Devon Levi has seen the bulk of time in net this season for Northeastern (photo: Jim Pierce).
A lot has gone right for the men’s hockey programs at Providence and Northeastern in the last month.
No. 13 Providence (12-5-0, 6-3-0 Hockey East) has won six straight games and 16th-ranked Northeastern (11-4-1, 5-3-1) ran through the November portion of its schedule without a regulation loss.
Something has to give this weekend as the two clubs prepare for a home-and-home series, starting Friday night in Providence (7 p.m.).
The Friars have twice come back from 3-0 deficits during its current winning streak (and rallied from down three goals for a 6-5 win over Denver on Oct. 22). While coach Nate Leaman was pleased with his team’s resilience, he’d like to see a stronger start this weekend vs. the Huskies.
“Not a great recipe,” Leaman said. “I think we can dial it in. Our starts need to be a little bit better, and in particular our Friday starts.”
The second game of the series is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night at Matthews Arena. Huskies coach Jerry Keefe praised his team’s ability to win despite some key injuries.
“We’ve been banged up, no question,” Keefe said. “The group has come together, played for each other, and found different ways to win.”
Both coaches noted the play of Northeastern rookie goalie Devon Levi, who has started all 16 games for the Huskies and sports a 1.43 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage.
“He’s challenge No. 1,” Leaman said. “He’s very capable of winning games for them. We realize it’s probably going to be a low-scoring game and we have to be dialed in all weekend.”
Keefe said Levi’s value goes beyond his gaudy stats, which also include four shutouts so far this season.
“He’s a big-time goaltender,” Keefe said. “Our guys play with a lot of confidence in front of him. They know he has their back. He does an unbelievable job preparing, and our guys see that.”
*****
In the weekend’s other league matchup between two ranked teams, a banged-up No. 14 Massachusetts faces intrastate rival No. 15 UMass Lowell for a pair of games. The puck drops Friday night at 7:05 p.m. in Lowell (and televised on NESN) and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Amherst.
It will be a rematch of last year’s Hockey East championship game, won by UMass-Amherst 1-0.
UMass coach Greg Carvel said his team won’t be able to fill out a full lineup, with five of its nine forwards on the injured list. He said a pair of defensemen — senior Ty Farmer and sophomore Linden Alger — will both be skating as forwards, with no extra skater available.
“We’re really banged up, and it’s not getting any better,” Carvel said. “We need those guys in the back to be extremely good. We can still win without all these forwards if our goalie and our defensemen play a lot. (We) just don’t have enough bodies up front for forwards.”
It will be another matchup of hot teams — UMass (7-4-1, 5-2-1) hasn’t lost in regulation since its opening weekend when it dropped a pair to now-No. 2 Minnesota State, while the River Hawks (8-2-2, 6-1-0) have earned at least a point in 11 of their last 12 games.
Despite their streak, Carvel said the defending NCAA champion Minutemen have had a harder go of it this season as compared to last.
“We haven’t won in dominant fashion — we’re just getting by in wins, which is fine,” Carvel said. “But it’s been a very uneven year. (We’re) holding our head above water. I’m proud of the group that we’re finding ways to stay in games and win some games while we’re extremely short handed.
“I have very high hopes for this team, once we get healthy.”
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by hockey writer Mark Divver to preview No. 13 Providence’s home-and-home series with No. 16 Northeastern.
Also previewed are four other matchups to be featured in USCHO’s Bettor’s Edge column this week:
No. 14 Massachusetts home-and-home with No. 15 UMass Lowell
Colton Young is pacing the Colgate offensive attack this season with nine goals and eight assists through 15 games (photo: Colgate Athletics).
Offense has been hard to come by for Colgate for several seasons.
While the Raiders usually had solid defense and goaltending, their struggle to score put them at a disadvantage.
But it’s been a different story so far this year. Colgate enters its final weekend of the first half 25th in Division I in goals per game. That might seem like a modest output, but over the last six seasons the Raiders finished in the bottom ten nationally in scoring four times and never finished higher than 34th.
That offensive improvement can be tied to a number of upperclassmen producing at higher levels so far this season.
Junior Colton Young leads the Raiders and all ECAC players with nine goals and 17 points after only scoring one goal during the 2020-21 season.
“He’s gotten stronger,” Raiders coach Don Vaughan said of Young. “He had a great summer. He’s always been deceptively strong, but it’s really apparent now. He’s put on muscle and he’s making a ton of plays.”
After playing on a line with younger brother Alex last season, Colton has been skating with Ethan Manderville and Jeff Stewart, giving the Raiders a heavy second line.
“He’s had more confidence,” Vaughan said. “He’s on a mission, (and) he wants to prove that he can play at the next level.”
Graduate students Josh McKechney and Paul McAvoy have been important contributors. McKechney, a forward, is second on the Raiders in scoring and only three points shy of his career high in points. McAvoy has been a steady presence on the back end, although he hasn’t played since Oct. 30 due to an injury. Vaughan said he hopes to have him back in the lineup after the holiday beak.
The Raiders have seen improved production from other returners as well.
Sophomore and reigning top defensive defenseman Pierson Brandon has five goals this season after not scoring one during his freshman season, while junior Matt Verboon has as many goals (five) as he did during his first two collegiate seasons combined.
Despite the improved offense production so far this season, Colgate is looking to find some more consistency as its head north to face Clarkson and St. Lawrence this weekend. The Raiders are 8-8-0 but had four straight one-goal losses at the end of October and into November, including two in overtime.
Turnovers have plagued the Raiders during the games that they’ve struggled in.
“We’ve turned the puck over way too much,” Vaughan said of the losses. “We can’t do that against quality teams. We’re a team that wants to possess the puck, but we’ve got make sure we manage it as well. That is where the inconsistency has been. On the nights we’ve played well, we possessed the puck and been able to get it out of our own end cleaner.”
Colgate will need to be especially careful with the puck against Clarkson, a team that plays a heavy style of hockey. And while St. Lawrence has struggled in the early part of the season, the Saints rode strong goaltending and defense to an ECAC title last year.
Vaughan said the Raiders will focus on Clarkson this week and worry about preparing for St. Lawrence on Saturday. While some coaches might see that as a disadvantage, Vaughan is in favor of the league’s scheduling style.
“I’m in support of our conference and travel partner scheduling,” he said. “It’s the most balanced schedule that you can have in college hockey.”
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Rochester Institute of Technology head coach Wayne Wilson. The conversation includes Wilson’s milestone 400th victory at RIT achieved last weekend at Princeton, this year’s Tigers and how they are benefitting from the return of four fifth-year players, pending NCAA legislation that would allow RIT (and Union) athletic scholarships for D-I teams, and the 3v3 overtime rule.
North Dakota coach Brad Berry is now in his seventh season behind the Fighting Hawks’ bench (photo: Brad Olson).
“Through These Doors,” North Dakota’s in-house digital series chronicling life inside the university’s men’s hockey program, reached a major milestone Thursday when the show’s 200th episode premiered on YouTube.
