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D-III Women’s East Week 7 Recap: Plattsburgh wins the East/West Classic, Hamilton gets a ranked sweep, and Colby wins the Castleton Invitational

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Plattsburgh wins the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic, defeating Adrian 1-0 in the championship game (Photo by Nate LePage)

This past week in Women’s hockey out east, we saw another huge tournament featuring four top-10 teams, Hamilton pulled off two big wins versus the former #15 team, and Colby remains undefeated after winning the Castleton Invitational. 

Plattsburgh wins the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic

Over the weekend, Norwich hosted their annual East-West Hockey Classic tournament which annually features multiple top-five and top-10 teams consistently. This year was no different and #4 Plattsburgh took home the tournament trophy after defeating #8 Elmira 3-2 and #3 Adrian 1-0. In Plattsburgh’s previous game vs Elmira in the Cardinal/Panther Classic, the Cardinals dominated, winning 7-0. This time, things were different, the Cardinals led 2-1 late in the 3rd period until Elmira’s Elizabeth LePage scored at the 16:41 mark of the period to tie it up, which would eventually send it to overtime. Then, with a mere six seconds remaining in OT, Mattie Norton scored at the 4:54 mark to win it for the Cardinals. 

In the championship game vs #3 Adrian, the game was mostly uneventful (from a statsheet perspective) they were scoreless through 57 minutes until Sara Krauseneck scored a powerplay goal which would hold up as the game winner for the Cardinals. The weekend point leader for the Cardinals was Mattie Norton (1 goal, 2 assists) and goaltender Lilla Nease made 53 saves over the two games, getting two victories.

The other game including east teams (Adrian vs Norwich recap can be read here) was #5 Norwich vs #8 Elmira, in which Norwich routed them 6-0, scoring two goals in each period. Point leaders for Norwich in this game were Rylie McIntyre (3 assists), Olivia Boyer (2 goals), Melianne Reynolds (2 goals), Taylor Girouard (1 goal, 1 assist), and Ally LaGue (2 assists). Goaltender Leocadia Clark made 21 saves in the shutout victory. 

Norwich gets 3rd place in the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic, defeating Elmira 6-0 (Photo by Jasmine Olson)

Fun Fact: Norwich hasn’t won their home tournament in 12 years (according to the broadcast), which isn’t a knock on the Cadets, considering the event features top-5 and top-10 teams every year, but is still an eye-opening stat. 

Hamilton gets a big pair of wins

Hamilton sweeps #15 Endicott winning 3-0 & 6-3 this past weekend (Photo by Josh McKee)

#13 Hamilton had dropped out of the rankings after some early losses, however they’ve strung together some wins including a big weekend sweep over former #15 Endicott, winning 3-0 & 6-3. Game one was pretty straightforward, nothing eventful occurring besides Evie Sheridan recording a 21-save shutout for the Continentals. In game two however, which featured nine goals, Hamilton started early and often. Mya Berretta began the scoring at the 11:25 mark of the 1st period, the Continentals would then add two more in the opening period at 14:12 & 15:29. Evie Sheridan made 14 saves in the win. Point leaders on Hamilton for the weekend were Mya Berretta (3 goals, 1 assist), Hyla Mosher (1 goal, 2 assists), and Nancy Loh (3 goals). 

Colby wins the Castleton Invitational

#7 Colby (8-0-0) remains the only undefeated team in Women’s hockey after winning the Castleton Invitational over the weekend. They’re undefeated and have beaten everyone on their schedule, however, they haven’t been given a real test yet in terms of SOS (strength of schedule), debate the numbers all you want, but they haven’t faced a single ranked opponent and their opponents combined record is 32-37-1. Not to write them off, but they haven’t been tested, their next four games will show us a lot as they’re the first big tests for Colby, two at #15 Hamilton & two at home vs #8 Middlebury. 

Recapping their weekend, Colby defeated Potsdam 5-1 & Castleton 4-1 to win the Castleton Invitational. In game one, Meg Rittenhouse got the Mules on the board before most were in their seats, scoring 11 seconds into the game (00:11), she would add another goal five minutes later at the 6:32 mark of the 1st. In game two vs Castleton, it was tied after the 1st period 1-1 after Castleton’s Darby Palisi scored late at the 19:36 mark. Colby then scored another quick goal this time just 20 seconds into the 2nd period (00:20), Tate Senden scoring. Goaltenders Mandy Busky (18 saves vs Potsdam) & Paige Bolyard (13 saves vs Castleton), both got victories. Point leaders for Colby in the tournament was McKinley Karpa (1 goal, 3 assists). 

Other Notable Results

#5 Amherst shutout Johnson & Wales 7-0 & Curry College 2-0. 

Chatham split with New England College, losing 2-5, then winning 5-4 in OT.

Arcadia swept Anna Maria, winning 2-0 & 5-3. 

Suffolk (9-3-1) defeated Western New England 4-1 & Trinity 2-1. 

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Yale trending upward on improvement track as Bulldogs taking steps to more than moral victories

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Quinton Ong and the Yale hockey team are 1-8-1 in the Bulldogs’ first 10 games this season (photo: Steve Musco).

The first month of the season felt like the continuation of a bad dream at Yale.

A team that finished no lower than sixth in the run-up to COVID-19 won its first game of the 2022-23 season after finishing tied for 11th last year, but the next seven games piled loss after loss onto a team that couldn’t get out of its own way.

Everything went wrong, and after Connor Sullivan scored the team’s only goal in a 2-1 loss to Brown, the Bulldogs wouldn’t score again until Briggs Gammill scored on the power play in the third period against Cornell – 15 periods of hockey later.

The Bulldogs simply couldn’t find an answer, so with two weeks between games against conference opponents, coach Keith Allain looked inwards to find an answer. He met individually and collectively with players and took an honest look at his roster, and he asked the difficult questions about how to move forward.

The team had a game against the United States National Development Program scheduled for Nov. 27, but with the Thanksgiving holiday, Yale wouldn’t play an official game until it traveled to the North Country for a weekend at St. Lawrence and Clarkson.

Things looked desperate, but after pushing the U.S. team to an overtime loss, Yale started turning a corner this past weekend. It didn’t pick up an official win, but the loss to the Saints and the two points collected against Clarkson represented something greater for a team that very quietly reinvented itself on the fly as semester break drew nearer.

“It was actually pretty easy to step back because our performance to that point had been so bad,” said Allain. “Sometimes you can get fooled into thinking that things are going well because the results are close and you steal a win here or there, or maybe a goalie steals it for you, but it was easy to take an honest assessment that our game wasn’t where it needed to be. It was all three phases. We weren’t producing offenses, we were making mistakes in the defensive zone, and we weren’t getting saves.

“So it was somewhat of a downward spiral that we had to grab by the horn and say that things needed to change.”

By having those discussions – and afforded the break that came around the exhibition game – Yale was able to virtually reboot and debunk its software on the fly.

The long scoreless drought drew a direct line between a three-goal weekend against Brown and a three-goal weekend at Cornell and Colgate, but the revamped offense scored three times against the national team’s development program by simply outplaying its opponent. Hayden Rowan, Kalez Szeto, and Connor Sullivan all scored, and Szeto’s assist on Sullivan’s goal early in the third period helped force overtime in a game where the attack generated 15 of its 28 shots in the first period.

“It had been more than a grind prior to that game [against the development team],” said Allain. “We had the weekend off before that game, so we really took stock of ourselves. We did a lot of things internally and changed some things about the way we played. We used that game as a jumping-off point, and I thought our team game was much better across all three periods. It became a step in the right direction.”

Both Nathan Reid and Luke Pearson saw time in net during that game, and the minutes became invaluable two weeks later when St. Lawrence’s 2-0 lead in the first period necessitated a change. What might have been an indictment of the defense or a starter in a past game instead simply felt like a change on that given night, and though Yale was significantly outshot in the first period, the third period finally started generating the opportunities that existed but weren’t capitalized upon in the first two frames.

Less than a minute into the third, David Chen scored to bring the score to 2-1, and while the Bulldogs absorbed another loss, a clear difference existed from the weekend series near the end of November.

“My message to our guys was that we were down [by two] but it wasn’t a 2-0 period,” Allain said. “We just had to keep doing what we were doing, and I thought we got stronger as the game went on. We had them back on their heels in that third period, which was too bad that we weren’t able to get the equalizer. After that game, I told our team that the last time we played an ECAC game and we were down 2-0 on the road in the first period, it wouldn’t have ended 2-1.

“And while I’m not for moral victories, we took a step.”

All of this led to another marked step forward the next night at Clarkson against a Golden Knight team fighting for its own brand of respect after it fell into the middle of the ECAC standings during the first half of the season. Yale simply looked different from even the night before, and the clear confidence oozed after Chen scored the game’s first goal in the first four minutes.

It was the first lead for the team since the first game of the year and held for the next 37 minutes before Anthony Callin tied the game on the power play, but the clear difference between the effort and game film now drew a line of demarcation to the rest of the first half of the season because while the penalty kill numbers were down over the first two months, Yale had significant issues to fix beyond just its special teams.

A team that surrendered over 3.50 goals per game allowed three goals over its final two games, and a heavily penalized team averaging over five penalties per game limited St. Lawrence and Clarkson to one power play goal over the course of a full weekend. It was by no means perfect, but the improvement yielded two points in a league where one weekend’s work and five points separated a home ice playoff spot from last place in the standings.

“We play to get real wins [in regulation],” said Allain, “but we didn’t get a loss [at Clarkson]. And that’s really important. Clarkson is a good team and has a lot of people back from a team that finished much higher in the standings. There’s a lot of talent there. They’re well-coached, and it’s a tough place to play. It’s a tough trip in general to go to St. Lawrence and Clarkson, so to go up there and finish with that game propels us a bit going into our exam break.”

That word – propel – felt like an impossibility when Yale was getting tossed around the ECAC waters throughout late October and November, but there’s now a point where the Bulldogs appear much more dangerous than people might believe. Playing competitive hockey in the league this year is usually enough to steal points, and the bulk of the second half is set for Ingalls Rink, where an eight-win team went 5-6-1 last season.

The only three official home games from the first half were against Brown in the season opener and Princeton and Quinnipiac, which is arguably the best team in the country right now, and after making the trip to Dartmouth for the Ledyard Classic, nine of the remaining games in the second half of the season are in New Haven with an additional game at Quinnipiac and two more at the People’s United Center for the Connecticut Ice tournament in late January.

“All three phases contributed [to our improvement],” Allain said. “Our goaltending has been better for the last three games, and we scored three goals against the US team. We only scored two goals this past weekend, but if you watch the game, we generated a lot more scoring chances than we had been. Our team defense was better.

“We’re not going to jump up and down here because we got an overtime shootout win and a tie on the road, but if you look at the way our team played in all three phases, I certainly feel better about us than I did three weeks ago. Our focus now is to really continue to work on our conditioning and strength for the next two weeks [during exams], and then our next practice on the evening of the 26th will give us three or four days before the puck drops again on the 30th.”

Massachusetts governor Baker named new NCAA president, will take over March 2023

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BAKER

The NCAA announced Thursday that Charlie Baker, the governor of Massachusetts, will serve as the next NCAA president, assuming the role effective March 2023.

Baker succeeds Dr. Mark Emmert, a passionate leader and ambassador for college sports. Emmert will continue to serve the NCAA as a consultant through June 2023.

A former collegiate athlete at Harvard, Baker is credited with bringing bipartisan leadership to the state, successfully guiding Massachusetts through an exceptionally turbulent period for government officials. In addition to his two terms as governor, he brings decades of experience spearheading transformations at high profile institutions in the private and public sectors.

Baker’s appointment marks the culmination of a comprehensive and inclusive national search process, led by a subcommittee of the NCAA Board of Governors and TurnkeyZRG, the top search firm in the space (which recently placed the commissioners of the ACC, Pac-12 and Big 12). Baker’s term as governor ends January 5, 2023.

“We are excited to welcome Governor Charlie Baker to the NCAA and eager for him to begin his work with our organization,” said Linda Livingstone, president of Baylor University and chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, who helmed the presidential search committee, in a statement. “Governor Baker has shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways. As a former student-athlete himself, husband to a former college gymnast, and father to two former college football players, Governor Baker is deeply committed to our student-athletes and enhancing their collegiate experience. These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.”

“We know that to be successful, the NCAA president needs to possess the ability to balance competing priorities, inspire a shared vision, and create a broad sense of trust,” said Grant Hill, an independent member of the NCAA Board of Governors and member of the presidential search committee. “As governor of Massachusetts and a successful private sector CEO, Charlie Baker has demonstrated the type of results-oriented, bipartisan approach that we will need to bolster the well-being of student-athletes, realize the opportunities and overcome the challenges facing the NCAA.”

Baker arrives at the NCAA at a moment of significant transformation. Legal shifts in the environment surrounding college sports have challenged the NCAA’s ability to serve as an effective national regulator for college athletics, resulting in an untenable patchwork of individual state laws. Partnering with federal policymakers to develop a consistent, sustainable legal framework to address issues common to student-athletes and athletic departments across the country will be a top and immediate priority. Throughout the search process, Governor Baker’s history of successfully forging bipartisan solutions to complex problems stood out to the search committee as uniquely suited to the NCAA’s present needs.

“I am honored to become the next president of the NCAA, an organization that impacts millions of families and countless communities across this country every day,” said Baker. “The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge. And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come. Over the coming months, I will begin working with student-athletes and NCAA members as we modernize college sports to suit today’s world, while preserving its essential value.”

As the NCAA strives to enhance the experience of more than 500,000 young people that compete in college sports each year, student-athletes’ input factored significantly in the development of the president’s job description.

