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This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Michigan-Michigan State rivalry gets next chapter going this weekend as series ‘going to bring out the best in everyone’

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The longstanding Michigan-Michigan State rivalry reignites this weekend in East Lansing and Ann Arbor (photo: Michigan State Athletics).

It’s a good week to be a sports fan in Michigan.

As the top seed in the NFC, the Detroit Lions host the Washington Commanders in NFL playoff action Saturday night.

After a coaching change, the Red Wings won their first seven games of 2025, putting them right there in the hunt for an NHL wild card playoff spot.

Even the Detroit Pistons are contributing to the Mitten glowup. As of this writing, the Pistons won seven of their first eight games in January.

For most Michiganders, this is a week of statewide pride, a love unified behind teams that represent the state in singular style.

But this week is also Rivalry Week, when the No. 10 Wolverines take the ice against the No. 1 Spartans, and no amount of geographic commonality can overcome the animosity created by a mere 65 miles of highway in southeast Michigan.

“Just growing up in the state of Michigan,” said Spartans coach Adam Nightingale, “you’re either green or blue.”

Nightingale knows.

The Cheboygan, Mich., native played his last two years of college hockey at Michigan State (2003-05), where he’s now in his third season as head coach.

“I think for our guys, especially the guys that are from the area or the guys that were here last year, [they] understand that it’s a special thing,” said Nightingale in his weekly press conference.

His counterpart, Brandon Naurato, knows all about it, too. Naurato hails from Livonia, Mich., and is a four-year (2005-09) Wolverine alum. He’s in his third year as head coach behind the Michigan bench.

“I say this with all due respect,” said Naurato on his weekly radio show. “We have respect for that team. It doesn’t mean that we have to like them.”

The rivalry between the Spartans and Wolverines is hot in every sport, but for hockey, it’s particularly sharp. Perhaps that’s because the history between the teams on ice is so long.

Both programs agree that the first game in this rivalry was a 5-1 Michigan win played Jan. 11, 1922, but there is a difference of opinion about the overall number of games in this all-time series. The Spartans count 348 with Michigan holding the all-time edge of 181-143-24. The Wolverines say it’s 343 games and that their record is 177-142-24.

In the years before Nightingale’s tenure in East Lansing and through his first season with Michigan State, the matches didn’t bring much joy to Spartans fans. From the start of the 2019 season through the first meeting between the teams last year, Michigan was 15-4-0 against Michigan State in their previous 19 contests. During that span, the Spartans saw three losing streaks that lasted from four to six consecutive games played.

The game that broke the last streak was Michigan State’s 7-5 win in Yost Ice Arena Jan. 20, 2024, just one day after the Wolverines crushed the Spartans 7-1 on Michigan State’s home ice.

The Spartans went on to beat the Wolverines in their next three meetings, including a 3-2 win Feb. 10 in front of more than 18,000 fans at Little Caesars Arena, home of the Red Wings, and their 5-4 overtime win to clinch the Big Ten playoff championship title in Munn Ice Arena five weeks later.

Michigan had the last word in last year’s series, however, when the Wolverines beat the Spartans 5-2 in the NCAA Midwest final, ending Michigan State’s season and sending the Wolverines to the Frozen Four. It was the first time in program history that the teams had met in the NCAA tournament.

“We don’t like that they beat us four times to our two last season,” said Naurato. “We don’t like that we lost the Big Ten championship in overtime in Munn. They don’t like that we ended their season.”

Regardless of the emotional nature of the rivalry – and it is emotional, as evidenced by the 168 penalty minutes in that 7-1 Michigan win in Munn last year – both coaches agree that there is a lot of respect between the teams. Players on each team who grew up in Michigan know each other pretty well, and Nightingale and Naurato moved in overlapping professional circles for years before becoming head coaches at their respective programs.

Each coach knows that there’s more on the line than Big Ten points when the Spartans and Wolverines meet, and Naurato also appreciates the renewed competitiveness in the series.

“We don’t want to play a last-place Michigan State team and they don’t want to play a last-place Michigan team,” said Naurato. “You want these games to mean something, and they do. Big Ten standings for sure, [but to] alumni, current players, future players, recruiting, this stuff matters.

