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BRACKETOLOGY: Mapping out 2023 NCAA men’s hockey tournament with regular season winding down, conference playoffs starting

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Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets has been dominant between the pipes this season for the Bobcats (photo: Rob Rasmussen).

Let me first begin by welcoming back USCHO’s long-time bracketologist Jayson Moy and giving him a cap tip/apology as last week his bracket and reasoning were missing because I didn’t check the spam folder in my email and thus never found what he had sent.

This week, without incident, Jayson is back and ready to give you his rationale to accompany mine.

Last week, we had some issues with bracket integrity that were unavoidable because of both the need to avoid conference matchups in the opening round and the desire to protect attendance in Bridgeport by moving Quinnipiac from Allentown and a potential second-round matchup with host Penn State and allowing the Bobcats to play less than 30 miles from campus.

Let’s see how this week plays out.

First, here is Jayson’s rationale and his bracket.

Let me start out by putting everyone into bracket integrity.

That means:

1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
9 Ohio State
16 RIT

2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State

3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

Looking at the brackets, let’s start this time by placing teams in regional sites first, without regards to host schools – it will become clear later why I do this.

Fargo

1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
9 Ohio State
16 RIT

Bridgeport

2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State

Manchester

3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

Allentown

4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

Now we can take into consideration all of our rules.

Penn State is a host school, and at the same time is in an intra-conference matchup with Ohio State.

We can do one of two things here – move the entire bracket to Allentown and swap, or just move Penn State to the Allentown regional.

As Minnesota is the number one seed, I prefer to move Penn State to Allentown, so I will swap with St Cloud.

Fargo

1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
9 Ohio State
16 RIT

Bridgeport

2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State

Manchester

3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

Allentown

4 Michigan
8 Penn State
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

There are two things which I might consider doing and that is not having two ECAC teams in Bridgeport and two Big Ten teams in Allentown.

But I don’t want to swap Quinnipiac and Michigan, because Quinnipiac is closest to Bridgeport. I could swap Michigan and Denver though, but that would give me a Michigan-Notre Dame matchup, so I would have to swap the entire matchup of Denver-Notre Dame and Michigan-Cornell. But that gives me two Big Ten teams in Allentown again.

So I don’t make the move.

I could swap Harvard and Boston University. But, do I take the only Hockey East team away from a regional hosted by a Hockey East team?

I don’t think I make the move.

Thus, my bracket this week is:

Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
9 Ohio State
16 RIT

Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State

Manchester, N.H.
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

Allentown, Pa.
4 Michigan
8 Penn State
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

Here’s is Jim’s version of his bracket:

Like Jayson’s I’ll duplicate the first step and simply seed the field based on bracket integrity:

1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
9 Ohio State
16 RIT

2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State

3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

Before assigning regions to each bracket, I’m going to eliminate conference matchups in the opening round. We have Penn State vs. Ohio State as the only issues. Penn State is an 8 seed, so it would be ideal to switch them with the 7 seed, Harvard. But that will likely move an eastern team west in a tournament where there aren’t a ton of eastern teams to begin.

So my first switch will be to swap the 9 seed Ohio State and 10 seed Western Michigan.

That gives us the following:

1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
16 RIT

2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Penn State
15 Minnesota State

3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

Now let’s assign the regions based on, first, if any hosts are participating, which is the case for Penn State in Allentown, and then using geographic proximity for the highest seeds.

That would leave us with the following:

Allentown, Pa.
1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
16 RIT

Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Ohio State
15 Minnesota State

Fargo, N.D.
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

With that, I’ve found too many things I don’t like. I don’t want Minnesota, the top seed, so far away from campus. I don’t want Boston University, the only Hockey East team, so far away from Manchester. So how can we get Minnesota to Fargo and get BU to Manchester? Well, I like the thought of switch entire first-round matchup locations. Move Minnesota and RIT to Fargo, swapping with Denver and Notre Dame. Then do the same for the BU-Michigan Tech matchup swapping with St. Cloud and Alaska

Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
14 Notre Dame

Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Ohio State
15 Minnesota State

Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
16 RIT

Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
13 Cornell

What we’ve done is maintain as much bracket integrity in the opening round while also making sure that all four regions will have the strongest attendance possible. That’s my bracket for the week.

So, in summary:

Jayson’s bracket

Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
9 Ohio State
16 RIT

Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State

Manchester, N.H.
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame

Allentown, Pa.
4 Michigan
8 Penn State
12 Alaska
13 Cornell

Jim’s Bracket

Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
14 Notre Dame

Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Ohio State
15 Minnesota State

Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
16 RIT

Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
13 Cornell

Talking end of NCHC season with hockey writer Schlossman: USCHO Spotlight Season 5 Episode 17

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Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Grand Forks Herald hockey writer Brad Elliott Schlossman to look at the NCHC as that league heads into the last weekend before conference playoffs, and at college hockey at large.

This podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Check out all of USCHO’s college hockey podcasts, including USCHO Weekend Review and USCHO Edge, plus our entire podcast archive.

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SUNYAC names trio of all-conference teams, all-rookie team for 2022-23 college hockey season

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Jacob Modry has been a steady force on the Plattsburgh blue line (photo: Gabe Dickens).

The SUNYAC has released its 2023 men’s hockey all-conference and all-rookie teams as nominated and voted on by the conference coaches.

First Team
Nikita Kozyrev, Buffalo State, F, Jr.
Domenic Settimo, Cortland, F, So.
Peter Morgan, Geneseo, F, So.
Matthew Doran, Geneseo, D, Gr.
Jacob Modry, Plattsburgh, D, Sr.
Matt Petizian, Geneseo, G, Sr.

Second Team
Nate Berke, Cortland, F, Jr.
Alex Dicarlo, Oswego, F, Sr.
Bennett Stockdale, Plattsburgh, F, Jr.
Matt Araujo, Plattsburgh, D, Gr.
Jack Ring, Plattsburgh, D, So.
Emil Norrman, Buffalo State, G, Jr.

Third Team
Connor Galloway, Brockport, F, Jr.
Joe Glamos, Buffalo State, F, So.
Shane Bull, Oswego, F, Jr.
Nick Grupp, Cortland, D, Sr.
Ryan Lieth, Potsdam, D, Sr.
Luca Durante, Cortland, G, Sr.

2023 SUNYAC All-Rookie Team
Manny Sanchez, Brockport, F
Aidan Lavalley, Buffalo State, F
Colby Seitz, Cortland, F
Dakota Zarudny, Geneseo, D
Cal Schell, Oswego, G
Eli Shiller, Plattsburgh, G

Saint Anselm’s Golini tabbed player of year as NEWHA announces ’22-23 individual awards, two all-NEWHA teams, all-rookie team, all-sportswomanship team

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Kelly Golini has been a season-long standout for Saint Anselm (photo: Saint Anselm Athletics).

The New England Women’s Hockey Alliance announced its major end-of-season awards on Friday and also unveiled its all-NEWHA teams, all-rookie team and all-sportswomanship team.

Saint Anselm’s Kelly Golini was named player of the year and LIU’s Paula Bergström was tabbed as the league’s defender of the year. Golini becomes the first from Saint Anselm to collect Player of the Year since Katy Meehan in 2019.

LIU’s Tindra Holm earned the NEWHA goaltender of the year award, giving LIU their first two major postseason award winners. Alexis Petford from Stonehill was selected as the league’s rookie of the year recipient, finishing alongside Golini as the regular-season point-scoring champion.

Head coach Tara Watchorn from Stonehill was hired to start the Skyhawks women’s hockey program from scratch in May 2021. In the team’s first season of varsity competition, Stonehill earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NEWHA postseason, compiling a 14-9-1 record in league play.

First Team
Tindra Holm, LIU – So. – G
Paula Bergström, LIU – Jr. – D
Stefanie Caban, Franklin Pierce – Sr. – D
Kelly Golini, Saint Anselm – Gr. – F
Alexis Petford, Stonehill – Fr. – F
Jeannie Wallner, LIU – So. – F

Second Team
Carissa Mudrak, Saint Michael’s – Jr. – G
Maeve Carey, Stonehill – Fr. – D
Gabrielle Huson, Saint Anselm – Sr. – D
Kelly Solak, Sacred Heart – Gr. – D
Delani MacKay, Sacred Heart – Gr. – F
Natalie Tulchinsky, Saint Anselm – Jr. – F
Tyra Turner, Saint Anselm – So. – F
Carrigan Umpherville, LIU – Sr. – F

All-Rookie Team
Avery Farrell, Franklin Pierce – Fr. – F
Jill Hertl, Franklin Pierce – Fr. – G
Madeleine Noonan, Post – Fr. – F
Brooklyn Pancoast, Saint Anselm – Fr. – F
Alexis Petford, Stonehill – Fr. – F
Sydney Russell, Stonehill – Fr. – D

All-Sportswomanship Team
Jenna Abeyta, Post – Sr. – F
Gabrielle Huson, Saint Anselm – Sr. – D
Natalie Kennedy, Sacred Heart – Sr. – F
Ava Kison, Franklin Pierce – Sr. – F
Jordan Lettiere, Saint Michael’s – Sr. – F
Sarah Rourke, LIU – Jr. – F
Brianna Walkom, Stonehill – Fr. – F

Stevenson’s McCanney UCHC men’s player of year as league hands out 2022-23 season awards

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Stevenson’s Liam McCanney is the UCHC’s top player for the 2022-23 season (photo: Sabrina Moran/SKM Photography).

The UCHC has announced its 2022-23 men’s hockey award winners, as well as two All-UCHC teams and an all-rookie team.

2022-23 UCHC Men’s Hockey Award Winners

Player of the Year: Liam McCanney, Stevenson
Rookie of the Year: Caden Smith, Chatham
Goaltender of the Year: Ryan Kenny, Stevenson
Defensive Player of the Year: Jayson Dobay, Utica
Coach of the Year: Gary Heenan, Utica

First Team All-UCHC
Forward: Henry McKinney, Nazareth
Forward: Liam McCanney, Stevenson
Forward: Remy Parker, Utica
Defense: Justin Allen, Utica
Defense: Jayson Dobay, Utica
Goaltender: Ryan Kenny, Stevenson
Goaltender: Bryan Landsberger, Utica

Second Team All-UCHC
Forward: Austin Master, Stevenson
Forward: Mic Curran, Utica
Forward: Dante Zapata, Utica
Defense: Zack Conner, Chatham
Defense: Nick Prestia, Manhattanville
Defense: Kimball Johnson, Utica

All-Rookie Team
Forward: Drew Ianucci, Arcadia
Forward: Caden Smith, Chatham
Forward: Logan Tobias, Nazareth
Defense: Matthew Davies, Alvernia
Defense: Aidan McDowell, Stevenson
Goaltender: Sebastian Woods, Manhattanville

This Week in CCHA Hockey: With Mason Cup playoffs on tap, teams want conference postseason win to get NCAA tournament bid

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Bowling Green is hoping for scenes like this in the upcoming series against Ferris State (photo: Mansoor Ahmad/Minnesota State Athletics).

After a CCHA campaign unlike any other came down to, quite literally, the final minute and a half of the regular season, it’s almost hard to believe the playoffs are starting this weekend.

Minnesota State ended up winning the MacNaughton Cup – their sixth in a row – with just a tiny bit of drama and some controversy (Michigan Tech fans are still talking about the goal that was disallowed due to goaltender interference).

However, it was easy to forget following that unforgettable finale that the season’s not over and there’s still plenty to play for.

Michigan Tech, despite losing then CCHA title, is in very good shape to make a return to the NCAA tournament, as they are up to No. 11 in the Pairwise rankings and, according to PlayoffStatus.com, have a 96 percent chance of making it.

Minnesota State is a different story. Even though they won the conference championship, they’re firmly on the bubble at No. 15. They can still make the tournament as an at-large, but winning the Mason Cup is the only sure-fire way for the Mavs to have a chance at a third consecutive Frozen Four.