“As a student-athlete representative on the search committee, I focused my conversations with Governor Baker around many of the issues that student-athletes face today,” said Isaiah Swann, a former baseball student-athlete at the University of Texas-Dallas and a current second year MD-PhD student at the University of Virginia. “Throughout our discussions, he not only demonstrated a command of the top issues confronting college sports but, more importantly, also displayed empathy, open-mindedness, and a desire to better understand and address student-athletes’ perspectives. The Baker family’s connection to collegiate athletics runs deep. He’s one of us. He thinks like a student-athlete and will lead us forward with our perspectives in mind.”

Prior to recruiting candidates, the search committee spent months identifying and assessing the qualities most needed in the organization’s next president, including input from more than 300 individual NCAA stakeholders.

Baker will be charged with building on the NCAA’s ongoing transformation efforts. In early 2022, the NCAA ratified a new constitution, assigning greater powers of self-governance to each of its three divisions, its dozens of athletic conferences, and its member schools. The NCAA also appointed committees in Divisions I, II, and III to implement the new constitution at their respective levels, including a Division I Transformation Committee. The Division I Transformation Committee is now concluding its work putting forward a comprehensive series of recommendations to modernize Division I to better support today’s student-athletes.

The NCAA’s search committee consisted of:

Linda Livingstone, president, Baylor University
Mary-Beth Cooper, president, Springfield College
Beth DeBauche, commissioner, Ohio Valley Conference
Grant Hill, independent member, co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks
Jere Morehead, president, University of Georgia
Steven Shirley, president, Minot State University
Isaiah Swann, former baseball student-athlete at the University of Texas at Dallas

Previewing the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship with Chris Peters: USCHO Spotlight Season 5 Episode 8

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Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by FloHockey senior content creator Chris Peters to preview the U.S. National Junior Team and the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.

This college hockey podcast is sponsored by DCU – Digital Federal Credit Union – at dcu.org.

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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This Week in NCHC Hockey: DeRidder standing tall in goal for North Dakota as Fighting Hawks leaning on defense to gain victories

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Drew DeRidder played solid in goal last weekend for North Dakota just two hours from home against Western Michigan (photo: North Dakota Athletics).

It’s hard to argue with the case made in this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback column that this college hockey season is reminding us to expect the unexpected.

That has been particularly true with several NCHC teams, including North Dakota. As three-time defending regular-season league champions, the Fighting Hawks (7-8-4 overall, 3-5-2 NCHC) sit outside the DCU/USCHO Division I Men’s Poll’s top 20 and haven’t cracked it since Nov. 14.

They hope to have turned a corner last weekend, when they earned five of six points at Western Michigan. Goals from Judd Caulfield and Louis Jamernik V led to UND taking an overtime shootout on Friday, and Michigan State transfer goaltender Drew DeRidder made 25 saves in a 3-0 shutout win Saturday.

UND coach Brad Berry found much to like from his team’s first unbeaten weekend since the Hawks took five points Nov. 4-5 at Omaha.

“We knew what we were dealing with going into Western,” Berry said. “(Lawson Ice Arena is) a tough environment in a loud, small building, but we knew they were a very good team and that we had to play our best defensively.

“We were going into the last two games of the first half of the season and wanted to end that playing the right way, and we addressed a couple of things how we had to play to have success: No. 1, defensively sound, and No. 2, locking down leads or playing a full 60-minute game, and for the most part, we did that in both games.”

Caulfield scored a goal in both games, bumping his total on the season to seven. It was also a breakout weekend for DeRidder, who earned NCHC goaltender of the week honors. His play last weekend reminded Berry of what DeRidder did in an October split at then-No. 1 Minnesota.

“He made some big saves in that series, and his first half, along with ours, has been a little inconsistent. (Against Western Michigan), knowing those were the last two regular-season games before the first half ended, they were from his area,” Berry said of DeRidder, who grew up two hours away from Kalamazoo in Fenton, Mich.

“He had a lot of family and friends there, and he has a lot of pride and he seemed to play his game and looked comfortable in doing that.”

DeRidder is among a host of transfer players making a difference with new teams within the NCHC and adding a sharp contrast to the state of the league.

“If you have a chance to add to your group, and everybody can, that evens the playing field out a lot,” Berry said. “You know you don’t have to rely sometimes on your freshmen, and if teams feel they want to add older guys who have played college hockey, they can.

“You’re going to see that more and more all the time. You’re seeing some names in the top 20 that you haven’t seen in a while, and you’re seeing some teams that aren’t in there that usually are. It makes college hockey have even more parity.

“You really have to kind of wait to see how the second half shakes out, because I think there are teams that have the experience to get where they need to go and see where their body of work goes.”

UND’s January slate appears relatively kind. After Lindenwood visits Grand Forks on Jan. 6-7, UND plays six consecutive NCHC games against teams (WMU, Minnesota Duluth and Miami) who, like the Hawks, are in the bottom half of the conference standings.

And Berry would be happy to see more what his team did last weekend.

“We have a lot of good players that can make plays, whether five-on-five or on a power play, but it’s about our play away from the puck: being above pucks, making sure that the other team has to come through layers to get to our area,” Berry said. “We did that for the most part at Western, and we gave up two goals, on one night, and one was on a faceoff play at the end of the first period.

“Playing better defensively, being predictable to your teammates and making it tougher for the other team to get to our net…you have to score goals, but defense wins games, and we have to make sure we remember that.”

Niagara coach Lammers signs contract extension through 2026-27 college hockey season

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Jason Lammers is in his sixth season behind the Niagara bench (photo: Niagara Athletics).

Niagara coach Jason Lammers has signed a contract extension to coach the Purple Eagles through the 2026-27 season.

Lammers is currently in his sixth season behind the bench for the Purple Eagles.

“Ice hockey is not only an anchor on the university’s campus, it is also a part of the fabric of the western New York community,” said Niagara VP for athletics Simon Gray in a statement. “Jason’s presence behind the bench not only strengthens our team, but he also fills a leadership role within the hockey community in our region. Jason and his staff have consistently recruited excellent hockey players who are, more importantly, scholar athletes that understand their role in making a positive contribution to our region.”

Lammers’ teams are academically one of the top-ranked men’s teams on campus, posting a department-best GPA of 3.68 in 2021-22. In his tenure, 97 student-athletes have made the Atlantic Hockey all-academic team, including a program record and AHA-best 29 in 2021-22.

The hockey program is also heavily involved with Team Impact and Spirited Athletes Bold at Heart while having student-athletes volunteer their free time to assist the university with events, such as the Heart Love & Soul fundraising dinner and ESPN productions. The program shows its Purple Eagle pride, supporting its fellow student-athletes at their home events.

“Our hockey team competes at a high level on the ice,” Gray said. “Off the ice, they bring that same energy and effort to serve our community through a number of programs. Jason has done a wonderful job of strengthening the program while establishing a culture of excellence built on integrity.”

Lammers has led the Niagara hockey program to the Atlantic Hockey final four twice, including an appearance in the AHA championship final in 2018-19. Lammers has also coached multiple all-conference selections, including 2018-19 AHA rookie of the year and national rookie of the year runner-up Ludwig Stenlund.

This season, NU is off to a 9-5-2 start, defeating Omaha to open the campaign while being the only AHA program to receive votes in the DCU/USCHO.com poll the last 11 weeks.

“On behalf of my family, we would like to thank our NU family, president James J. Maher C.M., associate vice president for athletics Simon Gray, administrators, athletic staff, alumni, as well as current players and coaches for the opportunity to continue coaching at Niagara,” said Lammers. “We have enjoyed our time here, the people we have met, and the friends we have made. As a staff and organization, we believe that the Purple Eagle hockey culture is the best in the country because of the investment, participation, and behaviors of the student-athletes who believe in NU.

“We look forward to continuing to build on the legacy of the past and present Purple Eagles as people, students, and players.” ​

NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey: Wednesday Women with guest Nate Wells – C

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Nicole: In case you missed it in the first Wednesday Women of the year, the format is a little different this year. I’ll be joined by guest writers throughout the season to share their unique insight. This week I’m joined by Nate Wells (or as he lives in my head and conversations, Gopher State Nate), a freelance journalist from Minnesota who has covered women’s college hockey for The Athletic, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and a large number of outlets over the last decade and who I feel like I’ve been talking to about the WCHA and Gopher women’s hockey since I started writing about women’s college hockey.

Welcome Nate and thanks for joining me!

Nate: The honor is all mine! I’m a longtime reader of this column through its various iterations. It’s nice to be able to contribute our press box discussions on the record for once.

Nicole: Jumping right in, I saw a tweet this week asking if it was time for a change in staff in Minneapolis because the Gophers are ranked #6, which I’m pretty sure was in earnest. I know the comment was made by someone who doesn’t really pay close attention to women’s college hockey, so I’m not taking it seriously, but I felt like it made for a good jumping off point to talk about the tough stretch Minnesota just came through, how many Very Good teams there are this season and maybe an assessment of the State of the Gophers right now.

(For the record, no, I don’t think there’s a need for a change behind the bench for Minnesota. This is probably the best team they’ve had in recent memory.)

Nate: Expectations will always be extremely high in Dinkytown, which is a challenge Minnesota’s players take on each season. That happens after consistent success and a four national championship in a five year dynasty. Still, the sky is not falling as we end 2022.

On paper, I would agree with you, Nicole. This is the best team Brad Frost has had in several seasons. Any coach would be happy with adding four Olympians (Joefin Bouveng, Nelli Laitinen, Abbey Murphy, and Grace Zumwinkle) to a team that won the WCHA regular season and was the second-overall seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Add in the reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner in Taylor Heise, who ends the weekend leading the nation in points, along with several players taking a step forward, and the Gophers are a Very Good team with depth.

However, as you mentioned, Minnesota is not alone in being a Very Good team. We’ve been lucky in the first half of the season to witness the rise of several programs, along with some traditional powers keeping pace. The gap continues to tighten, which has manifested with Minnesota in losses to Yale, Wisconsin, and St. Cloud State getting its first victory over the Gophers since 2009. More schools can play with the top-five teams and win without a goalie stealing a game. Each weekend seems to feature at least one or two head-turning scores.

It has not been the easiest first half with the number of new and returning players finding chemistry. The depth has been tested to the point where a top-six forward in Emily Oden is playing in a top-four defender position. Heise and Zumwinkle continue to be two of the top forwards in college hockey. Each possesses the ability to make their linemates better. Seeing Skylar Vetter be the top goaltender she appeared to be developing as a U-18 World Championship MVP is a delight.

As far as the current State of the Gophers, I am buying, even before last weekend’s results against the Huskies. Minnesota, as a program, is in a better spot than it was 2-3 years ago. The Gophers have some quality wins and looked the best against Ohio State as anyone all season, but that’s mixed with some disappointing results that the best teams learn from as the season continues. Outside of the St. Cloud State loss, none of Minnesota’s results were poor performances.

Would it be nice if Minnesota was ranked higher than #6? Sure. Does it bother me? No. The top-seven teams in this week’s USCHO poll all have three or fewer losses.

How are you approaching the top of the rankings as we reach the end of the first half?

Nicole: I try not to put too much stock in rankings overall, but definitely before the winter break and this year, with the expanded field and so many top tier teams, there’s been much more volatility in position week to week. This may be just me, but I’m still trying to figure out how to approach the polls. Generally, I use a mix of looking at the body of work and the most recent results. Generally, if a team loses, I’m going to shift them down and if a team gets a big win, I’m going to shift them up. What has happened quite a bit this year is a team dropping spots after sweeping a weekend, usually because teams ranked just below them get a “bigger” win and are rewarded for it by being moved up.

Monday afternoons have become my favorite time of the week because of the conversations, comments and chatter that come when the week’s new poll is published. I love that there are so many invested fans that have opinions and hot takes about how the poll should shake out.

Nate: I’m glad I’m not the only one who can’t get enough of Monday afternoon discussions. It’s never been better or healthier for the sport.

I’m also glad at the end of the day the best team will be decided on the ice because coming up with a top-10 or top-15 list everyone agrees upon seems to be a fool’s errand. Between the records, body of work, and recent performances, separating the teams at the top of the poll is harder than any I can remember in recent years. Each week seems to add even more nuance to the discussion.

Quinnipiac had an opportunity this past weekend to make a clear argument with its series against Providence. Instead, they created more questions than answers in the split. Before the Bobcats, it was Yale and Ohio State. The more we learn about these teams, the more intrigued I am about how March will unfold.

One benefit of the expanded rankings to 15 teams is seeing schools like Penn State, Connecticut, and St. Cloud State be rewarded for first-half success and get ranked. All three can claim big-time wins. Getting the opportunity to spend time on Monday afternoons discussing the lower half of the poll, which matters more now that the NCAA Tournament field is expanded to 11 teams, is another benefit.

Nicole: Your point about Minnesota looking the best of anyone who’s faced Ohio State so far is a good one. That tells me a lot more about what to expect from them in March than the St. Cloud loss. As you said, the sky is not falling.

But speaking of St. Cloud, I know you’re excited to talk about the Huskies. I did a column last week highlighting some of what they’ve done so far, but am curious what you’ve liked about their play at this point in the season.

I specifically wanted to ask about Brian Idalski. I don’t want to throw any shade on any of the folks that came before him, but do want to talk about what it is about Brian that gets teams to respond so well to his style.

I mentioned this in the column, but thought it was so telling that he apparently went into his interview specifically talking about the close games they had lost. It’s not surprising Brian focused on that, but I also love it as a thing the Huskies could work on and make a difference with in the short term.

What other stamps of Idalski’s influence do you think we’ll see? Do you think it’s realistic to think that SCSU could follow the path of UND to become a team pushing the top 4 and finishing in the top half of the standings regularly or is that too daunting of a task now with OSU in the mix?

Nate: One of the things which stands out about St.Cloud State is, despite the first-half success, it’s not yet an Idalski team. In a way, that makes the Huskies’ first half all the more impressive.

