Hobart’s Cooper Swift and Tanner Hartman are looking to celebrate some more victories in pursuit of another NEHC title (Photo by Brett Williams)
After dispatching non-conference foe Middlebury by an 8-1 score last weekend, No. 1 ranked Hobart enters 2024 with an 11-2-0 record and a remaining schedule that is strictly composed of NEHC opponents. The Statesmen know they face everyone’s best game as defending conference champions and national champions but may have their best team performing at superior levels looking to repeat on both championships.
“This may be our best parity of depth on the roster,” said head coach Mark Taylor. “We are pretty healthy and have guys that are competing hard just to get playing time. I am not sure which coach I heard the quote from but “it is great when your best coach is your best player being your hardest worker.” I think that really defines a lot of our guys on the roster right now and demonstrates that we play like we practice.
One of those players leading the way on the ice is sophomore forward Tanner Hartman. Against Middlebury, Hartman scored a pair of goals, but he has produced a four-goal game against Johnson & Wales as well as a six-point game against Massachusetts-Boston. So far this season, he has produced 12 goals and 10 assist for 22 points while playing to a plus 18 for Hobart.
“He is full effort all the time,” stated Taylor. “Tanner literally empties the tank on every shift, and it is great to see that effort rewarded on the scoresheet. He goes to the hard areas of the ice but not all his goals are just about the hard work – he has produced some highlight reel stuff that has been impressive to see. He is one of quite a few players that has “game-blossomed” this year. We have a number of freshmen like Chris Duclair, Bauer Morrissey, and Brandon Sacchetti who are making contributions when they are getting playing time. It is exciting to watch especially as we enter the second half of the season.
With seven shutouts this season shared between goaltenders Mavrick Goyer and Damon Beaver, the Statesmen have been hard to score on and through their first 13 games have yet to surrender a power play goal to any opponent this season covering 36 penalty kill situations. Combine that percentage of success with a power play operating at 33% and you have a recipe for some dynamic winning hockey.
“It always helps to have great goaltending, especially during a penalty kill,” noted Taylor. “All the goalies have been terrific in stopping all the ones they are supposed to save and maybe a few they weren’t supposed to. The penalty kill is one area where I give the players some latitude and opportunity to go off their instincts as to how to forecheck in a man-down situation and it is hard to argue with the results so far this season. Like any situation on the ice, the players have taken ownership of performing at a high level and not giving opponents any cheap goals at even-strength or on the kill. We would certainly like to see the current trend continue into the new year.”
This weekend Hobart travels to face No. 10 ranked Skidmore on Friday and Castleton on Saturday in their return to NEHC action.
“We aren’t looking at anything beyond Friday against a very good Skidmore team,” said Taylor. “The big sheet they play on is different so obviously we will need to adjust some things against a team that has a lot of skill players and excellent goaltending. Our focus is to go 2-0 each weekend starting with this one and that can only happen with a great effort and a win starting on Friday night.”
The Cobbers face a big MIAC test this weekend when they take on St. Scholastica. (Photo provided by Concordia Athletics)
Here we go. The first first full weekend of hockey for 2024 and it should be an entertaining one to say the least.
Friday and Saturday
No. 2 St. Scholastica (10-1, 4-0) at Concordia (6-4-1, 2-2)
The Saints lost their first game of the season last weekend but hope to shake that off and maintain their hold on at least a share of first place real estate in the MIAC.
St. Scholastica features one of the top offenses nationally, racking up 49 goals on the year, behind the efforts of players like Arkhip and Filimon Ledenkov, as well as Brodie Girod and Carsen Richels. If that offense is clicking, the Saints will be difficult to stop.
The Cobbers have dropped two in a row but have yet to be beaten at home this season. That certainly should give Concordia some added confidence. Mason Plante leads the way for the Cobbers with six goals. He has also dished out seven assists. The Cobbers will be play hard and an upset wouldn’t be a surprise, but the Saints should find a way to prevail in the series. St. Scholastica, 4-2 and 5-4
St. John’s (3-8-2, 1-5) vs. Gustavus (7-4-2, 2-3-1)
This home and home series begins at St. John’s, and it’s a huge opportunity for both teams to gain some ground in the tightly contested MIAC.
The Johnnies have had good fortune against the Gusties in recent years, winning the last nine meetings and are 43-13-9 overall in the series. A couple of new additions will be on the ice for St. John’s, which added Sam Berry and Justin Thompson. Barry played the last three seasons for Fairbanks in the NAHL. Thompson is a former player at Division I Long Island.
The Gusties have gotten solid goaltending from Jackson Hjelle, who was a league defensive player of the week last month and has two shutouts in his last three appearances. St. John’s, 3-1; Gustavus, 2-0
Concordia (4-9) vs. Lake Forest (5-8)
The Falcons earned a big win over Oswego State over the holiday break and hope that confidence carries into a matchup against the Foresters.
Concordia will need to find a way to duplicate the offense it put up against Oswego, when it scored eight goals.
The Foresters have an opportunity to stay in the top five in the standings and has shown it can put a lot of goals up. This one comes down to which team makes the biggest plays on defense. Lake Forest, 5-4; Concordia, 4-3
Friday
No. 9 UW-Eau Claire at St. Olaf (5-6-1, 3-2-1)
The Blugolds look to keep their hold on a top 10 ranking nationally. The Oles hope to make a statement.
UW-Eau Claire is looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The good news is the Blugolds are unbeaten against MIAC teams this season. Scoring goals hasn’t been an issue for this team as it has put up 40 on the year. Leo Bacallao leads the way with six goals.
Like the Blugolds, the Oles have dropped two in a row. They are 3-1-1 at home this season, and that could help. Defense is going to be key here for the Oles, who have Lukas Haugen in goal. He has a 1.69 goals against average. UW-Eau Claire, 4-2
No. 4 Adrian (9-3) at No. 14 Trine (11-3)
Talk about a great way to ring in the new year. The Bulldogs and Thunder meet up in a huge NCHA battle that will also have implications on a national level.
Adrian and Trine are among three teams tied for first in the conference and the scoreboard operator could get a lot of work in this one. Trine leads the conference with 52 goals. Adrian has scored 48.
The question is which goalie will rise to the occasion here. Dershahn Stewart leads Adrian with a 1.79 goals against average. Trine is counting on Kyle Kozma in goal. He has a 1.81 GAA. Look for a fight to the finish. Let’s have fun here and go with Trine with the upset. Trine, 5-4
Saturday
No. 8 UW-Stevens Point (9-3) at Augsburg (6-4-1, 3-1)
The Pointers face off against a team that it could very well see in March. In fact, this is a rematch of last year’s wild NCAA tournament game that ended with a 2-1 win for the Pointers in four overtimes.
This one might not last as long, but it should be close throughout. Cade Stibbe has been a key piece of the Augsburg offense, scoring six goals, while Samuel Vyletelka remains one of the top goalies in the country, racking up 341 saves on the season. He’ll be tested against the Pointers.
Andrew Poulias is among the scoring threats for the Pointers, tallying six goals, and netminder Alex Proctor has 242 saves. He’ll have to be ready to step up against a tough Auggies team.
I expect this one to go down to the wire and could easily go either way. UW-Stevens Point, 3-2 OT
Aurora (7-6-1) at Adrian (7-1)
Another matchup between two really good hockey teams. The Bulldogs are up against another solid offensive team as the Spartans have tallied 49 goals on the year.
Both of these teams can score at will but the key here could be on defense, where Adrian has been a little bit better, allowing only 23 goals on the season.
The interesting thing about this game is will be on neutral ice as the game will be played in Toledo, Ohio. This is a big opportunity for the Spartans, who are just two points behind Adrian in the standings. Adrian, 4-2
Arizona State goalie TJ Semptimphelter led the Sun Devils to the Adirondack Winter Invitational championship last weekend (photo: Arizona State Athletics).
This is only the second full week back from the college hockey exam break, but already we’re seeing a disturbing trend in major sports books.
The number of available games on DraftKings for the second straight weekend were extremely low – three nationally. As someone who lives in Massachusetts and thus can’t bet on teams from this state, the amount of games was even thinner – just one.
