023-24 regular season, a 4-3 loss to Colorado College on March 8. The Pioneers’ current winning streak is 21 games.
2. A Badger road sweep
It’s been a tough slog for Wisconsin in the first two months of the season, but the Badgers may have turned the corner with a sweep at No. 18 Penn State. Wisconsin prevailed with a 5-4 overtime win on Friday and a 6-3 win on Saturday. Before the weekend, the Badgers had not scored even three goals since an overtime win over Lindenwood on October 12.
“Our starts have gotten better, our secondary scoring has gotten better,” Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings told the Wisconsin State Journal. “And when we needed our power play to come through, it did.”
Wisconsin improves to 4-8-0 overall and 3-5-0 in Big Ten play.
3. Beavers upset the No. 3 Gophers
Bemidji State and Minnesota split a home-and-home Thursday/Saturday series, with the home team winning both.
The Golden Gophers won Thursday, 5-3, at 3M Arena at Mariucci, while Bemidji State took the Saturday night tilt at Sanford Center, 3-1. In the upset, Mattias Sholl made 38 saves and allowed just a 6-on-5 goal by the Gophers with 2:12 left.
Kirklan Irey scored just 21 seconds into the game and the game-winning goal midway through the first period to lead the Beavers.
It was the first victory for Bemidji over Minnesota on home ice.
🎥 Kirklan Irey netted a pair of goals and Mattias Sholl turned away 38-of-39 shots to send @BSUBeaversMHKY past No. 3 Minnesota, 3-1, on Saturday night!
No. 4 Michigan State improved to 9-1-0 and 4-0-0 in conference as the only team with an unblemished record in the Big Ten with an 8-3, 4-3 weekend home sweep of Notre Dame. It’s the first time the Spartans have started at 4-0 in Big Ten history.
Michigan State extended its winning streak to seven games, the longest since the 2007-08 season, with the only loss in this campaign coming on October 11 to then-No. 2 Boston College.
Daniel Russell's game-winner last night was the 10,000th goal in Spartan hockey history!
It was his fifth game-winning goal of the season – he leads the nation in that category.
Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage will face each other six times this season in the Governor’s Cup series. The Nanooks took the opener, 3-2, on an overtime powerplay goal by Broten Sabo at 1:02 of the extra period on Friday, while the Seawolves cruised to a 6-1 win on Saturday to split the series at 1-1.
In Saturday’s game, Alaska Anchorage scored three empty-net goals in the third period. Porter Schachle scored the first at 14:37, and Dylan Contreras scored twice at 15:12 and 18:08.
“Solid effort by everyone in the lineup tonight,” said Anchorage coach Matt Shasby. “We took a step to establishing our identity.”
6. UMass, UConn get Hockey East upsets
Massachusetts spilt a Thursday/Saturday home-and-home against No. 10 Providence with the road team winning each game. The Minutemen rolled to a 5-1 win over the Friars on Saturday after losing 2-1 at home in the first game of the series.
UMass is now 7-2-1 in its last 10 at Providence.
“I thought the guys came out with the mission.” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “They played a great 60 minutes, and I couldn’t be prouder of this group. I’m hoping this will be a springboard for us.”
Connecticut picked up a home upset over No. 2 Boston College on Friday. BC scored with 1:14 left in the game to close the Huskies lead to 4-3 before UConn’s Ryan Tattle got an empty-netter that would prove to be the game-winning goal.
Boston College goalie Jacob Fowler received a roughing major and game misconduct at 4:49 of the second period and was relieved by Jan Korec. Fowler received supplementary discipline from Hockey East and will be ineligible for the Eagles’ Tuesday night game at Providence.
7. Army’s Cataldo off to great rookie season in net
Freshman goalie JJ Cataldo leads the nation in save percentage at 0.956 and is second in goals-against average at 1.34, having allowed just eight goals in his six games in net for Army. His Black Knights picked up 5-1 and 4-2 wins at Rochester Institute of Technology over the weekend.
Cataldo saw 34 shots on Saturday, but it could have been a lot worse. Army blocked a whopping 28 shots in the contest, including six by defenseman Sam Groebner, who also scored for the Black Knights. Army defensemen had not tallied a goal until this weekend. Mac Gadowsky scored twice on Saturday and got the first goal by an Army blueliner this season on Friday.
