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NESCAC Men’s Hockey Season Preview – Bantams front runners for another conference title

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Trinity’s Devon Bobak and a strong supporting cast carried the Bantams to the national championship game last season. They are looking for more success in NESCAC this year to jump start national aspirations (Photo by Stan Godlewski/Trinity Athletics)

Last year, Hobart won the national title game against an incredibly good Trinity team backstopped by goaltender Devon Bobak who returns to the Bantam crease. Key losses among the senior defense and forward groups along with the departure of assistant coach Kim Weiss to the Colorado Eagles (AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche) will mean new opportunities for a deep group at Trinity. With balance always being a hallmark of the conference from top to bottom, there are a host of schools who will challenge for the top spot and look to unseat the defending champions. Unlike the other conferences, NESCAC immediately jumps into real games in conference play, so the points are valuable early as well as the need to get out of the gate strong in what amounts to a spring to the end of the first half of the season and upcoming semester break.

The Favorites

While Trinity will be a little younger this season, they return several key pieces in front of netminder Devon Bobak and play a system conducive to pressuring opponents for the full 200-feet. Defenseman Teddy Griffin leads a mobile back-end, and the forward group has great balance led by Nicholas Siffringer, Richard Boysen, Connor Sedlak and Spencer Korona. Assistant coach Paul Russell joins from Curry College following an outstanding career as a player at Norwich. The Bantams will be a targeted group, but coach Matt Greason and staff will make sure this year’s group is focused on the details needed to win.

The Continentals have been on the brink of something special for awhile under head coach Rob Haberbusch. A skilled set of forwards led by Grisha Gotovets, Ben Zimmerman, Luke Tchor and Alex Danis will provide ample offense in front of James Philpott and a versatile defensive group. Goaltending has long been a strength for the Continentals who return Charlie Archer, Josh Nadler, and see the additions of first-year Tyler Bloomfield and Union transfer, Aksel Reid. It all starts in the blue paint where solid play could help Hamilton be a contender come February.

The Dark Horses

It may have been a surprise to see Tufts among the top echelon in the conference last season, but coach Pat Norton has been steadily building the Jumbos program and this year could be another inflection point. Tyler Sedlak and Max Resnick are critical to the energy level for the rest of the team and offensive production on the ice. The defensive group and goaltending will be young but if the group comes together quickly, the Jumbos will contend for a NESCAC title this season.

Amherst has seen remarkable success under longtime head coach Jack Arena and this year’s team has several key elements returning for the Mammoth. Ben Ritter and Max Thiessen lead a skilled defensive group in front of goaltender Connor Leslie. Upfront Amherst has skill and experience with Matt Toporowski, Bobby Luca, Ben Kuzma, and Josh Burke. The Mammoth usually excel on special teams which is critical to success in today’s game so look for Amherst to be in the mix if their specialty teams excel this season.

Never count out a Williams squad that always finds their game at the right time of the season. Coach Bill Kangas has key pieces to lean on in each of the positional groups starting in goal with Cal Sandquist, Conner Berg on defense and Owen Stadheim leading a deep forward group. There are nine first-year players to integrate but historically, the Ephs upper classmen do that as well as any roster in   D-III hockey. If pieces gel and the team stays healthy, things could be interesting for the Purple Cows this season.

Players to watch.

Amherst:                                         Ben Kuzma – forward; Max Thiessen – defense

Bowdoin:                                        Bryce Bollman – forward; Luke Wheeler – forward

Colby:                                              Bobby Falvey – defense; James Tepper – forward

Connecticut College:                     Cole Eichler – forward; Rocco Testa-Basi – forward

Hamilton:                                        Grisha Gotovets – forward; James Philpott – defense

Middlebury:                                   John Burdett – defense; Jin Lee – forward

Trinity:                                Devon Bobak – goaltender; Theodore “Teddy” Griffin – defense

Tufts:                                               Max Resnick – forward; Tyler Sedlak – forward

Wesleyan:                                       Patrick Morrissey – defense; Owen Sweet – forward

Williams:                                       Cal Sandquist – goaltender; Owen Stadheim – forward

USCHO Predicted finish

  1. Trinity
  2. Hamilton
  3. Tufts
  4. Amherst
  5. Williams
  6. Middlebury
  7. Colby
  8. Bowdoin
  9. Connecticut College
  10. Wesleyan

This weekend’s opening schedule finds Middlebury and Williams hosting Bowdoin and Colby while Wesleyan and Trinity play host to Connecticut College and Tufts. Amherst and Hamilton will also play each other to open the season in a single game on Saturday between the two travel partners.

 

This Week in CCHA Hockey: As Lake Superior State ‘excited about where we can get to,’ Lakers pumped for game vs. Ferris State this weekend in Traverse City

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Rorke Applebee has been a bright spot between the pipes this season for Lake Superior State (photo: Aliyah Adams).

Two weeks ago, Lake Superior State came back from their trip to Columbus, Ohio, in something of a daze.

The Lakers were swept by Ohio State and took both games on the chin, losing 9-3 and 6-2.

That caused a little soul searching for everyone involved with the program.

“We talked about it that Ohio State week: Who are we? We don’t really know,” LSSU coach Damon Whitten said in a phone interview on Thursday. “We’re just trying to figure out chemistry, continuity and who we are.”

The Lakers, now 3-5-0, responded the next weekend, sweeping rival Northern Michigan in turn, 5-0 and 5-1 in Marquette. But Whitten said he’s still unsure exactly how the team is going to play from week to week.

“When we have guys playing the right way, we’re pretty damn good, and if we don’t have the right bodies and we’re not into it, it could be a long weekend,” he said. “So I think we are excited about where we can get to and who we can’t be. We just need to be more consistent in getting there.”

One reason for LSSU’s issues come down to injuries and illnesses. Star forwards Connor Millburn, Timo Bakos and Carter Batchelder have all missed time, as have two of the team’s three goalies in senior Easton Hesse and sophomore transfer Grant Riley.

“It seems like every day we show up, we don’t know who we have for practice and who’s available,” Whitten said, noting that the team wasn’t using that as an excuse. Good teams, he said, are able to overcome those injuries no matter who’s out. “That is what it is. You’ve got to overcome it. You’ve got to play through that, get different guys to step up.”

One who has stepped up big time is freshman goaltender Rorke Applebee. The Chateauguay, Quebec, product has been the only goaltender available to the Lakers for every game this season, and he has stepped up admirably. He’s played in seven of LSSU’s eight games and has given up 19 goals and made 209 saves. Applebee has two shutouts this season, one against Stonehill earlier this season and the second came against NMU last weekend.

“I’ve always been a big believer that you want to put guys in positions to be successful, and I don’t think what we’ve had to do to our freshman goalie has been ideal, but fortunately, Rorke he’s extremely confident and he’s extremely capable. I think he’s outstanding,” Whitten said. “It’s not been easy. We’re trying to manage practice workload, because we’re down to one goalie or two goalies, and so it’s really been disruptive to our team to try to practice in a normal fashion, but Rorke has been really good through it all.”

Another bright spot for the Lakers has been a pair of defensemen. Nate Schweitzer and Evan Bushy have led LSSU in scoring with six points apiece. Schweitzer had four points in last weekend’s series with NMU (a goal and three assists). Bushy had a pair of assists.

“They’re 1-2 on our team in scoring, and we’ve been a little slow out of the gates with our scoring, but our ‘D’ core has played well. It’s been the same lack of continuity,” Whitten said, noting that blueliners like Mike Brown and Johnny Druskinis have both missed time recently with injuries as well. “Bush and Schweitz have played every game, and that’s allowed them to be a little bit more game ready, and they’ve done a good job.

“You can’t get rid of the Ohio State weekend, it’s there, but I think beyond that weekend, we’ve been pretty darn good defensively overall as a team, but that one weekend was really, really out of whack, and you got to make sure that isn’t happening again.”

The Lakers hope their next performance is much closer to the NMU series than it was in the OSU series, but even this weekend’s series is going to be a little out of the ordinary. LSSU takes on Ferris State in a two-game series. The first game will be in Sault Ste. Marie, but the second game of the series will be in a brand-new location for both teams: Traverse City, Mich. The teams will be playing at the Centre Ice Arena, which is the home of the Detroit Red Wings annual prospects and training camp.

“Traverse City is a great hockey town, going from the Red Wings hosting their camp there for many, many years now, they’ve made a great investment in that arena. There used to be a North American Hockey League junior team out of that arena. So it’s a great little venue there,” Whitten said. “And we’ve got a couple of great alumni who all coach hockey down in that area as well. It’s maybe a little bit kind of a hidden gem of a hockey town, just because of its location up in northern Michigan.”

This is believed to be the first Division I college hockey game played in the Traverse City area. Traverse City is approximately 175 miles from Sault Ste. Marie and 90 miles from Big Rapids.

“All of northern Michigan is so important to our university, and playing Ferris there, geographically, it was a natural fit,” Whitten said. “On the ice, it’s been an intense rivalry with them. It’s probably not ideal in our schedule, giving up a home game. We’ve got one home game the whole month of November because we took the game down there. So it took a little bit of finessing from our point of view, but this is the right partner for this event, and they shared the excitement. So we’re really excited about the opportunity to meet up there.”

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Dartmouth off to ‘a good start’ in ’24-25 with Big Green players gaining ‘a strong foundation with really strong habits’

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Dartmouth is undefeated through four games in the 2024-25 season (photo: Dartmouth Athletics).

The ride from Dartmouth to Princeton is one of the longest in ECAC Hockey.

It’s certainly the longest commute between hockey-playing members of the conference’s six-team Ivy League contingent. The drive is nearly a straight shot traversing the north-south poles at either end of the league’s geographic footprint, but the 315 miles between New Hampshire’s rural outpost along the Vermont border and its chic New Jersey counterpart is just as long as Brown’s travel to the North Country schools at Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

The bus ride is five-odd hours without traffic, but not even the bumper-to-bumper threat surrounding a trip through New York City would have ruined the Big Green’s commute home after their 5-1 win over their Ancient Eight rivals clinched a six-point weekend and the team’s best start in nearly 80 years at 4-0-0.

“We have gotten some excellent goaltending, some timely goals, and our power play’s been good through four games,” said Dartmouth coach Reid Cashman. “That’s kind of been the biggest part of getting our results, but the lead-up, there are a lot of things to the lead-up that have made it better than the actual results, and it’s been a little bit of [everything] that’s built a good start for us.”

Last month opened a vacuum near the top of ECAC’s traditional power structure, but nobody expected Dartmouth to fill the void even after the Big Green finished last season with a first-round bye. Persistent questions about how they intended to turn ties into wins raised eyebrows whenever discussion about the top four began, and analysts believed the team would backslide since the curtain of uncertainty had been fully removed.

The abstract reasons overshadowed the truth about Dartmouth’s roster, which returned nearly every major part to a team that received significant buy-in over the past three years. Having been forged together by the resurgent run to a first-round bye, the opening game against Harvard felt more like a continuation than a restart for the Big Green, and the momentum from last season’s trip to Lake Placid’s ECAC semifinal likewise carried over to the 2-1 win over the Crimson and the 5-2 win over Stonehill.

“Our guys came into this season in really good shape,” said Cashman. “We did an excellent job in the offseason, and I think we had continuity for the first time as a staff. As far as our seniors, this is the first senior class that’s had four years in the program, and we were able to hit the ground running in September, both from a structural standpoint and a cultural standpoint.”

Seizing the electrical charge from those first two games propelled the Big Green to its first road sweep over Quinnipiac and Princeton since realignment created their travel partnership in 2005-06. Unranked at the start of the weekend, Dartmouth actually had to make the longer trip to Princeton on the second night after starting the weekend at the league’s preeminent and perennial powerhouse.

