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Monday 10: Top-ranked Denver keeps winning with Northeastern sweep, Maine sweeps Quinnipiac, Augustana takes both at Omaha, Alaska gets first win of ’24-25 season

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Maine’s David Breazeale celebrates his OT winner that lifted the Black Bears past Quinnipiac for the series sweep on Saturday night (photo: Anthony DelMonaco).

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

1. No. 1 Denver sweeps Northeastern on banner raising weekend
There was a celebration fitting of a 10-time national champion in Denver this weekend, and on the ice, the Pioneers delivered, sweeping Northeastern by identical 5-2 scores. This Denver team is now 4-0-0 on the season. That extends Denver’s winning streak to 13 games over two seasons, including its impressive run to the national title with four wins in which the Pioneers allowed one goal or less in the NCAA tournament.

2. No. 9 Maine earns a two-game home sweep of No. 7 Quinnipiac
It was the only series of two teams in the top 10 of the USCHO.com poll, and Maine provided plenty of fireworks for its fans in a two-game sweep of Quinnipiac. After holding on for a 2-1 win on Friday, the Black Bears took a 4-1 lead on Saturday before allowing the Bobcats to score four straight to take a 5-4 lead. Brandon Holt scored an extra-attacker goal with 28 seconds remaining to force overtime before David Breazeale notched the game-winner on the power play with 36 seconds left in OT.

3. Augustana sweeps No. 12 Omaha
In just year two of its program, Augustana continues to impress. After a weekend split with LIU last weekend, Augustana opened plenty of eyes this weekend with a pair of wins, 2-1 and 4-0, over Omaha. Goaltender Josh Kotai made 67 saves in the two-game series, allowing just a single goal. Augustana won exhibition game against North Dakota two weekends ago that made some people take a little notice. This weekend’s sweep should make college hockey fans take a much larger look at the Vikings.

4. Minnesota State shuts out No. 5 North Dakota on Saturday to earn weekend split
The back-and-forth start to Minnesota State’s season took a nice step forward on Saturday as the Mavericks shut out North Dakota at home to earn a weekend split with the Fighting Hawks. North Dakota won Friday, 3-2. Alex Tracy made 27 saves to earn the shutout on Saturday, which combined with 19 stops on Friday gave him 46 on the weekend. The Mavericks are now 3-3-0 on the season having split all of their first three weekends.

5. Shutouts abound between No. 10 Michigan, No. 13 St. Cloud State
Michigan’s Logan Stein made 21 saves on Friday for 3-0 shutout while counterpart Isac Posch stopped all 24 shots he faced on Saturday for St. Cloud as both the Wolverines and the Huskies each posted a shutout in the weekend split between the two top 20 programs.

6. Minnesota crushes in-state rival Minnesota Duluth, 7-5 and 5-1, to improve to 4-1-0
The Golden Gophers, coming off a loss to Omaha in last weekend’s IceBreaker title game, got back on stride as their offense exploded for 12 goals over in-state rival Minnesota Duluth. Friday’s 7-5 game seemed closer than it was as UMD scored twice late, while Saturday was a rout from the beginning. The Gophers have scored 25 goals in five games, and that includes just a single goal in the team’s only loss, a 2-1 overtime decision against Omaha.

7. Robert Morris sweeps Miami in home-and-home series
The Colonials put forth likely its best weekend since returning to Division I hockey a year ago, posting a two-game home-and-home sweep of Miami, 4-1 and 5-1. Robert Morris, which played three exhibition games a week ago, Croix Kochendorfer finished the weekend with 48 saves on 50 shots as the Colonials helped boost the AHA’s non-conference record with the two victories.

8. Alaska earns first win of season with 1-0 upset of No. 18 Notre Dame
Shutouts were rampant this weekend and Alaska joined the party on Saturday in South Bend as they whitewashed Notre Dame 1-0. Transfer Nicholas Grabko stopped all 37 shots he faced and Broten Sabo scored the game’s only goal at 11:50 of the second as the Nanooks earned their first win of the season, a night after the Fighting Irish earned a 4-1 victory.

9. Providence rebounds from loss at North Dakota with two-game home sweep of Arizona State
The Friars returned home to Schneider Arena in style, with a two-game sweep of Arizona State, 4-1 and 2-1. Goaltenders Philip Svedback and Merrimack transfer Zachary Borgeil split the duties in net, each allowing a single goal in a two-game series that the Friars never trailed.

10. Western Michigan stays perfect with 6-2 win over Bowling Green
It is early in the season, but there aren’t a ton of teams that have played games (Ivies excluded) that remain perfect – unbeaten and untied. Western Michigan is one, as they knocked off Bowling Green 6-2 at home on Thursday. After a home-and-home sweep of Ferris State to begin the season, the Broncos will now face their stiffest test this weekend, traveling to No. 2 Boston College for a single non-conference game next Saturday.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Weekend Wrap October 21, 2024

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(1) Wisconsin at (3) Minnesota 

The Badgers controlled the puck and were outshooting Minnesota 24-11 heading into the final frame, but were up just 1-0 thanks to a goal late in the first from Cassie Hall. But in the final frame, Wisconsin broke the game open and gave the Gophers no shot to counter. Rookie Finley McCarthy scored three minutes into the third and Casey O’Brien also found the back of the net a few minutes later to make it 3-0. On the ensuing play, Laila Edwards scored to make it 4-0. Maggie Scannell added a goal from behind the net that deflected off the goalie and in to close out a 5-0 win. After that loss, Minnesota came out on fire on Saturday and had Wisconsin back on their heels. Where the Badgers had controlled possession on Friday, the Gophers held the puck on Saturday. They were unable to capitalize in the first, but Sydney Morrow ripped one from the faceoff dot just 21 seconds into the second to make it 1-0. Hall took a tripping penalty right after, putting the Gophers on the PP and Morrow scored her second of the game on the ensuing power play. Madison Kaiser’s goal on the rush before the midpoint of the game gave Minnesota the 3-0 lead and it felt like the Gophers were going to coast to the same kind of win Wisconsin had the night before. But some sloppy play quickly led to a UW power play and Laila Edwards used her size to gain ground in front of the net where she was able to deflect KK Harvey’s shot from the point into the net to make it 3-1. A penalty in the closing moments of second gave the Badgers a power play to start the third and they quickly scored on a near copy of their first extra attacker goal, this time with Lacey Eden tipping Harvey’s shot into the net to cut the lead to 3-2 with most of the period to go. Harvey continued her massive game, carrying the puck end to end before turning at the back boards and putting a pass into the wide open slot for a crashing Hannah Halverson, who one-timed it into the back of the net to tie the game 3-3. With under seven to play, coming out of a tv timeout, O’Brien won a faceoff to the left of Hannah Clarke. Kirsten Simms pushed the puck back to Harvey on the blue line. Harvey put the puck back to the front of the net and as it trickled through traffic it fell to O’Brien in front of the net and she did not miss to complete the comeback and earn Wisconsin the weekend sweep, their first at Ridder since 2017. It was the Badgers’ sixth-straight win over Minnesota, the program’s longest winning streak against its Border-Battle rivals. Both goalies were stellar in the game, making several point-blank saves to keep their team in the game. 

(2) Ohio State at (11) St. Cloud State

The Buckeyes jumped out quickly in the first game, as Joy Dunne and then Jordan Petrie scored before three minutes had elapsed, putting St. Cloud in a hole it was too difficult for them to dig out of. Grace Wolfe scored on the power play late in the second to cut the Buckeye’s lead to 2-1, but that’s as close as it would get. Dunne scored a power play goal of her own to open the second. Jenna Buglioni’s shorty in the third made it 4-1 and Petrie iced the 5-1 win with her second goal of the game. It was a different story in the second game. Jocelyn Amos scored on the power play late in the first to put OSU up 1-0. Jordan Baxter’s goal early in the second made it 2-0. But the Huskies fought right back, responding less than two minutes later with a power play goal from Breja Parent. Then Abby Promersberger scored unassisted to tie the game 2-2 before the midpoint. It looked like that might be the final score, but a a too many skaters penalty put Ohio State on the power play and Buglioni cashed in to make it 3-2 OSU with under three to play. St. Cloud immediately pulled their goalie and then got a six on four chance as Sara Swiderski was called for a cross check. Dayle Ross’ goal with 63 seconds left tied the game and forced OT. Ohio State killed a penalty in overtime and this one ended a 3-3 tie. In the shootout, Sofiana Sundelin scored the only goal and St. Cloud took the extra point. Freshman goalie Emilia Kyrkkö was stupendous, making a career-high 45 saves and three shots in the shootout. 

 St. Thomas at (5) Minnesota Duluth

The Bulldogs scored three times on the power play to skate to a 3-0 win in their home opener on Friday. Clara Van Wieren had a goal and two assists and Caitlin Kraemer and Olivia Mobley each lit the lamp in the victory. On Saturday, Danielle Burgen and Devyn Millwater each scored to give Minnesota Duluth a 2-0 win and weekend sweep. 

(6) Cornell at Mercyhurst

It took a shootout for these teams to finally find the back of the net and in the end, there was just one puck that found its way to the back of the net – from Cornell’s Piper Grober. The game officially ended a 0-0 tie and Cornell grabbed the shootout point. Jorden Mattison made 41 saves for Mercyhurst and Annelies Bergmann stopped 34 shots for Cornell. In the second game, Thea Johansson’s power play goal had the Lakers up 1-0 in the first. After a scoreless second, Sofia Nuutinen lit the lamp in the third to make it 2-0. Karel Prefontaine cut the lead to 2-1, but Cornell could not complete the comeback and Mercyhurst earned the 2-1 win. Magdalena Luggin made 43 saves for the Lakers, which were a career high and earned her first career win. . 

(7) St. Lawrence at Vermont

Jane Gervais pitched a 36-save shutout to keep her team in the game and Lara Beecher’s goal midway through the first proved to be all Vermont needed to get past St. Lawrence on Friday. But the Saints responded on Saturday as Abby Hustler had a goal and three assists while Aly McLeod added a goal and two assists to lead St. Lawrence to a 5-0 win. 

(8) Connecticut at Providence

The Huskies jumped out to an early lead thanks to a goal from Ashley Allard and doubled it in the opening minute of the second thanks to Megan Woodworth. Providence mounted a comeback in the final minutes of the second as Millie Sirum and Sarah Davies scored to tie the game 2-2. Martha Mobarak found a great time to score her first career goal, lighting the lamp in early in the third to put UConn ahead for good and earn the 3-2 win. 

(8) Connecticut at Harvard

Junior goalie Emily Davidson made 34 saves to blank UConn and senior captain Jenna MacDonald scored to give Harvard a 1-0 win in their first game of the season. 

Post at (9) Colgate

On Friday, Jamiee Spring, Kalty Kaltounková, Sara Stewert, Kaia Malachino and Elyssa Biederman each scored to lead the Raiders to a 6-1 win. Jodie Rose scored for Post in the loss. On Saturday, all eleven Raider forwards scored at least one point. Kaltounková led with two goals and two assists as Colgate took an 11-1 win and weekend sweep. 

