St. Thomas and Saint Mary’s went into the weekend as the top two teams in the MIAC and they played a series that lived up to the hype, with the Tommies edging the Cardinals 6-5 Friday before Saint Mary’s bounced back with a 2-1 win Saturday. The Tommies remain in first place in the conference with a 6-1-1 record. They are 7-4-3 overall. The Cardinals are still in second with a 5-3 record. They are 8-5-2 overall.
In the opener Friday, the Tommies trailed the Cardinals 4-1 in the second period but scored four unanswered goals to nail down the win in their first game of 2017. Thomas Williams came through with a pair of goals to pace the Tommies, with his second goal putting St. Thomas in front 5-4. Johnny Roisum scored the game-winning goal in overtime for St. Thomas. Ben Myers earned the win in goal in relief, recording 14 saves. He is now 6-1-2 on the season. Bob Kinne scored twice for the Cardinals, including a goal with 16 seconds left in the third that tied the game at 5-5 and forced overtime. Martin Gruse came through with two assists. Phil Heinle took the loss and is now 4-3-2 on the year. He made 24 saves in the loss.
Saint Mary’s got its revenge in the finale Saturday thanks to Kinne, who scored the game-winning goal in the second period. Gruse scored the other goal and Jay Heinle tallied two assists. Aaron Davis did the rest. Allowing only one goal on the night, Davis made 24 saves in what was his fifth start of the season. He is 3-2 on the season. Cullen Willcox scored the lone goal for the Tommies. Williams had the assist on the goal.
Below is a look at some of other big moments of the weekend.
Doug Schueller won the 100th game of his career Saturday as Saint John’s knocked off Wisconsin-Superior 1-0 in a nonconference game at home. Tyler Nelson helped make the milestone possible as he recorded his first career shutout. Nelson racked up 31 saves and is 5-3-1 on the season. Kevin Becker secured the victory with his power-play goal with 4:23 remaining in the third. It was his third goal of the year and the sixth-game winning goal of his career. The Johnnies (8-5-2) killed off four power-play opportunities in the win over the Yellow Jackets (4-11-1), and bounced back from their 2-1 loss to Wisconsin-River Falls on Friday night.
Augsburg continued its impressive run this season, earning a tie and a win in a two-game series against Bethel. The Auggies capped the weekend with a 4-2 win over the Royals. The Auggies and Royals skated to a 5-5 tie the first night. In Saturday’s win, four different players scored while Nick Schmit made 24 saves as he improved to 5-1 on the season and helped Augsburg snap a three-game winless streak. Nate Flynn came through with a goal and an assist for Augsburg, which led 2-1 after one period. Will Peterson and Lukas Gillett tallied two assists apiece.
In Friday’s game against the Royals, Augsburg trailed 5-4 heading into the third period but tied the score at 5-5 on a power-play goal by Jason Krych, who was playing the first college game of his career after joining the Auggies over break. Krych also tallied an assist. Augsburg (9-2-2, 4-1-1) did pick up the bonus point, though, thanks to Eric Brenk scoring the lone goal during a three-round shootout. Drew Anderson had a big night for the Auggies, dishing out a career-best three assists.
Peter Barral finished with two goals for the Royals. David Becker scored a goal and dished out two assists. The Royals, winless in their last 10 games, are now 1-10-2 overall and are still searching for their first MIAC win. They are 0-4-2 in conference play.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point dominated its nonconference game against Hamline Saturday, thanks in large part to the play of Lawrence Cornellier, who recorded a hat trick in the 6-3 win over the Pipers. Cornellier has been a force offensively all season for the Pointers, pushing his season goal total to 11. He has also dished out eight assists for one of the top offenses in the nation. Ryan Bittner, Mark Bittner and Brennen Miller also scored goals for the Pointers, who have now won three consecutive games. The goal for Ryan Bittner was his third of the year. Mark Bittner came through with his first goal of the season. Miller punched in the first goal of his collegiate career.
Jaycob McCombs, Jesse Kessler and Tyler Gonzales all scored for the Pipers (6-6-2), who trailed 2-0 early and were unable to bounce back against the reigning national champs.
Wisconsin-Stout opened up its two-game road swing in Minnesota Friday with a 2-1 overtime win over Hamline. Adam Kresl was the hero, scoring with 21 seconds left in overtime to lift the Blue Devils to the nonconference win. Shayne McGlaughlin sent the game into overtime with his goal in the third period. Spencer Viele held strong in goal, stopping 35 shots and improving to 3-2 on the year. The goal by Kresl was his third of the season. It’s also his second game-winning goal of the year.
The Blue Devils (7-7-1) closed out the trip with a 3-3 tie against Gustavus Adolphus Saturday. Nolan Kirley scored his first goal of the season in the game and Austin Jackson punched in his first collegiate goal of the year. Colton Brausen scored the other goal for Wis.-Stout, which held a 3-1 lead until Gustavus (1-8-4) scored twice in the third on goals by Colin Hernon and Reid Brown in a span of just over a minute.
Marian came through with a sweep over Northland in NCHA action, topping the Lumberjacks 4-2 and 5-3 in the weekend series. The Sabres pushed their record to 7-7-1 overall and now sit at 5-5 in the NCHA.
In Saturday’s finale, Jake Howie scored twice to pave the way, while Mike Baldwin extended his unbeaten streak to seven games, racking up 36 saves. Baldwin is 6-4-1 on the year. Curtis Lewington scored his third goal of the year and Mitchell Baumann and Nick Monfils also came through with goals for the Sabres.
Northland battled hard despite falling short, scoring twice in the third during a comeback attempt. Lucas DeBenedet and Chris Morgan both scored in the third for the Lumberjacks. Michael Berens tallied the other goal for Northland, which fell to 5-8-1 overall and to 3-6-1 in the conference. The Lumberjacks had won two consecutive games going into the series.
Lake Forest and the Milwaukee School of Engineering battled to a split over the weekend, with the Foresters winning 3-2 on Friday and the Raiders nailing down a 3-2 win Saturday. MSOE trailed 2-0 in Saturday’s game against Lake Forest but refused to fold, scoring twice in the third to pull away for the win. The Raiders are no stranger to comebacks, with this win marking the fifth time this year they have rallied for a victory. They have won three times when trailing by two goals.
Brandon Unser propelled MSOE to the win, scoring with 4:26 left in the game. Chris Hinrichs and Brett Wagner also scored for the Raiders, who are 5-5-3 overall and 2-4-2 in the conference. Zach Woodman got the win for MSOE, racking up 25 saves. He is 3-5-1 on the year. Travis Hill was the hero for Lake Forest Friday, scoring the game-winner with 5:28 left in the third. It also happened to be his first goal of the season.
The Foresters fell to 9-6 overall and are 5-5 in the NCHA. Zach Feldman and Bron Loiselle also scored for the Foresters. Loiselle’s goal was his seventh of the season. George Argiropoulous made 26 saves and is now 6-2 on the year. He has a .911 save percentage and a 2.67 goals against average.