I’m not sure the reason for this. It might have to do with the World Junior tournament as DK has posted lines for every single one of those games. Or it could be that DK and other major books haven’t been making money on college hockey of late and decided to reduce the amount of liability.
Either way, my colleague, Ed Trefzger, who co-hosts the USCHO Edge podcast with me, did some digging to try to find more sources at least to get available lines to talk about game and came across the website oddsportal.com, which finds as many available lines as it can and provides bettors with the average line. Not only is this a source for some sports books with which we were not familiar, but it also allows users to shop around to find the best line.
Thus, this week I’ll be using a few lines from that site for the content of this column. One disclaimer: Unlike a major reputable site like DraftKings, I cannot guarantee the legitimacy of any of these sites. So if you decide to wager through them, do so at your own risk.
But for the entertainment purposes of this column and discussion of some different matchups, here forth are a few games I culled from oddsportal.com.
RIT (-153 average) vs. Clarkson
This game just stood out to me as it isn’t that often you find any Atlantic Hockey team favored, let alone at an average rate of -153. Certainly, this has been an excellent season for RIT and the Tigers are at home, but RIT has beaten Clarkson just once in the 11 times these two teams have played, that coming in the strange COVID years where teams scrambled to find any opponent. RIT is 6-3-0 at home this year, a decent record, but I’m not sure the value is there to hammer RIT with your wagers given the price you have to lay.
Harvard at Arizona State over/under 5.5 goals (-108 over/-124 under)
This hasn’t been Harvard’s season to date. Their offense is sputtering with just 20 goals in 11 games. So I can see why this O/U is so low. But Arizona State’s defense still allows close to three goals a game and its offense scores at a clip closer to four GPG. These two teams have faced one another six times with three games totaling seven goals or more combined (the other three all totaled five goals, just under that 5.5). This one feels like there is a lot of value on the over laying just -108 (and the under at -124 has little value).
Connecticut (+161 average) at Massachusetts
It certainly makes sense given both teams records that UConn is an underdog traveling to UMass on Friday for a single game. But what the bookmakers might not be considering is the impact that the World Junior tournament has on this game. It was thought that Canada would advance to the medal round of the tournament and Czechia would be out after the quarterfinals. The opposite happened. Thus, UMass will be without goaltender Michael Hrabal and forward Dans Locmelis, who play a Friday bronze medal game in Sweden while UConn will be returned Matthew Wood. He could play for UConn if travel back was without issue. Not sure this is enough to tilt the tables, but certainly worth considering if you’re making a wager on this game in either direction.
Games to avoid this week: Clarkson (+116) at RIT (-153)
Best bet: Harvard at Arizona State over 5.5 goals (-108)
Trinity Women’s Hockey (Photo via Trinity Athletics)
We’re getting back to a full slate this weekend in D-III Women’s hockey, meanwhile we had a few games played this week coming off the great weekend featuring four games down South in Charleston, SC. Here’s a brief recap of some midweek non-conference games, which featured an upset in Vermont!
Trinity upsets #8 Norwich (Trinity 2-0)
Norwich entered this game unbeaten in their last nine games (8-0-1), 8-2-1 overall, meanwhile Trinity entered 4-3-1 overall.
The Cadets handed Plattsburgh their only blemishes on the record, tying and beating them in two games played. Trinity’s highlight so far this season was a 1-1 tie vs Hamilton who’s been starting off strong after the departure of their former head coach Emily McNamara to her alumnus Middlebury.
In this game, the Bantams shutout the Cadets 2-0, scoring both goals in the 2nd period. The first coming at the 8:52 mark (Ava Gosnell) and the second came in the last minute of the period at 19:24.9 (Anne Levia).
It was a very low shooting night in Norwich, with the Cadets outshooting Trinity a slim 21-18, penalties were low, two for Norwich and one for Trinity.
We’ll have to see what momentum this gives Trinity headed into this weekend vs the NESCAC’s finest, Amherst.
#7 Hamilton defeats Canton 2-0
Hamilton entered this one 5-2-1, while Canton has gotten off to a hot start with a 9-4-0 record. In this one, like our first game, the lone goals were scored in the same period, with the Continentals scoring both goals in the final period. Katie Allen scored at 9:54 just before the halfway mark, while her teammate Claire McGennis doubled the lead at 15:04 of the period to seal it for Hamilton.
Hamilton outshot the Roos in this one 36-21, while penalties were kept to a minimum, only one on Hamilton.
Hamilton is off to a 10-2-0 start on the year after a string of ranked wins (Photo by Josh McKee – https://www.mckeephotoarts.com/)
Goaltender Teagan Brown made 21 saves in the shutout victory, while Molly Lenihan made 34 in the loss.
#10 UW-Eau Claire defeats Lake Forest 8-0
UW-Eau Claire’s looking to stack some wins after a few rough losses to begin their season, shutout Lake Forest in commanding fashion, winning 8-0 as they await St. Norbert this weekend for a two-game series in Eau Claire, WI.
Sophie Rausch led the way with three points (2G, 1A), and goaltender Josie Mathison got the shutout, making 12 saves on 12 shots.
UWEC led 3-0 after the 1st, 7-0 after the 2nd, and then finally won the game 8-0.
#11 Colby defeats Plymouth State 9-0
Colby handled business here as they should’ve, shutting out the Panthers o Plymouth State 9-0 on the road.
Colby is off to a 7-1-0 start after their easier start to the season, their first test is this weekend with a pair of games vs #7 Hamilton, then in two weeks, a pair of road games in Middlebury to face the current #4 Panthers.
It’ll be interesting to see how Colby fares, coming off their first-ever NCAA tournament win last year.
#3 Amherst defeats Castleton 3-0
Amherst continues to win, now 8-0-2, granted, Castleton isn’t a powerhouse of a non-conference game, but the Mammoths have two wins over #7 Hamilton, a tie and win over #4 Middlebury, and recently, a 2-1 win over Oswego.
In this one, Amherst outshot Castleton 47-16, shockingly, Natalie Stott had the night off, so goaltender Maleigh Tittel started and got the 16-save shutout victory. Despite the loss, Kirsten Dicicco made 44 saves in the loss.
Amherst has a pair of games with Trinity this weekend who’s looking to grab another upset, this time against a conference opponent.
Univ. Southern Maine defeats Univ. New England 5-3
Southern Maine and Univ. New England are two solid teams in their respective conferences, neither at the top, but solid teams in conference play so far. USM has a big weekend ahead, hosting #8 Norwich who’s coming off a loss to Trinity, so they couldn’t overlook the Nor’easters of New England.
Meanwhile, UNE entered 5-5-3, but held a better conference record, sitting in 3rd place in the CCC.
The 3rd period of this game was when things got crazy, it was 2-1 UNE headed into the final period, but then the floodgates opened… USM’s Amanda Crowley scored a rapid 38 seconds into the period (00:38), then UNE came right back on the powerplay (Eliana Kane) and took the lead back, making it 3-2 with 15:20 left in the game.
Shannon Murphy scored the tying goal an entire 28 seconds later after UNE went back up a goal. USM’s Caroline Thompson, to which Hall of Fame Broadcaster Jim Ward began singing the Neil Diamond classic “Sweet Caroline” when she scored the eventual game-winner at the 8:01 mark of the period. Then Saige Macleod ended it with an empty netter with eight seconds remaining in the game (19:52).
Morrisville defeats Alvernia 5-0
The pair of Cortland Red Dragon alums Head Coach John Briggs and Assistant Coach Monica Cahill have their Mustangs looking vastly improved from last season, most recently picking up a shutout win over Alvernia who entered the game a solid 8-1-1, one of the best starts in program history.
In this one, Morrisville dominated, outshooting Alvernia 49-11, while penalties were 4 for 8 on Morrisville and 3 for 6 on Alvernia.
Three goals came in the 2nd period, the first, also the eventual game-winner, was scored by Madison Tomkins, who also happened to score their next goal as well to give her Mustangs a 2-0 lead early in the 2nd period (2:55 & 4:54), both of her goals came in the first five minutes of the period.