Syracuse at (10) Quinnipiac

The Bobcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first with goals from Maddy Samoskevich, Maya Labad and Laurence Frenette. Zoe Uens added a goal in the second and Quinnipiac took a 4-0 win on Friday. In the second game, after a scoreless first, Syracuse took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Rylee McLeod. It seems that Labad took that personally, as she responded with two goals over the next six minutes and then added a third in the final frame to complete the first hat trick of her career. Kahlen Lamarche’s empty-netter secured a 4-1 win and weekend sweep for the Bobcats. 

Dartmouth at (12) Penn State

Nicole Hall scored midway through the third and Tessa Janecke had an empty-netter to earn Penn State a 2-0 win on Friday. Freshman goalie Michaela Hesová was stellar in net in her debut for the Big Green, making 42 saves. In the second game, freshman Grace Outwater scored the first two goals of her career to lead the Nittany Lions to a 4-1 win. Katelyn Roberts had the only goal in the first to put PSU up 1-0. Mia Buonarosa replied for Dartmouth midway through the second to tie the game 1-1, but from there it was all Penn State. Stella Retrum lit the lamp a few minutes later and Outwater scored once each in the second and third to make it a 4-1 win and weekend sweep. 

Holy Cross at (13) Northeastern

Third period scoring was the name of these games this weekend. Friday’s game was a back and forth, hard-fought affair. Holy Cross got on the board first with a goal from Lane Lewis and carried that lead to the first intermission. In the second, Taze Thompson scored in the opening two minutes to tie the game and then Jules Constantinople’s power play goal gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead which they carried into the second intermission. The Crusaders came out flying in the third as Emily Crovo tied it less than four minutes in. Mackenzie King made it 3-2 and Crovo’s second goal gave Holy Cross a 4-2 lead with just under seven to go. But Northeastern would not be counted out. They pulled their goalie almost immediately and put the pressure on. Skylar Irving’s goal at 17:15 fired the Huskies up and Morgan Jackson scored her first career goal with just more than a minute left in regulation to force overtime. An overtime period could not decide this one, but Éloïse Caron and Irving each scored in the shootout to earn the Huskies the extra point. On Saturday, the teams could not seem to find an advantage against each other as the game was scoreless until there were just three minutes left in the second. Lulu Rourke put the Crusaders up 1-0, but three Northeastern goals over six minutes in the third broke the game open for the Huskies. Lily Shannon, Ella Blackmore and and Lily Brazis each lit the lamp to make it 3-1. Charlotte Sontag scratched one back for Holy Cross with under four to play to make it 3-2, but Jaden Bogden’s empty-netter secured the 4-2 win for Northeastern. 

(14) Princeton at Robert Morris 

Sarah Paul tallied her first career hat trick in the Tigers’ season opener, leading them to a 7-1 win over the Colonials. Hannah Fetterolf notched her first career goal and Jane Kuehl, Mia Coene and Mackenzie Alexander each added a goal in the win. Veronica Bac was the goal-scorer for Robert Morris. On Saturday, nine different goal scorers powered Princeton to an 11-1 win and weekend sweep. Angelina and Lucia DiGirolamo each scored the first of their careers and Gabby Kim led the Tigers with a goal and three assists. Alaina Giampietro scored for the Colonials in the loss. 

Rankings roundup: How the top 20 NCAA hockey teams fared, Oct. 18-19

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St. Cloud State goalie Isak Posch stops Michigan’s Mark Estapa in SCSU’s 4-0 shutout win on Saturday night (photo: Bill Prout).

Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of Sept. 23 fared in games over the weekend of Oct. 18-19.

No. 1 Denver (4-0-0)
10/18/2024 – No. 19 Northeastern 2 at No. 1 Denver 5
10/19/2024 – No. 19 Northeastern 2 at No. 1 Denver 5

No. 2 Boston College (2-1-0)
10/18/2024 – AIC 0 at No. 2 Boston College 5
10/19/2024 – U.S. NTDP Under-18 Team* 4 at No. 2 Boston College 8 (exhibition)

No. 3 Boston University (3-0-0)
10/18/2024 – RV Connecticut 2 at No. 3 Boston University 4
10/19/2024 – RV Harvard 2 at No. 3 Boston University 2 (OT, exhibition)

No. 4 Michigan State (3-1-0)
10/18/2024 – Windsor* 0 at No. 4 Michigan State 5 (exhibition)

No. 5 North Dakota (2-1-0)
10/18/2024 – No. 5 North Dakota 3 at No. 20 Minnesota State 2
10/19/2024 – No. 5 North Dakota 0 at No. 20 Minnesota State 3

No. 6 Minnesota (3-1-0)
10/18/2024 – No. 6 Minnesota 7 at RV Minnesota Duluth 5
10/19/2024 – No. 6 Minnesota 5 at RV Minnesota Duluth 1

No. 7 Quinnipiac (1-2-0)
10/18/2024 – No. 7 Quinnipiac 1 at No. 9 Maine 2
10/19/2024 – No. 7 Quinnipiac 5 at No. 9 Maine 6 (OT)

No. 8 Cornell (0-0-0)
Did not play.

No. 9 Maine (3-0-0)
10/18/2024 – No. 7 Quinnipiac 1 at No. 9 Maine 2
10/19/2024 – No. 7 Quinnipiac 5 at No. 9 Maine 6 (OT)

No. 10 Michigan (3-2-1)
10/18/2024 – No. 13 St. Cloud State 0 at No. 10 Michigan 3
10/19/2024 – No. 13 St. Cloud State 4 at No. 10 Michigan 0

No. 11 Colorado College (2-0-0)
Did not play.

No. 12 Omaha (2-2-0)
10/18/2024 – Augustana 2 at No. 12 Omaha 1
10/19/2024 – Augustana 4 at No. 12 Omaha 0

No. 13 St. Cloud State (4-1-0)
10/18/2024 – No. 13 St. Cloud State 0 at No. 10 Michigan 3
10/19/2024 – No. 13 St. Cloud State 4 at No. 10 Michigan 0

No. 14 Providence (2-1-0)
10/18/2024 – RV Arizona State 1 at No. 14 Providence 4
10/19/2024 – RV Arizona State 1 at No. 14 Providence 2

No. 15 Massachusetts (3-2-0)
10/18/2024 – RV Sacred Heart 4 at No. 15 Massachusetts 3
10/19/2024 – No. 15 Massachusetts 6 at RV Sacred Heart 1

No. 16 Wisconsin (1-3-0)
10/18/2024 – RV Ohio State 2 at No. 16 Wisconsin 1 (OT)
10/19/2024 – RV Ohio State 2 at No. 16 Wisconsin 1

No. 17 Western Michigan (3-0-0)
10/17/2024 – Bowling Green 2 at No. 17 Western Michigan 6

No. 18 Notre Dame (3-1-0)
10/18/2024 – Alaska 1 at No. 18 Notre Dame 4
10/19/2024 – Alaska 1 at No. 18 Notre Dame 0

No. 19 Northeastern (1-2-0)
10/18/2024 – No. 19 Northeastern 2 at No. 1 Denver 5
10/19/2024 – No. 19 Northeastern 2 at No. 1 Denver 5

No. 20 Minnesota State (3-3-0)
10/18/2024 -No. 5 North Dakota 3 at No. 20 Minnesota State 2
10/19/2024 -No. 5 North Dakota 0 at No. 20 Minnesota State 3

* = Not eligible for poll
RV = Received Votes

SATURDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: No. 20 Minnesota State shuts out No. 5 North Dakota, Ohio State sweeps No. 16 Wisconsin, Augustana completes sweep over No. 12 Omaha, No. 13 St. Cloud State blanks No. 10 Michigan, No. 9 Maine sweeps No. 7 Quinnipiac with OT win

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Minnesota State forward Josh Groll scored a goal Saturday night, finishing with three goals on the weekend for the Mavericks, who split with North Dakota (photo: Minnesota State Athletics).

No. 20 Minnesota State scored a goal in each period and goaltender Alex Tracy stopped all 27 shots he faced as the Mavericks rebounded for a split with No. 5 North Dakota with a 3-0 win Saturday night at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn.

Adam Eisele had a goal and an assist, while Josh Groll and Brian Carrabes added goals in the win.

Hobie Hedquist made 24 saves in goal for the Fighting Hawks.

POLL | SCOREBOARD

Ohio State 2, No. 16 Wisconsin 1

Max Montes, with his second straight game-winning goal, and Riley Thompson scored for the Buckeyes, who swept Wisconsin with a 2-1 win from the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

The win was also Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik’s 200th with the Buckeyes.

Kristoffer Eberly made 28 saves in goal, losing his shutout bid on Quinn Finley’s goal at 8:17 of the third period.

William Gramme turned aside 18 shots between the pipes for the Badgers.

Augustana 4, No. 12 Omaha 0

Luke Mobley, Quinn Rudrud, Brett Meerman and Payton Matsui all scored as Augustana finished the road sweep of Omaha with a 4-0 win over the Mavericks at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.

Josh Kotai made 33 saves for the Vikings in a winning effort.

For Omaha, Simon Latkoczy stopped 17 shots.

No. 6 Minnesota 5, Minnesota Duluth 1

Five different players found the net for Minnesota – Matthew Wood, Brodie Ziemer, Connor Kurth, Jimmy Snuggerud and Jimmy Clark – as the Gophers swept Minnesota Duluth with a 5-1 win at AMSOIL Arena.

In goal, Liam Souliere made 31 saves for Minnesota.

For the Bulldogs, Owen Gallatin scored and Adam Gajan finished with 29 saves.

No. 9 Maine 6, No. 7 Quinnipiac 5 (OT)

Maine’s Brandon Holt tied the game 5-5 at 19:32 of the third period and David Breazeale won it 4:24 into overtime to give Maine a 6-5 win and series sweep over Quinnipiac at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.

Harrison Scott posted four assists for the Black Bears and goalie Albin Boija made 22 saves.

Taylor Makar, Owen Fowler, Ross Mitton and Thomas Freel all scored for Maine to give the Black Bears a 4-1 advantage early in the second period.

Quinnipiac then rattled off four straight goals from Tyler Borgula, Jack Ricketts, Travis Treloar and Chris Pelosi to go up 5-4 before Holt tied it and Breazeale tallied the OT winner.

Aaron Schwartz added the first goal for the Bobcats and Matej Marinov made 35 saves.

No. 1 Denver 5, Northeastern 2

Denver earned the weekend sweep over Northeastern with a 5-2 victory on home ice at Magness Arena.

Carter King rang up a hat trick for the Pioneers and added an assist in the win.

https://x.com/DU_Hockey/status/1847819699259609147

Sam Harris and Eric Pohlkamp also scored for Denver and Matt Davis finished with 27 saves in goal.

