Philip Svedebäck and Zachary Borgiel have been a solid 1-2 punch in the Providence crease this season (Svedebäck photo/Lydia Vigneau, Borgiel photo: Providence Athletics).
Don’t call it a goalie controversy.
Instead, file it under a good problem to have for the Providence Friars.
So far, both of the Friars’ netminders have turned in stellar performances. Returning junior Philip Svedebäck of Växjö, Sweden, is 3-1-0 with a .907 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. Graduate transfer Zachary Borgiel of Fort Gratiot, Mich., is 2-0-1 with a .952 save percentage and 1.64 GAA.
It’s left 14-year coach Nate Leaman with the task (enviable or unenviable, depending on whom you ask) of deciding when and where to play each one.
“Rather have two good ones than two bad ones,” said Leaman, with a chuckle. “It’s a healthy competition right now. They’re both playing pretty well. We haven’t had that combination in a long time. It’s very welcome.”
Providence’s recent weekend sweep vs. New Hampshire served as a microcosm of the season, and the goalie situation, for the Friars. Svedebäck made 23 saves in a 6-3 win Friday night at Schneider Arena to open the series. The next night at UNH, Borgiel turned in one of the best goalie performances in the league this year with 43 saves, many of the highlight-reel variety. It was the first shutout of the season for Borgiel and the Friars.
The Friars are 5-1-1 and are unbeaten since a season-opening 5-2 setback at North Dakota, which was then No. 6 in the USCHO Division I Men’s Hockey Poll.
Borgiel transferred from Merrimack, where last season he posted a 6-9-1 record with 3.26 ga and .890 save percentage.
“It’s been great,” Borgiel said of the transition to his new school. “New, fresh scenery is always good. Great guys here and I love the school. The facilities are great. It’s been awesome so far.”
Borgiel earned league goalie of the week honors for his performance against UNH.
Providence has gotten good production from a couple of Wills — graduate student forward Logan Will, who transferred from Colorado College, had a goal and four assists in the sweep vs. UNH, tied for a league-best plus-5 rating for the weekend, and freshman forward Will Elger, who continued his hot start to the year with two goals, one assist and a plus-2 rating vs. the Wildcats. He tallied the game-winning goal in Saturday night’s 3-0 win, his fourth straight game with a goal.
Leaman said Elger’s talent may not have been obvious last year when Elger played for the Omaha Lancers of USHL, but it was apparent early on in his time with the Friars.
“For the amount of ice time he gets, he’s really productive,” Leaman said. “He’s got a very good skill set, he’s got a very good IQ for the game. (For) us, this isn’t a flash, because all through training camp, he kept scoring. (It) didn’t matter who we put him with. He’s got a good stick.”
Next up for Providence is a home and home series vs. Northeastern (Friday at Schneider, Saturday at Matthews; both games start at 7 p.m. on ESPN+). Leaman said to keep the good times rolling, the Friars will have to improve on managing the puck and staying out of the penalty box.
“We just have to be sharper, a little better,” he said. “Better with our sticks. (We) just have to make sure, sticks on puck.”
David “Duke” Snyder, adjunct professor of Physical Education, Emeritus, and former coach of men’s hockey at Wesleyan, passed away on October 25, 2024, at the age of 80.
Snyder completed his BA at St. Lawrence, where he lettered in both hockey and baseball. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1970 as the arena director and assistant men’s hockey coach, and the following year, he took over as the head coach for the team’s first season at the varsity level.
Over the next 32 years, he led the men’s hockey team to 270 wins and a Little Three title.
Snyder had a significant impact on hockey at Wesleyan and on the sport as a whole. Wesleyan’s hockey rink, the former Wesleyan Arena, was officially renamed in 2004 as the Spurrier-Snyder Rink in honor of the contributions of Duke Snyder and his predecessor, Wesleyan’s club hockey coach William Spurrier. Snyder was named NESCAC coach of the year in 2000 and in 2023, received the John “Snooks” Kelley Founders Award from the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) which recognizes those who have contributed to the overall growth and development of the sport of ice hockey in the United States.
In addition to his role with hockey, Snyder made other significant contributions at Wesleyan, including acting as the arena director, serving as the assistant baseball coach, assistant men’s crew coach, head varsity golf coach, and serving for six seasons as the head softball coach. Duke was also instrumental in the development of the women’s hockey program at Wesleyan.
“A very popular and supportive coach, he was highly respected by his players and his colleagues in the coaching profession,” recalled John Biddiscombe, adjunct professor emeritus of physical education. “Students sought out his class offerings because of his engaging teaching style and expert instruction.”
“Duke was a wonderful person who had an engaging way about him,” added Chris Potter, adjunct professor emeritus of physical education and head coach of the Wesleyan men’s hockey team. “He had a tremendous impact on so many people and he optimized what coaching is all about. Winning and losing is part of it, but for Duke the development of young people was his passion.”
Snyder is survived by his wife, Diane, their children, Kristen Snyder Vogel (John) and Todd Snyder (Linda), grandchildren Sarah and Annie Vogel and Caroline and Luke Snyder, his sister, Mary Beth Snyder O’Brien (Tim) and a large extended family. A memorial service is planned for Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 1 p.m. at Wesleyan’s Memorial Chapel, followed by a reception at the Spurrier-Snyder Rink.
Memorial contributions may be made to support ice hockey at Wesleyan University. Gifts may be made online (please choose designation “Other” and note “In Memory of David ‘Duke’ Snyder-Women’s Hockey or Men’s Hockey”), or by mailing a check to Wesleyan University, Office of Advancement, 55 High Street, Middletown, CT 06457, and noting “Snyder/Men’s or Women’s Hockey” in the memo line.
Westfield State celebrates their Western Massachusetts Invitational title as St. Anselm and Anna Maria also captured opening weekend tournaments (Photo by Westfield State Athletics)
Happy Election Day! As my computer and Wi-Fi connection “elected” not to work yesterday, I am supplying an expanded version of the opening weekend wrap-up.
Well, if the week one results are any indication of the season ahead, then we should all buckle up for some exciting and unpredictable hockey in the east. The weekend saw a strong performance from number one-ranked Hobart and a split series between Utica and Adrian, but also saw a ranked Endicott loss to Southern Maine; back-to-back losses for #11 Plymouth State to the University of New England and Babson; St. Anselm winning the Buffalo State tournament and a host of other results including overtime thrillers that clearly illustrates how competitive the D-II/III landscape will be in 2024-25. There is lots to recap so here is some of the best highlights for this past weekend in the east:
CNE
Curry’s Shane Soderwall simply resumed where he left off last season by stopping a lot of pucks and not giving up goals. The Colonels’ netminder posted back-to-back road shutouts in a 2-0 win over Massachusetts-Boston and 3-0 win at Norwich. Soderwall made twenty-nine saves against the Beacons and followed that up with a perfect twenty-five save effort against the Cadets. Forward Eelis Laaksonen scored a goal in each game to help Curry to a strong 2-0-0 start on the season.
The University of New England may have been viewed as a dark horse in the CNE this season but their 5-0 win over #11 Plymouth State on Friday night certainly will garner some attention from future opponents. Goaltender Joe Stanizzi stopped all 39 Panther shots and received solid offensive support from captain Ryan Kuzmich (1G – 2A – 3 points), Drew Olivieri (0G – 3A – 3 points) and Dominic Murphy (2G – 0A – 2 points).
Suffolk opened their season on the road against Salem State and the Rams rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the third period with a goal from Cole Scott to tie the score at 2-2. Neither team could muster a game-winner in regulation but just over a minute into overtime, Gavin Havens provided the game-winning goal for Suffolk in a 3-2 overtime win. Goaltender CJ Hapward stopped thirty-eight shots for the rams to pick up the win.
MAC
League favorite Stevenson opened the season with a two-game series with Canton and after eking out a 4-3 win on Friday night, the Mustangs saw five different goal scorers in a more complete 5-2 win over the Kangaroos. The Mustangs broke open a 2-1 contest with three unanswered goals in the third period. Caden Smith scored goals in both games for Stevenson.
Alvernia opened their season with a pair of SUNYAC foes and split the two games with a runaway win over Morrisville and a lost to Cortland. On Friday, a hat trick from Frazer Dodd and two goals from Isaac Chapman helped the Golden Wolves to a lopsided 10-3 win over the Mustangs. On Saturday against the Red Dragons, a five-goal second period blew open a scoreless tie and gave Cortland a 5-2 win led by a pair of goals each from Nate Berke and Nathan Garnier.
Alvernia and Stevenson will open conference play this weekend against each other.
MASCAC
One of the new teams in the conference, Anna Maria, got their season off to a fast start by winning the Woo Cup tournament amongst the four teams from the Worcester, Massachusetts area. On Friday night, the AmCats broke open a 2-2 tie in the third period on goals from Owen Barrow and Brandon Della Paolera to secure a 4-2 win over Assumption. Saturday’s championship game against Nichols saw the AmCats score three times in the second period to erase a one-goal Bison lead on the way to a 4-1 victory. Derek Raposo scored one goal and added five assists for six points to pace the AMC attack.
Westfield State took the Western Massachusetts Invitational Tournament title with a pair of wins over Franklin Pierce and Western New England. In the opening round game Louis Ouellet and Cooper Board each scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the Ravens. In the title game, a Jesper Seeburg goal broke open a 2-2 tie in the third period and goaltender, Aiden Winslow made the one-goal lead stand up as he made thirty-two saves to help the Owls to the tournament title.
Rivier opened their season with a new cross-state rival as Keene State began play as a D-III hockey club this season in advance of their joining the new Little East conference next season. The game featured a lot of offense as the teams skated to a 5-5 tie in regulation. With just thirty seconds remaining in overtime, the Raiders’ Alfred Rotiroti scored from the slot past Owl netminder Will Slohm for a stunning 6-5 victory.
NE-10
St. Anselm traveled to Buffalo State for an opening season tournament and came home with the championship trophy. On Friday, the Hawks skated to a 2-2 overtime draw with Brockport with goals from Patrick DeMarinis and Hunter Brackett. The game required a shootout to determine a winner and after nine rounds, the Hawks Cam Collins provided the needed goal. Goaltender Cam Carroll made thirty-two saves to help the hawks advance. In the title game there was more drama as St. Anselm faced-off against the host Buffalo State Bengals. Buffalo State had a one-goal lead when the Hawks pulled the goalie late in the third period and found the equalizer off the stick of Luke Linart. In overtime, Mark Blaney secured the win just 56 seconds into the extra session and St. Anselm’s skated off with the title.