8. Who’s in first?
Conference schedules in D-I college hockey are really uneven here in mid-November, with some teams having only played two league games, while others have well over one-third of their conference contests in the books. So league points are all over the place.
In the Big Ten, Wisconsin has played eight league games while Michigan has had just two. Atlantic Hockey ranges from a low of five to a high of 10. In Hockey East, four teams have had eight conference games, while Boston College has played just three and is in 10th place in the standings.
It will all come out in the wash, but this early disparity could lead one to wonder if there’s any statistical or on-ice difference to be seen with front-loading or back-loading schedules. It could be argued that a younger team could be better served by having more conference games later in the season, or that an older team would benefit by taking advantage of a program just starting to get its underclassmen to coalesce.
On Wednesday, AIC announced the change officially in its “Pathway to Progress” announcement. Despite D-II not having an NCAA championship in hockey and being limited to the Northeast 10, the college attempted to portray it as a positive move.
“Funds raised for the men’s ice hockey program will continue to be utilized to support the ice hockey program, allowing it to be competitively positioned among peers and offering a greater level of impact than if the program were to stay in Division I,” the press release stated.
10. Are smaller schools actually better positioned to expand college hockey?
Last Wednesday, College Hockey Inc. executive director Sean Hogan was a guest on the USCHO Spotlight podcast. He suggested that schools without FBS football are good targets to add D-I hockey.
“Where we’re going to see growth is – and this is my opinion – is at the Division I level with schools that might not have major college football,” Hogan said. “And what makes our brand – makes hockey – so successful and appealing to athletic departments is the big major national brands don’t always win our national championship.
“If done well, you can compete nationally at an elite level right away. You can bring a national championship level sport to your campus, build excitement around that sport, have sellouts in your building, and really have a hockey brand that’s nationally known. And that can be very appealing.”
Having lost six straight games in Columbus, things did not look good for the Badgers early on Friday as Ohio State scored twice in fourteen seconds late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. First Maddi Wheeler and Joy Dunne connected on a rush then Jenna Buglioni tipped in a shot from distance by Dunne to give the Buckeyes the advantage. But Wisconsin started chipping away at the lead early in the second when Casey O’Brien and Lacey Eden connected on a rush of their own to cut the lead to 2-1. Later in the frame, a missed cover up by Amanda Thiele left the puck for O’Brien, who tapped it in to tie the game. Wisconsin took the lead in the opening minutes of the third on the power play on a 4-on-2 that Eden buried to make it 3-2. KK Harvey would add an empty-netter to secure the comeback and win for the Badgers. Saturday started similarly, with the Buckeyes taking a 2-0 lead early. Makenna Webster scored the only even strength goal of the game, carrying the puck in and scoring on Ava McNaughton point blank. Wheeler scored her second of the weekend, placing a shot high to make it 2-0. Wisconsin would pull back within one when Kirsten Simms put back a rebound on an O’Brien shot on the power play to make it 2-1. After a scoreless second in which both goals were called on to make big saves, Kiara Zanon restored the two-goal lead on a short-handed breakaway to make it 3-1. Wisconsin responded 33 seconds later when Maggie Scannell put away a loose puck in the crease to make it 3-2. But the Badgers could not find an equalizer and OSU took the win and earned a split.
(3) Minnesota at (4) Minnesota Duluth
The Gophers outshot the Bulldogs 22-9 in the first period, but the teams were tied headed into intermission. Sydney Morrow scored on the power play to put Minnesota up with under four to play in the frame, but Hanna Baskin replied 90 seconds later for UMD. The teams continued to battle back and forth but Minnesota broke the game open later in the second as Abbey Murphy gave them the 2-1 lead and Ella Huber scored short-handed with just more than a minute left in the second to make it a 3-1 game. Huber added an empty-netter to secure the 4-1 win on Friday. Ève Gascon made 48 saves for UMD in the loss. The Bulldogs came out pressing on Saturday as Kamryn Davis scored just 3:54 into the game to put the home team up 1-0. Gracie Graham tied the game for the Gophers midway through the period and Peyton Hemp gave them the lead thanks to a power play goal with under two to play. Minnesota took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Despite seven minutes of power play in the second, the Gophers could not take advantage and the score was the same after two periods. Emma Connor extended the lead for Minnesota 3-1 late in the third, but UMD was able to bring the lead back to one on a power play goal from Nina Jobst-Smith with under four to play. The Bulldogs pulled the goalie, but the Gopher defense shut them down and the could not find the equalizer as Minnesota earned the 3-2 win and weekend sweep.