As for the rest of the CCHA: It’s Mason Cup or bust. Nobody aside from Tech or MSU are higher than 29th.

Here’s a little bit of information on all four quarterfinal matchups, plus one reporters’ opinion on how each series will go.

No. 1 Minnesota State vs. No. 8 Lake Superior State
After some early-season struggles – including home sweeps at the hands of both Ferris State and Bemidji State before Christmas break – Minnesota State didn’t look like a championship-caliber squad.

So, despite the fact that they’d won five of them in a row previously, a sixth looked in the balance at Christmas.

But MSU (21-12-1, 16-9-1 CCHA) came back from the break refocused and went 11-3 down the stretch in 2023 – including the dramatic winner-take-all season finale with Michigan Tech on Saturday – to clinch their sixth straight MacNaughton Cup as well as home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

“You feel for the guys in the locker room, because I’m sure we’ve all been questioned by a lot of people. We’ve had some struggles here at home,” MSU head coach Mike Hastings said following Saturday night’s game. “Last night we didn’t get it done, and tonight we do. So I’m happy for these guys, because we’ve had some moments at our home rink this year that have been learning experiences. I’m excited for guys to get through and finding a way to get the night done.”

The Mavericks will turn their attention to a first-round matchup with eighth-seeded Lake Superior State. The Lakers (9-23-2, 8-17-1) have had their own share of struggles this season but seem to be playing their best hockey right now. They went 4-2-0 in the month of February and are coming off a road sweep of Ferris State.

JACK’S PICK: Mavericks sweep. Even despite Minnesota State’s aforementioned struggles at home and Lake State’s recent run of form, it’s hard to see the Mavericks losing to the Lakers at all this weekend. MSU just has too much momentum, and what’s more, the Mavericks know they’re a NCAA bubble team right now and that every win counts.

No. 2 Michigan Tech vs. No. 7 St. Thomas
Michigan Tech appeared to be 91 seconds from claiming at least a share of the MacNaughton Cup title last weekend against Minnesota State.

The Huskies (22-9-4, 15-7-4) beat MSU on Friday 2-0 behind yet another shutout from Blake Pietila but found themselves down 2-1 late in the third period Saturday when Ryland Mosley pounced on a loose puck and powered it past Mavericks goalie Keenan Rancier.

The Huskies – who only needed to force overtime to clinch their share of the league title – were elated. But the goal was eventually called back. Minnesota State’s Hastings opted to use his coaches’ challenge and officials ruled that the Huskies committed goaltender interference on the play.

The Huskies did tie it again with a goal that counted – freshman Kyle Kukkonen managed to score shorthanded with 65 seconds to go to briefly quiet the Mankato crowd – but the Mavericks scored on the power play seconds later to go up 3-2 then holding as the seconds ticked down with an empty net to deny the Huskies their title hopes.

Tech’s reward? The No. 2 seed and a home series with St. Thomas (11-21-2, 10-14-2).

“They’re obviously one of the top teams in the country for a reason, and [Pietila’s] a big part of that,” Tommies head coach Rico Blasi said of his team’s task this weekend. “You know we got to go and play, and at this time of the year you’re gonna get everybody’s best. As I told the guys earlier you know let’s talk about the regular season and how we played in the last 20 games. I’m extremely proud of our progress and how we’ve grown as a team.”

The Tommies are 9-9-2 in those last 20 games, including a 3-2 win in Houghton back in January.

The Huskies, though, have been the model of consistency all season, and a big part of that is because of Pietila. Tech’s Mike Richter Award semifinalist (and likely Hobey Baker candidate) has a 1.95 overall goals against average, a .930 save percentage and a nation-leading nine shutouts, including one against St. Thomas that same weekend in January.

“I don’t know if we expect it, but we’ve come to appreciate it,” Michigan Tech head coach Joe Shawhan said after Friday’s 2-0 shutout over Minnesota State of Pietila’s performances this season. “Every chance I have to see him play is a life experience for me. I enjoy everything about him.”

JACK’S PICK: Huskies in three. Despite losing the CCHA regular-season title to Minnesota State, I think Michigan Tech is the best team in the league right now. That being said, the difference this year between the 1-8 matchup and the 2-7 matchup is huge. St. Thomas has a knack for going into hostile environments and stealing wins this season, and they’ve already done it once in Houghton. I think Tech ultimately prevails, but not before the Tommies make them sweat it out with a close win on Saturday.

No. 3 Bowling Green vs. No. 6 Ferris State
A pair of teams who were swept this past weekend are looking for the upper hand.

BG (15-17-2, 12-12-2) has been in third place for most of the past month and have known more or less where they were going to be. Ferris, meanwhile, had the hope to clinch home ice as recently as three weeks ago. However, the Bulldogs (12-18-4, 9-14-3) have lost four straight and were unable to pass NMU or Bemidji.

“Getting home ice was the goal, so we’re happy that we accomplished that, and even though we didn’t have the win loss record we wanted, at the end of the day finishing third place is a positive for our group and being able to play a first round series at Slater Family Arena is a really good, thing so we’re excited about that,” BG head coach Ty Eigner said.

The Falcons struggled a bit in the month of February, winning just once on the road at Michigan Tech. Despite that, Eigner said he likes how BG played overall in the second half of the season.

“We’ve played a bunch of close games, and you know, we feel like this second half has been good preparation for the playoffs because of those close games and hard-fought series, and that’s what the playoffs are going to be,” Eigner said. “We’re disappointed with where we ended up in terms of points in our league because we felt like we left some points on the table the last four or five weeks, but it wasn’t because we didn’t play hard or weren’t in games. We’ve been in games; we just haven’t found a way to either finish a game off or continue the momentum.”

Ferris did take five points from Bowling Green when the two teams met in February in Ohio but lost out at their chance to host a playoff series when they were swept at Northern Michigan two weekends ago. NMU outscored the Bulldogs 17-5.

JACK’S PICK: Falcons in three. I know Ferris took eight points from the season series, so I don’t really have a logical reason for this pick aside from the fact that BG’s home ice advantage is huge. Also, they have Hobey Baker candidate Austen Swankler. The Bulldogs managed to shut him down earlier in the month but I think he carries the Falcons to the series win.

No. 4 Northern Michigan vs. No. 5 Bemidji State
The Wildcats got some help from St. Thomas this weekend to ensure the fact that they are hosting Bemidji State in Marquette and not on the road in Northern Minnesota.

NMU (18-16-0, 14-12-0) came into the weekend three points behind the Beavers (14-15-5, 12-11-3) in the race for the final home playoff spot. Because the Wildcats owned the regular-season tiebreaker, all they needed was to finish with the same number of points as the Beavers to avoid getting on another bus.

The Wildcats did their part, sweeping Bowling Green on the road in a pair of 4-2 comeback victories. And because St. Thomas topped the Beavers 3-1 on Friday night in the Twin Cities, the two teams will face off in the Upper Peninsula.

The Beavers have struggled since the calendar turned to 2023 – they were on top of the CCHA at the break but went just 5-10-1 since. NMU, on the other hand, comes into the postseason on a four-game win streak and has scored 25 goals in that span. They had swept Ferris State 9-2 and 8-3 the previous weekend.

“I thought the Ferris State weekend was important for us to finally unleash a little bit of offense, because then there’s some validation to what you’re trying to do,” NMU head coach Grant Potulny said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “I think we’ve been getting better every weekend and we didn’t get the results early that we wanted, but we’re getting them now.”

Although the teams split their regular-season series, with each team winning one at home and one on the road, the Wildcats won the tiebreaker with the Beavers by having more regulation wins (11) than BSU (nine).

JACK’S PICK: Wildcats in three. This one is truly a coin flip, so I went with the home team. Also, the Beavers are banged-up – in Saturday’s game at St. Thomas they skated with eight defensemen. Maybe a healthy BSU squad wins this, but for now this is my snap decision.

This Week in NCHC Hockey: After knocking off Western Michigan, Denver readying for Gold Pan games against Colorado College

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Colorado College’s Matthew Gleason and Denver’s Connor Caponi play at Ball Arena back on Jan. 27 (photo: Casey B. Gibson).

Denver’s two national championships in the NCHC era came in 2017 and 2022, when the Pioneers also won their conference’s regular-season championship trophy, the Penrose Cup.

They clinched that again last weekend at eighth-ranked Western Michigan. Third-ranked Denver will feel its job this season is only a third of the way done — there’s still the NCHC playoff title and a potential 10th NCAA championship in program history up for grabs — but more and more, this season’s Pioneers are showing that they thrive under pressure.

Such was the case when Denver beat Western Michigan twice by scoring in bunches. Four unanswered goals Friday in Denver’s 5-2 win saw the Pioneers overcome a 2-1 first-intermission deficit. The following night, when WMU’s Lawson Ice Arena held its biggest crowd in 11 years, three unanswered goals from as many players put the Pioneers over the top in a 3-1 victory.

Massimo Rizzo and Carter Mazur’s second goals of the weekend meant plenty Saturday, as did Mike Benning’s two-goal performance Friday. Retaining the Penrose Cup in such a hostile atmosphere, though, made the weekend that much more special. Ask Denver coach David Carle, and he’ll say the Lawson Lunatics played quite the supporting role.

“Western’s student section is pretty ruthless, but it’s a lot of fun to be a part of,” Carle said. “They’re very creative, and it’s one of the best environments in college hockey, and to go there and embrace that experience, our guys did a really nice job of it.

“We played two solid road games and hit different levels of adversity in both games, and for the most part kept our noses down, kept working and got our way through it.”

Denver’s series at Western promised to be a spectacle, with the country’s respective seventh and fourth-best offenses meeting. The Pioneers shined brightest, though, and they’ve been doing that a lot lately. Denver has scored at least three goals in each of the Pioneers’ last seven games, six of which DU won.

“A lot was made of all the people we lost up front after last season,” Carle said. “We lost six of our top nine (forwards) and had a lot of new people coming in, but from Day 1, the guys have had a real open mind to understanding that it was going to take some time for the offensive chemistry to develop.

“We’ve played a lot of different line combinations as we’ve tried to sort through where chemistry is, and who plays best with who, and I give the guys a lot of credit for not getting frustrated or down on it earlier in the year. We’re kind of out the other side of that, and we’ve shown confidence we can score. Our defensive game has generally been there all season long, but now we have an ability through that chemistry and through that work to extend leads and put some teams away.”

That should put the Pioneers in good stead as the home stretch continues. The Penrose is a nice, chunky trophy to win, but Carle is keeping his team’s focus on what’s still ahead.

“We certainly came into the year with very high expectations for our group, and those expectations haven’t changed,” Carle said. “You want to learn how to win big trophies, and the selflessness we played with and sticking to our process through both games last weekend gave us an opportunity to win a big trophy, and certainly our goal is to replicate that effort as the most fun time of year approaches us with playoffs and more big trophies on the line.”

And there’s no time to let up, including here in the final week of the regular season. One of Denver’s objectives for the season is already taken care of, but it should be easy for the Pioneers to get geed up for their home-and-home series this Friday and Saturday against in-state rival Colorado College.

Twenty-five standings points separate the teams, and Denver will be favored both nights. But the Pioneers know better than to take anything for granted when Gold Pan rivalry games come around, now or ever.

“There’s still lots on the line in the national picture for us, and you want to be playing well going into playoff hockey,” Carle said. “We know the challenge CC presents, and we’ve played them twice here in the second half.

“They’re a very good team, and we know they’re going to give us their best, so we need to be prepared with ours.”

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Looking at upcoming conference quarterfinal playoffs as postseason arrives

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Army West Point goalie Gavin Abric has been stellar in net this season for the Black Knights (photo: Army Athletics).

When the dust settled on the 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey regular season, no tiebreakers were necessary for determining the final standings/seedings, as each team ended with a unique point total.

