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This Week in Hockey East: New Hampshire, Maine go head to head this coming weekend in latest chapter of historic rivalry

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UNH and Maine last met Nov. 22, 2024, with the Black Bears topping the Wildcats 3-1 at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H. (photo: New Hampshire Athletics).

The latest edition of the New Hampshire-Maine rivalry features two programs going in different directions, but in a somewhat unusual way.

Maine, No. 5 in the USCHO men’s D-I poll and No. 4 in the PairWise, is unbeaten in eight of its last 10 games since the beginning of 2025, but two of those results were ties and four wins were by a single goal.

UNH, unranked by USCHO but firmly on the PairWise bubble at No. 18, goes into the weekend having lost eight of its last nine, but with half of those losses by a single goal, including two in overtime. Last week at home against No. 1 (USCHO and PairWise) Boston College, the Wildcats led 2-1 early in the third period before BC rallied for three unanswered goals and a 4-2 win.

Seventh-year UNH coach Mike Souza said his team’s recent struggles have created an element of exasperation among the players, but not disharmony.

“No one’s slamming sticks or banging boards or yelling at guys,” Souza said. “But I think there’s an inner frustration. (I) feel for them. Do I think we should’ve won every game in the last stretch? No, of course not. Do I think we could have won a few? Absolutely.”

Maine won the first and so far only meeting this season between the two squads, 3-1 at UNH on Nov. 22, in which Black Bear goalie Albin Boija and Wildcat goalie Jared Whale combined for 55 saves. It won’t take much for the longtime rivals to get up for this weekend’s series — together the iconic programs have combined for seven Hockey East regular-season championships and 10 conference tournament titles. Each team has beaten the other once in the tourney final, and they met in the 1999 NCAA championship game in Anaheim, Calif., which the Black Bears won 3-2 in overtime for their second national title.

“We’ve played each other so many times, I could bore you with stories,” said Souza, who also played for UNH from 1996 to 2000. “It’s fun to be in that environment. I think as an athlete, you want to measure yourself in hostile environments.”

With just seven games left in the regular season, Maine is all but assured of a spot in the NCAA tournament for the second straight year after a preceding 12-year drought. Fourth—year coach Ben Barr said there’s no chance the Black Bears will take UNH lightly this weekend.

“Throw it out the window every time we play these guys,” Barr said. “They’re a top-20 (Pairwise) team and they’ve lost a lot of one-goal games. Watching them play BC last weekend, they were the better team for a lot of periods.

“They’re fast, they’re skilled, they forecheck really well. They clog the neutral zone really well. It will be more of the same. Not the same Xs and Os, but (there’s) not a lot of grade-A chances one way or the other. When you get them, you have to make the most of them.”

A somewhat troubling trend of late for Maine has been a sluggish offensive output — the Black Bears have averaged just two goals a game in their last 12. Seven of Maine’s 12 goals in its last five contests have come off the stick of senior forward Taylor Makar, who is currently second on the team in scoring (13-10-23) behind senior forward Harrison Scott (15-14-29). Sophomore forward Charlie Russell is third (5-15-20).

“Hopefully we can find a little bit more from some of our other guys,” Barr said. “But obviously it’s been nice to have Taylor scoring.”

While UNH’s scoring struggles have been well documented, it enters the weekend with four players with 20 points or more — sophomore forward Ryan Conmy (13-12-25), senior forward Robert Cronin (11-10-21), senior forward Liam Devlin (7-14-21) and sophomore forward Cy LeClerc (7-13-20).

The teams’ low scoring output in recent weeks suggest a defensive battle will be on tap this weekend, and statistics bear that out — UNH is third in the nation in fewest shots allowed while Maine is fifth. Also, Souza noted, the two teams are among the top teams in the nation in body contact.

“My guess is it’s going to be a real physical series,” Souza said. “Two teams where the kids are going to play really hard against each other. I think that’s how both teams like it.”

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Omaha finding growth over second half, looking at late push for NCAA tournament bid

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Simon Latkoczy has been a top goalie in the NCHC this season (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).

It’s strange to think the hottest home form in the country, at this point in the season, belongs to a team on the outside looking in with regards to a NCAA tournament bid.

But as paradoxical as that is for Omaha, 27th in the PairWise rankings with a month left in the regular season, it should also be food for thought for the Mavericks’ upcoming opponents.

UNO’s 4-1 home win Friday over Minnesota Duluth, paired with a 5-2 Mavericks victory on Saturday, saw them bump their current home winning streak to seven games. The Mavs have additionally won eight consecutive NCHC games on home ice, also tops among all teams this season.

The Mavericks haven’t lost at home in this calendar year. You’d have to go back to Dec. 13, in the first game of a series against nonconference opponent Lindenwood, to find the last time UNO tasted defeat at Baxter Arena.

“I think one of the words we’ve been using a lot throughout the season is ‘growth,’ and it’s always nice to see the individual growth, that collective growth, take place in the second half of the season,” Mavericks coach Mike Gabinet said.

“Our approach has stayed very consistent, very similar and I think that’s one of the things that’s important to do, whether you’re successful or you’re battling adversity. You want to stay consistent with how you approach things and your day-to-day focus, and I think that has served us really well.”

Two Zach Urdahl goals Friday helped UNO put away a Duluth team that was two weeks removed from a creditable home split with defending national champion Denver, in two one-goal games. On Saturday, the Bulldogs outshot UNO 52-29 but conceded goals to four different UNO skaters — Brady Risk scored two, giving him three for the weekend — but were left frustrated by reigning NCHC goaltender of the month, Simon Latkoczy. The junior now has five games this season with 40 or more saves, and two with 50-plus.

“He’s been fantastic,” Gabinet said. “Your goalie is going to have to make a couple key saves in certain key moments of the game, and he has done that consistently for us. To see his growth, too, even from last season to this year, he’s constantly getting better and he’s been tremendous for us here all season long.”

UNO was fresh off its own series with Denver, facing the Pioneers in their own building. After the Mavericks took a conference-record 16-round overtime shootout Jan. 31, they scored the first two goals the following night but went on to lose 11-2.

“Hold on to the two big points we got there, and move on from the loss on Saturday,” Gabinet said when asked what he wanted his team to take from that series in Colorado, heading into the UMD games.

“I think that’s part of the ups and downs you’ll go through during the season. You’re going to have some big wins and then you’ll have some losses, and it’s all about how you respond to the situation that you’re put in, and I thought our team did a great job on Monday of getting back to work and finding ways to improve our team.”

UNO has six games left in the regular season, four of them on the road. After visiting third-ranked Western Michigan this weekend, the Mavericks will have one last week off before hosting No. 10 Arizona State Feb. 28 and March 1, before wrapping up at No. 17 North Dakota the following weekend.

“We’ll maintain our consistency in how we do things,” Gabinet said of his team’s approach the rest of the way. “We don’t really change much week-to-week, and obviously we’re preparing a certain way for the opponent we face that weekend, but just keeping that belief, keeping that growth mindset, keeping that work and doing-the-work mentality and following that process.

“We’ve got good guys who are committed to being coached and learning, who want to be coached and want to find ways to improve. They’re taking personal responsibility to get better, and it’s just really been fun to watch the guys’ improvement from the start of the year until now. It’s been tremendous.”

Five finalists announced for 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award, including quartet of women’s hockey standouts

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The Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation announced the five finalists for the 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award, presented annually to college hockey’s “finest citizen” for leadership in community service.

For the first time ever, four of the five finalists are female student-athletes.

CLOUGHERTY

Keri Clougherty, Boston College (Sr., D, Lynn, Mass.)
Throughout her four years at Boston College, Keri has been a proven leader within the Boston College community, the city of Boston and nationwide. Keri’s unique human-centered approach on and off the ice epitomizes servant leadership. Keri led her team to over 782 hours of community service last year and is on pace to exceed that impact. Working with the Allston/Brighton Food Pantry, Keri helped prepare a community meal for over 500 Boston residents. Supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, she organized a field day for over 100 Best Buddies participants and, to promote inclusive environments, held several open skate sessions for kids with disabilities through Newton Athletics Unlimited. Volunteering at a local food pantry, she helped organize over 10,000 lbs. of food to provide hunger relief to vulnerable populations. Keri led BC’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day, coordinating with her peers to facilitate athletic clinics to expose over 150 young girls to various sports. In addition, Keri served as an intern at the Campus School at Boston College, which “provides a personalized education for students ages 3 to 22 with extensive support needs, including complex medical needs.” Keri spent hours assisting with sensory activities, reading and classroom learning, while also helping students with physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech pathology.

FORTIN

Kendra Fortin, Bemidji State (Sr., D, Thunder Bay, Ont.)
Since her arrival on campus as a freshman at Bemidji State in the fall of 2021, Kendra Fortin has been an advocate for organ donation, using her platform as a Division I Women’s Hockey student-athlete to inform the Bemidji community about the importance of registering as an organ donor. It is a passion that was borne out of an acute family circumstance. When she was nine-years old, Kendra’s dad, Cory, was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure. He was told he would need a kidney transplant to live. Years passed with no match; meanwhile, Kendra had committed to attend and play hockey at Bemidji State. That’s when she started the “Kidney for Cory” campaign in her hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Thankfully, the campaign was a success: in June 2021, Cory received a life-saving kidney transplant from a deceased donor. Without organ donors, Cory wouldn’t be here today. Since then, Kendra has devoted her time to raise awareness for organ donation. For the past three seasons, she has organized an Organ Donation Awareness weekend at both Bemidji State Men’s and Women’s Hockey games. Each year, Kendra creates informational pamphlets, t-shirts and donor bracelets to be given to fans, teams and staff members. She also works closely with the BSU Athletic Media Relations staff to maximize local media coverage, while organizing social media posts to promote organ donation awareness. The event has evolved to become not just a success, but also a respected tradition that will continue beyond her time with the team and BSU.

KEMPF

Hank Kempf, Cornell (Sr., D, Wilmette, Ill.)
Kempf launched the “Big Red Blocks for Healing” campaign during the 2023-24 hockey season to fundraise for Kesem, a national charitable organization that supports children affected by a parent’s cancer. The original goal of the fundraiser was to raise $5,000; it was ultimately surpassed sixfold, collecting over $30,000 through one-time donations and pledges for every shot Cornell blocked during the season. This year, the fundraiser will support Kesem and the Kids with Courage Foundation, which assists children and young people battling Type 1 diabetes. This season’s fundraiser aims to exceed last year’s total, with the total amount raised split evenly between the two organizations. Beyond fundraising, Kempf has contributed to the Cornell and Ithaca communities by supporting the Newfield Schools Mentor Program; working with the Racker Center, which provides strength-based support for individuals with disabilities and their families; and, participating in local cancer research fundraisers. He also led the Cornell men’s hockey team’s service trip to the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2023, where they built a community center, distributed essential supplies, and provided computer and school supplies, as well as sports equipment, to local schools. To the delight of all, Kempf and his teammates played nightly baseball games with the community’s children.

SZOTT

Raice Szott, Merrimack (Gr., D, Daysland, Alta.)
Szott exemplifies Merrimack’s mission to engage and support the community. Among her many efforts, Szott launched the Merrimack College Women’s Hockey Community Service Committee, which has led to several volunteer and fundraising opportunities in the Merrimack Valley. She has coordinated fundraisers to support local nonprofits, including first responders and the Ellie Fund, a local foundation that assists men and women suffering from breast cancer. Szott has coordinated volunteers for Merrimack’s Relay For Life, for local girls hockey and after-school programs and for Special Olympics Massachusetts. In addition, Szott rallied her teammates to participate in a “Walk to End Alzheimers” event last October. In addition, she oversaw logistics for a number of events, including: a teddy bear toss at a Merrimack College women’s ice hockey home game to benefit Toys for Tots; a “Trunk or Treat” event in October; multiple Skating Strides games for the Ellie Fund, including one this season in January and a team event for the school’s “Relay for Life Walk,” which is held in April. Finally, Szott found time to create a program dedicated to helping young girls build confidence through ice skating and hockey.