Cam Lund and Dylan Hryckowian tallied for the Huskies and netminder Cameron Whitehead made 27 stops.

No. 14 Providence 2, Arizona State 1

Hudson Malinoski had a goal and an assist and Taige Harding also scored to lift Providence to a 2-1 win and home series sweep at Schneider Arena with a 2-1 win over Arizona State.

Zachary Borgiel took the win in goal with a 31-save performance.

For the Sun Devils, Ryan Kirwan busted Borgiel’s shutout bid at 19:24 of the third period and Luke Pavicich made 36 saves in goal.

No. 13 St. Cloud State 4, No. 10 Michigan 0

Tyson Gross had a goal and an assist and Isak Posch made 24 saves between the pipes as St. Cloud State earned a split with Michigan after a 4-0 shutout at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Gavyn Thoreson, Grant Ahcan and Barrett Hall also scored for SCSU.

Michigan goalie Cameron Korpi made 23 stops.

Alaska 1, No. 18 Notre Dame 0

Broten Sabo’s goal at 11:50 of the second period was the game’s only goal as Alaska shut out Notre Dame 1-0 at the Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.

Nicholas Grabko had 37 saves in goal for the Nanooks.

Notre Dame goalie Nicholas Kempf turned aside 22 shots.

No. 15 UMass 6, Sacred Heart 1

UMass rebounded for a split with a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart at Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Conn.

Francesco Dell’Elce had two goals and a helper for the Minutemen and Cole O’Hara added a goal with two assists.

Lucas Mercuri, Jack Musa and Cam O’Neill also scored in the win and Michael Hrabal made 20 saves in the UMass crease.

Mikey Adamson netted the only SHU goal and Cullen DeYoung made 14 saves in goal.

FRIDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Augustana upsets No. 12 Omaha, No. 9 Maine edges No. 7 Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart downs No. 15 UMass, No. 5 North Dakota stuns No. 20 Minnesota State with third-period rally, No. 10 Michigan blanks No. 13 St. Cloud State

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Omaha’s Jimmy Glynn (22) and Augustana’s Luke Mobley (15) battle for the puck Friday night in Omaha (photo: Bonnie Ryan).

Augustana pulled off an upset Friday night, knocking off No. 12 Omaha 2-1 on the Mavericks’ home ice at Baxter Arena.

Hunter Bischoff’s goal at 17:41 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted Augustana over Omaha.

Luke Mobley had tied the game 1-1 with a short-handed goal at 6:33 of the third period.

Omaha opened the scoring at 18:06 of the second period as Zach Urdahl broke a scoreless tie.

In goal, Josh Kotai finished with 34 saves for Augustana, while Simon Latkoczy also stopped 34 for the Mavericks.

SCOREBOARD | POLL

No. 9 Maine 2, No. 7 Quinnipiac 1

Maine picked up a 2-1 win over Quinnipiac in front of a sold-out crowd at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.

Nolan Renwick opened the scoring 6:42 into the game, coming down the left wing and wristing a shot to the far post. Charlie Russell then doubled the lead to 2-0 with 45 seconds remaining in the first period, finishing a rebound at the top of a crease.

The Bobcats pulled to within a goal late in the second period with a power-play goal from Tyler Borgula, but the Black Bears held on for the win.

Albin Boija made 19 saves in goal for Maine, while Dylan Silverstein stopped 27 for the Bobcats.

Sacred Heart 4, No. 15 UMass 3

Down 1-0, Sacred Heart scored the next four goals and held on for a 4-3 upset win over UMass at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.

Charles Tardif, Reid Pabich, Paul Minehan and Mikey Adamson scored for the Pioneers, while Cullen DeYoung made 33 saves for the win.

Owen Murray, Cam O’Neill and Linden Alger netted the goals for the Minutemen and goaltender Michael Hrabal stopped 16 shots.

No. 5 North Dakota 3, No. 20 Minnesota State 2

Trailing 2-0 through 40 minutes, North Dakota popped three goals in the third period to come back and top Minnesota State at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn.

Cameron Berg, Louis Jamernik V and Carter Wilkie all found the net in the third period for the Fighting Hawks.

T.J. Semptimphelter turned aside 23 shots in goal for UND.

Josh Groll scored both goals for the Mavericks and Alex Tracy made 19 saves between the pipes.

No. 1 Denver 5, No. 19 Northeastern 2

Defending national champion Denver opened Magness Arena for the new 2024-25 season with a 5-2 win over Northeastern.

Five different players scored for the Pioneers – Carter King, Jake Fisher, Sam Harris, Jared Wright, and Samu Salminen – and Matt Davis made 15 saves in goal.

For Northeastern, Cam Lund and Dylan Hryckowian scored and goalie Cameron Whitehead stopped 40 shots.

No. 10 Michigan 3, No. 13 St. Cloud State 0

Logan Stein stopped all 21 shots fired his way as Michigan blanked St. Cloud State 3-0 at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Garrett Schifsky, Michael Hage and Philippe Lapointe scored the Wolverines’ goals.

Huskies goalie Isak Posch made 27 saves for SCSU.

No. 2 Boston College 5, AIC 0

Aram Minnetian, Gabe Perreault, Will Vote, Will Skahan and James Hagens all scored to back Jacob Fowler’s 20-save shutout as Boston College blanked AIC 5-0 from Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Peyton Grainer made 26 saves in goal for the Yellow Jackets.

No. 3 Boston University 4, UConn 2

Cole Eiserman recorded a two-goal night to lead BU past UConn by a 4-2 count on home ice at Agganis Arena.

Brandon Svoboda and Tom Willander also scored for the Terriers, who got a 24-save effort in goal from Mathieu Caron.

Hudson Schandor and Jake Percival scored for the Huskies and Thomas Heaney put up 25 saves in net.

New Hampshire 0, Merrimack 0 (Merrimack wins shootout)

Jared Whale recorded his first shutout as a Wildcat with 16 saves as New Hampshire tied Merrimack 0-0 at Lawler Rink in North Andover, Mass.

The Warriors won the shootout 1-0 to pick up two Hockey East points, while UNH earned one point.

Merrimack goalie Ryan Keyes finished with 14 saves.

Ohio State 2, No. 16 Wisconsin 1 (OT)

Max Montes scored two goals, including the overtime winner at 4:43 of extra time, as Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 2-1 in overtime.

Logan Terness made 37 stops in goal for the Buckeyes.

Ryland Mosley scored for the Badgers and Tommy Scarfone made 21 saves between the pipes.

No. 6 Minnesota 7, Minnesota Duluth 5

Seven different players scored for Minnesota – Brodie Ziemer, Brody Lamb, Matthew Wood, Sam Rinzel, Aaron Huglen, Oliver Moore and Erik Pahlsson – and the Gophers took a 7-5 win over Minnesota Duluth at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn.

Nathan Airey made 17 saves for the Gophers.

For the Bulldogs, Aiden Dubinsky scored twice and Dominic James, Joe Molenaar and Jayson Shaugabay also scored. Goalie Adam Gajan stopped 42 shots for UMD.

No. 14 Providence 4, Arizona State 1

Tanner Adams’ hat trick pushed Providence over ASU on home ice at Schneider Arena.

Logan Will also scored for the Friars and Philip Svedebäck had a 27-save outing.

Ryan Kirwan scored for the Sun Devils and netminder Gibson Homer finished with 23 saves.

No. 18 Notre Dame 4, Alaska 1

Cole Knuble, Henry Nelson, Justin Janicke and Grant Silianoff scored in Notre Dame’s 4-1 victory over Alaska at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.

In goal, Owen Say made 25 saves for the Irish.

Braden Birnie scored for the Nanooks and Nicholas Grabko stopped 34 shots in goal.

Five big non-conference games, lopsided odds on a Hockey East tilt: USCHO Edge college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 2

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USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger look at money lines and over/under for five games (plus our “pizza money” game) on October 18, 2024:

  • Quinnipiac -115 @ Maine -115; over/under 5.5
  • Arizona State +140 @ Providence -180; o/u 6
  • Minnesota -230 @ Minnesota Duluth +175; o/u 6
  • North Dakota -238 @ Minnesota State +180; o/u 5.5
  • St. Cloud State +145 @ Michigan -188; o/u 6.5
Our “pizza money” game:
  • UConn +270 @ Boston University -375; o/u 6

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This Week in ECAC: As Rensselaer looks to move up the standings, weekend like last (14 goals scored) go a long way

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RPI got its season off to an explosive start last weekend, scoring 14 goals in a weekend sweep of Canisius as the Engineers look to make a statement this season in the ECAC (Photo: RPI Athletics)

Nobody inside the Rensselaer hockey program felt satisfied at the end of last season.

The year began with elevated expectations after the 2022-2023 season established the Engineers as a legitimate force on home ice. They’d beaten everyone short of Quinnipiac and Cornell while avoiding sweeps on every weekend at Houston Field House. Struggling to win games on the road felt like a repairable goal in the offseason, so a logical assumption placed RPI near ECAC’s wide open middle tier as long as it marginally improved.

The math seemed simple. Home ice plus more road wins equaled a shot at the league’s top four, which is why it stung badly when RPI finished in 12th place with three home wins. A seven-win road schedule did little to stop that bleeding, and a year steeped in hope crashed out in a sweep loss to Quinnipiac despite the 3-2 win over Clarkson in the ECAC First Round. The lost opportunity felt icky, so head coach Dave Smith spent the offseason diving deeply into his program’s fabric.

Two games into the season, it’s hard to call an edited RPI a true success story, but a 14-goal outburst isn’t anything being rejected by the folks residing in the Capital District after the team launched 8-3 and 6-3 victories in a weekend sweep over Atlantic Hockey America’s Canisius.

“It was an important [weekend],” said Smith of the team’s dueling wins over the Golden Griffins. “We had played well at UMass in an exhibition game, but you never know how to measure it because the other team is doing their own thing and you’re doing your own thing. You get everybody in the lineup, so [Friday] was an important night to kick the season off on the right foot and get positive vibes after a tough year. But then when you’re able to win, you ask how you’re able to build on it and if we can build some momentum that then [translates] to building momentum through the weekend. It felt really good to be able to do that.”

Offensive breakthroughs surprise even the most red-blooded hockey observer, but the Engineers registered marks that hadn’t fallen since the glory days at the turn of the century. Their 14 goals registered RPI’s largest offensive outburst over a two-game stretch since a two-weekend sweep spanning UMass and Mercyhurst during the 2000-2001 season and came within a goal of the 15 goals scored against Dartmouth and Cornell near the end of the 1998-1999 season. The 8-3 win over the Big Green in late February of that year also came one night after a 5-2 win over Vermont, which meant this weekend was the highest-scoring weekend since Valentine’s Day week during the last years of the second Clinton administration.

Those teams routinely finished among the league’s top four teams and placed RPI in either the ECAC Championship or the formerly-used Third Place Game on a regular basis, so the offensive production clearly gave Smith a positive outlook towards this year’s regular season after he rebuilt his roster by actively augmenting his recruiting with players entered into the transfer portal.