Dartmouth at (5) Colgate
Kalty Kaltounková scored just 13 seconds into the game, but Dartmouth quickly responded as Lauren Messier lit the lamp on the power play to make it a 1-1 game at the first intermission. Elyssa Biederman scored with a player advantage in the second to put Colgate up 2-1. But in the third, the Raiders pulled away as Alexis Petford scored in the opening few minutes, Madeline Palumbo added a power play goal and Sara Stewart closed out the scoring to give Colgate a 5-1 win. Freshman goalie Farah Walker picked up her first-career ECAC win in net for the Raiders.
Harvard at (5) Colgate
For the second straight game, Kalty Kaltounková scored early in the first to put Colgate up, this time on the power play to make it 1-0 before four minutes had elapsed. Alexis Petford doubled the lead late in the second and Elyssa Biederman added an empty-netter to secure the Raiders’ 10th-straight win 3-0.
St. Lawrence at (6) Clarkson
Thursday afternoon’s youth game was a chess match where neither team was able to pull away from the other. High-quality chances were at a premium as both teams racked up more than a dozen blocks and both goalies stood tall. Sarah Marchand broke the stalemate just 24 seconds into the third, cleaning up a rebound on a shot from Kennedy Wilson to put St. Lawrence up 1-0. Four minutes later Shelby Laidlaw picked up a clear attempt at the top of the zone and took advantage of a screen in front of the net to put a shot from distance into the net. Neither team was able to find the go ahead goal, even through overtime. Clarkson earned the extra point in the shootout as Nicole Gosling and Sena Catterall each scored. In the rematch on Saturday, the Golden Knights picked up their defense even more, blocking 17 shots while Julia Minotti made 27 saves. Anne Cherkowski was the difference-maker, going bar down with six minutes to go in the third to make it 1-0. Haley Winn added an empty-netter to secure the 2-0 win for Clarkson.
Minnesota State at (8) St. Cloud State
Claire Vekich’s first-period goal put the Mavericks up 1-0. Jamie Nelson doubled the lead in the second, but St. Cloud quickly responded as Avery Farrell made it a 2-1 game at the second intermission. But it was Mankato’s day as they extended the lead early in the third on a goal from Bella Shipley. Taylor Otremba’s goal midway through the third secured the 4-1 win. MSU outshot SCSU 33-30 and dominated in faceoffs, 36-16, which helped power the win. It looked like Minnesota State might duplicate that result when Saturday’s game started with a second-period goal from JuliAnna Gadzik. But St. Cloud’s Emma Gentry tied the game before the end of the second. In the third, Mackenzie Bourgerie put Mankato up 2-1, but St. Cloud was once again able to respond with a goal from Farrell to force overtime. In the extra frame Sofianna Sundelin scored just after an MSU penalty expired to give the Huskies a 3-2 OT win.
Harvard at (10) Cornell
The Big Red pushed the pace early in this game and it finally paid off in the final minutes of the first period as Avi Adam, Lindzi Avar and Lily Delianedis each scored to put Cornell up 3-0. The final two goals came in the final minute of the period. Delianedis continued the onslaught just 20 seconds into the second period to extend the lead and then Karel Prefontaine scored to make it 5-0. Paige Lester spoiled the shutout but the Crimson could not cut further into the lead and the Big Red took the win.
Dartmouth at (10) Cornell
Lindzi Avar scored twice while Delaney Fleming and Mckenna Van Gelder each had a goal to lead Cornell to a 4-0 win on Saturday. Annelies Bergmann made 17 saves to earn her fifth shutout of the season.
(11) Boston College vs. (14) Boston University (home and home)
Friday’s game was one of streaks. Boston College owned the first period, outshooting BU 11-6 and skating away with a 1-0 lead thanks to Kate Ham. But the Terriers regrouped during the intermission and came out firing. Sydney Healey scored on the power play just 1:15 into the second to tie the game. Sixty-two seconds later BC took the lead again on a goal from Molly Jordan. And 90 seconds later, Julia Shaunessy tied it one more time for BU. The Terriers continued to control the puck for much of the second two periods, but Grace Campbell made 23 of her 29 saves in the second and third periods and the Eagles made 13 blocks in the game to keep the score tied. In overtime, Julia Pellerin carried the puck from the side boards into the slot and slid the puck five-hole to win the game for the Terriers. In the second game, BU held Boston College to just nine shots on goal. Kara Gouldin scored early for the Eagles, but once again the Terriers came alive in the second as Ani Fitzgerald and Lindsay Bochna each scored in the opening five minutes of the frame to give Boston University a lead they wouldn’t surrender. Healey added a goal in the third to secure the 3-1 win and weekend split for the Terriers.