Morrisville tacked on three more and got out of Pennsylvania with a win. Goaltender Emma Plett made 11 saves in the shutout victory.
Wesleyan & Connecticut College tie 2-2
This game was even on goals and almost on shots, with Wesleyan holding a small advantage 29-28. Penalties were common, six by the Camels and four for the Cardinals.
Connecticut hopped out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring near the midway mark of the opening period, Casey Chesner (8:51) & Casey Godfrey (10:20), both on the powerplay.
It took all the way until the 3rd period, but Wesleyan found a way to tie it up, Amelia Molin cut the lead in half at the 1:07 mark, very quickly into the period. Her teammate Christina Tournas tied the game and forced a tie after scoring at the 12:06 mark of the final period. The rest of the way and overtime was close, but scoreless.
Team USA players celebrate Cutter Gauthier’s game-winning goal Thursday against Finland (photo: USA Hockey).
Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) scored on the power play with 3:13 left in the third period to lift the U.S. National Junior Team to a 3-2 come-from-behind win in the semifinals of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship at Frolundaborg in Gothenburg, Sweden Thursday night to send the U.S. to tomorrow’s gold medal game against Sweden.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said U.S. head coach David Carle (Denver), whose team trailed 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, in a news release. “Even though we were down, I didn’t mind our first period and there was no panic in the room. Our special teams and goaltending were excellent, and we’re excited to have the chance to play for a gold medal tomorrow.”
The U.S. nearly took the lead just more than a minute into the game after Gavin Brindley (Michigan) was on the receiving end of a feed from Frank Nazar (Michigan) and had a great chance from the circle, but Finnish netminder Niklas Kokko made the save.
A turnover in front of U.S. netminder Trey Augustine (Michigan State) led to Oiva Keskinen poking home the rebound of an initial shot at 1:51.
Finland’s Rasmus Kumpulainen deflected a shot from the point in front of the crease at 12:45 and Finland had a 2-0 edge after one.
Will Smith (Boston College) nearly put the U.S. on the board early in the second after Ryan Leonard (Boston College) found him on a two-on-one, but Smith’s shot sailed wide of the net.
The U.S. got its first goal of the game on the power play at 12:10. Smith handled the puck in the corner and passed to Seamus Casey (Michigan) on the point where he sent a cross-ice feed to Jimmy Snuggerud (Minnesota) who netted a one-timer from the top of the circle to cut the lead to 2-1.
Team USA evened the game just over four minutes later when Ryan Chesley (Minnesota) sent the puck into the corner from the point for Gabe Perreault (Boston College), who threaded a pass to Smith across the slot, leaving him with an empty net to bury the puck. Team USA put 14 shots on net in the middle stanza and limited Finland to just three.
Finland went on the power play 4:48 into the third period, but the U.S. shut them down.
The U.S. had its second power play of the game with five minutes remaining in regulation and Gauthier wristed a shot from the circle into the top corner with Hutson and Brindley contributing assists.
Finland had their own power play chance with 2:33 left on the clock and pulled their netminder for a 6-on-4 advantage during the man advantage. The U.S. penalty kill, led by Augustine, who made a stellar toe save late in the game, held strong to send Team USA to the gold-medal game at 7:30 p.m. local/1:30 p.m. ET tomorrow on NHL Network.
Augustine won his seventh career game in the World Juniors and had 19 saves.
NOTES: Team USA’s three best players of the tournament were named following the game and included Gauthier, Brindley and Lane Hutson (Boston University) … Gauthier was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot Finland 30-21 … The U.S. was 2 for 2 on the power play, while Finland was 0 for 2.
Simon Tassy and Kyle McClellan were two of the major reasons why Wisconsin won the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off last weekend in Milwaukee (photo: Paul Capobianco).
There’s nothing like December hardware to kick off the second half of the college hockey season.
With a pair of 3-0 wins, Wisconsin captured the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, extending the Badgers’ current win streak to seven games and bumping Wisconsin up one spot to No. 5 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
Mike Hastings – who has said all of the right things in his first season with the Badgers and has said them with sincerity – had the perfect comment about the tournament following Wisconsin’s 3-0 win over Northeastern in the title match Dec. 29.
“What a great experience this was,” said Hastings. “Thank you to all the people who dug into their pockets to come out and watch us play. It was important coming into Milwaukee and doing well because we’re representing a state.”
And represent they did. With crowds topping 8,600 for each night, the Badgers outshot Air Force 38-27 in the opener and Northeastern 38-28 while limiting the Falcons to two power-play chances and the Huskies to one.
With his fourth and fifth shutouts of the season, Kyle McClellan earned the Big Ten third star of the week. McClellan credited the team in front of him for its collective commitment.
“All season, we’ve had defensemen and forwards step up and block shots that I can’t see,” said McClellan. “It’s an all-around team effort, and I’m glad that they’re able to step up and make some big-time blocks.”
Another Badger, Simon Tassy, is this week’s Big Ten first star after netting the game-winning goals in each game and recording his first career hat trick. The four goals in the tournament give Tassy 20 on the season to lead all Badgers. Hastings, who came along with Hastings from Minnesota State Mankato at the start of this season, had one goal in 15 games with the Mavericks last season.
“For me, it’s about getting a good start and getting two good games,” said Tassy, “but I think it’s more important the for the team to do well this weekend so that we can start out [the rest of the season] on the right foot.”
With 16 overall wins at midseason, the Badgers have three more victories than they had for all of 2022-23. As the second half begins, Wisconsin has 24 points in the Big Ten standings, one point behind first-place Michigan State.
The Spartans fell short of their own quest for holiday hardware.
After beating Ferris State 4-1 in the opener of the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament Dec. 28, Michigan State tied host Michigan Tech 3-3 in the title game Dec. 29, but the Huskies bested the Spartans for the championship. The tournament drew more than 7,000 people each day Grand Rapids, Mich.
“It was a tough finish to the game for us for sure,” said coach Adam Nightingale, “but I thought we did a lot of things we were looking to do as a team. I think that will really help us learn some lessons [and] help us going into the second half.”
Freshman Luca Di Pasquo was in net for the Spartans each night, his first action since late October. Michigan State starter Trey Augustine is in Sweden with Team USA for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Di Pasquo posted a .923 save percentage in the tourney.
The Spartans outshot the Huskies 57-25 in the championship game. “I liked us a lot in the Ferris game,” said Nightingale. “I liked us a lot in the Michigan Tech game. I thought we did a lot of good things.”
Nightingale said that the game against Michigan Tech showed the Spartans areas to “clean up” when they play a game in which they dominate in all ways except for the score.
“You’ve still got to be great away from the puck,” said Nightingale. “When you go long periods of time when you’re in the offensive zone, you’ve still got to be locked in.”
The Spartans play the U.S. National Team Development Program in a single exhibition game this weekend. Nightingale said that he’s confident that the Spartans won’t be looking past this contest.
“We talked to our guys a lot,” said Nightingale. “You turn the scoreboard on, and it means something. You put the jersey on, it means something.
“We want our guys to be ready to go and we’re trying to chase being a great team. Every time you play, and every time you practice, every time you’re in the weight room, you’ve got an opportunity to get closer to that. We’ve got a group of guys that understands that, so the expectation is that we’ll be ready to go.”
The Badgers have an opportunity to surpass the Spartans with two games against Notre Dame, who warmed up for the second half of B1G play with two wins against Augustana, a 5-1 win Dec. 30 followed by a 3-2 overtime win New Year’s Eve.
The Irish outshot the Vikings 78 to 44 for the series, including putting up 40 shots in the OT win. The Irish led that game 2-1 until late in the second period, when Augustana’s Owen Bohn scored the tying goal.
“We had a lot of opportunities,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson, “but couldn’t finish. I didn’t think we were sharp, which is understandable after a three-week break. But we found a way to win.”
Cole Knuble had the game winner for Notre Dame 22 seconds into overtime. That followed his hat-trick performance of the night before, and his four goals on the weekend earned the freshman the Big Ten second star of the week.
“Obviously,” said Jackson, “it’s good to get Cole Knuble going.”