“It’s NHL language,” he said. “We want to build ‘through the draft’ and supplement with ‘free agents,’ which in the college world means you’re building through recruiting and using the transfer portal to supplement your needs and holes. We’ve been able to bring in guys because of the strength of our master’s degree, and we kept a number of guys going into their fifth year while adding a couple of more. We wanted to maintain that overall philosophy, but you don’t necessarily know who is going to return [in any given year]. Our guys have been open and honest with us about wanting to stay when they love it at RPI and wanting to leave [the program] in a better place than it was last year and when they got here. That’s been our primary focus because we have these guys who want to establish a legacy and leave something behind.”

That legacy included a team steeped in the kind of instant chemistry that produced 16 different scorers on Saturday night. Six different players scored goals in the first two periods of the eight-goal game after six different goal scorers lit the lamp during Friday’s game. Only three players – Rainers Rullers, Tyler Hotson and Jagger Tapper – scored on both nights, and just under 20 players recorded at least one point. Five players had plus-3 ratings, including Dovar Tinling, who finished with three assists and a goal over the two games, and nobody earned more than a minor penalty across either game, which in turn kept Noah Giesbrecht and the returning Jack Watson decidedly clean in net.

“I was mad because we gave up a late goal on both nights,” laughed Smith. “It’s not that the game was over, but it might have been out of reach, so it was a little frustrating because we had done some really good things defensively. But what you talk about on any team is the balance of how you play because you can’t win being just a defensive team or being just an offensive team. You can’t win with just goaltending.

“You have to be good in all three dimensions, and we were good in back with splitting the time between Watson and Giesbrecht. We’re not going to score six and eight on every night, so we’ve got to be able to keep the puck out of our net and give the offense a chance to win.”

Getting to that point felt like a year-long struggle during the 2023-2024 season, but binging offense against Canisius offered a glimpse into the potential of a team willing to break itself out of the league’s lower tier. Winning two games on the road certainly didn’t hurt RPI, but the current question is about how the Engineers translate the success into their future, which begins this weekend with their home-opening series against Niagara, another Atlantic Hockey America program.

“What we’ve tried to do is address our defensive core so we could be more mobile back there,” said Smith. “Watching the weekend, our D-core stood out, so we’re asking if we’re doing the things that we’ve been practicing, so we can establish our identity. We wanted to play fast. We wanted to get our defensive involved, and getting every line [involved] got the balance that you need to be successful on any night. You take the wins and realize that you had to earn them, and then you try to build off that.”

***

One final message…

Before we leave for the week, I wanted to at least mention news that broke over the weekend when Union broadcaster Matt Dubrey announced that he’d been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Good friend Ken Schott from The Daily Gazette wrote a wonderful story outlining Matt’s battle and shared a link to a GoFundMe page established by his wife Amy. I’m expecting a bit more than just a blurb at the end of the weekly column this week, but in the interest of having traveled down a coverage road before finding out, I wasn’t sure exactly where to address it.

One thing I promise is to share Matt’s message and battle as much as possible, and I’ll start by going into things a bit more next week. So more to come, but until then, please check out the GoFundMe and see if you can help one of ECAC’s voices in his fight to beat back leukemia

This Week in the NCHC: ‘Iron sharpens iron.’ North Dakota’s Berry relishing tough schedule at beginning of season

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North Dakota earned a 5-2 win over Providence on Saturday in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game, part of a difficult start to the season for the Fighting Hawks (Photo: North Dakota athletics)

Whether you win or lose them, exhibition games never carry as much weight as the real thing will.

North Dakota got a reminder of that earlier this month, when the Fighting Hawks lost a non-counter game for the first time since falling to Alberta at the start of the 1996-97 season.

After UND struggled through a 4-1 exhibition defeat Oct. 5 at home to Augustana, the fifth-ranked Hawks put in a much-improved performance one week later in defeating No. 14 Providence 5-2. A large U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game crowd at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, including many UND legends back for an organized alumni weekend, was on hand Saturday to see the Hawks put in a performance that coach Brad Berry felt was indicative of the host program’s identity.

“We played a fast north game, and I thought it was a situation where, partway through the first period, we got the flow of the game going as far as what we needed to do with advancing pucks and getting on the forecheck, and we did a good job of that,” Berry said. “This was a nonconference game against a very good opponent, and we played our four lines and our six D and got into a rhythm that way. It was a big thing on guys’ familiarity of who they’re playing with and getting reps in a game, and the guys did a good job of managing that the right way.

“Early on, we were positionally in the right places but when we had the puck, our puck management wasn’t consistent coming through the neutral zone, which led to a little momentum for Providence. Once we got more consistent with that and going north, playing in their end of the rink and sustaining offensive-zone time, we got going.”

Dylan James scored twice Saturday, on his 21st birthday. Cameron Berg had a goal and an assist, freshman Sacha Boisvert bagged a goal in his first official collegiate game and sophomore Jayden Perron scored his 12th career goal for UND.

Berry noted that UND’s approach to the Providence game was different to the Hawks’ plan for the exhibition with second-year program Augustana. That time, the Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and led 4-0 before Berg put UND on the board with a power-play goal midway through the third.

“We played five lines, eight defensemen, all our goaltenders and it was a situation where we got everybody into the game,” Berry said. “When you do that, I don’t think you normally get the reps that you need, but everybody gets experience of playing in that game.

“(Augustana) won the puck races and the puck battles that night, and we didn’t but we worked on a lot of different things over the course of the week before Providence that we needed to get better at, and then honed in on the consistency of who we’re playing with on our lines, and we did a good job of working hard through the week to get to where we needed to go.”

And there’s still some room for growth, but that’s to be expected from a team with nearly a dozen newcomers. UND has a largely new defensive corps, and a new starting goaltender in Arizona State transfer T.J. Semptimphelter, who made 22 saves Saturday.

“We’ve got to remember that our D group from last year, we had eight new guys but four were elder statesmen who had played a lot of college hockey,” Berry said. “There were three transfers that were either seniors or grads coming in, and Bennett Zmolek coming in from (Minnesota State), that’s experience. Our D corps right now, our oldest guy is a junior (in Zmolek), and we’ve got four sophomores and three freshmen. 

“Everybody wants to be your very best from the start of the season, and we absolutely do but we know we have to grow this team. Everybody in the country has to grow their team, so it’s not so much what you did in the past, and we won a game against Providence and we’re moving forward. We’re playing Minnesota State this weekend and we have to move forward and make sure that we’re ready and prepared to be at our best.”

UND’s first handful of games this season are particularly tough. After No. 20 MSU hosts the Hawks this weekend, third-ranked Boston University visits Grand Forks for a pair of games Oct. 25-26, before the Hawks head east to play No. 8 Cornell on Nov. 1-2.

You want to play the best, because if you play the best in each conference, that’s going to make you better, and second, if you play the best and you have success against those teams, it’ll help you in the PairWise (Rankings), and won’t hurt nearly as much if you lose against top, top teams. These games make you better as a team and sharper. Iron sharpens iron.”

This Week in the CCHA: First-year coach Williams sees moving from Major Junior back to college as a ‘challenge’ he thought he needed

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First-year head coach Dennis Williams won his first two NCAA games behind the bench for Bowling Green and looks forward to navigating the ever-changing world of college hockey (Photo: Bowling Green athletics)

For Dennis Williams, coming “home” to Bowling Green after nearly 15 years was easy. It’s the rest of it that’s going to be more difficult.

“I don’t know if I would have left to come back to college hockey if it wasn’t Bowling Green,” Williams said.

The 45-year-old has deep roots at Bowling Green, a place where he both played and coached for a long time. He left in 2010 for a different experience in junior hockey – first in the NAHL, then the USHL before landing in the Major Junior WHL. He became head coach of the Everett Silvertips in 2017, winning 204 games behind the bench and earning the opportunity to coach the Canadian World Juniors team to a gold medal in 2024.

It’s not a very common pathway for Major Junior coaches to return immediately to college hockey. But for Williams, named the ninth head coach at Bowling Green in February, returning was special.

“I was happy where I was at. I was very thankful, because it’s a great league, it’s a great team, it’s a great organization, but having the opportunity to come back to a place where I played, I was a grad student, I was a grad assistant coach, assistant coach and interim head coach, where my oldest daughter was born…. it was just something that was a change and a challenge that, personally, I think I needed,” he said. “I was very fortunate and thankful that my wife, Hollie, and my girls, Emerson and Elise, were on board with it, because these type of decisions can’t be just made solely for, you know, myself.”

Moving is challenging – especially with two teenagers in school–but there’s more work to be done on the ice. Williams is returning to a college hockey landscape that is vastly different than the one he left in 2010, when he was BG’s interim head coach for one season following the sudden departure of Scott Paluch.

“I haven’t been in college for 15 years. The landscape has changed drastically. Everything’s changed,” Williams said, saying he is leaning a lot on his coaching staff – Curtis Carr, Stavros Paskaris, Dylan Schoen and Buddy Powers – to help him get up to speed. “I need them more than they need me probably. I’m lucky to keep those guys around with me. They’ve been very instrumental in the transition and the transition of recruiting and helping with transfers and keeping everybody at bay, as well as instrumental in helping me adjust to the college game, and understanding what are the cans and cannots we can do, I can continue to focus on my coaching and trying to develop our players.”

One big change Williams mentioned is the transfer portal, but oddly, it’s not one Williams had to deal with much this season. Often when there’s a coaching change this is a big exodus of outward player movement. But that didn’t happen for the Falcons this year. Nearly every player with eligibility returned to Bowling Green this fall, giving BG one of the more experienced teams in the CCHA.

“It’s a credit to these guys,” Williams said. “They’re a tight-knit group. They want to stay together, they want to play with each other and for each other, and having everybody back and three transfers and three freshmen is just elevating the competition and guys are really enjoying battling for spots.”

The Falcons have two players (Ethan Scardina and Seth Fyten) who came back to school for a fifth year, as well as five players who are entering their fourth year at BG (including team scoring leader Ryan O’Hara, Ben Wozney, Christian Stoever, Pete Eigner and Salvatore Evola). They also return all-CCHA rookie goaltender Cole Moore to the fold.

Williams has now gotten the chance to see this group play four times – twice against Mercyhurst to start the year then in exhibitions against Robert Morris and Simon Fraser last weekend. In the games that counted, the Falcons swept Mercyhurst on the road, winning 2-1 in overtime and 5-4 the next night.

“That was our first crack at watching the guys where games meant something, and those were important nonconference games to win,” Williams said. “That first game, we held onto a lead in the third, six-on-five, six-on-four for a bit, it was a real gutsy effort for our group. Then the next night, we’re down 3-1, we’re playing pretty good hockey, but nothing to show for it, and then we’re able to score three goals, take it to overtime and score in overtime.”