Lindenwood at (12) Penn State
Lindenwood goalie Anna LaRose made 48 saves and the defense made 17 blocks as they pushed the Nittany Lions to the brink on Friday. Penn State outshot the Lions 50-10 but needed overtime to earn a 3-2 victory. Tessa Janecke opened the scoring, but Lindenwood responded soon after on a power play goal from Sidney Jackel to send the teams to the locker room tied 1-1. In the second, Maddy Christian scored an extra-attacker goal of her own to give PSU the 2-1 lead. With 2:29 left in regulation, Morgan Neitzke scored on the breakaway to tie the game 2-2 and force overtime. In the extra frame, Karley Garcia put home a feed from Alyssa Machado to salvage the win for Penn State. The Nittany Lions apparently felt they had something to prove on Saturday as they rallied to earn a 7-1 win. The game was close in the early going as Christian’s goal was the only tally of the first period. In the second, Grace Outwater doubled the lead before Josey Dunne made it a 2-1 game. But that’s as close as it would get for Lindenwood as the Nittany Lions seemed to find another gear as Tessa Janecke scored twice and Katelyn Roberts added a goal before the end of the second period to make it 5-1. Kendall Butze and Stella Retrum added goals in the third to secure the 7-1 win. Butzke led Penn State with six points on a goal and five assists.
(13) Connecticut at Merrimack
Friday’s game got off to a quick start as Maria Lindberg tipped in a puck under four minutes into the game to put the Warriors up 1-0. But UConn responded just 64 seconds later as Ashley Allard tied the game 1-1. Allard got the assist on the Huskies’ next goal as her stellar pass put Maya Serdachny in the perfect place to give them a 2-1 lead. Jada Habisch scored her third short-hander of the season to extend Connecticut’s lead to 3-1 midway through the second. Lindberg tallied her second of the game later in the third on the power play, but Megan Warrener prevented Merrimack from tying it up and earned UConn the 3-2 win. Kyla Josifovic and Brooke Campbell each scored and Tia Chan earned a 13-save shutout on Saturday as the Huskies took a 2-0 win and weekend sweep.
Colorado College’s Noah Laba and Western Michigan’s Owen Michaels follow the play as the two teams played a pair of tight games over the weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich. (photo: Ashley Huss).
Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of Nov. 11 fared in games over the weekend of Nov. 15-16.
No. 1 Denver (12-0-0)
11/15/2024 – No. 1 Denver 5 at No. 9 North Dakota 2
11/16/2024 – No. 1 Denver 3 at No. 9 North Dakota 2
No. 2 Boston College (7-2-0)
11/15/2024 – No. 2 Boston College 4 at Connecticut 5
No. 3 Minnesota (10-2-0)
11/14/2024 – Bemidji State 3 at No. 3 Minnesota 5
11/16/2024 – No. 3 Minnesota 1 at Bemidji State 3
No. 4 Michigan State (9-1-0)
11/15/2024 – RV Notre Dame 3 at No. 4 Michigan State 8
11/16/2024 – RV Notre Dame 3 at No. 4 Michigan State 4
No. 7 Maine (7-2-2)
11/15/2024 – No. 11 Boston University 2 at No. 7 Maine 5
11/16/2024 – No. 11 Boston University 2 at No. 7 Maine 2 (OT)
No. 8 Colorado College (8-1-1)
11/15/2024 – No. 8 Colorado College 2 at No. 13 Western Michigan 3 (OT)
11/16/2024 – No. 8 Colorado College 1 at No. 13 Western Michigan 1 (OT)
No. 9 North Dakota (5-6-0)
11/15/2024 – No. 1 Denver 5 at No. 9 North Dakota 2
11/16/2024 – No. 1 Denver 3 at No. 9 North Dakota 2
No. 11 Boston University (5-5-1)
11/15/2024 – No. 11 Boston University 2 at No. 7 Maine 5
11/16/2024 – No. 11 Boston University 2 at No. 7 Maine 2 (OT)
No. 12 St. Cloud State (8-3-0)
Did not play.