That is not to say he, along with associate head coach Jinelle Siergiej and assistant Mira Jalosuo, has yet to put his touch on SCSU. St. Cloud State is an undefeated 10-0-0 against teams outside the WCHA top-four. Turning those one-goal losses into wins is huge. In previous years, we’ve seen St. Cloud State come up short or be unable to close out series consistently. For every sweep against a team outside the WCHA top-four, SCSU were swept once or twice.

Brian Idalski was able to take a North Dakota program that struggled in its early years and turn it into one that regularly challenged Wisconsin and Minnesota. He is already getting the most of his players. It’s not a single line, something that has been the case in past years. Five Huskies already have more than 11 points, which matches all the total from all of last season. Both Sanni Ahola and Jojo Chobak are steering the ship in goal, but are not being over relied upon to steal games.

To answer your question about Idalski’s influence and where St. Cloud State can go from here, the middle of the WCHA is better than it has ever been. We haven’t discussed Minnesota State, but several points made here can also be made for the Mavericks and the job John Harrington is doing with his program. There is work to be done to unseat a top-four team consistently given Ohio State’s ascendance. Getting one win against Minnesota and taking Wisconsin to OT is a start, though.

I’m curious to see where St. Cloud State goes with recruiting, as some of the paths Idalski took at North Dakota have been taken over by other schools. (Related: I would not have been surprised if North Dakota won a national championship by now if the program continued.) Combining top players with his style of play should be an intriguing second act and one I’m excited to follow along watching SCSU.

Nicole: Exactly – there is so much attention put on the top four teams, but St. Cloud and Minnesota State have been two of my favorite teams to watch so far. Things evened out a bit for the Mavericks, but they were pushing those top four teams early on and getting votes despite losing because they were such close games.

I love an upset and I love seeing teams on the come up, so seeing teams like St. Cloud and Minnesota State playing in a way that shows consistent, program-wide improvement is so edifying. And with the caliber of player we’re seeing commit to these teams regularly, things should only continue to improve.

One thing I wanted to make sure to ask you about is in regard to Ohio State. Something you’ve said that I really found interesting was about OSU thriving in their role as the team to beat.

The Buckeyes really fed off a (sometimes self-created) narrative of being the underdog who got no respect. There was a consistent chip on their shoulder and they really challenged themselves to prove everyone wrong. Whether or not they were actually underdogs is absolutely beside the point, honestly. They believed it and used it as motivation. And it worked for them.

I think it would have been fair to question how they would handle being at the head of the pack and needing to rely on a different motivator, but it was probably also silly to ever doubt Nadine Muzerall.

Nate: Never say a game is over until the final whistle. Never doubt Nadine Muzerall. These are college hockey certainties.

Ohio State is not the first team to go full Rodney Dangerfield and find a way to motivate itself. Even though one can make an argument that the Buckeyes were the favorites entering last season, that only adds to the job Muzerall has done turning the Buckeyes program from one that had three head coaches in as many years into a national champion.

Getting to the mountaintop – especially in a sport where nearly 25 years in the number of national championship programs can be counted on one hand – is an accomplishment in itself. Staying there is another. In the first half as reigning national champions, OSU does not look like it has missed a beat taking on its next challenge. So often when giving up a goal, the Buckeyes come back the next shift and turn the game on its head. That is the mark of a national championship-winning team.

Part of that may be the veteran presence and how many juniors and seniors return from last year’s champs (in addition to Emma Maltais). Sophie Jaques might be playing better than she did last year, which is no easy feat for the Patty Kazmaier Award finalist. At the same time, it’s not just the seniors. Rookie Sloane Matthews is someone who stands out when I watch the Buckeyes.

While OSU is thriving in its role as the hunted, the rest of the WCHA hunters are close behind. No one should sleep on the four games between Ohio State and Wisconsin in the second half. Minnesota Duluth already played all four regular-season games against the Buckeyes and played better against the team who ended its own national title dreams, eventually being rewarded with an OT win.

Nicole: That felt like a big game for the Bulldogs and it makes this past weekend’s result even more head scratching.

Of course, after accepting that Minnesota’s loss to St. Cloud didn’t mean it was time to panic, I probably need to be as equanimous about UMD’s tie and shootout loss to St. Thomas on Saturday.

But while it’s not panic-inducing, it still isn’t great for the Bulldogs, who have the worst record of the top four teams in the WCHA against the other three and are lingering toward the bottom of the pool of teams who’ll make the NCAA tournament.

First off, way to go Tommies. Those were their first conference points of the year. That’s the kind of game they can really build off of and I’m sad for their sakes that it came right before break and they won’t be able to carry that confidence and momentum immediately into another set of games.

You mentioned that OT win for UMD, but we could talk about a whole lot of bonus hockey when it comes to Minnesota Duluth. Do you have any theories on why the Bulldogs seem nearly incapable of finishing a game in regulation?

Nate: One thing for sure? Bulldogs fans are getting their money’s worth this season with seven of the first 20 games heading to OT.

My guess as to why Minnesota Duluth, who currently has played the third-toughest schedule in college hockey, is seeing the extra period so much has to do with playing tough opponents and getting the best from the teams outside the WCHA’s top-four. For many years this was North Dakota’s spot – how many times did we watch the Fighting Hawks beat Minnesota or Wisconsin and then lose the following week? Now it seems to be UMD in that role. As the league gets better, it’s tough to win on an off night. I think we’re seeing that more this season.

The lack of consistency is maddening. Minnesota Duluth has the talent with a top forward in Gabbie Hughes and the most consistent goaltender in Emma Soderberg. Taking away a shooting percentage that should progress closer to the mean later in the season, UMD continues to be a team that at its best can win a national championship. We almost saw it last year from a similar spot in the Pairwise to where the Bulldogs sit now.

Having an 11-team NCAA Tournament gives more breathing room for the third and fourth-place WCHA teams, which puts the sport in a new spot. Bad losses and OT ties are not punished as much. I do wonder how this will affect the NCAA Tournament in the near future given even in the recent past it was easy to figure three or four of the year’s Frozen Four teams in September. Those days are done.

And I’d be remiss to not congratulate the Tommies as well for getting the tie and not only gaining points from Minnesota Duluth, but Saskia Maurer stopping a penalty shot in regulation and winning the shootout.

Nicole: Heading east, let’s talk about the Badgers’, whose first six games after the break are part of why I’m not putting too much stock in the rankings and numbers yet. They have not played Ohio State at all yet this year and before they can take on the Buckeyes, they’ll have two games in Connecticut against Quinnipiac. They faced off in an incredibly close series last New Year’s and I’m looking forward to the redux this year.

There will still be more than two months left in the season, but that series has the feel of being make or break for Wisconsin, who have yet to live up to the full potential of their roster. Arlan always said Wisconsin is a team that builds throughout the season and times their peak perfectly. After some recent flat outings against Minnesota and a tendency to struggle after bye weeks, I thought the Badgers looked good in those games against the Gophers a few weeks back and didn’t succumb to some of their regular pitfalls

It has felt a bit to me like the Badgers haven’t quite found a way to make all their very good pieces and parts work together and end up with a sum greater than the parts. What’s your feel on Wisconsin’s ceiling? We’re at the break, so I’m going to make you rank the top four teams here. Who do you see as having the advantage and is most likely to come out ahead of the others?

Nate: Before I rank, can I say we have really spoiled with non-conference matchups this season? Schools are going above and beyond to play top competition in locales across the country. We’re all winners.

A few seasons ago, I got the chance to watch Minnesota play Yale at the Whale. Now the teams played each other as top-ten foes in Las Vegas that showcased both the sport and the Bulldogs’ growth. Wisconsin faces Quinnipiac, who nationally might be the most intriguing team in the country, Ohio State played Colgate (and faces Cornell this weekend), and UMD faced Harvard and had that interesting three-team tournament with St. Lawrence and Penn State.

Right now, I would rank Ohio State 1, Wisconsin 2, Minnesota 3, Minnesota Duluth 4. The gap between 1-3 is close with UMD a little further back. After a few seasons where the gap was spread out more between 1-4, it feels closer. Wisconsin got the better of Minnesota, who got the better of Ohio State, who got the better of Minnesota Duluth.

This can and probably will change as the season continues. Ohio State is the closest to the most complete team among the WCHA top-four. Minnesota, to me, has the higher ceiling. However, Wisconsin is more likely to reach theirs as February and March draw near.

In hindsight, it makes sense that Wisconsin would need more time to get all its parts on the same page. The opening loss to Penn State on a night with no other game also played a role in a perception that can be hard to shake, fair or not.

You watch more Wisconsin than anyone so I’ll defer to you as to where the Badgers are in their journey to peaking at the right time. The series against Minnesota showed a preview as to how Mark Johnson can bring in Jesse Compher and KK Harvey to complement an already deep lineup. (Related: Is Casey O’Brien the most underrated player in the WCHA? ) It was technically a shootout loss, but I was impressed in the opening game with how Wisconsin battled back after trailing for the entire third period. That continued the next afternoon in the win.

This time of year is one where I start to pay attention to how teams respond to adversity. What lessons do players take away from poor performances? Which adjustments are made? Wisconsin opens the second half with a tough schedule, but has the opportunity to find its identity and be a scary team down the stretch.

That goes for several teams, both inside the WCHA and across the nation with a multitude of fantastic conference races. With so many veterans playing an extra year, star players with name value, and newcomers making their own, the sport is at a really fun place right now.

Nicole: I wrote a whole paragraph in which I argued for the ceiling of both Wisconsin and Ohio State and just deleted it because it ultimately doesn’t matter and the moral of the story is hat we are absolutely spoiled this season in particular, with the bonus year and the players returned from centralization.

I usually say this in response to some boneheaded comment about women’s sports/hockey from a troglodyte, but honestly, imagine not watching women’s college hockey. Absolutely thrilled that could not be me.

(Related: shoutout to both Hockey East and the ECAC for having their games on ESPN+, where the feeds are always great and the price tag is reasonable. I’m also thrilled with the WCHA/BTN+ package. The feeds are sometimes more of a struggle, but at least everyone’s games are in one place. It’s relatively easy and inexpensive to watch all this great hockey.)

We’ve covered a lot of WCHA ground, but since this is the last thing I’m posting until the new year, it seems a good time to talk about the best players. You mentioned UW’s Casey O’Brien as underrated in the WCHA. I’d add Colgate’s Danielle Serdachny as a player who has not gotten enough attention. Vermont’s Natálie Mlýnková has been one of my favorite players to watch so far this season, particularly in combination with Theresa Schafzahl. My other favorite pair is Olivia Mobley and Shay Maloney at Quinnipiac. None of them have the big name recognition, but they’re playing some beautiful hockey and making huge impacts for their teams.
One more player that has been electric is Makenna Webster at Ohio State. She transferred from Wisconsin to become a two sport athlete at OSU. She missed a number of early games to finish out the field hockey season, so her point totals aren’t going to be among the top, but goodness did she make an immediate impact on an already very talented hockey team.

I would have given Sophie Jaques the Patty last season, so it’s probably no surprise that she’s at the top of my list so far this year. I’d also include Izzy Daniel from Cornell in my top ten. The shortened Ivy schedule may have kept her off some folks’ radar, but she and teammate Gillis Frechette are third in points per game. I think Heise will get another shot, though I have to admit that I’ve been more impressed by Grace Zumwinkle than Taylor so far and she’d be my choice if I had to narrow it down to one Gopher. Alina Müller and Katy Knoll of Northeastern are making good cases. Knoll is second in the country (behind Jaques) with 15 goals.

Yale’s Pia Dukaric and Providence’s Sandra Abstreiter are my top goalies so far. I really like Logan Angers at Quinnipiac, as well, but I don’t think the Goaltender of the Year Award will go to anyone who splits time.

When it comes to rookies, Penn State’s Tessa Janecke had the early lead, but Wisconsin’s KK Harvey is definitely making her own case. Both are such stellar two-way players that any other player will really need a convincing case for me to think they can usurp them. Mercyhurst’s Thea Johansson and Providence’s Reichen Kirchmair are on my radar, as is Stonehill’s Alexis Petford.

I’ll stop there so that you also have something to talk about. Sorry! But do you have any arguments against my picks or did I leave anyone out that you think needs to be getting consideration?

Nate: Is it too late to rehash our regular Taylor Heise-Sophie Jaques 2022 Patty Kazmaier discussion? No? It’s not? Both would have been worthy choices. To me, what Heise was able to do raising her linemates to her level in ways that complemented her stats.

However, for 2023, right now I would put Jaques at the top of my list. The Patty Kazmaier is a subjective award, one we often wonder what it takes for a defender to win. If a repeat performance, one that is even better on both ends of the ice to help keep Ohio State on top, does not change some minds, that is an answer.

Heise is also proving to be in the mix, as this year looks to be similar to the past few in where the reigning winner likely finds herself in the top-10. She won’t be the only familiar name, as several other top-3 finalists (hello Alina Müller, Gabbie Hughes, and Grace Zumwinkle) continue to play and make heavy contributions to their team.

When discussing names that should be recognized more, the first three who came to mind were Serdachny, along with the Quinnipiac duo of Mobley and Maloney. Both Bobcats are heralded – Mobley is the rare Minnesota Ms. Hockey who went to play out East – yet their impact goes beyond the stats any time I watch QU. Northeastern’s Maureen Murphy, who missed out on the top-10 last year despite being the nation’s leading goal scorer at the time, is another among the large list of Huskies. Only Jaques has more goals per game than her. It’s also difficult to choose one from Clarkson, but Gabrielle David would be my pick.

I agree with you that Dukaric and Abstreiter are the goalies to watch right now for Goaltender of the Year. Gwyneth Phillips coming in after three years backing up Aerin Frankel and not missing a beat is one of the more impressive stories. I also agree about goalie platoons making it difficult for others to get in the conversation – Colgate’s Kayla Osborne and Hannah Murphy are another duo who combined would be up there.