St. Michael’s played Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in a two-game series and skated away with a pir of wins by scores of 5-1 and 4-0. On Friday, five different players scored goals for the Purple Knights including power play tallies from Quinn McCarthy and David Ciancio. Saturday saw the Purple Knights score three goals in the third period to break open a one-goal game and goaltender Ethan Plunkett made nineteen saves to earn the shutout win.
Southern New Hampshire opened the season against Framingham State and needed an Austin Hirschberger goal in the third period to earn a 3-2 victory over a stout Rams team. Goaltender Collin Berke made thirty-four saves including thirty in the final two periods to earn the win for the Penmen.
NEHC
Hobart opened their season with a pair of SUNYAC opponents and captured wins over Oswego and Potsdam to start the 24-25 campaign. On Friday, Luke Aquaro opened and closed the scoring for the Statesmen in a 5-2 win over the Lakers. On Saturday, Tanner Daniels, and Ryan Remick each scored a pair of goals as Hobart netted four in the final period for a comfortable 6-0 win over the Bears. Mavrick Goyer earned the shutout making ten saves.
Despite being outshot by a 48-18 margin, the Southern Maine Huskies took advantage of some great goaltending from Mason Palmer and a stunning overtime goal from Nick Nault to upset Endicott on Saturday night. Palmer finished the game with forty-six saves while Nault scored his first goal just 38 seconds into the extra session to stun the Gulls at home.
Babson opened play against Plymouth State who had already lost their opener 5-0 against UNE on Friday. There was plenty of offense on Saturday night with the teams exchanging goals over the second and third periods for a 4-4 tie entering the final minute of play in regulation time. Brendan Kennedy stunned the Panthers with a goal with just four seconds remaining on the clock for a 5-4 Beaver win. Wyatt George scored two goals for Babson while goaltender Brett Cleaves stopped 38 of 42 shots to earn the win.
Skidmore traveled to play Wentworth in their season opener and after a scoreless first period, found their mark with three goals in the final forty minutes for a 3-0 win over the Leopards. The Thoroughbreds held a large shot advantage at 47-22 over Wentworth with Kevin Urquhart, Evan Brown and Jacob Zwirecki providing all the scoring goaltender Joshua Seeley would need in the shutout win.
SUNYAC
Plattsburgh opened their season against VSU-Castleton on Friday night and Kevin Weaver-Vitale was the star for the Cardinals as he scored two goals and assisted on a third tally in a 6-3 Cardinal win over the Spartans. Plattsburgh held a wide advantage in shots at 44-14 and scored a power play and shorthanded goal to hold down the Spartans.
Prior to Saturday’s road win against Alvernia, Cortland opened their season with a game against Lebanon Valley. The Red Dragons used seven different goal scorers including a five-goal second period to cruise to a 7-2 win over the Flying Dutchmen. Matthew DeSpirit scored one goal and added two assists while Nate Berke chipped in with a goal and an assist for Cortland.
The Red Dragons open their home schedule with a ranked opponent on Saturday when Adrian comes to upstate New York.
UCHC
The Utica vs. Adrian matchup always is a post-season national tournament level preview, and this year was no different with each team securing a win in the two-game series hosted by Adrian. On Friday, Adrian took a 2-1 lead very early in the third period and then forward Shane Murphy went to work for the Pioneers. Murphy tied the game just three minutes after the Bulldogs’ goal and then gave Utica a stunning win in the final half minute of regulation time with an assist from transfer Johnny Mulera for the 3-2 final score. On Saturday, the game again was a back-and-forth affair with Adrian rallying to tie the score at 3-3 after two periods of play. Two goals from Jacob Suede and Bradley Somers in the final period secured an Adrian win and series split.
It does seem strange covering a Geneseo result in the UCHC section but here we are describing the Knights’ opening night win over MAC contender Wilkes. Five different players scored for Geneseo in a 5-2 win that saw Geneseo break the game open with three goals in the third period. Congratulations to head coach Chris Schultz and assistant coach Kris Heeres, who has been there for them all, on reaching the 300-win plateau with the victory over the Colonels.
Three Biscuits
Shane Soderwall – Curry – stopped a combined fifty-four shots in back-to-back shutout wins over Massachusetts-Boston and Norwich.
Nate Nault – Southern Maine – scored the overtime winner in a stunning 3-2 Huskies win over a ranked Endicott squad on Friday night.
Mark Blaney – St. Anselm – scored the overtime winning goal for the Hawks to secure a 4-3 win over Buffalo State to win the Buffalo State Invitational Tournament on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuit
David “Duke” Snyder – Wesleyan – condolences and wishes for fond memories to both the Snyder and Wesleyan hockey families on the passing of the long-time coach and father of Wesleyan men’s ice hockey. Duke was one of the good ones!
Week one was nothing short of amazing and some of the matchups in week two appear to keep that trend going into November. Can’t wait to see what happens next and trying very hard not to be surprised by any of it. It is going to be a fun ride!
Minnesota Duluth’s Gabbie Hughes was the 2023 recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award (photo: Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation).
The Hockey Humanitarian Award is presented annually to college hockey’s “finest citizen” and seeks to recognize college hockey players, male or female, who contribute to local and/or global communities in a true humanitarian spirit.
Each year the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation receives many submissions from SID’s and hockey coaches across men’s and women’s Division I – Division III varsity programs. The committee then reviews the achievements of this group of nominees. Since 1996, we have welcomed a wide range of candidates, including team captains, role players and campus leaders – all of whom have led volunteer efforts that help children, the handicapped, the homeless and the disadvantaged.
These student-athletes reaffirm each year that there are, throughout this and other college sports, young people who deserve notice for reasons that ultimately are far more important than mere personal athletic statistics or won-lost records.
The Humanitarian Award will again be presented at the Men’s Frozen Four in conjunction with the Hobey Baker Memorial and Mike Richter awards in St. Louis on April 11, 2025. A list of nominees will be announced in January followed by a list of finalists. All finalists will be interviewed in person or via Zoom.
Please follow the nomination requirements and submit via the website on or before December 20, 2024.
Stonehill’s Dominic Campione gets a shot on St. Lawrence goalie Dominic Basse during the Skyhawks’ first NCAA D-I shutout on Nov. 1 (photo: Sophia DiNanno).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Ed: Dan, as USCHO’s ECAC Hockey beat writer, I don’t need to tell you how much coaches of the six Ivy League teams dislike being limited to 29 NCAA games each season. Those teams end up beginning play about a month or more behind everyone else.
You might think that would mean shaking off some rust or being a little sloppy in that first weekend. I know I did.
But for two teams, this past weekend got off to a terrific start. Dartmouth had a conference win over Harvard and a non-league win over a Stonehill team that had blanked St. Lawrence, 4-0, on Friday.
And then there’s Cornell.
Some intrepid – and prescient – media member or coach has been voting the Big Red No. 1 in the USCHO men’s D-I hockey poll since preseason. You’ve sworn to us up and down that it wasn’t you (though we haven’t resorted to waterboarding to try to get you to confess). Nevertheless, you were exactly right about Cornell when we looked at odds for Friday’s game at Lynah Rink against North Dakota on our USCHO Edge podcast.
Does the sweep of the Fighting Hawks now bring some overdue respect to No. 6 Cornell in Mike Schafer’s swan song season?
Dan: I remain committed that I had Denver at No. 1 in this week’s poll, so my affiliations to the eastern leagues cannot be used against me in any court of public opinion. That’s right folks – I’m not even voting for Boston College or Bentley!
Look, I think plenty among us don’t want to admit that Ivy League schools aren’t as good as “other” college hockey programs because their later start and lower number of games make them a little more susceptible to missed storylines. By the time we would have talked about Cornell’s first game, for example, we’ve already discussed North Dakota’s titan series against Boston University while weighing Boston College’s games against St. Cloud State. We have trends in every league, including the ECAC, and we’re able to chart those trends. Going backwards to intersect that debate with the season debut of teams that the majority of college hockey folks – including people from out east – isn’t a popular thing to do. I totally get it.
It’s disrespectful to the Ivy League teams to look at them as nothing more than “teams that start the season late, and that’s weird” because, frankly, they’re good hockey teams. Harvard and Princeton won the ECAC championship over the last decade, and Dartmouth finished fourth in last year’s league. Yale is a former national champion that once routinely ranked No. 1 in the nation. Brown women’s hockey was the original eastern powerhouse and is ranked again for the first time in nearly 20 years after starting 5-0-0, and I can’t count the number of times the men’s team felt like it was getting the hang of things (shoutout the 2019 triple-overtime game that I called with my brother). Frankly put, Cornell beating and sweeping North Dakota at home shouldn’t surprise anyone for the factors involved with the team, and we should respect the defending league champion for its strength.
Maybe it’s idealistic, but college hockey is more than the same seven teams. That’s something we learned this weekend, and I’m excited to see if other teams can jump off the page and surprise us over the next couple of months. Maybe it’s in the spirit of Election Day (covers up as cabbage is thrown at me), but let’s look down ballot at some of our matchups. I want to start out west with the CCHA. Two one-goal games between Minnesota State and Bemidji State. We knew they’d be low scoring, but how refreshing is it to watch a pair of defensive teams match up with one another?
Ed: My vote has also been for Denver all along. This week 46 voters agree with you and me with the other first-place vote going to a deserving Golden Gophers squad. More on them in a moment.
But back to the CCHA. The scoreboard might look like it was a defensive game between Bemidji and Minnesota State in the Beavers’ 1-0 win, but Tom Serratore’s charges put up 44 shots on Mavericks goaltender Alex Tracy – hardly the smothering sort of defense Minnesota State was known for in the Dryden McKay days of facing a dozen shots in a game. But the split on the weekend does suggest to me that the CCHA is just as wide open as the preseason coaches poll in that league. That had these two teams, along with St. Thomas and Michigan Tech, getting first place votes.
Sometimes you get defensive games from teams you don’t expect. Also referring back to last Friday’s USCHO Edge episode, we looked at an over/under of 6.5 goals in Friday’s Penn State at Minnesota tilt, which ended 3-1 Gophers. Saturday’s 1-0 win by Minnesota was even more remarkable. Penn State held Minnesota to just 12 shots on goal, but it would be Jimmy Clark’s deflection in the high slot of Luke Mittelstadt’s shot from the point that resulted in the game’s only tally. The shutout by grad student transfer Liam Soulière must have been especially sweet for him against his former team.