THOMPSON

Sarah Thompson, St. Lawrence (Gr., F, Ottawa, Ont.)
Sarah Thompson, a three-time finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, launched ‘Sticks Together’ three years ago to provide children in disadvantaged areas with opportunities to learn and grow through the sport of hockey. She has led humanitarian trips for other NCAA and USports student-athletes to Argentina (2022), South Africa (2023) and the Philippines (2024). ‘Sticks Together’ brings sporting and life skills to children worldwide at no cost. As a part of the ‘Sticks Together’ initiative, Thompson partners with CARHA Hockey and Play It Again Sports to collect recycled hockey sticks and other equipment that is used during the trips and then left behind so that the kids can keep learning, playing and having fun. Thompson’s believes that the joy of hockey has no boundaries, driving her to share her love of sport with children around the world.

Along with Thompson, Kempf and Szott are repeat finalists.

Penn State’s Dylan Lugris was honored as the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award recipient. Boston University’s J.P. McKersie was the inaugural recipient of the award in 1995.

The 30th recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award will be honored in a ceremony on Friday, April 11 as part of the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four weekend in St. Louis, Mo. Additionally, the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation will make donations to the charity most important to each of the five finalists. These donations are made possible with the generous support of the award’s partners and donors.

“In the end, it’s not how many times you touch the puck, but how often you touch a life.”

For more information about the award, visit www.hockeyhumanitarian.org.

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Minnesota State has ‘got a job to do here’ as Mavericks need to ‘play united’ to secure NCAA tournament spot

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Evan Murr has been a top defenseman for Minnesota State and the CCHA all season long (photo: Noah Ritter).

College hockey is, almost more than anything, a game of momentum.

The best teams have the ability to string together wins–even ones in which maybe they aren’t the better team on the night.

For Minnesota State, finding ways to win a couple in a row had been eluding the Mavericks in the second half of the season. Since returning from the holiday break on Jan. 10, the Mavericks had trouble winning more than two in a row. They didn’t sweep any weekend series, and the one time they did win back-to-back games (Jan. 11 at Northern Michigan and Jan. 17 against Michigan Tech) they failed to keep that string going.

This weekend’s series against Augustana helped break that string of inconsistency. The Vikings came into Mankato holding on to first place in the conference standings by virtue of points percentage, but left the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Events Center in second place as Minnesota State earned a sweep. After MSU beat St. Thomas in overtime last weekend, it’s their third win in a row.

“We needed to have our nose against the wall a little bit and go arm-and-arm through it,” Mavericks head coach Luke Strand said in his postgame press conference on Saturday, referring to his team’s splits in the second half. “We needed to string a few (wins) together. In the second half here it’s been a little bit of a hump to string some things together, and now it’s starting to move forward.”

The Mavericks (20-8-2, 15-5-2 CCHA) won 4-1 Friday thanks to four different goal scorers, then eked out a 2-1 victory on Saturday thanks to a pair of first-period goals by Rhett Pitlick and Fin Williams and 28 saves by Alex Tracy.

“I thought it was gutsy. We have some guys dinged up, from illness to just being flat-out injured, but they gutted through it,” Strand said. “We showed some resilience there to bend and not break. We might have set hockey back in time some moments there in the second period with the ways we were doing some things there, but I thought we gathered ourselves back up very well and got very comfortable in that one-goal game.”

Pitlick, who added two assists on Friday, is tied for the CCHA lead with 32 points through 30 games. St. Thomas’ Liam Malmquist and Michigan Tech’s Stiven Sardarian are also in contention for the conference’s points leader.

Tracy, who has played in the net for every minute of MSU’s season, stopped a combined 53 shots over the weekend. His goals-against average of 1.53 leads the country and his save percentage of .942 is No. 4 nationally.

“He’s just fantastic. When he’s a warrior behind you, you know what’s going on,” Strand said. “I thought he fought to find rebounds; he fought to fend off traffic in the crease. He didn’t let many pucks roll off him. It was dynamite for our guys.”

The Mavericks are off this weekend and will watch as two of the teams behind them (second-place Augustana and fourth-place Michigan Tech) play one another for the right to gain some ground. As of right now, the Mavericks are going to be tough to catch, but it’s not impossible: MSU has 46 conference points with a 0.697 points percentage. Augustana is at 26 points and 0.619, Bowling Green is third at 29 and 0.591 and Tech is at 35 and 0.583.

Despite MSU’s place in the standings, Strand said he wasn’t doing much scoreboard watching. There’s still a lot of hockey left to play.

“I’m not. Our guys, though, I did hear them saying that if we won today we clinched home ice,” Strand said. “So whoever’s got the formulas out there, I’m not sure. But we’ve just got to put our heads down. We’ve got a job to do here, take care of each other, and play united. I thought we did a good job with that this weekend.”

Women’s Division I College Hockey: The PodKaz Episode 37 – First 2 conference champions crowned; final weekend for ECAC chase

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Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com dive into the races for conference titles on this week’s edition of the PodKaz. Penn State and Wisconsin wrapped up the Atlantic Hockey and WCHA championships, respectively, last week, and the ECAC Hockey title will be decided on the final weekend.

UConn narrowed Boston University’s lead in Hockey East, and St. Michael’s played spoiler against a NEWHA leader again.

This week’s look at Bracketology wonders about a potential site switch for Penn State at the bottom of the group of No. 2 seeds for the NCAA tournament.

Here’s the stellar Tessa Janecke photo from the Penn State Women’s Hockey Instagram Nicole mentions in the episode:

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].

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This Week in ECAC Hockey: For Clarkson, last month of 2024-25 season means Golden Knights ‘control our own destiny’

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Clarkson pulled off the upset in knocking off No. 14 Quinnipiac last Saturday night (photo: Clarkson Athletics).

The ride between Clarkson and Princeton is one of the longest bus trips in college hockey’s eastern conferences.

It covers more than 300 miles between its North Country and Southern New Jersey locations, and the distance from Potsdam, N.Y., to the Canadian border crossing in Ogdensburg is nearly equal to a Princetonian’s trip to Philadelphia. The distance separating Clarkson from Montreal compares to the short drive between the Trenton area and New York City, and nobody in northwestern New York is worrying about Bruce Springsteen’s experience with the Chicken Man blowing up on the Coast City Bus to Atlantic City.

Yet the ride between Clarkson and Princeton offered a key moment to the Golden Knights’ postseason hopes ahead of a five-point weekend. No, coach JF Houle didn’t offer a rousing pump-up speech akin to a Hollywood movie, nor did anyone from the program need to submit to a team-building exercise capable of drawing a roster together for a last rush to the postseason.

Instead, Clarkson used the 380-mile trek to New Jersey to simply go about its business, and after a five-point weekend ended with an overtime win over Quinnipiac, the Golden Knights are sitting in control of their own destiny as the cut line between ECAC Hockey’s first-round single-elimination games and the bye into the best-of-three quarterfinal series continues to operate on a razor-thin margin.

“Getting the first win on Friday is always a key to the weekend,” said Houle of the back-to-back wins. “I thought we played hard against Princeton. I like our offense in that game, and I thought we created a lot in the offensive zone. We brought a lot of pucks to the net, and our defense was solid in not giving Princeton too many chances. Then we played Quinnipiac, which is a really good team, and they gave us a tough time in many ways.

“They outshot us, they outchanced us, but we came up with a way to win, and for us, finding ways to win is important during [a year with] nights where we’ve played well and lost.”

Clarkson entered the weekend with a dwindling dark horse status against four points over the previous two weekends. A split with travel partner St. Lawrence didn’t hurt, but one point at home against Colgate and Cornell dropped the Golden Knights below the fourth-place line after a growth spurt sent the Raiders into the second place slot behind Quinnipiac.

Union, meanwhile, vaulted into third place after a five-point stretch over Yale and Brown, and Dartmouth, while stuck in neutral, remained one point ahead of a team that failed to sweep a weekend despite going 5-1 during the 2024 portion of the league slate.

Princeton and Quinnipiac offered no quarter after the long ride, but a 4-1 victory at Hobey Baker Rink kickstarted the Golden Knights with exactly the type of performance emblematic of a late-season push to fourth place. Surrendering an early goal and falling behind, 1-0, wasn’t ideal, but the four-goal push that started in the second period allowed Houle to see his team continuously pepper an opponent to the tune of 32 offensive shots on goal. A power play that offered better-than-average numbers scored one of its three opportunities, and a penalty kill still ranked among the nation’s elite slammed the door on Princeton’s three separate opportunities.

“We just kept grinding,” said Houle. “Even if we were down 1-0, we just kept grinding and playing the right way, and we hoped that we could get a goal by doing the right thing. That’s what we were able to get against Princeton, and after we got that goal, we continued to pound away [at the Tigers], which let us slowly take over. In the second and third, our puck possession was excellent, and we scored big goals to get ahead.”

Discovering – or rediscovering – that level of confidence surged the team for a game against Quinnipiac that began with Ryan Bottrill’s third goal of the season. Quickly losing the lead before the end of the period, the Golden Knights found a way to win by scoring halfway through the second period before digging their heels into a game against a more desperate opponent.

Perhaps most telling, the overtime win forced the Bobcats to surrender a loss that dropped them into the No. 15 spot in the Pairwise Rankings – a spot that will land on the outside of the bubble if they’re unable to win the ECAC postseason – while featuring nearly two dozen blocks against 32 shots on goal.

That number nearly doubled the number of shots taken by the Golden Knights, and indeed, their block numbers were larger than the offense generated. But Tristan Sarsland’s overtime goal beat netminder Dylan Silverstein by simply forcing a team to defend in the right spot while earning a second point on the night.

“We’ve been pretty solid on the road,” said Houle, “and finding ways to win in any shape – with the lead, without the lead, getting outshot, playing a shutdown role with a big lead – you just don’t want the other team to score. We’ve won games in different ways, and that’s important for a team heading into the playoffs to have the feel and knowledge that you can [win] in any shape or form. We needed to get our guys those experiences as we head into the playoffs.”

Ah yes, the playoffs.

It’s no secret that ECAC is heading towards one-bid status for the upcoming national tournament unless Quinnipiac tilts its Pairwise Ranking in a different direction, so gaining a first-round bye is even more imperative for teams seeking a trip to Lake Placid. The idea of losing a single game playoff is devastating, but the idea of not having a mathematical opportunity at the postseason if the wrong game plan runs into the wrong opponent ups the pressure associated with getting to a best-of-three series in the second round.

Beyond any other year, finishing fourth is critical to avoiding a potential upset, which this year would spell a disaster for good hockey teams without numerical landing spots.

Coupled with the parity of this year’s league, moving into fourth is even more important, and Clarkson, perhaps more than most teams, controls its own destiny for a shot at the Cleary Cup. Four of its six games are against teams situated in the top six spots in the league, and the other two opponents involve Harvard, which ousted Northeastern in the Beanpot consolation game, and Princeton, which has to make a return trip to the North Country.

The other games – Dartmouth, Colgate, Cornell, Quinnipiac – all rank within four points of the Golden Knights, who are just as close to first as sixth. Even seventh place is occupied by the Crimson, and one weekend’s worth of good work could easily change the entire postseason dynamic.

“We’re just going game by game,” Houle stressed. “I think our players are aware of [what’s at stake], so I don’t think we need to bring it up. We’re trying to take things game-by-game because we need to become better in every game. Whatever happens, happens. You get to control what you can control, and yes, we do control our own destiny, but our main focus has to be on getting better every week.”

BRACKETOLOGY: With Boston College, Michigan State officially in, rest of 2025 NCAA men’s hockey tournament still being fleshed out

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Minnesota State swept Augustana last weekend (photo: Dylan Engel).

Welcome to Week 5 of Bracketology.

Each week from now until Selection Sunday on March 23, I will outline the current 16 teams in the men’s NCAA Division I tournament and attempt to seed a bracket based on the current field.

This past weekend was a very positive one for a team that is still on the outside looking in: Massachusetts. The Minutemen have moved from 19th to 14th in the last month and took a come-from-behind win at Providence on Friday to help its cause. The 14th spot often is enough to earn the last at-large bid, but right now the AHA, CCHA and ECAC all will rely on their respective tournament champions to represent each league. That moves the cutline to 13th.