Those games showed Williams a lot about his team, but he said he learned just as much from their exhibition games. BG beat RMU 7-2 and Simon Fraser 4-1.

“I don’t like the term exhibition, because everyone thinks it all means nothing. But every time you play it means something,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’d much rather play these games and learn from it, than be sitting here at 1-3 and 0-4. We’re realistic enough to know that we have to play much better. Even though we’ve been able to win those four games, there’s more in the tank and our execution has to be better, our consistency has to be better. And in college hockey, we need discipline, especially playing against a team like Western Michigan, you can’t give them freebies.”

That Western Michigan game – a single game in Kalamazoo on Thursday before BG travels to RIT on Saturday – will be a big test for the Falcons. But Williams said even though he has done some scouting on WMU, he’s still more focused on making sure his team is playing their own style than anything else.

“For me, right now, still being early in the year, I’d like to see us get a little bit better at how we want to play and play to our identity, and then maybe throughout the game, if we have to make some adjustments, we will talk … as a staff to make sure that we know exactly how Western plays,” he said. “And then we just give our players X amount of information so that they’re not overthinking but allowing them to be able to play our game still. It’s gonna be a good test.”

This Week in the Big Ten: Early non-conference success for the Big Ten could help the league down the line, but still has some slip ups

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Wisconsin’s tough loss in its opener against Lindenwood was one of the few losses for Big Ten teams this weekend as the conference sits second behind the NCHC in non-conference winning percentage (Photo: Wisconsin Athletics)

“Collectively this game – and one reason I think it’s special – is you usually kind of get what you deserve.”

That is what Mike Hastings mused after Wisconsin’s 4-2 home loss to Lindenwood, a season-opening result that the Badgers hadn’t anticipated. But Hastings’ drop of hindsight philosophy is oddly applicable to the entire Big Ten for a weekend that saw every B1G team play, some for the first time this season.

The Big Ten went 7-4-2 against non-conference opponents last weekend for a win percentage of .615, lowering the league’s two-week number to .684, second only to the NCHC (.761).

Yes, it’s early. And no, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

For example, heading into a weekend series with visiting American International, Steve Rohlik knew that his Buckeyes would be tested by a team that has seen more NCAA tournament action than Ohio State has in the last five years. In advance of the series, he said, “All of a sudden, this first game of the year, you’ve got to be at your best to win.”

In the end, the Buckeyes came away from the weekend with a tie on Friday followed by a 5-2 win Saturday. Asked what the difference was between the 3-3 tie and the win, Rohlik said, “Get to three [goals]. When you get to three, you start to feel a little bit more confident again.”

Seven different players accounted for the eight Buckeye goals. “I can tell you it’s probably going to be different names next Friday or next Saturday,” said Rohlik. “That’s the way we’re built and I like it that way. It puts ownership on our whole team, and I think when you have ownership, you’re going to get the best out of them.”

After beating Arizona State 4-1 on the road Friday, the Wolverines and Sun Devils skated to a 3-3 tie Saturday. Michigan allowed two goals in the final minutes of the tie, leading captain Jacob Truscott to say, “You can’t have those hiccups late in the game.”

Sophomore Garrett Schifsky netted his first career hat trick in Friday’s win, scoring twice while the Wolverines were shorthanded in a game that saw Michigan take eight penalties for 24 minutes.

The Wolverines had a total of 13 penalties in the series, and after the Saturday tie, coach Brandon Naurato said that a lack of discipline can cost a team down the road. “Not being ready on the bench and a puck hitting you versus being cleared is the difference in potentially winning or losing a game, potentially making the tournament or not.”

In East Lansing, Michigan State celebrated the program’s 600th win Saturday when the Spartans beat Boston College 4-3. The No. 2 Eagles and No. 4 Spartans split the series after Boston College took Friday’s game 3-0.

After the loss, Adam Nightingale said that he thought the Spartans were trying to play “cutesy” against the Eagles. “That’s not our game. There’s a time and a place, and … we are a blue-collar hockey team, and if we try to play white-collar hockey, we’re not that good a team.”

In a 7-1 over Air Force Friday in the IceBreaker tournament, Bob Motzko said that there was “a lot to like” about Minnesota’s play. Motzko pointed to the Gophers’ transition game and how Minnesota pressured Air Force. “Connor Kurth had a big night,” said Motzko. “That line really shined.”

Kurth netted his first career hat trick in Minnesota’s season-opening game. Kurth, a junior, totaled seven goals in each of his previous two seasons.

Minnesota followed that resounding win with a 2-1 overtime loss to Omaha in the IceBreaker title game, having given up the game-tying goal shorthanded in the second period.

“We had a really good first period, and we had a very strong third period,” said Motzko. “If I have a criticism, our special teams, our power play was not good tonight, and we gave up the shorthanded goal.”

Down 3-0 through two periods against ranked Quinnipiac last Saturday, Penn State fell short in a 3-2 road loss, and Notre Dame earned two wins in New York’s North Country, 4-1 against St. Lawrence Friday to open the season and 5-2 over Clarkson the following night.

As for those Badgers, Wisconsin rebounded from the season-opening loss to beat Lindenwood 3-2 in overtime Saturday. The Badgers trailed 2-1 late in the third when Quinn Finley scored his second of the night to even things up.

Then with 18 seconds remaining in OT, Daniel Laatsch scored the game winner, assisted by Gavin Morrissey and Finley.

“I kind of saw it out of the corner of my eye,” said Laatsch. “I kind of saw the goalie fidgeting around a little bit, so I knew he wasn’t on his angle exactly, but definitely a little luck in there too. I just kind of threw it over in that direction.”

That was the right direction for the Badgers in all kinds of ways. After Friday’s tie, Hastings said that he was still “trying to digest” what happened and that from where he was sitting, there were “not enough workers. Some spectators.”

Saturday, Wisconsin was more resilient. “We’ve been ringing the bell quite a bit as far as some opportunities that have gone off the post,” said Hastings. “We just need to stay with it. One thing I want our guys to take from this game is that they stayed with it and they were rewarded for it.”

Stay with it. Get rewarded for it.

Sound advice for a long hockey season.

Rensselaer’s Smith on this season’s Engineers, recruiting, changing college hockey landscape: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 2

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Rensselaer head coach Dave Smith joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to talk this season’s Engineers, their opening weekend at Canisius, recruiting, possible CHL eligibility, the transfer portal, RPI’s coming weekend against Niagara, and more.

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This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Mercyhurst’s record may not represent the strength of this Lakers team, says coach Rick Gotkin

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Mercyhurst has begun the season 1-3, but coach Rick Gotkin says the team easily could be 2-2 or 3-1 (Photo: Mercyhurst Athletics)

It’s been a rough start for Atlantic Hockey America in non-conference play.

Two weeks into this season the conference has dug itself a 3-20-2 hole in non-league play, not ideal if the league wants to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. These games tend to have an oversized affect on the PairWise Rankings.

That said, there’s still a lot of non-conference games to be played. It’s encouraging that nine of the 20 losses were by a single goal, but we’re past close games and moral victories.

Conference play kicked off last weekend in Erie in a series between host Mercyhurst and Rochester Institute of Technology, with the teams splitting the weekend by identical 4-2 scores.

Friday’s win by the Lakers was their first of the young season after a pair of one-goal losses to Bowling Green the week before.

That means coach Rick Gotkin’s team is 1-3 to open the season, but he and the Lakers are seeing some positives.

“All four were essentially one-goal games,” said Gotkin, “They were similar from our perspective. All were good games and winnable. If we get a bounce or two, we’re probably 2-2 or making a case to be 3-1.”

Gotkin says he likes what he’s seen from new players as well as veterans stepping into new roles.

“Like a lot of teams, we have a good number of new faces,” said Gotkin, in his 37th season at Mercyhurt. “I’m always really curious how the new guys adjust to college hockey. Practice can’t really tell you that.”

But after four games against real compeition, Gotkin says that he is excited by what he saw.

“I like this group’s work ethic,” he said. “Their compete, their discipline, their committment to blocking shots. We’re seeing some good things.”

In the series with Bowling Green, sophomore goaltender Simon Bucheler, who saw limited action last season, started the first game (2-1 loss) and made 25 saves while transfer/graduate student Carter McPhail took the 5-4 overtime loss, making 37 saves.

Against RIT last weekend, Bucheler started both games, making a combined 68 saves. The sophomore spent most of last season behind starter Owen Say, who transferred to Notre Dame in the offseason.

“We wanted to see Simon in back-to-back games with points on the line,” said Gotkin. “We knew he was good. He had a coming out party last year against RIT (a 51-save shutout on Nov. 11, 2023). He was unbelievable. We had put our stock in Owen, but we felt very comfortable knowing what Simon could do. This year, he’s our guy.”

McPhail has also started a game, and Gotkin says we will also see freshman goalie Michael Chambre, a former Boston College recruit, soon.

On the offesive side, the Lakers have scored 11 goals this season, by 11 different players.

“So far it’s been by committee,” said Gotkin. “And that will be a strength for us. We need the young guys to step up and the veterns to play like veterans.”

Sophomore forward Boris Skalos is the top returning point-scorer this season, along with fifth-year forwards Mickey Burns and Steven Agriogianis.

The defense is bolstered by senior Jake Beaune and sophomore Trent Sambrook. Sambrook and Skalos were named to the AHA all-rookie team last season.

“It’s a good mix,” said Gotkin. “I think like us, the league is moving in the right direction, getting better and more competative. We’ve shown that in the NCAA Tournament, and now we need to show it in non-conference play.”

Women’s Division I College Hockey: The PodKaz Episode 24 – A nonconference surprise, plus Boston University’s Tara Watchorn joins the show

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USCHO.com’s Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look back on RIT delivering a surprising result against No. 7 Colgate, Wisconsin and Ohio State coming out on top in big WCHA series and more. Then Boston University coach Tara Watchorn stops by for a visit about Hockey East, taking over at her alma mater and renovations at Walter Brown Arena.

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 Hockey East: BU shows no lack of scoring prowess as it opens league play

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Boston University started its season 2-0 after wins over both Holy Cross and Union (Photo: Boston University athletics)

Now a seasoned veteran, Boston University sophomore forward Shane Lachance is thrilled to share the ice with highly touted freshman Cole Eiserman, even if that means fearing for his own safety a little bit.

“Sometimes it’s a little scary — he shoots it pretty hard,” Lachance said about Eiserman, a 6-foot-0 forward from Newburyport, Mass. “So if I’m standing in front, it might hit me a couple times but (he’s) just a great threat over there.”

For Lachance, and presumably the rest of the Terrier team, it’s worth the risk. Boston University is off to a 2-0 start this season and will open Hockey East play Friday night at home against Connecticut (7 p.m., ESPN-plus).

In a 4-1 win over Union (ECAC Hockey) last Saturday, the Terriers got a goal from each of its four lines, with no goal scorer older than sophomore. The Terriers got a goal apiece from Lachance and Eiserman, as well as Alex Zetterberg (freshman) and Jack Harvey (sophomore).