Things are also feeling a little more wide open to me in the Big Ten. Minnesota is off to a torrid start, Michigan made some noise in its sweep of Boston University, and defending champion Michigan State is certainly going to be in that conversation.
I would have expected the other team in the mix to be Wisconsin after the stellar first campaign under Mike Hastings, but the Badgers have stumbled out of the gate. They may have gotten some much needed “sunshine” (as Hastings told Todd D. Milewski of Badger Extra) with a 2-1 win on Saturday at Notre Dame.
The real surprise in the Big Ten has to be Ohio State. The No. 13 Buckeyes are 7-0-1 with five points taken at Wisconsin as their only Big Ten results. It hasn’t been the toughest schedule, but the good start has made poll voters notice Steve Rohlik’s team.
Back to our election day down ballot analysis. There are a few other teams out there with better-than-expected starts. Who do you put in that category thus far?
Dan: It’s really been a pleasant October surprise to see the resurgence within the UMass Lowell program this year. The 5-1 team is up to No. 17 nationally in this week’s poll – passing UMass for good measure – and while nothing’s been perfect, the wins are in games that were ultimately lost during last year’s inconsistency.
Sure, the wins over Colgate mirrored the wins from last season, and the split against Minnesota-Duluth produced the same results as the Alaska-Anchorage split from the trip to the Great White North, but the wins over Holy Cross and Merrimack pushed this team marginally ahead of last year’s home-and-home against UConn. I didn’t feel like Lowell overpowered either team over the past couple of weeks, but coming from behind to beat Holy Cross in Worcester is sneaky tough because that rink’s a tough place to play. Ditto for going to Merrimack.
I’m a little excited to see how this team fares at BU on Friday. I kind of wish the Friday game was at home to generate some momentum into Saturday, but a win at Agganis places a ton of value on the return trip to Tsongas. It’s probably a higher gamble, but the payout could be worth it…and I don’t mean that from our USCHO Edge podcast perspective.
Also, quick shoutout for Lowell’s win over Duluth on Bluey Night. It’s an awesome show. My kids love it, and I’m pretty sure I love it more.
There was a big part of me that wanted to talk about Bentley there, but I figured I’d leave the early season surprise in Atlantic Hockey to you. You know who I like…who’s your third-party candidate from the AHA?
Ed: Bentley’s home-and-home sweep over preseason coaches pick Sacred Heart certainly caught my attention. Overall, the Falcons’ record doesn’t appear all that remarkable, but they never trailed against Sacred Heart, and now have to be in the conversation for the top four in the conference. I’ve used the phrase “wide open” twice already, but that’s what AHA is feeling like to me. (Might as well throw in the word parity here; it wouldn’t be TMQ without it.)
The other team that should be on everyone’s AHA watch list is Niagara. They’re loaded with offensive weapons this season and are the only Atlantic Hockey team to receive votes this week in the USCHO poll.
Our whirlwind tour around college hockey wouldn’t be complete without a look at the independents. With Augustana moving into the CCHA ahead of schedule, and Arizona State joining the NCHC, we’re left with just five unaffiliated teams this season. While all five are below .500, there have been some significant upsets. I look at Lindenwood’s defeat of Wisconsin (though that might not look as impressive now), LIU over Notre Dame, and Stonehill’s defeat of Merrimack, Lake Superior State, and the 4-0 shutout of St. Lawrence last weekend.
Lindenwood’s Bill Muckalt and Stonehill’s David Berard have engineered some quick turnarounds at their programs. Stonehill has already surpassed its two wins last season (Lindenwood and Assumption). Lindenwood had just six victories in 2023-24, and three of those were against Stonehill.
Thirteen Stonehill players entered the transfer portal at the end of the last season. Five reconsidered after Berard was hired, and five more key players came in via the portal.
The right bench boss sure makes a difference.
Dan: Look, I’ll say this – David Berard is doing Herculean work at Stonehill, the program that became Division I because there was no other option.
I don’t know the semantics or details, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Perceptively, Stonehill went Division I because it had to go Division I. The rest of the school was moving to the Northeast Conference, and the ability to play down to a Division III level was no longer an option for a program that’s been in existence. Rather than cut the team, it moved to a partial D-I schedule in 2022 before winding up in the unenviable position of playing what looked like an underfunded D-I schedule. Those players, for their part, gave the program their blood and tears, but playing in a municipal rink with a team lacking the overall resources – again, from a perception standpoint – as the other programs in the nation looked bad. I felt like that program was a lynchpin for eastern realignment if it could get its house pushed in the right direction because it looks a heckuva lot like the teams pushed into Division I back when the cost containment MAAC formed.
What he’s done is nothing short of remarkable. He kept players and developed them into a winning team that capitalized on Merrimack’s goalie situation. The 4-1 win over Lake Superior wasn’t an aberration, and the win over St. Lawrence was one game after a 2-1 loss to Minnesota Duluth. Those are legitimate programs and legitimate results.
Stonehill still doesn’t have the same profile as the other teams around the nation, but you and I both knew Berard was a great hire based on his reputation for helping build programs. We’d witnessed it at two different stops, essentially. From a coaching standpoint, what he’s accomplished in a short amount of time, I’d go so far as call him a candidate for the Spencer Penrose Award. He’s helped turn that program into a legitimate hockey team, and I’d hate hate hate hate hate HATE to play Stonehill with the mathematics towards the NCAA tournament hanging on the result.
Denver blueliner Eric Pohlkamp has been a star in the early going for the defending national champions (photo: C. Morgan Engel/Clarkson Creative Photography).
Denver is again the top team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, garnering 48 of 50 first-place votes this week.
Boston College stays No. 2, Minnesota, with a first-place vote, is up one spot to No. 3, Michigan State falls one to No. 4, and Maine moves up two places to sit fifth in this week’s poll.
Cornell picks up a first-place vote and moves up three to No. 6, Michigan is up four to No. 7, Colorado College remains eighth, Boston University tumbles four spots to No. 9, and North Dakota also drops four spots to sit 10th in this week’s rankings.
St. Cloud State falls out of the top 10, going from No. 10 to No. 12.
No new teams enter the poll this week.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 16 other teams received votes in this week’s rankings.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review games of the weekend and news of the week.
They note weekend sweeps by Michigan and Cornell, Denver’s continued dominance, and Minnesota’s big six Big Ten points over Penn State. They also take a look at strong starts by Maine, Ohio State, and UMass Lowell, Providence’s six-point weekend, and Bentley’s sweep of preseason AHA favorite Sacred Heart.
In their second segment, they turn to this week’s expected CHL eligibility decision by the NCAA D-I council and its impact.
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and Hosts
00:31 Michigan vs BU Recap
00:57 Michigan’s Performance Analysis
03:58 Cornell vs North Dakota Recap
07:56 Denver’s Dominance
13:18 Minnesota vs Penn State Recap
17:39 Surprising Starts
20:32 UMass Lowell’s Strong Start
22:16 Providence’s Six-Point Weekend
23:54 New Hampshire’s Struggles
26:09 Bentley’s Impressive Sweep
28:11 CHL Eligibility Changes
33:46 Impact on Junior Hockey Leagues
38:24 Recruiting Landscape Shifts
40:37 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Providence celebrates one of its goals over the weekend against New Hampshire (photo: Providence Athletics).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Hallum’s OT goal for hat trick lifts Michigan past BU
Junior forward Jackson Hallum picked an opportune time for his first career hat trick. His overtime goal propelled No. 11 Michigan past No. 5 Boston University 5-4 to clinch a sweep at Agganis Arena on Saturday night.
“The bench energy was great tonight, so that makes (overtime) even better,” junior forward Josh Eernisse told the Michigan Daily. “When all the guys are up, everybody’s rolling, there was just a great feeling on the bench. I think everybody knew that we were gonna come out with that one.”
The win came on the heels of a 5-1 Michigan win the previous night. After entering the third period trailing 1-0, Michigan scored five consecutive goals to win. Evan Werner scored his first two goals as a Wolverine and added an assist for a 3-point night. Logan Stein stopped 22 of 23 shots to earn his third win of the year. The next night, Cameron Korpi made 24 saves in the overtime win.
2. Denver goes east, rips Yale
Long distance trips to the east coast might befuddle other western programs, but No. 1 Denver is well known for handling said treks with ease. That trend continued this weekend when the NCHC’s Pioneers took a pair at Yale by an aggregate score of 11-1.
“We’ve been good the entire year taking it weekend by weekend,” said Denver goalie Freddie Halyk, who was seeing his first action in almost 11 months on Saturday night. “I thought we stuck to our game.”
Denver’s run to last year’s NCAA championship saw the Pioneers travel to Springfield, Mass., for the regionals, which resulted in a pair of 2-1 wins vs. Massachusetts and Cornell. That clinched Denver’s 19th trip to the Frozen Four and paved the way for its 10th national championship.
Saturday’s 5-1 win was the program’s 1,600th win all-time. The Pioneers joined Minnesota, Michigan, Boston College, Boston University and North Dakota as the only college hockey programs to reach that milestone.
3. Minnesota continues dominance of Penn State
No. 4 Minnesota has now won six straight over B1G rival Penn State (No. 18) following a weekend sweep at Mariucci arena.
The teams skated to a scoreless draw for 59 minutes and 34 seconds on Saturday until Jimmy Clark scored on a redirect, and the Gophers held on for a 1-0 win. Minnesota led the nation in team scoring entering the game, averaging more than five goals a contest. Clark has already reached double-digit points in just eight games, totaling three goals and seven assists.
Gophers goalie Liam Souliere earned his first shutout of the season against his former team, stopping 28 shots.
“I thought it was a great, gutsy effort from both teams and I’m really proud of how we just continued to dig in,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “Both goalies were dueling it out and both looked great. The few times (Liam) was really under pressure, he never felt it, and then made some critical saves.”
4. BC sweeps at St. Cloud State
No. 2 Boston College came from behind for a 2-1 win at No. 10 St. Cloud State to complete a weekend sweep. The Eagles trailed 1-0 after the first period but scored in both the second and third periods to claim the victory. BC goalie Jacob Fowler finished the weekend with 44 saves.
“The guys really dug in,” Eagles coach Greg Brown told the BC student newspaper. “We got a couple great blocks, tough shots from the flank, and we did a great job clearing the pucks from the front of the net. And Jacob was solid as usual.”
It was the second time this season that the Eagles have trailed after the first period, and both times BC has come back to win.
5. Cornell finally opens season, sweeps NoDak
Cornell has perched itself in the top half of the first five editions of the USCHO Division I men’s poll, and even had one voter convinced it was the No. 1 team in the country. Quite a feat for a team that, until this weekend, had yet to play a game.