With 15 points, Notre Dame is in fourth place in the Big Ten standings to start the second half of the season, 10 behind Michigan State entering the weekend against Wisconsin. The Fighting Irish trail Minnesota by two points and have two games in hand on the Golden Gophers.
The Wisconsin-Notre Dame series is the only Big Ten conference play this weekend. Minnesota hosts Colorado College for two games, Jan. 7-8. The Golden Gophers beat the U.S. National Development Team 3-2 Jan. 1.
Ohio State plays a home-and-home series against longtime, in-state rival Bowling Green this weekend. The Buckeyes beat Mercyhurst at home 5-3 Dec. 30 to tune up for the second half.
Penn State hosts Army West Point in a single game Saturday night. Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky will be facing off against his son, Mac, a freshman defenseman for the Black Knights.
After the U.S. National Development Team plays Michigan State Friday, they’ll take on the Wolverines in exhibition Saturday.
Nichols Nathan Carl and his teammates will look to win the Boston Landing Invitational from a field that includes Wentworth, Tufts and SNHU (Photo by Gino DiVito)
…And now the second half begins in earnest!
The calendar has turned to a new year, but the teams are focused on producing big second half wins in pursuit of conference titles and maybe something more. I stumbled horribly with my picks for the the final games before the New Year with my picks going 5-6-0 (.455) and that brings the season overall record to 65-36-7 (.634). Look for some great conference action in MASCAC, NEHC and limited UCHC play along with three more tournaments and interesting non-conference matchups. Here are just my opening round tournament picks along with some key games this weekend in the East:
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts v. Fitchburg State
The Falcons really want to start fast in the second half but should not underestimate the Trailblazers who have played everyone tough in their return to the D-III ranks. Jeremiah Ketts’ squad will be challenging but Dean Fuller’s group has too much firepower and earns a nice win to open 2024 – FSU, 4-2
Massachusetts-Dartmouth v. Framingham State
This is my upset pick of the weekend as the Rams can surprise anyone this season and will make things very difficult for the Corsairs from the opening puck drop on Thursday. This one will be tight for the full 60 minutes and may require a little overtime magic to decide a winner – Framingham State, 4-3
Friday, January 5, 2024
Codfish Bowl
Worcester State v. Massachusetts-Boston
The Beacons lay claim to the oldest D-III tournament with the Codfish Bowl but have not often fared well as the host institution. The Lancers will see the best from Pete Belisle’s squad who would like nothing more than to play in the championship game on Saturday. Fast start gets the Beacons a comfortable lead and the win – UMB, 4-1
Connecticut College v. Suffolk
The Camels and the Rams will play some entertaining hockey for certain and while the chances may be plentiful the goals will not be. Look for a late power play to be a critical factor in a one-goal game with the Camels eking out the win – Conn College, 3-2
Comfort Inn Complex Winter Classic hosted by Plattsburgh
Nazareth v. Albertus Magnus
The Falcons were upset last weekend by a hungry Williams squad so look for a reset in this opening round matchup with Nazareth. Special teams are a key factor in this one along with a much-needed empty-net goal for some breathing room – Albertus Magnus, 5-3
Rivier v. (5) Plattsburgh
The host school best be wary of a Raider team that already has a tournament title under their belts this season. TRAP GAME ALERT is blaring in this one as the Cardinals will need to shed the rust from the break quickly if they want to play for the title in their own tournament – Plattsburgh, 4-2
Manhattanville v. (7) Utica
The Pioneers have been stewing on a one-goal loss against Oswego since early December and re-open UCHC play with a chance to take advantage of games in hand against the Valiants on home ice. It isn’t a pretty win, but the “W” is all that matters – Utica, 4-2
(1) Hobart v. (10) Skidmore
The Statesmen tuned up for NEHC play with a comfortable win over Middlebury last weekend but will have their hands full against a determined and skilled Skidmore squad. Goals will be at a premium with both teams having solid defense and terrific goaltending. One goal could be enough here, but an empty-netter gives some breathing room – Hobart, 2-0
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Boston Landing Invitational
Southern New Hampshire v. Nichols
The Bison have had success in this tournament in the past and Alex Gacek will make sure his team is ready to go against the Penmen. A fast start and some physical play give the host school a nice win to open 2024 – Nichols, 5-2
Wentworth v. Tufts
The Jumbos were one of the surprise teams in the first half and look to keep their positive momentum in a tournament they can certainly win. Don’t get to play for the title if you don’t win the first matchup and the Jumbos get it done with strong special teams in a win over the Leopards – Tufts, 4-1
Buffalo State v. Alvernia
It is a SUNYAC v. UCHC matchup that saw the Bengals finish strong in the first half while the Golden Wolves struggled over their final few games. The Bengals are very skilled offensively and take advantage of some early goals to take a hard-fought win – Buffalo State, 5-3
Middlebury v. (15) Trinity
The Bantams get back to NESCAC play and are focused on taking care of business on home ice. The Panthers will play hard, but the home team just has too many weapons upfront and Devon Bobak in goal. Low-scoring affair that nets the critical points in the standings – Trinity, 3-1
Here we go. The sprint to the finish line begins this weekend and whether it’s a holiday tournament, non-conference game or key league contest, each team is playing like the win means everything – probably because it does – “Drop the Puck!”
ESPN and the NCAA have reached a new eight-year agreement beginning Sept. 1, 2024, for NCAA championships media rights.
The deal includes domestic rights to a record 40 NCAA championships – 21 women’s and 19 men’s events – and international rights to those same NCAA championships plus the Division I men’s basketball tournament.
“ESPN and the NCAA have enjoyed a strong and collaborative relationship for more than four decades, and we are thrilled that it will continue as part of this new, long-term agreement,” said ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro in a statement. “The ESPN networks and platforms will exclusively present a record number of championships, including all rounds of several marquee events that, together with the NCAA, we have grown over time. This unprecedented deal also further strengthens The Walt Disney Company’s industry-leading commitment to women’s sports and will help fuel our continued growth, including in the critical streaming space.”
The agreement continues exclusive coverage of sports included in the previous ESPN agreement – including all rounds of marquee NCAA championship events (women’s basketball, softball, volleyball, gymnastics, baseball, FCS football, and more) – and adds coverage of the Division I men’s and women’s tennis team championships and the national collegiate men’s gymnastics championship. It also includes full rights for the men’s National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT), as well as international rights for the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Division II and Division III also add coverage on ESPN platform of championships in men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.
“The NCAA has worked in earnest over the past year to ensure that this new broadcast agreement provides the best possible outcome for all NCAA championships, and in particular women’s championships,” said Charlie Baker, NCAA president. “Over the past several years, ESPN has demonstrated increased investment in NCAA championship coverage, and the Association is pleased to continue to provide a platform for student-athletes to shine. Having one, multi-platform home to showcase our championships provides additional growth potential along with a greater experience for the viewer and our student-athletes.”
With the significant increase in value of the new agreement, NCAA members will explore revenue distribution units for the women’s basketball tournament. The Division I Board of Directors Finance committee began discussion of revenue distribution philosophies and new models this year, and those discussions will continue with membership in the coming year.
“Finalizing this agreement ushers in yet another milestone for the NCAA positioning student-athletes first,” said Linda Livingstone, chair of the NCAA Board of Governors and Baylor University president. “Concurrent with the terms of the new media rights, several enhancements to student-athlete benefits across all three NCAA divisions will take effect, and this deal will help fund those important programs. And the national, integrated platform the family of ESPN networks provides will help grow the visibility of many NCAA sports, particularly for our women student-athletes.”
Endeavor’s IMG and WME Sports served as the media advisor to the NCAA for the media rights negotiations.
Hillary Mandel, EVP and head of Americas for Media at IMG, and Karen Brodkin, EVP and co-head of WME Sports, added: “This groundbreaking new ESPN deal guarantees the NCAA significant increases in rights fees, investment in production and promotion, original content and storytelling, and multi-platform viewership options with a partner that has proven integral to the growth of its championships and women’s sports. Critically, it provides greater exposure for student-athletes across a record number of championships and capitalizes on the growing interest and fandom of women’s sports, which was a key focus throughout our in-depth evaluation and advisory work with the NCAA.”