Boston University, despite losing on the road in overtime to Merrimack on Friday night, still made a big jump from 10th to 6th thanks to a 4-1 win over No. 1 Boston College in the Beanpot final.

Ohio State posted a two-game sweep of Notre Dame, both games ending in 5-1 finals. The Buckeyes jolted up the PairWise moving from 11th all the way to 7th.

In the last weekend, we also had two teams 100 percent clinch their NCAA tournament bids: Boston College and Michigan State. There is greater than an 85 percent chance these will be the top overall seeds in the NCAA tournament.

All that said, here are the 16 teams who would qualify for the NCAA tournament if the season ended today:

1. Boston College*
2. Michigan State*
3. Minnesota
4. Maine
5. Western Michigan*
6. Boston University
7. Providence
8. Ohio State
9. Connecticut
10. Denver
11. UMass Lowell
12. Michigan
13. Arizona State
14. Quinnipiac*
15. Augustana*
16. Sacred Heart*

* – Indicates team that currently has the top conference winning percentage in their respective conference. While each conference is awarded an autobid for its tournament champion, for the purposes of this exercise we will use the first-place team (based on winning %) to receive the autobid.

With the field of 16 in place, we can now seed the four regions using basic bracket integrity (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.).

1. Boston College
8. Ohio State
9. Connecticut
16. Holy Cross

2. Michigan State
7. Providence
10. Denver
15. Minnesota State

3. Minnesota
6. Boston University
11. UMass Lowell
14. Quinnipiac

4. Maine
5. Western Michigan
12. Michigan
13. Arizona State

As a reminder and also for those who aren’t regular readers of Bracketology, there is one thing that the committee seems to avoid at all costs and that is first-round matchups between teams from the same conference. In the above we have just one as 6 Boston University cannot face 11 UMass Lowell.

There aren’t a ton of options on swapping here, but moving No. 12 Michigan into Lowell’s spot and vice versa. Neither move with positively or negatively impact the attendance in a region, in my opinion.

With that, we have the following bracket:

1. Boston College
8. Ohio State
9. Connecticut
16. Holy Cross

2. Michigan State
7. Providence
10. Denver
15. Minnesota State

3. Minnesota
6. Boston University
12. Michigan
14. Quinnipiac

4. Maine
5. Western Michigan
11. UMass Lowell
13. Arizona State

With this bracket in place, let’s assign regions to each four-team group. When considering this, we must place host schools in the region they are hosting. Right now, none of the four hosts are in the field (New Hampshire, Bowling Green, North Dakota and Penn State). So that’s not an issue this week.

Boston College is the top seed and should play closest to home in Manchester, N.H. Michigan State is the second seed and the closest region is Toledo, Ohio, less than two hours from Lansing. Minnesota is the third overall seed and would head to Fargo, N.D., which leaves Maine to play in Allentown, Pa.

That gives us the following:

Manchester, N.H.
1. Boston College
8. Ohio State
9. Connecticut
16. Holy Cross

Toledo, Ohio
2. Michigan State
7. Providence
10. Denver
15. Minnesota State

Fargo, N.D.
3. Minnesota
6. Boston University
12. Michigan
14. Quinnipiac

Allentown, Penn.
4. Maine
5. Western Michigan
11. UMass Lowell
13. Arizona State

Let’s look at how attendance should be in each region. Manchester is fine with BC, UConn and Holy Cross. Toledo should be okay with both Michigan State and Ohio State (playing in its home state). Minnesota and maybe Michigan could help draw in Fargo.

Once again, Allentown really concerns me. None of the four teams will help the attendance, but of the teams in the field, only Quinnipiac or Connecticut are significantly closer than any team already in the region. That said, it wouldn’t make too much of a difference if Quinnipiac played in Allentown or Fargo, so let’s swap Quinnipiac with Arizona State. I’m not sure it will help that significantly but it’s worth the effort.

That leaves us as follows:

Manchester Region
1. Boston College
2. Ohio State
3. Connecticut
4. Holy Cross

Toledo Region
1. Michigan State
2. Providence
3. Denver
4. Minnesota State

Fargo Region
1. Minnesota
2. Boston University
3. Michigan
4. Arizona State

Allentown Region
1. Maine
2. Western Michigan
3. UMass Lowell
4. Quinnipiac

Last in: Arizona State, Michigan
First out: Massachusetts, Penn State

Keep an eye on: Penn State. The Nittany Lions continue to surge up the PairWise, now a bubble team. Should Penn State qualify, they will play in the Allentown Region as the host.

TMQ: PairWise Rankings coming into play with NCAA men’s hockey tournament not all that far away

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UMass Lowell captain Dillan Bentley scored three goals in the River Hawks’ 5-4 overtime loss to UConn Saturday night (photo: UMass Lowell Athletics).

Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.

Jim: Well, Ed, we are heading into the nitty gritty of the college hockey season. And as it tends to do at this point in the season, the PairWise is starting to really flesh out which teams are contenders and which teams are not.

We can definitively say that two teams have clinched their spot in the NCAA field: Boston College and Michigan State. Both teams are locks and both teams are all but locks to be the top two overall seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Below those two, there is a group of eight teams that all should feel very comfortable with their chances to make the NCAA field. Minnesota, Maine, Western Michigan and Providence are all better than 99 percent to make this field, while Ohio State, Denver, Boston University and Connecticut are all better than a 90 percent chance to qualify.

Three leagues will likely only qualify their tourney champions: Atlantic Hockey, the CCHA and ECAC Hockey (though Quinnipiac is close enough to the bubble that they could qualify for an at-large without winning the ECAC tournament).

So using all this reasoning, there are basically three spots up for grabs in the NCAA field and right now there is a legitimate chance of 7-8 teams that could claim those spots.

The top three schools are UMass Lowell (79%) Michigan (74%) and Arizona State (52%). Minnesota State (55%) sits all the way down at 17th in the PairWise, but it has the best chance of any team below the current cutline because of the Mavericks chance to win the CCHA tournament being quite high.

I think Massachusetts, Quinnipiac, Penn State and maybe Colgate all should have some tournament aspirations, but all four of those schools have little room for error down the stretch.

So looking at this landscape and where we sit right now, today: what are your biggest takeaways?

Ed: First, it looks like the adage about teams in the top eight by this time of the season are pretty much in the tournament holds again this year. Also, we see some “banding” or gaps at certain points in the PairWise.

For example, the gap between BU and UMass Lowell seems too big for the River Hawks to jump, and by the time you get to UMass, Quinnipiac, and Penn State, you’re looking at trying to catch Arizona State. With each upcoming game accounting for a smaller percentage of your Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) at the end of the season, it becomes more difficult to close ranks.

Quinnipiac has the ability to move up into an NCAA at-large bid if it doesn’t win the ECAC, but needs a near-perfect record in the last six regular-season games and in the ECAC tournament. That last six includes a trip to Union and up to the north country to take on St. Lawrence and the Clarkson team that beat the Bobcats in OT in Hamden last weekend. That would squeak a second ECAC team into the NCAAs.

UMass has possibly the best route mathematically of those three I mentioned, since a run through the Hockey East schedule and playoffs still gets the Minutemen in. But the likelihood of that is slim, especially with BC and Maine still on the regular-season docket.

Penn State is interesting to me as the Nittany Lions have caught fire. A good finish and then deep run in the Big Ten playoffs may squeak them in, but they’ll have to handle a home series vs. Notre Dame before going on the road to Michigan State and a home series to end the season with Minnesota.

I think Colgate probably has to win the ECAC championship to get into the NCAAs.

That said, my biggest takeaway is that with all the moving parts, it will almost certainly take the last night of play in conference championships to figure out the fourth and fifth decimal places for the last team in.

What about the three conferences you mentioned that are likely to have just one team in? How is that shaping up?

Jim: I think the race in Atlantic Hockey is about as interesting as they come. Sacred Heart entered the weekend in the driver’s seat but took just one of six points against a red-hot Army team.

Holy Cross swept RIT to gain five points on the Pioneers in the standings and now controls its own destiny as it is tied with Sacred Heart and a point ahead of Bentley. A single game between Bentley and Holy Cross one week from Thursday night could become the de facto regular season championship game in Atlantic Hockey.

All of that said, that’s just the regular season champion that’s we’re talking about and, while a nice feather in the cap, it means nothing when it comes to qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

The same goes for the CCHA where Minnesota State has taken a stranglehold on the regular season with its sweep of Augustana. But the postseason champion will need to survive a minefield with teams like the aforementioned Minnesota State and Augustana plus Michigan Tech and Bowling Green all trying to make a postseason run.

I want to bring up one team you mentioned, Massachusetts. They rallied to beat UConn this weekend in its only game and now is just below the bubble in the PairWise. If they move up and get into the field, that’s seven Hockey East teams, something absolutely unprecedented.

Ed: Before I comment on the bounty of contenders from Hockey East, the final AHA standings may come down to a game rescheduled from Dec. 7 that has AIC at Holy Cross for a Monday, Feb. 24, game – two days after the rest of the league schedule ends. AIC was unable to field any goalies and after some consideration, the game was postponed to that date. That could determine first place in the league, tiebreakers, and also the order of the bottom six teams who play a one-game first-round contest on March 1.

Seven! That must be sending shivers down the spines of the NCAA D-I men’s ice hockey committee and the thought of seeding and scheduling that many from one league. Avoidance of first-round matchups between teams within the same league would suggest that three regionals would have two teams from Hockey East and one in the other. That could end up with a scenario that hasn’t happened in 20 years.

In the 2005 NCAA men’s D-I Frozen Four, four teams from the dearly departed WCHA made it to Columbus. North Dakota beat Minnesota and Denver downed Colorado College before the Pioneers prevailed over the Fighting Sioux for DU’s second straight title under head coach George Gwozdecky.

There were five WCHA teams in the tournament that year – Wisconsin was the other and lost to Michigan in the first round – and three regional No. 1 seeds, with North Dakota a two seed. A seven-team representation would have even better odds.

Still, I think six is more likely. And it’s possible then for the committee to put them in three regionals, ensuring at least one other conference represented in St. Louis.

All of this can still be derailed by some conference champions outside of the bubble in the Big Ten, NCHC, and Hockey East. Any favorite dark horses for you?

Jim: I feel like we really do talk a lot about parity in college hockey, but then when I attempt to look through league standings late in the season to try to find a few dark horses that could go on runs towards a conference title, I have a difficult time picking against favorites.

I think Hockey East is Boston College’s to lose just as I think either Michigan State or Minnesota will win the B1G. So dark horses in those leagues are difficult to identify for me, even though Hockey East is single elimination playoffs.

The CCHA feels like a race between Minnesota State and Augustana with Michigan Tech and Bowling Green ready to pounce.

The NCHC and Atlantic Hockey seem pretty wide open, though in AHA, I still see one of three – Holy Cross, Bentley and Sacred Heart – having a chance.

The crazy playoffs always occur in Lake Placid. Quinnipiac has a slight lead in the standings with six games left. If they win the regular season, it will be the 10th time in 20 seasons Quinnipiac will be the number one seed. In that time, they have won just a single ECAC tournament. If you’re looking for a dark horse, the ECAC should be your destination. Maybe its Clarkson or Cornell, or maybe Dartmouth shocks everyone and wins its first ECAC title. But the ECAC is always where I look for a postseason upset.

Ed: I think I agree with you on Hockey East and Big Ten. If we’re talking about teams outside the PairWise bubble, it would have to be a team like New Hampshire or Merrimack in Hockey East to run through the league playoffs, and in the Big Ten, Penn State, Wisconsin, or Notre Dame.

In the NCHC, most of the league is outside the bubble, so a good performance in the playoffs could get a team in. Colorado College, North Dakota, and Omaha are below the PWR Mendoza line, but are capable of a run.

Two teams I would add who could upset the apple cart in Atlantic Hockey are Army West Point and Niagara.