The Big Red proved themselves worthy of its high ranking over the weekend with a sweep of No. 6 North Dakota, by scores of 4-1 and 5-3.
Saturday was the 12th all-time meeting between Cornell and North Dakota, with the Big Red increasing its lead in the series to 7-5-0. Cornell has won six of its last seven meetings against North Dakota. Cornell’s five goals was its highest output against North Dakota in the 12 meetings.
6. Maine keeps rolling
No. 7 Maine continued its hot start with a pair of blowout wins vs. Merrimack, outscoring the Warriors 11-0 over the weekend.
Harrison Scott and Thomas Freel had two goals each in Saturday’s 6-0 win. Scott had four points on two goals and two assists while Freel had three points on two goals and one assist. Taylor Makar and Brandon Holt each had two assists.
The weekend marked the first time Maine (6-0-1) has posted back-to-back shutouts since a three-game shutout streak in 2010-11. It was also Maine’s first time blanking an opponent during a weekend series at home since doing it against Mercyhurst in 2002.
7. CC takes Pikes Peak Trophy
Colorado College had its way with crosstown rival Air Force over the weekend, winning 3-2 at home on Friday night and 6-1 the next night at Cadet Ice Arena.
Six different Colorado College players scored as the Tigers improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season and moved their overall record to 68-15-2 against Air Force, retaining the Pikes Peak Trophy.
8. Providence takes two from UNH
Providence improved to 5-1-1 after sweeping a home-and-home series vs. New Hampshire. The Friars won 6-3 at home on Friday night and won 3-0 the next night at the Whittemore Center.
Zachary Borgiel made 43 saves on Saturday for his third career shutout and first since joining the Friars as a transfer from Merrimack. He made a highlight-reel save on a clean breakaway by Liam Devlin early in the third period with his team clinging to a 1-0 lead.
“I knew he was thinking about shooting,” Borgiel said. “I kind of usually look at the eyes. His eyes were up the whole time. I thought he was going to shoot. He ended up deking, and I held my ice.”
9. Minnesota State, Bemidji State swap one-goal CCHA nailbiters
Minnesota State and Bemidji State provided CCHA fans a pair of thrillers over the weekend, with Bemidji earning a 1-0 win on Friday night and Minnesota State returning the favor the next night with a 2-1 win. Both games were at BSU.
In the highly anticipated weekend bout between two of the league’s top goaltenders, Minnesota State’s Alex Tracy made 63 total stops for a .969 save percentage while BSU goaltender Mattias Sholl had 52 saves and a .963 save percentage, including a shutout on Friday.
“It was a great response from our team tonight,” said Minnesota State coach Luke Strand after Saturday’s game. “They played a very selfless game. Thank you also to the MSU soccer team for attending our game and supporting us.”
The MSU women’s soccer team was on hand following a 3-0 win at Bemidji on Friday.
10. Niagara, Mercyhurst split in AHA
Niagara, which leads the Atlantic Hockey standings, earned a split of a home-and-home series vs. Mercyhurst over the weekend. Niagara won Friday night’s matchup 5-3 while struggling Mercyhurst earned a 4-3 upset at home on Saturday.
With a thrilling power-play goal by Boris Skalos in overtime on Saturday, the Lakers improved to 2-7-0 on the season and 2-3-0 in Atlantic Hockey play, while Niagara fell to 4-3-2 overall and 3-1-1 in conference action. Ten different Mercyhurst skaters recorded a point in the win.
Vivian Jungels scored 34 seconds in, Cassie Hall doubled the lead 42 seconds later and by three minutes in, Laila Edwards had made it a 3-0 game. St. Cloud made a goalie switch, putting Emilia Kyrkkö in for Sanni Ahola. KK Harvey scored later in the first to make it 4-0 at the first intermission. Edwards scored again in the second to make it 5-0. Ahola was back in net for the third and Hall added one more to give Wisconsin a 6-0 win. In the second game, Edwards scored four minutes in and Maggie Scannell lit the lamp in the final minute of the period to send Wisconsin to the locker room up 2-0 after one. A major penalty led to a 5-on-3 opportunity for St. Cloud where they also pulled their goal to have a 6-on-3 advantage, but Wisconsin held them off. SCSU would pull their goalie on the power play two more times, but they could not break through as Ava McNaughton earned her second-straight shutout. Lacey Eden scored on the power play in the second and Kirsten Simms’ empty-netter completed the 4-0 win and weekend sweep for Wisconsin.
(2) Ohio State at St. Thomas
St. Thomas struck first with Maddie Brown lighting the lamp early to give the Tommies a 1-0 lead. It was short-lived as Joy Dunne responded 14 seconds later and scored again later in the first to put OSU up 2-1 at the end of the 1st. Jenna Buglioni scored short-handed in the second and rookies Jocelyn Amos and Jordyn Petrie each scored in the third to lead the Buckeyes to a 5-1 win. In the second game, Tommies goalie Dani Strom was outstanding, setting a career high with 39 saves to deny the Buckeye offense again and again and take this game to overtime tied 0-0. A late penalty in regulation gave OSU the player advantage in the extra frame and Emma Peschel took advantage, earning Ohio State a 1-0 OT win.
(3) Minnesota at Bemidji State
Bemidji State made 25 blocks on Friday and held Minnesota to just 27 shots, but Natálie Mlýnková scored twice to lead the Gophers to a 2-1 win. The two Minnesota goals were in the first period and Izy Fairchild pulled one back for the Beavers in the second, but the Gopher defense was strong through several power plays, including a major and held off Bemidji State to earn the 2-1 win. In the second game, Minnesota took advantage of special teams, scoring three of their four goals on the power play in the first period and that would prove to be enough. Abbey Murphy had two extra attacker goals while Mlýnková added another and Emma Kreisz scored at even strength to put the Gophers up 4-0. In the second, Bemidji held them to just five shots on goal and Morgan Smith lit the lamp, but the Beavers couldn’t beat Hannah Clark and Minnesota took the 4-1 win and weekend sweep.
(4) Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota State
Nina Jobst-Smith, Olivia Wallin and Caitlin Kraemer each scored for UMD in the first period on Friday. Sydney Langseth put the Mavericks on the board in the second to make it 3-1, but MSU couldn’t further close the gap and Kraemer added another goal in the third to give UMD the 4-1 win. It was a different story on Saturday. After a back and forth first, Taylor Otremba’s flip into the net gave Mankato a 1-0 lead early in the second. Tova Henderson quickly replied for the Bulldogs to make it 1-1. Alexis Paddington’s goal put Minnesota State up 2-1 early in the third. As the time ticked down, Wallin scored for UMD and then, with 100 seconds left in regulation, Clara Van Wieren gave Minnesota Duluth their first lead of the game. It lasted just 21 seconds as Shelbi Guttormson responded for the Mavericks to tie the game 3-3 and force overtime. The extra period did not find a winner and it took eight rounds of a shootout before either team scored – Tova Henderson had the only goal, earning the Bulldogs the extra point.
(5) Clarkson at (11) Quinnipiac
These two teams fought for an advantage in the first to no avail and then the Bobcats broke through when Sophie Urban found Kathryn Stockdale in front of the net to make it 1-0 Quinnipiac. That would prove to be the difference maker as the Bobcats shut down on defense and added two empty-net goals to take a 3-0 win.
(5) Clarkson at Princeton
The Golden Knights stopped their losing skid with an emphatic 6-3 win on Saturday. Anne Cherkowski led Clarkson with two goals and two assists while Rhea Hicks added four assists. Sena Catterall scored twice to have the Golden Knights up 2-0 early in the second. Cherkowski’s first a few minutes later made it 3-0. Princeton’s Hannah Fetterolf got her team on the board before the intermission to make it 3-1. Cherkowski’s second was a power play tally 18 seconds into the third. Issy Wunder replied 23 seconds later to make it 4-2. Madison Chantler extended the lead to 5-2 before Sarah Paul responded for the Tigers. But they couldn’t mount more of a comeback and Chantler’s empty-netter secured the win.
RPI at (6) Colgate
Addison Spitz scored midway through the first to put Colgate up 1-0 after one. In the second, Emma Pais one-timed a great pass on the power play to make it a 2-0 game. Morgann Skoda narrowed the gap in the closing minute of the frame to make it 2-1. Pais got her second of the game early in the third on an assist from Kalty Kaltounková – her 200th career point. Elyssa Biederman scored later in the third to secure the 4-1 win.
Union at (6) Colgate
It was a back and forth game, but Colgate rallied in the third to earn a 4-3 win. The Raiders got on the board first as Kalty Kaltounková’s shot knocked off the defense and into the net. The lead was short-lived as Mikayla Blomquist equalized for Union on a 2-on-1 to make it 1-1. Kaia Malachino’s back door goal gave Colgate the 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. Midway through the second, Karianne Engelbert took advantage of another odd player rush to tie the game 2-2. Maren Friday’s shot through traffic found the back of the net late in the period to give Union the 3-2 lead at the second intermission. A turnover early in the third led to a goal by Alexis Petford that tied the game for Colgate. Kaltounková scored her second of the game after her own faceoff win to put the Raiders ahead for good as they buckled down on defense and earned the win.
(7) St. Lawrence at Princeton
The Saints earned a win in their first conference games thanks to two goals from Taylor Lum and a goal and an assist from Abby Hehl. Lum scored just 90 seconds into the game to set the one for St. Lawrence. Katina Duscio doubled the lead later in the first, but Princeton responded with a power play goal from Mackenzie Alexander. Lum opened the scoring again in the second to make it 3-1. Issy Wunder closed the gap for the Tigers, making it 3-2, but that’s as close as it would get. Hehl made it 4-2 before the second ended and then Aly McLeod and Anna Segedi lengthened the lead in the third to make it a 6-2 SLU win.
(7) St. Lawrence at (11) Quinnipiac
The goalies were the stars of this one for more than two periods as St. Lawrence’s Emma-Sofie Nordström and Quinnipiac’s Kaley Doyle each kept clean sheets. Halle Mules put the Saints on the board first as she carried the puck from center ice and cut across the zone before finding the back of the net. Quinnipiac tied the game on the player advantage as Makayla Watson’s shot from the blue line made it through traffic to make it 1-1. Jenna Donohue put back a loose puck on another player advantage to put the Bobcats up 2-1 and added an empty-netter to secure the win for Quinnipiac.