The 40 NCAA events included in ESPN’s new eight-year agreement include:
Matteo Giampa has registered 12 goals and 18 points so far for Canisius (photo: tomwolf.smugmug.com).
I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season.
As we head into the second half of the college hockey season, which Atlantic Hockey players have excelled so far?
Here are our midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March?
Probably.
But these are our picks for the first half:
First Team
F Matteo Giampa, Canisius
F Will Gavin, Air Force
F Carter Wilkie, RIT
D Gianfranco Cassaro, RIT
D Brian Kramer, AIC
G Tommy Scarfone, RIT
Second Team
F Liam McLinskey, Holy Cross
F Jack Ricketts, Holy Cross
F TJ Walsh, Sacred Heart
D Mac Gadowsky, Army West Point
D Chris Hedden, Air Force
G Thomas Gale, Holy Cross
Third Team
F Kevin Lombardi, Sacred Heart
F John Lundy, AIC
F Dustin Manz, AIC
D Nick Bochen, Bentley
D Luke Rowe, Air Force
G Chad Veltri, Robert Morris
All-Rookie Team
F Matteo Giampa, Canisius
F Alfred Lindberg, AIC
F Boris Skalos, Mercyhurst
D Mac Gadowsky, Army West Point
D Tomi Leppanen, AIC
G Nils Wallstrom, AIC
Player of the first half: Brian Kramer, AIC
The senior defenseman, who transferred from Robert Morris when the school cut the since-restored program in 2021, is second on his team in scoring (9-8-17) and leads all defenseman in Atlantic Hockey. He has three game-winning goals to date and is a plus-13, also best in the conference.
Goalie of the first half: Tommy Scarfone, RIT
The league is packed with talented netminders like the tandem of Jason Grande and Thomas Gale at Holy Cross, Nicholas Grabko (Bentley), Chad Veltri (Robert Morris), Owen Say (Mercyhurst), Chase Clark (Sacred Heart) and Jarret Fiske (AIC). All have save percentages above .915.
But I’m going with Scarfone, who’s tied for first in save percentage (.924) and seeing about 30 shots per game.
Rookie of the first half: Matteo Giampa, Canisius
The first-year player from Virgil, ONT was a scoring machine in juniors and that’s continued through the first half of his rookie season. His 12 goals are more than twice as many as anyone else on the Canisius roster and ties him for third nationally among freshmen.
Coach of the first half: Andy Jones, Bentley
Jones, in his first year at Bentley, has the Falcons in the thick of things, currently all alone in fourth place. Bentley was picked to finish last in the league’s pre-season coaches poll.
We have questions
Some burning questions to be answered in the second half:
Will we have a race to the wire?
The past two seasons saw a team run away with the regular season title, essentially wrapping it up by January. AIC won the conference by nine points in 2022 and RIT finished 10 points ahead of the field last season.
This season looks to be more of a dogfight.
While RIT holds the top position by two points over Sacred Heart, the Pioneers have a game in hand. And AIC is just four points back.
The Tigers have already played their only meetings this season with the Yellow Jackets and Pioneers, splitting with SHU and taking four points from AIC.
AIC and Sacred Heart split a series back in early December and will square off again in early February.
Will there be a second AHA team in the NCAAs
In the sprit of my friends at the USCHO Weekend Review podcast, am I buying or selling on this possibility?
At this point, I’m selling.
RIT currently sits at No. 17 in the PairWise rankings, and AIC is at 22. If one of those teams manages to get high enough, probably 13th or better, and falls in the AHA Tournament, we could see two teams in the NCAA Tournament.
That’s a tall order. Either team would pretty much need to run the table from here on out, and the league’s non-conference winning percentage is below the .400 threshold I think it needs to be in order to significantly improve its teams’ PWR.
So there’s a chance…but not a good one.
How will the new playoff format go?
Nobody liked last year’s playoff format, which excluded the bottom two teams in the standings. This was to accommodate the semifinals and finals moving to on-campus sites, which could have added an extra weekend to the playoff schedule. Instead, the league eliminated the first round and any byes.
With Robert Morris back in the fold, the league is going back to a modified version of an 11-team playoffs, i.e. everyone makes it, first-round byes for the top five, etc. All rounds will again be on-campus. That condensed the schedule a bit because now the postseason is being held over four weekends instead of three.
There’s no doubt that the on-campus atmosphere last year topped the last few season’s neutral site setup, so I’m looking forward to an exciting postseason.
Jake Percival has four goals in his last three games for UConn (photo: UConn Athletics).
It’s been an up-and-down season so far for Connecticut, but coach Mike Cavanaugh is confident his team has what it takes to be in the Hockey East title hunt as the calendar turns to 2024.
“We were pretty consistent, we just struggled scoring goals early on,” Cavanaugh said, assessing his team’s play before the holiday break. “And that was why we didn’t win a lot of hockey games early on.”
Indeed, it was a rocky start for the Huskies (8-9-1 overall, 4-6-0 Hockey East), which was held to one goal or fewer in each of its four losses in October. Scoring improved in November and December, which UConn capped with a New Year’s Eve win 4-2 win over Harvard (ECAC Hockey) in its first game back from the holiday hiatus.
The Huskies are certainly hoping the win will serve as a catalyst to find the consistency needed to be part of the postseason conversation.
“I’ve been very happy with the overall structure of how we’ve been playing and (our) compete level,” Cavanaugh said. “For the most part, our defense has been pretty good. Our power play started horrifically, and it started to get better. (I) thought our power play was definitely better and more dangerous. We were gaining momentum off our power play.”
UConn now dives head-first into the meat of its conference schedule, with five straight games against teams ranked in the USCHO.com men’s D-I poll, starting Friday at No. 13 Massachusetts (7 p.m., NESN).
Cavanaugh said one key to competing with the Minutemen will be staying out of the penalty box, which the Huskies failed to do in the third period vs. Harvard as the Crimson were battling back.
“I thought that took us out of our rhythm,” Cavanaugh said. “I thought we were playing really well. When you can roll four lines and put a lot of pressure on an opponent, (then) you start taking some penalties (and) it takes you out of that rhythm. I thought we lost a little bit of that energy and attack mentality because of that. I’d like to see us continue to play that way, but certainly (we) know we can’t be taking unnecessary penalties.
“And most of the time when you take a penalty in the offensive zone, it can be avoided,” he continued. “You don’t want to be giving that (UMass) power play too many opportunities.”
The winning goal vs. Harvard was scored by Jake Percival, the sixth of the season for the sophomore forward. Percival’s goal was one-third of what the UConn sports-information department affectionately referred to as a “Jake Trick”, as the first three goals were all scored by players named Jake — freshman forward Jake Richard and sophomore forward Jake Black also joined in the fun.
For Percival, the New Year’s Eve goal was part of a season of continued improvement, according to Cavanaugh.
“He just keeps getting better,” Cavanaugh said. “He was a really good player for us last year. He got off to a hot start with us, then was a little snake-bitten in the second half of the season. And that kind of carried over into a little bit of this year.”
Cavanaugh made clear he was talking only about Percival’s offensive production, not his overall quality of play.
“His value to the team goes much beyond that,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s an outstanding penalty killer. He’s a guy we’re going to have out there 5-on-6. He brings so much energy. He’s a tenacious forechecker. He’s just really become an integral part of our team.”
Cavanaugh also had high praise for senior transfer Andrew Lucas, whom UConn tried to recruit before the defenseman committed to Vermont. Currently Lucas is the team’s top scoring defenseman with four goals and five assists.
“He does so many things,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s known for his offensive capabilities, but I think his defensive play is very underrated. He’s got an excellent stick. He’s in position all the time. He competes. He’s certainly been a kid that is invaluable to our program.”
Following the one-game weekend vs. UMass, the Huskies will host No. 7 Maine on Jan. 12-13, followed by a home-and-home series vs. No. 17 New Hampshire on Jan. 19-20.
Grand Forks Herald writer Brad Schlossman joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to discuss what he’s learned about what happens behind the scenes with the transfer portal in Division I men’s college hockey. We also touch on the possibility of eligibility for players in major junior in light of NIL.