The show, aired weekly during the hockey season, is now in its 10th year. That’s six years on top of what David Folske, one of the show’s original producers, had envisioned.
“The whole thing was seeing the path of a student-athlete through the course of the program, and after the fourth season, you would’ve seen former freshmen graduate as seniors,” said Folske, who in 2011 teamed up in with former UND athletics new media director Matt Schill as well as Peter Bottini, now a social media marketing manager for the NHL.
“The thought was to cancel it after the fourth season, and it is hard to come up with fresh story lines every week, because after 200 episodes, there’s only a finite amount of things you can talk about.”
And yet, the show is still going strong.
Now led by executive producer Cassie Niles, “Through These Doors’” 200th episode takes viewers on a stroll down memory lane for a show that has documented three Frozen Four appearances and one national championship in 2016.
The show’s title is borrowed from a sign outside UND’s locker room reading, “Through these doors walk champions.” UND’s sports information department wanted to create content to match that ethos, and former coach Dave Hakstol, now behind the bench with the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, is to be thanked in part.
“Through These Doors” was launched in the season after a former program, “Inside Fighting Sioux Hockey,” featuring Hakstol and UND radio play-by-play commentator Tim Hennessy, was discontinued over high production costs. Hakstol came to UND staffers with an idea to create a series similar to what HBO produced in the lead-up to NHL Winter Classic outdoor games.
Hakstol and UND’s sports information department, led at the time by Jayson Hajdu, now the director of communications for College Hockey, Inc., were on the same wavelength.
“We were exploring new ways to give inside access to fans of the hockey program,” said Schill, now a senior video producer for UND’s marketing and creative services department.
“Internally, we were kicking around some ideas, and Dave was on a similar path in his head and thought it would be a cool way to show what happens behind the scenes. It came together where it’s a lot easier to do something when the head coach buys in.”
“Through These Doors” has largely been put together by UND students, and the series stands out on résumés of the people who have been involved.
“We’ve had interns move on to professional teams,” said Folske, now a motion design and video editor at Ralph Engelstad Arena, the now-Fighting Hawks’ home facility. “Peter (Bottini) works for the NHL, Andy Parr works for NBC Sports, and I’ve had interns move into pretty much every major sports network under the sun, not specifically to do projects like ‘Through These Doors,’ but having a project like that didn’t hurt.
“Peter got more opportunities in the NHL bubble (two seasons ago, after the COVID-19 pandemic began) because of filming ‘Through These Doors,’ and that project has helped so many people move onto other projects in life.”
UND coach Brad Berry, a former assistant under Hakstol, doesn’t take the program’s connection to “Through These Doors” for granted. Berry has pitched storylines during meetings in the late preseason months, and he and the show have a mutually beneficial relationship with regards to recruitment.
“Regional players obviously know a lot about our program, but when you recruit players from western Canada, eastern Canada, the eastern part of the U.S., we ask how familiar they are with our program,” Berry said. “It’s always, ‘Yeah, absolutely, I tune in every Thursday at 8 o’clock for ‘Through These Doors,’ and can’t wait to see the next episode.’ It’s built a brand, and it’s built something where recruits and young people see what’s going on in our program.
“We remain true to who we are, and when you peel the layers back of a program that has as much success and tradition as our program, it’s about showing why. We feel that we’re blessed with probably one of the best, if not the best facility in the country, but we feel that what’s inside this building is even better.”
Those stories keep getting told on a show whose longevity has taken its original producers by surprise.
“Ever since I left the athletic department, seeing the series continue has been cool,” Schill said. “It’s fun to see how new people interpret it and take it in their own way.”
Alaska Anchorage announced Wednesday that Kevin Murdock has been hired as an assistant coach with the Seawolves.
Murdock comes to UAA, which will return to play in 2022-23, from the NAHL’s North Iowa Bulls where he served as the associate head coach and general manager.
“Kevin is one of the brightest young minds in hockey who has a reputation of being a player’s coach who gets the most out of his teams,” said Seawolves coach Matt Shasby in a statement. “His knowledge of the current player pool, ability to recruit, and his network is going to help establish the Seawolves very quickly on the recruiting circuit. He spent two years as head coach rebuilding the Kenai River Brown Bears NAHL team into a playoff contender and then moved on to the staff at North Iowa, where he had them in first place this year. On top of that, he is a former goalie who has an exceptional eye for finding and developing goaltenders at an elite level.
“We couldn’t be more excited about what Kevin brings to our staff.”
“I would like to thank Matt Shasby and the UAA athletic staff for giving me this opportunity to become part of the university,” added Murdock. “I am eager to get to work helping to rebuild the UAA men’s hockey program. I’m looking forward to seeing the program continue to move in the right direction.”
Murdock first joined the Bulls in 2016 as an assistant coach. He helped the Bulls, then in the NA3HL, to a pair of division titles in 2017 and 2018 and an appearance in the Silver Cup in 2017. He was elevated to associate head coach for the 2018-19 season where the team finished second in the West Division and advanced to the Fraser Cup, formerly known as the Silver Cup.
Murdock helped the Bulls to a 106-26-6-3 mark during his three years in Mason City.
“We are very excited for Kevin to enter this next phase of his coaching career, and we are proud of his accomplishments with us and in the North American Hockey League,” said North Iowa coach-GM Todd Sanden in a news release. “He is a diligent, smart and humble coach who excelled in Alaska during his time with Kenai River. Kevin contributed much to our program and to our front office. We will miss Kevin greatly, and we wish him and his UAA team the best.”
Murdock was named the head coach of the Brown Bears in 2019, where he posted a record of 47-40-4-4 over two years. He returned to North Iowa in the spring of 2021.
From left, Carter Wilkie, Gavin Abric, Evan DeBrouwer, Danny Pearson, Clayton Cosentino, and Andrew DeCarlo.
Thanksgiving marks the unofficial end of the “early” part of the college hockey season, and it’s at this point that we usually look at freshmen who have made a big impact for their teams and the league in general.
But this year is unique, at least in terms of rookies. About a dozen players in the league elected to use the additional year granted by the NCAA due to COVID and return as grad students. The conference also saw a large influx of players transferring in, around 30 in all, mostly grad students and upperclassmen.
That has created a lot of top-heavy rosters, and put a squeeze on playing time for most freshmen.
So it’s been especially difficult for a rookie to make a name for himself (unless that name is Carter Wilkie, but more on that later).
For this reason, I’ve expanded this list of top newcomers to feature both freshmen and transfers, as well as a sophomore who saw no ice time last year.
Here are our top six newcomers so far:
1. Carter Wilkie, freshman, RIT
There have been eight Player of the Week awards handed out by the league so far, and Wilkie has won five of them. He’s currently first among rookies and eighth overall in the league in scoring with six goals and six assists to date.
Wilkie was named Player of the Month in Atlantic Hockey for October and November.
2. Gavin Abric, sophomore, Army West Point
Abric didn’t play last season, backing up All-American Trevin Kozlowski, but won the starting role this season compiling a 2.28 GAA and a .932 save percentage in 11 games. Both are best in Atlantic Hockey.