And in the ECAC? You’re right about what happens in Lake Placid. Let’s toss in Colgate and Union into the mix when we’re talking about dark horses.

If past experience holds, I expect at least one dark horse will make it to a conference championship game, making it a white-knuckle night for a couple of teams hoping to keep their NCAA bid alive … or to resuscitate it.

Union women’s hockey standout Friday tabbed winner of 2025 ECAC Hockey Mandi Schwartz Scholar-Athlete of the Year

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Maren Friday has been a standout at Union, on and off the ice (photo: Union Athletics).

ECAC Hockey has named Union defender Maren Friday the 2025 Mandi Schwartz Scholar-Athlete of the Year, honoring her for her excellence and leadership on the ice, in the classroom, and in the community.

The award is annually presented to an ECAC Hockey female student-athlete in honor of the late Mandi Schwartz, a Yale women’s hockey alum whose battle with cancer continues to inspire and empower the entire hockey community.

Friday is the first Union women’s student-athlete to win any major league award in the program’s history.

A senior at Union, Friday has been a standout both on the ice and in the classroom. As a mechanical engineering student, she has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA while leading her team to the most wins in its Division I history. Maren is a four-time Union scholar-athlete, recognized for her excellence in the classroom, community, and on the ice.

Her accomplishments on the ice are equally respected. She is a two-time recipient of the Union women’s hockey Hana Yamashita award, acknowledged for her outstanding competitiveness and exemplary work ethic.

Off the ice, Maren is the vice president of Pi Tau Sigma and tutors fellow engineering students. She also volunteers with Young Parents United, delivering food and gifts to families in need.

She is on track to join an exclusive list of Union Engineering students graduating with a 4.0 GPA in the spring.

Boston College garners all 50 first-place votes to sit No. 1 in Feb. 10 USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll

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Boston College scored three unanswered goals in the third period in the Eagles’ 4-2 victory over New Hampshire last Friday night (photo: Brody Hannon).

Boston College is again the top team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, collecting all 50 first-place votes in this week’s rankings.

Michigan State is again No. 2, while Western Michigan is up one to No. 3, Minnesota is down one to No. 4, and Maine holds steady at No. 5.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll – Feb. 10, 2025

Denver stays No. 6, Providence is again No. 7, Ohio State moves up one to No. 8, Boston University is down one to No. 9, and Arizona State enters the top 10, up two from last week.

UMass Lowell falls out of the top 10, sitting 13th in this week’s poll after a No. 10 ranking.

Previously unranked Penn State is 18th this week and Omaha comes in at No. 20.

In addition to the top 20 teams, 12 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.

Big weekends for Minnesota State, Western Michigan, Ohio State; Hobey, Richter contenders: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 17

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Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review games of the weekend and news of the week.

Highlights include Minnesota State’s pivotal sweep over Augustana in the CCHA, Boston College extending its winning streak to nine games, and Western Michigan’s strong performance against St. Cloud State. Additional discussions cover Ohio State’s dominance over Notre Dame in the Big Ten, surprising developments in Atlantic Hockey, and potential Hobey Baker Award candidates such as Ryan Leonard, Isaac Howard, and others. The episode also delves into standout goaltenders for the Richter Award, emphasizing the importance of sufficient playing time for award consideration.

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour

Times are approximate:

00:15 Introduction and sponsorship
00:36 Minnesota State in the CCHA
03:10 Boston College’s winning streak
05:37 Western Michigan’s strong performance
08:08 Ohio State’s surprise season
09:49 Penn State’s climb in the PairWise Rankings
12:47 Maine’s quiet rise in Hockey East
18:32 Atlantic Hockey shake-up
25:14 Hobey Baker and Richter frontrunners
37:48 Conclusion and sign-off

Subscribe to this college hockey podcast on Apple podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Find our podcast archive at USCHO.com/podcasts

NCAA D-II/III East Men’s Ice Hockey Weekend Wrap-up – February 10, 2025

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Chatham’s Nick Cyprian scored the game tying goal in Friday’s overtime battle with Utica where the Cougars won the shootout (Photo by Chatham Athletics)

Things are definitely heating up as the weeks in February roll by. Battles at the top are getting tighter, especially in the UCHC, SUNYAC, CNE and MASCAC at both the top as well as contests for playoff position further down the standings. The NE-10 has their regular season champion (St. Anselm) confirmed with one remaining week on the schedule, but they and the MAC may be the only ones where there is enough of a gap and too few games remaining to matter to take the top sot away from Wilkes. Some ranked teams struggled this week including Utica, Hamilton, and Endicott who saw their weekends blemished by ties and both a tie and a loss for the Continentals. The excitement is going to continue right to the final horn – here is the weekend roundup in the east:

CNE

The battle for seeding is red hot as just three points separate Curry at the top from second place, University of New England and Endicott lurking four points further in arrears. The real battle is for the remaining playoff positions of third place through sixth where the gap is five points among Suffolk, Johnson & Wales, Nichols, and Wentworth. This weekend certainly tightened things up.

Curry extended their win streak to eleven games with back-to-back shutouts over Wentworth. Karim Gayfullin’s second period goal was all Shane Soderwall needed in a 1-0 win over the Leopards on Friday and the Colonels extended their shutout streak on Saturday with a 4-0 victory. Three first period goals got the Colonels off and running while Jon Kopack and Soderwall split the shutout with a total of fifteen saves.

UNE kept pace with a pair of shutout wins as well over Johnson & Wales by scores of 3-0 and 7-0. Nathan Chickering figured in all the goals on Friday, scoring twice and assisting on Juraj Elias’s goal to open the scoring in the first period. Joey Stanizzi stopped eighteen Wildcat attempts for the shutout win on the road. Back home on Saturday, the Nor’easters opened up the offense with Ryan Kuzmich scoring two goals and Dominic Murphy chipping in with three assists in the lopsided win. Stefan Carney picked up the shutout stopping twenty-six shots.

Endicott earned a win and an overtime tie with Nichols to drop a point in the standings versus the frontrunners. Domenic Garrozzo paced the offense for the Gulls on Friday scoring a hat trick in an 8-2 rout of the Bison. Ryan Willett also had a three-point night scoring one goal and adding two assists. On Saturday, the Bison were far more aggressive on their home ice peppering Gulls goaltender Ryan Wilson with forty-four shots. Nathan Carl gave the home team a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded tally in the third period, but Jack Costanzo netted the game-tying goal with just 58 seconds remaining in regulation for the 1-1 draw. The Gulls took the shootout for the extra point following the scoreless overtime.

This upcoming weekend sees single games between all three league leaders that should make the race even more exciting as Curry hosts Endicott on Friday before traveling to face UNE on Saturday.

MAC

Wilkes has a comfortable lead over second place Stevenson, but Arcadia and Neumann are tied with twenty-eight points and Alvernia sits just four points back in a race for home-ice seeding.

While Wilkes downed Lebanon Valley, 3-1 and Stevenson defeated Misericordia, 6-2, Neumann picked up a big win over Arcadia on Friday night. In the battle of the Knights, the home team Arcadia Knights took a 2-0 lead before Neumann scored three unanswered goals in the second period, including two by Zack Smith for what proved to be the final scoring in a 3-2 road win. Goaltender Cole DeFazio stopped thirty-nine shots including fifteen in each of the second and third periods to backstop the Neumann comeback win.

Arcadia dropped another one-goal game to Wilkes on Saturday, 2-1 while Alvernia tightened things up winning on Friday against King’s and Saturday over Misericordia. On Friday, the Golden Wolves overcame a hat trick from the Monarchs’ Ethan Hersant as Justin Pare scored two goals and added three assists for Alvernia in a 7-3 win. On Saturday, a four-goal third period helped break a 3-3 tie for a 6-3 win over the Cougars. Frazer Dodd paced the attack with two goals while Will White and Lucas Ochitwa each chipped in with two assists.

MASCAC

While weather interfered with games scheduled for Thursday, Plymouth State won the contest played on Thursday and downed Rivier on Saturday for a seven-point lead over Anna Maria who has two games in hand. The real battle is behind third place Salem State where fourth place Worcester State is just three points ahead of seventh place Massachusetts-Dartmouth in what should be a wild race to the finish line.

Worcester State helped themselves out with a big 5-2 win over the Corsairs on Saturday which extended their win streak to four games. Shane Prifrel’s second goal of the game gave the Lancers a 3-1 lead early in the third period, but Hunter Scanlon halved the deficit for UMass-Dartmouth with over thirteen minutes still to play in regulation. Empty-net goals from Brian Clougherty and Anders Groongstad in the final ninety seconds sealed the 5-2 win. Goaltender Wyatt Friedlander stopped 33 of 35 shots to earn the win.

MCLA was riding a two-game win streak after last week’s OT win over Fitchburg and Friday’s 4-0 win over Rivier where goaltender Matthew Gover made thirty-seven saves in a 4-0 win over the Raiders. On Saturday, Anna Maria ended the trailblazers streak with an   8-3 win where the AmCats saw eight different goal scorers and four power play markers pace the attack.

NE-10

St. Anselm hosted St. Michael’s over the weekend with an opportunity to clinch the top seed and regular season title and accomplished both with two wins by 4-2 and 5-3 scores. On Friday, a three goal second period erased a 2-0 deficit to the Purple Knights and Hunter Brackett padded the margin in the third period for the final two-goal margin. On Saturday, the big line of Alberti, Burum and Brackett got going early with all three scoring to help the Hawks to a 3-0 lead. The Purple Knights closed the gap to one goal in the second period but third period goals from Steve Armstrong and Will Van der Veen sealed the 5-3 win.

SNHU jumped ahead of St. Michael’s in the standings with a win and an overtime tie (with shootout win) over Franklin Pierce over the weekend. On Friday, the Penmen rallied from a 2-0 hole against the Ravens with Brendan Lynch scoring one goal and assisting on three others in a 4-2 win. On Saturday, the resilient Penmen again found ways to rally from deficits of 2-1, 4-2, and 5-4 before earning a 5-5 OT tie on Kurt Watson’s third period score.

Earlier in the week the Ravens broke the ice for their first win of the season when they downed a struggling Assumption squad, 6-3. Austin Pick had a five-point game with a goal and four assists to pace the Ravens. Assumption then lost to Post in overtime on Friday as two goals, the second in OT, from Joe Santoro erased a one-goal lead for the Greyhounds in a 2-1 Eagles win. Goaltender Benjamin Cunneen stopped forty-four shots to earn the win.

NEHC

While Hobart is comfortably atop the conference standings and Babson has created some space in second place, there is a logjam of teams between third place and eighth place that are separated by just seven points including third-place Salve Regina being just three points in front of sixth place New England College.

New England College, winners of seven of their last eight, have found their game at the right time of the season. They continued their hot play by taking a two-game series from Elmira over the weekend. Friday night’s contest saw the Pilgrims take advantage of two power play goals to grab a 4-2 win over the Soaring Eagles. Jack Herron paced the attack with two goals and an assist for NEC. Saturday’s re-match was a playoff style atmosphere with both teams exchanging man advantage goals in the first period for all the scoring until Gunnar Sibley scored shorthanded to give the Pilgrims a 2-1 win.

Babson swept a two-game series from Massachusetts-Boston with 4-2 scores in both games. John McElaney led the Beavers offense on Friday with two -goals and Egan Schmitt iced the contest with an empty-net goal. On Saturday, the Beavers scored three times in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit in a second 4-2 win. Will Holland scored the game-winning goal late in the third period and Wyatt George added a more comfortable margin with his tally in the final two minutes of regulation.

Skidmore is yet another team that has found a winning formula in the past couple of weeks as the Thoroughbreds extended their win streak to four games with two wins over Albertus Magnus. Cooper Rice and Mitchell Floccare scored second period goals to break a 1-1 tie in Skidmore’s 4-1 win over the Falcons on Friday. On Saturday, the score was the same, but it was a fast start for the Thoroughbreds that determined the outcome early. Goals by Stephen Perez, Coleman Jenkins, and Ethan Heidepriem in just over a five-minute span in the opening period was more than enough to pace a 4-1 win for Skidmore.