“Every recruit we talk to, they’re talking to State and vice-versa. Well, it’s a better pitch when you’re the one winning that season series.”

“I think it’s great for the state,” added Nightingale. “We want young hockey players to aspire to play college hockey. You’ve got us and Michigan, Western Michigan’s doing an unbelievable job there. You’ve got three schools right in our state that are great examples. If you’ve got a dream of playing college hockey, you’ve got three great options.”

Nightingale said that this series is “one of the many special things about playing at Michigan State” and that the Spartans are looking forward to the first game.

Michigan State heads into the weekend after picking up four road points against Penn State. The Spartans beat the Nittany Lions 6-4 and tied 2-2, with Penn State picking up the extra point in the shootout. The Spartans are unbeaten in their last nine games (7-0-2), and their last loss – against Wisconsin Dec. 6 – was only their second loss of the season.

“At Penn State, I really thought the first night, we did a good job of showing some resolve,” said Nightingale. “We were down, came back and we had tied it, and it was good get the win there on the road.”

Penalties were an issue the second night, said Nightingale, when the Spartans took eight minors and a power-play goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation tied the game for the Nittany Lions. Nightingale said he liked the way the Spartans played “for about 52 minutes” in the tie.

“I thought the last eight minutes of the game, we got away from what we need to do to win hockey games,” said Nightingale.

With 28 points, the Spartans sit atop the Big Ten standings, one point ahead of Minnesota, five ahead of Ohio State and 10 up from fifth-place Michigan.

The Wolverines split on the road last against Notre Dame, and Michigan is 3-5-0 in its last eight games, all in conference play, but the Wolverines are still sitting at No. 12 in the PairWise Rankings.

“We’ve put ourselves in the position to be a tournament team,” said Naurato. “Our best hockey needs to be the rest of the season.”

Beginning with their series against the Spartans, said Naurato, the Wolverines will “see what we’re made of.” Michigan State is the top team in the country in both the USCHO Poll and the PairWise Rankings, while Minnesota is the fourth team currently in the PWR with Ohio State at No. 9.

Michigan has four regular-season games remaining against the Spartans, and two each against Minnesota and Ohio State.

“That’s real,” said Naurato. “Those are the teams you have to beat. They should know us better than anybody because they’re in our league, so it’s that much harder.

“There are no surprises. You have to earn it.”

“I think they’ve got a really good team,” added Nightingale. “I think we do, too.

“I think they’ve got a ton of talent. They’re very good on the power play. They definitely can score goals. I think it’s a very similar-type matchup, and I think regardless of where teams are at when they play, it’s going to bring out the best in everyone, and that’s what you want for your team.

“We want to see their best and they want to see our best and I think that’ll be the case Friday.”

The opening game in this series begins at 7 p.m. Friday at Yost Ice Arena. Saturday’s game at Munn Ice Arena begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be carried by the Big Ten Network.

This Week in Hockey East: UConn’s Schandor happy in Huskies uniform as team hopes to make January statement

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Hudson Schandor wears the ‘C’ for UConn this season (photo: Clarus Multimedia Group).

Connecticut gave Hudson Schandor an opportunity, but he’s given plenty back.

Schandor, Connecticut’s 5-foot-9, 175-pound graduate student forward from North Vancouver, B.C., recently surpassed 100 career points with a goal and two assists in a 4-1 win at New Hampshire last Friday, becoming the second-highest scorer in program history since it joined Hockey East in 2014.

“The biggest thing for me is, I’m proud to get this done as a Husky,” Schandor said. “I’m so grateful, really, for everyone here, for all that they’ve given to me and the opportunity they’ve given me. It’s hard not to get emotional when I talk about it. It’s a special place.”

Lightly recruited out of high school, Schandor has thrived in his time at UConn. His 104 career points as of this writing puts him one behind the school’s all-time leader in the Hockey East era, Jáchym Kondelík, who played forward for the Huskies from 2018-22 and now plays professionally overseas.

“These guys gave me an opportunity when I didn’t have a ton,” Schandor said. “I wasn’t in the best head space when they first reached out. (I) don’t know how high their expectations were of me, but the way they kind of brought me in and put their arms around me, everyone on the staff, it’s special. It’s truly a family here, and to be a part of it and to be able to be a leader here on this team now, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Schandor is currently third in Hockey East in scoring in conference play with five goals and eight assists. His goal against UNH, which came at 18:19 of the first period and put UConn up 1-0, was the Huskies’ nation-leading sixth shorthanded goal of the season.

