Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. The Opening, Part I
We will start with Connecticut, which led the battle of Connecticut schools to open their brand-new arena by a single day as the Huskies hosted a women’s game at the brand new Toscano Family Ice Forum on Friday. A day later, it was a women’s/men’s doubleheader where more than 2,500 fans witness a heck of a game between Northeastern and UConn, the Boston-area Huskies coming away with a 4-3 victory.
Still, it’s a new era of having college hockey on campus for UConn, which still has the option to play select game in Hartford at the XL Center.
2. The Opening, Part II
On Saturday evening, the Martine Family Arena also hosted its first game, a men’s game between Sacred Heart and Boston College.
With a capacity of 3,600 listed online, the announced attendance that evening was 4,103, though the host Pioneers lost a heartbreaker to Boston College, 3-2 in overtime. Sacred Heart led and then fell behind only to rally on Kevin Lombardi’s goal midway through the third to tie it.
But Marshall Warren’s OT game winner game Boston College a road victory and improves the Eagles to 5-1-2 in their last eight games.
3. Joshua brings Michigan State out of a funk
It’s been a difficult few weeks for Michigan State, which entered a weekend series against No. 5 Penn State riding a five-game losing streak. Jagger Joshua, though, played a large part in changing the Spartans fate.
Joshua scored the tying goal in the third on Friday to help his team rally from 2-0 down before Cole Krygier won the game for Sparty in overtime. A night later, Jagger netted a hat trick, scoring each of the final three goals as Michigan State came back from 3-1 down to tie 4-4. The Spartans won the shootout for a five-point Big Ten weekend.
4. Gridlocked Big Ten standings
With this weekend’s results, the middle of the Big Ten standings is one big tie.
Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State all have 24 points, though the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes have two games in had on the Spartans.
That trio trails Minnesota by 10 points, and also has a seven-point advantage over Notre Dame.
Still, it feels like absolute gridlock in what is currently the top conference in Division 1 men’s hockey.
5. Western Michigan might have the most fun offense to watch
If you haven’t checked in lately, Western Michigan’s offense is on fire.
The Broncos scored 11 goals against North Dakota this weekend in wins of 4-0 and 7-6. The 7-6 victory included rallying from three goals down against the Fighting Hawks.
Add in the 16 goals that the Broncos netted in winning the Great Lakes Invitational two weekend ago, this Western Michigan team is as hot as any when it comes to scoring goals.
With 4.33 goals per game, Western Michigan is now tops in Division I, ahead of the 4.14 output of No. 1 Quinnipiac.
6. Harvard’s weekend brings Crimson back on track
Last Saturday’s 4-1 road loss at Quinnipiac was a difficult one for Harvard to stomach, given that the Crimson is the team in closest pursuit of the Bobcats.
But things feel back to normal after a 4-1 win over Clarkson and a 5-0 victory over St. Lawrence at home this weekend.
Harvard is now nine points behind the still perfect Quinnipiac team in the ECAC standings. But the Crimson also has a five-point lead on third-place Cornell, though the Big Red have two games in hand.
More importantly, the Crimson have moved to ninth in the PairWise Rankings, ahead a decent margin over 10th Western Michigan in the RPI.
7. Even with split, Colorado College more than relevant in NCHC
It’s fair to say that Colorado College’s 4-2 win over St. Cloud State on Friday was eye opening across the college hockey landscape.
Even after the Huskies responded with a 4-0 win to split the series on Saturday, it’s clear that second-year coach Kris Mayotte’s team is ready to contend in the NCHC.
CC is currently in the top four of the league as every school has played 12 games. There’s still plenty of hockey to be played, but the Tigers have to be considered a serious threat to take a home ice spot in the NCHC quarterfinals.
8. RIT takes four points, continues to roll in Atlantic Hockey
RIT may have let slip a third-period lead on Friday night against Mercyhurst, finishing in a 4-4 tie and losing the shootout with the Lakers. But a 1-0 victory on Saturday gave the Tigers a four-point weekend in Atlantic Hockey and a nine-point lead over second place Sacred Heart in the conference standings.
The Tigers remain the top AHA team in the PairWise Rankings, currently in the 22nd slot. It’s hard to imagine an at-large bid for the Tigers, but a crazy stretch run, that could begin with road success at Arizona State that weekend, could make RIT a dark horse for an NCAA at-large bid.
9. Minnesota State says, “Don’t count us out”
The defending national runner up hasn’t had smooth sailing all season, but Minnesota State has made a statement the last two weekends with four straight road victories.
The Mavericks swept a league series against Northern Michigan a week ago and then won two key nonconference games at Arizona State, 3-1 and 5-0, this past weekend.
Those victories brought Minnesota State above the PairWise bubble in a tie for 14th.
The Mavs return home this weekend for a two-game slate vs. Lake Superior, though everyone has likely circled their final two series – two games at Bemijdi State and two at home vs. Michigan Tech.
10. What can Brown do for you?
This hasn’t been the best season to date for Brown, but the last nine days have felt amazing for the Bears.
Brown ended a four-game winless skid last Saturday with a 6-2 win over nationally-ranked Merrimack. Then, home wins this weekend over Union (6-2) and Rensselaer (3-0) gave the Bears their longest winning streak since Mar. 8-19, 2019. That, by the way, was a four-game winning streak in the ECAC playoffs that brought Brown to the conference semifinals.