Union at (9) Cornell
The Garnet Chargers lept out to a 2-0 lead and withstood a Cornell charge in the third to earn their first-ever victory over a top-10 team and just their second-ever win over Cornell. Union took the lead towards the end of the first when an awkward bounce behind the net put the puck on the stick of Karianne Engelbert and she slotted it home on a close angle to make it 1-0. They doubled that on the first shift of the second as Paige Greco’s redirect made it 2-0. Katie Chan replied for Corell midway through the second, but Union replied immediately as Jill Willis’ shot trickled into the net about a minute later. Delaney Fleming closed the gap to 3-2 with under a minute to play in the second, but from there, Union shut them down. The Big Red outshot the Garnet Chargers 12-1 in the final frame and pulled their goalie to have a player advantage for the final 2:06 of the game, but Union came up huge to deny them and earn the 3-2 win.
RPI at (9) Cornell
Cornell registered a big bounce back win on Saturday as Lindzi Avar scored her first career hat trick and the Big Red rolled to a 7-0 win. The teams played a back and forth first period before the home team took control. In addition to Avar, Mckenna Van Gelder, Kaitlin Jockims, Beatrice Perron-Roy and Avi Adam scored in the win.
Holy Cross at (10) Connecticut
UConn outshot Holy Cross 38-17, but the Crusaders pushed the Huskies to their limit on Friday. Emily Crovo’s power play goal was the only tally in the first, putting Holy Cross up 1-0. It wasn’t until there were under five minutes to play in the third that Claire Murdoch got the Huskies on the board and forced overtime. It was Ashley Allard in the extra frame that won the game for Connecticut. In the second game of the series, Kyla Josifovic’s first period goal would prove to be the game-winner. Murdoch added a power play goal in the second to ensure the 2-0 win and weekend sweep.
Syracuse at (12) Penn State
On Thursday, Penn State took a 1-0 lead as the 1st period wound down on a rebound put back by Kendall Butze. Syracuse pushed back in the second as Tatum White found some space to get in on net to tie the game 1-1. The Orange took the lead later in the second when Klara Jandusikova tapped in a long distance shot from Jocelyn Filia. With about five left in regulation, Maddy Christian got in on net and flipped the puck in to tie the game 2-2 and force overtime. Brianna Brooks shot from the circle in overtime secured the 3-2 win for Penn State. In the second game, the teams were tied 1-1 heading into the third period thanks to power play goals from Maddy Christian for PSU and Charli Kettyle for SU. Abby Stonehouse put the Nittany Lions up 2-1 early in the third and then goals from Leah Stecker and Stella Retrum less than a minute apart midway through the game blew things open to make it 4-1 Penn State. Mik Todd clawed one back for Syracuse, but they couldn’t find more offense and Christian added her third of the weekend to give PSU the 5-2 win.
Merrimack at (13) Boston College
Five different Eagles scored and Julia Pellerin and Sammy Taber each scored twice to lead Boston College to a 7-3 win over Merrimack. Molly Jordan, Katie Pyne and Kate Ham also scored in the win. Chloe Goofers scored twice and Madison Cardaci added a goal for the Warriors in the loss.
(14) Yale at Harvard
Five different Crimson skaters scored on Friday to give Harvard a 5-1 win over the Bulldogs, their first since 2022. Elli Bayard opened the scoring on the power play and Gabi Davidson Adams made it 2-0 before the first intermission. In the second, Anna Bargman cut the lead to 2-1 early but Yale couldn’t bring it closer and Harvard went to the third still in the lead. Scout Oudemool, Gwynn Lapp and Antonio Dinges each scored in the span of two minutes to put the game out of reach and give Harvard the 5-1 win.
(14) Yale at Dartmouth
The Bulldogs got back in the win column with a victory over the Big Green on Saturday. They opened the scoring in the first when Mariya Rauf tipped in a shot from Vita Poniatovskaia to make it 1-0. Just 31 seconds later, Dartmouth tied the game with a power play goal from Laura Fuoco. Jordan Ray put back a rebound in the second and that’s all Yale would need to win their 13th straight against Dartmouth.
(15) Brown at Dartmouth
The Bears kept up their strong start with a 2-1 win on Friday. They’re off to their first 5-0-0 start since the 1992-93 season. After a back and forth scoreless first, Hamilton Doster’s power play goal had Dartmouth up 1-0. A few minutes later, Brown replied as Ava DeCoste tipped Cameron Sikich’s shot from the blue line to tie the game 1-1. Special teams were crucial in the game as Brown took the lead on the advantage with a goal from Ella Muralt and their penalty kill was strong in the closing minutes to secure the win.
(15) Brown at Harvard
Brown outshot Harvard 17-4 in the first, but the teams went to the locker rooms tied 1-1. India McDadi scored midway through the frame on the power play, but Gwynn Lapp got the Crimson on the board a few minutes later. But the Bears came out firing in the second as Monique Lyons scored on the power play just 17 seconds into the period. Jess Ciarrocchi’s short-hander midway through the game extended the lead to 3-1 and then Abby Hancock’s first career goal – a laser through traffic from the blue line – made it 4-1 at the second intermission. Lyons deflected a puck in during the third to give Brown a 5-1 win.
No. 2 Boston College (5-1-0)
11/01/2024 – No. 2 Boston College 4 at No. 10 St. Cloud State 1
11/02/2024 – No. 2 Boston College 2 at No. 10 St. Cloud State 1
No. 3 Michigan State (5-1-0)
Did not play.
No. 4 Minnesota (7-1-0)
11/01/2024 – No. 18 Penn State 1 at No. 4 Minnesota 3
11/02/2024 – No. 18 Penn State 0 at No. 4 Minnesota 1
No. 5 Boston University (4-3-0)
11/01/2024 – No. 11 Michigan 5 at No. 5 Boston University 1
11/02/2024 – No. 11 Michigan 5 at No. 5 Boston University 4 (OT)
No. 6 North Dakota (3-4-0)
11/01/2024 – No. 6 North Dakota 1 at No. 9 Cornell 4
11/02/2024 – No. 6 North Dakota 3 at No. 9 Cornell 5
No. 7 Maine (6-0-1)
11/01/2024 – Merrimack 0 at No. 7 Maine 5
11/02/2024 – Merrimack 0 at No. 7 Maine 6
No. 8 Colorado College (6-0-0)
11/01/2024 – Air Force 2 at No. 8 Colorado College 3 (OT)
11/02/2024 – No. 8 Colorado College 6 at Air Force 1
No. 9 Cornell (2-0-0)
11/01/2024 – No. 6 North Dakota 1 at No. 9 Cornell 4
11/02/2024 – No. 6 North Dakota 3 at No. 9 Cornell 5
No. 10 St. Cloud State (6-3-0)
11/01/2024 – No. 2 Boston College 4 at No. 10 St. Cloud State 1
11/02/2024 – No. 2 Boston College 2 at No. 10 St. Cloud State 1
No. 11 Michigan (5-2-1)
11/01/2024 – No. 11 Michigan 5 at No. 5 Boston University 1
11/02/2024 – No. 11 Michigan 5 at No. 5 Boston University 4 (OT)
No. 12 Providence (5-1-1)
11/01/2024 – RV New Hampshire 3 at No. 12 Providence 6
11/02/2024 – No. 12 Providence 3 at RV New Hampshire 0
Aurora won the Key City Collegiate Classic. (Photo Credit: Aurora Athletics)
Aurora is off and running, or should we say skating, in the 2024-25 season.
The Spartans won the Key City Collegiate Classic at Dubuque, edging Augsburg 5-4 on Saturday for the title after knocking off nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point 7-2 the night before.
Landry Schmuck delivered the game winner for the Spartans (2-0), scoring 37 seconds into overtime to cap a wild comeback.
Aurora trailed 3-1 before Matt Weber, Chase Broda and Jacob Brockman all scored in the third to tie the game.
Schmuck finished with two goals while Weber and Mathis Bedard each dished out two assists. JaCob Mucitelli racked up 23 saves.
That win came on the heels of a dominant performance against the No. 6 Pointers, leading 6-0 before allowing a goal.
Two players, Riley Dekowny and Lukas Sedlacek each recorded three points while four others finished with two points.
Dekowny racked up a pair of goals while Sedlacek, Andrew Schultz and Hassan Akl all racked up two assists. Mucitelli was on top of his game as he made 33 saves.
Here are more highlights from the opening weekend.
A battle of nationally ranked teams
Adrian and Utica didn’t disappoint in their opening weekend series. The Bulldogs, ranked third in the nation, salvaged a split on Sunday against No. 4 Utica, earning a 5-3 win.
Not only did Adrian win, but head coach Adam Phillips won his first career game as the head coach of the Bulldogs.
Tied at 3-3 after two periods, Adrian scored twice in the third to secure the win.
Ian Amsbaugh scored twice and also came through with an assist while Will Bowman added an assist to go along with his first collegiate goal. Patrick Saini and David Clark each dished out two assists while Dershahn Stewart made 34 saves.
The win makes up for Friday’s heartbreaking 3-2 loss where Utica scored in the final minute.
Stewart racked up 31 saves and David Clarke’s first career goal gave Adrian a 2-1 lead before Utica rallied for the win. Theo Thurn also scored a goal for Adrian.
Green Knights dominate at home
St. Norbert is a top five team in the country for a reason. Facing two of the best teams out of the MIAC, the Green Knights were on top of their game in an 8-4 win over St. Olaf on Friday and a 5-2 win over Bethel Saturday.
Fifth-ranked St. Norbert scored seven goals in the first two periods to open up a a commanding 8-3 lead over the Oles on Friday.
Eight different players score goals in a matchup featuring two teams who have met in the last two NCAA tournaments. Hunter Garvey racked up 21 saves. Blake Ulve scored once and dished out two assists. Byron Hartley finished with three helpers in the win.
A 3-0 lead after one period against Bethel was all the Green Knights needed to complete an opening weekend sweep. Logan Dombrowsky scored a goal and tallied an assist. Liam Fraser dished out a pair of assists. Grant Adams made his debut in goal and came up with 24 saves.
Sabres shine
Marian is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2019-20 season after finishing off the weekend with a 4-0 win over St. Olaf.
The Sabres improved to 6-5-1 all-time against the Oles behind the strength of Andreai Proctor-Ramirez’s second career shutout. He stopped 27 shots.
Blake Stafford came through with two assists and Brandon Modde scored his first career goal in the win.
On Friday, Marian edged Bethel 2-1 in overtime after Caden Carlson scored his second goal of the game. It took him just 39 seconds into the extra session to find the back of the net. The performance by Carlson marked his first multi-goal game at the collegiate level.