3. Evan DeBrouwer, grad student, Bentley
DeBrouwer played in 51 games at Arizona State before transferring to Bentley. He’s been hot lately, winning his last three starts and posting a 1.56 GAA and a .947 save percentage in five contests. DeBrouwer was named Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the week for Nov. 29 for his performance against Army, stopping 51 of 52 shots in a pair of games, which included a 25 save shutout on Saturday.
4. Danny Pearson, freshman, Bentley
The rookie has appeared in only six games for the Falcons, but is likely to see more action based on his numbers. He has at least a point in five of those six games, including a pair of goals last Saturday’s 5-0 win. Pearson was the AHA Rookie of the Week for Nov. 29.
5. Clayton Cosentino & Andrew DeCarlo, freshmen, Air Force
Air Force and Army West Point can’t grant an additional year of eligibility, nor can they accept transfers. That leaves both at a disadvantage in this new area of player free agency. Air Force is the youngest team in the league, regularly dressing 10 freshmen while most teams have only three or four in the lineup each night.
Standing out in the crowd of rookies for the Falcons are Cosentino (six points, tied for third on the team) and DeCarlo (five points, tied for seventh). Both have appeared in all 14 games for Air Force. DeCarlo was named AHA Rookie of the Week for November 15.
Junior goaltender Logan Bateman has helped Albertus Magnus win four straight including the PAL Stovepipe Tournament (Photo by Morgan Violette)
After just a three-game engagement in the 2020-21 season and starting the current season 0-4-0, Albertus Magnus has won their last four games in a row including the championship game of the PAL Stovepipe Tournament last weekend. The 5-1 win over Western New England earned the second-year team their first trophy and a chance to build on their winning momentum.
“We’ll have to find a spot for the trophy,” said head coach Kyle Wallack. “I am sure we will have a place for it, and it was great to win it and celebrate it as a team. I actually don’t think there was very much that changed between the four-game losing streak and the four-game win streak. We definitely benefited from getting our No. 1 goaltender back as well as one of our top forwards, but I thought we deserved better results for our efforts with two one-goal games and a lead against Wilkes that they scored an empty-net goal at the end. Our guys have stuck with our program by focusing on the compete level and attitude – we want to outwork and outsmart the opposition.”
A key element in the recent success has been goaltender Logan Bateman. Bateman, a transfer from Elmira, broke his hand in August and missed much of the teams’ activities into the start of the season. In his six games this season, Bateman has a 4-2-0 record with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. He has been an integral part of the current win streak.
“We knew he was a No. 1 goaltender when he came here,” said Wallack. “He is calm and very athletic and has picked us up when we have made some mistakes in front of him. It is great to have him healthy and playing well.”
Up front the Falcons have relied on the productivity of their first line which includes Jonathan Stein (5-5-10), Tyler Ignazzitto (4-5-9) and Alex Gagnon (1-6-7). The group has been a challenge to stop by any opponent but are now getting some added support from other players chipping in with goals.
“We have to remember this is only year two for us, “ noted Wallack. “Yes, we have better depth, and we just had a meeting about more guys stepping up every weekend to help give us that needed secondary scoring. Our first line can play with any team in the country, and they have had great chemistry the moment they started playing together. Now we want to see other lines emerge. Freshmen Sam Anderson and Ryan Colwell have started scoring so we are starting to see those contributions from other lines.”
With just three games remaining in the first semester, the Falcons are focused on finishing strong before the break. This weekend they play at Post before traveling to Trinity next Tuesday and closing out at home against Neumann on December 10.
“They are all good teams,” stated Wallack. “I think this season there have been a lot of games that demonstrate the parity in D-III hockey. Post is a natural rival here in Connecticut and we haven’t beaten them. No more motivation than that needed to stay fired up and continue to improve our game. We continue to have fun every time we step on the ice so we will focus that on practice today and getting ready for Post on Friday night.”
Matty Beniers leads Michigan with 11 goals so far this season (photo: Michigan Photography).
As preseason favorites Michigan and Minnesota meet for the first time this season, we were correct about at least one thing from the preseason.
The two teams are in first and second place, Michigan leads Minnesota by a point, but both have also played two more contests than everyone except Wisconsin.
“We know what kind of team they are,” Wolverines senior captain Nick Blankenburg said of the Gophers after Saturday’s victory over Niagara. “They’re a fast team and they like to play physical and work hard. We’ve just got to stick to our game and get better this week in practice starting on Monday.”
The Wolverines rebounded by sweeping Niagara Thanksgiving weekend after Notre Dame nabbed two overtime victories at Yost Ice Arena the weekend prior. The Wolverines had slow starts against the Purple Eagles in both games, Friday’s game was tied 1-1 after one period and they trailed 1-0 Saturday, but finished both games strong to score 10 goals over the weekend.
Michigan coach Mel Pearson echoed his captain in saying that they were going to have to be better to get results against Minnesota this weekend.
“Minnesota’s going to play fast, so we’re going to have to match that,” he said after Saturday’s game. “We have to continue to get more pucks to the net and have people there. We don’t need to have the big slap shots and windups. We just have to get it to the net. That’s going to be a big area that we work on, for sure.”
Pearson also suggested that it was important for the many top talents on the team to not get stuck playing a professional style of hockey, instead preferring a quick-strike offense.
“When we slow it down and play more of a pro game and a controlled game, like the defenseman takes it back and gives it to his partner and over to his partner again and we play East-West instead of North-South, we allow the other teams to get up into their neutral zone trap,” Pearson said.
Minnesota solved its Friday-night woes by beating North Dakota 5-1 last weekend but came up short of the sweep on Saturday. The Gophers split all four of their series in November, two at home and two on the road. They went 4-1-0 against the Wolverines last season and swept the series at Yost.
“We just can’t get them on the power play, we have to be disciplined,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said of the challenge against Michigan this week on his radio show. “They’re going to score on the power play with the firepower that they’ve got.”
This will be the final series of the first half of the season for the Gophers.
“One weekend left to fight right now,” Motzko said. “We haven’t had any byes. All we talked about with the guys today is one fight left in us and then we regroup and come back for a strong second half.”
Notre Dame puts winning streak on line against Ohio State
The battle atop the standings gets the headlines, but there is also an intriguing matchup between the teams in third and fourth on the docket this weekend.
Notre Dame unexpectedly had the weekend off last weekend after Boston College was forced to postpone its trip to South Bend. The Irish will now put their six-game winning streak on the line when they host Ohio State this weekend.
The third-place Buckeyes are 4-2-0 so far in the conference and are coming off a nonconference split with Mercyhurst.
Goal-scoring opportunities of any kind should be cherished this weekend as both teams are averaging 1.92 goals against per game, tied for seventh best in the country. On the other side of things both are also averaging more than three goals per game with Notre Dame’s 3.69 edging out OSU’s 3.33.
Getting a power play unit that has netted only five goals on 40 opportunities would be a boon for the Buckeyes, but they’ll have to do it against an opponent that has surrendered only three power-play goals this season.