NESCAC

Maybe no other conference has the volatility that one weekend’s results can bring to the standings like NESCAC. This week saw the gap at the top close between Hamilton and Trinity to just three points while third place to tenth place is just a ten-point gap with two weekends of action remaining for playoff eligibility and seeding.

Bowdoin jumped into third place with a strong weekend where they defeated Hamilton and tied Amherst. On Friday, goals were in abundance as the Polar Bears took advantage of two goals and two assists from Gabe Shipper in a 7-5 road win over the Continentals. Defense was a bit tighter on Saturday as Bowdoin and Amherst managed just one marker apiece and Polar Bar netminder Jacob Osbourne doing yeoman’s work with fifty saves to preserve the OT tie.

Trinity tightened the gap to Hamilton with wins over Middlebury and Williams over the weekend. On Friday, the Bantams needed goals by Eamon Doheny and Richard Boysen in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and post a 4-2 win over the Panthers. On Saturday, the Ephs took a 3-1 lead only to see Trinity battle back for a 4-3 advantage in the third period. Owen Stadheim tied the game with just fifteen seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime tied at 4-4. In the extra session Doheny gave Trinity the sudden victory with just twenty seconds remaining in the overtime period, 5-4.

SUNYAC

The standings in SUNYAC are set for some serious scoreboard watching as while Cortland has clinched a playoff spot, that is the only known for all the teams competing to earn a post-season berth. Just four points separate the top three teams while one point is the margin between fourth and seventh place.

Potsdam kept their playoff hopes alive when they ended Cortland’s four game win streak on Friday night. The Bears took advantage of two goals by Mason Hoehn to break a 1-1 tie and Jakub Hall added some margin late in the third period for a big 4-2 road win over the Red Dragons. Potsdam completed their weekend action with a comfortable 5-1 win over Morrisville to stay in the playoff mix.

Cortland rebounded on Saturday against Plattsburgh with a decisive 6-2 win at home. Two goals from Domenic Settimo and a goal and two assists from Colby Seitz helped the Red Dragons to a 4-0 advantage in route to the victory over the Cardinals.

After dropping a 4-3 contest to Canton, Buffalo State rallied to down Oswego on Saturday with two goals in the final period breaking a 2-2 tie in a 4-2 win over the Lakers. Don Powell and Connor Bizal provided the decisive markers for the Bengals.

Canton completed their victorious tour of western New York with a 2-1 overtime win over Fredonia on Saturday. Evan Pringle scored less than a minute into overtime to give the Kangaroos a hard-fought road win over the Blue Devils.

UCHC

The battle is still at the top with Geneseo and Utica battling for the top seed and games against each other still on the calendar this coming weekend.

Geneseo took a pair of wins over former SUNYAC opponent Brockport over the weekend. On Friday, two goals and an assist from Zach Purcell helped pace a 7-2 Knights victory over the Golden Eagles. Saturday’s contest saw Robert Gatewood record a hat trick in Geneseo’s 5-2 win against Brockport. Goaltender Jacob Torgner made seventeen saves in the win.

The Utica Pioneers faced a far more determined opponent as Friday’s matchup with Chatham was a very physical and penalty filled affair. Utica took a 3-1 lead into the third period only to see Zack Conner and Nick Cyprian score in the final eight minutes to tie the score at 3-3. Overtime could not decide a winner and the Cougars took the shootout (2-0). On Saturday, Utica took advantage of two goals from Drake Morse and two-point games from Johnny Mulera and Eric Vitale in a 6-2 win.

Manhattanville picked up a pair of one-goal wins against Nazareth over the weekend by 3-2 and 4-3 scores. Nicholas Rogers scored two goals and Elijah Devereaux added one as the Valiants built a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win. Saturday’s game saw the Valiants rally with Devereaux netting the game-tying goal with just six seconds remaining in the third period and Artem Mateichenko score the game-winner in overtime for the 4-3 win over the Golden Flyers.

Three Biscuits

Austin Pick – Franklin Pierce – scored one goal and assisted on three more for the Ravens who earned their first victory of the season over Assumption on Tuesday night with a 6-3 win.

Domenic Garrozzo – Endicott – scored a hat trick in the Gulls dominating 8-2 win over Nichols on Friday night.

Will McEvoy  – Connecticut College  – stopped forty-one Jumbo attempts on goal in a 1-0 win for the Camels over their travel partner on Friday night.

There are just one or two weekends left for teams to make their move and kick their level of play into high gear. This weekend showed that even the frontrunners can be surprised and that sets up some very juicy storylines coming down the stretch in February. Lots to watch in person and other scores on your phone as there will still be a lot of movement coming soon in league standings across the region.

 

 

NCAA D-III West Men’s Hockey Weekend Roundup

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Daunte Fortner helped lead Marian to an upset of Trine.
(Photo provided by Marian Athletics)

Marian pulled off a big win over the weekend, edging seventh-ranked Trine 5-4 on Saturday.

Tied at 2-2 after two, the Sabres outscored the Thunder 3-2 in the final period, getting a game-winning goal from Daunte Fortner, who found the back of the net with 10.3 seconds to play in regulation.

The goal was Fortner’s second of the game and resulted in the fourth multi-goal game of the year for him. He’s had at least one point in five consecutive games. Edison Weeks added two assists and Nicholas Von Kaufmann won his first college game, making 24 saves.

Marian scored five goals in a game for the third time this year and snapped a six-game losing streak to the Thunder while improving to 8-13-1 overall and 5-9-1 in the conference.

Trine flipped the script on Sunday, getting a goal from Logan Furstneau with 3.6 seconds to play to secure a 3-2 win.

Drew Welsh and Drew Jeffers each tallied a goal and assist as the Thunder improved to 17-5-1 overall and 11-4-1 in the NCHA.

Spartans keep streak going

Aurora is unbeaten in its last 10 games after tying MSOE on Friday and winning on Saturday.

The third-ranked Spartans capped the series with a 6-3 win, scoring all six goals in the final two periods after trailing 2-0 at the end of one.

Aurora is 19-3-1 overall and 13-2-1 in the NCHA, and the win total for the Spartans is tied for the most in program history.

Landry Schmuck and Jacob Brockman scored twice and also each dished out an assist. Hassan Akl added two assists, as did Juliano Santalucia. Akl leads the country in assists. Schmuck leads the nation in goals.

In Friday’s game, the two teams played to a 3-3 tie after regulation and two overtime periods before the Spartans won the shootout by a 2-1 count.

MSOE is 10-8-4 overall and 5-7-3 in the conference. Seth Bernard scored twice in Friday’s game. Austin Schwab made 27 saves.

Bulldogs dominate series

Ryan Pitoscia helped Adrian finish off a big weekend, coming through with a hat trick in a 6-1 win over Concordia.

He also hit the 100-point milestone in his career in the win after scoring a goal in the opening period. Pitoscia also came through with an assist in the victory. Bradley Somers tallied three assists for Adrian, which is 16-7 overall and 10-6 in the NCHA.

The Bulldogs blanked the Falcons on Friday as Ryder Nienhuis stole the show with a four-goal effort, tying the program record for most goals in a game.

Adrian is 55-0 all-time against Concordia, with 10 wins coming via shutout.

Fraser shines for St. Norbert

Liam Fraser is used to rising to the occasion for St. Norbert, and he did it again on Friday, tying the NCAA Division III single-season record for game-winning goals in a 3-2 victory over Lake Forest.

Fraser scored in the first minute of the third period to give the Green Knights the lead for good. He now has nine game-winning goals on the year and 16 goals overall as St. Norbert won its third consecutive road game.

St. Norbert scored twice in the third in Saturday’s game to force overtime. Calvin Hanson then scored less than two minutes into OT for the win.

Fraser finished with a goal and two assists. He has 74 goals in his career, the second-most in program history.

The sixth-ranked team in the country is 18-5 overall and 13-3 in the NCHA.  

MIAC

Cobbers on a roll

Concordia is a team on the rise in the MIAC.

The Cobbers are unbeaten in their last six, picking up two more wins this past weekend in a series sweep of Hamline, surging to fourth place in the conference standings.

Concordia was once near the bottom of the league but is rolling now, sitting at 10-9-2 overall and 6-4-2 in the league.

In Saturday’s 6-4 win,, the Cobbers shook off a 4-1 first period deficit on their way to a a big win.

Mason Plante scored twice while Dane Couture racked up 12 saves. Tied at 4-4, Hunter Olson scored the game winner for the Cobbers a little over three minutes left in the third.

Concordia won 3-1 on Friday, scoring twice in the second to take control in its first game in two weeks. Caden Triggs scored the game winner for his sixth goal of the year. Couture made 22 saves.

Gusties stay in first

After playing to a 2-2 tie against Saint John’s on Friday, Gustavus finished off the series with a 3-0 win over the Johnnies.

The Gusties scored all three of their goals in the third period as they beat Saint John’s for the first time since 2015.

Joey Gimberlin, Drew Holt and Nate Stone all scored for the Gusties, who are 13-7-1 overall and 9-2-1 in the MIAC.

Marko Belak came through with his third shutout of the season, making 25 saves, to help Gustavus stretch their lead in the standings to eight points.

Gustavus won a shootout thanks to a goal by Wilmer Svensson. Belak tallied 36 saves, stopping all five shots in the shootout.

Oles on a roll

St. Olaf stretched its win streak to four games on Saturday with a 3-1 win over St. Scholastica.

The Oles won Friday’s game by a 5-4 score. They come out of the weekend in third place in the standings. They are 11-7-3 overall and 6-5-1 in the MiAC.

Jonathan Panisa helped lead the way as he scored a goal and dished out an assist while Thomas Lalonde stopped 28 shots and hit the 1,000-save milestone in his career.

Down 3-2 after one period on Friday, the Oles rallied for a win, scoring three times in the third to take the lead.

Panisa was on top of his game as he scored two goals while also dishing out an assist to record the first three-point game of his collegiate career. Tyler Green also stepped up, tallying a goal and assist.

Lalonde rose to the occasion as well, making 18 saves, including a key save in the third on his way to his third win of the season.

WIAC

Still on top

UW-Superior remains the top team in the WIAC after sweep UW-Stout. The Yellowjackets won 2-1 and 4-1, stretching their unbeaten streak to 15 games.

The 11th-ranked team in the USCHO.com poll got two goals from Reed Stark as they assured themselves of no worse than a second place finish in the league standings.

Stark and Justin Dauphinais are now tied for the team lead in goals scored with 12 apiece. Kobe Grant stopped 23 shots for his sixth win.

The unbeaten streak by Superior is the third longest in school history, and the Yellowjackets improved to 18-3-2 overall and 11-1-1 in the WIAC. The team hasn’t won 17 or more games since the 2008-09 campaign.

Down 1-0 after two periods on Friday, the Yellowjackets scored twice, including off a goal by Dauphinais as they won their fourth overtime game of the year. Collin Pederson tied the game in the third.

Jack Boschert racked up 20 saves for Superior and has allowed one goal or less in eight of his 10 appearances. 

Blugolds split with Falcons

UW-Eau Claire moved into third place in the WIAC standings after salvaging a split in its series with UW-River Falls Saturday, winning 7-5 in a wild game on the road.

The Blugolds scored five times in the second period while the Falcons scored three times. Eau Claire led 6-4 going to the third.

Conor Szmul scored twice while Collin Stein, Jadon Reimer, Trenten Hyde and Tyler Herzberg finished with two assists apiece. Maz Gutjahr racked up 22 saves.

Eau Claire improved to 9-13-1 overall and 7-6 in the WIAC.

It was a different story on Friday as the Falcons prevailed in overtime, beating the Blugolds 2-1. Reid Lune stepped up in crunch time, scoring the game winner in OT. It was his eighth goal of the year and the second game-winning goal of the season. Brennan Boynton stopped 33 saves, tying a season high in that category. He also won his 12th game.

Pointers power past Northland

UW-Stevens Point had little trouble against Northland, winning 8-2 on Friday and finishing the series with a 5-0 win on Saturday.