“We have a lot of depth up front,” said BU third-year coach Jay Pandolfo. “We have a lot of good forwards, a lot of talented forwards. All four of our lines are capable of contributing offensively.”

The Terriers’ scoring prowess will take pressure off goalie Mathieu Caron, but then again Caron’s play so far will take pressure off the scoring lines. So far Caron has made 65 saves, for a save percentage of .956 in two starts. Last year, Caron started all 40 games with a .915 save percentage and a goals-against average of 2.35.

“He’s been excellent,” Pandolfo said about his senior goaltender. “He’s got a ton of confidence. He’s got really high expectations for himself. He’s been really good.”

Caron’s proficiency in BU’s two games, including a season opening 5-2 win vs. Holy Cross (Atlantic Hockey), has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.

“In both those games, if Chewy wasn’t on his game in the first period, we could be looking at two different outcomes,” Lachance said. “Chewy’s been rock solid so far. He’s going to have to be going forward. To go far, to have success later in the year, you need a goalie to step up for you, and he’s been awesome so far.”

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for BU. Following the win over Union, Pandolfo lamented what he saw as a sluggish start by the Terriers. Despite leaving the ice with a 3-0 lead, Pandolfo didn’t like the fact his team allowed 17 shots in the frame.

“We have to make sure we’re having better starts,” Pandolfo said. “(We) definitely need to tighten up. I like some of the things we’re doing, but we’re a little loose out there as a group.”

Lachance said he’s confident improvement on defense will come, and he’s not all that worried about BU’s potential to generate offense.

“We just have to keep doing that,” Lachance said. “We have to clean it up defensively. I think we’ve had a couple mistakes that can definitely be fixed. But those are kinks that you gotta iron out the first couple weeks. As we get going here we have to stop making those mistakes. But I think we’re always going to be a team that’s not struggling to score. Or at least I hope not.”

Given the Terrier’s fast start, you can’t blame the newcomers for enjoying the results.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Eiserman said. “You play the game because it’s fun. When you get to college hockey, that makes it even more fun. That’s something I’ll never forget — however many college games I play. The next one could be the last one. You never know how the game works.”

TMQ: Rehashing a fantastic weekend of hockey while also exploring some of the biggest issues like the CHL and NIL

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Michigan State celebrates a goal on Saturday in a 4-3 victory over Boston College that earned the Spartans a weekend split with the Eagles (Photo: Michigan State athletics)

Paula: Dan, it’s great to be back with you to talk college hockey in this season’s second installment of TMQ. Even though the season is young, there’s a good deal to dig into, both on and off the ice.

Last week, Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger began a discussion about the implications of the NCAA granting eligibility to Canadian major junior players and I’d like to hear your thoughts on that later in the column, but for our first conversation of the season, I’m throwing out the word that so many fans despise and so many coaches use: parity.

And, honestly, the conversation about the NCAA’s proposal and the P-word intersect, especially when terms like “blue bloods” and “elites” come into play.

What transpired on the ice this past weekend brings me to it, though. One week after Stonehill upset Merrimack, Lindenwood – a team with six wins last season – split with Wisconsin, a 4-2 win Friday and a 3-2 overtime loss Saturday. The Lions didn’t trail in that series and only lost when Daniel Laatsch scored the game-winner with 18 seconds to spare in OT.

On the other end of the PairWise spectrum (so to speak), Boston College and Michigan State split a pair of games in Munn Ice Arena, with each team exploding for three second-period goals in its win: 3-0 for BC on Friday, 4-3 for the Spartans Saturday.

There were 16 games decided by a single goal and four OT ties, several come-from-behind wins, and some other notable results, like Omaha beating Minnesota 2-1 in overtime for the Ice Breaker title and Merrimack shutting out Minnesota State 1-0.

Is this an early harbinger of a season that will produce many surprises and upsets? Is this a sign of some teams – from up and down conference standings – starting where they left off at the end of 2024-25? Or is it too early to make much of anything here?

Dan: Based on the child-based crash emanating from the other side of the wall, talking about college hockey is exactly where I’d like to be right about now, so welcome back to another wonderful season where you and I get to play hooky from our responsibilities while we talk about the best and fastest game on Earth.

I admittedly think it’s still way too early to make some predictions about the entire season, but the results this weekend forced me to check the national scoreboard a little more frequently than I fully expected. The dreaded parity word – the one that we’ve all come to both respect and abhor – played itself out in too many different ways. I know, for example, that I didn’t expect Rensselaer to drop 14 goals on Canisius across two games, and I certainly didn’t expect my Bentley Falcons to take New Hampshire to overtime one week after badgering a UMass team that went to overtime against Omaha in this week’s IceBreaker first round. That’s not to say anything about AIC taking Ohio State to overtime and a shootout after losing a 6-0 score to Maine in the first weekend.
Fiddling with expectations is a big part of what we do over the course of the season, but it’s also pretty difficult to simply write off or salt away the first couple of weekends when we know that the race to the national championship is already starting for Pairwise bubble teams. One thing we don’t know is who exactly that impacts, but there are far too many teams that face the end of their season because they dropped an unexpected loss or tie in October. One point here, two points there…they make a difference in conference races, and while there’s a tendency to laugh about the Pairwise (Union was No. 2 this weekend and Stonehill outranked Boston College on Saturday morning), the “don’t look at the standings until February” mentality shouldn’t and doesn’t permeate coaches and players who are increasingly emphasizing the need to win games at the start of the year.
Bottom line: don’t sweat results that occur in October but absolutely sweat results that occur in October.
But back to your original point about the CHL because Ed and Jim did a fantastic job outlining the overall vote and its upcoming impact on college hockey’s future. In particular, they talked about roster sizes and the “blue chip” aspect of players matriculating into college hockey – as well as how it could expand the game. I’m going to look at this a different way because I think this is an unintended impact of NIL’s overall takeover. I’ve spoken with too many coaches who talk about how NIL isn’t going away and how we’re seeing it “seep” into college hockey, and I’m getting pretty tired of looking at it as a future thing. As we’re seeing the wall crumble between college hockey and NIL, where do you stand on this as an overall impact because I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the biggest difference between amateurism and professionalism is no longer valid? And what, pray tell, is college hockey going to look like in five years as players from the CHL make their way south?

Paula: As someone living at a latitude nearly identical to Niagara Falls, Ont., and about 78 miles northwest of Windsor, Ont., I think it’s cute that you see Canada a strictly northern proposition, Dan.

I’m also an easy drive between two Ontario Hockey League teams that play right here in Michigan, the Saginaw Spirit and the Flint Firebirds.

All chiding aside, that geographic perspective that echoes a kind of Canadian invasion is a fascinating metaphor for this moment in college hockey. There is a two-camps mentality at play here that I fall victim too as well, but I’m not sure that an either-or model holds up to scrutiny.

Players in the major juniors are still college-aged kids, and I don’t think that giving them NCAA eligibility differs much from the way current NCAA players are allowed to be drafted and remain NCAA eligible.

Yeah, I know that players in the major juniors are playing professional hockey – but they’re not getting rich doing so, and in many cases, they’re not being developed well. The Canadian major junior leagues have histories of lying to players about pay, bonuses, and reimbursement for college tuition should they forego the NCAA route for the major juniors.

I really dislike seeing people – especially young people – exploited for the profit of others.

That is why I’m fully behind the NIL. I understand the relationship between big collegiate sports programs like football and how smaller programs (fencing, wrestling) are funded, but exploiting student-athletes to do so is wrong.

There are too many people profiting from the play of young athletes – in the NCAA, in major junior hockey – who are not the athletes themselves. That’s what it really comes down to for me.

One potential area of worry for me is the continued manipulation of players who come to the NCAA from major junior hockey. These are players who will have had greater exposure to all of the people who want to exploit their careers. Not only will those individual student-athletes need protection from such exploitation, but so will the programs they enter.

The lines between amateur and professional are already blurred in sports in so many ways, and as an old lady, I’m surprised by how little that bothers me. What does trouble me is money. From betting culture to access, there are too many ways in which sports culture can be corrupted to profit individuals at the expense of collegiate players.

There’s more to this in my mind, too, but I’m still working to articulate it accurately. I’m not sure this I followed the way you were steering things, Dan, but that’s where I went.

Dan: That’s an interesting take. I’m not really sure where I was heading with this, but I really like the idea of hashing out the CHL vote in the framework of the kids’ ages. Also, for the record, anything west of the 128-Mass Pike interchange for a Boston-area guy is New York. The fact that I moved outside that exit and live in the same county as where I grew up – with its multiple orange line MBTA stops – made me recalibrate my whole geographic orientation in Massachusetts.

Shoutout the 24 people reading this who understood that sentence… also shoutout the Big Ten and NCHC fans who just imploded at me waxing poetic over New England in the fall.

Like you, I support NIL under its pretense while also harboring fear of exploitation of a system that feels a bit like the Wild West. I maintain that hockey is more unique because its NIL has to be viewed within a separate construct. A multitude of schools that aren’t Division I have enormous hockey programs while other schools with smaller D-I athletics departments play this particular sport at an incredibly high level. That’s all aside from the power conference schools that have full-blown, high-powered collectives capable of doling out much higher numerical values for its revenue-rich sports.
I don’t want that lost in my snarky commentary about the difference between the illusion of amateurism or professionalism. In the end, more hockey players can’t be a bad thing, but I still have such a hard time fully grasping that college athletes might make more money than CHL athletes that were paid lower-end stipends despite playing “professionally.” It’s almost comical to me that it got to that point, and it’s funnier still that there’s a conversation about what happens when we break down the walls. Sometimes I feel like I’m in the early 1900s and the American League and National League won’t play each other because one side is considered superior to the other.
I don’t know. This whole thing is just strange, and we’ll never quite know its full impact because of additional money allotted through cost-of-attendance or anything else. It’s just wild that we’ve finally gotten to this point.
As we get rolling here into late October, what’s on the menu for you in the next coming weeks for events and tournaments or conference openers? Any games of note that you’re circling on your calendar?

Paula: I hear you, Dan. It’s a weird new landscape that we’re navigating. So much has changed in recent years – the COVID eligibility, the portal, NIL, now the prospect of major junior players – and it’s quite dizzying.

One more thing before I leave this topic altogether. I’ve been hearing the term “blue bloods” bandied about, with Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik talking about it a little on the record last week and whispers about the term in other places.

I’ve never liked the idea of the “elites” in college hockey, the implication that some programs are better because of something inherent to their identity rather than to certain very real circumstances, and the term “blue bloods” kind of shakes me. From covering the old CCHA, I remember the disparity among big name and lesser-known programs within the same conference. While some programs in our tenure of covering DI hockey have remained perennial powerhouses, programs wax and wane – and not all schools are endowed with equal resources.

That is all I’ll say about that.