The end result:

1. Rochester Institute of Technology
2. American International
3. Sacred Heart
4. Canisius
5. Army West Point
6. Niagara
7. Holy Cross
8. Mercyhurst
9. Bentley
10. Air Force

That means the Atlantic Hockey tournament looks like this:

Quarterfinal Round
Best-of-three series
March 3-5
No. 8 Mercyhurst at No. 1 RIT
No. 7 Holy Cross at No. 2 AIC
No. 6 Niagara at No. 3 Sacred Heart
No. 5 Army West Point at No. 4 Canisius

Semifinal Round
March 10-12
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed
Second-lowest surviving seed at second-highest surviving seed

Championship
March 18
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed

There are major differences in the tournament structure compared to past years:
1. Only the top eight seeds qualify for postseason play.
2. All games will be played on-campus.
3. The semifinals will be a best-of-three series played the week before the championship game instead of a single game played the day before the championship game.

Predictions vs. reality

It’s been a yearly tradition here to take a look at how the coaches and yours truly picked the final standings at the start of the season. The coaches vote in a preseason poll, and I vote in a poll of one to determine USCHO’s picks.

How’d we do?

Observations:
– Air Force had the biggest deviation from expectations, picked to finish third but ending up in 10th.
– RIT, Niagara and Holy Cross finished significantly higher (3-4 places) than they were picked.
– The coaches did a slightly better job than me, off by a total of 22 positions. I was off by 25.

Previewing the quarterfinals

No. 8 Mercyhurst at No. 1 RIT
The Tigers practically went wire-to-wire, and it can be said that RIT won the regular season title way back in November with back-to-back sweeps of Sacred Heart and AIC, the two teams that would chase the Tigers for the rest of the season.

A sweep at Arizona State on Jan 20-21 improved RIT’s record to 17-6-1 and had the Tigers In the conversation for an at-large NCAA bid, But since then, RIT has come down to earth a bit at 5-5, closing out the season with a sweep of last-place Air Force.

The Lakers had a nice streak going before the holidays going 5-1. But since the calendar turned, Mercyhurst is 5-9-1 including a loss to Niagara in the final game of the regular season that kept the Lakers in eighth place.

The teams met twice during the regular season, with RIT winning in regulation and Mercyhurst prevailing in a shootout.

No. 7 Holy Cross at No. 2 AIC
Picked to finish last, Holy Cross briefly held on to the fourth seed before slipping in their final games, suffering a sweep at the hands of Canisius and falling to seventh.

AIC goes into the postseason unbeaten in its past five games, including taking five of six points from Sacred Heart the final weekend of the regular season and vaulting the Yellow Jackets into sole possession of second.

The teams split their two meetings during the regular season.

No. 6 Niagara at No. 3 Sacred Heart
Coming off a sweep of RIT on Feb, 9-11, Niagara was in the hunt for home ice. But the Purple Eagles went 1-3 down the stretch to finish sixth.

Sacred Heart was in second place for most of the season, but was caught and passed by AIC the final weekend of the regular season.

This will be Niagara’s first visit to the Martire Family Arena, which opened in January. The teams split a series at Niagara back in October.

No. 5 Army West Point at No. 4 Canisius
After Holy Cross stumbled down the stretch, the fourth and final home ice spot was Army’s to lose on the final day of the regular season, and unfortunately for the Black Knights, that’s what happened. A 5-4 overtime loss to Bentley opened the door for Canisius, and the Golden Griffins will host.

The Black Knights are hard to sweep, having it happen just twice this season in conference play.

Canisius comes into the postseason 7-2 in its last nine games, and was 2-1-1 this season against Army.

Awards season

It’s almost that time of the year when the league hands out awards and announces its all-league and all-rookie teams. We’ll be handing out our kudos as well over our final three columns of the season.

Let’s start with the rookies. He are our picks:

F: Max Itagaki, Army West Point
F: Marcus Joughin, Sacred Heart
F: Nicholas Niemo, Bentley
D: John Driscoll, Army West Point
D: Chris Hedden, Air Force
G: Connor Hadley, Bentley

Check back in next time for the all-conference teams.

CHA names two all-conference teams, all-rookie team for 2022-23 college hockey season

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Penn State’s Kiara Zanon totaled 25 goals and 48 points in 36 games this season (photo: Penn State Athletics).

College Hockey America has announced the 2022-23 All-CHA teams and CHA All-Rookie Team.

Mercyhurst has the most representation in the All-CHA First, Second and All-Rookie teams with six players. Penn State is second with five players, Syracuse has three and RIT and Lindenwood each have one player represented.

The All-CHA First Team forwards consist of two Penn State teammates in junior Kiara Zanon and freshman Tessa Janecke. They are joined by Lindenwood sophomore Morgan Neitzke. The defensemen are Syracuse senior Mae Batherson and Penn State senior Izzy Heminger. Mercyhurst senior Ena Nystrøm was selected as the All-CHA First Team goaltender.

Mercyhurst’s top forward line of junior Sara Boucher, freshman Thea Johansson and sophomore Vanessa Upson take home All-CHA Second Team honors. The defensemen are Mercyhurst sophomore Sydney Pedersen and Penn State junior Lyndie Lobdell. RIT sophomore netminder Sarah Coe is the Second Team goaltender.

The forwards on the CHA All-Rookie team include Janecke, Johansson and Syracuse’s Rhéa Hicks. Defensively, the All-Rookie team includes Penn State’s Kendall Butze, Mercyhurst’s Megan McKay and Syracuse’s Maya D’Arcy.

TMQ: What can we expect as college hockey moves into the 2023 postseason?

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Drew Commesso stopped all 23 shots he faced to backstop Boston University to a 3-0 win at Vermont last Saturday night (photo: Kyle Prudhomme).

Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.

Jim: Well, Ed, I think it’s safe to say that this season is in its waning days.

Four leagues have completely finished play – the CCHA, ECAC, Atlantic Hockey and Big Ten – and a fifth, the NCHC, has already crowned its champion (congratulations, Denver, for a second straight year).

Minnesota State also won the CCHA regular-season title for a sixth year in a row.

And then there is Hockey East, maybe college hockey’s biggest conundrum. I think you may have some of the best teams in the nation in that league, but they are all cannibalizing one another and as of today, Boston University is the only team from the league in the NCAA tournament.

This isn’t a new topic as we’ve seen this coming for a few weeks now, but I think everyone, including you and I, felt like another team – Northeastern, Providence, Merrimack, UConn – would go on a run and emerge. Right now, that hasn’t happened. BU is in the driver’s seat to win the regular season. But beyond that, not surprisingly, little is decided.

Maybe because I see so much Hockey East action, I look at this league with rose-colored glasses. But you’re more neutral. Is it crazy to think that any Hockey East team that could get into the NCAA field could be considered quite dangerous?

Ed: I think any of the four teams you noted could be dangerous if they can emerge from Hockey East or put together enough wins to get inside the PWR bubble.

When it comes to playoff time, having great goaltending can take you a long way. Devon Levi is that sort of goalie. Northeastern took a step back with the road loss at UMass on Friday, but they’ve climbed out of the 40s in the PairWise – after dealing with midseason injuries – to just outside the bubble today. The Huskies can gain some PairWise position and maybe even win the league if they take care of business against UMass Lowell this weekend.

Merrimack is another head-scratcher. The Warriors were as high as No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings in December but had a terrible January and first weekend of February. But they’re right on the heels of Northeastern in the PairWise after four straight wins and are still in the mix to win Hockey East if they can win over Vermont at home. If the first semester version of Merrimack can keep it rolling, I’d watch out for them, too.

Looks like UConn can still make it into the NCAA tournament if the Huskies from Storrs can make it to the league championship game, but Providence needs to win Hockey East or keep its fingers crossed for everything to improbably fall its way. Teams that make a strong run at the end are always dangerous, so if either of those two is able to go on a heater, then I’d watch out.

We’ve talked on our podcasts about the Big Ten getting five or six teams in, but some teams in that league have cooled off. I’ll admit I was ready to write of Notre Dame until their weekend against Michigan propelled them to 14th in the PairWise and home ice in the quarterfinals. The Fighting Irish need to keep above .500 to stay in the mix, and they face a Michigan State team that needs to keep winning to move on. What are your expectations for that conference?

Jim: That may be the best question this week. What can the Big Ten produce?

Obviously, Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State are all elite teams and ready to take their positions in the NCAA tournament. The two bubble teams, Notre Dame and Michigan State, are on opposite sides of the PairWise bubble. Notre Dame jumped to the positive position, sitting in 14th, taking four of six points from Michigan including an overtime road win on Saturday.

But Notre Dame feels tenuous to me still. The Irish are one game above .500 so the No. 1 thing they must do is survive a best-of-three quarterfinal series against Michigan State this weekend. Lose two games to none, season is over as Notre Dame will be under .500. Lose two games to one and they’ll be exactly at .500 and tournament eligible but likely will drop enough that they can’t earn an at-large bid. The Irish have to advance and probably need to sweep to feel secure heading to the Big Ten semis.

Michigan State is the other end of that weekend series and is in considerably more dire straits than Notre Dame. Michigan State basically has to sweep this weekend AND likely advance to the Big Ten title game to have any chance at an at-large bid. Even then, there’s not guarantees.

So as fantastic a season it has been for the Big Ten, it’s quite possible that four teams may be the ceiling for the conference.

I might as well take this chance to ask your thoughts on another at-large team on the bubble and that’s Alaska. The Nanooks currently sit at No. 12 in the PairWise, which this time of year usually feels somewhat solid. But as an independent, they’ll play just two more games against Lindenwood this weekend without any chance to improve their position.

How do you see this Alaska team’s hopes? Obviously two wins are a must this weekend. But even then, there seems to be ways that the Nanooks could fall in the RPI and PairWise. Think they’ll make the field of 16?

Ed: Wow. Thanks, Jim! I got taken to task on Twitter for our Weekend Review podcast “selling” on the Nanooks and also for all 50 USCHO poll voters for discounting them. And now you ask me that.

Alaska did exactly what it needed to do against Arizona State. The two wins against a team with a good strength of schedule helped, but victories over Denver, Omaha, and Notre Dame are really what have boosted the Nanooks to No. 12 in the PairWise.

At this point, I’d be foolish to say that Alaska can’t make it to the tournament. As you mentioned, they will need to sweep Lindenwood this weekend. Because the Lions are near the bottom of D-I in strength of schedule, wins won’t help the PairWise much, but losses could be devastating. I’m expecting Alaska to get the sweep and keep practicing. Then Erik Largen’s team will need to watch the six conference tournaments – well, five of them – and keep their fingers crossed that there aren’t too many upsets.

It’s no small task to get to the NCAAs as an independent team. Alaska has played the schedule it needed to and won the games it wasn’t expected to – except by Nanooks fans. That’s gotten them almost all the way there.

ECAC Hockey gets playoffs underway this weekend and the NCHC is one weekend away. Are there teams in those conferences who are good candidates to pull off upsets?

Jim: Well, I’ll thank you back as no writer ever really wants to develop bulletin board material by saying that some team with home ice in a conference tournament can’t advance.

I said it on our podcast (and I know you didn’t ask about Big Ten) so I’ll repeat it. I think that Wisconsin minimally gives Michigan a series. Yes, the Badgers have struggled all year. And yes, they just won their first Big Ten road game in what seems like forever. But Michigan is winless in four and could actually be primed to be picked off in one of the first two games. And if you force a Game 3, anything is possible, no?

In the ECAC, I feel like Yale could play the role of spoiler. At times, this Yale team has been horrible this year. But they played a scoreless tie with RPI and lost 4-2 not too long ago and, moreover, the Bulldogs beat both Princeton and Colgate in the last couple of weeks.

I also wonder about whether Reid Cashman can get his Dartmouth team up to challenge Colgate. Cashman had tons of playoff success at Quinnipiac.

As for the NCHC, I keep asking, “Why can’t North Dakota make noise in the tournament?” That should also answer your question.

Who do you like in an underdog role this weekend?

Ed: Well, as long as we’re going to be bulletin board fodder, I might as well jump in all the way.