The 10th-ranked Pointers got a hat trick from Sean Bunting in Saturday’s game. It was the first three-goal game of his collegiate career. The Pointers improved to 17-5-1 overall and 9-3-1 in the WIAC. They have won three consecutive games.

Eight Pointers scored in Friday’s win as Stevens Point shook off a 2-0 deficit by tallying eight unanswered goals. Nico Chmeleveski and Andrew Poulias both finished with a goal and assist.

Monday 10: Beanpot title game on tap tonight; Michigan, Michigan State split rivalry series; Sacred Heart, Holy Cross tied for top spot in Atlantic Hockey America

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Michigan’s Nick Moldenhauer looks for a rebound in front of Michigan State goalie Trey Augustine (photo: Michigan Photography).

Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.

1. BC, BU to meet in Beanpot final
We most often focus in this space on what happened last weekend. But this time, it’s hard to avoid what happened earlier last week, as well as what’s going on tonight.

Top-ranked Boston College and No. 8 Boston University will meet at 7:30 p.m. Eastern in the championship game of the 72nd Men’s Beanpot title game. BC got there by hammering defending champion Northeastern 8-2 in last Monday’s semifinals, on the same night that BU handed Harvard a 7-1 drubbing. More recently, BU dropped a 2-1 overtime decision Friday at Merrimack, while BC won 4-2 on the road against New Hampshire.

Tonight will mark the first time that BC and BU have met in the Beanpot final since 2016.

2. Maine, Providence clash in top-10 series
Fifth-ranked Maine visited No. 7 Providence last weekend for a series that ended up looking better from the visitors’ perspective.

Maine picked up a shootout win Friday after the teams skated to a 3-3 tie through 65 minutes. Two game-tying Taylor Makar goals in the third period, including one with the Black Bears skating shorthanded, helped force extras. So, too, did Albin Boija’s 29 saves.

Makar then scored the only goal, 2:15 into overtime, in Maine’s 1-0 win Saturday. Makar now has five game-winning goals this season and is on a five-game goal streak.

3. Denver, Arizona State split in desert
Sixth-ranked Denver and No. 12 Arizona State split their weekend series in Tempe, Ariz., with both games going to overtime.

Aidan Thompson’s second goal of Friday’s game came in the last minute of overtime, helping Denver outlast ASU 5-4. It was the 11th consecutive game where the Pioneers had gone without a loss when they went past regulation (8-0-3). Denver’s senior class also won its 113th career game Friday, setting a new school record in their program’s 75th season.

Arizona State’s Bennett Schimek then scored twice himself Saturday, including the winner as the Sun Devils won 6-5. Lukas Sillinger added another two goals on a night when ASU won its four-game season series with the defending national champions.

4. Michigan, Michigan State share spoils
Second-ranked Michigan State and No. 13 Michigan split a two-game series last weekend, with Michigan nabbing a 2-1 road win Friday before the Spartans responded with a 6-1 trouncing Saturday at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena.

Garrett Schifsky scored in the last minute of Michigan’s victory in East Lansing, and it was actually the second time this season that Schifsky had scored a game-winner this season against MSU. It was also the first time that Michigan had pulled ahead in the final minute of regulation in a game since October 2017.

But the Spartans got their revenge, retaining the Duel in the D trophy with a blowout win Saturday at the home of the Detroit Red Wings. Joey Larson’s goal and two assists saw him lead five MSU players with multi-point nights, as the Spartans ensured that they and U-M would split their four-game regular season series.

5. Minnesota State takes pair over Augustana
In a high-profile CCHA series last weekend, No. 15 Minnesota State took a pair of home games over No. 17 Augustana.

Adam Eisele’s game-winner Friday helped MSU reclaim first place in the CCHA standings. Mavericks goaltender Alex Tracy made 25 saves in the winning effort, on a night when MSU went 4 on 4 on penalty kills. Mason Wheeler, Campbell Cichosz and Will Hillman blocked three shots apiece.

Notre Dame transfer Fin Williams scored his first MSU goal Saturday, and Tracy made 28 saves in a 2-1 victory. Rhett Pitlick, an MSU senior and former Minnesota player, also scored to help the Mavericks solidify their spot atop the conference standings with four games left.

6. Ohio State takes two on road
Ninth-ranked Ohio State rolled in Big Ten action last weekend, handing Notre Dame a pair of 5-1 defeats.

Two Ryan Gordon goals helped the Buckeyes to their victory Friday night, when Ohio State equipment manager Tim Adams worked his 1,000th career game. Adams is in his 28th season with the men’s hockey program at his alma mater.

Back on the ice, Davis Burnside’s goal and two assists Saturday again helped OSU win a game in which the Buckeyes gave up the first goal. Burnside finished the weekend with two goals and five points, while Logan Terness made 68 saves on the weekend for the visitors. Forty-one of them came in the series finale.

7. Quinnipiac splits two weekend games
No. 14 Quinnipiac, currently ECAC Hockey’s only top-20 team, split a pair of home games last weekend, beating St. Lawrence 5-1 on Friday before dropping a 3-2 overtime decision Saturday against Clarkson.

Mason Marcellus’s career-best four-point night with two goals helped Quinnipiac to its third win in a row, and he was one of five QU players to put the puck into St. Lawrence’s net. Eleven different Bobcats found their way onto the scoresheet, on a night when QU moved to 10-0 this season when scoring first.

They did not score first against Clarkson, but first-period goals from Chris Pelosi and Victor Czerneckianair had QU ahead before Clarkson’s Ellis Rickwood tied the game midway through the second. Tristan Sarsland bagged the Golden Knights’ winner 2:20 into overtime.

8. Omaha takes two more at home
Unranked Omaha refuses to be counted out of the NCAA tournament hunt. The Mavericks’ home sweep last weekend over Minnesota Duluth gave UNO its fifth and sixth wins in the Mavs’ last eight games.

Fresh off an 11-2 humbling Feb. 1 at Denver, UNO won 4-1 Friday over UMD on the back of 39 saves from reigning NCHC goaltender of the month Simon Latkoczy. Zach Urdahl scored twice in the game, giving him his team-best fourth multi-goal outing of the season.

Brady Risk also scored in that game, then bagged another two in the Mavericks’ 5-2 victory. UNO was outshot 52-29, but that didn’t stop the Mavs from picking up their seventh consecutive home win. Three of their goals Saturday came on power plays.

9. Western Michigan keeps on rolling
Fresh off a road split with No. 20 Colorado College, fourth-ranked Western Michigan cruised to a pair of home wins last weekend, beating St. Cloud State 4-0 on Friday and 6-1 the following night.

Trisan Lemyre’s hat trick on four shots Friday propelled the Broncos, as did Cameron Rowe’s 24 saves in the graduate student’s eighth career shutout.

Six different Broncos scored in their blowout win Saturday. Hampton Slukynsky, who has helped make for a formidable goaltending duo with Rowe, made 25 saves in the freshman’s sixth win of the season.

10. Sacred Heart, Holy Cross tied on points atop AHA
Sacred Heart and Holy Cross finished the weekend tied at the top of Atlantic Hockey, with 47 points apiece.

Holy Cross, which has two games in hand on the Pioneers, did itself a big favor last weekend by taking two games at RIT. Twelve different Crusaders recorded points Friday in Holy Cross’s 9-2 win, before Thomas Gale made 26 saves in a 3-0 shutout Saturday.

Meanwhile, Sacred Heart skated to a 2-2 tie Friday at Army, with the Black Knights taking an overtime shootout. Army then won 5-3 on Saturday, scoring three power-play goals. Two of them came on the same five-minute major, after Sacred Heart’s Gabe Blanchard received a game misconduct for direct contact to the head.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Weekend Wrap February 10, 2025

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(3) Minnesota at (1) Wisconsin

Read the recap of the first game here. In the second game, the Badgers held a 13-3 shot advantage in the first, but the game was 0-0 at the first intermission. Wisconsin began to pull away early in the second. First Vivian Jungels scored her second of the weekend as she took advantage of open ice during four-on-four to make it 1-0. Just 45 seconds later, Kirsten Simms beat a defender five hole to extend the lead to 2-0. With the second assist on that goal Casey O’Brien reached 250 points for her career. Three minutes later, Lacey Eden hit a one-timer from the high slot on a pass from Simms on the power play to make it a 3-0 game. Emma Connor cut into the lead for Minnesota with a patient backhand that beat an outstretched Ava McNaughton to make it a 3-1 game before ten minutes had elapsed in the second. O’Brien tipped a pass on a Gopher power play late in the second and took off on her own, scoring a breakaway short-hander to extend the lead to 4-1. The Badgers added two goals in the final two minutes of the game as Claire Enright’s centering pass deflected into the net and Kelly Gorbatenko took a stretch pass in on a breakaway to secure the 6-1 win and season sweep for Wisconsin.

St. Thomas at (2) Ohio State

The Buckeyes outshot the Tommies 21-7 in the first, but it was Lauren Stenslie’s goal with under two to play that had St. Thomas up 1-0 at the first intermission. Maddy Clough’s power play goal two minutes into the second extended the Tommies’ lead to 2-0. Jocelyn Amos cut into the lead a few minutes later, but St. Thomas had the response as Chloe Boreen extended the lead to 3-1 heading into the third period. Riley Brengman pulled the Buckeyes within one a minute into the first on a coast-to-coast goal to make it 3-2. At the midpoint of the third, Keara Parkergave the Tommies a 4-2 lead. With under six minutes to play, Jenna Buglioni scored short-handed to cut the lead to 4-2. OSU pulled their goalie with 2:36 left on the clock and with just 29 seconds left on the clock, Amos scored to tie the game and force overtime. St. Thomas took a delay of game penalty, which carried over into overtime, putting Ohio State on a 4-on-3 advantage and Joy Dunne ended the game and OSU escaped with a 5-4 win. On Saturday, Ohio State came out firing as a first period power play goal from Amos and a goal a minute into the second from Makenna Webster had the Buckeyes up 2-0. Sadie Lindsay scored for the Tommies before the midpoint to cut the lead to one, but Kiara Zanon quickly responded and St. Thomas would not be able to slow OSU down. Dunne and Buglioni added goals before the end of the frame and Ohio State would go on to win 5-1. 

(4) Colgate at Union

Mallory Mauracher put Union on the board early with a deflection to make it 1-0. Avery Pickering scored after a rebound to tie the game late in the second to tie it 1-1. It wasn’t until late in the third that Emma Pais scored on the power play to give Colgate the lead and they held on for the 2-1 win. 

(4) Colgate at RPI

The Engineers had an answer for every Colgate goal on Saturday and then struck in overtime to earn an upset victory. Madeline Palumbo scored midway through the first to send the teams to the first intermission with the Raiders up 1-0. In the second, Meg Hildner’s late goal for RPI tied the game at 1-1. Elyssa Biederman put Colgate ahead 2-1 early in the third with a power play tally, but Ellie Kaiser had the answer for RPI to tie the game and force overtime. In the extra frame, Sophie Helgeson’s shot was blocked by Casey Borgiel, but it got hung up and Borgie lost track of the puck when it finally hit the ice. Natalie Tulchinsky picked it up and backhanded it into the net to win the game for RPI.

(5) Cornell at RPI

Despite Cornell out-shooting RPI 16-2 in the first, the teams went to the locker room tied 0-0. But the Big Red found their groove in the second as Piper Grober, Ashley Messier and Georgia Schiff each lit the lamp. Avi Adam added a goal in the third to close out the 4-0 win for Cornell. 

(5) Cornell at Union

After not capitalizing on a power play in the first, Union struck with the extra attacker early in the second as Maddie Leaney gave the Garnet Chargers a 1-0 lead. With seven minutes left in the third, Mackenna VanGelder tied the game for the Big Red and a minute later Karel Prefontaine scored on a toe drag to give Cornell the 2-1 lead and eventual win. 

(6) Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State

Friday was a Caitlin Kraemer showcase as the rookie scored a shorthander in the first and on the power play in the second to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 win. On Saturday, a five-goal second period powered UMD to a 6-0 win. Six different Bulldogs scored in the victory as Jenna Lawry, Olivia Wallin, Clara Van Wieren, Kraemer, Grace Sadura and Kamdyn Davis all lit the lamp for UMD. 