For its part, Quinnipiac long served as Dartmouth’s house of horrors, but the Big Green vanquished their first set of ghosts with a 4-2 victory. Having gone scoreless through the first period, the team scored twice across a five-minute stretch of the second period after Alex Krause and Sean Chisholm scored, and with four minutes remaining in the third period, Nikita Nikora was able to find John Fusco for a neat little wrist shot in the slot.

Less than a minute later, CJ Foley scored an empty-net goal to take home the two-goal win, which counted as Dartmouth’s first victory over the Bobcats in Connecticut in 18 years and the first win over Quinnipiac since a Nov. 2018 game at home.

The win pushed Dartmouth to its best start since the late-1970s before more history books fodder fell victim to a 5-1 win on Saturday night. Having already played with bursting confidence, the Big Green raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second period after Nikora, Chisholm and Hayden Stavroff added their own goals to extend a one-goal advantage in the first.

An extra goal in the third from Steven Townley put the host Tigers on their heels before a late goal avoided the shutout, but the victory established the best start to a Dartmouth season since Edward Jeremiah’s Indians went 13-10-1 during the third season of Ivy League play, a full four years before ECAC formed its hockey league in 1961.

“A big part of what we do at Dartmouth is try to give the players a really strong foundation with really strong habits,” said Cashman. “The guys have to go play hockey. We can’t tell them what to do in every situation, the game is too fast, but we can really develop habits of the foundation. I think there’s been growth. There’s been individual growth within the guys, and I think there’s been growth as a team.

“Adding [assistant coach] Byron Pool has been incredible because he’s been a fresh set of eyes while not changing what we do. There’s been the timing of him coming into our program that’s helped us really well.”

It’s still early enough in the season that rankings and Pairwise notes don’t mean much, but the Big Green entered the national poll for the first time in five years this week when voters moved them to No. 17 in the USCHO.com rankings. They remain one of three undefeated teams but sit third in the Pairwise Rankings – for what it’s worth, at least – with one of those unbeaten teams sitting at No. 1 with defending national champion Denver.

Dartmouth returns to action this week when it hosts No. 6 Cornell on Friday and Colgate on Saturday. A potentially titanic game against No. 2 Boston College lurks in two weeks when the Big Green visit the Eagles before the first semester ends with games against Vermont, St. Lawrence, Clarkson and New Hampshire.

This Week in Atlantic Hockey America: While still inconsistent to date, Sacred Heart finding success with roster of freshmen, transfers, returning players

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Hunter Sansbury plays a steady game on the blue line for SHU (photo: Josh Gee).

While Sacred Heart was the consensus pick to finish first in Atlantic Hockey this season, coach CJ Marottolo, in his 16th year behind the Pioneers bench, knows his team is a work in progress.

His roster includes seven rookies as well as nine transfers, and it will take some time to gel.

After a split with Holy Cross to open league play, the Pioneers were swept by Bentley on Nov. 1-2, losing 4-2 and 6-4.

But Sacred Heart rebounded last weekend with an impressive road sweep against Mercyhurst. According to Marottolo, Saturday’s 4-1 win was the first time his team had played a complete 60 minutes.

“We’ve been inconsistent,” said Marottolo. “Up and down. A lot of good chunks, and some not-so-good chunks.

“We have a lot of new guys, and it does take time. I think (last) Friday night’s game (4-3 win) was better than most and Saturday was even better. It was a 60-minute effort from start to finish.”

The new guys are working out. Seven of the Pioneers’ top 11 scorers are transfers new to SHU, including leading scorer Felix Tredeau (11 points), a Maine transfer, as well as his former Black Bears linemate Reid Pabich (five points).

Also joining were a pair of former star Holy Cross players in Tyler Ghirardosi and Matt Guerra, who were linemates for multiple seasons in Worcester. Also new to SHU are former Army West Point players John Driscoll and Jake Hewitt.

Because Holy Cross does not offer graduate studies and could not offer a fifth year of eligibility that players were granted because of COVID, Ghirardosi and Guerra had to transfer if they wanted to play one more year.

“I think they would have stayed at Holy Cross,” said Marottolo. “But we are very glad to have them.”

Marottolo says that their new facility, the Martire Family Arena, which opened in Jan. 2023, and the school itself are what bring talented transfers to SHU. Case in point were Ghirardosi and Guerra.

“We hosted Holy Cross the second game after we opened,” said Marottolo. “The atmosphere was wild. Both of those guys mentioned it to me, the unbelievable atmosphere. They wanted to play in that environment.

“My coaching staff does a great job making connections and recruiting. Players have a great facility to help them develop to be the best they can be, and we provide a great education. If we can get players on campus, the school sells itself.”

Last weekend’s wins were the first for rookie goaltender Ajeet Gundarah, who stopped 60 of 64 shots in the series.

“Ajeet saw some time against Bentley, and while he might have wanted a goal or two back, we liked how he played,” said Marottolo. “We have confidence in both of our goalies.”

Veterans making big contributions include defensemen Mikey Adamson (nine points) and Hunter Sansbury (seven points) as well as forward John Jaworski (eight points)

“Guys are stepping up,” said Marottolo. “We have a good mix of new players and veterans, and hopefully we will continue to develop.”

Next up is a four-game homestand, leading off with a pair against Robert Morris this weekend. The Colonials are off to an excellent start at 4-1-1.

“They’re a good hockey team,” said Marottolo. “Derek (Schooley) has done a tremendous job considering where they were two years ago. They improved throughout last season and their freshmen last year were big contributors.

“I expect them to be hard to play against and a couple of good games.”

College Hockey Inc.’s Hogan discusses CHL eligibility, growth in face of change: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 4

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College Hockey Inc. executive director Sean Hogan joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to discuss the NCAA decision allowing Canadian major junior athletes to play Division I college hockey, including CHI’s efforts in education, his organization’s evolving focus, and recruiting from the CHL. Also discussed were the difficulties faced with all of the changes in the sport in the last year or two, and whether D-I hockey can continue to grow in light of that.

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Check out all of USCHO’s college hockey podcasts, including USCHO Weekend Review and USCHO Edge, plus our entire podcast archive.

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This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Michigan surging early with 7-2-1 record as Wolverines ‘not supposed to be doing what we’re doing’

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TJ Hughes will be looked to for more offense this season at Michigan (photo: Michigan Photography).

When the Wolverines were picked by coaches in the preseason to finish fourth in the Big Ten, there were a number of factors that contributed to the impression that Michigan is going to be a middle-of-the-conference team.

For starters, Michigan lost offense that accounted for 100 or so of its 169 total goals scored in 2023-24.

Another factor was the hole in net left by starter Jacob Barczewski.

Additionally, the Wolverines finished fourth last season with an 11-11-2 record in Big Ten play.

“On paper, we’re not supposed to be doing what we’re doing,” said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato, now in his third season behind the bench. “As a coach, I know what we’re doing well and we’ve got to keep it going.”

The Wolverines are 7-2-1 to start the season, having just swept Notre Dame at home to open their Big Ten season. Those wins followed a huge road sweep of Boston University (Nov. 1-2) that included a pair of five-goal games, a 5-1 win and 5-4 win in overtime.

In spite of that 10-goal weekend against the Terriers, the Wolverines are struggling offensively, averaging 3.20 goals per game and converting on the power play at just 14.7 percent.

Heading into their third consecutive Frozen Four last April, the Wolverines were averaging 4.22 goals per game – third in the nation – and Michigan’s power play was tops in the nation (34.5%).

Naurato is confident that the lack of offense is a temporary situation.

“T.J. Hughes has zero goals and he’s a 50-point guy,” Naurato said. “Wait until he starts going. Our power play is extremely snakebit, but the meta data is as good as last year. We’re just not scoring.

“I don’t think anyone would have picked us to do what we’re doing now, so that’s all credit to the kids.”

Michigan has a bye week this weekend before heading to Penn State Nov. 22-23. Naurato said that that participation in the Frozen Confines Big Ten Hockey Series Jan. 3 helped the Wolverines build a bye into their schedule and that he’s looking forward to the team working on some basics.

“Right back to our core, just all the fundamental stuff,” said Naurato. “Overall individual development. That doesn’t mean skill sessions only … basically working on the parts that make up the whole style of play and identity because we have that luxury this week.”

“We haven’t had bye weeks since I’ve been here because of our big breaks over Christmas. Now that we’re playing that Wrigley game, we’ve got a couple. I don’t mind it. Reset in general.”

Naurato’s had a lot to contend with in his first two seasons behind the Michigan bench. Naurato became interim coach in August 2022 when Mel Pearson was let go following a season of off-ice controversy in 2021-22. In the first half of his first season, an adenovirus infection went through the team, hospitalizing several players and nearly killing defenseman Steven Holtz.

In spite the transition from Pearson to Naurato and the illnesses of that first half, the Wolverines made their second consecutive Frozen Four trip in Naurato’s first season, and they followed it with another at the end of 2023-24, in spite of that .500 Big Ten record.

Now they’re No. 5 in the USCHO.com Poll and 12th in the early PairWise Rankings – and still trying to learn a few things about their team.

“We lose a lot every year,” said Naurato, “but we lost 300 points and a lot of culture inside of that, with 17 NHL contracts over the last three years. You can’t really replace it.”

Another blow was losing the team captain, Rutger McGroarty, prior to the start of fall semester. In late August, McGroarty signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. McGroarty, picked by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft, was traded to Pittsburgh and plays for the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Even with all the Wolverines have experienced in the past three seasons and with the significant player turnover from just last April, Naurato remains impressed with how his players have handled it all.

“Our culture is stronger than ever,” said Naurato. “I think that’s a huge compliment to our leadership group and our upperclassmen. I think through individual pain and success, all these guys have grown and learned how to play winning hockey and be winning members of society off the ice.

“Even before the BU weekend, we had some really good talks to kind of get everyone on that same page again and learning from the past. It’s a team right now, with depth and healthy competition in every area, splitting goalies every weekend and both are stepping up. It’s been good.”

One of the best developments so far this season is the play of freshman Cameron Korpi and graduate student transfer Logan Stein, a pair of goaltenders who have split time evenly for the Wolverines.

Stein, who spent four seasons at Ferris State, is 4-1-0 on Friday nights, with a .934 save percentage and 1.59 GAA. Stein’s first game was Michigan’s season opener, a 5-2 home loss to Minnesota State. In his three subsequent games, he’s allowed just three goals and never more than one in a contest.

Korpi, a 20-year-old rookie who spent two seasons with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm has played every Saturday with a 3-1-1 record, .906 SV% and 2.54 GAA.

Naurato said that both Stein and Korpi are calm and composed in net, “making the saves that they need to make or we expect them to, and then making some that they shouldn’t.”

The goalies are at a disadvantage, said Naruato, because they’re new to Michigan and its culture.

“think Logan’s experience for four years at Ferris State helps him,” said Naurato. “I think he and Korpi are good buddies and they kind of feed off each other and push each other in a good way. Korpi’s a young, really good prospect. It’s important to give him games. He’s finding ways to win and probably playing the tougher game on Saturday if we do win Friday.”

And the Korpi-Stein combo is giving the rest of the team the space to find its identity.

“They’re just doing what they need to do,” said Naurato. “They’re both good kids and there’s healthy competition and we’re comfortable with both of them in net to help Michigan win hockey games.”

That team in front of two new goaltenders has “confidence and belief,” said Naurato. “If we play by committee, we have success.”

After his first two seasons behind the Michigan bench, Naurato doesn’t know what the season will bring but he knows he’s not going to waste energy thinking about it.

“It’s something with every team, but we’ve got a lot of people that listen and work hard,” Naurato said.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: The PodKaz Episode 28 – One is enough for Northeastern, Rivalry Series musings and No. 1 vs. No. 2

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Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski are celebrating one year of the PodKaz with another look at a series between Ohio State and Wisconsin with both teams ranked in the top two in the USCHO.com poll. But that’s not the only big series this weekend: No. 3 Minnesota plays at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth, No. 6 Clarkson faces No. 9 St. Lawrence and No. 11 Boston College squares off with No. 14 Boston University.