Adrian completed its weekend with a big win over Trinity. Photo Credit: Adrian Athletics
Ranked third in the country going into its showdown with Trinity Sunday, Adrian did not disappoint and earned a signature non-conference road win over a Bantams team ranked 10th headed into the matchup.
The Bulldogs prevailed with a 1-0 win over Trinity Sunday thanks to a first-period goal by Matus Spodniak.
Cameron Gray took care of the rest in goal, recording a shutout win behind 35 saves. He made 17 of those saves in the third period and was particularly clutch in the final three minutes of play as he came through with five saves.
The win for Adrian came on the heels of a 7-1 win over Wesleyan on Saturday. The Bulldogs have rattled off seven consecutive wins and are 6-1 away from home this season.
Balanced attack carries Trine to win
Brett Tierney was one of five players to score for Trine in a 5-3 win over Buffalo State Saturday.
Tierney scored a goal and dished out an assist as the Thunder improved to 7-3 on the season.
Garrett Hallford, Justin Meers, Hunter Payment and Jackson Clark also scored for the Thunder. Elias Sandholm got the job done in goal as he made 15 saves and helped Trine win its second consecutive game. Trine is 4-1 at home this season.
High five for Sabres
Five was the magic number for Marian in a sweep of St. Olaf over the weekend.
The Sabres scored five goals in each of their two wins, including a 5-4 win in overtime in the finale Saturday. They won the opener 5-3.
Marian needed every last goal it got in Saturday’s win. After building a 4-0 lead, the Oles rallied, scoring four times in the final 10 minutes of the third period to force extra hockey.
Mason Richey made sure Marian didn’t fall short, though, scoring off a rebound at the 4:01 mark of the OT. It was his second goal of the season.
Marian held a 39-37 edge in shots while Colby Muise made 31 saves to earn the win.
The two wins over the weekend extends the Sabres’ win streak to four games as they improve to 5-3-1 on the season.
Green Knights still rolling
St. Norbert picked up two big wins over Wisconsin-Eau Claire over the weekend, winning the finale 6-1 Sunday after opening the series with a 4-3 win.
The two wins push their win streak to six games. Saturday’s victory ends a stretch of playing eight of nine on the road.
Brock Baker helped pave the way as he scored twice, pushing his season total to six goals, while Carter Hottman added a goal and an assist. Peter Bates also tallied a goal and an assist and has six goals on the year. Adam Stacho came through with three assists for the Green Knights, who are now 7-3.
St. Norbert held a 33-19 advantage in shots while Colby Entz racked up 18 saves.
Pointers, Falcons play to a tie
Wisconsin-Stevens Point nearly rallied for a win over Concordia (Wisconsin) Saturday before the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
Trailing by two goals, the Pointers scored three times in the second to tie the game.
The Falcons had jumped on top 2-0 with a pair of goals 23 seconds apart in the opening period. UW-Stevens Point took a 3-2 into the third before Concordia tied the game. Neither team scored in overtime. The tie comes one night after the Pointers secured a 2-1 win over the Falcons.
Jordan Fader and Noah Finstrom both tallied a goal and an assist for the Pointers (6-3-1). Eli Billing made 30 saves. Bo Didur racked up 45 saves for the Falcons, who got a pair of goals from Jay Powell.
Matthew Kopperud leads Arizona State in scoring with 10 goals and 22 points in 14 games (photo: Mike Miller/Fighting Irish Media).
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: Last weekend was the renewal of one of college hockey’s most storied rivalries, Jim, and that’s Minnesota and North Dakota.
Regular foes in the glory days of the WCHA, the two teams had not met at Engelstad Arena since October 2017, long enough that the only Golden Gopher to have played there was Grant Cruikshank, and that was when he was playing for Colorado College.
Minnesota’s 5-1 win on Friday night may have awakened a few people who had been sleeping on the somewhat inconsistent Gophers so far this season. Coach Bob Motzko was particularly complimentary of his defensemen Friday, while Minnesota outshot the Fighting Hawks 32-22, including 14-4 in the first period.
But it was quite the opposite story on Saturday in the 300th game between the two in a series begun in 1930. North Dakota tallied a goal in each period to open up a 3-0 lead, but the Gophers battled back to score twice in the third to make it close. Most impressive to me was that Brad Berry’s Hawks limited the visitors to just 13 shots on net.
Minnesota showed its potential on Friday and can take something good away from the weekend with that – and splits on the road are a good thing – but it seems as if the Gophers need to string a few games like that in a row if they want to establish themselves as an elite team.
Can North Dakota feel good about its response on Saturday and just shake off Friday night?
Jim: I’m totally okay with where North Dakota is right now. Are they the best team in the nation? Right now, no. But are they the team that anyone who plays them will know they’re in a battle? Heck yes.
I think the Fighting Hawks are trying to find consistency. They have swept Niagara, Denver and Miami – Denver being the most impressive of that trio. Every other team has been a split – Bemidji State, Quinnipiac, Minnesota Duluth and now Minnesota (plus that loss to Penn State in Nashville). I think almost any coach would take those splits.
The numbers say that North Dakota has played the third toughest schedule in the nation to date. So while I’ll watch carefully, I’m not worried about the Fighting Hawks. They’re one of the best teams in the nation in my mind.
If I have concern right now, it’s for the ECAC. Entering the weekend with a non-conference record a notch above .500, the ECAC added 11 losses to their non-conference record this weekend at a point of the season where that is concerning. When you consider the overall number of non-conference games that each conference plays, that’s about eight percent of the overall non-conference games played in the ECAC landing in the loss column in the same weekend. To me that’s a concern.
Another number I’ll throw out – approximately 81 percent of the nonconference games in men’s Division I hockey have already been played. Have we learned anything from that?
Ed: That’s enough games played to have a pretty good idea of how each league’s nonconference schedule will turn out. Without getting into the numbers inside the numbers that constitute the PairWise Rankings, your league’s overall out-of-conference record has a lot to do with how many teams you’ll get into the NCAA tournament with at-large bids.
I’m pretty happy if I’m the NCHC or Big Ten. Both conferences have won more than two-thirds of their non-league tilts so far, and that means it’s likely we’ll see three or four teams from each league – and dare I say maybe five from the NCHC?
But I’m a little concerned if I’m Hockey East, hovering just above .500 overall – though the league helped itself a bunch last weekend. I’m more than a bit worried if I’m the CCHA or ECAC Hockey – sitting quite a bit below .500 – and wondering if the conference will get more than two teams in. And if I’m Atlantic Hockey, I’m just hoping my teams run the table in the 20-plus non-league games left.
At Arizona State, every game is a nonconference game. Greg Powers has a talented team, but right now they’re sitting at 7-7 and really need to go better than 12-8 in their remaining 20 games to be in the NCAAs – but that’s not as difficult as it may seem. Looking at ASU’s schedule, if they split a few tough weekends and sweep the series they should sweep, the Sun Devils could sprint their way into the postseason. Do you see a good prognosis for Arizona State?