Minot State ventured to Colorado for the program’s first-ever NCAA games over the weekend (photo: Sean Arbaut/Arbaut Photography).
Last weekend’s exhibition games for No. 20 Colorado College and fifth-ranked Denver were looked forward to by many college hockey fans across the region, wanting to get their fix after the holiday break.
I include myself among that number, but those games meant more to me than they probably did to most.
Minot State, which fell 7-1 Friday at Colorado College and 9-3 Saturday at Denver, fields an American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 team that has three national championships to its name. The Beavers reached the ACHA national title game twice in the past three seasons, including last year. The Beavers won it all in 2023, finishing 35-3 in coach Wyatt Waselenchuk’s second campaign at the helm.
I can already just about hear the reader comments of “So what,” and so forth, and to be fair, there’s a small part of me that gets it. Week in, week out, you come here for coverage of one of the best NCAA Division I conferences there is. And the league is as good as it is because of its level of competition, as well as the caliber of talent that these NCAA teams attract. But, we’re also here to grow the game.
There’s generally a gulf in talent between NCAA Division I and ACHA teams. It’d be hard to find anyone who disagrees with that, but I should know as well as anyone. That’s because I cover ACHA teams in my day job.
The ACHA Division 2 men’s and women’s hockey teams at Dakota College at Bottineau make up a healthy percentage of the winter coverage at the Bottineau Courant, a weekly newspaper in North Dakota where I work as a reporter. DCB usually schedules Minot State for both men’s and women’s games. It’s easy to see why, given that Bottineau and Minot are only around an hour and a half apart. DCB’s men’s team isn’t playing the Beavers this season, but they have for most of the nearly 10 years since I’ve been in Bottineau.
I don’t see much of Minot State when the Beavers aren’t skating with DCB — I’m our whole sports department, and I have 11 teams to keep track of over the winter months — but I was very excited to find out that MSU would be heading out to face CC and DU at the end of December.
I didn’t have especially high expectations, as NCAA Division I teams usually don’t have too much trouble against ACHA foes when those games are scheduled. But, I knew that these games would be beneficial for everyone involved, and CC coach Kris Mayotte hit the nail on the head at the start of his postgame press conference Friday.
“It was about the habits and getting back to it,” Mayotte said of Minot State’s first-ever game against a NCAA Division I team. “I thought we were OK, but it’s good to play another team that, when they’re angling and they’re coming to finish their hit, they’re coming to finish their hit, and you can’t replicate that in practice.
“It was good for us to get hit again, quite honestly, and I really want to give a ton of credit to Wyatt and Minot State. The job they are doing there and what they’re building, he’s done a great job since he got hired. That was a fun team to play against. They play hard, they play with pace, they make you earn what you get, and there were stretches there where we didn’t want to earn it, and we didn’t.”
Last season, I mentioned in a story for USCHO.com that both Denver coach David Carle and Alaska-Anchorage’s Matt Shasby had recently scheduled UNLV with a view toward helping a school with an ACHA program see what could happen if they were to make the move up to the NCAA level. That doesn’t currently appear to be the case with Minot State. Rob Beer from The Rink Live recently wrote an excellent explainer on this.
If last weekend’s exhibitions inspire Minot State to explore the possibility of launching NCAA hockey programs, it would certainly be a welcomed move across the sport’s landscape. It would increase the profile and reach of a NCAA Division II university that is primarily a commuter school while improving what is already a competitive product.
But that doesn’t matter so much in the short term. What does is that Minot State tucked four goals on the weekend against a pair of ranked NCAA Division I teams and didn’t roll over. The Beavers will remember that, and as Mayotte suggested, so should those games’ favored teams.
Michigan Tech players pour off the bench to celebrate their GLI title with goaltender Blake Pietila (photo: Michigan Tech Athletics).
Michigan Tech’s sky-high ambitions didn’t quite pan out at the beginning of this hockey season.
A year removed from finishing just two points behind eventual champions Minnesota State for the MacNaughton Cup and securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, the Huskies were picked to finish first in the CCHA this season thanks to a stellar cast of returning All-Americans and all-conference players.
But a disastrous October in which the Huskies went winless in their first seven games put them behind the eight ball almost immediately. There was a little bit of panic in the Copper Country, with Tech fans seeing their dreams of another at-large tournament bid all but slip away thanks in part to that poor out-of-conference October that included losses to Alaska, Wisconsin and Clarkson.
But if this past weekend is any indication, it appears the Huskies have figured some things out and are back on the right track.
Thanks to a resilient offense that got the goals when they needed and a restaurant All-American performance from goaltender Blake Pietila, the Huskies ended 2023 on a high note with a victory in the Great Lakes Invitational, played in Grand Rapids, Mich. The Huskies got some revenge on Alaska with a 3-2 overtime win in the semifinal before tying Michigan State in the finals and beating the Spartans in a shootout.
“We grew as a team in these two games in areas we needed to grow,” Michigan Tech coach Joe Shawhawn said during his postgame interview conference on Friday. “That’s really been my focus. Our PairWise isn’t great, obviously, because we didn’t have a good nonconference, so to me, it’s all about being the best we can.”
The successful weekend pulled the Huskies (9-8-4) back above .500 and positioned them well for the 2024 stretch run of their season. They currently are third place in the CCHA on 19 points but have two games-in-hand on league-leading Bemidji State and are the best team in the conference on a points-percentage basis.
One area of noticeable improvement for the Huskies since the beginning of the season was the defense. Coming into the season, Jed Pietila and Trevor Russell were the team’s only blueliners who had played in more than 30 games for their careers. And early in the season, some of that inexperience showed, as the Huskies were giving up an average of more than three goals a game in the first two months of the season.
“We’re so young back there, but we’re growing,” Shawhan said. “Our expectations of many of our players is higher than they’ve ever understood to go. They want to make a career of this. They aren’t playing against our players in practice. They’re playing against a guy like (Michigan State forward Joey Larson). In that regard, we’re still pushing those D, because they are young, but there’s talent there, and they’ve grown for sure. This weekend was huge part of that with guys stepping up and us being short some players.”
Another player who had a huge weekend was Blake Pietila. His numbers, too, were shaky at the beginning of the year; at one point his save percentage was .911 and had a 2.94 goals-against average–not quite up to his usual standard. But Shawhan was never worried about his start netminder, and this weekend he proved why. He made 77 saves in the tournament, including a career-high 54 against Michigan State in the title game (which didn’t include the three impressive saves he made in the shootout to keep Sparty off the scoreboard).
“He’s never not been consistent for us in the net. I use him as a reference for our group on consistency and raising that level of consistency. I believe that old Navy SEALS thing, you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. You don’t miraculously turn into something that you’re not,” Shawhan said.
He was asked a little later in the press conference about if he ever questioned or had a talk with Pietila when the goalie was struggling a bit in October. That was a simple answer: No.
“He’s done so much consistently for us (over the course of his career), and he didn’t struggle this weekend,” Shawhan said. “Part of it was being your best when your best is needed. That’s what we look for as coaches. And (Blake) is there when you need him. So I never question Blake Pietila.”
The Huskies hope to use this momentum from the GLI to make sure they score the top seed in the CCHA tournament and give themselves the best possible chance to earn a top seed. As Shawhan mentioned, the Huskies’ Pairwise is currently at 37 and because their nonconference schedule is over, it is unlikely that they will be able to jump high enough to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large team.
That means they have to keep rolling in CCHA play. Winning the MacNaughton Cup for the first time since 2015-16 would be a nice bonus, but the only way to make the tournament will be to win the Mason Cup as CCHA tournament champions.
“We have expectations to make the national tournament and there’s only going to be one team out of our league making the national tournament, and that’s going to be the playoff winner,” Shawhawn said. “So going into (the GLI) we weren’t driving to win the tournament, we were driving to get better.”
Adrian defeats Bowdoin 3-2 in overtime to go undefeated in Charleston, SC. (Photo by Arthur Ellis)
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday season; we’re getting back into the swing of things in the D-III Women’s hockey world. This past week we had four games take place in Charleston, South Carolina and some New Year’s Eve games as well! We’ll also go over a close matchup between two teams up North.