Any close matchups are ripe for upsets. In the ECAC, the No. 8 Union vs. No. 9 Princeton strikes me as the one most likely. I’ve seen both teams this season and was more impressed with Princeton. Those first-round single-elimination games are tough. That conference really should consider a first-round best-of-three format.

In the NCHC, I can see Minnesota Duluth winning a road series. But that means they’d have to beat St. Cloud, Western Michigan, or Omaha. I guess when the final weekend has been played and we know the bracket I can revisit this, as only Miami at Denver is decided.

Elsewhere, I would not be surprised if the Notre Dame-Michigan State and Ohio State-Penn State series ended up being upsets, as the teams are so closely matched, but there’s not a lot of momentum for any of those teams right now. Well, maybe Notre Dame has some working after its weekend with Michigan.

I don’t see any major upsets in the CCHA. But don’t be surprised if some underdogs take it to three games. I think Michigan Tech advances, but St. Thomas is playing well enough to make a Sunday game necessary.

Lastly, Atlantic Hockey perennially has upsets. I think the two teams most likely to upset the higher seeds are Niagara at Sacred Heart and Holy Cross in a 1:05 ET matinee series at AIC. The Purple Eagles have had some good road wins and the Crusaders have had a really strong 2023, save for a sweep at the hands of Canisius last weekend.

The biggest upset of all would be if we had none. The fun part is prognosticating which ones.

D-III Women’s West Week 17: Weekend recap and this weekend’s conference title game picks!

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Gustavus defeated Hamline and advanced to the MIAC title game (Photo by Jordan Modjeski)

The playoffs come upon us so fast and seem to fly by. Approaching championship weekend, we’ll take a look at how the teams out west got there and also, I’ll make my picks for this weekend’s games in the three conferences.

MIAC

Gustavus defeats Hamline 5-1

The Gusties are headed to another MIAC title game after easily defeating Hamline this past weekend. The staggering stat in this one was the shot totals, Gustavus led in shots 52-7… You won’t lose many games when you hold a team to so few shots and fire just over 7x more than your opponent. Hamline goaltender Maddie Nickell had a good night despite letting in 5 goals, making 47 saves vs the #1 ranked team via USCHO. Penalties in the game were hard to come by, just a pair for four minutes total committed by Hamline and one minor committed by Gustavus.

Augsburg defeats Saint Benedict 5-2

After falling to St. Scholastica in the quarterfinal round last year of the MIAC, Augsburg finds themselves in the finals after getting the win over Saint Benedict who had an above-average year for themselves. Augsburg led the game in shots 42-27 but fell behind early 2-0 as CSB scored a pair of goals within 30 seconds of each other in the 1st period with the first coming on the powerplay (7:19 & 7:49). The Auggies would then score 5 unanswered goals, one in the 1st period and two in both the 2nd & 3rd periods. The game was heavily penalty ridden, mostly on the CSB side as they committed 9 for 18 minutes (which shouldn’t be a shocker considering they’re ranked 4th nationally in penalty minutes with 269 in 26 games (10.35 per game), while Augsburg only had 4 for 8 minutes.

NCHA 

Adrian sweeps Lawrence, winning 10-0 & 5-0.

Adrian had a relatively easy weekend, defeating Lawrence by a combined 15-0 in two games. Adrian outshot Lawrence 65-9 in game one and 69-2 in game two (134-11). Penalties were common, Adrian committing 4 in game-one & 5 in game-two, while Lawrence decided to top them, committing 6 in game-one & 9 in game-two. Dominant weekend overall, we expected nothing less from this matchup.

Lake Forest defeats Concordia (Wis.) after tying 3-3 & winning 6-3

Lake Forest moves on after a close weekend, game-one was a close one with both teams each scoring in all three periods and no one could break the deadlock in 2 overtimes, resulting in a 3-3 tie. In game two, CUW got on the board 4:13 into the 1st period, but the 2nd period was all Foresters, scoring 4 goals to CUW’s 1, and then adding two more in the 3rd period to get the 6-3 victory. Lake Forest had 3 powerplay goals and 1 shorthanded goal in game-two. 

Aurora sweeps Trine, winning 7-2 & 5-1

Aurora easily moved on after sweeping Trine. Neither game was ever really in doubt except for when Trine got on the board first in game-one, scoring 2:04 into the 1st, however, Aurora answered by scoring 6 unanswered goals and eventually won 7-2. Aurora led in shots 42-9. In game two Aurora got out to a 4-0 lead, eventually ending 5-1 and securing the victory. They outshot Trine 61-19 and once again, the result of the game was never in doubt.

St. Norbert sweeps Marian, winning 7-1 & 3-2

St. Norbert moved on after handling Marian well in game-one and then keeping it close in the second game, winning a slim 3-2. In game-one Norbert scored 6 unanswered, only once in the 1st period, but 5 in the 2nd and never looked back. Winning the shooting battle 32-6 and handling the game from the opening puck drop. Game-two was closer, no scoring until the 2nd period when Norbert scored a pair of goals and Marian answered to make it 2-1. Norbert then added one more in the 2nd to go into the 3rd up 3-1, which eventually ended 3-2 after Norbert held onto the lead for 18 minutes after Marian scored a quick 1:30 into the final period.

WIAC

UW-River Falls sweeps Northland, winning 7-1 & 9-1

After Northland pulled the upset over UW-Superior, they were met with a bigger test, to which UW-River Falls handled easily, winning both games convincingly. UW-River Falls outshot Northland 63-7 in game-one and 70-7 in game-two, neither was close. UWRF did what we all knew would happen and they moved on easily.

UW-Eau Claire sweeps UW-Stevens Point, winning both games 2-0

UW-Eau Claire got a pair of shutout victories without their starting goaltender this past weekend to move onto the final’s vs UW-River Falls. In these two games the Blugolds struggled to score, but got it done in the end. In game-one, no scoring occurred in the 1st period, but Eau Claire scored a rapid 10 seconds into the 2nd period and added an empty net goal in the 3rd in the last minute of play. In game-two, sort of the same story occurred, Eau Claire scored late in the 2nd period and then late in the 3rd to win 2-0. Game wasn’t real even in the shot totals, Eau Claire winning that battle 40-9 & 49-7, but neither team was able to muster much offense.

This Weekend’s Picks:

MIAC

Gustavus vs Augsburg: March 4, 2023 – 2:00 pm CST

My Pick: Gustavus 4-2

Give me the Gusties winning the MIAC title over Augsburg this weekend. Gustavus has home ice and the higher skill levels all-around. Yes, obvious pick to many I’m aware, but even though Augsburg has challenged Gustavus this season, even beating them once, I think they get it done when it matters as they’ve been there and done that before, unlike Augsburg.

NCHA

Adrian vs Lake Forest: March 3, 2023 – 3:00 pm EST

My Pick: Adrian 5-2

Adrian sweeps Lawrence to advance to the NCHA semifinals (Photo by Mike Dickie)

Lake Forest handed Adrian an OT loss earlier this season, but this time give me the Bulldogs to win and advance to the final the following day in their home building. Adrian’s been playing well as of late, cleaning a few things up from the Aurora series, but I’m not sure Lake Forest can upset Adrian again like earlier.

Aurora vs St. Norbert: March 3, 2023 – 7 pm EST

My Pick: Aurora 4-3

The Spartans have looked really good as of late, defeating Adrian handily and then putting it together the past few weekends, I think they’re going to get one back from Norbert who won the season series 2-0 in two very close games. Darci Matson is leading the country in points by a decent margin, she should nab a few in this game. Give me Aurora to go back to the NCHA title game.

*Hypothetical* Adrian vs Aurora: March 4, 2023 – 2 pm EST

 My Pick: Adrian 4-3 OT

I think this one’s extremely close, give me Adrian to get revenge vs Aurora after the Spartans defeated Adrian in the semifinals last year and made their way to their first-ever NCAA tournament bid. I think Adrian will have a better gameplan than before vs Aurora, also playing them at home and not on the road after a long bus ride helps too. I’ve liked Adrian all year and I’ll keep rolling with them here to win the NCHA title.

WIAC 

UW-River Falls vs UW-Eau Claire: March 4, 2023 – 2:05 pm CST

My Pick: UW-River Falls 5-2

The Blugolds got the best of UWRF just a few weekends ago, but this time I think River Falls wins handily due to the uncertainty in net for Eau Claire as their starting goaltender missed the last two games vs UW-Stevens Point. The backup got two shutouts vs UWSP, but UWRF is another animal and the game being in River Falls with a large crowd, I’m not sure without their starter they can get it done. If the starter can go, then anything can happen, but as of right now, I’ll take the Falcons to win the WIAC.

Minnesota collects 37 first-place votes, remains top-ranked team in USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

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Aaron Huglen and Minnesota swept Ohio State last weekend (photo: Minnesota Athletics).

Minnesota is again the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll as the Gophers pinned down 37 first-place votes this week.

Quinnipiac stays No. 2 and collects the other 13 first-place votes in this week’s rankings.

Denver is still No. 3 and Michigan fourth, and Harvard is up two to sit fifth this week.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll – Feb. 27, 2023

St. Cloud remains sixth, Boston University is up two to No. 7, Western Michigan falls three to No. 8, Ohio State is down one to No. 9, and Penn State holds steady at No. 10.

Just one new team enters the rankings this week as Alaska sits at No. 18.

In addition to the top 20 teams, seven other teams received votes.

The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.

Eating crow over Alaska, review controversies in Minnesota State, Denver wins: Weekend Review Season 5 Episode 22

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Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger look at the games of the past weekend and the news of the week in this D-I college hockey podcast.

This podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour

Topics include:

• Eating a little crow over Alaska, but the Nanooks still need to sweep and have help
• What does that say about independent schedules?
• Crazy finish as Minnesota State claims MacNaughton Cup
• Denver sweeps Western Michigan after Friday’s game has controversial call
• NCAA tournament attendance: Is it actually looking really good?
• Potential upsets in conference playoffs

 

Subscribe to this college hockey podcast on Apple podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Find our college hockey podcast archive at USCHO.com/podcasts

Continue

D-III East Hockey Weekend Wrap-up – February 27, 2023

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Amherst’s Zachary Murray scored the overtime winning goal to lead the Mammoths to a 3-2 win over Tufts and opportunity to host NESCAC’s championship weekend (Photo by Amherst Athletics)

If we all thought something like, the regular season was crazy but the playoffs will show the true championship pedigree teams, then I say the list just got a lot bigger as there were upsets aplenty, thrilling overtime games and surprises across many conferences as the playoff action unfolded this weekend. The CCC, NE-10, SUNYAC, and UCHC all see the top two seeds playing for the championship next weekend while the NEHC, NESCAC and MASCAC saw lower seeds earn their shot at the title. There is just one more week to earn conference glory and a shot on the national stage. Here is a recap of the exciting action that has us all in anticipation of championship hockey:

CCC   

True to form, the top four teams played in the semifinals this weekend after the University of New England and Salve Regina won quarterfinal games earlier in the week. The Nor’easters needed a Jared Christy overtime goal to knock-off Wentworth, 3-2 while the Seahawks handled Western New England by a 5-2 score to set up the weekend’s semifinal round.

Salve Regina faced No. 1 seed Endicott who had been sitting for a week following their only conference loss in the season finale against Curry. It was the Gulls who took one-goal advantages first with a pair of goals from Cassidy “Cass” Bowes in the first period that were answered by Johnny Mulera and Logan Calder for a 2-2 tie after twenty minutes. Mulera gave the visitors a 3-2 lead after two periods of play and Mitch Walinski extended the advantage to 4-2 with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation. That is when the Gulls and Cass Bowes fired up the offense. Bowes scored his third and fourth goals of the game to tie the score at 4-4 with just two minutes remaining in regulation before Noah Strawn delivered the game-winning goal just 30 seconds after Bowes tied the game for an electric 5-4 come-from-behind win. Atticus Kelly made 21 saves to earn the victory while Anthony Del Tufo stopped 44 of 49 shots in a losing effort for Salve Regina.