Plus this week, we look back at Northeastern claiming a pair of 1-0 victories against UConn last week and give thoughts on the trio of Rivalry Series games between the U.S. and Canada.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for our mailbag? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

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This Week in Hockey East: Struggling New Hampshire hopes scoring, and 2024-25 college hockey season, will improve as injuries heal

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Ryan Conmy has been a spark plug on offense from UNH this season (photo: Christian Galatis).

Sometimes, the reason a team struggles is obvious.

Through his team’s first six games, all New Hampshire sophomore forward Ryan Conmy had to do was look up.

“You can look at the scoreboard and think, you can’t win games without scoring,” Conmy said. “(I) think everyone kind of knows that. You want to score goals and win games.”

UNH went into last Saturday’s home matchup vs. Long Island averaging a mere 1.5 goals per game and having been twice shut out. Then the Wildcats got six goals from five different players in a 6-1 win.

Whether or not this means UNH’s scoring woes are in the rear-view mirror remains to be seen, but it’s an encouraging start.

“‘Consistency’ would be the word — or lack thereof, early,” said UNH seventh-year coach Mike Souza. “And that pains me, because I want to be known as a group where you know what to expect when you play UNH. That they’re going to be a hard team to play against, and if you beat them, it’s going to be damn hard.”

In addition to a lack of offensive punch, a brand-new goalkeeping roster and a tough schedule have contributed to UNH’s struggles so far this season. Also, injuries.

Yet after seven games the Wildcats stand at 3-3-1, and, for at least one night, appear to have gotten out of their scoring rut.

UNH was 20-15-1 in 2023-24, breaking a streak of five losing seasons under Souza (save for 2019-20, when the Wildcats were .500), and were knocking on the door of their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2013.

Injuries have been a problem for the Wildcats, with top scorers Conmy and junior forward Cy LeClerc each missing time. Both were absent from UNH’s Hockey East opener at Merrimack, a 0-0 tie which the Wildcats lost in a shootout.

Comny and LeClerc each found the back of the net vs. Long Island, Comny for the fifth time this season.

As for goalkeeping, all seven of UNH’s starts have gone to junior Jared Whale, a transfer from Alaska Anchorage. Whale was thrust into the spotlight after the departure of Jakob Hellsten, who signed a pro contract with Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League; and Tyler Muszelik, a 2022 Florida Panthers draft pick, who transferred to Connecticut.

So far this season for UNH, Whale has recorded a .894 save percentage with a 2.50 goals-against average. Last year with the Seawolves, Whale was 10-12-1 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.67 GAA.

“Our goaltending (has) been inconsistent,” Souza said. “But (goaltending coach Sean Maguire) has done a really good job with Jared saying, hey, listen, we need you to be dialed in each and every night. I think it’s been a learning curve for him, but I know our group is confident in front of him. I’m certainly confident with him in the net.”

The rout vs. Long Island provided the Wildcats a brief respite from a brutal schedule stretch that saw UNH get outscored 19-8 in four games vs. Quinnipiac and Providence. The lone bright spot was a 3-2 win at Quinnipiac after getting slammed 8-2 the previous night. This weekend, UNH will play a home-and-home series vs. Northeastern (1-4-2), another team looking to gain traction in Hockey East after a slow start.

Ultimately, UNH believes the answers it’s looking for can be found right inside their own locker room.

“They’re a very competitive group,” Souza said. “They’re competitive against each other. They’re not afraid to get on each other in a positive way. (The) guys know it’s not about some ‘rah-rah’ speech. It’s about execution, it’s about preparing. (I) think the attitude’s in the right place.”

Conmy noted that with little roster turnover from last year’s winning season, he believes the pieces are in place for UNH to be competitive.

“We’ve got a handful of new guys, so it’s pretty much the same team as last year,” he said. “Showing up to the rink, everyone loves seeing each other. That vibe’s unbelievable. We’ve started off a little slower than we’d like to (but) I think we’re on the rise.”

American International to reclassify as Division II beginning with 2025-26 college hockey season

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Eric Lang is in his 13th season behind the AIC bench (USCHO file photo).

American International informed players earlier today that it will end its Division I program at the end of this season and field a Division II team starting next year.

Coach Eric Lang confirmed this via a text to USCHO, as well as posting the following on X:

AIC, a Division II school, has been Division I in hockey since 1998, when it moved the program to D-I and joined the MAAC, which eventually became Atlantic Hockey.

The Yellow Jackets have had recent success under Lang, winning four straight regular-season and three straight playoff titles from 2019 to 2022. AIC upset No. 1 St. Cloud State in the 2019 NCAA tournament.

The school and Atlantic Hockey America have yet to release statements, but it is assumed that AIC will end its relationship with Atlantic Hockey America. The school is a member of the Northeast 10, a Division II conference that sponsors men’s hockey. Current members are Assumption, Franklin Pierce, Post, Saint Anselm, Saint Michael’s and Southern New Hampshire.

There is no NCAA Division II tournament and teams in the NE-10 typically play Division III schools in non-conference play.

It is also likely that the program will end its relationship with the Mass Mutual Center, its home since 2017. Before that, AIC’s home rink was the Olympia Ice Center.

This is a developing story.

TMQ: How will NCAA’s decision to allow major junior hockey players starting in 2025-26 alter the college hockey landscape?

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Austen Swankler played one season for the OHL’s Erie Otters and then in the NCAA ranks for Bowling Green and Michigan Tech (photo: Bowling Green Athletics).

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

Paula: Jimmy, it’s great to be working with you again this season and to throw around the college hockey talk the way we do.

While there’s a lot to discuss about the current season, I want to start with the NCAA’s decision to allow Division I eligibility for Canadian major junior players, starting with the 2025-26 season.

Dan Rubin and I talked about this a little in an earlier column this season when the proposal was still on the table. Honestly, I surprised myself with my own take about it. These are young players who gain so little financially from playing professional hockey that I am in favor of allowing them to play, especially now that players who opt for NCAA hockey without the major junior experience may be able to take advantage of NIL. I understand how few student-athletes playing hockey may benefit from NIL, but still.

In fact, one of my issues all along with Canadian major junior teams is how exploitive they can be, promising young players incentives – including tuition reimbursement – that may be unattainable given the terms of their contracts. That’s just one example.

What are your thoughts on how this will impact the Division I hockey landscape and the game itself?

Jim: Well, first off, great to be back with you on TMQ yet again!

I don’t think anyone can accurately predict the impact this ruling will have. Ed and I will speak with Sean Hogan from College Hockey Inc. on our USCHO Spotlight podcast this week and I think that will be revealing.

Where I see the biggest challenge for CHL players joining college hockey is what those players do to maintain their eligibility while playing major junior. Will they keep attending high school and maintain the minimum grade-point average to qualify for the college of their choice? That’s been one of the biggest points coaches have addressed with me thus far.

The other point to consider is how leagues like the OHL, WHL and QMJHL will react. What will they tell players? I am sure as players age out of that league, there will be some coaches who encourage players who aren’t ready for the pro game to head to an American college team?

But what happens when a college team poaches an elite 17- or 18-year-old from those leagues? All of a sudden, the relationship between college and major junior could become a little more tarnished.

We projected on USCHO Weekend Review that it will take 3-5 years to see what the impact of this decision is. Do you agree?

Paula: I do see the potential for an even more acrimonious relationship between major junior hockey and the NCAA.

I found the wording of the statements from the different major junior leagues interesting, especially OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford, who said, in part, “The OHL will continue to maintain a high standard as a leading supplier of talent to the National Hockey League.”

I know I’ll be accused of parsing language here, but this only enforces my rather negative opinion of major junior leagues – and the OHL specifically – who see themselves only as suppliers of talent, and who see young humans only as commodities. I understand the difference between major junior leagues and the NCAA. The leagues are businesses, and for all the criticism that people heap on the NCAA – sometimes justifiably – the NCAA is not, at least at the core of its mission.

In contrast, the statement from the USHL reads in part, “All aspects of the league are focused on preparing athletes for collegiate and professional hockey, inclusive of on-ice, academic and character development.”

You are completely correct, Jimmy, in bringing up all of the questions you pose. As many people know, I teach college English and the part of the USHL – and the NCAA – mission that addresses the well-being of student-athletes is something that I think is one of the primary goals of all college athletics. Will major junior leagues be forced to address the off-ice development of players – academics especially, but also the mental and emotional development of some pretty young guys – to boast in the future that they placed X number of students at X number of elite D-I schools? I mean, I don’t see them doing any of that for altruistic reasons.

Or will D-I programs who sign players from the major juniors be forced to vet potential recruits differently and perhaps do more off-ice developmental work with players who go that route?

I wish I had answers to these questions, but my crystal ball isn’t working well right now. As for your last question, though, I do agree. Based on what we’ve seen from the portal – and from the additional COVID eligibility, even though that’s going away – it will take at least three years to see the real impact of this decision, both on the ice and off.

One aspect of D-I hockey that I think it may affect – and I do mean “may” – is the further divide between the haves and have nots. I think this is something that all of us at TMQ – you, Ed Trefzger, Dan Rubin and I – have touched on this season to some extent, and in varying contexts. In October, you and Ed talked a little in a TMQ about the “tiers” in college hockey, the hows and whys of them and the implications for the future.

In the here and now, though, it seems evident to me that there is some separation occurring this season. I’m looking at the starts that Denver, Boston College and Minnesota have had, specifically, plus a handful of other teams who are starting well but perhaps not as decisively. I know it’s mid-November. I know how early it is. Do these – and other – early performances indicate that some teams are poised to pull ahead and dominate for the duration, or is it just too soon to tell?

Jim: Before I answer your closing question, I wanted to make one more point on major junior and it has nothing to do with how the CHL leagues and teams will respond.

I see a trickle-down impact on other junior leagues and players, the result of which could hold a positive in the overall landscape of hockey.

If more college players come from the CHL, maybe less players head to really low-tier junior leagues when players are younger (let’s think 8-15 year olds as opposed to 16-18). Right now, I consider our hockey development system in a state of crisis with far too many parents spending thousands of dollars when kids are eight, nine and 10 years old.

As a youth hockey parent, I’d love to see some of those leagues self-destruct. I miss the days when high school hockey was a competitive and enjoyable product (outside of the state of Minnesota, where it is still elite – though some players still leave for junior hockey).

I think this decision could influence players either to develop closer to home or head to a CHL team in one of the major junior leagues. That could be a benefit.

As for your question about blue bloods, I’m actually less concerned about this ruling on creating a haves and have nots situation. I could be wrong, but I see a larger player pool differentiating the coaching staffs at all 64 Division I schools. The best recruiters now have more players to choose from and will find a way to not rely only on, say, the USHL for the top-tier talent.

Paula: I second your point about those low-tier junior leagues, Jimmy, and I share your hope that the trickle-down effect does what you anticipate it can do.

I do want to get back to my last question, though, which is about this season and the tiers that are developing right before our very eyes (at least in my mind) and not future impact of the recent major junior ruling.

Looking back at a month of TMQs, it seems to me that all four of us have touched in some way on parity as well as separation. I think we can all agree that college hockey is deeper – so to speak – than it was even a few years ago. For my Big Ten column last week, I talked to Bob Motzko about Minnesota’s quick start, and two things he said really struck me. The first was that just a few years ago, “there were probably eight or nine teams that had a true chance to win a title,” but now there could be 15 or 16 “that have a true chance to win it.”

Obviously, that addresses the parity we’ve seen in the national tournament in recent years, but the second thing he said that sticks with me still is this: “You don’t win championships early, but you could lose them.”