Hockey Heads South!
We had an interesting set of games played in the state of South Carolina, Charleston to be exact, in the Carolina Ice Palace this past weekend, which featured a pair of west and east teams. Entering the weekend, here were the teams with their prior overall records: #6 Adrian (9-2-0 – NCHA), Hamline (7-3-0 – MIAC), Bowdoin (6-3-0 – NESCAC), & Williams (4-1-1 – NESCAC).
This set of games was not in a tournament format, rather, allowing each region to get two crossover games, the NESCAC simply switched opponents regardless of the results in the first games. Great to see, besides the fact hockey was expanded and shown to more individuals, especially at the Division III level, we also got the great crossover matchups between some great teams that we wouldn’t get otherwise.
Adrian vs Williams (Adrian 5-1)
The final score here doesn’t tell the whole story of this one. Adrian outshot Williams 51-18, Williams’ goaltender Erin Pye made a spectacular 46 saves in the loss (2 goals were empty-netters), and the game was tied 1-1 with eight minutes left in the 3rd period… Penalties were also quite low, which isn’t common in Adrian games, only one penalty for Adrian and two for Williams, all minors.
Williams Women’s Hockey (Photo by Eden Zinn)
The 1st period was scoreless, then in the 2nd, a whole 18 seconds (00:18), Jocelin Hudanish put Adrian up 1-0, which would hold up until the 16:19 mark of the period when Williams’ Leah Rubinshteyn knotted it up at 1.
We entered the 3rd period tied at 1, this would last all the way until just over the midway mark when the floodgates seemingly opened in the Bulldogs favor. Kathryn Truban scored at 12:26 on the powerplay, giving Adrian the lead back. Une Bjelland would add a pair of goals, one being with the empty net, (16:40 & 17:29) which put Adrian up a quick 4-1, then keeping the goalie pulled, Nicole Pietrucha capped it off at 18:31 with another goal to extend the Bulldogs victory to 5-1.
Hamline vs Bowdoin (Hamline 4-0)
No accurate and/or valid box score available on both school websites, USCHO, NCAA, etc.
Thus, we have no recap. However, the Pipers start the weekend off with a shutout victory over the Polar Bears. Since there’s no recap, I’ll point out my strong liking for the Bowdoin mascot, the Polar Bear, one of the best in D3…
Adrian vs Bowdoin (3-2 OT)
This game once again was largely in part due to amazing goaltending, the score was a one-goal margin, requiring an extra five minutes of 3v3, Adrian outshot Bowdoin a lopsided 52-15, but Sarah Peterson despite the loss, made 49 saves for her Polar Bears, holding Adrian to three goals.
In Adrian’s two games vs Williams & Bowdoin, they outshot them 103-33…
This game, like the first, featured few penalties, only one minor penalty on Bowdoin, coming in the 1st period. Other than that, the 1st period featured one goal, coming a brisk 1:37 into the game from Adrian’s Karmen Anderson to give her Bulldogs a 1-0 lead headed into the 2nd.
Bowdoin Women’s Hockey (Photo by Brian Beard/GoUBearsPhoto)
Une Bjelland would continue her good weekend, scoring her first of two goals in this one at the 8:41 mark, just before the hallway point of the period, putting them up 2-0.
Bowdoin would come back, scoring a goal later in the 2nd at 16:23 (Jackie Miller) & early in the 3rd period from Meghan Montanaro to knot it up at 2 goals apiece, forcing overtime.
Very late in overtime, less than a minute remaining (4:11.2), Adrian’s Une Bjelland scored her second of the game and fourth of the weekend to give her squad the victory and get them out of the South undefeated.
Hamline vs Williams (Hamline 2-1)
This game featured another lopsided shot total, but if it wasn’t repetitive enough, another great goaltending performance by Williams’ Erin Pye, making 39 saves on 41 shots. The Pipers won the shot battle 41-16, but only won 2-1. Penalties in this game were slightly more prevalent, Williams committing four minors all in the middle frame, while Hamline had one minor late in the 1st period with under five seconds remaining.
Hamline Women’s Hockey (Photo by Ryan Coleman – D3Photography)
The way it went in this game was an early Piper lead that they didn’t let go of. Hamline’s Annika Lindgren scored early in the 1st at 1:46, putting them up a quick 1-0. They doubled their lead later on the powerplay, coming in the 2nd period at 5:07 from Morgan Wohlers.
The two goal Hamline lead was cut in half midway through the final period, Anna DiChristina scored unassisted for the lone Ephs goal.
Thoughts
It’s always good to see D-III Women’s hockey head to other geographical areas, men’s as well for that matter, expanding the game and giving teams a fun trip, but most important for us non-casuals, it allows for opportunities like this for more east/west crossover games.
Minus the Hamline/Bowdoin game since there aren’t accurate stats readily available at the moment, an eye-opening stat from my viewing opinion was the shot totals. Obviously, the scores weren’t extremely lopsided as these shot totals may infer (for the three games with stats) if you didn’t see the final scores, but the west outshot the east 144-49 in three games and outscored them 14-4 in four games… Regardless of your view on the teams, that’s a huge disparity in one category.
But wait, there’s More! #3 Amherst vs Oswego (Amherst 2-1)
The other featured matchup of the weekend was between #3 Amherst (8-0-1) and Oswego State (5-5-1), who after this weekend will have had in my opinion one of the hardest schedules of anyone yet. They’ve faced: William Smith 2x (10-3-0) H/A, Plattsburgh (9-1-1) A, Cortland (8-3-1) A, Adrian 2x (11-2-0) AA, Amherst (8-0-1) A, & Plattsburgh 2x this weekend. Add onto that they’ll get Hamilton 1/16/24…
On the main note, in this one, it was a close game as most Amherst games tend to be, but as most Amherst games also tend to be, it resulted in a Mammoths victory.
Oswego goaltender Lexi Levy, despite the loss, made 45 saves in the game, giving up only two goals as Amherst outshot the Lakers 47-18. Natalie Stott had a rare non-shutout game, giving up one goal on 18 shots.
Amherst defeats Oswego 2-1. (Photo by Amherst Athletics)
Unlike the games we discussed earlier, this one featured more penalties than the other four combined, Oswego committed 8 for 16 minutes, Amherst committed 4 for 8 minutes, funny enough, the 1st period only had a single penalty.
Lakers’ star Simone Bednarik put them up 1-0 early in the 2nd period at 1:07 after a scoreless opening frame. Amherst’s Anna Baxter would answer later in the period on the power play at the 12:08 mark to tie it up. Then finally, in the final period, Alyssa Xu, who continues to have a great season, scored early at 3:10. Holding up as the winning goal and keeping her Mammoths unbeaten thus far.
Ryan Brushett scored a hat trick as the Rensselaer gained a 6-3 win over Canisius last Friday afternoon (photo: dakotagilbert.com).
The holiday season is a relatively dead period in the hockey world, but it felt exceptionally low-key this past week when Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato missed a pair of games with an undisclosed illness.
It wasn’t contagious per his own admission in the interim period after the team’s loss to Boston, but a hoarse, lost voice forced him to step aside for a pair of home games at the KeyBank Center, the first of which was a Saturday night overtime win over Columbus.
In his place stepped Seth Appert, the head coach of the AHL’s Rochester Americans and a name easily recognized as the former head coach of Rensselaer’s men’s hockey program. His hockey odyssey had included an 11-year stint with the Engineers, but the former head coach of USA Hockey’s Under-18 team with the United States National Team Development Program made him acutely qualified to pinch hit with one of the youngest rosters in the NHL – as well as one built from minor league prospects he once developed.
His multi-game odyssey made for good headlines, but even if Granato returns for Buffalo’s game at Montreal on Thursday, Appert’s name is likely entrenched as a coach capable of developing pro-level talent. In many ways, it’s a continuation of a similar story occurring at his old stomping grounds where successor Dave Smith is in the process of building a program that’s better than most people realize.