(9) Quinnipiac at (7) St. Lawrence

Abby Hehl scored midway through the first with some quick reflexes on an awkward bound and that would be the only scoring until Kristina Bahl added an empty netter to make it 2-0. Laurence Frenette managed to claw one back for the Bobcats, but Quinnipiac ran out of time to complete a comeback and SLU took the 2-1 win. 

(12) Princeton at (7) St. Lawrence

Abby Hustler scored twice on the power play to close out the game for St. Lawrence and earn her 150th career point. Tori Verbeek opened the scoring for the Saints in the first, but Princeton quickly replied as Sarah Paul and Mackenzie Alexander each lit the lamp to send the Tigers to the locker room with a 2-1 lead. From there, it was all Hustler, who scored on the advantage in the second and third, both assisted by Kristina Bahl and Claire Tyo, to give SLU the 3-2 win on their senior night. 

Mercyhurst at (8) Penn State 

Penn State won the first official AHA regular season title on Friday, their third in a row after winning the final two CHA regular season championships. It was a busy first period to start the weekend. The Nittany Lions had a hole to dig out of after Julia Schalin and Marielle Parks put Mercyhurst up 2-0 by the midpoint of the first. Maddy Christian pulled one back just 30 seconds later, but just two minutes later Jade Maisonneuve pulled one back for Mercyhurst to make it 3-1. Grace Outwater cut the lead to one before the frame ended, sending the teams to the locker room with the Lakers up 3-2. Abby Stonehouse found a loose puck in front in the second to tie the game for Penn State in the second. No one managed to break the tie in the third and the game headed to overtime. With just more than a minute to go, Lyndie Lobdell’s shot off the crossbar and in was initially called no goal, but after a review was called good, giving Penn State the 4-3 win and wrapping up the AHA title for them. Saturday’s game was the opposite, with a scoreless first period. Sofia Nuutinen opened the scoring for Mercyhurst on the wraparound to give the Lakers the 1-0 lead. Christian tied the game on a short-handed breakaway a few minutes later to tie the game 1-1. Midway through the second, Tessa Janecke stole the puck and took off on her own to give Penn State the 2-1 lead. Early in the third, Schalin scored with her own steal and breakaway to tie the game 2-2. Vanessa Upson tipped in the puck with about nine minutes to go in the third for what would prove to be the game-winner, giving Mercyhurst the 3-2 victory. 

(9) Quinnipiac at (10) Clarkson

Jenna Goodwin went bar down on the power play midway through the first to open the scoring for Clarkson and put them up 1-0. Kahlen Lamarche responded for Quinnipiac to tie the game 1-1 at the first intermission. Nicole Gosling lit the lamp at the end of a rush for the Golden Knights to make it 2-1 Clarkson. Sena Catterall added an empty-netter to close out the 3-1 win.

(12) Princeton at (10) Clarkson

After a scoreless first, this game featured a busy second period. Clarkson jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second thanks to back-to-back power play goals on identical plays. In both, Haley Winn sent a pass from the goal line and first Rhea Hicks and then Sena Catterall pushed the puck past the goalie. Hannah Fetterolf closed the gap for the Tigers midway through the second and then Sarah Paul’s power play goal tied the game 2-2. No one could find the back of the net in the third or overtime and the game went to a shootout. Winn was the only player to score to give Clarkson the shootout win

(11) St. Cloud State at Minnesota State

SCSU jumped out to an early lead with a goal from Emma Gentry off a forced turnover by Taylor Larson to go up 1-0. That held into the second period, but Mankato’s Alexis Paddington scored on the power play to tie the game 1-1. Ninety seconds into the third, Marie Moran made good on a one-on-one, scoring through the five hole to make it 2-1. Alice Sauriol’s breakaway attempt a few minutes later was stopped, but she put back her own rebound and it bounced into the net to give St. Cloud the 3-1 lead and eventual win. Sofianna Sundelin put the Huskies up 1-0 on Saturday just eight minutes in, putting back her own rebound. Claire Vekich tied the game with four minutes left in the first and then Bella Shipley put Minnesota State up 2-1 four minutes into the second. Avery Farrell tipped in a shot midway through the third to tie the game and eventually force overtime. After no score in the extra frame, Minnesota State took the shootout when Taylor Otremba scored in the final round.

(13) Northeastern at Maine

Kiia Lahtinen earned a 33 save shutout to power Maine to a 2-0 win over the Huskies. Lily Fetch scored in the closing minutes of the second to give the Black Bears the 1-0 lead and Stephanie Jacob scored an empty-netter to ice the win.

Connecticut at (14) Boston University

The Huskies used a balanced offense, scoring once in each frame to take down Boston University and close the gap atop Hockey East to just one point. Brianna Ware redirected a shot on the power play to put UConn up 1-0 after one. In the second, Claire Murdoch extended the lead to 2-0 early, but BU cut it back to on before the end of the frame with a goal from Neely Nicholson. Jada Habisch’s short-handed goal midway through the third gave UConn some breathing room and they closed out the game to win 3-1. 

Providence at (14) Boston University

Sydney Healey scored twice while Maeve Carey and Alex Law each scored once to lead BU to a come-from-behind win over Providence on Saturday. After a back and forth but scoreless first period, Reichen Kirchmair scored to put the Friars up 1-0 midway through the game. But the Terriers came alive in the third. Sydney Healey tied the game as she chipped in the puck eight minutes into the third. Less than two minutes later, Carey scored her first goal as a Terrier, lifting the puck into the net to make it 2-1. Alex Law’s short-handed breakaway goal sealed the 3-1 win for BU. Mari Pietersen made a career-high 36 saves in the win. 

(15) Boston College at Vermont

Lara Beecher scored on the power play to open the scoring and put Vermont up 1-0 on Thursday, but Boston College took over from there, shutting down the Catamount offense and scoring seven unanswered goals to take the win. Gabby Roy’s power play goal late in the first tied the game and the Eagles scored four times in the second to break the game open. Jade Arnone, Olivia Maffeo, Katie Pyne and Molly Jordan each lit the lamp to make it 5-1 at the end of the second. Abby Newhook and Kate Ham’s goals in the third completed the 7-1 win. On Saturday, Oona Havana and Rose-Marie Brochu had a two-on-one breakaway 44 seconds into the game and Brochu waited out the goalie to find the twine and make it 1-0. The Eagles pushed back, scoring twice in a minute on goals from Ham and Lauren Glaser to give BC a 2-1 lead. Brochu repeated her early period magic in the second, scoring on a wraparound 42 seconds into the frame. Then Brochu and McKenzie Cerrato broke out on an odd-player rush and Cerrato scored what would prove to be the game-winner with about six to play in the second. Jane Gervais made 29 saves, including 12 in the third, to help Vermont to the 3-2 win.

Rankings roundup: How the top 20 NCAA Division I men’s hockey teams fared, Feb. 7-8

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Quinnipiac beat St. Lawrence Friday night and fell in overtime Saturday night to Clarkson (photo: Farrah Chernov).

Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll of Feb. 3 fared in games over the weekend of Feb. 7-8.

No. 1 Boston College (21-4-1)
02/03/2025 – Northeastern 2 vs No. 1 Boston College 8 (Beanpot)
02/07/2025 – No. 1 Boston College 4 at RV New Hampshire 2

No. 2 Michigan State (22-5-3)
02/07/2025 – No. 13 Michigan 2 at No. 2 Michigan State 1
02/08/2025 – No. 2 Michigan State 6 vs No. 13 Michigan 1 (Detroit, Mich.)

No. 3 Minnesota (21-6-3)
Did not play.

No. 4 Western Michigan (20-5-1)
02/07/2025 – RV St. Cloud State 0 at No. 4 Western Michigan 4
02/08/2025 – RV St. Cloud State 1 at No. 4 Western Michigan 6

No. 5 Maine (18-5-4)
02/07/2025 – No. 5 Maine 3 at No. 7 Providence 3 (OT)
02/08/2025 – No. 5 Maine 1 at No. 7 Providence 0 (OT)

No. 6 Denver (20-7-1)
02/07/2025 – No. 6 Denver 5 at No. 12 Arizona State 4 (OT)
02/08/2025 – No. 6 Denver 5 at No. 12 Arizona State 6 (OT)

No. 7 Providence (16-7-5)
02/07/2025 – No. 5 Maine 3 at No. 7 Providence 3 (OT)
02/08/2025 – No. 5 Maine 1 at No. 7 Providence 0 (OT)

No. 8 Boston University (15-10-1)
02/03/2025 – No. 8 Boston University 7 vs. Harvard 1 (Beanpot)
02/07/2025 – No. 8 Boston University 1 at Merrimack 2 (OT)

No. 9 Ohio State (18-8-2)
02/07/2025 – No. 9 Ohio State 5 at Notre Dame 1
02/08/2025 – No. 9 Ohio State 5 at Notre Dame 1

No. 10 UMass Lowell (14-10-3)
02/07/2025 – Vermont 5 at No. 10 UMass Lowell 3
02/08/2025 – No. 10 UMass Lowell 4 at No. 11 Connecticut 5 (OT)

No. 11 Connecticut (15-10-3)
02/07/2025 – No. 18 Massachusetts 5 at No. 11 Connecticut 4
02/08/2025 – No. 10 UMass Lowell 4 at No. 11 Connecticut 5 (OT)

No. 12 Arizona State (17-10-1)
02/07/2025 – No. 6 Denver 5 at No. 12 Arizona State 4 (OT)
02/08/2025 – No. 6 Denver 5 at No. 12 Arizona State 6 (OT)

No. 13 Michigan (16-12-2)
02/07/2025 – No. 13 Michigan 2 at No. 2 Michigan State 1
02/08/2025 – No. 2 Michigan State 6 vs No. 13 Michigan 1 (Detroit, Mich.)

No. 14 Quinnipiac (17-9-2)
02/07/2025 – St. Lawrence 1 at No. 14 Quinnipiac 6
02/08/2025 – RV Clarkson 3 at No. 14 Quinnipiac 2 (OT)

No. 15 Minnesota State (20-8-2)
02/07/2025 – No. 17 Augustana 1 at No. 15 Minnesota State 4
02/08/2025 – No. 17 Augustana 1 at No. 15 Minnesota State 2

No. 16 North Dakota (14-11-2)
02/07/2025 – No. 20 Colorado College 6 at No. 16 North Dakota 4
02/08/2025 – No. 20 Colorado College 1 at No. 16 North Dakota 3

No. 17 Augustana (16-9-3)
02/07/2025 – No. 17 Augustana 1 at No. 15 Minnesota State 4
02/08/2025 – No. 17 Augustana 1 at No. 15 Minnesota State 2

No. 18 Massachusetts (15-11-2)
02/07/2025 – No. 18 Massachusetts 5 at No. 11 Connecticut 4

No. 19 Wisconsin (11-16-3)
02/07/2025 – RV Penn State 2 at No. 19 Wisconsin 0
02/08/2025 – RV Penn State 6 at No. 19 Wisconsin 2

No. 20 Colorado College (14-13-1)
02/07/2025 – No. 20 Colorado College 6 at No. 16 North Dakota 4
02/08/2025 – No. 20 Colorado College 1 at No. 16 North Dakota 3

RV = Received Votes

SATURDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Overtime games galore as No. 12 Arizona State edges No. 6 Denver, No. 5 Maine downs No. 7 Providence, No. 11 UConn defeats No. 10 UMass Lowell, Clarkson outlasts No. 14 Quinnipiac; No. 2 Michigan State tops No. 13 Michigan

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Arizona State played two one-goal games against defending national champion Denver this weekend at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz., winning in overtime Saturday night (photo: Arizona State Athletics).

Bennett Schimek’s goal at 13:44 of the third period tied the game 5-5 and then Schimek won it at 1:26 of overtime as No. 12 Arizona State defeated No. 6 Denver 6-5 at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.

Lukas Sillinger also scored twice for the Sun Devils, while Kyle Smolen and Ryan Kirwan added goals.