No. 13 Western Michigan (6-1-1)
11/15/2024 – No. 8 Colorado College 2 at No. 13 Western Michigan 3 (OT)
11/16/2024 – No. 8 Colorado College 1 at No. 13 Western Michigan 1 (OT)
No. 14 Ohio State (9-2-1)
11/15/2024 – No. 14 Ohio State 5 at Lindenwood 2
11/16/2024 – No. 14 Ohio State 3 at Lindenwood 2
Bemidji State celebrates a goal Thursday night at Minnesota, a game the Beavers lost 5-3 before bouncing back with a 3-1 win on home ice over the Gophers Saturday night (photo: Brace Hemmelgarn).
After losing 5-3 Thursday night to No. 3 Minnesota at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn., Bemidji State rebounded with a 3-1 win at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn., on Saturday night.
The victory was the first for the Beavers over the Gophers since a 4-2 win on Jan. 30, 2016 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
Kirklan Irey scored twice for the Beavers, while goaltender Mattias Sholl made 38 saves, losing his shutout bid at 17:48 of the third period on a Matthew Wood goal.
GOAL ALERT!!!
Kirklan Irey does it again putting the Beavers at a 2 goal lead! Goal was assisted by Jere Vaisanen and Eric Martin! Beavers lead the Gophers 2-0 midway through the first!#GoBeavers#BeaverTerritorypic.twitter.com/sutyuitl1r
Denver scored two goals in the second period and held off North Dakota to win 3-2 and sweep the weekend series at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
Denver extended its school-record, season-opening win streak to 12 games and picked up its first sweep at North Dakota since the 2022-23 campaign.
Aidan Thompson, Boston Buckberger and James Reeder all scored for the Pioneers and goaltender Matt Davis finished with 21 saves.
Dylan James and Sacha Boisvert scored for UND and TJ Semptimphelter made 19 saves in goal.
No. 4 Michigan State 4, Notre Dame 3
Four different players – Shane Vansaghi, Matt Basgall, Gavin O’Connell and Daniel Russell – scored as Michigan State swept Notre Dame with a 4-3 win in East Lansing, Mich., at Munn Ice Arena.
Ryan Fine and Mason Langenbrunner scored for Harvard and Tim Rego and Ryan Walsh answered for Cornell as the two teams tied 2-2 at Bright-Landry Hockey Center in Boston.
Cole Eiserman added the other goal for BU and goalie Mathieu Caron made 26 saves.
Nolan Renwick and Anthony Calafiore scored for the Black Bears and Albin Boija finished with 15 saves in goal.
No. 8 Colorado College 1, No. 13 Western Michigan 1(OT, CC wins shootout)
Matteo Costantini scored for Western Michigan and Klavs Veinbergs answered for Colorado College as the teams skated to a 1-1 tie at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Colorado College tacked on the extra point winning the shootout.
Will Diamond’s goal at 10:27 of the third period gave Northern Michigan a 1-1 tie with Minnesota State at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn.
Four different players scored for each team as Colgate and Dartmouth tied 4-4 at Thompson Arena in Hanover, N.H.
Ben Raymond, Jacob Napier, Daniel Panetta and Brett Chorske tallied for Colgate, while Braiden Dorfman, Nikita Nikora, Eric Charpentier and Cooper Flinton scored for Dartmouth.
Brett Chorske converts on the man advantage and we are tied for the fourth time tonight! pic.twitter.com/gTCrS2rX9M
Six different Badgers players scored – Quinn Finley, Cody Laskosky, Ryland Mosley, Kyle Kukkonen, Christian Fitzgerald and Tyson Dyck – and goalie Tommy Scarfone made 30 saves.
The Nittany Lions were led by Jarod Crespo, Aiden Fink and Charlie Cerrato, all of whom scored a goal, and goalies Arsenii Sergeev and Noah Grannan, who combined to make 25 saves.
No. 19 Quinnipiac 4, Yale 1
After Yale’s Ronan O’Donnell gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead just 3:30 into the game, Quinnipiac scored the next four goals to down Yale 4-1 at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Conn.
The Nov. 20, 2024, edition of USCHO.com’s PodKaz features Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski giving their thoughts on news that emerged this week at St. Thomas, where coach Joel Johnson resigned days after he wasn’t on the bench for the second game of a WCHA series at Bemidji State.