“I don’t think we’ve had a penalty kill this aggressive, ever, in (my) time here,” Schandor said. “To be able to score as many shorthanded goals as we have this year is just a testament to the intelligence within our staff and within the guys on the kill. It’s like a special-operations unit we have going right now.”

Schandor earned high praise from Huskies coach Mike Cavanaugh, who noted Schandor started as a fourth-line player with a partial scholarship, working his way into a full scholarship.

“He’s the epitome of what I want in a UConn hockey player — on the ice, off the ice, he does all the little things,” Cavanaugh said. “Three-time captain — that should say enough about him as a player. (I) wish I had 30 of him. You’d be very successful if you had a lot of kids like Hudson Schandor.”

The Huskies currently sit in third place in the Hockey East standings and could be alone in first by the end of the weekend. UConn will visit league-leading Maine Friday and Saturday night (7 p.m. both nights on ESPN+).

Whatever happens to UConn the rest of the season, Schandor said he’s happy to be on the ride. While contemplating his hockey future after his senior season in 2023-24, Schandor said he weighed all options, but decided on one more year as a Husky.

“Something I’ve also learned here is the true power of loyalty,” he said. “Being a Canadian kid and coming to these American universities, you (find) out pretty quickly how much loyalty means to these guys. (It’s) a family. It truly is. And to be a part of the UConn family, for one more year, my last year, was something that outweighed everything.”

Watch list of 35 goalies announced for 2025 Mike Richter Award as NCAA D-I men’s top goaltender

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Northeastern’s Devon Levi is presented the 2022 Mike Richter Award by the award’s namesake during Frozen Four festivities (photo: Jim Rosvold).

The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) has announced a watch list of 35 goalies who will compete for the Mike Richter Award, given annually since 2014 to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey.

The 35 goalies come from the United States (16), Canada (12), Sweden (3), Slovakia (2) and one each from Czechia and Hungary.

Of the U.S. goalies, Michigan leads the way with four, followed by three from Florida and two each from Illinois and New York. There are five freshmen, 12 sophomores, 11 juniors, five seniors and two graduate students among those recognized.

A committee of voters — made up of a cross section of coaches, administrators, scouts and media — will pare this list down to approximately a dozen semifinalists within the next three weeks and then ultimately choose a winner from three finalists who will be announced in April during the NCAA Frozen Four. A similar award to recognize the top female goalie in the NCAA is also presented by the HCA.

NOTE: Goalies qualified by meeting minimum GAA (<2.30) and save percentage (>.920) standards. Other names may be added for consideration before the first formal vote.

2024-25 Richter Award Watch List

Atlantic Hockey
J.J. Cataldo, Army West Point (FR – Stuart, FL)
Pierce Charleson, Niagara (GR – Aurora, ON)
Thomas Gale, Holy Cross (SR – Kirkland, PQ)
Ajeet Gundarah, Sacred Heart (FR – Richmond, BC)
Connor Hasley, Bentley (JR – North Tonawanda, NY)

Big Ten
Nathan Airey, Minnesota (SO – Cochrane, AB)
Trey Augustine, Michigan State (SO – South Lyon, MI)
Kristoffer Eberly, Ohio State (SO – Pinckney, MI)
Owen Say, Notre Dame (JR – London, ON)
Tommy Scarfone, Wisconsin (JR – Montreal, PQ)
Liam Souliere, Minnesota (GR – Montreal, PQ)

CCHA
Josh Kotai, Augustana (SO – Abbotsford, BC)
Christian Stoever, Bowlling Green (SR – Northfield, MI)
Alex Tracy, Minnesota State (JR – Chicago, IL)

ECAC Hockey
Ben Charette, Harvard (FR – Aurora, ON)
Ethan Langenegger, Clarkson (SR – Kamloops, BC)
Matej Marinov, Quinnipiac (SO – Nitra, Slovakia)
Dylan Silverstein, Quinnipiac (FR – Calabasas, CA)
Arthur Smith, Princeton (SO – Farmington, CT)
Lawton Zacher, Brown (SO – Buffalo, NY)