There are a number of teams here in the early going off to such fast starts, I’m wondering if they’re already positioning themselves to make it nearly impossible to miss the tournament.

I’m also wondering if that’s a dichotomy – that parity in a one-and-done tournament makes the season-ending PWR irrelevant.

Jim: I think that Motzko quote is interesting because I maybe feel differently. I guess the key is how Bob Motzko defines a “few” years ago.

I have felt since around 2010 or so, that we’ve had more teams than ever capable of winning a national title. Ferris State made the 2012 finals, Yale won in 2013, Union in 2014 and Providence in 2015.

Yes, Quinnipiac won two years ago, but the Bobcats had been on the uptick leading in, losing in the finals in 2013 and 2016.

I actually don’t feel as hopeful that, say, we’d have a first-time national champion this season, just looking at the current USCHO.com poll (and granted, not my favorite measuring stick).

As for teams already positioning themselves for an NCAA bid, I think you’re correct. We have a few already. Denver is 10-0-0 out of conference, they’d have to collapse in NCHC play to miss the NCAAs. Boston College is 7-1-0 but has six wins over top 20 teams and five over top 15 teams. Same can be said for Minnesota. With a 9-1-0 record to this point, they’d need to really struggle with B1G opponents.

My podcast co-host Derek Schooley doesn’t like me handing out NCAA bids at this point and says if all the teams I say “will make it,” we’d need a 22-team field. I get it. But we’re seeing a lot ironed out nationally very early this season.

NCAA D-III West Men’s Hockey Weekend Wrap-up

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St. Norbert swept Dubuque in a weekend series. (Photo Credit: Patrick Ferron/ St. Norbert Athletics)

St. Norbert took care of business at home over the weekend, sweeping Dubuque in an NCHA series.

The fifth-ranked Green Knights won the opener 5-2 and capped the series with a 5-0 victory.

In Saturday’s win, St. Norbert went 3-for-5 on the power play after going 4-for-5 in the first game.

Gustav Portillo scored a goal and dished out two assists while Calvin Hanson added a goal and a pair of assists as well. 

T.J. Koufis and Braden Lindstrom each tallied a goal and assist while Grant Adams made 14 saves. St. Norbert took 54 shots as it improved to 4-0.

The Green Knights have scored five or more goals in each of their wins, including on Friday when Logan Dombrowsky punched in two goals and dished out three assists. Carter Hottman had a strong performance, scoring a goal and dishing out two assists.

Adrian in New York state of mind

Adrian escaped from two New York with a pair of wins, beating nationally ranked Cortland on Friday and capping the sweep with a win over Oswego.

The No. 2 team in the nation has won two in a row and is 3-1 overall, with three of its last four games coming against a ranked opponent.

In a 5-3 win over then No. 10 Cortland, Adrian trailed 3-1 before scoring four unanswered goals, including two in the third by Bradley Somers.

Ian Amsbaugh played a key role in the victory, tallying two goals and two assists. Riley Murphy rose to the occasion as well, dishing out three assists. Dershawn Stewart racked up 34 saves.

In Saturday’s finale against the Lakers, Adrian jumped in front 2-0 and never looked back. The Bulldogs held a 41-24 advantage in shots and Amsbaugh came through with two assists. Ryan Pioscia scored a goal and added an assist to his stat line.

A MIAC split

Concordia and Augsburg each took a game from each other over the weekend. It won the opener 4-1 but lost 3-2 in the finale to the Auggies.

The Cobbers scored twice in the first and twice in the third to earn the win over Augsburg and open MIAC play on a high note.

Caden Triggs stepped up with two goals and Jackson Lucia tallied his first collegiate assist. Dane Couture made 35 saves as he earned his third straight win.

Augsburg battled back on Saturday to claim a one-goal win thanks to a pair of clutch goals by Landon Parker, who scored once in the final minute of the second and again in the final minute of the third.

His game-winner came with 54.3 seconds to go. Augsburg held a 15-5 advantage in shots in the third and Carsen Stokes made 25 saves.

Augsburg is 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the MIAC. Concordia is 3-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Blue Devils win the weekend

Tyler Masternak recorded his second shutout of the year in UW-Stout’s 5-0 win over Hamline on Saturday. He made 18 saves against the Pipers.

Nicholas Stevens helped provide offensive support for Masternak, scoring two goals, while Kullan Daikawa tallied a goal and two assists. Hayden Stocks scored his second goal of the year in the win.

The Blue Devils opened the weekend with a 3-2 win over Saint Mary’s. Stout led 3-0 before the Cardinals got on the board. Masternak made 12 saves. Nicolas Pigeon handed out a pair of assists as Stout is off to a 3-0 start on the year and has allowed a total of two goals.

Oles get in the win column

St. Olaf found its way into the win column for the first time this season with a 4-1 victory over UW-Eau Claire on the road

The Oles got a huge lift from Matthew Malin, a freshman who was nothing short of impressive as he made 44 saves against a tough Blugolds team. St. Olaf has won three of the last four against Eau Claire.

Jonathan Young and Jonathan Panisa led the way offensively, with Young scoring twice and Panisa tallying a goal and assist.

St. Olaf took on UW-Superior Saturday and the two teams played to a 2-2 tie.The Oles are 1-2-1 on the year.

Pointers stay on a roll

UW-Stevens Point stretched its win streak to three games with a 7-4 win over Saint Mary’s on Saturday. The Pointers, ranked 11th at the time, opened the weekend with a 5-2 win over Bethel.

The seven goals are a season high for the Pointers, who outscored the Cardinals 3-1 in the final period.

Ryan Hintz notched his first career goal in the win while Chris Englebert came through with two goals.

Englebert’s first goal was the first of his career at the college level. Blake Norris also scored the first goal of his career in the victory. Alex Proctor racked up 13 saves.

Peyton Hart finished with a goal and two assists while Dawn Sciarrino came through with a goal and two assists as well. Owen Dean stepped up for the offense as well, coming through with three assists.

Sciarrino led the way in the victory over Bethel, tallying a goal and two assists.

Falcons continue to soar

UW-River Falls stayed unbeaten with a pair of wins.

The Falcons wrapped up the weekend with a 4-1 over Gustavus on Saturday. Jonny Meiers, Connor Brust and Dylan Smith all scored while Brennan Boynton tallied 26 saves.

A balanced attack fueled a 6-3 win over Hamline on Friday. Boynton made 16 saves in his second consecutive start. Reid Lune helped the way with a goal and two assists. Meiers finished with a goal and assist. Owen Belilse dished out three assists.

The Falcons have scored four or more goals in each of their three wins, which have all come against MIAC opponents.

Trine Time

The Thunder remain unbeaten and nationally ranked after storming past Concordia 6-2 and 3-0 in an NCHA series.

Cristian Wong-Ramos recorded the shutout behind a 16-save effort.

Alexander Babic helped lead the charge offensively with a goal and two assists. Drew Welsch finished with a goal and assist.

In Friday’s win, a total of 14 players tallied at least one point. Blake Tierney finished with two assists and Michael DiPietra tallied a goal and assist. Tyler Blanchard added a goal and assist as well. Kyle Kozma started in goal and made 10 saves.

Trine has two shutout wins this season and has scored three more or goals in its last three games.

Spartans still unbeaten

Aurora is now 4-0 after sweeping Lake Forest in an NCHA series.

The Spartans won the opening game 5-2 and needed overtime for a 5-4 victory on Saturday.

Saturday’s game was no doubt a thriller. Lake Forest scored twice to force OT before Lukas Sedlacek tallied the game a little more than minute into the extra period.

Sedlacek, Juliano Santalucia and Jackson Hay all finished with two points apiece. Sedlacek tallied a goal and assist while Braedyn McIntosh made 33 saves. 

Five different players scored for Aurora in Friday’s win, with Jakson Kirk, Santalucia and Cayce Schmidt all tallying a goal and assist.

Aurora’s offense has been clicking in the early part of the year, with the Spartans scoring at least five goals in every game they have played. 

Philip Quetell led the way for the Foresters, tallying a goal and three assists.

Vikings and Raiders split series

MSOE salvaged a split in its two-game NCHA series against Lawrence, beating the Vikings 2-0 on Saturday.

Eddie Shepler and Cole Beilke each scored a goal while Spencer Northway made 17 saves.

It was the first win of the year for the Raiders, who are now 1-2-1.

Lawrence won the opener 3-1, scoring twice in the third to seal the deal. The Vikings improved to 2-1 with the win.

Miles McCue tallied two goals while Jack Michels added a goal and assist for the Vikings in their conference opener. Nolan Mahaffey made 27 saves.

 

Denver runs winning streak to 10 games to start 2024-25 season, stays No. 1 in Nov. 11 USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll

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Denver swept Lindenwood over the weekend on home ice (photo: C. Morgan Engel/Clarkson Creative Photography).

Denver is off to a 10-0-0 start and remains the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll this week, garnering 48 first-place votes.

Boston College is again No. 2, picking up the other two first-place votes.

Minnesota stays No. 3, Michigan State is again fourth, and Michigan is up two spots to No. 5.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll – Nov. 11, 2024

Cornell holds steady at No. 6, Maine falls two to No. 7, Colorado College remains eighth, North Dakota is up one to No. 9, and Providence is up one to sit 10th this week.

Boston University falls out of the top 10, going from ninth to 11th in this week’s rankings.

Two previously unranked teams enter the poll this week, Dartmouth at No. 17 and Harvard at No. 20.

In addition to the top 20 teams, 13 others received votes in the poll this week.

The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.

 

D-II/III East Men’s Ice Hockey Weekend Wrap-up – November 11, 2024

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AmCat forward Matthew Byrne scored a hat trick to pace unbeaten Anna Maria to a 5-0 win over Morrisville on Saturday (Photo by Anna Maria Athletics)

Happy Veteran’s Day! Thanks to all who have served for their collective service and sacrifice for our country.

This weekend saw many of the ranked and expected teams having clean weekends including Hobart, Utica, Adrian with an east sweep against Cortland and Oswego, Skidmore taking a pair from Babson and the University of New England scoring a pair of shutout wins in CNE conference play. Elsewhere some teams earned that all-important first wins with Plymouth State downing Plattsburgh and New England College, Endicott defeating Curry on Friday, and Norwich sweeping Albertus Magnus in NEHC action. Also, Alvernia earned a split with Stevenson in the MAC to remove the Mustangs from the list of the undefeated. Yet, more overtime action in several games raising the excitement level in the region. Here is this week’s recap of the action in the east:

CNE

Pre-season favorites Curry and Endicott played a home-and-home series with both teams capturing wins on the road to split the weekend set. On Friday, the Gulls found a way to score on Curry’s Shane Soderwall as Primo Self scored in the first minute of the second period to break Curry’s seven period shutout streak. The Colonels answered with a pair of power play goals to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Therien Theising tied the game for the Gulls just past midway of the third period and neither team could find the decisive goal in regulation time. In overtime Domenic Garozzo scored an unassisted goal past Soderwall to give the Gulls their first win of the season and important points in the CNE. On Saturday, the Colonels started quickly with Victor Daigneault and Grady Friedman scoring in the first four minutes of the game. Shane Soderwall stopped 35 of 36 shots and the Colonels cruised to a 4-1 win for a weekend split.

The University of New England kicked their game into high gear with a pair of shutout wins over Western New England. On Friday, the Golden Bears and Nor’easters skated toa scoreless first period but just over a minute into the second period, Anthony Sciucco broke the ice for the visitors with the only goal of the period. UNE extended their lead to 4-0 with a three-goal third period and goaltender Stefan Carney stopped all nineteen shots he faced in a 4-0 win. Back home on Saturday, UNE’s Cam Bergeman scored in the first period and the Nor’easters broke the game open with a four-goal second period on the way to a lopsided 7-0 win over WNEU. Joey Stanizzi picked up his second shutout of the season making nineteen saves to help UNE move to 3-0-0 on the season.