Marian has won five of its last six against Bethel. Cole Carlson dished out two assists while Proctor-Ramirez made 29 saves.
Cobbers with the sweep
Concordia seems to have a knack for winning openers. The Cobbers did it again on Friday, scoring five times in the fifth period for a 5-2 win over Concordia (WI).
They are 7-2-1 in their last 10 opening night games and closed out the weekend with a 2-1 win over the Falcons. Again, all of the Cobbers’ goals were scored in the third.
Hanson O’Leary and Braden Costello scored in Saturday’s win while Dane Couture made 18 saves.
Mason Plante struck for a pair of goals in the opener and Joe Harguindeguy added two assists. Couture racked up 24 saves.
Tight battle between Saints and Raiders
A weekend series between St. Scholastica and MSOE featured a shootout on Friday and a 3-2 win for the Saints on Saturday.
The Raiders and Saints played to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime before MSOE prevailed in a shootout on a goal by Seth Bernard.
Bernard also scored in regulation, as did Carson Jones, while Austin Schwab racked up 31 saves.
Saturday was just as close before St. Scholastica edged MSOE in overtime thanks to a goal by Hunter Hanson a little over a minute into the extra session.
Steve Guo had forced overtime a little over eight minutes into the third period.
Elino Rissanen made 29 saves for the Saints. Schwab stopped 27 shots.
Falcons fly high
Four goals in the third period proved to be the difference in UW-River Falls’ 5-1 win over Saint John’s in the season opener for both teams on Saturday.
Alex Davis, Cole Teleki and Adisen Brueck all scored their first collegiate goals. Davis and Burke Simpson finished with two assists apiece and Brennan Boynton made his first appearance in goal and stopped 25 shots.
Solid night by Stout
Tyler Masternak was impressive in goal, stopping 31 shots and helping UW-Stout roll past Lawrence 7-0 on Saturday.
The shutout was the fourth in Masternak’s career with the Blue Devils, who used a lightning quick scoring outburst to take control.
They scored three goals in 39 seconds in the opening period, the fastest since scoring three in 37 seconds in November of 2022.
Nicolas Pigeon scored twice for the Blue Devils and Tyler Pfiester added a goal and two assists as UW-Stout opened its season with a win. Lawrence came into the night riding the high of a 5-2 win over Northland.
Dubuque nearly pulls off upset
After dropping its opener 3-0 to Augsburg on Friday, Dubuque came back on Saturday and battled No. 6 UW-Stevens Point in the consolation game of the Key City Collegiate Classic.
The Spartans lost 2-1 in overtime despite a 40-save performance by Ryan Piros. Jack Paweski scored the lone goal for Dubuque, which is in its second season of hockey.
Michigan’s Jackson Hallum completed a hat trick at 3:13 of overtime as the No. 11 Wolverines completed a road sweep of No. 5 Boston University, 5-4 in overtime (photo: Michigan Athletics)
Michigan’s Jackson Hallum scored the game-tying goal with 7:20 remaining in regulation and then followed it up with the overtime game winner as the Wolverines took two road victories over No. 5 Boston University, 5-4.
In a back-and-forth game, Michigan took an early lead before BU rallied on first-period goals by Shane Lachance and Matt Coppini.
Michigan answered early in the second on Hallum’s first of the night to draw the game even at 2.
After the two teams traded goals, BU’s Devin Kaplan gave the Terriers the lead with 8:12 remaining only to be answered by Hallum 52 seconds later on the power play.
Hallum’s goal at 3:13 of the overtime marked the Wolverines first overtime victory since a 6-5 decision at Minnesota last March.
Cornell, an Ivy League team starting its season this weekend nearly a month after much of its competition, earned its second straight upset win over No. 6 North Dakota, earning a 5-3 victory on Saturday to sweep the weekend series in Ithaca, N.Y.
The Big Red overcame a 3-2 deficit after two periods with goals by Ryan Walsh, Tim Rego and Kyle Penney in the final stanza.
Cornell took the early lead with goals by Jake Kraft in the first and Jack O’Leary at 10:00 of the second.
North Dakota answered, and did so quickly, when Dylan James, Louis Jamernik and Sacha Boisvert all scored late in the second to give the visiting Fighting Hawks the lead after 40 minutes.
Ian Shane, who earned his 50th career win on Friday, made 25 stops to take the victory.
No. 2 Boston College 2, No. 10 St. Cloud State 1
Boston College was another team to sweep a key top 10 weekend series, overcoming an early 1-0 hole to win 2-1 on a Gabe Perreault goal.
After St. Cloud State’s Verner Miettinen gave the host Huskies the lead at 4:59 of the first period, Boston College’s Eamon Powell found the equalizer at 6:38 of the middle frame.
Perreault’s fifth goal of the young season at 3:23 of the third was the difference maker. Jacob Fowler earned the win making 25 saves.
Wisconsin 2, No. 19 Notre Dame 1
Wisconsin snapped a five-game losing streak in fashion, winning on the road at 19th-ranked Notre Dame, 2-1, behind a Simon Tassy game-winner and a 22-save effort by goaltender Tommy Scarfone.
All of the goals in the game came in the middle period. Wisconsin’s Owen Lindmark gave the Badgers the lead at 5:34 before Ryan Helliwell evened the game for the Fighting Irish.
Tassy notched his first goal of the season with just 35 seconds remaining in the second, a goal that stood up as the game winner.
From left, Jack Devine, Ben Muthersbaugh, Josh Kotai and Owen Say (photos: Denver Athletics/Union Athletics/Augustana Athletics/Notre Dame Athletics).
The first Hockey Commissioners Association monthly awards for men’s hockey have been announced for the month of October.
Denver senior forward Jack Devine is the player of the month, Union freshman forward Ben Muthersbaugh is rookie of the month, and Augustana sophomore Josh Kotai and Notre Dame junior Owen Say are co-goaltenders of the month.
Devine led the nation in scoring for the month of October. In six games, he had a line of 1-13-14, good for 2.33 PPG. He was a major reason that the Pioneers are off to a 6-0-0 start. He recorded multiple points in five of six games and now has 120 career points.
The top first-year player in the NCAA in October, Muthersbaugh was 6-7-13 in seven games. His six goals tie him for most among all NCAA players.
Kotai posted a 3-2-0 record, going 2-1 vs. nationally ranked schools. His numbers: a save percentage of .950 and a GAA of 1.63, while facing an average of 32 shots per game.
Say, a transfer from Mercyhurst, went 3-0-0 with eye-popping stats of .969 and 1.00 for the Irish.
From left, Casey O’Brien, Caroline Harvey, Emilia Kyrkkö and Carly Greene (photos: Wisconsin Athletics/St. Cloud State Athletics/Sacred Heart Athletics).
The first Hockey Commissioners Association monthly awards for women’s hockey have been announced for the combined months of September and October.
Wisconsin graduate forward Casey O’Brien and junior defenseman Caroline Harvey are co-players of the month, St. Cloud State freshman goalie Emila Kyrkkö is rookie of the month, and Sacred Heart senior goaltender Carly Greene is goalie of the month.
O’Brien led the NCAA with 7-17-24 and blueliner Harvey paired a plus-14 rating with a line of 5-14-19. Together, they helped the Badgers to a perfect 10-0-0 start.
Kyrkkö led the WCHA in GAA (0.97) and save percentage (.962) while facing multiple nationally ranked opponents.
In three complete games, Greene saw an average of 38 shots per game and emerged 3-0-0 with a 0.95 GAA and a save percentage of .975.
From left, Dave Gagnon, Dimitry Kebreau, Nicholas Grabko and Owen Bartoszkiewicz (Lindenwood photos: Don Adams Jr./Alaska photo: Eric Engman/Alaska Anchorage photo: Alaska Anchorage Athletics).
The 2024-25 season got off to a strong start for the NCAA’s five men’s Division I hockey programs and four players have earned monthly honors from NCAA Division I Independent Hockey.
All five schools enjoyed impressive road wins, eight cumulatively, with those victories coming at Notre Dame (2), Wisconsin, Merrimack, Lake Superior State, Miami, Northern Michigan and Augustana.
Lindenwood senior forward Dave Gagnon is player of the month, Alaska Anchorage freshman forward Dimitry Kebreau has been named rookie of the month, and Alaska graduate Nicholas Grabko and Lindenwood sophomore Owen Bartoszkiewicz are co-goalies of the month.
Gagnon went 4-3-7 in six games and played a key role in two wins, going 0-2-2 in a 4-2 win at Wisconsin and 2-1-3, including the unassisted game winner, in 4-2 win at Miami.
Kebreau had two goals in his first month of play, one at No. 1 Denver and one at Miami.
Grabko’s 2.37 GAA and .922 save percentage were keyed by a 37- save 1-0 shutout at nationally ranked Notre Dame.
Bartoszkiewicz had 34 saves in a 4-2 win at Wisconsin and 31 in a 4-2 win at Miami. Also had a season-high 42 saves in a 3-2 loss at Wisconsin. Compiled a 2.51 GAA and .918 save percentage on the month.
Cornell’s Ondrej Psenicka looks for a play against North Dakota’s Andrew Strathmann at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday night as the Big Red took a 4-1 win over the Fighting Hawks (photo: Caroline Sherman/Cornell Athletics).
Sullivan Mack recorded a goal and an assist and Ian Shane made 23 saves in goal as No. 9 Cornell opened its 2024-25 season with a 4-1 win over No. 6 North Dakota Friday night at Lynak Rink in Ithaca, N.Y.
Nick DeSantis, Tyler Catalano and Nicholas Wolfenberg also scored for the Big Red, and Jonathan Castagna chipped in a pair of assists.
For North Dakota, Dylan James netted the Fighting Hawks’ lone goal and TJ Semptimphelter and Hobie Hedquist combined to make 17 saves in goal. Semptimphelter started and made one save on four shots before Hedquist came in 12:32 into the first period with Cornell up 3-0.
Denver used five different goal scorers and goaltender Matt Davis stopped all 21 shots he faced in a 6-0 victory against Yale Bulldogs at Ingalls Rink in New Haven. Conn.
Eric Pohlkamp had two goals and one assist for his first three-point game with the Pioneers. Jake Fisher and Boston Buckberger each scored and added a helper in the contest and Sam Harris recorded a multi-point night as well with a pair of assists. Carter King and Rieger Lorenz also scored for DU.
Bulldogs goalie Jack Stark finished with 25 saves.