The recurring theme seems to be the number of upperclassmen. More than ever, the extra year of eligibility combined with Olympic returnees makes these lists very veteran-heavy. We haven’t even brought up Princeton’s Sarah Fillier and St. Lawrence’s Julia Gosling to end 2022, which would have been crazy to think about at the beginning of the year. Same with Boston College’s Hannah Bilka.

Still, it’s great to see new names emerge and underclassmen make an impact. That is the one constant. Everyone eventually graduates, even if it seems like some have been there since Lee Stecklein and the Lamoureuxs. Each year new players replace and make their own names.

Both Janecke and Harvey are living up to the extremely high expectations placed upon them as rookies. Right now, I would give the nod for Rookie of the Year to Janecke given what she has meant to an upward Penn State program that continues to reach new highs. She is asked and relied upon more than Harvey is at Wisconsin. However, I would not be surprised to see KK take over as the season goes along and the Badgers try to peak at the right time. This is only the first half of the season. There is one more still to go.

This Week in Hockey East: Reputation as competitive league well-earned this year for high-end conference

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Games between UMass and UMass Lowell have historically been intense (photo: UMass Lowell Athletics).

Without prying too much into Providence coach Nate Leaman’s personal life, by all appearances he’s a man of good habits.

That might change, however, given how competitive Hockey East has been this year.

“I don’t smoke cigarettes, but I might start,” Leaman said recently, with a chuckle.

Just how competitive is Hockey East this year? Start with the league standings, where the top five schools are separated by just five points — league leaders Merrimack and Connecticut with 27 points each, followed by Boston University (23), Providence (23) and Northeastern (22).

Six schools — more than half the league — are featured in the latest DCU/USCHO.com D-I men’s poll: Merrimack (sixth), BU (eighth), UConn (10th), Providence (12th), UMass Lowell (13th) and Massachusetts (15th). Of the unranked teams, all except Vermont have at least one win against a team that was ranked at the time.

While it’s possible there could be some separation in the second half, or teams could cannibalize each other and cancel each other out in a way, such a scenario is unlikely, given Hockey East’s history of competitiveness.

Leaman noted that this year hasn’t unfolded much differently than the 2021-22 season, where the league’s top six were separated by just six points. Northeastern clinched the regular-season title in the final seconds of its season finale, a 1-0 win at Merrimack.

“If you finish seventh in our league right now — and I don’t want to finish seventh, first of all — but you can’t hang your head,” Leaman said. “The depth of our league is outstanding. You’re going to scrape and claw for every point in this league.”

With his struggling Wildcats yet to notch a league win this season, New Hampshire coach Mike Souza’s had a front-row seat to the league’s brutality. But given the league’s “any given weekend” nature, Souza sees reason to believe his Wildcats can be competitive in the second half of the season.

“Our effort and our attitude and our competitiveness has been really strong,” Souza said. “Our league’s so competitive, you can close the gap on a team that may have more talent than you if you’re willing to compete at an optimum level. (That’s) why we’re optimistic here — we know it can turn on you that quick in a positive way. That’s all we’ve talked about.”

Of UConn’s 19 games so far, 12 have been against opponents ranked at the time.

“You’re talking about five teams separated by (five) points, which is essentially two games,” UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “It seems like every year, that seems to be the case in Hockey East. It’s a very, very competitive league night in and night out.”

Though he’s new to Hockey East this year as a head coach, BU’s Jay Pandolfo knows a thing or two about how competitive the league is historically. As a player, his 1995-96 Terriers team (which he captained) eked out the regular-season title following a close, three-team race featuring BU, Lowell and Maine.

“It’s a hard league,” Pandolfo said. “It’s hard to win on back-to-back nights in this league. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. Every team presents different challenges, but (any) time you do win back-to-back games in this league (you’ve) had a pretty good weekend.”

D-III men’s hockey roster announced for World University Games

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Herb Brooks Arena will host the medal round games for the 31st Winter World University Games being hosted in Lake Placid NY. Men’s hockey will be represented for the first time by D-III players in search of medal for Team USA (Photo by Herb Brooks Arena)

For the first time in the Winter World University Games, the USA men’s ice hockey roster will be comprised by players from the D-III ranks across the country. The coaching staff, led by Hobart’s Mark Taylor, has been analyzing their options and potential players to play in the two-week tournament which kicks off on January 11 in Lake Placid, New York. The official roster for the tournament has now been released and is comprised of 23 players from east and west and across many of the conferences. Here is the breakdown by position and school affiliation that will be representing the USA next month:

Goaltenders:

Dysen Skinner                   Wisconsin – River Falls

Evan Ruschil                      Williams College

Ryan Kenny                       Stevenson University

Defense:

Alex Sheehy                      University of New England

Jack Ring                           SUNY – Plattsburgh

Jaden Shields                     Adrian College

Mason Palmer                    Augsburg University

Cooper Swift                      Hobart College

Emmet Powell                    Wesleyan University

Brendan Mark                    St. Norbert College

Forwards:

Jack Jaunich                      Aurora University

Samuel Ruffin                    Adrian College

Michael McChesney            St. Norbert College

Connor Szmul                   Wisconsin – Eau Claire

Matt Hanewall                   Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE)

Quinn Green                     Wisconsin – Eau Claire

Zachary Heintz                  Adrian College

Peter Morgan                    SUNY – Geneseo

Luke Aquaro                      Hobart College

Clark Kerner                      Norwich University

Mitch Walinski                   Salve Regina University

Jonny Mulera                     Salve Regina University

Austin Master                    Stevenson University

Team USA Staff

Mark Taylor                         Head Coach                                  Hobart College

Matt Loen                           Associate Head Coach                    Wisconsin – Eau Claire

Mike Szkodzinski                 Assistant & Goaltender Coach         Lawrence University

Jack Ceglarski                     Assistant Coach                             Middlebury College

Bill Beaney                         General Manager                            Middlebury College

Peter Lynch                        Assistant General Manager              SUNY – Oswego

Joel Stoneham                   Hockey Operations                          Hobart College

The initial roster is made up of players all currently playing at D-III schools with eight conferences represented. There are 12 players from the east and 11 players from the west with the NCHC having the highest representation with six players. The defending national champions from Adrian College have three players on the roster while Wisconsin – Eau Claire, St. Norbert, Salve Regina, Stevenson, and Hobart each have two representatives.

“This was a really difficult process for the staff,” said USA head coach Mark Taylor. “We like the balance of the group and know there were enough players to interested that we could have made up two rosters. We think we have a very good group including some players in reserve that may be included [depending on injury or illness] prior to our final roster submission on January 10.”

“We studied a lot of film during the selection process,” noted associate head coach Matt Loen. “We stuck to the initial philosophy from coach Taylor which was no bias between east or west and a focus on getting the best players possible. We think these players will give us the right mix to play fast physical and smart.”

The USA men’s team plays in a six-team Pool B bracket that commences on January 11 at Cheel Rink on the campus of Clarkson University. The two top teams from the round robin portion of the tournament move on to the medal round on Saturday, January 21 and Sunday, January 22. The USA team schedule for the round robin includes the following games:

January 11          Great Britain vs. USA                      8 PM EST              Cheel Rink

January 14           USA vs. Korea                               8 PM EST              Cheel Rink

January 15           Slovakia vs. USA                           4:30 PM EST          Cheel Rink

January 18           USA vs. Kazakhstan                       9:30 AM EST          Cheel Rink

January 19           USA vs. Hungary                            9:30 AM EST         Cheel Rink

Pool A teams include Canada, Japan, Sweden, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Latvia. Pool A games will be played at SUNY- Canton Rink.

Semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, January 21 at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid with the winners advancing to the medal round games on Sunday, January 22.

The gold medal game will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Forward Adam Stacho from St. Norbert College will also play in the tournament representing Slovakia.

 

 

 

 

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Wisconsin swept by Minnesota as Badgers ‘go through something like that’ in loss Saturday

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Minnesota took both games over Wisconsin last weekend in Big Ten conference action (photo: Bruce Fedyck).

Sometimes when you’re down, every setback seems to add another rung to the ladder you’re climbing.

In situations like these, even the littlest things get amplified.

Sometimes when you’re down, though, something that looks small to outsiders really is bigger than it appears. It’s only diminished to others because you appear diminished to others.

The perfect example of this is the major penalty called to Wisconsin’s Charlie Stramel in the Badgers’ 6-4 loss to Minnesota Saturday. At the 15:54 mark of the first period – when the Badgers were leading 2-0 – Stramel was given a five-minute major call for contact to the head during a dust-up with Minnesota’s Brock Faber. Specifically, Stramel was called for head-butting Faber.

Let’s be clear here: contact to the head is no joke, and it’s a penalty that should be called when it is an intentional act. In this case, Stramel’s helmet did make contact with Faber’s head, but it’s very clear that it happens only because Faber pulls Stramel in by the jersey. Stramel didn’t initiate any head butting, nor could he have avoided that contact once he was pulled in by Faber.

Faber got two minutes for roughing. Stramel was ejected from the game. Minnesota scored three times in the final three minutes of the first period, once four-on-four and twice on the ensuing power play, including Luke Mittelstadt’s spirit-breaking goal with one-tenth of a second left in the period.

After the game, Wisconsin’s Tony Granato had more than a few things to say about that call.

“That’s not a major,” said Granato, and then he repeated it for emphasis and clarified it even further. “That’s not a major. It’s not a penalty.

“Sometimes referees see things that other people don’t. There’s four of them out there. Not one. Four of them had to make the decision that was an intentional head butt, but I’ve never seen a head butt with a chin when a guy’s pulling a jersey forward, but that’s what they decided to call.”

The penalty came at a point in the game where Wisconsin was working on salvaging something of the series after dropping Friday’s game to the Golden Gophers 7-1.

“There’s momentum for their team,” said Granato. “We got rattled for sure. They took advantage of an opportunity that’s given to them, and they made the most of it.”

The Gophers – as capable as any team in the country of taking advantage of a momentum shift – opened the second period with their third power-play goal on the Stramel major, this one at the 44-second mark, 10 seconds before the advantage was to expire.

The Gophers added goals at 3:04 and 3:30 in the second, meaning that all six Minnesota goals were scored within six minutes of real play time spanning the end of the first period and beginning of the second.

“Did that change the momentum of the game? Absolutely,” said Granato. “We played as good a period as we could until that point, and then they took advantage of it and they get the goal at the end with point one second left. That’s another kick to us. Then at the start of the second period, they sneak one inside again.”

Wisconsin went on to score two third-period goals, which made Connor Kurth’s goal at 3:04 in the second – the fifth Minnesota goal – the game winner.

“In the second period, we never really got going,” said Granato, “but in the third period we did, played hard, got ourselves somewhat back in the game. I give our guys a ton of credit for playing as hard as they did, battling the way they did.

“Again, you hate to see your team have to go through something like that when you play that well and a call goes against you.”

The phrase “go through something like that” in context refers to that call, that six-minute span, that awful outcome for the Badgers. It’s also a metaphor for the season Wisconsin is having. This was the last weekend of play for the Badgers before heading into the midseason break, and Wisconsin allowed 13 goals in two games against Minnesota.

That is a bitter ending for a tough first half that saw just one Big Ten win for Wisconsin, at home Dec. 2 against Michigan. At the end of the first half last season, Wisconsin had three B1G wins.

The Badgers will take a three-game losing streak into the start of the second half of the season, having surrendered 17 goals in their last three contests. And the gulf between the last-place Badgers – with their single win and three conference points – and the first-place Golden Gophers and their 10 wins for 30 points couldn’t be more starkly contrasted than the outcome of this series.

Every bit of that first-half frustration was evident in Granato’s voice after the Saturday’s game.

“All the way until the penalty, we were on it,” said Granato. “Four lines were going. Charlie was playing great. I’ve not seen a call like that, ever. I don’t know how you can explain that, but again, that’s what they saw.”

What makes this single call so much larger than it appears to anyone outside of the Wisconsin organization goes beyond the Badgers’ desire to end the first half on a higher note than a 6-4 loss to a very old rival. Stramel’s ejection affected the entire Wisconsin team, obviously, but it also affected freshman Charlie Stramel.

Stramel is a native of Rosemount, Minn., a small city near Minneapolis. An alum of the U.S. National Team Development Program, Stramel is eligible for the 2023 NHL draft and began his season with Wisconsin as a prospect expected to get chosen in the first round. His four goals and three assists so far on a team that is underperforming may dampen enthusiasm that teams have for him. He’s also headed to Plymouth, Mich., this week for the U.S. National Junior Team camp. Stramel was on the 2022 World Junior Championship team.

“We’ve got a star player playing in his home state in front of lots of scouts,” said Granato, “and he’s kicked out of the game because the guy pulls his jersey.”

For the Badgers, the penalty to Stramel had a ripple effect, but Granato also saw in the heat of the moment that the call made Stramel more of a target than a pebble.

Wisconsin returns to play against Lake Superior State Dec. 28 in the first game of the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum. Clarkson and Massachusetts round out that field.

— Special thanks to Todd Milewski for assistance with this column.

NCHC suspends St. Cloud State’s Bushy one game for head contact penalty Dec. 10 against Miami

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BUSHY

The NCHC has issued a one-game suspension to St. Cloud State graduate student defenseman Brendan Bushy, in accordance with the conference’s supplemental discipline policy.

The suspension stems from an illegal hit during the Huskies game against Miami on Dec. 10 at Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio.

During Saturday night’s game, Bushy was assessed a major penalty for contact to the head and given a game misconduct penalty at 15:19 of the second period.

Bushy will be required to serve the one-game suspension during SCSU’s next game, which is an exhibition game on Friday, Dec. 30 against Manitoba. Bushy is eligible to return for St. Cloud State’s series opener against Minnesota on Saturday, Jan. 7.