Suffolk and Wentworth opened conference play with a weekend split where each team earned a shutout win. On Friday, Wentworth benefited from 37 saves from goaltender Topher Chirico and an overtime goal from George Kolovos for a thrilling 1-0 road win against the Rams. On Saturday, the Rams returned the favor without the overtime drama as Scott McManus’s shorthanded goal in the second period broke the ice and Ralph Berry’s empty-net goal iced a 2-0 win over the Leopards. Goaltender CJ Hapward earned the shutout win making 22 saves.

MAC

League favorite Stevenson faced Alvernia in two-game series this weekend and the teams skated to a split of the set which was delayed a day due to facility issues. On Saturday, the Mustangs were led by forward Aiden Lindley who figured in all the offense with one goal and two assists in a 3-0 win. Ford DeLoss stopped all 23 shots he faced to pick-up the shutout for Stevenson. On Sunday, Alvernia rebounded with a big offensive game as the Golden Wolves broke open a 3-2 game with four goals in the third period to post a 7-3 win over Stevenson. Easton Inglis led the Alvernia attack with one goal and two assists.

Wilkes opened MAC play seeking their first win of the season against King’s in a weekend series that saw the Colonels sweep the Monarchs on the road. On Friday night, Max Cocchi, and Carter Jordan each scored two goals in a 5-2 win for Wilkes. On Saturday, seven different players scored for the Colonels in a 7-1 romp. Patrick Roginski and Miles Harrington each chipped in with a goal and an assist in the Wilkes victory.

MASCAC

Pre-season favorite Plymouth State got off to a slow start last weekend dropping games to UNE and Babson and faced two more challenging non-conference games this weekend looking for their first “W” of the season. On Friday, a Connor Tait hat trick and three third period goals helped the Panthers to an exciting 5-3 win over visiting Plattsburgh. On Saturday, the offense kept going as Will Redick scored two goals and added an assist with Tait chipping in with two assists in a comfortable 5-1 win over the Pilgrims on the road.

Salem State opened league play with a matchup against MCLA and skated away with a 4-0 win at home. The Vikings broke open a scoreless contest with four third period goals. Carson James recorded a goal, and an assist and goaltender Will Nepveu stopped 39 Trailblazer shots to earn the shutout win.

After falling behind to newcomers Keene State by two goals on Saturday, Massachusetts-Dartmouth scored four unanswered goals in a 4-2 win. Kevin Johnston and Collin Patterson each picked up a goal and assist as the Corsairs scored twice on the power play to pick up their first win of the season.

Anna Maria kept their fast start going with a 5-0 non-conference win over Morrisville. The “Matthews” (Byrne and Hennessey) starred for the AmCats as Bryne finished with a hat trick while Hennessey stopped 24 shots in the shutout win.

NE-10

After back-to-back losses in the Woo Cup tournament, Assumption opened conference play with a re-match of last year’s championship battle against Southern New Hampshire and swept a weekend series to get the NE-10 campaign off on the right foot. On Friday, four different players scored goals for the Greyhounds in a 4-1 win over the Penmen. On Saturday, the Greyhounds jumped out early to a 2-0 lead only to see the Penmen battle back to tie the score early in the third period. Three more Greyhound goals opened the advantage to 5-2 before Kurt Watson scored two times to narrow the deficit to just one goal. Assumption was able to hold on for the 5-4 win and earn the weekend sweep that leveled their record at 2-2-0 on the season.

St. Michael’s opened their conference schedule with a series against Post. On Friday, the Eagles jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage on goals from Jacob Howell and Scotty Swain that saw the host leading into the third period. A four-goal third period, including one power play goal and one shorthanded goal helped the Purple Knights to a 4-2 comeback win. On Saturday, the contest was equally close as Ty Bloom’s two goals matched Post tallies from Howell and Baxter Kimball for a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation time. In overtime, defenseman David Ciancio scored with just thirteen seconds remaining on the clock for a 3-2 win and weekend sweep over a pesky Post team led by goaltender Benjamin Cunneen and his 47 saves on 50 shots.

St. Anselm faced Franklin Pierce to begin the NE-10 conference schedule and the Hawks also captured a weekend sweep on the road. On Friday, Hunter Brackett and Max Burum scored in the second period and goaltender Cam Carroll surrendered just one third period goal for a tight 2-1 win. On Saturday, five different players scored for the Hawks who maintained two-goal leads throughout the game in route to a 5-2 win over the Ravens. Chase Reynolds (1G-1A-2P) and Patrick DiMarinis (0G-2A-2P) each recorded a multiple point game for the Hawks.

NEHC

Hobart began the NEHC conference schedule with a two-game series against VSU-Castleton. While the two-game sets are new to the NEHC this year, the battles on the ice were hard-fought. On Friday, Matthew Iasenza scored one goal and added an assist as the Statesmen built a 3-0 lead on the way to a 3-1 win. On Saturday, Tanner Daniels, Chris Duclair, and Adam Mendelson scored to pace the home team to a 3-0 win over the Spartans.

Skidmore hosted Babson for two games over the weekend and took the battle of the green with a pair of wins. On Friday, the Thoroughbreds picked up a goal and an assist from Ethan Heidepriem and held off a Babson team that scored twice on the power play in a 3-2 win. Goaltender Joshua Seeley stopped 23 of 25 shots to earn the win. On Saturday, Zach Frisk scored two goals and added an assist in a 5-2 Thoroughbreds win.

Norwich entered their weekend series with newcomer Albertus Magnus looking for their first win and had a battle with the Falcons on Friday night in earning a 4-3 decision. After building a 3-1 lead, the Cadets saw the visitors rally with a pair of power play goals from William Lavigne and Tyler Ignazzito to tie the score in the third period. Matt Harvey scored the game winner and goaltender Sami Molu stopped 16 shots to earn the win. On Saturday, Clark Kerner scored a goal and added an assist in a 4-1 Cadet win and weekend sweep of the NEHC slate.

Salve Regina opened their conference schedule against Massachusetts-Boston and the series featured a lot of offense with a total of 17 goals in the two-game series. On Saturday, Jonathan Hammel recorded a goal and two assists while Walter Baumann and Sacred Heart transfer, Aidan Connolly each scored a goal and added an assist in a 5-4 win over the Beacons. UMB’s Jazz Krivtsov had two goals and an assist to keep the Beacons close throughout the game. On Sunday, the Seahawks started fast and finished strong in a comfortable 7-1 win. Hammel added two more goals and an assist while Logan Calder added a goal and an assist for Salve Regina who moved to 3-0-0 on the season.

SUNYAC

Fredonia and Potsdam faced each other in a two-game series that does not count in the conference standings and each team took away a win in the games hosted by the Bears. On Friday, Max Klanow and Jack Loran scored late in the third period to help Potsdam rally from a 3-2 deficit to earn a 4-3 win over the Blue Devils. On Saturday, the contest was equally close with Fredonia emerging with a 2-1 win to earn the weekend split. Antoine St. Onge set-up Ryan Bailey’s goal in the first period with under 15 seconds remaining and scored the game-winning goal late in the third period for the Blue Devils. Goaltender Jameson Kaine stopped 29 of 30 shots to earn the win.

Canton hosted MASCAC opponent Framingham State over the weekend and skated away with a pair of wins to level their season record at 2-2-0. On Friday, Nolan Zotter scored twice for the kangaroos in a    4-1 victory over the Rams. Brayden Fryfogle also chipped in with a goal and an assist. In the second game on Saturday, the Rams rallied from a two-goal deficit early in the third period only to see Jordyn Mughal give the Roos a 3-2 lead less than two minutes after Jake Barcelou had tied the score. Zotter iced the win with an empty-net goal in the 4-2 final.

UCHC

Utica entered the weekend after a weekend split against Adrian and found their offense quickly in UCHC play against Nazareth. On Friday, the Pioneers scored in double figures to down the Golden Flyers, 11-4. Vladislav Pshenichnikov (3G-1A) and John Gutt (2G-2A) each recorded four-point games for the Pioneers who scored five times in the second period and four more in the third period to blow open a 2-1 contest. On Saturday, Drake Morse, Chris Carroll, and Matt Wood each scored a goal and added an assist in a 6-1 win for Utica to sweep the weekend series.

Geneseo traveled to Chatham to open UCHC play and left with a pair of victories over the Cougars. On Friday night, the Knights raced to a 3-0 first period lead and cruised to a 5-1 victory. Two goals from Stefan Miklakos paced the Knights attack. On Saturday, the Cougars fell behind 3-1 but rallied on goals from Milan Cermak and Bekk McClaine early in the third period to tie the score at 3-3. Geneseo then scored the final three goals of the game, including an empty-net tally from Luke Panchisin, for a 6-3 win that moves the Knights to 3-0-0 on the season.

Manhattanville opened their season and conference slate with two games against Brockport where the Valiants prevailed 5-4 and 6-3 in the two-game series. On Friday, Ryan McKenna’s goal in the third period had given the Valiants a comfortable 5-2 lead but the Golden Eagles fought back two goals eighteen seconds apart from Dominic Chirico and Jacob Gates to close the deficit to just one goal. Goaltender Sebastien Woods made the advantage stand up for the one-goal win. On Saturday, another seesaw affair saw Johno Hoins score two goals and add a pair of assists, including a shorthanded helper to extend the Valiant lead early in the third period. The 6-3 win swept the weekend for the Valiants in their home opening games.

Three Biscuits

Domenic Garozzo – Endicott – scored the overtime winning goal that gave the Gulls a  3-2 win over Curry to kick-off conference play in the CNE.

Connor Tait – Plymouth State – scored three goals in 5-3 non-conference win over Plattsburgh on Friday night to give the Panthers their first win on the season.

Vladislav Pshenichnikov – Utica – scored a hat trick and added an assist for a four-point game in an 11-4 victory over Nazareth on Friday night.

Week two saw several delays, postponements and facility related issues that did not seem to have an impact on any of the action once the games were played. Week three upcoming will bring NESCAC into the playing mix so all eight conferences will be active in the 2024-25 campaign moving forward.

 

Higher-ranked top 20 teams mostly dominate, NCAA Major Junior decision: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 6

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

They delve into Denver’s dominant 10-0 start, including their significant wins against nationally-ranked teams. They also discuss Colorado College’s continued unbeaten streak and series between Boston College and Maine, swept by BC. They review other key matchups and sweeps in college hockey, highlighting notable performances from teams like Michigan State and Providence, and difficulties for Quinnipiac. The show wraps up with a discussion on the NCAA’s decision allowing Major Junior players’ eligibility and its potential impact on college hockey recruiting and team dynamics.

Times are approximate:

00:15 Introduction and hosts
00:24 Denver’s dominance
06:19 Colorado College’s strong start
08:11 Boston College’s late comeback vs. Maine
14:01 Other weekend highlights and analysis
18:53 North Dakota’s recovery from last weekend
20:56 Michigan State’s test for Ohio State
24:57 Minnesota’s 3-2, 3-2 (OT) wins over struggling Wisconsin
28:48 Quinnipiac’s surprising losses at home
32:14 Major Junior eligibility decision update
41:39 Conclusion and wrap-up

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

Find our podcast archive at USCHO.com/podcasts

Monday 10: Top-ranked Denver off to 10-0-0 start, Boston College sweeps Maine, Dartmouth stays hot, Alaska keeps picking up points

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Boston College swept Maine over the weekend on home ice (photo: Meg Kelly).

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

1. Sweeps abound; Denver stays unbeaten

League play began in earnest this weekend with only six non-conference games played compared to 22 last weekend.

Of the 24 series played this past weekend, 16 ended in sweeps, including top-ranked Denver’s 4-1, 4-1 wins over Lindenwood to move to 10-0-0 on the season, the best start ever for the Pioneers, who won nine in a row to open the 2001-02 season.