Jim: You bring up a solid point with Arizona State.
The Sun Devils qualified in 2019 and likely would’ve made the 2020 tournament had it been played. Currently, Arizona State, though, probably needs more than 12 wins to take a major jump and qualify for an at-large bid. My magic number for the Sun Devils is 22 wins, given that they won’t have any postseason tournament and have to bank all hopes in a 34-game schedule.
Right now, ASU has a 50/50 schedule left – 10 of the qualifying games are at home, 10 on the road (the two games against Lindenwood won’t count in the PairWise). In laymen’s terms, ASU need to sweep at home and go .500 on the road (our podcast co-host Derek Schooley’s mantra for how to win).
At this point in the season, I see a few teams that I feel are underrated. My top is Cornell, at 8-1-0. Though ranked ninth, the Big Red is tied for 20th in the PairWise. And going back to that famous ranking, maybe we shouldn’t even talk about that right now. But Cornell has to ascend quickly if this winning streak continues.
Ed: We broke that rule and talked a little PairWise on our Monday Weekend Review podcast along with Derek, though I still think it’s a little early to give it a lot of attention.
However, the non-league record of Hockey East has its top three teams hovering around college hockey’s Mendoza line from 13 to 16. A lot will change when everyone is mainly playing league games and teams start to cannibalize each others’ records.
While it’s hard to call teams in the top 10 of the USCHO men’s D-I ice hockey poll overlooked, two teams really impressing me right now are No. 4 Quinnipiac and No. 6 Western Michigan. The Bobcats picked up six first-place votes on Monday and are getting the job done with a stingy defense. Meanwhile, the Broncos are outscoring opponents by 3.9 to 2.5 and put up 13 goals at St. Lawrence over the weekend.
Quinnipiac undoubtedly has an easier route to the top of its league than does Western Michigan, but both have been pleasant surprises, and I expect them both in the NCAA mix come March.
Anyone else who fans need to watch out for that they may have missed?
Jim: I think two Hockey East teams feel legit to me – Massachusetts and UMass Lowell – and they will play this weekend in a massive two-game series. UMass has rebounded well from their opening weekend two-game loss to Minnesota State. UMass Lowell, maybe a tiny bit less tested, has lost just two games to Arizona State (on literally the opening night of the season) and Connecticut.
I also look outside of the typical teams we recognize and into Atlantic Hockey for a few clubs that will be there, possibly in that famous 16 vs. 1 game in the NCAA tournament. I think AIC is kind of expected and will be solid right to the end. But if any fans look past teams like Canisius, Army West Point and RIT, they’ll overlook some excellent teams.
Right now, using the PairWise as guidance, I don’t see a way that two Atlantic Hockey teams reach the tournament. But I see this quartet of AHA teams in one of the toughest battles for what is likely exactly one NCAA tournament spot.
It’s early for this – and everything else we’re talking when it comes to the NCAA tournament – but it’s very entertaining.
Minnesota Duluth players celebrate one of their six goals over the weekend against Alaska (photo: Terry Cartie Norton).
Minnesota Duluth is the new No. 1 team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, collecting 33 first-place votes this week.
The Bulldogs move up one spot from last week’s No. 2 ranking.
Minnesota State falls to No. 2, but picks up six first-place votes.
Michigan is up one to No. 3 and gains five first-place votes in this week’s poll, flipping with Quinnipiac, who is down to No. 4 with the remaining six first-place votes.
St. Cloud State remains fifth, followed by Western Michigan up one to sit sixth, North Dakota down one to seventh, Notre Dame holding steady at No. 8, Cornell up one to No. 9, and Omaha dropping one to sit 10th in this week’s poll.
The lone new team in this week’s poll is Clarkson, coming in at No. 19.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 10 other teams received votes.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll consists of 50 voters, including coaches and beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.
The Geneseo bench celebrates a goal on their way to beating Utica on Saturday (Photo by Geneseo Athletics)
Oh, what a weekend it was with a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between Geneseo and Utica; great tournament action with Norwich, Babson, Skidmore, Albertus Magnus and Castleton emerging victorious and non-conference battles that have national ranking implications. Yes, the weekend had everything you would want to see for competitive action – here is a recap of all of the tournament and key non-conference action:
Utica Thanksgiving Invitational
With Friday’s wins in the first round over Massachusetts-Boston and Amherst, the championship matchup everyone wanted with No. 1 Geneseo vs. No. 2 Utica was set for the tournament title. Both teams have demonstrated great offensive firepower so far this season, but the title game was a tight checking, low-scoring affair with the Knights emerging as champions with a 3-0 win.
In a game that saw only 38 shots combined, Peter Morgan scored the only goal the Knights would need with just over five minutes remaining in the opening period. Goaltender Matt Petzian stopped all 23 shots he faced and Brandan Miller and Ryan Burnet each scored an empty-net goal for Geneseo in the final 1:10 of regulation for the final score.
“It was a good hockey game,” said Geneseo coach Chris Schultz. “It was definitely a bit of a chess match.”
Skidmore Invitational
The host school needed an overtime goal from Mike Gelatt with just 26 seconds remaining in the extra session to defeat Chatham, 4-3 in their first round game while Connecticut College held on to defeat Brockport 3-2 despite being outshot by a 44-20 margin.
The title game was close checking with neither the Camels nor Thoroughbreds able to score in the first two periods. With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, defenseman Will Dow-Kenny scored to give Skidmore a 1-0 lead the goaltender Tate Brandon made standup for the shutout win and tournament title. Brandon made 25 saves to earn his first career shutout and earned All-Tournament honors along with Dow-Kenny.
Bowdoin/Colby Face-off
With Babson’s 3-1 win over Bowdoin and Colby’s 7-3 rout of Wentworth on Saturday, the title was to be decided between the Beavers and Mules on Sunday. The seesaw affair was decided in a goal-filled third period where there were five goals scored and four lead changes. Five different players scored for Babson including Thomas Kramer’s tally with just over two minutes remaining in regulation that gave the Beavers an exciting 5-4 win. Goaltender Brad Arvanitis stopped 31 of 35 shots to help their Beavers to their fourth consecutive win and a 7-1-2 record overall.
First Light Shootout at Middlebury
With COVID protocols taking the host school out of the competition, a unique three game round robin was played to decide the title. Both Norwich and Plattsburgh downed Milwaukee School of Engineering to set-up a Sunday championship game between the long-time rivals.
Norwich took an early lead, but Plattsburgh answered back in the second period to tie the game at 2-2. In the third period, goals from Philip Elgstam, Noah Williams, and Scott Swanson secured the 5-2 win for Norwich who were backstopped by Andrew Albano’s 24 saves. Senior Brett Ouderkirk was named tournament MVP for the second time in his career with the Cadets.
PAL Stovepipe Tournament
The early favorites Southern New Hampshire and Fitchburg State were both upset in the first round setting up a championship game between Western New England and Albertus Magnus. The Falcons, who opened the season with four straight losses were looking to build on a three-game win streak that included victories over Hamilton, Manhattanville and Fitchburg State.