The Pioneers were playing their first-ever game at the historic Ingalls Rink on the Yale campus and were making just their second trip ever to New Haven, previously playing in a holiday tournament at the former downtown rink way back in 1980.
No. 2 Boston College 4, No. 10 St. Cloud State 1
Gabe Perreault scored two goals to lead Boston College to a 4-1 win over St. Cloud State at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.
Michigan goaltender Logan Stein made 22 saves for the win.
Cole Eiserman had given BU the early 1-0 lead at 3:31 of the second period.
Mathieu Caron stopped 30 in net for the Terriers and also drew an assist on Eiserman’s goal.
No. 4 Minnesota 3, No. 18 Penn State 1
Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice and Nathan Airey made 21 saves in goal as Minnesota scored three unanswered goals and defeated Penn State 3-1 at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn.
Reese Laubach tallied the lone goal for the Nittany Lions and goalie Arsenii Sergeev stopped 31 shots.
Bemidji State 1, No. 16 Minnesota State 0
Carter Randklev’s goal 12:35 into the second period was the game’s only offense as Bemidji State defeated Minnesota State 1-0 at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn.
Mattias Sholl earned the shutout with a 24-save performance.
Harrison Scott and Charlie Russell each had a goal and two assists and Albin Boija stopped all 15 shots he faced as Maine blanked Merrimack 5-0 at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine, to give head coach Ben Barr his 50th career win.
Thomas Freel added a goal and an assist for the Black Bears and Josh Nadeau and Lynden Breen also scored in the win.
Drew Montgomery had a goal and a helper for the Tigers, while Klavs Veinbergs added a goal and Kaidan Mbereko made 25 saves.
Brendan Gibbons and Clayton Cosentino each recorded a goal and an assist for Air Force, Nick Remissong had two assists, and goaltender Guy Blessing made 30 saves.
No. 12 Providence 6, New Hampshire 3
Ryan O’Reilly scored two goals and Andrew Centrella and Clint Levens each posted a goal and an assist as Providence doubled up UNH 6-3 at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I.
Tanner Adams and Will Elger also scored for the Friars and goalie Philip Svedebäck made 23 saves in net.
Ryan Conmy scored two goals for the Wildcats and Liam Devlin also scored. In goal, Jared Whale and Rico DiMatteo combined to make 24 saves.
No. 15 Ohio State 9, Lake Superior State 3
Sam Deckhut scored twice with an assist to guide Ohio State past Lake Superior State by a 9-3 count at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Nathan Lewis went for a goal and two assists and Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Joe Dunlap, James Hong, Max Montes and Caden Brown all had a goal and an assist. Davis Burnside also scored for the Buckeyes.
In goal for OSU, Logan Terness turned aside 14 shots.
Reagan Milburn had a goal and two assists for the Lakers, Branden Piku a goal and an assist and Sasha Teleguine a goal as Rorke Applebee and Grant Riley combined to make 40 saves in goal.
No. 19 Notre Dame 3, Wisconsin 2
Cole Knuble’s goal at 2:11 of overtime gave Notre Dame a 3-2 win over Wisconsin from the Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.
Brennan Ali tied the game 2-2 for Notre Dame at 18:47 of the second period. Henry Nelson also scored for the Irish and Owen Say made 42 stops between the pipes.
Ryan Botterill and Owen Lindmark scored for the Badgers and goaltender Tommy Scarfone collected 21 saves.
No. 20 UMass Lowell 5, Holy Cross 4 (OT)
Jak Vaarwerk’s goal at 2:30 of overtime lifted UMass Lowell to a 5-4 win over Holy Cross from the Hart Recreation Center in Worcester, Mass.
Vaarwerk added an assist for a two-point night, Matt Crasa also had a goal and an assist, and Owen Cole, Libor Nemec and Chris Delaney also scored for the River Hawks.
Adrian takes on Utica this weekend to open its season. (Photo provided by Adrian Athletics)
Here we go. The curtain raises on another Division III hockey season, and there is plenty of action going on during the first weekend.
We got a few high profile matchups on tap, including St. Olaf battling St. Norbert and Utica taking on Adrian in a USCHO.com Top 15 matchup.
Without further delay, let the puck drop and the season begin.
Friday
Augsburg at Dubuque
The Auggies are always a contender and open the season on the road at a tournament in Dubuque.
Augsburg did lose their All-American goalie but a program like this one always finds a way to reload rather than rebuild. Cade Stibb is the top returning scoring threat for the Auggies, tallying seven goals and 12 assists last year.
Dubuque is in its second year as a program and should take steps forward. The Spartans return 13 players and have added a few transfers as well. Playing against Augsburg is always a tall order, but win or lose, the Spartans will gain a ton from this experience. Augsburg, 4-2
Friday and Saturday
Concordia (MN) at Concordia (WI)
Here’s one thing we do know about this matchup. Concordia is going to win. We just don’t know if it will be the Cobbers or the Falcons.
The Cobbers welcome back their top two scorers in Mason Plante and Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe and will lean on an experienced offensive group for success. The Falcons have plenty of experience on their side, with only three players lost to graduation. Among the returnees is Alex Ochitwa, who scored 11 goals and tallied 10 assists. I feel like this one could end with a split. Concordia (WI) 4-2; Concordia (MN) 4-3.
St. Scholastica at MSOE
The Saints were one of the better teams in the MIAC last season, winning 15 games, and bring back two of their top scorers in Nathan Adrian and Tristan Shewchuk. The big question mark for the Saints is at goal as Jack Bostedt has left a void.
The Raiders have plenty of talent back and spent part of their offseason in Latvia playing hockey. That kind of experience should prove valuable for a lot of reasons. Carson Jones is the top player back for MSOE, which looks to make an early-season statement.
This should be a fun two-game series to watch. MSOE, 3-2; St. Scholastica, 5-4
St. Olaf at St. Norbert
Don’t be surprised if you see this showdown again in March. These two teams both have the potential to play in the NCAA tournament.
St. Olaf could very well win the MIAC while St. Norbert could do the same in the NCHA. Nothing like getting tested on the opening weekend.
The Oles have 12 of their 15 top scoring threats from last season back. The fifth-ranked Green Knights have no shortage of talent either, led by the play of Liam Fraser, last year’s leading scorer.
A lot of goal could be scored this weekend. This series comes down to who makes plays on defense in the end. Let’s go with the upset in this one. St. Olaf, 4-3
Saturday
Bethel at St. Norbert
The Green Knights welcome in another MIAC contender as Bethel comes to town. St. Norbert lost only once at home last season and are aiming to close out the weekend on a high note. The Royals are coming off one of their best seasons in program history and will get a quick idea of where they stand heading into the new season. Should be a fun game to watch. St. Norbert, 3-2
Saint John’s at UW-River Falls
The Johnnies head out on the road to take an always tough River Falls squad. More than 70 percent of the scoring is back for the Falcons, with Jonny Meiers and Dylan Smith leading the way. The dup combined for 20 goals last season.
The Johnnies have great depth at goal with Jon Howe and Bailey Huber and it will be interesting to see how this one plays out. UW-River Falls, 3-2
Saturday and Sunday
Utica at Adrian
Does it get any better than Utica and Adrian facing off at the start of the year. The two teams play Saturday and Sunday
The Bulldogs come in ranked third in the nation. The Pioneers are fourth.
A year ago, these two teams matched up and one game ended in a scoreless tie while the other went Utica’s way in a 3-2 win.
Adrian gets home ice advantage this time and faces a Utica team that has a lot of depth and balance. But the Bulldogs have the same thing and return three players who accounted for 45 goals. This is a matchup worth watching for sure. Adrian, 3-2; Utica, 2-1
Hobart’s Luke Aquaro and teammates will be looking to continue their successful ways as they hunt a final NEHC title and third consecutive NCAA championship (Photo by Stan Godlewski-Trinity Athletics)
It is almost here and there is that feeling in the air that creates excitement around the start of a new season.
This year brings some significant changes from last year including: a new league, the MAC; new teams with Keene State and Misericordia joining the D-III party this year; new conference alignments that find all the former Independents playing with an opportunity to win a conference and shifts of perennial powers to new conferences like Geneseo from the SUNYAC to the UCHC. If you think this year is crazy wait until 25-26 but that would take all the excitement out of this year’s pursuit of conference glory and a national championship chase where current back-to-back champion Hobart is eyeing a three-peat.
So the end of the exhibition season is upon us and that means everything counts from here until March, 2025. Break out the team wear, the fan blogdom and let’s fill the “barns” with excitement for a season where, on Friday night, ever team is undefeated and harbors goals of victories and conference success. This is going to be great!
Friday, November 1, 2024
Wilkes v. (7) Geneseo
The Knights will host a tough opening night opponent when the Colonels face-off on Friday night. Expect this one to be fast-paced with a lot of chances for both teams with special teams ultimately deciding this one for the home team in a one-goal win – Geneseo, 4-3
Southern Maine v. (14) Endicott
The Huskies proved to be a very tough out in the second half of last season and coach Matt Pinchevsky will be looking to build on that to start the new season. Only problem is they are the road teams against a deep and skilled Gull squad that will not give up much. Late goal gives the home team a win on opening night – Endicott, 3-2
Oswego v. (1) Hobart
The Statesmen welcome one of the youngest Laker squads that has taken the ice in a while and the “Cooler Crazies” make sure the welcome is less than hospitable as the defending national champions get off to a fast start and take a comfortable win – Hobart, 4-1
University of New England v. (11) Plymouth State
The Panthers and Nor’easters have played some classic contests over the past few years and this year’s PSU squad has some serious firepower that will make life challenging for the home squad. Tough to keep the “Wills” (Redick and Pray) down and their scoring touch helps secure a win – PSU, 3-2
(7) Curry v. Massachusetts-Boston
The Colonels and Beacons have been long-time rivals and this year finds a couple of Beacon transfers wearing the purple and white on opening night. Shane Soderwall is among the best goaltenders in the country and he backstops a nice opening night road win – Curry, 4-2
Canton v. (15) Stevenson
The Mustangs find themselves in the top fifteen in the opening season poll and they play like a national contender on opening night with a convincing win fueled by a fast start in the first period. Power play is a key contributor for the Mustang offense – Stevenson, 5-2
Saturday, November 2, 2024
(11) Plymouth State v. Babson
The Panthers go back-to-back against quality opponents and the Beavers prove to be a tough foe on the second night where a late goal delivers a victory for Jamie Rice’s disciplined group. Four balanced lines are the difference – Babson, 3-2
Albertus Magnus v. Johnson & Wales
The Falcons are now part of the NEHC where J&W departed for the CNE. Regardless of the league affiliation, the contest is likely to be fast and physical with the visitors taking advantage of some odd-man rushes for a big win on the road – Albertus Magnus, 3-0
(4) Utica v. (3) Adrian
The Pioneers and Bulldogs have played a two-game series to open the season for several years. While former Adrian coach Adam Krug has moved on to the AHL, the rivalry will continue with some great hockey. See-saw affair that finds the visitor eking out a win in overtime – Utica, 4-3
(12) Skidmore v. Wentworth
The Thoroughbreds are certainly expected to be one of the premier teams in the east this season and they show off the skill and speed in a comfortable win over the Leopards with the power play providing a couple of goals for the final margin – Skidmore, 5-2
Southern New Hampshire v. Framingham State
The Penmen will look to get off to a fast start and goaltender Collin Berke will make sure the team has support to get the offense going. Kurt Watson and Ryan Pomposelli have multiple points in the win over a game Rams squad – SNHU, 4-2
(13) Cortland v. Alvernia
The Red Dragons enter the season as the defending SUNYAC champions and want to get a fast start to the season against the Golden Wolves. Too much firepower with Colby Seitz and Nate Berke leading on the scoresheet for the visitors – Cortland, 4-1
It does not matter if the games are non-conference affairs as a win is a win and everybody is playing for those as they find their game to start the campaign. Early season hardware adds some spice for teams in opening tournaments and like my good friend, scribe John “Jocko” Connolly always says to get things going – “Drop the Puck!”