Junior Aidan Thompson and senior Carter King have scored at least a point in all 10 games for Denver.

2. Boston College sweeps Maine in matchup of top five teams

One of the most anticipated series this weekend was between No. 5 Maine and No. 2 Boston College. It’s the first time the schools have squared off as Top Five teams since the 2004 NCAA semifinals in Boston.

Friday’s game was an instant classic, with BC erasing a 2-0 Maine lead with 9:35 left, getting goals from Andre Gasseau and Mike Posma to even the score before Ryan Leonard got the game-winner with 1:33 to play.

On Sunday, BC got 26 saves from Jacob Fowler and two more goals from Gasseau and another from Leonard to complete the sweep and hand Maine its first two losses of the season.

3. Wisconsin’s woes continue

Third-ranked Minnesota added two more losses to Wisconsin’s record, a pair of 3-2 wins at the Kohl Center.

On Friday, the Gophers erased a 2-0 Badgers lead with a shorthanded, a power play, and an even-strength goal for the win. Jimmy Snuggerud had two of the Minnesota goals, including the game-winner with 7:15 to play.

Saturday’s contest was another close affair ending with the same result, a 3-2 comeback win for the Gophers. Brodie Ziemer swatted the puck out of midair for the game-winner in overtime.

Minnesota improves to 9-1, while the Badgers fall to 2-8.

4. Michigan State sweeps formerly unbeaten Ohio State

In another heavyweight matchup of ranked teams, No. 4 Michigan State swept visiting Ohio State, 4-2 and 4-1 to open Big Ten play.

The Buckeyes, off to a surprising 7-0-1 start, never led in Friday’s loss, but took a 1-0 first-period lead on Saturday, only to see the Spartans come back for the sweep.

MSU goalie Trey Augustine stopped 51 of 54 shots on the weekend for his seventh and eighth wins of the season.

Saturday’s win was the 50th for Spartans coach Adam Nightingale, making him the fastest to 50 victories in program history (85 games).

5. Minnesota State takes five points from St. Thomas

Sixteenth-ranked Minnesota State posted a 5-2 win and a shootout vistory after a 1-1 tie to take five out of six points in a clash of teams expected to finish near the top of the CCHA.

On Friday, the Mavericks erased a 2-0 Tommies lead and scored four third-period goals for the win. Brian Carrabes had a goal and two assists and Adam Eisele scored the game winner with 10:39 to play.

The Tommies again took the lead on Saturday, but Minnesota State got the equalizer midway through the second and settled for the tie and extra point in the shootout.

6. Alaska stays hot, wins and ties at formerly hot Union

After opening the season 0-4-0, Alaska is now unbeaten in its last five games (3-0-2) thanks to a 3-3 tie and 5-2 win at No. 20 Union, which came into the weekend winners of six of its last seven games.

The Garnet Chargers looked to be in control on Friday, leading 3-0 midway through the third period. But at 10:19, Anton Rubtsov got the Nanooks on the board, and Alaska added a pair of extra-attacker goals in the closing minutes for the tie, including Matt Rickard’s tying goal with 20 seconds remaining.

On Saturday, it was the Nanooks turn to open a 3-0 lead, but Union couldn’t erase the deficit and fell 6-4.

7. Sacred Heart, Air Force sweep in Atlantic Hockey America

Sweeps are rare in Atlantic Hockey, but both Sacred Heart and Air Force pulled out six points this weekend.

The Pioneers won a pair of close games at Mercyhurst, 4-3 and 4-1. Friday was a back-and-forth affair not settled until Jake Hewitt’s goal midway through the third.

On Saturday, the Lakers took a 1-0 lead, but the Pioneers got the next four, including a pair by John Jaworski, for the sweep.

In Colorado Springs, Air Force goaltender Guy Blessing stopped 48 of 49 shots in a 2-0, 2-1 Friday-Sunday sweep of Canisius.

Sunday’s game was tied 1-1 until Austin Schwartz’s GWG with 54 seconds left.

8. Dartmouth remains unbeaten

Yes, the Big Green are only 4-0, but that by itself is remarkable. It’s the best start to a season by Dartmouth since the 1957-58 season, and its 4-2 win at Quinnipiac and 5-1 victory at Princeton was the first time the Big Green had defeated the Bobcats and Tigers on the same weekend since they became travel partners in 2005-06.

The win at No. 15 Quinnipiac was the first for Dartmouth since 2018, and the first win over a ranked team in almost four years.

9. Boston University, UMass Lowell split in key Hockey East matchup

In a Hockey East clash of ranked teams, nothing was settled between No. 17 Mass-Lowell and No. 9 Boston University, with each time posting a victory in the other’s building.

On Friday at Agganis Arena, BU was able to erase a 3-1 Lowell advantage, but Libor Nemec and Dillon Bentley scored 34 seconds apart midway through the third period for the 5-3 win.

The Terriers returned the favor at Tsongas Arena on Saturday, posting five goals in the second period for a 5-2 victory. Sophomore Max Lacroix made 17 saves in his first career start and win.

10. North Dakota ends slump, continues dominance at Duluth

The Fighting Hawks had dropped three straight coming into their series at Minnesota-Duluth but rebounded with a 7-3, 4-1 sweep of the Bulldogs.

It was the fifth and sixth consecutive wins by North Dakota over Duluth and the third consecutive sweep by the Fighting Hawks at AMSOIL Arena.

Ben Strinden scored in each game for UND and T.J. Semptimphelter made 58 saves in the series including a season-high 32 on Friday.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Weekend Wrap November 11, 2024

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(5) Colgate at (14) Brown

Special teams were massive on Friday as Colgate scored on three of four power plays while Brown was two of three with the player advantage. It was a back and forth game, but Emma Pais broke through first, scoring later in the first to put Colgate up 1-0 at the first intermission. Monique Lyons continued her strong start to the season (and her career) scoring her fifth goal in seven games to tie the game 1-1. A late hooking call gave the Raiders a power play to end the second and Elyssa Biederman made Brown pay, scoring with 12.5 seconds on the clock to give Colgate a 2-1 lead at the end of two. But the Bears came out flying in the third, as India McDadi scored in the opening two minutes to tie the game 2-2 and Margot Norehad added on a few minutes later to make it 3-2 Brown. “Per the Colgate game recap, Sophomore forward Kaia Malachino picked up one of the most impressive assists of the season, laying face down on the ice and narrowly pushing a loose puck in front of the Yale netminder with the very tip of her stick. Classmate Madeline Palumbo backhanded the pass over an outstretched goalie pad, evening the score a three” to force overtime. In the extra frame, Neena Brick was fed the puck from a Sara Stewart faceoff win and she did not miss, giving the Raiders the 4-3 overtime win. 

(5) Colgate at Yale

For the fourth straight game, the Raiders came from behind to pull out a win, this time thanks to a pair of third period goals just 61 seconds apart from Madeline Palumbo and Elyssa Biederman. Kalty Kaltounková scored near the end of the first to open the scoring but Yale’s Ray Jordan replied on the power play to send the teams to the locker rooms tied 1-1. Colgate continued their dominance with the player advantage as they added a power play goal from Alexia Aubin midway through the second to go up 2-1. Mariya Rauf’s goal in the final two minutes tied the game for Yale and then Vita Poniatovskaia gave the Bulldogs their first lead, 3-2, 65 seconds into the third. But Colgate is used to coming from behind at this point and they did not stop pressuring until the goals from Palumbo and Biederman to take the lead. They shut down Yale and took the 4-3 win. 

Union at (6) Clarkson

The two teams felt each other out through the first period with no one breaking through. Then just 39 seconds into the second, Anne Cherkowski took a feed through traffic from Sidney Fess and one-timed it to make it 1-0 Clarkson. The third time was the charm as both Stephanie Bourque and Klara Kenttälä had chances before Maddie Suitor lit the lamp to make it 1-1 going into the second intermission. In the third, Sena Catterall scored to make it 3-2 Clarkson and then Karianne Engelbert put back a rebound to tie it one more time and eventually force overtime. In the extra frame, Clarkson broke out from their zone. Anne Cherkowski’s shot was blocked but Catterall was trailing and put home the loose puck. 

RPI at (6) Clarkson

RPI goalie Reese Keating made 19 saves and her defense added 17 blocks while Clarkson’s Julia Minotti earned a 14-save shutout. Madison Chantler’s power play goal five minutes into the game proved to be the only one the Golden Knights needed to earn the win. Anne Cherkowski added an empty-netter to seal the 2-0 win. 

(7) Quinnipiac at Dartmouth

Quinnipiac outshot the Big Green 32-12, including 20-9 through the first two periods, but the game was scoreless after 40 minutes. Cally DIxon put Dartmouth ahead six minutes into the third. As time was running out, the Bobcats pulled their goalie and with the extra attacker got a game-tying goal on a tip-in from Laurence Frenette off a Makayla Watson shot. In overtime, Jenna Donohue showed great patience and skating to find space and win the game 2-1.

(7) Quinnipiac at Harvard

The Bobcats led 26-9 in shots after two periods, but the game remained scoreless. But that changed just 22 seconds into the third as she pounced on a loose puck in front of the net. That’s all Quinnipiac needed to earn the 1-0 win. 

RPI at (8) St. Lawrence

The Engineers came out hot on Friday, scoring on a puck through traffic from Taylor Larsen in the opening minutes. They then jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a couple of minutes left in the frame Aylah Cioffi put back a rebound. It looked like that’s how the teams would go to the locker rooms, but a late penalty was upgraded to a major and St. Lawrence capitalized with just 40 seconds left on the clock as Abby Hustler made it 2-1 at the break. Tori Verbeek scored in the closing minute of the second on a redirect to tie the game 2-2. Melissa Jeffries gave the Saints their first lead early in the third, but RPI’s Georgia Bailey scored on an odd-player rush to tie the game and force overtime. The extra frame didn’t decide a winner and the Engineers earned the extra point from the shootout thanks to goals from Bailey and Charlotte Wensley. 

Union at (8) St. Lawrence

Union outshot the Saints 10-5 in the opening period, but could not find the back of the net. SLU found its footing in the second and Kennedy Wilson put them on the board early on a spin and shot that banked into the net. Abby Hustler doubled the lead midway through the third and Wilson secured the 3-0 win with an empty-netter.

Northeastern vs. (10) Connecticut (home and home)

Freshman goalie Lisa Jönsson earned her first two career shutouts as Northeastern won a pair of 1-0 games for the weekend sweep. On Friday, the game was scoreless until the final frame when Lily Shannon buried a pass that came from a rebound. In the second game, it was an early Skylar Irving goal that gave Northeastern the lead. From there they went into a shutdown defensive mode as Jönsson made a career high 37 saves and the team racked up 22 blocks to hold the lead and earn the win and sweep. 

(11) Cornell at Yale

Kaitlin Jockims scored late in the second and Avi Adam at a similar point of the third and Annelies Bergmann made 33 saves as Cornell took a 2-0 win. 

(11) Cornell at (14) Brown

This was a well-matched, hard-fought game. The first shot of the game came 5:45 in and it was off Lily Delianedis’ stick and into the back of the net to make it 1-0 Cornell. Katie Chan doubled the lead less than a minute into the second to make it 2-0. With under two to play and on the power play, Brown pulled their goalie to go up 6-on-4 and Ava Decosta found the back of the net to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Bears ran out of time for the comeback and the Big Red earned the win and their first weekend sweep of the season. 