TMQ: What has been expected, unexpected so far over college hockey’s first half of ’22-23 season?

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Kaidan Mbereko has been steady in the Colorado College net this season as a freshman for the Tigers (photo: Casey B. Gibson).

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.

Ed: For college hockey fans, this season has been loaded with the unexpected. Teams doing better – or a lot worse. Crazy upsets and comebacks. Even what seems to be a resurgence in scoring, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a few years.

This week we’re going to try to narrow things down to one surprising thing going on in each of the six men’s D-I conferences, plus one among independent teams.

Dan, I’d like to start with Hockey East. If people were paying attention last season, they might have noticed Merrimack’s ascension to the middle of that conference. If you haven’t noticed their success this season, well, you’re really not paying attention.

Scott Borek’s Warriors are sitting in third in the PairWise Rankings and were No. 6 in Monday’s DCU/USCHO.com men’s ice hockey poll. They’re tied with Connecticut atop the Hockey East standings but with a couple of games in hand. Merrimack’s goalie tandem of Hugo Ollas and Zachary Borgiel are right around a combined .930 save percentage and 1.80 goals against. While nobody has 10 goals, the team effort in scoring has them averaging 3.4 per game. But what you really can’t argue with is their 13-4 record at the break, including three straight road wins, downing UConn, UMass, and Providence.

I expected an improved Merrimack squad after last season, but this has to exceed most everyone’s expectations.

While we’re out east, how about the league you are covering this season, ECAC Hockey. Seeing Quinnipiac and Harvard out front in the conference was to be expected, but what’s the most unexpected thing so far this campaign?

Dan: This is incredibly hard for me to say, but I think the biggest shocker is at Clarkson because I really thought that team would challenge Quinnipiac in the kind of wire-to-wire separation that exists in ECAC because of the schools starting earlier than the Ivies.

This team looked so good on paper, and I think I had them first in the league because I didn’t believe Harvard’s championship was indicative of a deeper run this season. I more or less split hairs and said that Quinnipiac and Clarkson were the top flight programs while Harvard and Cornell sat a shade behind them in some combination of third and fourth. Colgate was the clear fifth, and then everyone else was under that group, fighting for spots 6-12.

Clarkson is under .500, though, and just lost extra points to both Brown and Yale at home after getting swept by Princeton and Quinnipiac. It’s three points behind St. Lawrence and three points clear of Union, and there’s maybe one weekend’s difference separating the Golden Knights from the bottom four spots in the league. That’s a shocker, to me, for a team that I still believe has some of the best players tied together in a system capable of playing perfect hockey.

By the numbers, Clarkson is middle of the road in both scoring offense and scoring defense, which is why a .500 record is suitable at this point. The output, which has a scoring offense nearly equal to the number of goals allowed, is comparable to St. Lawrence and Princeton. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but I thought this team would be much further ahead from where it is right now.

Now all of this said, I’m going to be really interested at what happens when this team hits the ice for the second half. It’s a real wild card factor, one that we can’t ignore.

I feel like I was a little down on a good team, there, so I’d like to take things into a topic that I know both of us would enjoy.

I have a coin in my hand. I need you to call it in the air when I flip it. Heads, we go to the Big Ten. Tails, we go to Atlantic Hockey.

Call it in the air….now.

Ed: Heads!

Dan: Trick question. It was a double-sided coin.

Big Ten…go!

Ed: Aren’t most coins two-sided?

The answer for the Big Ten is easy: Michigan State. I suppose the Spartans have been unexpected for the coaches in the conference, too, as they picked Michigan State last in their preseason coaches poll. They’re at No. 8 in the PairWise and 11th in our poll this week.

It hasn’t been completely smooth sailing for the Spartans as they ran into a Minnesota buzz saw two weekends ago, but a weekend home-and-home split against Michigan was a terrific series, and Michigan State has taken points in five of six B1G weekends.

Dylan St. Cyr returned to the Big Ten for his graduate year of eligibility and is putting up solid numbers in net. Scoring has been – like Merrimack above – by committee, as nobody has more than seven goals this short season. Not every statistical number is great for Michigan State; the Spartans lag in the faceoff dot and have been average in special teams. Yet the Spartans have found ways to win, especially when leading after two, where they are 10-1.

Adam Nightingale’s palpable excitement and enthusiasm seems to have rubbed off on his team. Nightingale also achieved something that no previous Spartans head coach had done: beat Michigan in his first game against the Wolverines.

I’m going to sneak in two honorable mentions: Penn State, which was picked sixth and has been much better than expected, and the conference itself, which is arguably the best in D-I this year.

I was going to challenge you to rock, paper, scissors for where we go next, but I’ll let you pick where you want to go next.

Dan: My wife beat me the other night at rock, paper, scissors, and it almost resulted in me missing Harry Kane’s penalty kick against France because I was doing naptime. That has nothing to do with what we’re talking about, but I still feel like that was notable.

I’ll take it to the CCHA, where the answer is equally as obvious as the Big Ten’s Michigan State tale with a group of teams locked in the race for first place. If you think about the league dating back to its WCHA roots, it’s often identified largely for Minnesota State and a bunch of teams playing to finish second behind Minnesota State. The league is now running three or four teams deep, and while it’s always been a very good league, we’re now seeing what happens when a dominant team slides backwards enough for the rest of the league to catch it.

You can’t really find a team willing to step out in front of that group, either. Bowling Green is tied with Minnesota State but has a couple of extra games played, and Michigan Tech and Bemidji State are right in there. Our latest and last DCU/USCHO.com Division I poll of the year has Michigan Tech and Minnesota State right on each other’s heels, and the Pairwise Rankings has everyone missing the tournament, though Michigan Tech is tied for 16th and Minnesota State is right in there at No. 20 (right behind a tie between Cornell and some team from Rochester that plays in Atlantic Hockey).

After a few years of Minnesota State being a dominant Division I power, the slightest regression – which honestly could have been expected at some point – opened the door for a wide open second half of the season. It does mean the CCHA is probably going to be a one-bid league, but that one team could be really battle-tested.

Ed, this leaves us with two leagues remaining: the NCHC and Atlantic Hockey. I’ll even throw the independents into the mix. Before we bring things home with our own league, I’ll toss to you for the home of the defending national champions and the current No. 1 team in the nation. Then, if you’ll indulge me, I’ll take care of our independent folks before we each can wrap up with the Atlantic Hockey league that I know we both love so nearly and dearly.

Ed: We’ll also ask our editor to indulge us in a couple extra paragraphs this week to make that happen.

The NCHC just seems a little … down from past years. I mean, sure, Denver is No. 1 in the poll and top four in the PairWise, and St. Cloud State is right on the Pioneers’ boot heels, but overall the conference just doesn’t have quite the luster it has had in recent seasons. North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth have had some rough weekends and have losing records both in and out of conference. Western Michigan is not off to the blazing start it had last season. Miami has had some good wins, including the 5-0 victory over St. Cloud last weekend, but is still finding it a tough go. You could make a case for Omaha at .500 in conference, but the Mavericks have been a bit up-and-down.

That leaves Colorado College as the unexpected team in the NCHC for me in the first half of the year. Kris Mayotte’s Tigers hit the semester break in third place, just six points – or a weekend sweep – behind Denver and three behind the Huskies. Don’t get me wrong; the Tigers aren’t exactly lighting up the college hockey world and are below .500 out of conference. But to be in this position in what in most seasons would be the best conference in D-I is an accomplishment.

Junior forward Hunter McKown leads with 13 goals, including a hat trick last Friday against Omaha, and rookie goaltender Kaidan Mbereko has three shutouts to go with a .927 save percentage.

Colorado College still has a way to go to be a top-tier team in D-I, but they’re off to a great start and should continue to delight fans in the jewel that is Ed Robson Arena. The Tigers are one of the few bright spots in a difficult year so far for most of its conference rivals.

So Dan, that brings us to the six independent teams. What’s unexpected among the unaffiliated?

Dan: You know, I specifically wanted to mention the independents because I wanted to split them into two groups: Arizona State and everyone else.

We all know that Arizona State has a real, live Division I program capable of competing with anyone and everyone. The Sun Devils are going to likely miss the NCAA tournament this year unless they win out (and even then, I don’t know if the math aligns well enough to move them from 24th to a spot where the Pairwise gets them in), but their schedule, their arena, and their overall culture puts them into the conversation on an annual basis.

Given the state of the Arizona Coyotes – even if they beat my beloved Bruins – I can’t get behind Arizona as an NHL market right now. I can, however, get behind it as the perfect NCAA market that’s currently carrying its NHL franchise.

So it’s important to separate Arizona State from the rest of the schools without a conference affiliation, though I’d lodge Alaska into the conversation this year. The Nanooks got lost in the conversation surrounding how Alaska Anchorage saved its program, but they are 7-7-2 with wins over Division I programs.

The weekend splits against AIC and St. Thomas felt modest enough to generate traction, and the wins over Omaha, Northern Michigan and RPI mean the Nanooks still have their mojo. They won the Governor’s Cup weekend series at home by sweeping Anchorage at home this past weekend, and a couple of weeks ago, they lost two games at Penn State where the Nittany Lions slipped past them.

I’m convinced hockey in both Arizona and Alaska has a successful future, and with the Nanooks comes the opportunity to boost Alaska-Anchorage, which holds wins over Western Michigan and Northern Michigan. That opening game in October over NMU felt particularly poignant given everything the team’s dealt with.

But therein lies the surprise because we have to ask a legitimate question: how many wins by teams other than Alaska and Arizona State are happening, and how do we weigh them? I was pretty surprised to see how many club teams played against Division I teams, with UNLV losing a one-goal game to UAA in October before losing a two-goal game against the Seawolves in Nevada.

Lindenwood, meanwhile, won four games by beating Air Force and Bentley once before sweeping Army West Point. LIU beat Ohio State, 3-2, and earned wins over Brown and Wisconsin in overtime and tied Quinnipiac. Stonehill has played largely a D-III schedule, so it’s hard to judge.

Either way, these teams are winning hockey games and looking increasingly competitive. That, to me, is a shock because I had low expectations. Sure, a Division I team should beat Assumption or Franklin Pierce, but the fact that new programs are working the transfer portal and recruiting teams capable of stepping on the ice with immediate success is a sign that the game is growing in the right direction. Now if only we could figure out the conference thing…

Ok, well that leads us back to our home in Atlantic Hockey. Yes, it’s been a year where we’ve talked about just about everything, but I have a feeling that we’re going to have similar opinions and not just about how great RIT’s been across the first half of the year.

Ed: That RIT is in the top four in the league at the break should not be a surprise. But that the Tigers are in first place – three points ahead of four-time champ AIC with three games in hand – might be.

RIT has done it with two elements that have been key to its success when it made NCAA appearances in 2010, 2015, and 2016: offense from the defensive corps, and solid goaltending. The top defensive pair of Gianfranco Cassaro (8-12=20) and Aiden Hansen-Bukata (2-16=18) are the team’s second- and third-leading scorers. Netminder Tommy Scarfone is 11-2 with a .918 save percentage.

Meanwhile, last season’s Atlantic Hockey rookie of the year Carter Wilkie leads the team with nine goals and 22 points. The team is also blocking shots at a high rate, led by graduate student defenseman Spencer Berry with 36.

RIT’s special teams also have been clicking at a hard-to-sustain rate. The power play has converted at .306, while the penalty kill is at .850 – essential for a team leading D-I in penalty minutes per game.

So it’s a case of a team with all of the proverbial cylinders firing.

Dan, let’s wrap this with your thoughts on the Atlantic.

Dan: Like the CCHA, we all knew Atlantic Hockey would have some type of regression to the mean after AIC won four straight championships because it happened after Air Force dominated the league for the better part of its first decade after leaving College Hockey America.

That didn’t mean AIC wasn’t a factor or even that the Yellow Jackets weren’t the best team in the league, but it did translate into seeing someone else jump to the front of the line by way of the regular season.

I’m not surprised that RIT retook the torch to start this year, but I’m shocked at just how good the Tigers looked in doing it. Only one of the four losses involved a bad game, and it’s easily bookended by the 10-4 win over Canisius. I don’t think I’ve been more excited to watch a team ready for a “power conference” opponent, and I think a good showing against Penn State, particularly at home, would work wonderfully for a league that’s battled the reputation of getting steamrolled in those games.

We don’t have any indication that what RIT is accomplishing will slow down, and at this point, halfway through the season, trends are now truths. RIT really has been that good.

I’m with you on all of those points, though I guess I’m more excited to see what the Corner Crew has in store for Penn State on December 30, but I’ll end with an honorable mention about the second half of the season.

The biggest surprise in Atlantic Hockey and maybe college hockey is coming on January 14 when Boston College visits Sacred Heart and opens the Martire Family Arena. It’s going to be a gorgeous place, and the Pioneers are already practicing on their new home sheet. I can’t wait for the reception at that place, and I have a feeling, for all you folks in Western Connecticut, it’ll blow the opening of Fairfield’s Leo Mahoney Arena for basketball out of the water.

D-III West Weekend Wrap-up: Auggies split with Green Knights

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St. Norbert earned a split with Augsburg in a battle of nationally ranked teams. (Photo Credit: Patrick Ferron/St. Norbert Athletics)

Augsburg and St. Norbert battled in a top five showdown over the weekend and came away the two teams split the series featuring nationally ranked teams.

After losing on Friday night, the fourth-ranked Auggies bounced back on Saturday with a 2-1 win, scoring both goals off the power play, including the game-winner by Dylan Schneider less than two minutes into the third period. Augsburg held on from there to beat the fifth-ranked Green Knights for the fourth time in the last five meetings. Schneider also tallied an assist in the win.