I also want to circle back to the AIC-Ohio State series. I think that the college hockey world in general saw that as a challenge for the Yellow Jackets, but I saw it as equally challenging for the Buckeyes. I think that series alone got my brain thinking about parity.

But to answer your question: there are a few series right within the conference I cover that I’m anticipating pretty eagerly.

Because the Big Ten is so small and there’s quite a bit of nonconference play for B1G teams in the first half, what happens in December may count a lot toward March and April.

I’m really looking forward to the Michigan State-Minnesota series Dec. 13-14 to end the first half and then the Frozen Confines games Jan. 3-4 at Wrigley Field. I see the Spartans as national contenders this year, and I’m pretty certain that Bob Motzko and his staff will have the Gophers in shape in no time, so what happens in Minneapolis in December may impact the Big Ten conference race.

Six of B1G Hockey’s seven teams will play a total of four games in Wrigley Field, something that will certainly draw attention to college hockey. Outdoor games that count are always interesting, so there’s that.

One single game that I’m looking forward to is Michigan State vs. Michigan Feb. 8 at Little Caesars Arena. I don’t think that people outside of the area where I live understand how big a deal this game is between the Spartans and Wolverines on NHL ice. Even before Michigan State began its rebuild, this game routinely drew enormous crowds, often selling out. It’s an event – and it’s a more meaningful one now because of the excellent work that Adam Nightingale and his staff have done at MSU.

Down the stretch, too, Ohio State has a chance to play spoiler as the Buckeyes end their season with series against Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

How about you? What are you looking forward to?

Dan: You know, I’m going to go off the board here because I genuinely enjoy the simplest form of tradition. For me, it’s the same thing week-in and week-out, so getting that cup of coffee before a broadcast is one of those things that I miss when I’m not at the rink. I live for the postgame meet-up and the decompression in equipment rooms, and grabbing that caffeinated beverage in between periods or ahead of the opening puck drop cleanses my soul from the outside world. I know it’s cliche, but I feel like I’m home when I do it, like the year never really ended even as it’s starting anew.

Bauer takes over as Augsburg women’s hockey coach

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Augsburg has promoted Elizabeth Bauer to be its women’s hockey coach.

Bauer, who was an assistant coach for the Auggies in the 2023-24 season, replaced Michelle McAteer in the head coaching role. McAteer left Augsburg after 14 seasons to become WCHA commissioner.

Elizabeth Bauer

“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to take over as head coach for the women’s hockey program at Augsburg,” Bauer said in a news release. “I have had a wonderful mentor in Coach McAteer, who has helped build this program into what it is today, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and what she has done here.”

A former player at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Bauer spent two seasons as girls hockey director for MAP Hockey, an elite offseason training center for hockey players in Minnesota. She also spent a year as a sports performance trainer and facility director at St. Croix Acceleration, a training center in Hudson, Wis., and was an assistant coach for the Team Wisconsin under-16 girls team.

“I have always known I wanted to be a head coach and am so grateful for this opportunity,” Bauer said.

Denver stays No. 1, North Dakota moves into top 5 of USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

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Denver and Boston College stayed in the top two spots of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll (photo: Jim Rosvold).

Denver strengthened its hold on the top spot in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll on Monday.

The defending NCAA champion Pioneers got 47 of 50 first-place votes and stayed No. 1 after an off weekend.

No. 2 Boston College and No. 4 Michigan State stayed put after splitting a nonconference series in East Lansing. Boston University also stayed at No. 3 following a win over Union.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll — Oct. 14, 2024

North Dakota entered the top five and Minnesota fell to No. 6. The Gophers lost the championship game of the Ice Breaker tournament to Omaha, which moved up from 15th to 12th. The Fighting Hawks defeated Providence in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, sending the Friars from 13th to 14th.

Wisconsin had the biggest fall of the week, from No. 9 to No. 16, after it lost its season opener at home to Lindenwood on Friday and had to rally for an overtime win on Saturday.

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.

A great BC/Michigan State series at Munn, the Icebreaker, an upset win for Lindenwood: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 2

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

In this episode, we start with the top-billed Boston College vs. Michigan State series, Omaha’s icebreaker victory in Las Vegas and disappointing attendance. Other notable performances included Michigan’s series at Arizona State, which included a humorous social media exchange.

We also look at surprise victories like Lindenwood’s over Wisconsin, Merrimack’s bounce-back win against Minnesota State, and we touch on teams with strong starts including Notre Dame, Ohio State, and St. Cloud State.

A discussion on rule changes surrounding face-offs and major or minor penalties concludes the episode.

Times are approximate:

00:15 Introduction and Hosts
00:25 Boston College vs. Michigan State Recap
05:04 Omaha’s Icebreaker Win in Las Vegas
12:08 Michigan vs. Arizona State Highlights
21:00 Biggest Upsets and Disappointments
27:00 Early Season Successes
33:52 Officiating Changes and Challenges
37:43 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

Monday 10: Boston College, Michigan State split top-five series, Lindenwood upsets No. 9 Wisconsin, Michigan Tech sweeps Alaska, Omaha wins IceBreaker

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Michigan Tech swept Alaska on home ice this past weekend (photo: Michigan Tech Athletics).14

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

1. BC, MSU split top five showdown

The most anticipated matchup of the weekend featured a big-time top-five battle in East Lansing between No. 2 Boston College and No. 2 Michigan State. The Eagles beat the Spartans 3-0 in Friday night’s game at Munn Arena thanks to three goals in the second period–two by Will Vote and another by Oskar Jellvik. But the Spartans turned the tables on Saturday night, winning 4-3 to earn the split. MSU rallied from deficits of 2-1 and 3-2, scoring three goals in the second period to earn the program’s 600th victory at Munn, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season. Charlie Stramel scored two goals while Red Savage and Daniel Russel scored one apiece for MSU.

2. Big win for Lindenwood in Madison

Lindenwood pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the weekend and was an overtime period away from pulling off the impressive sweep, as the Lions beat Wisconsin 4-2 on Friday night in Madison. Jaeden Mercier scored twice while Alexander Lundman and Artyom Borshyov each added another goal for the Lions, who never trailed en route to earning their first-ever victory against a ranked opponent. On Saturday night, Lindenwood nearly pulled off the stunning sweep. Ethan Zielke and David Gagnon scored the first two goals for the Lions to take a 2-0 lead, but Wisconsin woke up late in the second period. Quinn Finley scored with less than a minute left in the middle frame then tied it up late in the third to send the game to overtime, where Daniel Laatch gave Wisconsin the game-winner with 18 seconds left.

3. Omaha wins IceBreaker

Omaha won twice in overtime to take the IceBreaker tournament championship in Las Vegas. The Mavericks beat UMass 3-2 on Friday behind a pair of goals from Zach Urdahl–who scored the game-winner. In Saturday night’s title game against Minnesota–a rematch of last season’s NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Semifinal game–junior goaltender Simon Latkoczy withstood a blizzard of shots from the Gophers to make a career-high 53 saves to backstop a 2-1 win. Minnesota’s Mason Nevers had given the Gophers a 1-0 first-period lead but Omaha battled back. Sam Strange scored shorthanded in the second period to tie it up before Jacob Guevin scored 54 seconds to win it for the Mavericks. UMass won the consolation title with a 5-1 victory over Air Force.

4. North Dakota drops Providence

North Dakota and Providence opened their regular seasons with the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, but it was the Fighting Hawks who came away with the 5-2 victory in Grand Forks. The Hawks, who were stunned by Augustana in their exhibition opener a week ago, looked like they meant business against the Friars. Dylan James scored two goals, Abram Wiebe had two helpers and UND goalie T.J. Semptimphelter made his North Dakota debut with a 22 save victory. Braiden Clark and Hudson Malinoski scored for Providence.

5. Quinnipiac beats Penn State

No. 8 Quinnipiac jumped out to a lead against Penn State but then held on late to avoid the upset, ultimately winning 3-2 in Hamden, Conn., for their season opener. Jeremy Wilmer and Andon Cerbone scored in the first before Wilmer added another in the second period to give the Bobcats a 3-0. It appeared the rout was on, but the Nittany Lions made it interesting in the third. Ben Schoen scored less than a minute into the frame and Danny Dzhaniyev made it 3-2 six minutes later. Penn State kept pressing but couldn’t find the game-tying goal.

6. Merrimack blanks Minnesota State, earns split

A week ago, Merrimack was without an eligible healthy goalie and needed a student manager to step in to give them a chance against Stonehill. They lost 3-2 in overtime despite a heroic effort from Spencer Marquis in net. What a difference a week makes. This time, with goaltender Max Lundgren active and able to play against CCHA powerhouse Minnesota State, the Warriors gutted out a 1-0 road win on Friday to pull off the upset. Lundgren, a freshman from Sweden, made 28 saves in his collegiate debut. Tyler Young scored the lone goal for Merrimack to help Lundgren’s shutout hold up. But a sweep was not to be, as Minnesota State’s offense clicked on Saturday for a 4-1 victory. Four different Mavericks scored (Brenden Olsen, Rhett Pitlick, Luigi Benincasa and Brian Carrabes) and Alex Tracy made 18 saves for the series split.

7. RIT splits with Mercyhurst

One conference is off to an early start. Atlantic Hockey play kicked off already this weekend, with Mercyhurst splitting the series with defending AHA regular season champion RIT in Erie, Pa. On Friday, the Lakers took a 4-2 victory behind goals from Dominik Bartecko, Barrett Brooks, Sean James and Ryan Coughlin. Coughlin’s goal, which happened 59 seconds into the third period, turned out to be the game-winner as RIT battled back from down 3-0 after goals from Gustav Blom and Dimitri Mikrogiannakis. James’ empty-netter gave Mercyhurst a cushion and helped seal the win. On Saturday, Simon Isabelle scored twice along with Philippe Jacques and Tyler Fukakusa as the Tigers were on the front end of a 4-2 scoreline. Mercyhurst scored both of its goals on the power play, including one by Mickey Burns with less than two minutes left which cut the score to 3-2; Fukakusa’s empty-netter sealed the deal for RIT.

8. Michigan gets win, tie in desert

Garrett Schifsky’s hat trick powered Michigan to a 4-1 win over Arizona State on Friday night before the Sun Devils battled back to earn a 3-3 tie on Saturday night. The Wolverines, who are now 7-0-2 all-time against ASU, managed to win Friday’s game despite being outshot 36-34 and finding themselves on the penalty kill five separate times. They dominated the special teams battle, however–two of Schifsky’s three goals were shorthanded, while Michael Hage added a goal on one of Michigan’s two power plays in the game. Logan Stein stopped 35 shots to earn the victory. In Saturday’s game, a wild third period say Michigan take a 3-1 lead with goals from Hage and Philippe Lapointe, but the Sun Devils battled back to tie it in in the final minutes of the game. Noah Beck scored on the power play to make it 3-2, then 16 seconds later Cullen Potter’s shot from behind the blue line somehow found its way past goalie Cameron Korpi to tie things up at 3-3, which ended up as the final scoreline.