(13) Boston College at Maine

The Eagles continued to roll as they extended their win-streak to seven games with a sweep of the Black Bears. In the first game, Kate Ham scored off her own rebound midway through the first and less than two minutes later, Tricia Piky doubled the lead to 2-0. Gracie Hanson scored early in the second to cut it to 2-1, but Maine could not complete a comeback. Gaby Roy’s late goal through the five hole secured the 3-1 win. In the second game, Boston College put the game out of reach before five minutes had elapsed. Alanna Devlin scored her first career goal two minutes in and 100 seconds later, Lauren Glaser doubled the lead to 2-0. Midway through the second, Alyssa Wruble scored for Maine, but that’s as close as the game would get as Sammy Taber and Abby Newhook each scored later in the second to make it 4-1 and Newhook added another in the third to secure the 5-1 win and weekend sweep. 

Rankings roundup: How the top 20 NCAA hockey teams fared, Nov. 8-10

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Shane Vansaghi and Mikey DeAngelo celebrate a goal during Michigan State’s weekend sweep over Ohio State (photo: Michigan State Athletics).

Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of Nov. 4 fared in games over the weekend of Nov. 8-10.

No. 1 Denver (10-0-0)
11/08/2024 – Lindenwood 1 at No. 1 Denver 4
11/09/2024 – Lindenwood 1 at No. 1 Denver 4

No. 2 Boston College (7-1-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 5 Maine 2 at No. 2 Boston College 3
11/10/2024 – No. 5 Maine 0 at No. 2 Boston College 3

No. 3 Minnesota (9-1-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 3 Minnesota 3 at RV Wisconsin 2
11/09/2024 – No. 3 Minnesota 3 at RV Wisconsin 2 (OT)

No. 4 Michigan State (7-1-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 13 Ohio State 2 at No. 4 Michigan State 4
11/09/2024 – No. 13 Ohio State 1 at No. 4 Michigan State 4

No. 5 Maine (6-2-1)
11/08/2024 – No. 5 Maine 2 at No. 2 Boston College 3
11/10/2024 – No. 5 Maine 0 at No. 2 Boston College 3

No. 6 Cornell (3-0-1)
11/08/2024 – Yale 2 at No. 6 Cornell 2 (OT)
11/09/2024 – RV Brown 1 at No. 6 Cornell 3

No. 7 Michigan (7-2-1)
11/08/2024 – No. 20 Notre Dame 1 at No. 7 Michigan 2 (OT)
11/09/2024 – No. 20 Notre Dame 2 at No. 7 Michigan 4

No. 8 Colorado College (8-0-0)
11/08/2024 – RV Arizona State 3 at No. 8 Colorado College 4 (OT)
11/09/2024 – RV Arizona State 1 at No. 8 Colorado College 3

No. 9 Boston University (5-4-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 17 UMass Lowell 5 at No. 9 Boston University 3
11/09/2024 – No. 9 Boston University 5 at No. 17 UMass Lowell 2

No. 10 North Dakota (5-4-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 10 North Dakota 7 at Minnesota Duluth 3
11/09/2024 – No. 10 North Dakota 4 at Minnesota Duluth 1

No. 11 Providence (6-1-2)
11/08/2024 – RV Northeastern 2 at No. 11 Providence 2 (OT)
11/09/2024 – No. 11 Providence 6 at RV Northeastern 5 (OT)

No. 12 St. Cloud State (8-3-0)
11/08/2024 – Miami 2 at No. 12 St. Cloud State 3 (OT)
11/09/2024 – Miami 1 at No. 12 St. Cloud State 3

No. 13 Ohio State (7-2-1)
11/08/2024 – No. 13 Ohio State 2 at No. 4 Michigan State 4
11/09/2024 – No. 13 Ohio State 1 at No. 4 Michigan State 4

No. 14 Western Michigan (5-1-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 14 Western Michigan 2 at RV Omaha 1
11/09/2024 – No. 14 Western Michigan 4 at RV Omaha 2

No. 15 Quinnipiac (3-5-0)
11/08/2024 – RV Dartmouth 4 at No. 15 Quinnipiac 2
11/09/2024 – RV Harvard 3 at No. 15 Quinnipiac 0

No. 16 Minnesota State (7-4-1)
11/08/2024 – No. 16 Minnesota State 5 at St. Thomas 3
11/09/2024 – St. Thomas 1 at No. 16 Minnesota State 1 (OT)

No. 17 UMass Lowell (6-2-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 17 UMass Lowell 5 at No. 9 Boston University 3
11/09/2024 – No. 9 Boston University 5 at No. 17 UMass Lowell 2

No. 18 Massachusetts (4-4-2)
11/08/2024 – No. 18 Massachusetts 3 at Vermont 3 (OT)
11/09/2024 – No. 18 Massachusetts 0 at Vermont 4

No. 19 Penn State (4-3-0)
Did not play.

No. 20 Notre Dame (5-5-0)
11/08/2024 – No. 20 Notre Dame 1 at No. 7 Michigan 2 (OT)
11/09/2024 – No. 20 Notre Dame 2 at No. 7 Michigan 4

RV = Received Votes

SATURDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Sweeps galore as No. 1 Denver downs Lindenwood, No. 10 North Dakota defeats Minnesota Duluth, No. 12 St. Cloud upends Miami, No. 4 Michigan State doubles up No. 13 Ohio State, No. 3 Minnesota gets by Wisconsin in OT, No. 7 Michigan drops No. 20 Notre Dame

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North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth players battled in two tough conference games this weekend, the Fighting Hawks getting the sweep (photo: Minnesota Duluth Athletics).

Tenth-ranked North Dakota jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after 20 minutes and kept control throughout, notching a 4-1 victory over Minnesota Duluth and securing the series sweep on Saturday night from AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn.

UND notches its first sweep of the season and records its sixth straight win over Minnesota Duluth. The Fighting Hawks have also dominated at AMSOIL Arena, picking up their third straight series sweep in the arena and grabbing their seventh straight victory at the barn.

The Hawks once again spread out the scoring, with Cade Littler, Ben Strinden, Cameron Berg and Jackson Kunz each finding the back of the net in the win. Jake Livanavage continued his torrid weekend, dishing out another pair of assists to give him five for the weekend and back-to-back games with multiple points.

Goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter was big between the pipes once again, finishing with 26 saves on 27 shots to notch his second straight win. The graduate student was big over the final 40 minutes, stopping 19 of 20 to finish the weekend with zero goals allowed at even strength.

North Dakota took a 2-0 lead just over five minutes into the game and chased UMD starting goaltender Adam Gajan.

The biggest moment of the middle frame came in the final eight minutes as Jayden Jubenvill was whistled for a facemasking major penalty to give the Bulldogs a chance on the power play to climb back into the game. Semptimphelter and his penalty killers held strong for a majority of the major, with the goaltender making a diving save to rob the hosts of a sure goal, but UMD eventually broke through in the final two seconds of the penalty to cut the deficit to 3-1 after two periods on a goal from Harper Bentz.

Kunz added an empty netter in the final minutes to secure the sweep.

Gajan allowed two goals on six shots through 5:38 before Klayton Knapp played the rest of the game and stopped 18 shots.

POLL | SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS

No. 1 Denver 4, Lindenwood 1

Sam Harris scored twice and Matt Davis made 18 saves as Denver knocked off Lindenwood 4-1 at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo.

Rieger Lorenz and Aidan Thompson added goals for the Pioneers.

Tyler Loughman scored for the Lions and Owen Bartoszkiewicz finished with 23 saves in goal.

No. 3 Minnesota 3, Wisconsin 2 (OT)

Brodie Ziemer batted the puck out of midair for the overtime game-winner as Minnesota defeated Wisconsin 3-2 at the Kohl Center and Madison, Wis.

Ziemer skated alone at the net and finished off a backhand saucer pass from Jimmy Snuggerud as Minnesota erased a one-goal deficit in the third period to sweep the Badgers.

Connor Kurth scored for the Gophers that pulled the visitors even with 6:04 to play in regulation, leading to the overtime heroics from Ziemer that earned the team’s eighth consecutive victory.

Brody Lamb also scored for Minnesota and Liam Souliere stopped 31 shots between the pipes.

Ryland Mosley and Quinn Finley netted the Badgers goals and William Gramme had 39 saves.

No. 4 Michigan State 4, No. 13 Ohio State 1

After Ohio State’s Damien Carfagna gave the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead early in the second period, Michigan State scored the next four goals to gain a 4-1 win at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.

Gavin O’Connell, Shane Vansaghi, Isaac Howard and Daniel Russell scored for the Spartans and goalie Trey Augustine turned aside 29 shots.

Logan Terness stopped 36 shots for the Buckeyes.

No. 6 Cornell 3, Brown 1

Brown scored first, but Cornell struck for the next three and downed the Bears 3-1 from Lynak Rink in Ithaca, N.Y.

Max Scott gave Brown the 1-0 lead late in the first period, but Dalton Bancroft scored twice and Ryan Walsh once to give the Big Red the win.

Ian Shane made 18 saves for the win in the Cornell crease.

For Brown, Tyler Shea finished with 28 saves.

No. 7 Michigan 4, No. 20 Notre Dame 2

Four different players scored for Michigan as the Wolverines doubled up Notre Dame 4-2 at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michael Hage, Evan Werner, Thomas Daskas and Jackson Hallum found the net for Michigan and Cameron Korpi made 27 saves in goal.

Notre Dame’s goals came from Brennan Ali and Blake Biondi and Owen Say finished with 20 stops in the Notre Dame crease.

No. 8 Colorado College 3, Arizona State 1

Drew Montgomery, Tyler Coffey and Klavs Veinbergs scored for Colorado College as the Tigers swept Arizona State with a 3-1 victory at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Kaidan Mbereko made 41 saves in goal for the Tigers.

Arizona native David Hymovitch scored for the Sun Devils and Luke Pavicich stopped 18 shots.

No. 9 Boston University 5, No. 17 UMass Lowell 2

Quinn Hutson scored two goals and Max Lacroix made 17 saves in goal as Boston University took a 5-2 win over UMass Lowell at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.

Cole Hutson, Jack Harvey and Matt Copponi added goals for the Terriers.

Isac Jonsson and Libor Nemec scored for the River Hawks and Henry Welsch and Beni Halasz combined on a 20-save effort in goal.

No. 11 Providence 6, Northeastern 5 (OT)

Trevor Connelly’s second goal and fourth point of the game 3:24 into overtime gave Providence a 6-5 win over Northeastern at Matthews Arena in Boston, Mass.

Logan Will, John Mustard, Will Elger and Chase Yoder added goals for the Friars and Philip Svedebäck made 22 saves in 39:25 of action after taking over for Zachary Borgiel, who made nine saves through 23:58. Svedebäck also assisted on Connelly’s OT winner.

Cam Lund, Joe Connor, Dylan Hryckowian, Jack Williams and Joaquim Lemay scored for the Huskies and goalie Cameron Whitehead stopped 34 shots.

No. 12 St. Cloud State 3, Miami 1

Austin Burnevik posted a pair of goals to lead St. Cloud State to a 3-1 win over Miami from the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.

Mason Salquist netted the other goal for SCSU and Isak Posch made 16 saves in net.

For the RedHawks, Johnny Waldron broke Posch’s shutout bid 1:12 into the third period and netminder Bruno Bruveris made 33 saves.

No. 14 Western Michigan 4, Omaha 2

Tim Washe and Alex Bump scored third-period goals as Western Michigan earned the road sweep with a 4-2 win over Omaha at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.

Iiro Hakkarainen and Tristan Lemyre also scored for the Broncos with goalie Hampton Slukynsky making 31 saves.

Jacob Guevin and Brady Risk scored for Omaha and Simon Latkoczy kicked out 33 shots in goal.

Harvard 3, No. 15 Quinnipiac 0

Aku Koskenvuo stopped all 25 shots fired his way as Harvard blanked Quinnipiac 3-0 at the M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn.

Ben MacDonald, Lucas St. Louis and Justin Solovey scored for the Crimson.

For the Bobcats, goalie Matej Marinov made 26 saves.