Samuel Vyletelka came through with 35 saves for his seventh win of the year as Augsburg closed out its first half of the season with a 7-3-1 mark. St. Norbert is now 8-3-1. The Green Knights got 17 saves from Colby Entz. Carter Hottman and Adam Stacho both scored. 

Friday’s game belonged to St. Norbert, which scored twice in the first period and led 4-2 after two periods of action.

Five different players scored goals for the Green Knights, including Michael McChesney, who came through with his ninth goal of the season. Liam Fraser also tallied his ninth goal of the year. Curtis Hammond scored his first goal of the season. Johnny Roberts started in goal and made 32 saves. 

Mason Palmer, Austin Dollimer and Michael Redmond all scored for the Auggies.

Pointers keep unbeaten streak rolling

UW-Stevens Point is unbeaten in its last 11 games after sweeping UW-Eau Claire over the weekend.

The Pointers, winners of six consecutive games, topped the Blugolds 3-2 in overtime on Saturday. 

Dawson Sciarrino scored the game winner for UW-Stevens Point (8-1-3, 6-0-0). It’s the second time in the last three games he’s done that in OT. The Pointers move up four spots to No. 11 in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll this week. The Blugolds fell out of the poll. They came in ranked 14th.

Quinn Green gave UW-Eau Claire a 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the second period and Cody Moline tied the game 10 minutes later. Conor Witherspoon put UW-Stevens Point up 2-1 before Leo Baccallao tied the game at 2-2 with a little less than two minutes to play in regulation.

Alex Proctor made 32 saves for the Pointers. Max Gutjahr tallied 26 saves for the Blugolds (7-5-0, 3-3-0).

UW-Stevens Point dominated Friday’s game thanks to a hat trick by Witherspoon. He scored all three of his goals in the second period. The Pointers trailed 1-0 after one period before Witherspoon got on a roll. Fletcher Anderson and Evan Junker both tallied a goal and an assist.

St. Olaf 2, Bethel 1

The Oles battled Bethel in an outdoor game Saturday night and prevailed 2-1 in overtime thanks to a game-winning goal by Troy Bowditch. Bowditch scored off an assist from Ashton Altmann. It was the second win of the year for the Oles over the Royals. St. Olaf is 2-1 in OT games this season and bounced back after falling 5-2 to MSOE on Friday night. The Oles are unbeaten at 3-0 in games following a loss.

Lukas Haugen made 34 saves, a season-best total, and now has five wins. Austin Ryman made 34 saves as well, six of those coming in the final nine minutes of regulation.

Sam White scored Bethel’s lone goal to tie the game at 1-1 in the third. That goal came less than a minute after Jonathan Panisa gave the Oles a 1-0 lead.

St. Olaf is 9-3-1 on the year. Bethel is 8-4-1.

Raiders top Oles

It had been more than 20 years since MSOE last played St. Olaf, and the wait was worth it for the Raiders, who came away with a 5-2 win on Friday. It’s the first time MSOE has ever beaten St. Olaf in three games between the two teams.

MSOE overcame a 2-1 deficit to pick up the win and improve to 8-4 on the season.

Christian Sabin tied the game just over five minutes into the second period at 2-2 and Cole Beilke gave the Raiders a 3-2 lead. Gramm McCormack closed out the scoring for the Raiders. Sabin led the Raider offense with two goals. Nick Stofcheck tallied 16 saves.

Eight goals more than enough for Gusties

Gustavus closed out its first half of the season with its best offensive performance in more than a decade.

The Gusties picked up their first win of the year with an 8-2 win over Concordia (Wisconsin) on Saturday. The eight goals were the most for the Gusties since Jan. 24, 2009. They ended their five-game losing streak in the process and improved to 1-8-2 on the year.

Nick Mohs-Messerli scored twice for the Gusties in the victory. Jac Triemert tallied a goal and an assist. Gustavus held a commanding 51-20 advantage in shots.

Cardinals on a roll

Saint Mary’s couldn’t have asked for a better finish to its first half of the season, winning its fourth consecutive game on Saturday with a 5-3 win over MSOE.

Thomas Magnavite scored a late goal to help the Cardinals avoid overtime. Trevor Schroeder added an empty-net goal to finish out the scoring as the Cardinals improved to 5-6-1 on the season.

Colin Tushie scored twice for the Cardinals, who have momentum on their side after a tough start to the year. Callahan Nauss also scored a goal and Mat Sanker made 22 saves, including 12 in the first period. 

Good weekend for the Vikings

It was a special weekend for Zach Lodes, who played a pivotal role in helping the Vikings come away with a much-needed win.

Lodes scored five goals, tying a school record, in a 6-3 win over Gustavus Friday. 

The Vikings then closed out the weekend with a 2-2 tie against Saint John’s on Saturday.

On Friday, after two consecutive shutout losses, Lawrence’s offense came to life thanks to Lodes, who scored three times in the second period and added two more goals in the third. His performance tied a mark first set by Mike Vernon on Nov. 21, 1998.

Against the Johnnies, Kyle Gierman scored the game-tying goal to force overtime. Neither team scored in the extra session. Jayden Jense scored the first goal of the game for Lawrence. It was his third of the season. Owen Carlson made 30 saves. The Vikings improved to 2-8-1.

Falcons get much-needed win

UW-River Falls snapped a six-game losing streak and picked up its first WIAC win of the year Friday with a 1-0 win over UW-Stout.

Dylan Smith scored the lone goal of the game in the second period. It was his third of the season. Dysen Skinner made 13 saves and won his fourth game of the year. It’s his third shutout win of the season.

River Falls wasn’t as fortunate Saturday as the Blue Devils bounced back with a 6-3 win. Markis Brimanis tallied his first career hat trick at the college level to pave the way for UW-Stout, which improved to 9-4-0 overall and 3-3 in the WIAC. The ninth win tops last season’s win total.

Tyler Masternak made 25 saves. The Falcons fell to 4-8 overall and 1-5 in the conference.

D-III Women’s West Week 7 Recap: #1 vs #2 split the series, St. Olaf has a new record holder, UW-Eau Claire sneaking up

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#1 Gustavus & #2 UW-River Falls split games over the weekend, Gustavus taking game one 2-0 and UW-River Falls taking game two 3-0 (Photo by Jenna Stockinger)

This past week we had a battle between #1 Gustavus vs #2 UW-River Falls and then #3 Adrian headed out east to compete in the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic. Meanwhile, St. Olaf had a player break the single-game program record for points and assists. Exciting stuff from this past week. 

Gustavus & UW-River Falls split the series

This past week featured two battles between the top two teams in the USCHO poll, #1 Gustavus vs #2 UW-River Falls in a home-and-home series. Gustavus entered the series 10-0-0, UWRF entered 8-1-0, however, UWRF had shown us more so far in terms of win strength. River-Falls had wins over (at the time) #8 UW-Eau Claire, #3 Plattsburgh State, & #1 Middlebury. That being said, Gustavus showed us that they’re for real and can play with anyone. 

In game one, in River Falls, the Gusties won 2-0, goals at the 10:31 mark of the 1st period and a powerplay goal at 19:36 of the 3rd period sealed it up for a Gusties victory. Both goalies had good nights, Katie McCoy recorded the 32 save shutout victory, while Sami Miller recorded a 32 save night for the Falcons. In game two, in Gustavus, the Falcons got a shutout victory of their own, winning 3-0. River-Falls scored two quick goals at the 4:38 & 6:01 mark of the 2nd period, they would then add a shorthanded goal at 19:35 of the 3rd period. Funny enough, goaltender Sami Miller recorded the 26 save shutout victory, while Katie McCoy recorded 26 saves in the loss. In both games, each goalie had the same amount of saves as the other, 32 each in game one, 26 each in game two. 

The statsheet was quite spread out in these two games, with only one player recording more than one point for either side, MaKenna Aure of UW-River Falls led the way in points, with one goal and one assist. 

St. Olaf has a new record holder

First-Year forward #22 Solvei Berg-Messerole sets the St. Olaf program single-game record for points and assists, recording 4 assists and 2 assists in the 7-1 win over UW-Superior (Photo by Hannah Robb and Esme Brandvik ’26)

St. Olaf defeated UW-Superior 7-1 on 12/10/22, while First-Year forward Solvei Berg-Messerole from Minneapolis, Minn. recorded a whopping six points in the victory. She set the program record for points and she also broke the single-game assist record with four. So far, in 13 games for the Ole’s, Solvei has 15 points (7 goals, 8 assists). 

Adrian heads out East

#3 Adrian entered the weekend with an undefeated 9-0-0 record as they took the long bus trip to Northfield, VT to face #5 Norwich in the first round of the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic, and then faced #4 Plattsburgh in the championship game. In game one, Adrian defeated Norwich 4-3. This game was an interesting one in terms of the scoring, Norwich was up 2-1 after the first period, until Adrian scored at the 15:41 & 16:07 marks of the 2nd period, just 26 seconds apart,  to take a 3-2 lead. Karmen Anderson would then score the game-winning-goal for the Bulldogs a quick 0:36 into the 3rd period. Goaltender Sophie Goldberg got the 19 save victory. 

In game two however, Adrian and Plattsburgh would remain scoreless until the 17:00 mark of the 3rd period when Sara Krauseneck of Plattsburgh scored the winning goal on the powerplay. There were few penalties in this game, Adrian committed one and Plattsburgh two, but the lone powerplay for the Cardinals resulted in the game winner to win the Norwich East-West Hockey Classic. Adrian is now still a very respectable 10-1 with their only loss coming in the last 3 minutes to the (at the time) #4 ranked-team in the country. 

UW-Eau Claire continues to win

Currently, #9 UW-Eau Claire sits with a 10-2-0 record, winning their last 8 of 9 games, their only loss coming to current #2 WIAC rival UW-River Falls where UWRF scored the winner late at the 15:01 mark of the 3rd period. Ranked somewhat low for their record/reputation, UW-Eau Claire eyes an important weekend when they return for the second-half of their season on January 6/7 with two away games at St. Norbert. A series that could help them immensely in the pairwise and regular polls. 

UW-Eau Claire are now 10-2-0 after sweeping Concordia Minnesota 4-2 & 8-0 this past weekend (Photo by Shane A Opatz)

Most recently, this past weekend the Blugolds swept Concordia Minnesota at home, winning 4-2 & 8-0. The point leaders for the Blugolds this weekend were Sophie Rausch (4 goals, 1 assist), Hallie Sheridan (1 goal, 3 assists) & Sami Scherling (1 goal, 3 assists). Blugold goaltenders Stephanie Martin made 13 saves in the 4-2 victory and Josie Mathison made 7 saves in the 8-0 victory. 

Other Notable Results 

Augsburg defeated #15 St. Norbert 1-0 and UW-Stevens Point 5-1. 

St. Olaf swept UW-Superior, winning 3-1 & 7-1. 

St. Catherine’s defeated UW-Stevens Point 5-1. 

Another week in the books, we now enter the break between the first and second half of the season, one west game between UW-Superior & Marian on Dec. 13 (today), but then not another non-exhibition game until January 4, 2023 when Lake Forest heads to #8 Middlebury. Long break is ahead of us, but it’ll go quickly. Enjoy the holidays! 

Denver garners 26 first-place votes, stays No. 1 in last DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of 2022 calendar year

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Massimo Rizzo has been a key cog in the Denver offense so far this season (photo: Jamie Schwaberow/Clarkson Creative Photography).

Denver is again the top-ranked team in the DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, picking up 26 first-place votes this week in the final poll before the holiday break.

The next poll will be conducted on Jan. 2, 2023.

Quinnipiac stays second with 15 first-place votes, while Minnesota holds steady at No. 3 with the remaining nine first-place votes.

St. Cloud State is still fourth, as is Penn State in the No. 5 slot.

DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll – Dec. 12, 2022

Merrimack rises up five spots to No. 6, Michigan falls one to seventh, Boston University is down one to No. 8, Harvard stays ninth, and UConn falls two to No. 10.

No new teams enter the rankings this week.

In addition to the top 20 teams, 11 other teams received votes in this week’s poll.

The DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Ice Hockey 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.

DCU (DCU.org), a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by and operated for its members, is the sponsor of this poll. DCU serves more than 900,000 members and their families in all 50 states.

Women’s College Hockey: Women’s World University Games roster announced

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The women’s team competing for Team USA at the World University Games in Lake Placid January 11-22 is set.

Coach Brandon Knight’s squad consists of 23 players. Thirteen are currently enrolled in college – 10 at the Division I level, three from Division III schools. The ten 2022 graduates on the roster are split evenly – five from DI, five from DIII.

The Division I schools represented are Bemidji State, LIU, Maine, Mercyhurst, Princeton, Providence, Robert Morris, Saint Anselm, Vermont and Yale. The Division III schools are Chatham, Elmira, Middlebury, Plattsburgh, Wisconsin-River Falls and Worcester State.

As previously reported:

The rules state that athletes must be between the ages of 17 and 25 and have to be currently enrolled in school or have graduated in the past year. So 2022 graduates are eligible for the team. In the past, teams have been made up of club hockey and DIII players. Knight said the mandate was to field the most competitive team to be able to compete for the ultimate prize. With the NCAA in season, options are somewhat limited, but he has begun to put together a roster of current and former players from DI and DIII. 

Roster:

Eliza Beaudin Elmira ’22
Clare Conway Worcester State
Allison Corser-James Chatham
Madeline Giordano Maine ’22
Shannon Griffin Princeton ’22
Sasha Hartje LIU
Maggie Hatch Robert Morris
Callie Hoff Wisconsin-River Falls ’22
Annie Katonka Plattsburgh ’22
Mikayla Lantto LIU
Madeline Leidt Middlebury ’22
Hayley Lunny Providence ’22
Erin McArdle Plattsburgh ’22
Gianna Meloni Yale ’22
Alexandra Nolan Chatham
Lydia Passolt Bemidji State ’22
Savannah Popick Saint Anselm
Calista Rowbottom Mercyhurst
Kaitlyn Schooley Robert Morris
Elizabeth Simmons Vermont
Lauren Spino LIU
Natalie Tulchinsky Saint Anselm
Jeannie Wallner LIU
Staff:
Brendon Knight coach
Melissa Piacentini assistant coach
Emily McNamara assistant coach
Paul Flanagan general manager
George Frank equipment manager

The tournament features six teams (Canada, Czechia, Great Britain, Japan, Slovakia and the United States) playing a round robin tournament, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinal.  All women’s preliminary round games will be played at Maxcy Hall on the campus of SUNY Potsdam. Tickets are $10.