For the second straight season, there are 1119 women rostered by NCAA DI women’s hockey programs this season. Players represent 37 US states, 11 Canadian provinces and 18 different countries – 14 in Europe and 4 in Asia.
This data was collected by individually surveying the posted rosters of each NCAA DI team.
The US is home to the majority of players in NEWHA and the WCHA, while the split between US and Canadian players is much closer to equal in the ECAC and Hockey East. American players makes up less than half the total of players in the AHA.
Minnesota leads the way with 202 players. Ontario is the top Canadian province with 209 women calling it home.
Of the 1119 women rostered this season, hail from. The top three states by number of skaters are Minnesota, Massachusetts (114) and New York (52). Minnesota-born players make up 18% of all NCAA players this season and are 49% of the women playing in the WCHA in 2024-25. Massachusetts-born players make up 31% of Hockey East players.
In all, women representing 37 states are currently playing NCAA DI hockey. NEWHA leads the way with 78% of their players hailing from the US, followed closely by the WCHA, with 72% of their players claiming America as their home.
A full third of the women playing DI women’s hockey this season hail from Canada – 363 of the 1119 skaters. Players from 11 of the Canadian provinces and territories are taking the ice this season. The ECAC has the most players who call Canada home with 137 – that’s 44% of the women who play for ECAC teams.
There are 75 players from countries outside North America, up 15 from last season. They make up 7% of the total players rostered this season. Eighteen countries are represented – three more than last season – with players from Poland, China and Slovenia joining D1 teams. Hockey East leads the way in total number of non-North American countries represented with 10, while the 21 non-North American players skating in the AHA are most among the conferences.
St Olaf won the league tournament last season and is hoping for a repeat. (Photo provided by St. Olaf athletics)
The MIAC never seems to disappoint when it comes to being competitive. The race for the regular-season championship and the five conference tourney spots up for grabs always seems to be a fight to the finish.
Last year, Augsburg held a two-point edge over Bethel for the regular-season title, but the Oles, who finished fifth in the standings, ended up winning the conference tournament championship.
You just never know how things are going to go. Here’s a look at each team heading into the new year.
Augsburg (15-9-2, 12-3-1)
One thing about Augsburg is that it’s always in the discussion for a league championship. This year shouldn’t be an exception for the Auggies, the reigning regular season champion.
Cade Stibbe will lead the way after finishing third on the team in scoring last season, tallying seven goals and 12 assists.
Landon Parker also ranked among the top five in scoring for the Auggies, finishing fourth with six goals and 12 assists.
Nick Catalano and Peyton Hanson will provide help offensively as well. Catalano scored eight goals and dished out four assists. Hanson recorded six goals and six assists.
Michael Ferrandino is also a key returning player after dishing out seven assists to go along with four goals.
The Auggies lost one of the top goalies in the nation in Samuel Vyletelka, and finding someone to fill that void will be key. Josh Koziol is the only goalie back with experience from last season as he appeared in five games for the Auggies.
Bethel (18-6-3, 11-3-2)
Coming off an impressive season, the Royals have the pieces in place to build on what they accomplished last year.
Seventeen players are back, along with 12 newcomers, two of which are transfers. Those transfers are Shane LeVelle from Lindenwood and Liam Hennessy from Rivier.
One of the top players back is Tyler Kostelecky, an All-American last year, while Austin Ryman returns as one of the top goaltenders in the conference. Kostelecky scored 13 goals and dished out 13 assists. Ryman started 15 games and gave up just 33 goals. He racked up 451 saves and won 11 games.
Bethel tied the record for wins in a season, and it’s 72.2 winning percentage is the best in school history. The Royals played in the MIAC championship game last year and are hungry to get back there and finish the job this time.
St. Scholastica (15-10-1, 8-7-1)
The Saints are ready to march into another season and take aim at contending for a MIAC crown.
Though they have lost three of their top five scorers, including scoring leader Fillimon Ledenkov, the cupboard isn’t bare for St. Scholastica.
Nathan Adrian ranked third in scoring and finished last season with seven goals and 13 assists. Tristan Shewchuk was fifth in scoring, racking up eight goals and 11 assists.
Jaco Seitz will provide plenty of help offensively as well, coming off a year where he scored six goals and dished out seven assists.
Brodie Girod tallied seven goals last season to go along with three assists and Hunter Hanson finished with six goals and four assists.
The Saints will need to find someone to fill the void at goaltender as well after losing Jack Bostedt. Elino Rissanen is the only one back at that position with any experience for the Saints as he appeared in one game.
Saint Mary’s (10-14-2, 8-7-1)
The Cardinals welcome back 18 players, including two all-conference picks, and that should put them in position to compete for a playoff spot again.
Colin Tushie and AJ Rushowski both earned All-MIAC honors last season. Tushie scored 10 goals and eight assists while Rushowski appeared in 15 games between the pipes, racking up 506 saves and winning six games.
Gabe Potyk and Warner Young also return for the Cardinals, who scored 64 goals while allowing 94.
There are 15 new additions to the team as well, including Jake Cameron, Cole Mickie, Liam McInnis, Tommy Wright and Jack Bayless.
When it’s all said and done this season, the Cardinals should be back in the mix for an upper half finish in the standings and a postseason berth.
St. Olaf (14-12-3, 7-7-2)
The Oles have become a regular contender in the conference lately and are the reigning conference tournament champions. They won their second crown in the last three seasons in 2024.
Don’t be surprised if the Oles are hoisting a trophy again as they bring back 21 players including 12 of their top 15 scoring threats.
Leading the way is All-American Connor Kalthoff, who scored 16 goals last season and also dished out 15 assists.
Cody Sherman is back as well and was the second-leading scorer for the Oles a year ago. He came through with seven goals and 13 assists.
Jonathan Panisa and Jonathan Young were also in the top five in scoring for the Oles, combining for 17 goals and 15 assists.
Joey Kennelly and Tyler Green are also among the key players back after finishing with a combined eight goals and 17 assists.
Finding someone to step in goal is key. The Oles are also in good shape in goal as Thomas Lalonde is back. He started 16 games and fashioned a 2.11 goals against average. Lalonde made 374 saves and won 10 games.
Saint John’s (9-12-4, 6-9-1)
All-conference selection Matt DeRosa is back to help lead the way for the Johnnies after scoring a team-best eight goals. He also tallied five assists and will be a captain this season.
Jack Wandmacher was the team leader in points last season. He scored seven goals and dished out seven assists. He’s a clutch player, too, scoring two game-winning goals during a successful freshman campaign.
Spencer Rurud dished out eight assists and Jack Bisson came through with seven assists. Cam Boche is also a playmaker, tallying nine assists last year. Mason Campbell was one of the top rookies two years ago and took a team-high 68 shots last season.
The Johnnies also have depth at goal with Bailey Huber and Jon Howe returning this year. Huber recorded a 2.78 goals against average and Howe won six games while fashioning a 2.32 goals against average.
The Johnnies missed the conference playoffs last year, ending a run of five consecutive appearances, and that will be added motivation for them going into this season.
Gustavus (11-12-2, 6-9-1)
The Gusties are looking to turn things around and certainly have a chance to do it with its top three scorers back from last season.
Drew Holt was the top scorer for the Gusties, tallying seven goals and 11 assists, while Drew Ellings finished with eight goals and eight assists.
Jack Suchy is also back after coming through with eight goals and seven assists a year ago.
Wilmer Svensson returns as well and finished fourth in scoring with seven goals and eight assists.
That experience should prove beneficial to the Gusties, who also welcome back one of their top goalies in Marko Belak. He started nine of the 14 games he appeared in and fashioned a 3.08 goals against average.
Concordia (10-12-3, 5-9-2)
The Cobbers should have a shot at a winning season as their top two scorers return. Mason Plante led the team with 11 goals and 12 assists while Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe also scored 11 goals to go along with his 10 assists. The duo tied for the team-lead in goals last season.
Joe Harguindeguy also returns and tied for the team lead in assists (14). He also scored three goals.
Hunter Olson will provide a boost offensively, too, after coming through with eight goals and seven assists. Hanson O’Leary is a player to watch as well after tallying six goals and seven assists. The Cobbers also have Carson Triggs for another year. He scored five goals and dished out seven assists last season.
Dan Couture and Brock Moroz are the two goalies on the roster with experience. Couture played in seven games while Moroz appeared in three.
Hamline (7-16-2, 3-12-1)
The Pipers are poised to improve with 26 players back this season, including the top three scorers. Brandon McNamara headlines the group as he was the leading scorer on the team last season. He came through with 10 goals and 11 assists.
Bailey Sommers ranked second on the team in scoring, tallying seven goals and nine assists, and Carson Simon recorded eight goals and seven assists.
Goalie Maximillian Haselbacher also returns and that’s big for Hamline. He started 17 games last season, recording two shutouts and racking up 500 saves.
The Royals have added a few transfers as well who should help bolster the team. Thomas Carls comes in from Augsburg and Nicolas Haviar is from Utica. Cal Levis III transfers in from Dubuque.