Hockey East
Albin Boija, Maine (SO -Sundsvall, Sweden)
Jacob Fowler, Boston College (SO – Melbourne, FL)
Beni Halasz, UMass Lowell (JR – Budapest, Hungary)
Michael Hrabal, UMass (SO – Prague, Czechia)
Philip Svedeback, Providence (JR – Vaxjo, Sweden)
Jared Whale, New Hampshire (JR – Calgary, AB)

NCHC
Matt Davis, Denver (SR – Calgary, AB)
Gibson Homer, Arizona State (JR – Grand Rapids, MI)
Klayton Knapp, Minnesota Duluth (FR – Waterville, OH)
Simon Latkoczy, Omaha (JR – Trencin, Slovakia)
Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College (JR – Aspen, CO)
Isak Posch, St. Cloud State (SO – Umea, Sweden)
Cameron Rowe, WMU (GR – Wilmette, IL)
Hampton Slukynsky, WMU (FR – Warroad, MN)

Independents
Ty Outen, LIU (JR – Tampa, FL)

Past Richter Award Recipients: 2014 – Connor Hellebuyck, UMass Lowell; 2015 – Zane McIntyre, North Dakota; 2016 – Thatcher Demko, Boston College; 2017 – Tanner Jaillet, Denver; 2018 – Cale Morris, Notre Dame; 2019 – Cayden Primeau, Northeastern; 2020 – Jeremy Swayman, Maine; 2021 – Jack LaFontaine, Minnesota; 2022 – Devon Levi, Northeastern; 2023 – Devon Levi, Northeastern; 2024 – Kyle McLellan, Wisconsin.

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Sweep of then-No. 13 Colorado College has Omaha showing ‘a great example of sticking with it’

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Brady Risk tallied three goals and an assist as Omaha took both games last weekend on home ice over Colorado College (photo: Jaelle Johnson/Omaha Athletics).

If you’re an Omaha fan, there was a lot to like about the Mavericks’ home sweep last weekend over 13th-ranked Colorado College.

It was especially rewarding for some of UNO’s veteran players.

That includes graduate student forwards Brady Risk and Harrison Israels, a pair of Alaska transfers who, on a line with Myles Hilman, combined for 10 points in the series. Risk bagged three goals, Israels had a goal and two assists, and Hilman bagged a goal and three helpers.

Risk scored three times in UNO’s 5-2 win Friday, breaking an early scoreless deadlock with 7.7 seconds left in the first period before he made it 3-1 early in the second. His last goal of the night, 8:01 into the third period, clinched his second career hat trick and made him the sixth Maverick to record one inside Baxter Arena since it opened in 2015.

Israels set up two of Risk’s goals Friday, before the former scored Saturday’s eventual game-winner early in the third period. Putting away a centering feed from Hilman off a rebound, Israels had a wide-open net to fill. That put UNO up 2-1, before Hilman added an empty-netter to cap off a 3-1 victory.

Risk now has points in eight of his last 13 games, after not factoring into the scoring in his first seven games of the season. Israels’s recent form is similar. He didn’t record any points in his first six games this campaign but has points in four of his last five.

“That’s a great example of sticking with it,” UNO coach Mike Gabinet said. “Earlier on in the year, they were struggling a little bit there, and they’re just great individual people, high-character, work, work, work, work and work some more, and sure enough, getting rewarded with really contributing to the team’s success right now, which is great to see.”

Another big reason for the Mavericks’ success last weekend was junior goalie Simon Latkoczy. The Slovakian had 75 saves over the two games against CC, earning him NCHC goaltender of the week honors. No other starting netminder in the conference was busier last weekend.

“I thought he played really well this weekend,” Gabinet said. “I thought he was really poised and really calm in net, and didn’t have a lot of rebounds. I thought he played tremendously.”

He and his UNO (10-10-0) teammates have now won four of their last five games and will look to jump back above the .500 mark this weekend at Miami.

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Finding ways to adjust, focused St. Thomas riding four-game win streak since 2025 arrived

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Liam Malmquist has been a go-to player this season for UST (photo: Nick Wosika).

