Monday 10: North Dakota sweeps Miami, Cornell keeps winning, Atlantic Hockey standings tightening, St. Thomas moves to top of CCHA

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Cornell’s Luke Devlin gets position on St. Lawrence goalie Ben Kraws in the teams’ game last Saturday night (photo: Lexi Woodcock/Cornell Athletics).

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

1. No. 9 Minnesota, No. 4 Wisconsin split Big Ten points on weekend

Both contests at the Kohl Center this weekend went to overtime, with the visiting Gophers taking the Friday contest in overtime, 2-1, and the Badgers winning the shootout for the extra point in Big Ten standings after a 1-1 tie.

Saturday’s sellout crowd of 15,359 was the biggest of the season for Wisconsin.

“This place, because the fans are here, is special. It’s a beautiful building with an awful lot of seats but it’s a different place when it’s full,” said Badgers coach Mike Hastings. “For anyone to think they didn’t have an impact on these games is crazy. They make it a special place, and I’m glad they can walk out with a smile on their faces because we appreciate them being here.”

2. No. 2 North Dakota comes back for OT win Friday, sweeps Miami

Trailing 4-2 at Miami to start the third period on Friday, North Dakota’s Logan Britt and Riese Gaber each tallied in the final stanza to force overtime. Jackson Blake potted the overtime winner for the 5-4 win for the Fighting Hawks.

Saturday’s 4-1 victory for North Dakota was Brad Berry’s 200th as a head coach.

3. No. 20 Omaha gets its first sweep of the season

Omaha’s 5-1 and 4-3 wins at home over Minnesota Duluth gave the Mavericks their first weekend sweep of the season.

On Saturday, coach Mike Gabinet complimented his team on getting production from all four lines. “That’s what it takes for us to be successful,” Gabinet said. “Everyone’s got to be contributing.”

The six points on the weekend moved Omaha ahead of Minnesota Duluth into sixth place, and just five points behind fourth-place Denver.

4. Western Michigan keeps pace

A weekend split at Denver, including a 7-2 shellacking of the host Pioneers on Saturday, keeps the Broncos within one point of first-round home ice in the NCHC. Denver won Friday’s opener, 3-2.

Six different players scored for Western Michigan on Saturday, including a pair from Sam Colangelo.

5. Michigan gets sweep of Ohio State

The No. 12 Wolverines picked up six Big Ten conference points with a pair of wins over Ohio State, 4-2 and 4-1.

Goalie Jacob Barczewski started in net both nights, turning aside 37 shots on Friday and making 29 saves on Saturday.

Michigan still trails first-place Michigan State by 15 points, though that gap was trimmed by three by the Spartans’ split at Notre Dame.

6. Cornell’s weekend wins keep Big Red in hunt

No. 13 Cornell picked up a pair of home wins on the weekend over North Country rivals St. Lawrence and Clarkson by lopsided 5-1 and 7-2 margins respectively.

The Big Red trails first-place Quinnipiac in the ECAC Hockey standings by 11 points with eight games remaining and a game in hand with the Bobcats.

Cornell now sports an unbeaten streak of 10 games, the longest since a 10-0 start of the 2019-20 season, and the eighth such streak in the Mike Schafer era.

The wins also keep Cornell in the at-large hunt right on the edge of the PairWise Bubble at No. 14.

7. Northeastern catches fire heading into Beanpot

Northeastern has won four straight heading into tonight’s Beanpot semifinal against Harvard. After a weekend home-and-home sweep of Merrimack last weekend, the Huskies upset No. 3 Boston University, 4-3, in overtime on Tuesday and then downed No. 6 Maine Friday night, 6-3.

In Friday’s win, Northeastern capitalized with three power-play goals on a major penalty to Maine.

8. No. 1 Boston College, No. 3 Boston University tally victories ahead of Monday’s Beanpot showdown

No. 1 Boston College trounced UMass Lowell 6-1 on Friday led by a pair of Cutter Gauthier goals. Meanwhile, No. 3 Boston University took down No. 18 New Hampshire 6-3 as Jack Hughes and Nick Zabaneh each scored twice in the road win.

The two rivals play their third contest of the season on Monday in the Beanpot semifinal. BC swept a home-and-home series in January.

9. St. Thomas moves atop CCHA

A weekend split in a home-and-home series was enough to keep St. Thomas in the lead of the CCHA. The Tommies picked up a point on Friday in a home overtime loss, 4-3, to Minnesota State and a 4-2 win in Mankato on Saturday.

St. Thomas is not eligible for the NCAA tournament while it completes its transition to D-I from D-III.

First-year Minnesota State coach Luke Strand expressed in a postgame press conference some frustration over inconsistency in calling games.

“I don’t know what a boarding is. I don’t know what a check from behind is. I don’t know what a goal for is. I don’t know what a reviewable play is,” he said after Saturday’s game.

10. Holy Cross, Robert Morris get sweeps in Atlantic Hockey play, tightening standings

Holy Cross swept Air Force 6-3 and 5-2 over the weekend to move into third place in the Atlantic Hockey standings, just one point behind second-place Sacred Heart and three behind first-place No. 19 RIT, though the Tigers have three games and the Pioneers two games in hand.

Holy Cross has next weekend off, then just three games to end the regular season.

“Going into the playoffs … we’re going to have to have some ability to stay sharp,” Holy Cross coach Bill Riga said about the time off.

Reborn Robert Morris swept a home-and-home series with Mercyhurst to move into a tie for ninth place in the conference with the Lakers. The Colonials hold the tie-breaker with Mercyhurst in their three-game season series.

Robert Morris is just four points behind Niagara in the race for first-round home ice.

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