No. 16 Minnesota State 1, St. Thomas 1 (Minnesota State wins shootout)

Brett Moravec scored for Minnesota State and Jake Braccini for St. Thomas as the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center in Mankato, Minn.

The Mavericks won the subsequent shootout.

In goal, Alex Tracy stopped 18 shots for the Mavericks and Jake Sibell made 18 saves for the Tommies.

Vermont 4, No. 18 UMass 0

Axel Mangbo made 26 saves between the pipes as Vermont defeated UMass 4-0 at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt.

Massimo Lombardi, Luca Münzenberger, Timofei Spitserov and Timofei Spitserov scored for the Cataounts.

UMass goalies Michael Hrabal and Jackson Irving combined on a 15-save night in goal.

FRIDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: No. 17 UMass Lowell downs No. 9 Boston University, No. 3 Minnesota rallies to beat Wisconsin, No. 2 Boston College edges No. 5 Maine, Yale ties No. 6 Cornell, top-ranked Denver beats Lindenwood

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UMass Lowell’s Libor Nemec makes a move to get around BU’s Gavin McCarthy in the River Hawks’ 5-3 win Friday night at BU (photo: UMass Lowell Athletics).

No. 17 UMass Lowell scored two goals 34 seconds apart in the third period to snap a 3-3 tie and defeat No. 9 Boston University 5-3 Friday night at Agganis Arena in Boston.

Libor Nemec made it 4-3 River Hawks at 11:28 of the final period and then Dillan Bentley gave UML the insurance goal at 12:02.

Connor Eddy, Ian Carpentier and Ben Meehan also scored for UMass Lowell.

In goal, Henry Welsch made 26 saves for the win.

Shane Lachance scored twice for BU and Cole Eiserman added a goal.

Mathieu Caron fashioned a 22-save effort in goal for the Terriers.

POLL | SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS

No. 1 Denver 4, Lindenwood 1

Denver used four different goal scorers and 23 saves from goaltender Matt Davis to down Lindenwood 4-1 at Magness Arena in Denver, Colo.

Jared Wright, Sam Harris, James Reeder and Rieger Lorenz scored for the Pioneers.

Tyler Loughman scored for the Lions and goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz made 42 stops in the Lindenwood crease.

No. 2 Boston College 3, No. 5 Maine 2

Ryan Leonard’s goal at 18:27 of the third period completed BC’s comeback for a 3-2 win over Maine at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Andre Gasseau scored the Eagles’ first goal at 10:25 of the third period, Mike Posma tied it at 16:59, and then Leonard tallied what proved to be the game winner just under 90 seconds later.

Josh Nadeau scored in the second period for Maine and Oskar Komarov made it a 2-0 Black Bears lead seven minutes into the third period.

Jacob Fowler made 30 saves in goal for BC, while Albin Boija stopped 27 for Maine.

No. 3 Minnesota 3, Wisconsin 2

After being down 2-0 early in the second period, Minnesota rallied with three unanswered to beat Wisconsin 3-2 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

Ryan Chesley scored to make it a 2-1 game and then Jimmy Snuggeriud netted the next two, including the game winner at 12:45 of the third period, to put the Gophers ahead to stay.

Quinn Finley and Kyle Kukkonen scored for Wisconsin and goaltender William Gramme made 28 saves.

Nathan Airey stopped 28 shots for the Gophers.

No. 4 Michigan State 4, No. 13 Ohio State 2

Michigan State used four different goal scorers – Nicklas Andrews, Red Savage, Daniel Russell, David Gucciardi – to knock off Ohio State 4-2 at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.

Davis Burnside and Patrick Guzzo scored for the Buckeyes and Logan Terness made 23 saves in goal.

For Michigan State, Trey Augustine finished with 22 stops between the pipes.

Yale 2, No. 6 Cornell 2 (Yale wins shootout)

From Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y., Donovan Frias scored both goals as Yale tied Cornell 2-2.

Yale then won the shootout.

Dalton Bancroft and Jack O’Leary scored for the Big Red.

In goal, Jack Stark made 27 saves for the Bulldogs, while Ian Shane had six saves for Cornell.

Northeastern 2, No. 11 Providence 2 (Northeastern wins shootout)

Joe Connor and Jack Williams scored for Northeastern, while Logan Will and Graham Camache scored for Providence as the two teams tied 2-2 at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I.

The Huskies then won the shootout.

Cameron Whitehead made 28 saves in goal for Northeastern, while Philip Svedebäck made 27 for the Friars.

No. 7 Michigan 2, No. 20 Notre Dame 1 (OT)

Evan Werner’s goal at 2:02 of overtime gave Michigan a 2-1 win over Notre Dame at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Kienan Draper also scored for the Wolverines.

Brennan Ali scored for Notre Dame and goaltender Owen Say made 45 saves.

Logan Stein had 18 saves for Michigan.

No. 8 Colorado College 4, Arizona State 3 (OT)

Stanley Cooley’s goal at 19:03 of the third period tied it 3-3 for Colorado College against Arizona State and then Zaccharya Wisdom won it for the Tigers 1:44 into overtime at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Max Burkholder and Klavs Veinbergs also scored for CC and Kaidan Mbereko made 27 stops in goal.

Noah Beck scored twice for the Sun Devils, Ryan Alexander the other, and Gibson Homer made 17 saves.

No. 10 North Dakota 7, Minnesota Duluth 3

North Dakota led from start to finish, taking a 7-3 win over Minnesota Duluth at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn.

The Fighting Hawks had seven different goal scorers in Mac Swanson, Jackson Kunz, Cade Littler, Louis Jamernik V, Jayden Perron, Abram Wiebe, and Ben Strinden.

TJ Semptimphelter finished with 32 saves in goal for North Dakota.

For the Bulldogs, Anthony Menghini recorded a hat trick and Adam Gajan and Klayton Knapp combined on a 23-save effort between the pipes.

No. 12 St. Cloud State 3, Miami 2 (OT)

Grant Ahcan’s second goal of the game at 4:43 of overtime gave St. Cloud State a 3-2 win over Miami at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn.

Austin Burnevik also scored for the Huskies, who got 23 saves from Isak Posch.

Max Dukovac and Matt Choupani scored for Miami and goalie Ethan Dahlmeir made 20 saves in goal.

No. 14 Western Michigan 2, Omaha 1

After Omaha went up 1-0 on a Harrison Israels goal at 12:22 of the first period, Western Michigan came back to win 2-1 at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.

Alex Bump and Tristan Lemyre scored for the Broncos and goalie Cameron Rowe made 28 saves.

Simon Latkoczy stopped 48 shots in goal for the Mavericks.

Dartmouth 4, No. 15 Quinnipiac 2

For the first time since the 1978-79 season, Dartmouth is 3-0-0 after defeating Quinnipiac 4-2 from the M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn.

Alex Krause, Sean Chisholm, John Fusco and CJ Foley scored for the Big Green, while goaltender Roan Clarke finished with 18 saves.

Jeremy Wilmer and Tyler Borgula scored for the Bobcats and Dylan Silverstein made nine saves between the pipes.

No. 16 Minnesota State 5, St. Thomas 3

Minnesota State staged a third-period rally to come back and down St. Thomas 5-3 from the St. Thomas Ice Arena in St. Thomas, Minn.

Down 3-1 early in the third period, the Mavericks scored four times off the sticks of Luke Ashton, Luc Wilson, Adam Eisele and Brett Moravec to get the win.

Brian Carrabes also scored and Alex Tracy made 28 saves in goal.

For the Tommies, Cooper Gay, Lucas Wahlin and Liam Malmquist scored and Aaron Trotter made 19 saves.

Vermont 3, No. 18 UMass 3 (Vermont wins shootout)

Simon Jellus, Xavier Henry and Philip Törnqvist scored for UVM and Keenan Rancier made 16 saves between the pipes in a 3-3 tie with UMass at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vt.

The Catamounts won the subseqent shootout.

For the Minutemen, James Duerr scored two goals, Owen Murray the other, and Michael Hrabal turned aside 15 shots in goal.

D-III West Hockey Weekend Picks

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Andrew Poulias and UW-Stevens Point gear up for another weekend of hockey. (Photo Credit: Rachel McCulloch/UW Stevens Point Athletics)

Week No. 2 of the college hockey season is here and one of the highlights will be Adrian’s weekend in New York. The Bulldogs play Cortland and Oswego in games that could go a long way for them come March.

There are also a couple of conference matchups and some intriguing non-conference battles. Let the puck drop on week two.

Friday

Bethel at UW-Stevens Point

The Royals are searching for their first win. Facing the No. 11 team in the nation on the road won’t be the easiest place to get it.

Bethel nearly won its opener, losing 2-1 to Marian in OT, but had a tough time against No. 5 St. Norbert, falling 5-2. They’ll need to generate some offense early to have a shot against the Pointers, who held off Dubuque in overtime for their first win. Like Bethel, goals haven’t been easy to come by for UW-Stevens Point, which has scored just three on the year. This one should be competitive.
UW-Stevens Point, 3-2

Adrian at Cortland

Big test on the road for the second-ranked team in the nation. The Bulldogs are playing a ranked team for the second straight week as Cortland is 10th in the latest USCHO.com poll and unbeaten at 2-0. The Bulldogs are 1-1 and know what it’s going to take win a matchup like this. The Red Dragons have outscored their opposition 12-4 so far. This should be a fight to the finish.
Adrian, 4-3

Saturday

St. Olaf at UW-Superior

The Oles are winless after week one and now hit the road for a pair of games in Wisconsin, finishing the weekend with a showdown against the Yellowjackets. St. Olaf will look to get its offense back on track after being shutout by Marian and hope to limit the opponent’s offensive success after giving up 12 goals in its first two games. UW-Superior is playing hockey for the first time this season and will look to end the weekend on a high note.
UW-Superior, 5-3

Saint John’s at St. Scholastica

The Johnnies took the first one in this series by a 4-2 score on Thursday and now take aim at a sweep and great shot of momentum early on in the MIAC race. Cam Boche scored twice in Thursday’s win and will look to duplicate that effort in this one. Jon Howe made 28 saves. The Saints are home for this game and that could prove to be an advantage.
Saint John’s, 4-2

Bethel at UW-Eau Claire

The Blugolds received votes in the latest national poll and aims to cap its first weekend of the season with a strong performance. UW-Eau Claire has a lot of potential on offense and the experience of goaltender Matt Gutjahr is the kind of thing that can make a big difference in what should be a tightly contested game.
UW-Eau Claire, 4-2

Adrian at Oswego

The Bulldogs cap their trip to New York with a game against the Lakers, who have started the season 0-1-1. Oswego did receive votes in the national poll this week and will be hungry for an upset. It will be interesting to see how Adrian handles the final night of this trip considering it will have played Cortland the night before.
Adrian, 3-1

Friday and Saturday

Concordia at Augsburg

Nothing like an early-season MIAC battle between two teams that will certainly be in the mix for a title.

The Cobbers are 2-0 and feeling good early on, especially considering they came through in the third period twice to secure their two wins. Netminder Dane Couture is the reigning defensive player of the week in the conference.

Augsburg is 1-1 and ready to set the tone early in its bid to win the MIAC this season. Grahm Harris has played well so far, dishing out four assists and tallying one goal.
Augsburg, 5-3; Concordia, 3-2

Aurora vs. Lake Forest

The Spartans come in ranked 14th nationally and unbeaten at 2-0. They picked up a huge win over UW-Stevens Point last week, winning 7-2, and also edged Augsburg 5-4 in overtime. Landry Schmuck will look to step up again after finishing with three goals and an assist last weekend. If the Spartans are clicking on offense, they’ll be tough to beat. For Lake Forest, it’s a chance to make a statement after starting the year 1-1.
Aurora, 4-2 and 5-3

 

 

 

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