FRIDAY ROUNDUP: New Hampshire upsets top-ranked Boston University, No. 2 Minnesota edges St. Thomas in overtime, No. 4 Boston College rallies to topple LIU, Minnesota State beats No. 9 St. Cloud State in OT

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Liam Devlin celebrates a goal with the Whittemore Center faithful Friday night (photo: UNH Athletics).

It’s still very early in the 2023-24 college hockey season, but one of the first upsets has taken place as New Hampshire knocked off No. 1 Boston University 6-4 Friday night in front of 6,070 at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.

The game was not without its moments as when BU scored to bring the game to a 6-5 UNH lead at 18:51 of the third period, the Wildcats challenged the call on the ice and were successful, keeping the game 6-4.

After a 3-3 opening period, which also saw top 2024 NHL draft prospect Macklin Celebrini score his first NCAA goal for the Terriers, New Hampshire netted two more in the second period and the game winner and an insurance tally early in the third period.

Morgan Winters scored twice for UNH, Tom Willander and Celebrini each posted a pair for BU, and Liam Devlin and Cy Leclerc each had a goal and a helper for the Wildcats.

In goal, Tyler Muszelik made 18 saves for New Hampshire, while Mathieu Caron stopped 21 for the Terriers.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll – Oct. 9, 2023

No. 2 Minnesota 6, St. Thomas 5 (OT)

Jimmy Snuggerud’s second goal of the game at 1:25 of overtime lifted the Gophers to a 6-5 win over the Tommies at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Lucas Wahlin’s second of the game for UST tied the game 5-all at 13:14 of the third period.

Brody Lamb scored two goals for the Gophers, who trailed 4-2 early in the third period.

Oliver Moore had three assists for Minnesota, who got 31 saves from Justen Close.

Aaron Trotter turned aside 31 shots for the Tommies.

No. 4 Boston College, Long Island 2

After going down 2-0, Boston College scored four unanswered goals and came back to beat LIU 4-2 on Friday night in front of more than 7,300 fans in its home opener at Kelley Rink in Chestnut Hill, Mass., as 11 different players had at least one point.

The Sharks led 2-0 within the first nine minutes on goals from Remy Parker and Valtteri Piironen, but the Eagles roared back with goals from Jack Malone, Drew Fortescue, Andre Gasseau, and Oskar Jellvik.

Jacob Fowler stopped 10 of the 12 shots he faced for BC, while Brandon Perrone made 34 saves for LIU.

No. 5 Quinnipiac 3, American International 2 (OT)

Jacob Quillan popped the overtime winner, this one clinching the first win of the season for Quinnipiac as the Bobcats came back twice to knock off AIC 3-2 on Friday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.

Quillan took a pass from Davis Pennington and deked out the goalie and both defenders near the net, firing it home to give the Bobcats their first win of the 2023-24 campaign.

Jayden Lee and Travis Treloar also scored for QU, while Vinny Duplessis stopped 16 shots in goal.

Josh Barnes and Blake Wells scored for the Yellow Jackets and Nils Wallstrom finished with 28 saves.

No. 6 Michigan 7, Massachusetts 2

Dylan Duke scored twice and added an assist for a three-point performance, while Rutger McGroarty extended his point streak to 11 games with a one-goal, two-assist night, and Jake Barczewski made 22 saves on 24 shots as the Wolverines beat the Minutemen at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.

Aaron Bohlinger and Scott Morrow scored for UMass and Cole Brady made 24 saves in net.

No. 7 North Dakota 7, Army West Point 2

North Dakota opened its season with a 7-2 victory over Army West Point on Friday night in the 2023 Ice Breaker Tournament from Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

Less than a week removed from hanging 10 on Manitoba in the exhibition opener, the Fighting Hawks exploded for seven goals against the Black Knights to tally the most goals in a season opener since an 8-0 win over Canisius on Oct. 11, 2003.

Jackson Blake picked up two goals and an assist to pace the Fighting Hawks with three points.

Hunter Johannes scored two goals, and Riese Gaber picked up a goal and an assist while Jake Schmaltz dished out a pair of helpers to back Ludvig Persson’s 10 saves.

North Dakota will play for an Ice Breaker Tournament title tomorrow night against Wisconsin at 6:07 p.m. CDT at the Ralph. The Badgers beat Bemidji State 4-3 in overtime Friday night.

Brent Keefer and Trevor Smith scored for the Black Knights and Gavon Abric and Evan Szary combined to make 25 saves.

No. 8 Michigan State 5, Air Force 3

Joey Larson’s hat trick gave the Spartans the win and split in the Thursday-Friday series played at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Karsen Dorwart and Gavin O’Connell added goals for Michigan State and Trey Augustine stopped 25 shots in goal.

Nick Remissong, Brendan Gibbons and Chris Hedden notched goals for the Falcons, while Guy Blessing made 28 saves.

Alaska 4, No. 9 Michigan Tech 1

Michigan Tech fell 4-1 to Alaska Friday in the Huskies’ home opener at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Mich.

The Huskies led 1-0 after the first period but gave up four goals in the second, two by Harrison Israels and one by Brayden Nicholetts and Anton Rubtsov.

The teams combined for six penalties in the first period before the Huskies got on the board late when Max Koskipirtti scored at 18:10.

Pierce Charleson made 23 saves for the Nanooks. Blake Pietila made 21 saves through the first two periods and Max Vayrynen had six saves in the third for MTU.

Minnesota State 3, No. 10 St. Cloud State 2 (OT)

Adam Eisele’s goal 3:10 into overtime won it for the Mavericks, who were down 2-0 early in the second period before coming back with three unanswered goals.

Lucas Sowder and Bret Moravec also scored and Alex Tracy made 21 saves in goal.

For the Huskies, Barrett Hall and Joe Molenaar scored and Dominic Basse stopped 24 shots.

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