Five different players scored for Albertus Magnus including Jonathan Stein who finished the game with a goal and three assists for the Falcons in a convincing 5-1 championship win. The Falcons outshot the Golden Bears by a 49-29 margin with Logan Bateman earning hid fourth win on the season and continuing the Falcons’ win streak.
Spartan Invitational
The newly named Terry Moran Invitational Tournament, after the long-time assistant coach at Castleton, saw the Spartans skate away with the trophy after wins over Rivier and Franklin Pierce.
On Friday, seven unanswered goals from seven different players helped Castleton cruise to a 7-2 win over the Raiders. Franklin Pierce earned their spot in the title game with a 2-0 decision over Arcadia. In the title game, the two teams exchanged goals in the second period setting up a winner take-all final 20 minutes of regulation. Calvin Moise gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead with just under eight minutes remaining and Anton Tarvainen sealed the 3-1 win with a goal at 19:23 of the third period.
Non-Conference
Adrian and Trinity took wins over Wesleyan (7-3) and Salve Regina (4-0) respectively on Saturday before the two nationally ranked teams met on Sunday in Connecticut. The game had playoff intensity as the No. 3 Bulldogs faced off with the No. 10 Bantams. Matus Spodniak scored for the visitors late in the first period and goaltender Cameron Gray made 35 saves to earn the 1-0 shutout win. Patrick Pugliese made 34 saves for the Bantams who saw their offense shutdown by Gray and his Bulldog teammates.
Oswego met Williams in a two-game series in Williamstown and the Lakers came away with a sweep by 3-0 and 3-1 scores. On Saturday Travis Broughman and Garrett Clegg each picked up a goal and an assist while Steven Kozikoski made 24 saves to earn the shutout. On Sunday, Jacob Monroe broke the ice for the Ephs, but the Lakers answered back with a pair of power play goals from Jackson Arcan and Shane Bull for a lead the visitors would not relinquish. Clegg finished the scoring for Oswego who moved to 5-3-1 overall on the season.
Stevenson hosted Tufts in a two-game series with the hosts cruising to 6-2 and 4-0 wins. In the opener, Austin Masters scored twice and added an assist as the Mustangs scored four times in the opening period. In the second game, Ryan Kenny made 34 saves while Ryan Patrick scored a power play goal and a shorthanded goal to blow open a 1-0 game for Stevenson. The win moved the Mustangs to 6-2-1 on the season.
Three Biscuits
Seth Benson – Salve Regina – scored a natural hat trick in the Seahawks’ 4-1 win over Wesleyan on Sunday.
Tate Brandon – Skidmore – recorded the shutout in Skidmore’s 1-0 win over Connecticut College to earn them the championship of their own tournament.
John Campomenosi – Trinity – figured in all of the scoring in the Bantams’ 4-0 win over Salve Regina on Saturday. Campomenosi scored one goal and added three assists in Saturday’s win.
Every week the action seems to get better and better and the old cliché about anyone being able to beat anyone is tangible each weekend. December is looming so closing out the first-half strong is in focus for all of the teams.
The CCHA announced Monday that Bemidji State sophomore forward Lukas Sillinger has been suspended for one game stemming from an incident at 9:55 of the third period on Friday, Nov. 26, against Arizona State.
The on-ice call was a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty for contact to the head.
The suspension will be served during the Beavers’ next game, Dec. 3, against St. Thomas.
Sillinger will be eligible to return to the Bemidji State lineup on Saturday, Dec. 4.
St. Lawrence opened the scoring on the power play thanks to Aly McLeod. Ohio State responded with an extra attacker tally of their own thanks to Jennifer Gardiner. Shailynn Snow’s goal with less than three minutes to play in the first gave the Saints a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. But Ohio State took over from there. Gabby Rosenthal, Gardiner and Paetyn Levis scored in the second to make it 4-2 Buckeyes. Sophie Jaques scored a short-handed goal right at the end of the game to give the Buckeyes a 5-2 win.
(7) Minnesota Duluth vs. Penn State
Natalie Heising scored 5 minutes into the game to put Penn State on the board first, but Anna Klein responded with two goals for Minnesota Duluth to put the Bulldogs up 2-1 heading into the locker rooms. The game stayed that way until the third, where Heising scored her second of the game to tie it at 2. Lyndie Lobdell’s power play goal put Penn State ahead for good and gave them the come-from-behind win.
(7) Minnesota Duluth vs St. Lawrence
In the consolation match, Anna Klein put UMD up 1-0 in the opening minutes, but Aly McLeod and Nara Elia each scored with the player advantage to put St. Lawrence up 2-1 after the first. Chloe Puddifant lit the lamp just 1:52 into the second to extend the Saints’ lead to 3-1. McKenzie Hewett cut the lead to one just a few minutes later and Gabbie Hughes tied it up less than a minute after that. It took overtime to decide this one, and it was Elizabeth Giguere that scored the game-winner for the Bulldogs.
(2) Ohio State vs. Penn State
In the championship game, it was all about special teams. Five of the six goals came on the power play. Sophie Jaques and Clair DeGeorge scored 24 seconds apart midway through the first to put the Buckeyes up 2-0. DeGeorge’s goal was the only even strength tally of the game. In the second, Natalie Heising scored with the player advantage less than a minute in to narrow the lead. Jaques and Jennifer Gardiner lit the lamp in the second to make it 4-1 Ohio State. Rene Gangarosa scored in the third, but Penn State could not complete the comeback and the Buckeyes game away winners of this iteration of the DI in DC weekend.
Smashville Showcase in Nashville
(3) Minnesota vs. Mercyhurst
Taylor Heise and Catie Skaja traded goals for the Gophers. Each lit the lamp twice and led Minnesota to a 4-0 win.
(8) Colgate vs. Boston College
A late goal from Rosy Demers was the difference as Colgate took a 2-1 win. The Raiders dominated on offense, but stellar play from Abigail Levy in net and more than a few pucks off the iron kept the game close. Katie Chan scored in the first and that was the only goal in the game until midway through the third when Maddie Cahill-Crowley tied the game up on the power play. Demers scored the game winner with less than five on the clock to give Colgate the win and send them to the championship game.
Mercyhurst vs. Boston College
In the consolation game, 11 different skaters tallied a point for Mercyhurst as they defeated Boston College 4-2. They outshot the Eagles 51-26. Marielle put the Lakers on the board midway through the first. BC responded with a goal from Jillian Fey, but Chantal Ste Croix sent the teams to the locker rooms with Mercyhurst up 2-1. Sarah Nelles extended the lead with a power play goal in the second, but Gabby Roy pulled the Eagles back within one just 30 seconds later. That was as close as it would get. Sara Boucher’s goal 40 seconds into the third was the final goal as Mercyhurst took the win.