9. Notre Dame sweeps North Country road trip

Notre Dame opened its season with a pair of wins in the North Country, beating St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday. Against the Saints on Friday, Cole Knuble’s two goals highlighted a 4-1 win. A pair of transfers also had big games in their Notre Dame debuts: Minnesota Duluth transfer Blake Biondi scored in the second period while former Mercyhurst netminder Owen Say made 31 saves. In Saturday’s game, a four-goal third period helped the Irish rally past Clarkson 5-2. The Golden Knights took a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by Jared Mangan and Tristan Sarsland. But Notre Dame scored five unanswered to earn the win. Knuble made it 2-1 in the second frame before the Irish exploded in the third. Michael Mastrodomenico, Hunter Nelson and Danny Nelson each scored in the first 11 minutes of the final period; Justin Janicke ended it with four minutes left when a Clarkson shot bounced off his shin and slid the length of the ice into the empty Golden Knights net. Nicholas Kempf stopped 30 shots for Notre Dame.

10. Michigan Tech starts off October right

After going 0-for-October in 2023, Michigan Tech started 2024 on a specific mission: Make sure they get off to a solid start on the season. This weekend’s results would indicate a success. The Huskies swept visiting Alaska with a pair of 2-1 victories in their nonconference series. On Friday night, Max Koskipirtti scored 15 seconds into the game for Tech, but the Huskies had trouble solving Nanooks goaltender Nicholas Grabko, who made 26 saves. Matt Koethe scored for Alaska in the second period and the 1-1 score held until overtime, when Elias Jansson scored three minutes into 3-on-3 overtime for a victory. On Saturday, the Huskies won by the same scoreline but this time no overtime was needed. Stiven Sardarian and Chase Pietila scored in the first period for Tech, as did Alaska’s Chase Dafoe, but that was all the offense in the game. Michigan Tech, after having All-American goaltender Blake Pietila in net for five years and 142 games, seems to have found a solid backstop this season in Max Vayrynen, who made 15 saves on Friday and 29 on Saturday to improve to 2-0-0.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Weekend Wrap October 14, 2024

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(3) Minnesota Duluth at (1) Wisconsin 

Read Saturday’s recap here. On Sunday, the Badgers used the power of a three-goal second period to pull away from the Bulldogs and earn a weekend sweep. Lacey Eden opened the scoring, tapping home a loose puck after Tindra Holm made the initial save on an Emma Venusio shot from the blue line. Nina Jobst-Smith responded for the Bulldogs with a wrister from the high slot to tied the game 1-1. Early in the second, Maggie Scannell one-timed a drop pass from Hannah Halverson to extend the lead to 2-1. Marianne Picard’s stick handling earned her the third goal and KK Harvey added a shot from the point on the power play to extend Wisconsin’s lead to 4-1. A minute before the second intermission, Olivia Mobley found a spot similar to Jobst-Smith to net her own wrister and pull the game to 4-2. Scannell scored her second of the day, putting away her own rebound and Cassie Hall drove hard to the net just more than a minute later to put the Badgers ahead 6-2 before five minutes had elapsed in the third. Mobley scored a beauty of a shorthander to make it 6-3, but the Bulldogs could not close the gap. UMD had a long power play on a major that was 5-on-3 for a time and they pulled Holm, but could not cut into the deficit. Laila Edwards’ shorthander on the empty net closed out the 7-3 win and weekend sweep. 

(2) Minnesota at (4) Ohio State

The Buckeyes celebrated their 2024 National Championship before Friday’s game and after earning a 4-3 win, celebrated coach Nadine Muzerall’s 200th coaching win. Joy Dunne opened the scoring with a nice shot from the faceoff dot, but Abbey Murphy equalized for the Gophers less than two minutes later on a breakaway to make it a 1-1 game. It looked like that’s how the period would end, but Jocelyn Amos was able to bury a rebound with about 30 seconds left in the first to make it 2-1 Buckeyes at the first break. Kiara Zanon’s second period power play goal was a product of OSU’s puck movement and she lit the lamp to make it 3-1. Emma Kreisz made it a one-goal game early in the third and the Gopher looked to put the pressure on OSU, but Jenna Buglioni scored seven seconds into a power play to extend the lead to 4-2. Minnesota pulled their goalie and were able to capitalize with the extra attacker with nine seconds to play, but they ran out of time as the Buckeyes took the 4-3 win. Things were a little less offensive in the second game. Ohio State scored four minutes in when Jocelyn Amos made the Gophers pay for several missed attempts to clear the puck. But then the teams would play 40 minutes of scoreless hockey. Josefin Bouveng tied the game for Minnesota early in the third, but neither team could find an advantage in the incredibly even match that saw Minnesota make 14 blocks to Ohio State’s 14 and 29 shots to OSU’s 30. Overtime didn’t decide a winner and it took six rounds of the shootout for Amos to end the game to give the Buckeyes five of six points on the weekend. 

Robert Morris at (5) Clarkson

Clarkson swept their weekend, but left their scoring until late this weekend. On Friday, it was a three-goal third that led to the win as Baylee Kirwan, Andie Proulx, Jenna Goodwin and Shelby Laidlaw each lit the lamp to lead Clarkson to a 4-0 victory. In the second game, it was two goals in the final nine minutes that secured the win. Sena Catterall scored late in the second to make it 1-0. Goodwin added a power play goal midway through the third and Rebecca Morissette added the empty-netter to ensure the victory.  

(7) Colgate at RIT

It took the Raiders much of the first period to find their footing on Friday, but when they did, they were able to quickly build a lead. Avery Pickering and Kalty Kaltounková each scored late in the first to put Colgate up 2-0. Just 26 seconds into the second Kaia Malachino added to the lead to make it 3-0. RIT responded with a power play goal from Emma Pickering to cut the lead to 3-1, but that’s as close as it would get as Kaltounková scored her second and Sara Stewart lit the lamp to close out the 5-1 win. Things got more interesting on Saturday, with 15 penalties called. Elyssa Biederman served a five minute major midway through the second and Gwen Eichfeld was given a major and game misconduct later in the frame. All in all, the Raiders accumulated 30 minutes in penalties and played just 10 minutes of the first two periods with five skaters on the ice. But RIT was just 1-for-7 on the power play. The scoring opened with an extra attacker goal from Biederman to make it 1-0. Kylie Aquaro’s power play go in the second tied the game 1-1. Brac Kelley gave the Tigers their first lead of the weekend with an intercepted pass and backhanded shot for her first collegiate goal. Casey Borgiel replied for Colgate during another power play to tie the game 2-2 with about eight minutes left in regulation. An errant poke check proved fortuitous for Bronwyn Khangsar, who was trailing the play and was left a perfect opportunity that she one-timed into the net to give RIT a 3-2 lead. Addie Alvarez’s empty-netter secured the Tigers’ 4-2 upset victory.

(15) Mercyhurst at (8) St. Lawrence

Taylor Lum deflected a puck into the net in the second to give St. Lawrence the lead in the opening minutes of the second period and that’s all the Saints would need to take down the Lakers. Melissa Jeffries added to the lead in the third and Hillary Sterling’s empty-netter secured a 3-0 win. Mercyhurst came out strong in the second game as Vanessa Upson forced a turnover deep in Saints territory and fed Thea Johansson for an early goal. SLU was able to respond in the second as Claire Tyo picked off a puck in the neutral zone and sent it to a rushing Tori Verbeek, who carried it to the net and put it top shelf to make it a 1-1 game. The teams looked destined to head to overtime, but St. Lawrence captain Anna Segedi gave her team the lead with just 95 seconds left on the clock. Jeffries passed to Segedi in the slot and despite a fight for the puck with the Lakers’ defense, Segedi was able to backhand it into the net for not only the game-winner, but her 100th career point. 

(9) Connecticut at New Hampshire

UConn used four second-period goals to propel themselves to a 5-1 win on Friday. Jada Habisch scored the lone goal in the first. Brooke Campbell scored 86 seconds into the second, Claire Murdoch added another a few minutes later, Kyla Josifovic made it 4-0 later in the second and Habisch got her second of the game to send the Huskies to the locker room with a 5-0 lead. Addy Finn’s goal in the waning seconds ruined the shutout to get UNH on the board. Maya Serdachny and Murdoch scored in the second on Saturday and that’s all UConn needed to get the win and weekend sweep. 

(11) St. Cloud State at Bemidji State

Sophomore Alice Sauriol had a weekend, scoring two of St. Cloud’s goals on the weekend – both game-winners – to help the Huskies to their best start to a season in program history. SCSU is now 6-0 thanks to a 1-0 win Friday in which Sauriol scored short-handed, picking up a misplayed puck at the blue line and racing down the ice. On Saturday, freshman goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö earned her second shutout in her second career start. Sauriol’s goal in the second came on a rush with Sofianna Sundelin. Sauriol’s fore-hand, back-hand stick moves made it a 1-0 game. Avery Farrell’s empty-netter secured the 2-0 win and weekend sweep. 

(12) Penn State at Union

Seven different Nittany Lions tallied a point on Friday as PSU took a 4-2 win over Union. Katelyn Roberts scored the lone goal of the opening frame. Union responded early in the second to tie the game 1-1 on a goal from Stephanie Bourque, but the teams would trade goals all period. Alyssa Machado quickly put Penn State ahead again before Karianne Engelbert tied it at 2-2. From there it was all Tessa Janecke as the national team star scored late in the second and again in the third to earn the win for the Nittany Lions. On Saturday, PSU roared out to a 3-0 lead in the first with goals from Lyndie Lobdell, Nicole Hall and Maddy Christian. But Union’s Maddie Leaney was not ready to let Penn State walk away with it as she scored in the second and early in the third to cut the lead to 3-2. It was Machado who answered for the Nittany Lions, scoring twice in 14 seconds to stretch the lead to 5-2 and put the game out of reach. Engelbert scored once more for the Garnet Chargers, but Penn State took the win and sweep

Boston University vs. (13) Northeastern

The home team prevailed in this home and home series between two Boston foes. On Friday, Northeastern freshman Éloïse Caron scored twice while Holly Abella and Ella Blackmore each lit the lamp once to lead the Huskies to a 4-0 win. Paige Taborski had 26 saves in the shutout. On Saturday, the Terriers got their revenge as Lola Reid gave BU the lead in the first. Riley Walsh doubled it to 2-0 early in the third and then Sydney Healey and Clara Yuhn each scored on the empty net to secure the 4-0 win and weekend split. Boston University goalie Callie Shanahan made 25 saves to earn the team’s first shutout of the season. 

St. Michael’s at Post

Special shoutout to Julia Chedel and St. Michael’s. Her power play goal on Saturday was the only tally, giving St. Michael’s their first program win since February 2022. Post won the first game in the weekend series 4-0 thanks to goals from Julia Wysocki, Jodie Rose, Macy Peterson and Celena Mickevicius.

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