The second semifinal saw Curry hosting the defending champions from UNE and the Colonels took advantage of two goals and an assist from Eelis Laaksonen and 30 saves from goaltender Reid Cooper to post a convincing 5-1 win over the Nor’easters. The penalty filled game saw Cooper at his best in helping the Colonels successfully kill all seven man advantages for the Nor’easters who had to settle for Alex Sheehy’s even-strength goal as the only puck to get behind Cooper.

The championship game will take place on Saturday, March 4 with Endicott hosting Curry.

MASCAC

Due to a mid-week snowstorm, Thursday’s scheduled quarterfinal games were re-scheduled for Saturday with the winners playing this upcoming Tuesday in the semifinals and the championship game still on the schedule for Saturday.

Fitchburg State hosted a resurgent Salem State team and jumped to an early lead on a goal from Toivo Kramer. Erik Larsson tied the score with just two seconds remaining on the clock for a 1-1 score at the first intermission. Jack Johansen gave the Falcons an early lead in the second period but the Vikings again scored late with Larsson setting up David Cicak to tie the game at 2-2 after forty minutes of play. The third period was all Salem State as they scored four unanswered goals on the way to a 6-2 win knocking off the No. 3 seeded Falcons who struggled offensively against goaltender Adam Mercer and his 23-save win.

The other quarterfinal game saw a re-match of the season finale between Westfield State and Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The Owls and Corsairs traded goals through the first 51 minutes of play for a 3-3 tie late into the third period. JoJo Carbone gave the Owls a 4-3 lead with a power play goal less than a minute after Sky Silverstein leveled the score for the visitors. An empty-net goal from Cory Morris provided the final cushion in a 5-3 win that was backstopped by Valtteri Valtonen who stopped 45 of 48 shots by the Corsairs.

The semifinal matchups find No. 1 seed Plymouth State hosting Westfield State on Tuesday night while Salem State travels to No. 2 Worcester State for an afternoon game on Tuesday, February 28.

NE-10

The quarterfinal round saw Assumption dispatch Post by a 7-2 score while Franklin Pierce downed Southern New Hampshire, 3-1 to earn their place in Saturday’s semifinal round.

The Ravens traveled to meet top-seed St. Anselm and ran into a hot goaltender and the offense of forward Matt Hayes. Hayes scored two goals and added two assists while goaltender Nick Howard stopped all 33 shots he faced in a convincing 5-0 shutout win for the Hawks. Andrew Andary also chipped in with a goal and two assists for St. Anselm.

Assumption traveled to Vermont and a semifinal matchup with St. Michael’s on Saturday. The Greyhounds took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on a goal from Jimmy McDermott, but the second period was an offensive show for the Purple Knights who scored five times in the final nine minutes of the period to take a commanding lead with just one period of play remaining. Assumption would close the deficit to 5-3 midway through the third period but that is as close as they would get with Jack Bavis and Brennan McFarland adding empty-net goals just eight seconds apart in the final two minutes to seal a 7-3 win. Marshall Murphy stopped 34 of 37 shots for the Purple Knights.

St. Anselm will host St. Michael’s for the NE-10 championship on Saturday, March 4 at 1:00 PM at Sullivan Arena.

NEHC

Last week’s Cinderella team, Skidmore traveled Hobart for semifinal action in what was expected to be a disciplined low scoring contest which is exactly what took place on the ice with goaltenders Tate Brandon (Skidmore) and Damon Beaver (Hobart) making things difficult for anyone to score a goal. The Thoroughbreds did not score on Hobart in two games during the regular season and Beaver was able to continue that streak with a 26-save shutout in a 1-0 Hobart win. Captain Zach Tyson scored the game’s only goal in the second period and Beaver made the tally stand up for the win.

The other semifinal found familiar foes facing off with Babson visiting Norwich on Saturday. Goals from Thomas Kramer, Egan Schmitt and Will Holland in each period gave the Beavers a commanding 3-0 lead before Wyatt George sealed the 4-0 victory with a late empty-net tally for Babson. Nolan Hildebrand was outstanding in goal for Babson stopping all 34 Cadet shots he faced.

Hobart will host the NEHC championship game for the first time when Babson travels to The Cooler for a 7 PM face-off against the Statesmen on Saturday.

NESCAC

Welcome to the crazy portion of the program where anything could happen in the quarterfinal matchups and pretty much did with only the No. 3 seeded Amherst being able to earn a victory on home ice – and barely in overtime. No. 5 Colby, No. 7 Bowdoin and  No. 8 Williams all staged comeback wins against the host teams to set up a very interesting championship weekend hosted by the Mammoths.

Wesleyan took advantage of a weekend sweep of Trinity to earn the regular season title and a game against No. 8 Williams. Wiggle Kerbrat and Jake Lachance gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead after forty minutes of play and Kerbrat added his second of the game to make it 3-0 just over a minute into the third period. The Ephs would not go away quietly as Owen Stadheim got Williams on the board and Mac Carso scored a pair of goals in a two minute span to tie the game at 3-3. With just 50 seconds remaining in regulation, Jonah Gold gave the Ephs a stunning 4-3 win to upset the No. 1 seed. Evan Ruschil made 30 saves for Williams in the come-from-behind victory.

Trinity hosted Bowdoin and came hot flying peppering Alex Kozic with 19 first period shots but could not get anything past the Polar Bears netminder. Riley Prattson gave the Bantams a 1-0 lead after two periods of play and the scene was set for more drama beyond sixty minutes. Gabe Shipper tied the game at 1-1 with less than five minutes remaining in regulation time but neither team could find the game winner. In overtime, Chris Brown, with an assist from Cam Berube beat Devon Bobak and the Polar Bears skated off with a  2-1 upset of the No. 2 Bantams.

Amherst hosted Tufts in the only evening game of the quarter final round and certainly was aware of the upsets and their opportunity to host the championship weekend with a win. Greg McGunigle and Zachary Murray each gave the Mammoths a one-goal lead only to see Cole Dubicki and Mason Kohn answer for the Jumbos to forge a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation. The overtime session saw a back and forth game with both teams finding chances that were kept off the board by the excellent goaltending of Peyton Durand for Tufts and Dan Dachille for Amherst. With just 32 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, Taylor notched his second goal of the game and the game-winner to give the Mammoths a 3-2 win.

Colby also tasted an overtime victory on the road when they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Hamilton 3-2 on Dan Juzych’s goal just over nine minutes into the extra session. Ben Zimmerman and Sam MacBean had given the Continentals a 2-0 lead but the Mules responded with second period goals from Tyler Crist and Alex Bourhas to level the score. Neither team could score in the third period setting up Juzych’s overtime magic to advance the Mules to the semifinals.

On Saturday, No. 3 Amherst will play No. 8 Williams and No. 5 Colby will play No. 7 Bowdoin with the two winners playing for the championship on Sunday afternoon.

SUNYAC

The quarterfinal round saw Geneseo hosting Fredonia and Cortland hosting Buffalo State. The Knights used goals by Bryan Zurowski, Peter Morgan and Alex Wilkins and 21-saves from Matt Petizian to advance with a 3-0 win over the Blue Devils. In the other game, goaltender Emil Normann outdueled Luca Durante making 39 saves and helping the Bengals to a 3-2 upset over the Red Dragons.

On Saturday, the Knights traveled to face No. 2 seed Plattsburgh and the Cardinals jumped out to 2-0 lead on goals by Bennett Stockdale and Brendan Young. Dominic Garozzo would trim the deficit to one-goal setting up an exciting third period. In the final twenty minutes, Plattsburgh would score three unanswered goals from Luk Jirousek, Jake Lanyi, and Carson Gallagher to seal a 5-1 win and end Geneseo’s hopes of a fifth straight SUNYAC title. Eli Schiller stopped 41 shots for Plattsburgh in the win.

Top-seeded Oswego hosted Buffalo State and two goals by Tyler Flack and Alex DiCarlo just fifteen seconds apart in the first period helped the Lakers to a 2-0 lead. Connor Gatto extended the lead to 3-0 in the first minute of the second period and Cal Schell made 15 saves as the Lakers cruised to a 4-1 win and opportunity to host the SUNYAC title game on Saturday.

“I just thought we got off to a good start,” said head coach Ed Gosek. “The two goals in fifteen seconds, back-to-back there was a big momentum boost for us and put them back on their heels. It allowed us to maintain a lot of offensive zone time and then the penalty kill was huge with the five-minute major. Cal [Schell] played well and kept us in it with mistakes we made. They are a good team. There is a reason why their top three guys are leading the league in scoring. They are very creative, fast and their statistics back it up.”

Oswego will host Plattsburgh for the SUNYAC championship on Saturday, March 4 at 7 PM.

UCHC

The top four seeds all won their quarterfinal games on Wednesday with Utica taking a third game in five days from Arcadia, 5-2; Nazareth skating away from Alvernia, 5-1; Stevenson doubling up Chatham, 6-3 and Manhattanville downing Wilkes, 4-1 to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.

The Pioneers, led by Lucas Herrmann, left no doubt in their game against Manhattanville as the hosts scored six goals in the first period including a hat trick by Herrmann on the way to a lopsided 11-0 win. Herrmann would finish with four goals including two on the power play and one shorthanded goal. The Pioneers scored five power play goals and six special team goals with Herrmann’s shorthanded tally.

In the other semifinal, Stevenson visited Nazareth and the two teams exchanged goals in both the first and second periods for a 2-2 tie after forty minutes of play. In the third period, Blake Frost gave the Golden Flyers a 3-2 lead and Henry McKinney iced the game with an unassisted goal in the final minute for a 4-2 win. Goaltender Richard Provencheur was outstanding, making 25 saves for Nazareth.

Utica will host Nazareth for the UCHC championship game at “The Aud” on Saturday night.

Three Biscuits  

Cassidy Bowes – Endicott –  scored four goals to spearhead a Gull comeback in a 5-4 win over Salve Regina in the CCC semifinals on Saturday.

Lucas Herrmann  – Utica – scored a first period hat trick on the way to a four-goal game in the Pioneers’ 11-0 shutout win over Manhattanville on Saturday.

Zachary Murray – Amherst – scored two goals including the overtime winner with less than thirty seconds remaining to give the Mammoths a 3-2 win over Tufts on Saturday.

The action was terrific this past week and there is still more to come with the MASCAC semifinal round and championship action slated for next weekend. It is what everyone has been playing for all season and now the focus comes down to just one week and for most one game.

Ed Gosek quotes supplied by Mr. SUNYAC, Russell Jaslow – many thanks for the continued support.

Monday 10: Denver repeats as NCHC Penrose Cup champs, Minnesota State collects MacNaughton Cup again, Alaska on brink of NCAA tournament berth

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Denver players celebrate with the Penrose Cup after defeating Western Michigan on home ice Saturday night (photo: Denver Athletics).

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

1. No. 1 Gophers end regular season with big sweep

Minnesota’s five unanswered goals Saturday saw the top-ranked Golden Gophers come from behind to beat visiting No. 8 Ohio State 5-2 to close out a series sweep.

Aaron Huglen and Matthew Knies’ goals 12 seconds apart in the second period set the table for Minnesota’s 11th win this season against a top-10 opponent. The Gophers won in a game where they gave up two power-play goals for just the fourth time this season, and for the first time since mid-November.

The Big Ten’s regular-season champions finished the Ohio State series in front of a packed 3M Arena at Mariucci, playing to a sell-out crowd for the eighth time this season.

2. Quinnipiac reaches 20 league wins

Second-ranked Quinnipiac on Saturday became the first ECAC Hockey team in 34 years to reach the 20-win mark in-conference, thanks to a 4-1 win at RPI.

The Bobcats won both their games last weekend by matching scores, also beating Union 4-1 Friday on the road. RPI got on the board first Saturday, but multiple-point showings from Collin Graf, Jayden Lee, Jacob Quillan and Sam Lipkin helped Quinnipiac end the regular season with eight consecutive victories by a combined 33-7.