Team USA schedule:

Thursday, January 12 – 1 pm EST vs. Japan

Friday, January 13 – 8 pm EST vs. Czechia

Sunday, January 15 – 8 pm EST vs. Great Britain

Monday, January 16 – 4:30 pm EST vs. Slovakia

Wednesday, January 18 – 8 pm EST vs. Canada

 

Semifinals – Friday, January 20

Medal games – Saturday, January 21

PairWise top four, a look at the six D-I men’s hockey conferences at the break: Weekend Review Season 5 Episode 12

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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 DCU – Digital Federal Credit Union – at dcu.org

Topics include:

• Looking at Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Merrimack and Denver as the top four in the PairWise Rankings
• A look around the top teams in each conference at the break: Atlantic Hockey, Big Ten, CCHA, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East, and NCHC
• News coming this week about Robert Morris

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 – December 12, 2022

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Forwards Brendan Doyle and Sam Band celebrate a Johnson & Wales goal in the Wildcats 5-1 win over Rivier on Friday. J&W announced a move from the NEHC to the CCC planned for the 2024-25 season (Photo by Brian Foley)

And then there was just one left in the east! Hobart remains the sole unbeaten in D-III after a thrilling overtime win over Trinity on Saturday. Elsewhere Tufts knocked Colby from the unbeaten ranks. Upcoming changes in league affiliations were announced and some illness situations on teams knocked games off the schedule in the cases of Stevenson traveling west to meet Trine and Adrian and Salve Regina was unable to play Endicott and Johnson & Wales. Here’s hoping the combined COVID, Flu and RSV season doesn’t impact the second half. Here is this week’s wrap-up to close out the first half of the season:

CCC   

Endicott twice trailed Wesleyan in a non-conference game on Wednesday night and two times goals by Connor Beatty rallied the Gulls to tie the score and send the game to overtime. In the extra session it was Jackson Sterrett that scored the winning goal for the Gulls who moved to 10-1-0 on the season. The Gulls final conference game against Salve Regina on Friday was deemed a forfeit (conference record only) due to illness issues for the Seahawks.

On Friday, Curry took down Nichols by a score of 6-3. The Colonels rallied from a 2-0 deficit with three unanswered goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead. In the third period, Luke Harvie tied the score at 3-3 before Curry again ripped off thee straight to pick up the CCC win. Mark Zhukov led the way with a goal and an assist, and five other Colonels tallied in the win.

The University of New England finished the first half with a three-game win streak after an 8-0 win over Wentworth on Saturday. 13 different players recorded points in the runaway win and Jayden Price scored two goals to pace the Nor’easters who moved to 7-2-0 in CCC play.

Independents

After falling behind 2-0 and 3-1 to Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Tuesday night, Anna Maria would score four unanswered goals including a hat trick from Carter Anderson to complete a 5-3 come-from-behind win over the Corsairs. On Saturday, the AmCats ran into a fired up Southern Maine team who scored a season-high seven goals in a 7-2 romp over Anna Maria. Curtis Judd scored a pair of goals for the Huskies while netminder Kyle Penton made 22 saves in the win.

After surrendering Patrick Murphy’s first period goal that gave Post a 1-0 lead, Albertus Magnus rallied with four goals by four different players to earn a 4-1 win on Tuesday night. The Falcons outshot the Eagles by a 50-15 margin with goaltender Benjamin Cunneen from Post making 46 saves in the loss. The Falcons received double good news entering the weekend as the NEHC announced Albertus Magnus joining in both men’s and women’s ice hockey for the 2024-25 season. The excitement certainly carried over to their matchup with NEHC member Castleton on Friday. Tim Manning and Ryan Colwell scored first period goals and that is all Logan Bateman would need in a 2-0 win over the Spartans. Bateman made 27 saves to earn the shutout that moved Albertus Magnus to 9-3-0 on the season.

Canton played an exciting two-game series with Potsdam, earning a split in the series. On Friday, the Bears had to overcome a hat trick from Canton’s Brendan Morrow and rally for a 6-5 overtime win. Nick Alfieri tied the game at 5-5 with just two minutes remaining in regulation and Ryan Mahlmeister scored the overtime winning goal for a thrilling 6-5 home win. On Saturday, Canton played host and rallied from a 2-1 deficit with four unanswered goals in the third period to earn a weekend split with a 5-2 win. Filip Jakobsson and Zac Sirota each chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Kangaroos.

MASCAC

On Wednesday night, two goals from Joseph Kile gave Salve Regina a 2-1 lead in the first period against Plymouth State. That would be all the scoring the Seahawks would see for the night as the Panthers reeled off the next seven goals including four on the power play. Carson Lanceleve scored two goals and added two assists while Myles Abbate added a goal and three assists in the 8-2 romp. Brendahn Brawley made 37 saves to earn the win in goal. On Saturday, the Panthers closed out the first half with a 6-3 non-conference win over New England College. Rider McCallum and Connor Tait got the Panthers off and running with goals in the first two minutes of play and each would add another goal each as Plymouth State never let NEC get back in the game. The win extended their current streak to five games and improved their record to 9-3-1 overall.

Westfield State won a thrilling overtime game against Rivier on Tuesday night on a goal by Cooper Board that gave the Owls a 5-4 win. Board finished the game with two goals and assist for the Owls who moved to 5-4-1 on the season with the victory. On Saturday, the Owls closed out the first half with a MASCAC contest against Worcester State and the Lancers shut down their opponent 5-2. Brian Clougherty led the way with a goal and two assists while goaltender Jakub Kublik stopped 31 of 33 shots to help the Lancers move to 4-2-0 in conference play.

NE-10

The final NE-10 contest before the semester break featured Assumption traveling to Post. The home team took advantage of two power play goals from Niko Grollman and Hugh Mcguigan to lead 3-1 after the first period. That is when the Greyhounds special teams kicked into high gear with four unanswered goals including three with the man-advantage to give Assumption a big 5-3 win. Ronny Paragallo recorded a three-point game including a pair of goals, one shorthanded and one on the power play.

NEHC

Hobart finished the first half with a perfect 11-0-0 but it took some bonus hockey against Trinity on Saturday to get the final win before the semester break. Jonah Alexander was the hero for the Statesmen as he netted the overtime winner to down the Bantams, 2-1. The contest had a playoff feel to it as neither team could score in the opening period. Wil Crane got Hobart on the board in the second period only to see Eamon Doheny answer for Trinity early in the third period. Goaltending from Trinity’s Devon Bobak (36 saves) and Hobart’s Damon Beaver (24 saves) was outstanding leaving Alexander the opportunity to send the Hobart faithful home happy with the win.

New England College continued their winning ways on Thursday night with a non-conference win over Salem State. Goals by Alex LaPlante, Chris Lee and Jhuwon Davis in the opening six minutes of the first period paced the Pilgrims to a 4-1 win. Alex LaPlante added his second goal of the game to close out the scoring and goaltender Spencer Kozlowski stopped 35 of 36 shots to help extend the team’s win streak to five games prior to Saturday’s loss against Plymouth State.

Johnson & Wales provided the other excitement in league affiliation news this week as the Wildcats will be leaving the NEHC and joining the CCC, likely in the 2024-25 season. The move impacts all collegiate programs. On Friday, the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season with a 5-1 victory over Rivier. After surrendering the first goal late in the second period, Hayden Haldene scored on the power play for J&W to level the game at 1-1. Sam Band would score two of the four Wildcat goals in the third period in the non-conference victory. Goaltender Jacob Perrin stopped 18 of 19 shots to earn the win.

NESCAC

Amherst continued their winning ways as they closed out the first half with wins over Williams and Middlebury. On Friday, the Mammoths trailed rival Williams by 2-1 and 3-2 scores after each of the first two periods. In the third period, Matt Toporowski tied the score at 3-3 and Connor Guest netted the game winner in the final two minutes of regulation. Saturday’s match-up with Middlebury provided much less drama as the Mammoth cruised to a 6-0 win. Tyler Bourque scored two goals and Connor Leslie made 19 saves to earn the shutout win. The weekend sweep sends Amherst into the break with a 5-0-0 record in conference play and 6-1-1 overall.

Tufts continued their strong play to close out the semester by tying Bowdoin and knocking Colby from the ranks of the unbeaten this weekend. On Friday, a third period rally by the Polar Bears ended with a 2-2 overtime tie. On Saturday, the Jumbos were tied with Colby at 1-1 entering the third period. Goals from Joel Brandinger and John Mulvihill were all goaltender Gustave Bylin would need in the 3-1 win. Bylin finished with 29 saves to move Tufts to 2-3-1 in NESCAC play.

Hamilton also completed a weekend sweep of Middlebury and Williams over the weekend. After downing the Panthers on Friday, 3-1, the Continentals knocked off Williams by a score of 4-2. Alex Danis led the offense with two power play goals to help Hamilton move to 3-2-0 in conference play.

SUNYAC

Morrisville and Plattsburgh provided one of the games of the weekend on Saturday night with a thrilling win for the Cardinals, 4-3. The win snapped a two-game losing streak that included a tough 2-1 loss at Norwich on Tuesday night. Against the Mustangs, Plattsburgh ran out to a quick 3-0 lead only to see Trevor Neumann score two goals and Jestin Somer add another to tie the game at 3-3 entering the final ten minutes of regulation. Bennett Stockdale sent the Cardinal fans home happy with his game-winning goal in the final minute to move the Cardinals to 8-3-2 overall and 4-2-1 in SUNYAC play. Goaltender Ryan Creenan was outstanding for Morrisville making 62 saves and keeping the Mustangs in the game.

Oswego was also in need of a bounce back after suffering three straight losses. The Lakers did exactly that with a weekend sweep of Buffalo State and Fredonia to close out the first half of the season. On Friday, third period goals from Ryan Dickinson and Shane Bull broke open a close 3-2 contest for a 5-2 Oswego win. On Saturday night, goaltender Eric Green made 18 saves to earn a 3-0 shutout over Fredonia. Forward Alex DiCarlo finished the two games with two goals and two assists to pace the offense.

Geneseo closed out the first half with a 4-1 win over Brockport on Friday night. Goals from Peter Morgan, Matthew Doran, and Mitch Machlitt helped the Knights to a 3-0 lead on the way to the comfortable road win. The victory takes Geneseo to 5-2-1 in SUNYAC play.

Cortland moved to 5-3-0 in SUNYAC play with a split of games with Fredonia and Buffalo State. On Friday, the Red Dragons rallied to tie the game with the Blue Devils at 2-2 on a late third period goal from Jona Hildreth. Hildreth then set up Anthony Bernardo with the game winner in overtime for the 3-2 win. On Saturday, two goals from Nick Stuckless helped the Bengals to rally for a 4-2 win over Cortland.

UCHC

Chatham closed out their first half in UCHC play with a weekend series against Lebanon Valley and helped themselves in the standings with a sweep of the Flying Dutchmen. On Friday night, the Cougars broke open a 2-2 contest with third period goals from Nick Cyprian, Heath Drye and Evan Mitchell for a 5-2 home win. Drye scored twice for Chatham and goaltender Ricardo Gonzalez made 25 saves in the win. On Saturday night, the score was again tied at 2-2 after two periods of play. Chatham’s Michael Hurst would finally break the tie late in the third period to give the home team a 3-2 win.

Wilkes was looking for some positive momentum to close out an up-and-down first half as they hosted Alvernia in a two-game series. On Saturday, the Colonels scored a season high five goals from five different players to over come the Golden Wolves, 5-3. Phil Erickson finished with a goal and an assist for the Colonels. On Sunday, the battle was pretty even as the home team took the lead three times only to see Alvernia respond to tie the score at 3-3 at the end of two periods. No one could score in te third period and Wilkes wasted no time in deciding the game off the stick of Matt Carlson just 50 seconds into overtime. Ben Stefanini finished the game with a goal and two assists as Wilkes took the 4-3 victory to move to 4-5-0 in UCHC play.

Three Biscuits

Carter Anderson – Anna Maria – scored a hat trick to lead the AmCats to a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Tuesday night.

Ned Blanchard – Trinity – scored the overtime winner to complete a Trinity rally from a 3-1 deficit to best Babson 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Cooper Board – Westfield State – scored twice, including the overtime winner and added an assist in the Owls’ 5-4 win over Rivier on Tuesday.

Bonus Biscuits

Jackson Sterrett – Endicott – scored the overtime winner in the Gulls 3-2 win on the road against Wesleyan.

Anthony Bernardo – Cortland – scored the overtime winning goal in the Red Dragons come-from-behind victory over Fredonia on Friday night.

Jonah Alexander – Hobart – scored the overtime goal that propelled the Statesmen to a 2-1 win over Trinity to close out a perfect 11-0-0 first half.

Matt Carlson – Wilkes – scored the overtime winner over Alvernia on Sunday to give Wilkes a 4-3 win and weekend sweep.