(3) Minnesota vs. (8) Colgate
Kalty Kaltounkova scored twice to lead the Raiders to a 2-1 win over Minnesota on Saturday. The win was made all that sweeter after Colgate dropped two games to the Gophers earlier this season. The Gophers scored first, a power play goal from Madeline Wethington. Kaltounkova scored her team-leading 12th and 13th goals of the season later in the period to put Colgate ahead. Goalie Hannah Murphy made 28 saves, including 13 in the third, to hold the lead and give the Raiders the Showcase win.
Nutmeg Classic
(5) Quinnipiac vs. (6) Yale
This game slipped away from Yale in the closing seconds of the second and third periods before Taylor House won it in overtime for the Bobcats. Elle Hartje and Emma Seitz each scored in the first to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0. They seemed to have the game well in hand heading into the final frame, but Olivia Mobley lit the lamp with 21.6 seconds left in the second to cut the lead. Yale held of Quinnipiac for most of the third, but once again Mobley spoiled it – this time with 38.4 seconds left in regulation. She sent the game to overtime and House’s goal gave the Bobcats the come-from-behind, OT win.
Connecticut vs. Sacred Heart
Jada Habisch scored a hat trick and Viki Harkness added three assists to lead the Huskies to a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart. Goals from Danielle Fox and Habisch had UConn up 2-0 early in the first. Kennedy Spiering scored early in the second to cut the lead in half, but Connecticut responded and put the game out of reach thanks to goals form Summer-Rae Dobson, Habisch and Danika Pasqua. Habisch completed the hattrick in the third to complete the 5-1 win.
(6) Yale vs. Sacred Heart
Charlotte Welch, Emma Seitz, Elle Hartje and Tess Dettling each scored for the Bulldogs to lead them t o a 4-1 win over Sacred Heart. Kerryn O’Connell scored for the Pioneers in the loss.
(5) Quinnipiac vs. Connecticut
The Bobcats won their ninth Nutmeg Classic and second in a row with a 3-2 win over Connecticut on Saturday. Sophie Urban scored right before the end of the first to send Quinnipiac into intermission with a 1-0 lead. Natalie Snodgrass tied the game for the Huskies early in the second, but Taylor House put Quinnipiac back on top a few minutes later. Morgan Wabick tied the game at 2 midway through the third period, but Nina Steigauf’s goal less than a minute later gave the Bobcats the lead once more and proved to be the game winner.
(4) Northeastern vs. (10) Princeton
Mia Brown scored midway through the third and Maddie Mills added a power play goal in the third to lead Northeastern to a 2-0 win on Friday. In the second game, the Huskies were out-shot for the first time all season as Princeton put 42 shots on goal, but could not come away with the win. Alina Mueller had a power play goal called back in the second, so she went out and scored another one to put Northeastern on the board first. Maggie Connors scored Princeton’s only goal of the weekend in the waning seconds on the second period to tie it, but there were still enough ticks left for Peyton Anderson to score the eventual game-winner with 3.2 seconds left in the period. Skylar Fontaine added a goal in the third to make it a 3-1 win and weekend sweep for the Huskies.
(9) Clarkson at Maine
Gabrielle David needed just 20 minutes and 20 seconds of game time to tally a natural hat trick on Friday. She scored twice in the second and added her third 20 seconds into the second period to put Clarkson up 3-0. Amalie Anderson scored on the power play for Maine, but Brooke McQuigge scored an extra attacker goal of her own to close out the game and give the Golden Knights a 4-1 win. David followed up that performance with two goals and an assist on Saturday to lead Clarkson to a 5-2 win and weekend sweep. Caitrin Lonergan showed off her speed and puck skills to put the Golden Knights up 1-0 in the opening minutes of the game and David doubled the lead heading into the first intermission. Alyssa Wruble cut the lead to 2-1 in the second. Clarkson added a power play goal from Haley Winn in the early minutes of the third before Ida Kuoppala cut the lead down to 3-2 just 20 seconds later. But that was as close as the Black Bears could get it. David and Jenna Goodwin closed out the game with goals to make it a 5-2 win and sweep.
PJ Marrocco and Long Island knocked off Miami 7-4 last Friday night in Oxford, Ohio (photo: LIU Athletics).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. No. 1 goes down … again
Four the third consecutive week, the team atop the USCHO Division I poll suffered a loss. On Friday, Lake Superior State outlasted top-ranked Minnesota State 1-0.
The Mavericks’ All-American goaltender Dryden McKay missed the game due to illness and backup Keenan Rancier performed admirably, allowing just the one goal but getting out-dueled by LSSU netminder Ethan Langenegger, who stopped all 22 shots he faced.
McKay was back in net on Saturday, a 3-0 victory for the Mavericks and the third consecutive shutout for the senior, who only had to make five saves for the win. McKay extended his NCAA career record for shutouts to 30 and counting.
2. The Big Red stay hot
Cornell and Boston University met at Madison Square Garden Saturday night for the eighth version of their Red Hot Hockey matchup, played at MSG on odd-number years since 2007.
The Big Red got goals from six different players to defeat the Terriers 6-4 for their third consecutive Kelley-Harkness Cup. The all-time series is now tied at 3-3-2.
Cornell won its sixth consecutive game and improved to 8-1.
3. Minnesota, North Dakota split
The most anticipated Thanksgiving weekend series was a visit by No. 11 Minnesota to longtime rival North Dakota, which came into the games ranked sixth.
The Golden Gophers dominated 5-1 on Friday powered by a pair of goals from Bryce Brodzinski and a 21 save performance from Jack LaFontaine.
The Fighting Hawks were able to flip the script on Saturday to earn the split with a 3-2 win. UND opened a 3-0 lead early in the third and then held off a Minnesota rally for its tenth win of the season.
4. Nothing settled between Canisius, American International
Another series to watch this past weekend was between American International and host Canisius, a rematch of last season’s Atlantic Hockey championship game.
The teams came into the series ranked second and third in league points per game and came away with three more each.
On Friday, AIC opened a 4-1 lead but was unable to put Canisius away in a wild 6-5 Golden Griffins win. The Griffs scored five of the final six goals of the game to come away with the victory.
AIC earned its share of the split with a 3-2 win on Saturday, opening a 2-0 lead and then hanging on.
Canisius’ Max Kouznetsov and Austin Alger had three goals each in the series.
5. Sharks get first D-I win of the season
Long Island picked up its first Division I win of the season, taking the first half of a split at Miami. Friday’s wild 7-4 win was followed by a 4-1 Red Hawks victory on Saturday.
LIU had posted ties against UMass Lowell and RPI earlier in the season, as well as wins over D-II St. Anselm, Post and Assumption.
6. Wisconsin’s woes continue
The Badgers tied and lost to visiting Clarkson, extending their winless streak to seven games, tied for the third longest in Division I.
Wisconsin captain Tarek Baker scored the Badgers’ lone goal of the weekend, with 3:32 remaining in regulation on Friday to earn a 1-1 draw with the Golden Knights.
On Saturday, Clarkson goaltender Ethan Haider stopped all 31 shots he faced in a 3-0 win.
Wisconsin is averaging just one goal a game during this winless streak.
