Remember when UW-Superior was 1-5? It seems like forever ago now as the Yellowjackets have been one of college hockey’s hottest teams lately, and they heated up a little during the final weekend of 2023, winning their own Superior Showdown Saturday.
And the thing is they just didn’t win the event, they did so by making a statement by stunning No. 2 St. Scholastica 3-2 in overtime, knocking the Saints from its place as the last remaining unbeaten team in D-III hockey.
Jordan Guiney was the hero, delivering the game-winning goal as he sent the puck over the right shoulder of goaltender Jack Bostedt to cement the win and his claim to MVP honors of the tournament.
The Yellowjackets improved to 9-6 overall and won their own tournament for the first time in the six-year history of it while also stretching their win streak to four games.
Tristan Therrien and Daniel Rozsival both scored goals in the win while Collin Perderson dished out a pair of assists.
UW-Superior opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over Dubuque while St. Scholastica held off Marian 2-1.
Jack Boschert helped ensure the Yellowjackets would finish out the tournament on a high note, stopping 27 shots and improving to 5-1.
Goals by Tristan Schewchuk and Brodie Girod gave the Saints a 2-1 lead before Rozsival scored to the game at the 6:48 mark of the third period.
Sabres win consolation final
Marian had no problem scoring goals in a dominant 7-0 win over Dubuque in the consolation game of the Superior Showdown Saturday.
Leading the way in the first shutout victory of the season for the Sabres was Cole Carlson, who came through with the first two goals of his college career.
Nicholas Cherkowski rose to the occasion as well, continuing his recent surge of success by scoring a goal and tallying an assist. He’s managed to rack up eight points in the last four games. The goal for Cherkowski was his eighth of the season.
Aaron Brunn helped take care of things from a defensive point of view as he stopped 20 shots on his way to his first shutout win at the college level while helping Marian improve to 6-9. The Sabres won all three games against Dubuque this season.
Falcons pull off big road win over Lakers
Concordia didn’t win the Oswego State Holiday Classic, but the Falcons did make some noise in it, upsetting the host Lakers on Saturday with an 8-5 victory.
The Falcons scored eight goals, the first time they’ve done that all year, as they won their fourth game of the season.
The turning point of that game against an Oswego State team that is currently receiving votes in the USCHO.com poll came in the third period when the Falcons outscored the Lakers 3-1 to seal the deal.
It was a balanced attack for the Falcons, who had eight different players score a goal while Alex Ochitwa made more than his fair share of plays, dishing out four assists.
Among those contributing to the goal outburst was Mi-Kwan Tallman, a freshman who scored his first collegiate goal.
Then there was the performance of Gabe Rosek in goal. He stopped a season-best 49 shots as Concordia snapped a five-game losing streak, securing their first win since Nov. 18 when it beat Lawrence 4-1.
In Sunday’s championship game, Concordia fell 5-1 to Stevenson, another team receiving votes in the national poll, after struggling early and never getting on track. The Falcons trailed 5-1 after two periods. Preston Hazelton scored the lone goal for the Falcons, who are 4-9 on the year.
Freiermuth leads Foresters with hat trick
Chase Friermuth recorded his first career hat trick and helped Lake Forest score eight goals in a game for the second time this season in an 8-3 win over SUNY Canton Saturday.
Lake Forest pulled away with a three-goal third period as it won for the fifth time this year.
Bobby McCloskey racked up 25 saves for his third win as a netminder and he got plenty of support from the Forester offense.
Tyler Nielsen struck for two goals while Connor Tartaglione scored for the first time as a member of Lake Forest’s hockey team.
Logan Kittleson and Griffen Sanom were also highly productive, with Kittleson dishing out three assists to go along with his goal. Sanom scored once and dished out two assists. Matteas Derraugh tallied three assists, nearly doubling the total (2) he came into the game with.
Lake Forest wasn’t as fortunate Sunday as it lost 4-1 to SUNY Canton to fall to 5-8 on the year.
Price is right
Trine won in overtime against Hamilton Friday as Bobby Price scored 58 seconds into the extra session to lift the Thunder to a 4-3 victory.
Price scored off a rebound as Trine improved to 11-2 on the season. He was one of four Thunder players to score for the 14th-ranked team in the country.
Jack Cooper and Tyler Blanchard helped stake Trine to a 2-0 lead early on before Hamilton scored the next three goals.
But Matteo Ybarra ensured the Thunder would get a shot to win this thing in OT as he scored with less than two minutes to play force another five minutes of hockey.
Kyle Kozma tallied 20 saves in the win, the third in a row for the Thunder, who avenged a 4-0 loss to Hamilton on Nov. 26.
Trine couldn’t continue the run on Saturday as it lost 4-0 to Hamilton.
Looking Ahead
Heading into the 2024 half of the season, St. Scholastica and Bethel are tied for first in the MIAC. UW-Stevens Point is atop the WIAC and St. Norbert is currently on top in the NCHA.
In the Rankings
Five of the top 15 teams in the USCHO.com poll are currently in the west region. St. Scholastica leads the way, sitting at No. 2 nationally while Adrian is fourth.
UW-Stevens Point and UW-Eau Claire are eighth and ninth, respectively, and Trine is 14th.