The excitement has continued right to the end before the semester break and not only on the ice. League affiliation announcements and the specter of illness-related postponements also spiced up the final weekend. While the affiliation news is exciting, we can all use less of the postponement and/or forfeiture announcements come what should be a pretty dynamic second half of the season in 2023.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Weekend Wrap December 12, 2022

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(2) Wisconsin at Minnesota State

Jesse Compher scored 21 seconds into the game and Wisconsin never trailed as Maddi Wheeler, Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms and Lacey Eden all scored to lead the Badgers to a 5-2 win on Friday. Alexis Paddington and Taylor Otremba scored for the Mavericks in the loss. The Badgers extended their unbeaten streak to seven games on Saturday thanks to two goals from Britta Curl in the opening frame. Curl opened the scoring and Madison Mashuga tied it up for Minnesota State before Curl added her second and the Badgers did not look back. Casey O’Brien, Laila Edwards and Sophie Shirley all found the back of the net to give Wisconsin the 5-1 win and weekend sweep. 

(3) Quinnipiac vs. (10) Providence

Lindsay Bochna’s first-period goal had Providence up 1-0 in the first period. In the second, Jess Schryver scored her first of the year to tie the game for Quinnipiac. But the Friars responded 38 seconds later to go ahead 2-1. Less than two minutes after that, Sadie Peart evaded a poke-check from Sandra Abstreiter to score a short-hander that tied the game at 2. The game-winner was a heartbreaker for Providence as Abstreiter deflected a puck in the air and lost track of it as it landed behind her and trickled over the line. The Bobcat defense made 17 blocks in the game and held strong to give them a 3-2 win. On Saturday, Providence got their second win over a top-10 opponent as they flipped the script and earned a 3-2 win over Quinnipiac. The Bobcats outshot the Friars 48-16, but Abstreiter made 46 saves to give her team the chance at the win. Kendall Cooper and Nina Steingauf scored in the first period to put Quinnipiac up 2-0. But Providence responded in the second with goals from Rachel Weiss and Sara Hjalmarsson to tie the game 2-2.  Noemi Neubauerova scored the game-winner early in the third and the Friars held off Quinnipiac to get the win. 

RPI at (4) Yale

Jordan Ray had a goal and two assists as Elle Hartje and Anna Bargman each tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Bulldogs to a 3-0 win over RPI. 

Union at (4) Yale

Tabea Botthof scored 11 seconds into the game as the puck deflected off her stick and into the net. Naomi Boucher had a goal and two assists to lead all scorers. Charlotte Welch, Olivia Muhn, Sylvia Bojarski and Avery Chesek all scored for the Bulldogs. Meredith Killian’s power play goal ruined the shutout, but Yale took the 6-1 win. 

(14) St. Cloud State at (6) Minnesota

After losing to the Huskies a month ago, the Gophers left no doubt that they were not going to let it happen again this weekend. Minnesota outscored St. Cloud 15-0 over the two game series. On Friday, the teams played a scoreless first before the Gophers exploded for five goals in the second. Grace Zumwinkle bookended the period, scoring 51 seconds in and then finding the back of the net with a short-handed tally in the final 90 seconds. In between, Ella Huber, Abigail Boreen and Emily Oden all lit the lamp. Zumwinkle completed her hat trick with the lone goal of the final frame to give Minnesota the 6-0 win and a perfect record on home ice in the first half. The teams headed to St. Cloud on Saturday and the Gophers had another prolific second period to carry them to a 9-0 win. In the final two minutes of the first, freshman defender Allie Franco scored her first career goal and it would prove to be the game-winner. Taylor Heise led the Gophers with three goals and two assists. Boreen added two goals and an assist and Oden had three assists in the win.

St. Thomas at (7) Minnesota Duluth

In the first game of the series, Ashton Bell led the Bulldogs with two goals and two assists while Gabbie Hughes and Mannon McMahon each added a goal and two assists to lead UMD to an 8-1 win. Taylor Anderson, Anneke Linser and Katie Davis all also scored for Minnesota Duluth in the win. Brieja Parent spoiled the shutout by scoring for St. Thomas. On Saturday, the Tommies earned their first two conference points of the season – and their first WCHA points in 308 days – by holding the Bulldogs in check and winning the shootout. UMD outshot St. Thomas 49-15, but Saskia Maurer was superb in net, including stopping a penalty shot in the second. The Tommies defense added 15 blocks. It was just the second time all season Minnesota Duluth had been held to a single goal. McMahon tipped in a shot from Anderson for the Bulldogs’ lone goal in the second. In the third, Haley Maxwell scored her first collegiate goal off a rebound from Maddy Clough’s shot. In the shootout, Maurer made two saves and Maija Almich, Luci Bianchi, and Clough each scored to give the Tommies the extra point. Hailey MacLeod had 14 saves for UMD in the game. 

(13) Vermont at Syracuse

Evelyne Blais-Savoie put Vermon up 1-0 on a one-timer from the slot. In the second, Syracuse tied it up on a goal from Tatum white. With minutes left in regulation, Theresa Schafzahl’s shot turned into a rebound on Corinne McCool’s stick and she put it home for the game-winner. Tynka Pátková added an empty net goal to make it a 3-1 win for the Catamounts. In the second game, Natálie Mlýnková scored on the power play, but Syracuse answered less than a minute later. Rayla Clemons and Sarah Thompson took advantage of a breakaway and Clemons used speed and a great move to beat Jessie McPherson to tie the game 1-1 before the first intermission. McCool scored the game-winner in the second and Vermont was able to hold the 2-1 win to earn the weekend sweep. 

Monday 10: Merrimack off to best start in team’s D-I era; Minnesota, Quinnipiac keep winning; Minnesota State gets back on track

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Christian Fitzgerald scored twice as Minnesota State closed out a two-game sweep at Bowling Green with a 6-2 win Saturday (photo: Mansoor Ahmad).

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

1. Eagles honor York with wild win

Perhaps it was fitting that on the night that Boston College honored coaching legend Jerry York, they beat their archrivals in one of the wildest ways possible.

BC and Boston University combined to score 15 goals in the highest-scoring Battle of Comm Ave since 1986. York, who retired from the Eagles bench at the end of last season, was honored by the school in an on-ice ceremony before the game.

During the game, he saw BC beat BU 9-6 thanks in part to two goals and two assists from Cutter Gauthier. Wilmer Skoog scored twice for the Terriers, who are 0-4-1 against the Eagles in their last four games.

Things got better for BU on Sunday, though. In a top-10 matchup, the Terries bested UConn 3-2, with Skoog netting the game-winner. The Terriers are up to third in the Hockey East standings at the break, tied with Providence, while Boston College currently sits in sixth place with 19.

2. Gophers keep on scoring

Minnesota’s high-octane offense shows no signs of letting up.

Against rivals Wisconsin this past weekend, the Gophers seemed to take pleasure in every single goal. On Friday, Minnesota scored a season-high amount of goals to beat Wisconsin 7-1. Freshman center Logan Cooley scored twice in the first period as the Gophers routed the Badgers despite Wisconsin putting a ton of shots on Justen Close, who ended up with 38 saves. In Saturday’s game, the Badgers scored the game’s first two goals before the Gophers scored six unanswered and won 6-4.

Minnesota, who is scoring a nation-high 4.30 goals per game, is 15-5 and 10-2 in the Big Ten; the Gophers will go into the holiday break atop the conference standings with 30 points.

3. Bobcats also rolling

Minnesota isn’t the only team who can’t seem to stop scoring.

Quinnipiac scored eight goals apiece in victories against RPI and Union this week; they have scored 22 goals in their past three games and have won 10 in a row to close out the first half of the season.

ECAC Hockey scoring leader Collin Graf added to his tally on the weekend, scoring twice and adding four assists for the Bobcats. Sam Lipkin also had a big weekend, scoring twice with five assists.

The Bobcats have yet to lose in ECAC Hockey play and currently lead Harvard in the standings by 11 points.

4. Rarified air for Merrimack

Merrimack’s special season keeps getting better.

The Warriors beat UMass 2-1 on Wednesday then closed out the first of their season on a high with a 3-2 comeback victory at Providence on Saturday night.

The Warriors are tied atop Hockey East with three games in hand on UConn and are up to No. 3 in the Pairwise.

Additionally, Merrimack’s 13-4-0 record is its best-ever start in the school’s Division I era.

5. Mavericks back on top

It had been a rough couple of weeks for the Minnesota State Mavericks. They’d recently split with Northern Michigan at home – a rare occurrence – and then took just one point against Michigan Tech on the road.

Then, two weekends ago, there was an even more rare occurrence. Ferris State swept the Mavericks in Mankato, the first time any team had done that since 2015. So coming into this past weekend, the Mavericks needed to get out of a funk to avoid sliding any further in the standings, and that’s exactly what they did.

Minnesota State beat Bowling Green 2-1 and 6-2 this past weekend, earning a road sweep and climbing back atop the CCHA standings.

MSU and BGSU are technically tied for first place, but the Mavericks have two games in-hand on the Falcons and can take the lead going into the holiday weekend with any number of points next week against Bemidji State.

6. Boudon reaches milestone as Lakers finally get a win

It’s been a rough season for Lake Superior State.

The Lakers have struggled this season and had won just a single game in regulation coming into the weekend series against Bemidji State. It has been especially rough since many predicted the Lakers, who made the NCAA tournament in 2021, to improve on their solid 18-18-1 season from a year ago.

Instead, they came into the weekend on an eight-game winless skid. And late into Friday night’s game against the Beavers, it looked as if that streak would continue. With the Beavers up 2-1, Logan Jenuwine took a penalty with 1:16 left. Chances of a Laker comeback looked bleak. But they pulled their goaltender, and Jacob Bengtsson scored an extra-attacker short-handed goal with 24 seconds left, sending it to overtime.

The Beavers were unable to do anything with the remaining power play in the extra period, and shortly after BSU’s man-advantage ended, LSSU’s Brandon Puricelli scored to give the Lakers their first official CCHA win and their second victory of the season.

Also important for LSSU: Senior forward Louis Boudon assisted on all three goals, helping him surpass 100 points for his career.

The Beavers won 4-1 on Saturday to earn the four-point weekend and keep themselves within striking distance of first place in the tight CCHA standings; they are in fourth place but just three points behind Minnesota State with two games in hand.

7. Splitsville in Michigan

Is it safe to say the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry is “back?” After this past weekend, it sure seemed like it.

Both schools came into their home-and-home series ranked for the first time since 2012, and both games this weekend had an edge. Ultimately, it was an even series split, with both teams winning 2-1 on home ice.

On Friday night, Cole Krygier and Tiernan Shoudy scored to lead Sparty in East Lansing. On Saturday, goals from Dylan Duke and TJ Hughes gave the Wolverines the victory in Ann Arbor. At the end of that game, the teams engaged in some extracurricular activities, with scrums breaking out and players from both sides being penalized.

8. Denver double in Duluth

Sometimes, the margin between a great team and a mediocre one is paper-thin.

This past weekend, that was on display as Denver swept Minnesota Duluth. The top-ranked Pioneers needed overtime both games but were able to edge the Bulldogs, who at 8-10-0 have struggled to get above .500 this season.

On Friday, DU rallied from a two-goal deficit to win 3-2. Tristan Broz scored the game winner 2:14 into overtime to complete the comeback. Massimo Rizzo and Carter Mazur also scored for Denver, who trailed 2-0 early.

On Saturday, the Pioneers to come back twice. UMD led 2-1 going into the third, but Mazur evened the score less than two minutes in. UMD’s Luke Mylymok briefly gave the Bulldogs the lead again, but McKade Webster tied it with less than five minutes to play. Aidan Thompson then won it in the extra frame for the Pioneers, who have won seven of their last eight.

As the NCHC breaks for the holidays, the Pioneers are atop the standings, leading St. Cloud State by three points. UMD is tied with Western Michigan in fifth place.

9. Four-point weekend for Yellowjackets

AIC is in danger of having its streak of four straight Atlantic Hockey titles snapped, but this past weekend, the Yellowjackets at least put themselves in position to make another title run in the second half of the season, taking four of six points against Niagara.

On Thursday night, AIC’s Jarrett Fiske earned his first career shutout in a scoreless tie with the Purple Eagles. He made 26 saves, but the Yellowjackets were unable to back him up with run support and they lost in the shootout.

Friday’s game helped the Yellowjackets make up for the lack of offense, as they won 4-1 behind a strong power play (AIC went 3 for 5) and a pair of goals from Nicholas Cardelli. Fiske was once again strong for AIC, making 28 saves.

AIC now moves to second place in the AHA, just three points behind first-place RIT (the Tigers do, however, have three games in-hand).

10. Miami upsets St. Cloud State

St. Clous State has been fairly consistent this season, and their sweep of North Dakota the previous weekend – the first since 2015 – was something for them to celebrate.

However, even the strongest teams find themselves tripping up sometimes, and that’s what happened against Miami.

After the Huskies won 7-3 on Friday, the Redhawks scored three times on a five-minute power play in the second period Saturday and won 5-0 to earn a split with the Huskies – their first win over a top-five team since 2018.

Axel Kumlin, Matthew Barbolini and John Waldron each had a goal and an assist for the RedHawks, while Ludvig Persson stopped 36 shots for his second shutout of the season.

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‘A proud day’ as former Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey captain Brodt tabbed new head coach for St. Scholastica

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Denver sophomore blueliner, recent Wild signee Buium tabbed USCHO Player of the Year for ’24-25 season

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Western Michigan’s Ferschweiler leads Broncos to national championship, named unanimous USCHO Coach of the Year for 2024-25 campaign

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After 48-point freshman season with Boston University, Hutson adds to accolades with 2024-25 USCHO Rookie of the Year honor

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Wisconsin’s Simms, McNaughton, Minnesota’s Primerano take home final women’s hockey HCA monthly honors for ’24-25 season

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Final HCA men’s hockey monthly honors for ’24-25 season go to Western Michigan’s Washe, BU’s Hutson, Denver’s Davis, Bentley’s Hasley, Minnesota State’s Tracy

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Norwich grad Dawes named new men’s hockey coach for Cadets, leaves Stevenson after nine seasons behind Mustangs bench

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