The numbers don’t break kindly against RPI’s surface, but a scoring defense ranked near the bottom of Division I is largely skewed by opponents capitalizing on individual stretches of hockey. Two goals in 30 seconds, for example, helped Boston College push a 2-1 lead to a 4-1 lead before another stretch of two-minute hockey in the third period bloated an otherwise-even game.
The next night’s game against Providence was a similar story where two short-handed goals helped the Friars negate a 2-0 first period deficit before an empty-net goal gave them a 4-2 overall victory.
The easy-to-target story from those games is that bad teams find ways to lose games, but RPI beat Union’s six-goal outburst with an 8-6 final on road ice before scoring three unanswered goals in a 4-2 win over Clarkson. Even the 9-2 loss to Northeastern – as bad as that looked – followed a 3-3 tie that required a shootout for the Huskies to earn the win, and a recent, 1-0 loss to New Hampshire featured a team starting to gel after having its positive outlook tested through much of the first half.
“Boston College was a 2-1 game before they scored two goals on back-to-back shifts,” said Smith. “We played fine in that game, but you can’t play fine against a really good hockey team. Providence, we knew it was tough, and we gave up an empty net goal and two short-handed goals. But that’s a tough schedule, and we come back and split with Union. Even looking at the schedule, we beat Clarkson where we played well and won, but the next night hurt us.
“Northeastern is a better team than their record indicated, and the second game just got away from us. But then we play well against Princeton and lose, and at that point, our confidence was really being tested. The schedule starts to get noticed where [you can ask] what could have happened if we split the North Country tip with Clarkson and St. Lawrence, but the weight of those losses really took a toll because we saw a crooked number in the loss column while we didn’t think we were playing awful.”
The first half of the season felt snake-bitten, but Smith and his coaching staff kept reinforcing that evident progress existed within those losses. Scoring hadn’t been the issue, and the number of goals allowed dropped in the last five games before New Year’s Eve. The number of shots allowed likewise began dropping, and the correlation between penalties taken and power play goals scored began evening out. A team that averaged 14 penalty minutes per game in the first half of the year halved the number of the last month, and a power play unit that struggled at the start of the year began clicking for a quarter-plus of its chances to elevate its percentage over 16 percent.
“We really tried to show them how progress was being made,” Smith said. “It’s hard, but I thought we were breaking the puck out very well, and we had been excellent in transition. Then we started generating more offensive opportunities. When we had a week off after Clarkson and St. Lawrence, we changed a couple of things, and then we had another week off after Quinnipiac and Princeton. That’s when we realized that our guys were practicing hard. They were still really focused on trying to be their best, and while the confidence wasn’t high, those two weeks off of games gave us a chance to really show them.”
Time is usually what in-season teams don’t possess, but holding RPI stock paid its first dividend when goalie Brett Miller stopped 29 shots behind a defense that blocked 13 shots in the 1-0 loss to UNH. Six days later, a 4-3 win over Minnesota State saw the aforementioned power play score twice before Jakob Lee notched an overtime game-winner, and the return of goalie Jack Watson anchored a three-goal, third-period burst against Canisius that included two goals in 90 seconds – one night before a low-scoring, 2-1 win on the road that featured another 14 blocked shots.
“We talked about commitment and committing to a play,” Smith said. “Blocked shots also mean that you’re spending too much time in your defensive zone, which we’re aware of, but it speaks to the commitment of guys going to do whatever it takes to help us keep the puck out of the net. The beginning of the year was a tough stretch, but our guys remained committed – and this is what we’ve seen from them all year.”
ECAC is more wide-open than ever, and there’s good reason to believe RPI has enough spunk to make a run as the league’s overall dark horse. The next four games are both at home, and the second half begins with Brown and Yale, two teams that are in or around the bottom four of the standings. One good weekend would lift the Engineers straight into home ice, and two consecutive streaks – including next week’s St. Lawrence-Clarkson series at home – opens the door to an immediate run at fourth place before trips to New England at the end of January and beginning of February.
“Everything is a link in the chain,” said Smith. “The power play is a link, the penalty kill’s a link, goaltending is a link, and if something is not as strong as the other area, it takes a shot at the whole team. When we were losing games, the power play wasn’t very good, and the penalty kill wasn’t very good. Goaltending was a piece of that, but we got really good goaltending [from Carson Cherepak] in the Clarkson game and in the first Northeastern game. Getting Jack Wagner back [against Canisius] just gives the team a little bit more confidence. He’s got our back, and Brett Miller has stepped in for us at times and played really well.
“It’s all just helping us to strengthen some other links and take steps forward.”
Jacob Fowler finished with 23 saves Tuesday for Team USA (photo: USA Hockey).
Gabe Perreault (Boston College) netted two goals and an assist and Seamus Casey (Michigan) added three assists to help the U.S. National Junior Team to a 7-2 victory over Latvia in quarterfinal play here tonight at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship at Frolundaborg in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The U.S. will play in the semifinals Thursday against Finland at 7:30 p.m. local/1:30 p.m. EDT live on NHL Network.
“There was a lot to like about tonight,” said David Carle (Denver), head coach of the U.S. National Junior team, in a statement. “We’re excited to be moving on and look forward to our next challenge ahead.”
Team USA took a 1-0 lead just 1:31 into the contest when Oliver Moore (Minnesota) slated a pass to Drew Fortescue (Boston College) at the top of the circle where he sent a laser under the glove of Latvian goaltender Devis Rolovs. Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) also recorded an assist on the goal.
Near the halfway mark of the first period, the Latvian offense drove hard into the American zone, but goaltender Jacob Fowler (Boston College) was able to bat the puck clear of the net.
Perreault put the U.S. up 2-0 at 11:42, putting the puck into an open net on the far side after a cross-ice feed from Casey.
Latvia got on the board at 13:50 with a tally Dans Locmelis, but 13 seconds later, the U.S. took a 3-1 lead after Danny Nelson (Notre Dame) deflected a shot from Casey.
Rutger McGroarty (Michigan) netted a power-play goal from the doorstep at 5:22 in the second period to extend the U.S. lead to 4-1. Isaac Howard (Michigan State) and Lane Hutson (Boston University) picked up helpers on the play.
The U.S. added to its tally at the 16-minute mark of the middle frame. Ryan Leonard (Boston College) launched a stretch pass to Perreault who sent a saucer pass across the slot to the blade of Will Smith (Boston College), who capitalized on the two-on-one play.
Perreault netted his second goal of the game with 21 seconds remaining in the period after he batted the puck into the net out of midair on a setup from Smith to send Team USA into the third period with a 6-1 lead.
Moore found the back of the net at 6:34 in the third after he buried a pass from Gauthier and Latvia added a power-play marker at 12:48 to account for the 7-2 final.
Fowler backstopped the U.S. victory with 23 saves.
NOTES: Perreault was named U.S. Player of the Game … Team USA outshot Latvia 41-25 … Team USA was 1 for 4 on the power play, while Latvia was 1 for 2 … A total of 12 different players contributed points in Team USA’s win.
Boston College captain Eamon Powell has been steady on the Eagles’ blue line this season (photo: Meg Kelly).
With 34 first-place votes, Boston College remains No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, the same spot the Eagles were in the last poll conducted Dec. 11, 2023.
Boston University stays No. 2, getting nine first-place votes, Quinnipiac is again third, picking up two first-place votes, North Dakota holds steady at No. 4, and Wisconsin is up one to No. 5, collecting one first-place vote this week.
Denver is down one to No. 6, Maine is up one to No. 7, garnering four first-place votes, while Michigan State is down one to No. 8, Providence is up one to No. 9, and Minnesota is down one to sit 10th in this week’s rankings.
No new teams enter the poll this week.
In addition to the top 20 teams, eight other teams received votes in the poll.
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.
Episode 7: The second half begins and the Under-18 World Championship is ahead
Nicole Haase (@NicoleHaase) and Todd Milewski (@ToddMilewski) are back from the midseason break to look at some of the early second-half results and to preview Nicole’s trip to Switzerland for the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship. Former Minnesota Duluth player Lara Stalder joins Nicole to discuss Switzerland hosting the event.
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