Quinnipiac’s 28 overall wins this season match the Bobcats’ total from a year ago. The Bobcats are one win away from setting a new program record for victories in a single season.

3. Harvard finishes regular season unbeaten in seven

Seventh-ranked Harvard should also feel good about itself heading into the postseason, as two road wins last weekend saw the Crimson’s officially unbeaten streak reach seven games.

Two-point showings from both Alex Laferriere and John Farinacci helped Harvard to its 6-2 win Friday at St. Lawrence, in a game where five different Crimson players scored. On Saturday at Clarkson, Ian Moore scored the eventual game winner with .02 seconds left in the second period, and Harvard held on to beat the Golden Knights 3-2. That saw the Crimson reach 21 wins for the second consecutive season.

Harvard has won six of its last seven games, with the only blemish in that span being a tie and shootout loss Feb. 13 against Northeastern in the Beanpot championship game.

4. Denver repeats as Penrose champions

Third-ranked Denver on Saturday won the Pioneers’ second consecutive NCHC regular-season title, thanks to a 3-1 road win against No. 5 Western Michigan.

In front of Lawson Ice Arena’s biggest crowd in 11 years, Denver erased a first-period deficit and saw Carter Mazur’s goal 4:48 into the third stand up as the game-winner. Magnus Chrona made 30 saves for Denver, earning his 22nd win of the season.

Denver’s two previous Penrose Cup triumphs came in 2017 and 2022, when the Pioneers also won the national championship. No pressure, then.

5. Minnesota State claims McNaughton again

With apologies to the rest of the CCHA, it feels like the McNaughton Cup is Minnesota State’s to hold onto until proven otherwise.

The Mavericks on Saturday became conference regular-season champions for the sixth consecutive year, thanks to a 3-2 home win over Michigan Tech. MSU had dropped a 2-0 decision to the Huskies one night earlier, but three-power play goals Saturday put MSU over the top.

Lake Superior State comes to Mankato, Minn., later this week for a first-round CCHA playoffs series against a MSU team hoping to make a repeat trip to the Frozen Four.

6. BU stays on top of Hockey East

Ninth-ranked Boston University is one of many teams standing in MSU’s way, though, and the Terriers are riding high after a road sweep over Vermont saw BU hold onto first place in Hockey East.

Two Dylan Peterson goals lifted BU to its 5-3 series-opening win Friday at Gutterson Fieldhouse, before Drew Commesso stopped all 23 shots he faced Saturday in a 3-0 victory for the visitors. Domenick Fensore, Luke Tuch and Jay O’Brien supplied the goals.

BU seems to own Vermont on the Catamounts’ home rink, winning eight straight there and earning shutouts in three of them. The Terriers were particularly good on the penalty kill last weekend, going 7 for 7.

7. Michigan, Notre Dame go to OT twice

In one of the bigger series of the weekend, fourth-ranked Michigan was taken to overtime twice by No. 20 Notre Dame, and the visiting Fighting Irish got the best of the deal.

They skated to a 3-3 tie Friday with Michigan but took the extra Big Ten standings point in the shootout. Regulation didn’t decide anything on Saturday, either, but Drew Bavaro’s second goal of the game 1:30 into overtime meant that Notre Dame came away happiest with how the weekend went. Irish goaltender Ryan Bischel was fantastic, too, making 48 saves.

A 2-0-2 mark from its last four regular-season games helped Notre Dame sneak into a home-ice spot for the first round of the Big Ten playoffs. The Irish host Michigan State for a best-of-three series starting on Friday.

8. Alaska on verge of NCAA tourney spot

Alaska is nearly within touching distance of earning a huge win for Division I independent teams, as the Nanooks zero in what could be their first NCAA tournament berth since 2010.

Matching 4-2 wins last Friday and Saturday at Arizona State set Alaska up in 12th place in the PairWise Rankings. The Nanooks finished the weekend with a flourish, too, as four unanswered goals helped Alaska reach the 20-win mark for the season. This is the first time that Alaska has hit 20 wins in a single season since 2001-02, when the Guy Gadowsky-led Nanooks reached 22.

Now led by an obvious national coach of the year candidate in Erik Largen, Alaska could all but lock up a NCAA tourney berth this weekend with two home wins over Lindenwood.

9. Omaha pays tribute to late assistant Jerrard

Fourteenth-ranked Omaha last weekend played the Mavericks’ first two home games following the death of UNO assistant Paul Jerrard, who passed on Feb. 15 following a long cancer battle.

He was 57.

Jerrard’s funeral service Wednesday was live-streamed for public viewing at Baxter Arena, where a later celebration of his life was held. Before the Mavericks’ series opener Friday against St. Cloud State, a moment of silence was held before Jerrard’s wife and two daughters performed a ceremonial puck drop.

UNO split the series against No. 6 SCSU, dropping a 6-2 decision Friday before winning Saturday by the same score.

10. Andrew helps RIT finish regular season with home sweep

Atlantic Hockey regular-season champion RIT had lost four of its last five games heading into last weekend, but the Tigers finished the right way with two victories against last-place Air Force.

Sophomore forward Tanner Andrew’s career-high three-point night Friday helped RIT beat the Falcons 3-1, and Andrew’s first collegiate multi-point game saw him reach 20 career points. He had another big game Saturday, scoring twice in a 5-2 victory on RIT’s Senior Night.

The Tigers open Atlantic Hockey playoff action Friday at home to Mercyhurst.

Rankings roundup: How the top 20 NCAA hockey teams fared, Feb. 24-25

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Omaha’s Matt Miller and St. Cloud State’s Chase Brand battle for the puck last Friday night at Baxter Arena (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).

Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of Feb. 20 fared in games over the weekend of Feb. 24-25.

No. 1 Minnesota (25-8-1)
02/24/2023 – No. 8 Ohio State 0 at No. 1 Minnesota 4
02/25/2023 – No. 8 Ohio State 2 at No. 1 Minnesota 5

No. 2 Quinnipiac (28-3-3)
02/24/2023 – No. 2 Quinnipiac 4 at Union 1
02/25/2023 – No. 2 Quinnipiac 4 at Rensselaer 1

No. 3 Denver (26-8-0)
02/24/2023 – No. 3 Denver 5 at No. 5 Western Michigan 2
02/25/2023 – No. 3 Denver 3 at No. 5 Western Michigan 1

No. 4 Michigan (20-11-3)
02/24/2023 – No. 20 Notre Dame 3 at No. 4 Michigan 3 (OT)
02/25/2023 – No. 20 Notre Dame 2 at No. 4 Michigan 1 (OT)

No. 5 Western Michigan (21-12-1)
02/24/2023 – No. 3 Denver 5 at No. 5 Western Michigan 2
02/25/2023 – No. 3 Denver 3 at No. 5 Western Michigan 1

No. 6 St. Cloud State (19-10-3)
02/24/2023 – No. 6 St. Cloud State 6 at No. 14 Omaha 2
02/25/2023 – No. 6 St. Cloud State 2 at No. 14 Omaha 6

No. 7 Harvard (21-6-2)
02/24/2023 – No. 7 Harvard 6 at St. Lawrence 2
02/25/2023 – No. 7 Harvard 3 at Clarkson 2

No. 8 Ohio State (18-13-3)
02/24/2023 – No. 8 Ohio State 0 at No. 1 Minnesota 4
02/25/2023 – No. 8 Ohio State 2 at No. 1 Minnesota 5

No. 9 Boston University (22-10-0)
02/24/2023 – No. 9 Boston University 5 at Vermont 3
02/25/2023 – No. 9 Boston University 3 at Vermont 0

No. 10 Penn State (20-13-1)
02/24/2023 – Wisconsin 1 at No. 10 Penn State 6
02/25/2023 – Wisconsin 2 at No. 10 Penn State 1

No. 11 Michigan Tech (22-9-4)
02/24/2023 – No. 11 Michigan Tech 2 at No. 12 Minnesota State 0
02/25/2023 – No. 11 Michigan Tech 2 at No. 12 Minnesota State 3

No. 12 Minnesota State (21-12-1)
02/24/2023 – No. 11 Michigan Tech 2 at No. 12 Minnesota State 0
02/25/2023 – No. 11 Michigan Tech 2 at No. 12 Minnesota State 3

No. 13 Cornell (18-9-2)
02/24/2023 – No. 13 Cornell 5 at Brown 0
02/25/2023 – No. 13 Cornell 5 at Yale 1

No. 14 Omaha (18-11-3)
02/24/2023 – No. 6 St. Cloud State 6 at No. 14 Omaha 2
02/25/2023 – No. 6 St. Cloud State 2 at No. 14 Omaha 6

No. 15 Northeastern (16-11-5)
02/24/2023 – No. 15 Northeastern 2 at Massachusetts 3
02/25/2023 – Massachusetts 0 at No. 15 Northeastern 4

No. 16 Connecticut (19-10-3)
02/23/2023 – Alaska Anchorage 3 at No. 16 Connecticut 4 (OT)
02/25/2023 – RV New Hampshire 1 at No. 16 Connecticut 6

No. 17 Merrimack (20-12-1)
02/24/2023 – No. 17 Merrimack 5 at No. 19 UMass Lowell 3
02/25/2023 – No. 19 UMass Lowell 0 at No. 17 Merrimack 2

No. 18 Michigan State (16-16-2)
Did not play.

No. 19 UMass Lowell (16-13-3)
02/24/2023 – No. 17 Merrimack 5 at No. 19 UMass Lowell 3
02/25/2023 – No. 19 UMass Lowell 0 at No. 17 Merrimack 2

No. 20 Notre Dame (15-14-5)
02/24/2023 – No. 20 Notre Dame 3 at No. 4 Michigan 3 (OT)
02/25/2023 – No. 20 Notre Dame 2 at No. 4 Michigan 1 (OT)

RV = Received votes

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Weekend Wrap February 27, 2023

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Bemidji State at (1) Ohio State

In the first game, Sophie Jaques scored a hat trick to lead OSU to a 4-1 win. She put in a shot off the faceoff in the first, lit the lamp with .2 seconds left in the second and added a shot from the slot in the third to lead the Buckeyes. Emma Maltais added an empty-netter to finish off the Buckeyes’ scoring. Makenna Deering scored for Bemidji State in the loss. On Saturday, Sloane Matthews put Ohio State on the board two minutes into the game thanks to a set up from Kenzie Hauswirth from behind the net. That 1-0 score would hold for the next 54 minutes until Jenn Gardiner extended the lead to 2-0 with fewer than four minutes left in regulation. Claire Vekich scored a power play goal for the Beavers with under 2:30 to play, but there was not enough time left on the clock for Bemidji to complete a comeback. Ohio State advanced to the WCHA semifinals, where they’ll face UMD. 

Harvard at (2) Yale

Harvard jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to goals from Kristin Della Rovere and Anne Bloomer. It took the Bulldogs a little time to reset and settle in, but by late in the second, Jordan Ray had scored twice to tie the game and it was a whole new outing for the third. Grace Lee cleaned up a rebound to make it 3-2 and Charlotte Welch’s empty-netter secured the 4-2 win. In the second game, Elle Hartje broke her own single-season assists record (which she set last season, beating a 37-year-old record) with helpers on the first and last goals of the game. Lee scored twice and Carina DiAntonio and Anna Bargman also lit the lamp to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 win. They advance to the ECAC semifinals where they’ll face Clarkson. 