7. Providence wins battle of Rhode Island
The 35th edition of the Mayor’s Cup between Providence and Brown was contested on Saturday, with the Friars winning their fifth straight over the Bears, 4-0.
Graduate transfer Austin Cain made 24 saves for his first collegiate shutout and first win in a Providence uniform.
8. Light weekend for conference action
The Thanksgiving weekend brought a large contingent of non-league matchups, with only five conference series on the schedule.
Bentley and Michigan Tech were the lone teams to earn conference sweeps, over Army West Point and Ferris State, respectively.
The attention shifts back to conference matchups next weekend, with all but two series in league play.
9. Boston College, Notre Dame postponed
Despite leaving Hockey East in 2017, Notre Dame has continued to schedule a game each season with Boston College. This year, the Fighting Irish were scheduled to host BC this past Friday.
But early last week, it was announced that the game would be postponed “out of an abundance of caution” due to COVID-19 protocols at Boston College.
The Eagles’ game against Harvard, scheduled for Nov. 30, has also been postponed.
The Harvard game is likely to be made up, while rescheduling with Notre Dame seems less likely.
10. Milestone for Wilson
In a battle of the Tigers, Rochester Institute of Technology swept Princeton, 5-4 and 1-0 in overtime. Saturday’s victory was No. 400 for RIT coach Wayne Wilson.
Wilson became the 49th NCAA men’s hockey coach to reach the milestone, compiling a 400-279-75 record in 23 seasons, 278-226-61 at the Division I level, and 122-53-14 from 1999-2005, when RIT was a Division III program.
Wilson is the only coach to be named Division I (2010) and Division III (2001) national coach of the year.
Devon Levi and Northeastern swept RPI in a home-and-home series over the weekend (photo: Jim Pierce).
Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of November 22 fared in games over the weekend of Nov. 26-28.
No. 1 Minnesota State (12-4-0)
11/26/2021 – No. 1 Minnesota State 0 at Lake Superior State 1
11/27/2021 – No. 1 Minnesota State 3 at Lake Superior State 0
No. 6 North Dakota jumped to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win over No. 11 Minnesota, a solid bounce back from a 5-1 loss for the Fighting Hawks to the Gophers on Friday (photo: Jim Rosvold)
While there was plenty of reasons to believe that North Dakota suffered a post-Thanksgiving hangover from too much mashed potatoes and stuffing, the Fighting Hawks put their faithful’s minds to rest, bouncing back from a 5-1 defeat to earn a weekend split with rival Minnesota, 3-2, on Saturday.
Though at times it felt like North Dakota dominated the game, particularly at 5:53 of the third period when captain Mark Senden scored his second goal of the night, Minnesota pressed until the final buzzer, scoring twice late to pull within a goal.
Less than two minutes after Senden’s second of the night, Ben Meyers got the Gophers on the board to 3-1.
With 3:30 remaining, Chaz Lucius scored an extra-attacker goal to put an uneasy feeling into the stomachs of the North Dakota fans.
But that was as close as the Gophers got and North Dakota earned the victory and series split. Goaltender Zach Driscoll needed just 11 saves to earn the win.
The Cornell offense, which ranked sixth nationally entering Saturday averaging four goals per game, proved that stat is no fluke, bettering that output in a 6-4 victory over Boston University in the eighth edition of Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden.
The Big Red retain the Kelley-Harkness Cup, the trophy given to the winner of the biennial battle of these two teams at the world’s most famous arena.
Six different players recorded goals for Cornell which, after falling behind 2-1 in the first on a goal by BU’s Brian Carrarbas, held leads of 4-2 and 6-3 before Tyler Boucher’s late goal accounted for the 6-4 final.
Among those Cornell goals was a highlight reel tally by Sam Malinski, who split between four BU defenders before roofing the puck.
Through eight editions of Red Hot Hockey, each team has now won three times with two games finishing in a tie. Cornell, though, has won three straight by scores of 2-0 (2019) and 4-3 (2017).
No. 1 Minnesota State 3, Lake Superior State 0
Dryden McKay is the all-time NCAA men’s shutout leader. But few shutouts have ever felt like Saturday’s against Lake Superior State.
McKay faced just five shots – one in the first period, three in the second and one more in the third – to extend his NCAA record to 30, including six this season and three straight.
The senior goaltender did not play on Friday, a 1-0 shutout win for Lake Superiors State. But with two shutouts of St. Thomas last weekend, McKay hasn’t allowed a goal since the third period of a 5-3 win over Bowling Green on November 13. His current shutout streak is 188:22.
The goal scorers on Saturday were Ryan Sandelin, his team leading ninth goal, Reggie Lutz and Tanner Edwards, who picked up his first collegiate goal.
An early goal by Lake Superior was all it took as the Lakers shutout the nation’s No. 1 team, Minnesota State, 1-0 (photo: Lake Superior athletics)
It took less than 10 minutes for Lake Superior to take a 1-0 lead over the nation’s number one team, Minnesota State.
The 1-0 lead on a Louis Boudon goal might not have seemed like a big deal to anyone at Taffy Abel Arena on Friday, particularly given that it was the Lakers only shot of the frame.
But Ethan Langenegger was perfect for the entire night, stopping all 22 shots he faced and, despite being outshot 22-10, Lake Superior upsets No. 1 Minnesota State, 1-0.
Lake Superior’s penalty kill may have been the most critical part of the game, keeping the Mavericks off the board on four opportunities.
The most critical kill came in the closing minutes when Ryan Sandelin was whistled for tripping with 2:20 left, creating a six-on-four situation for much go the final two minutes. But the Lakers defense stood tall, earning the upset victory in CCHA play.
The up-and-coming Wildcats, fresh off an overtime victory of defending national champion Massachusetts, played a near-perfect game, limiting the chances for a high-potent Harvard offense and scoring the game’s only goal on a turnover, earning a 1-0 victory over the Crimson.
Jackson Pierson’s unassisted breakaway goal with 10:23 remaining was the game’s only tally and the UNH defense locked down a Harvard offense that averaged more than four goals a game entering Friday.
Check out Pierson's breakaway goal from the third period!
Mike Robinson stopped all 27 shots he faced to earn the shutout and UNH killed three Harvard power plays, including on in the final two minutes when the Crimson pulled their goaltender for a two-man advantage.
Mercyhurst 5, No. 17 Ohio State 4
Noah Cane scored twice and goaltender Hank Johnson made 41 saves as Mercyhurst took a 2-1 lead into the third period, expanded it and then held on against the 17th-ranked Buckeyes, 5-4.
The Lakers trailed, 1-0, after a first period goal by Tate Singleton, but Kane scored twice sandwiched around a goal by Mickey Burns, the second of Kane’s tally coming early in the third.
One final interview with Coach Gotkin after a HUGE Laker win over No. 17 Ohio State! pic.twitter.com/DPj4AQuzkB
After OSU’s Travis Treloar cut the score to 3-2, Austin Heidemann and Rylee St. Onge responded with two goals in 29 seconds to build a lead the couldn’t be overcome, despite two late goals by the Buckeyes.