Ty Jackson and Cruz Lucius each recorded two assists for ASU and goalie Luke Pavicich made four saves in relief to get the win in goal. Gibson Homer made 24 saves for the Sun Devils through 51:58.

Sam Harris scored three goals for the Pioneers, Jack Devine had three assists, and Aidan Thompson and Kieran Cebrian also scored. Zeev Buium contributed two assists.

Denver goaltender Matt Davis finished with 49 saves.

SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS | POLL | PAIRWISE

No. 2 Michigan State 6, No. 13 Michigan 1

From Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Joey Larson recorded a goal and two assists to lead Michigan State past Michigan 6-1 in the annual “Duel in the D” game.

Isaac Howard, Shane Vansaghi and Gavin O’Connell each added a goal and an assist, and Tiernan Shoudy and Mikey DeAngelo scored one apiece.

Trey Augustine made 17 saves in goal and also drew an assist on Shoudy’s goal.

For the Wolverines, Tyler Duke scored and goaltender Cameron Korpi stopped 34 shots.

No. 4 Western Michigan 6, St. Cloud State 1

Brian Kramer and Grant Slukynsky each had a goal and an assist to help Western Michigan to a 6-1 win over St. Cloud State at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Joona Väisänen added two assists, while Tim Washe, Owen Michaels, Ty Henricks and Matteo Costantini also scored for the Broncos.

Western Michigan goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 25 saves.

For the Huskies, Austin Burnevik scored and James Gray and Isak Posch combined on a 32-save effort between the pipes.

No. 5 Maine 1, No. 7 Providence 0 (OT)

Taylor Makar scored the only goal of the game at 2:15 of overtime to lead Maine to a 1-0 win over Providence from Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I.

Black Bears goalie Albin Boija made 28 saves, while Friars netminder Philip Svedebäck stopped 19 shots.

No. 9 Ohio State 5, Notre Dame 1

After Danny Nelson opened the scoring for Notre Dame midway through the first period, Ohio State scored the next five to take a 5-1 win at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.

Davis Burnside had a goal and two assists, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine a goal and an assist, and Sam Deckhut, Nathan McBrayer and William Smith each added goals for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State goalie Logan Terness made 41 saves.

Nicholas Kempf stopped 25 shots in net for the Fighting Irish.

No. 11 UConn 5, No. 10 UMass Lowell 4 (OT)

UConn’s Hudson Schandor tied the game 4-4 at 15:15 of the third period and then scored the overtime winner on a power play at 4:32 of extra time as the Huskies defeated UMass Lowell 5-4 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

Schandor added two assists for a four-point game. Jake Richard and Viking Gustafsson Nyberg added two assists apiece.

Joey Muldowney added a goal and an assist for UConn, while Ryan Tattle and Ethan Gardula also scored to back Callum Tung’s 33 saves in goal.

For the River Hawks, Dillan Bentley popped the hat trick and Connor Eddy added a goal as goalie Beni Halasz made 29 saves.

Clarkson 3, No. 14 Quinnipiac 2 (OT)

Tristan Sarsland scored 2:20 into overtime to lift Clarkson to a 3-2 win over Quinnipiac from the M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn.

Ryan Bottrill and Ellis Rickswood also scored for the Golden Knights, Ryan Richardson chipped in two assists, and goaltender Ethan Langenegger turned aside 30 shots.

Chris Pelosi and Victor Czerneckianair scored for the Bobcats and Dylan Silverstein finished with 14 saves in goa.

No. 15 Minnesota State 2, No. 17 Augustana 1

All scoring came in the first period as Minnesota State edged Augustana 2-1 at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn.

Rhett Pitlick and Fin Williams scored for the Mavericks and goalie Alex Tracy made 28 saves.

Payton Matsui scored for the Vikings and Josh Kotai stopped 17 shots in goal.

No. 16 North Dakota 3, No. 20 Colorado College 1

Carter Wilkie registered a goal and an assist and TJ Semptimphelter finished with 24 saves as North Dakota defeated Colorado College 3-1 from the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

Ben Strinden and Andrew Strathmann also scored for the Fighting Hawks.

Drew Montgomery tallied the lone Tigers goal and netminder Carsen Musser made 24 stops of his own.

Penn State 6, No. 19 Wisconsin 2

Reese Laubach scored two goals and Arsenii Sergeev made 39 saves in goal as Penn State scored four goals in the third period and defeated Wisconsin 6-2 from the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

Charlie Cerrato added a goal and two assists, Danny Dzhaniyev three assists, and Cade Christenson, Matt DiMarsico and Aiden Fink also found the back of the net for the Nittany Lions.

For the Badgers, Kyle Kukkonen and Ryland Mosley scored and Tommy Scarfone finished with 16 saves between the pipes.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: No. 1 Wisconsin defeats No. 3 Minnesota 8-2, wins WCHA regular-season title

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MADISON — The No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers won their 10th WCHA regular season Championship Saturday afternoon, dominating No. 3 Minnesota with an 8-2 win.

The win ties the Badgers’ record for largest margin of victory against the Gophers. They also beat their rivals by six goals, winning 8-2 on December 4, 2016.

After three games where they seemed to struggle to find the rhythm that has been a hallmark of their season thus far, Wisconsin made it look easy on Saturday.

“I feel like we were just firing at all cylinders. We were all playing a 200-foot game, all on the same page. I think when we’re all clicking like that, we’re a dangerous team. And it showed today… I think if we play like that, we can beat any team,” said Laila Edwards.

The Badgers came out fast and furious on their Senior Day, scoring twice in the opening five minutes, first with a great effort from KK Harvey that ended with a cross-crease pass to Laila Edwards, who was waiting just beyond the far post. Edwards took a second to control the puck and pick her spot before popping it in the net to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead.

Just 23 seconds later, Vivian Jungels spotted Lacey Eden with room in the neutral zone and hit her with a stretch, cross-ice pass to put Lacey Eden in on a breakaway. Hannah Clark’s poke check stopped the immediate threat, but she pushed it right into Eden’s skate where it deflected back at her and into the net to give Wisconsin a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

“Right away in the first period we felt like we were playing so much lighter than maybe the past few weekends, and everything was clicking. There’s really no better way to end senior day than with a regular season title.I think we’re all just happy that we kind of found our game again and played really well today,” said Wisconsin captain Casey O’Brien.

Minnesota cut into the lead five minutes later when a stretch pass from Sydney Morrow broke Ella Huber into the zone alone. Huber’s shot to the far top corner made it a 2-1 game.

Midway through the frame, Badger defender Ava Murphy left the ice after she seemed to get injured switching directions while skating.

In the waning minutes of the first, Emma Venusio let go with a slapshot from the top of the zone. Clark made the initial save, but the puck dropped to Marianne Picard, who’s first shot was stopped, but second lit the lamp to make it 3-1.

Minnesota looked to come out strong in the second, but despite disrupting play, they couldn’t clear the puck out of the zone. Laney Potter’s cross-ice pass to Hannah Halverson didn’t result in a shot, but the puck bounced through the crease and Maggie Scannell tapped it home to make it a 4-1 game. Less than two minutes later, Edwards found herself with the puck in the slot and she calmly wristed the shot into the net to extend the lead to 5-1.

Badger captain and fifth-year senior Casey O’Brien got on the board as she followed Kirsten Simms up the boards on the near side. Simms dropped the puck to O’Brien, who let go of a shot from the faceoff dot that pinged both posts in the far top corner and went into the net to make it a 6-1 game.

Wisconsin’s defense suffered another setback when Laney Potter, who had two assists earlier in the period, collided shoulder to shoulder with Abbey Murphy. Potter left the ice and immediately went to the locker room, leaving the Badgers down two of six starting defenders. Extra skater McKayla Zilisch took time on defense while Edwards, who recently started playing on defense with Team USA, also took defensive shifts.

The Gophers switched goalies at the second intermission and junior Sophia Johnson, who had just 3:19 of game play before today, was welcomed to the game by a goal from O’Brien just 26 seconds into the period as Wisconsin used their speed to break out and have numbers in on net to make it 7-1.

Sydney Morrow’s individual effort made it 7-2 Minnesota, but the Badgers weren’t done as Vivian Jungels closed out the scoring on a tight-angle, top-shelf shot to close out the 8-2 win.

The Badgers honored Lacey Eden, Katie Kotlowski, Quinn Kuntz, Casey O’Brien, Marianne Picard and Sarah Wozniewicz for senior day. Eden, O’Brien and Picard each scored on Saturday and O’Brien said the team was extra fired up every time a senior lit the lamp.

“We have a pretty close senior class. To be able to experience it with them just kind of filled my heart to have a day where we could feel the love from everybody was super special. We went on that ice and played our hearts out because they were so full,” said O’Brien

Coach Mark Johnson has said in the past that conference or NCAA tournament trophies get a lot of hype, but he thinks it’s the most prestigious to win the conference regular season title because of the body of work it represents. He reiterated that belief on Saturday.

“It’s 28 tough games, and you have to be consistent, and have to do it for a long period of time to even have a chance to win it. The group should be proud of themselves. They committed themselves early on, and they’ve been consistent for most of the season. And the end result is you win the trophy,” said Badger coach Mark Johnson.

The two teams return to the ice on Sunday for a 12 pm central time puck drop.

Minnesota’s Murphy, Northeastern’s Jönsson, Penn State’s DeSa, Cornell’s Bergmann collect Jan. 2025 monthly awards from Hockey Commissioners Association

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Clockwise from top left, Abbey Murphy, Lisa Jönsson, Annelies Bergmann and Katie DeSa (photos: Minnesota Athletics, Northeastern Athletics, Cornell Athletics, Penn State Athletics).

The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its women’s hockey monthly award winners for Jan. 2025.

Player of the month is Minnesota senior forward Abbey Murphy, rookie of the month is Northeastern goalie Lisa Jönsson, and co-goaltenders of the month are Penn State junior Katie DeSa and Cornell sophomore Annelies Bergmann.

Murphy had 18 points (8-10-18) in leading the Gophers to a 9-1-0 record. She is third in NCAA this year with 1.72 PPG.

Another strong month for Jönsson as she went 7-2-0 with a GAA of 1.23, a save percentage of .949 and three shutouts.

DeSa had a phenomenal month: .957 percentage, 1.00 GAA and a 9-0-0 record (including a win at No. 3 Minnesota).

Playing ranked opponents in seven of 10 games, Bergmann went 7-1-2, .946, 1.23, with two shutouts (vs. Clarkson and St. Lawrence).

Hockey Commissioners Association hands out six monthly men’s honors for Jan. 2025, including three co-players of the month

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Clockwise from top left, Mac Gadowsky, Ryan Manzella, Josh Kotai, Tyler Muszelik, Jimmy Snuggerud and Ryan Kirwan (photo: Army West Point Athletics, Michigan Tech Athletics, Augustana Athletics, UConn Athletics, Minnesota Athletics. Arizona State Athletics).

The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its men’s hockey monthly award winners for Jan. 2025.

The three co-players of the month are Army West Point sophomore defenseman Mac Gadowsky, Arizona State senior forward Ryan Kirwan and Minnesota junior forward Jimmy Snuggerud, rookie of the month is Michigan Tech goaltender Ryan Manzella, and co-goaltenders of the month are Augustana sophomore Josh Kotai and UConn junior Tyler Muszelik.

Gadowsky led all NCAA blueliners with 8-8-16 in a month in which the Cadets went 6-1 in Atlantic Hockey play.

Kirwan went 11-6-17 in nine games and added a plus-9 to his stat line as ASU rose in the national rankings.

Snuggerud also posted 11-6-17, becoming the third player in team history to begin a career with three straight 20-goal seasons.

Manzella was 5-0-0 in six games played, putting up 1.23 GAA and a .950 save percentage. Had three shutouts in five starts.

A main reason Augustana moved up in the rankings in January, Kotai went 5-0-2 with a 1.39 GAA and a .958 save percentage.

Muszelik posted numbers of 1.38 and .951 in an undefeated January (4-0-1), including wins vs. Maine, New Hampshire and Quinnipiac.

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