Princeton at (3) Colgate

After a scoreless first period on Friday, the special teams units of both squads took over. Kaitlyn O’Donohoe put Colgate up 1-0 before Emerson O’Leary tied it on the power play for Princeton. In the final minute of the second, Dara Greig scored on the power play to give Colgate a 2-1 lead heading into the third. Maggie Connors tied the game at 2 after some pretty passing and then Sarah Fillier scored the game-winner on a breakaway to give the Tigers the game one win. In the second game, Elyssa Biederman set a new program record for points by a freshman for Colgate. The Raiders got a power play in the opening minute of the game and O’Donohoe capitalized 91 seconds into the game to give them the 1-0 lead. Princeton found their footing in the second half of the frame as Issy Wunder tied it up and Connors scored with fewer than 10 seconds on the clock to send Princeton to the locker room up 2-1. Kalty Kaltounkova’s extra-attacker goal midway through the second tied the game 2-2. Wunder stole the puck in the neutral zone and scored her second of the game to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead, but Biederman responded just 10 seconds later to knot the score one more time. In the third, Danielle Serdachny cleaned up a loose puck to put Colgate ahead for good as they took a 4-3 win. In the rubber match, Sarah Fillier put Princeton up early, but Colgate replied and their defense stepped up to keep the Tigers off the board. Neena Brick’s power play goal tied it in the first and Kaltounkova’s game-winner came early in the third as Colgate took the 3-2 win and advanced to the ECAC quarterfinals to play Quinnipiac.

St. Thomas at (4) Minnesota

Grace Zumwinkle had two goals and two assists and Taylor Heise had two goals and an assist to lead Minnesota to a 7-0 win in the first game of the quarterfinal series. On Saturday, Catie Skaja had a goal and two assists, Abigail Boreen had three assists and Heise scored twice more to give Minnesota a 6-2 win. Breja Parent tied the game at one for St. Thomas early in the second, but the Gophers responded in a big way with three goals in less than two minutes to make it a 4-1 game. Maija Almich cut into the lead to start the third and make it 4-2, but once again the Gophers shut the door as Heise scored to make it 5-2 and Skaja scored in the final minute. Minnesota will face Wisconsin in the WCHA semifinals next weekend. 

Merrimack at (5) Northeastern

Alina Müller had a hat trick and two assists to lead the Huskies to a 5-1 win over Merrimack. The showing helped her set a new career Hockey East Tournament record, with 30 points in the conference postseason. Müller also tied Kendall Coyne Schofield’s career record of 249 points at Northeastern. Chloe Aurard and Skylar Irving both also scored for the Huskies. Teghan Inglis was the goal scorer for Merrimack in the loss. 

Minnesota State at (6) Wisconsin

On Friday, Kirsten Simms, Caroline Harvey and Sarah Wozniewicz each lit the lamp to lead the Badgers to a 3-0 win. In the second game, Sydney Langseth scored for Mankato late in the first to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead at the break. Britta Curl’s midway through the second tied it up and Laila Edwards gave Wisconsin the lead less than two minutes later. Wozniewicz extended the lead to start the third and Lacey Eden went bar down to secure the 4-1 win. The Badgers advance to play Minnesota in the WCHA semifinals.

(12) St. Cloud State at (7) Minnesota Duluth

These two teams played a hard-fought, scoreless game for more than 57 minutes on Friday before Maggie Flaherty’s shot on the power play fluttered through traffic and into the back of the net. That’s all the Bulldogs needed to take the first game 1-0. In the second game, Minnesota Duluth had a 1-0 lead after the first thanks to Naomi Rogge. But it was the second period where the Bulldogs broke it open as Kylie Hanley, Mary Kate O’Brien and Taylor Anderson each found the back of the net to make it 4-0. Taylor Lind scored a power play goal for the Huskies midway through the third, but St. Cloud could not gather more steam and Rogge added an insurance goal later in the frame to give UMD the 5-1 win. They advance to play Ohio State in the WCHA semifinals. 

St. Lawrence at (8) Quinnipiac

Over the course of three games, just one goal separated these two teams. On Friday, Quinnipiac took the win despite Julia Gosling giving St. Lawrence a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Alexa Hoskin tied it up for the Bobcats in the second and Sadie Peart scored the game winner in the third to make it a 2-1 victory for Quinnipiac. In the second game, Lexie Adzija took advantage of an early penalty by St. Lawrence, scoring a power play goal 40 seconds into the game. The Saints responded in the opening seconds of the second on a gorgeous pass from Shailynn Snow through traffic that Taylor Lum put in the back of the next to tie the game 1-1. Gosling gave St. Lawrence the lead on a rifle of a shot on the power play. Aly MacLeod scored three seconds after Quinnipiac pulled their goalie to make it 3-1. Adzija closed the gap to 3-2, but the Bobcats ran out of time and St. Lawrence took game two. On Sunday, Gosling continued her torrid pace, once again putting her team on the board first. That was the only tally for nearly 40 minutes before Kate Reilly took off on the penalty kill and beat Lucy Morgan to make it a 1-1 game. In overtime, Peart followed her own rebound to end the game and the series. Quinnipiac advanced to play Colgate in the ECAC semifinals.

(13) Cornell at (9) Clarkson

Game one started slow with neither team wanting to give the other the advantage, but in the second part of the first period, Clarkson scored three goals in about eight minutes to blow the contest open. Sara Swiderski, Brooke McQuigge and Nicole Gosling each lit the lamp and that pretty much put the game out of reach for Cornell. Kirstyn McQuigge extended the lead to 4-0 before Lily Delianedis was able to get one back for Cornell in the third. Gabrielle David’s late goal ensured the 5-1 win for the Golden Knights. On Saturday, it took 85 minutes to find a winner as Georgia Schiff ended the game in double overtime for Cornell. Stephanie Markowski’s second period power play goal had Clarkson up 1-0, but Kaitlin Jockims tied the game in the third. Deanna Fraser made 42 saves in the game for the Big Red and Michelle Pasiechnyk made 41. In the rubber match, after a scoreless first, Izzy Daniels put Cornell on the board early in the second. That was enough to shake Clarkson up and they responded with four unanswered goals to take the game and the series. David, Haley Winn, Anne Cherkowski and Sena Catterall each scored for the Golden Knights to secure the win. They advance to play Yale in the ECAC semifinals.

Lindenwood at (10) Penn State

On Friday, Penn State outshot Lindenwood 46-19 overall, including 22-7 in the third en route to a 4-1 win. Julie Gough, Olivia Wallin and Mya Vaslet each scored in the second to kick start the day for the Nittany Lions. Olivia Grabianowski scored late in the frame to get one back for Lindenwood, but Eleri MacKay scored in the first 65 seconds of the third to shut down any comeback and give PSU the win. In the second game of the series, Tessa Janecke earned her first career hat trick and added two assists to lead Penn State to a 7-1 win. Those points mean Janecke set new single-season records for goals, assists and points from a freshman. Penn State advances to the CHA finals, where they’ll face Mercyhurst. 

New Hampshire at (11) Vermont

After a scoreless first, Rae Breton put New Hampshire on the board first, but Vermont responded minutes later with a goal from Natalie Mlynkova to tie the game 1-1. That was all the action in regulation and nearly half of the overtime period before Theresa Schafzahl ended the game to send Vermont to the Hockey East semifinals, where they’ll face Providence on Wednesday. Ava Boutilier became the UNH program leader in career minutes played in the game. 

Maine at (14) Providence

Caroline Peterson and Grace Heiting scored in the second to make it 1-1 after one. Ida Kuoppala’s short-handed goal put Maine up 2-1 :33 into the second period and it looked like the Black Bears might be in control. But Providence picked things up at the end of the second and ran away with the game in the third. Ashley Clark and Delaney Couture scored in the waning minutes of the second to make it 3-2 Friars. Sara Hjalmarsson made it 4-2 in the opening minutes of the second and Peterson added a second goal late to secure the 5-2 win. Providence will play at Vermont on Wednesday for the Hockey East semifinal. 

Connecticut at (15) Boston College

UConn outshot the Eagles 36-32, but BC came from behind late in the third to force overtime where Katie Pyne scored her second of the game to advance Boston College to the Hockey East semifinals. Catherine Goffredo scored in the waning minutes of the first to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Brooke Campbell tied the game just after the midway mark, but Abby Newhook responded quickly to once again give BC the lead. Jada Habisch’s goal late in the second tied it at 2 heading into the third. The teams were careful over the course of the third and it took until the final few minutes before Campbell scored on a blown play that left most of BC’s defense behind the net and Campbell alone in front with a clear path to give the Huskies their first lead of the game 3-2. From there it was the Pyne show. She netted the goal that forced overtime with under four to go and then ended the game just 2:39 into the extra frame to give Boston College the 4-3 win .

 

D-III West Hockey Weekend Wrap-up: Spartans punch ticket to Harris Cup final

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The Aurora Spartans secured their spot in the Harris Cup final for the first time in program history. (Photo Credit: Steve Woltmann, Aurora Athletics)

There were potentially just 20 minutes left in the hockey season for Aurora. The Spartans trailed St. Norbert by a goal heading into the final period of an NCHA tournament semifinal showdown at home Saturday night.

It was in that third period that momentum began to swing in favor of the Spartans, who weren’t ready to this special year for the program end, and ultimately, they didn’t let it end, rallying for a 4-3 victory over the Green Knights.

The win sends the Spartans to the championship game of the conference tourney for the first time in program history.

Less than two minutes into the third, Lukas Sedlacek scored to tie the game at 2-2.

Then, nine seconds later, Simon Boyko put the Spartans in front 3-2. At the 11:26 mark of the third, Gio Procopio scored to extend the Aurora lead to 4-2.

Once down 2-0, the Spartans (19-7-2), ranked 12th in the USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll, were now on the edge of a big-time postseason win.

It took two big saves in the final minute to seal the deal. Kolby Thornton made one of them and Nate Keeley then laid out his own body to stop a point-blank shot and keep the Spartans on top.

Jack Jaunich and Boyko both tallied a goal and an assist. Thornton played one of the best games of his life in goal, stopping 52 shots. Aurora managed only 24 shots.

The Green Knights (17-9-2), tied for 12th nationally, led 2-0 on first-period goals by Ben Schmidling and Adam Stacho but couldn’t hold on against the Spartans, who now face Adrian for the championship.

Bulldogs earn another berth in conference final

Reigning national champion Adrian is headed to another Harris Cup final after rolling past Trine 6-2 in a semifinal battle Saturday night between two nationally ranked teams.

The third-ranked Bulldogs won their third game in a row behind a four-point night from Matius Spodniak, who tallied three assists and a goal.

Mathew Rehding scored a goal and dished out two assists while Alessio Luciani punched in two goals.

Adrian (22-4-2) also got a solid effort from goaltender Nic Tallarico, who made 33 saves, with 12 of those coming in the third period.

No. 15 Trine (18-9-1) sees another successful year come to a close after playing in their third semifinal matchup in the last four seasons.

MIAC Tournament

Saints go marching into MIAC final

St. Scholastica has been the team to beat all season in the MIAC, winning the regular-season title. On Sunday night, the Saints moved one step closer to being the champions of the conference tourney as well.

St. Scholastica (17-6-3), eliminated in the first round a year ago, held on for a 3-2 win over reigning conference tourney champ St. Olaf.

The Ledenkov brothers gave the Saints a 2-0 lead after one period of play. Filimon scored first at the 6:47 mark and Arkhip punched in a goal two minutes later.

Connor Kaithoff pulled the Oles within one just past the midway point of the second period before Bryce Johnson answered a few minutes later to extend the Saints’ lead to 3-1.

Tyler Cooper’s goal with under three minutes to play in the second cut the St. Scholastica lead to 3-2.

Jack Bostedt stepped up in goal, racking up 21 saves, including seven in the third. Thomas Lalonde made 22 saves for St. Olaf, including nine in the third period. 

The Saints now take on Augsburg next weekend with an automatic spot in the NCAA tourney on the line.

Auggies back in a familiar place

Augsburg is no stranger to the MIAC championship game. And after topping Saint John’s 3-1 Saturday night in semifinal matchup, the Auggies are headed to the final for the eighth time in program history.

Augsburg (15-9-2), winners of six of its last eight games, also maintained its run of perfection against the Johnnies in the conference tourney, improving to 6-0 all-time,

The Auggies, who have now reached the championship game six time in its last eight trips to the MIAC tourney, are aiming for their fifth title and first since 2019.

Neither team scored in the opening period. But the Auggies scored twice in the second to take a 2-0 lead. 

Austin Dollimer led the way with a pair of goals. Vincent Weis also scored for the Auggies.

Max Borst tallied the lone goal for the Johnnies (13-10-3), who held a 35-26 advantage in shots.

Samuel Vyletelka made 24 saves for the Auggies. 

WIAC Tournament

Nine in a row

UW-Stevens Point is headed back to the WIAC title game. The Pointers punched their ticket after completing a sweep of its semifinal series with a 5-0 win over UW-Stout.

Fletcher Anderson came through with a goal and an assist while Ryan Wagner made 32 saves in the shutout victory.

The game was scoreless until near the midway point of the second period when Jordan Fader scored to put the Pointers (18-5-4) in front. UW-Stevens Point led 2-0 after the second and scored its final three goals in the third.

The Blue Devils (17-11-1) saw their turnaround season come to a close. They more than doubled their win total from a year ago despite ending the year with back-to-back losses. Tyler Masternak made 31 saves in Saturday’s game, which marked only the fourth time all year the Blue Devils have been held scoreless.

The Pointers, ranked eighth nationally, won Friday’s series opener 4-2. They have won their last five games and now have a chance to clinch the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

 

On to the title game

UW-Eau Claire grinded out an overtime win against UW-Superior Friday and then capped a semifinal series sweep with a shutout win over the Yellowjackets on Saturday.

Dawson Klein scored just under two minutes into the OT session on Friday to lift the Blugolds to a wild 6-5 win.

UW-Eau Claire seemed destined to win it regulation, leading 5-3 less than five minutes into the third period.

But UW-Superior scored twice in the final nine minutes of regulation to tie the game. Charles Martin and Gavin Rasmussen both came through with goals to help the Yellowjackets force an extra session of hockey.

The Blugolds led 3-2 going into the final period. Leo Bacallao paced the Blugolds with a goal and two assists. Readman added two assists, including one on the game winner.

Saturday’s game wasn’t nearly as crazy as the Blugolds (18-8-1) scored twice in the third to finish out the win. Sammy Martel tallied both goals in the final period. UW-Eau Claire heads to the championship game having won its last four games.

The Yellowjackets (15-12-2) end the year dropping five of their final six games.

Hockey East announces 2022-23 women’s all-star teams; Northeastern’s Mueller lone unanimous pick

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Northeastern graduate forward Alina Mueller was the lone player selected unanimously to the All-Hockey East First Team (photo: Jim Pierce).

Hockey East has announced its 2022-23 women’s all-star teams as voted by the women’s league’s 10 head coaches.

Northeastern graduate forward Alina Mueller was the lone player selected unanimously to the All-Hockey East First Team.

Joining Mueller on the first team are goaltender Gwyneth Philips (Northeastern), defenders Megan Carter (Northeastern) and Sini Karjalainen (Vermont) and forwards Sarah Hjalmarsson (Providence) and Theresa Schafzahl (Vermont). Philips was named goaltender of the year for her achievement, the fifth straight year a Huskies goaltender has been so honored.

Named second team are goaltenders Abigail Levy (Boston College), defenders Cayla Barnes (Boston College) and Lauren DeBlois (Providence) and forwards Chloé Aurard (Northeastern), Hannah Bilka (Northeastern) and Maureen Murphy (Northeastern).

Getting nods on the third team are goaltender Tia Chan (UConn) and Jessie McPherson (Vermont), defenders Abbey Marohn (Northeastern) and Maude Poulin-Labelle (Northeastern) and forwards Kira Juodikis (New Hampshire), Katy Knoll (Northeastern), Natalie Mlynkova (Vermont), and Abby Newhook (Boston College.)

Hockey East will announce finalists for the player, rookie, and coach of the year awards on Monday at 10 a.m. The winners of those awards will then be revealed prior to the conference semifinals on Wednesday.

SATURDAY ROUNDUP: Minnesota State clinches MacNaughton Cup; Colorado College, North Dakota skate to 0-0 tie; No. 1 Minnesota sweeps No. 8 Ohio State; Denver takes Penrose Cup

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Minnesota State celebrates its sixth straight MacNaughton Cup championship (photo: Kenzie Schmidt).

Minnesota State scored three power-play goals – the final coming off the stick of Cade Borchardt at 19:15 of the third period – en route to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Michigan Tech Saturday evening in the final regular-season game of the year at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center.

With the victory, the Mavericks claimed its sixth consecutive MacNaughton Cup as CCHA regular-season champions.

The Mavericks cracked the scoreboard at first 17:34 of the second period as Andy Carroll faked a shot from the left point before sliding into the left circle. He found a seam through the slot and gave the puck to Lucas Sowder, who blasted a shot from the right circle over the glove of Huskies goalie Blake Pietila.

After Sowder’s goal, David Silye redirected a shot by Akito Hirose from the top of the slot, out of mid-air and between the post and Pietila’s stick side just 1:19 into the final period.

A penalty-shot goal less than two minutes later by MTU’s Tristan Ashbrook, as he cut in from the left side, ducked his shoulder and used a stutter step before reaching around Mavericks goalie Keenan Rancier and sliding the puck home, cutting the lead in half and set up a thrilling finish for the conference crown.

The Huskies pulled Pietila for an extra attacker and appeared to have scored the game-tying goal with 1:31 remaining, only to have the goal waved off due to goalie interference.

It mattered little as Kyle Kukkonen scored short-handed with Pietila pulled for an extra attacker just 25 seconds later.

Still on the power play, the Mavericks were able to set up in the Michigan Tech zone and with 45 seconds to play as Borchardt netted the winner.

Borchardt’s fourth goal of the season came when he caught the pass at the top of the right circle and quickly wristed a shot to the far side, giving his team its sixth consecutive title.

The 18th-largest crowd in the history of the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center, 5,120 fans, saw the Mavericks hoist the McNaughton Cup, setting an NCAA Division I men’s record for consecutive outright league titles.

Goaltending also played a key role, not only in the game, but on the weekend, as Rancier stopped 22 shots for the game and 44 of 47 shots on the weekend. Pietila turned aside 68 of 71 shots for the weekend, including 33 in the loss, which saw MSU hold a 36-24 advantage in shots on goal.

The victory gives Minnesota State the top seed in the CCHA playoffs as the Mavericks will face Lake Superior State in a best-of-three series next weekend at home. Michigan Tech hosts St. Thomas.

SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS | USCHO.COM POLL | PAIRWISE

Colorado College 0, North Dakota 0 (North Dakota wins shootout)

Colorado College and North Dakota battled to a 0-0 tie Saturday night at Robson Arena and Tyler Kleven scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Fighting Hawks the extra point in the standings.

CC’s Matt Vernon and UND’s Drew DeRidder each finished with 26 saves in the 65 minutes of regulation and overtime. This marks the second 0-0 game ever in Colorado College history and Vernon, who started tonight’s game in place of the injured Kaidan Mbereko, is responsible for both. The other came last year at Minnesota Duluth. This was Vernon’s third career shutout and second this season (8-0 over Air Force on Oct. 28).

North Dakota collected four of a possible six points this weekend and leads the Tigers by three points in the race for sixth place in the league standings with two games remaining.

Ryan Beck, Hunter McKown and Noah Serdachny each had his shootout attempt saved by DeRidder, while Vernon made a great save on Riese Gaber, then Jackson Blake did not get a shot off before Kleven scored.

No. 1 Minnesota 5, No. 8 Ohio State 2

Thanks to five unanswered goals, the top-ranked Golden Gophers closed the regular season with a 5-2 come-from-behind win against Ohio State Saturday inside 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Facing a rare two-goal deficit in the second period, Minnesota responded by scoring twice in a matter of 13 seconds before adding three more to complete the sweep over the Buckeyes.

Aaron Huglen and Matthew Knies provided the offensive spark for the Maroon and Gold that ignited the crowd and helped fuel the comeback as it ended the season as the only team in Big Ten conference history to win the league by double figures. The win also was the Gophers’ 11th over a team ranked inside the top 10.

Justen Close made 28 saves for his 22nd win of the year.

No. 3 Denver 3, No. 5 Western Michigan 1

Denver secured its second consecutive Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions on Saturday with a 3-1 victory against Western Michigan at Lawson Arena.

It is the third time that DU has won the Penrose Cup, with the school having also captured the hardware in 2017 and 2022 en route to national titles. Overall, Denver won its 15th conference regular-season championship, as the program won 12 such trophies in the old WCHA.

The victory gives the Pioneers the top seed for the upcoming NCHC tournament. DU will host No. 8-seed Miami in the best-of-three quarterfinal series at Magness Arena on March 10-12.

Denver erased a first-period deficit against WMU and never relinquished the lead in front of a crowd of 4,419, the highest-attended game at Lawson Arena since 2012.

Jack Devine tied the outing at 1-1 with a power-play marker midway through the middle frame, and Carter Mazur tallied the game-winner 4:48 into the third period after forcing a turnover in the neutral zone and scoring on his ensuing wrist shot at the left circle.

Massimo Rizzo sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 91 seconds remaining.

Goaltender Magnus Chrona stopped 30 of 31 shots for his 22nd win of the season and 73rd of this career. He made 11 saves in the first period when Western Michigan had three power-play opportunities, which included a five-minute major man advantage that also included a full two-minute 5-on-3.

The Pioneers picked up their first sweep at Western Michigan since Feb. 26-27, 2016, and now have four series sweeps on the road this season — all against NCHC foes (Miami, North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth and Western Michigan).

No. 2 Quinnipiac 4, Rensselaer 1

For the first time since 1988-89, an ECAC Hockey team finished the regular season with 20 wins as Quinnipiac culminated its league slate 20-2-0 with a 4-1 victory over RPI on Saturday night at the Houston Field House.

The Bobcats won their final eight league contests by a combined 33-7 scoreline after sweeping the weekend with a pair of 4-1 victories.

Collin Graf, Jayden Lee, Jacob Quillan and Sam Lipkin all had multi-point nights to lead the Bobcat attack against the Engineers.

After RPI started the scoring with a redirection in front, the Bobcats potted two goals in the second and two in the third to seize control and earn their milestone win.

Quinnipiac’s 20 ECAC wins are the most since Harvard in 1988-89, a feat they hit twice in three seasons.

The Bobcats’ 28 regular-season wins match last season’s total, both of which are the most in a single campaign in program history.

After earning the bye in the first round of the ECAC postseason, the Bobcats will host the lowest seed remaining in a best-of-three series starting March 10 at M&T Bank Arena.

No. 9 Boston University 3, Vermont 0

Drew Commesso stopped all 23 shots he faced to backstop BU to a 3-0 win at Vermont on Saturday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

The Terriers maintained their perch atop the Hockey East standings thanks to a goal in each period and a sharp performance from Commesso, who made 12 saves in the final 20 minutes to earn his first shutout of the season.

Domenick Fensore lit the lamp and assisted on Jay O’Brien’s first-period strike that proved to be the winner. Luke Tuch tallied an insurance goal midway through the third period to put the contest out of reach.

The Terriers will enter the final weekend of the regular season with a one-point lead on second-place Merrimack and a two-point edge on third-place Northeastern.

No. 20 Notre Dame 2, No. 4 Michigan 1 (OT)

Sixty minutes of regulation time was not enough to determine a winner for the second straight night in front of a sellout crowd at Yost Ice Arena on Saturday, and Notre Dame downed Michigan 2-1 as Drew Bavaro scored his second goal of the game 1:30 into the extra session on a third shot attempt after creating a pair of rebounds off a rush to claim the extra point in the B1G standings.

With 32.2 seconds left in the first period, the officials chose to review a play in the Notre Dame zone near the left half wall. After review, U of M’s Adam Fantilli was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct to bring his active 12-game point streak to an end.

Rutger McGroarty scored for the Wolverines and Erik Portillo made 20 saves.

For Notre Dame, Ryan Bischel finished with 48 saves.

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