After a trying end to 2024, the new year has been kind to St. Thomas.

The Tommies–who were picked by many observers to be one of the main contenders for the CCHA’s MacNaughton Cup this season–never seemed to find their footing in the first half of this season. They went 4-10-4 overall and just 3-6-3 in conference play over the first three months of the season, finding themselves in eighth place in the CCHA standings.

That’s not the start any team hopes for, but the new calendar year is a new opportunity to hit the reset button. It seems like that’s exactly what the Tommies have done. Since a 2-1 loss against St. Cloud State on Dec. 29, St. Thomas has reeled off four consecutive wins–two against non conference Lindenwood, followed by a pair against Ferris State. For head coach Rico Blasi, it’s gratifying to finally see some positive results after the early-seasons struggles.

“Anytime you come up with a couple of sweeps, that’s really important for the feeling in the locker room, the feeling on the ice and in practice. It’s a little bit different. Guys are feeling confident, and we should feel confident. We’re playing really well. Not that we weren’t playing well in the first half, we just weren’t getting results,” Blasi said Monday. “So it kind of weighs on you probably a little bit more than it should. So we’re in a good spot right now.”

The Tommies are now 8-10-4 overall and 5-6-3 in CCHA play, and all of a sudden they have found themselves back in position to make a run for home ice in the CCHA Mason Cup playoffs. The recent home sweep of Ferris State helped the Tommies leapfrog over the Bulldogs into seventh place in the CCHA standings. With a 0.429 points percentage, they’re in striking distance of Bemidji State (.500), Lake Superior State (.524) and Bowling Green (0.619). The Tommies play all three of those teams head-to-head in the coming month.

“We’ve got to continue to stay focused. Like I said on Saturday night after the game, the question was asked, are your guys confident? I said, why wouldn’t you be confident? You’re playing Division I hockey at the highest level. We’re at a great institution. Everybody’s healthy. There’s no reason for our guys not to be confident,” Blasi said. “Just go play every day and have fun and love each other up. The game goes by so fast, especially at this time of the year, when you start thinking about down the road, it’s only seven or eight weeks you’re done. So you’ve got to stay in the moment, you’ve got to enjoy it, and hopefully we play our best hockey at the right time.”

That time seems to be now–especially for the Tommies offense. The biggest key to beating Ferris State last weekend was finding a way to score goals. Boatloads of them. St. Thomas won 9-6 on Friday, setting the program’s record for most goals in a game. On Saturday, some clutch third-period goals by Lucas Whalin and Cooper Gay helped the Tommies rally for a 4-3 victory.

“I think you’ve got to go into every game focusing on the type of game that it is. And sometimes it’s high scoring, sometimes it’s a defensive battle, and so you have to adapt to what the situation provides itself. Sometimes you gotta score some goals, and Friday night was one of those nights, where no lead was safe, and you have to go up and down, and our guys did a nice job of executing and finishing off their chances,” Blasi said. “Saturday night, just a little bit more goal scoring than we would like in terms of our defense, but our guys did a nice job of coming through when they needed to.”

The Tommies also got some clutch goals against Lindenwood–3-2 and 4-3 wins, respectively–and now find themselves as one of the CCHA’s top-scoring offense (2.86 goals per game, just behind Minnesota State’s 2.90). Blasi noted that the Tommies have the CCHA’s top three players in shot attempts (Wahlin, Gay and Liam Malmquist). Those three are also in the top 10 in the league in scoring–Malmquist leads the way with 10 goals and 28 points, Wahlin is third with 10 goals and 22 points and Gay (who leads the league with 11 goals) is ninth in the conference in scoring with 19 points.

“Offensively, I think we’ve had our scoring chances over the course of the season. I think we have three or four of the top players in terms of shot attempts, but we weren’t really hitting the net as much as we wanted to in the first half, but guys seem to be finding it now, so hopefully we can continue that,” Blasi said.

The Tommies’ next two series are against the teams who are directly ahead of them in the standings. This week they travel to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, to take on Lake Superior State before hosting Bemidji State in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, the following week.

Blasi said he wasn’t thinking too far ahead, however.

“Our message is the same: Make sure we’re getting better each and every day,” Blasi said. “Our process needs to be good. And when our process is not on a daily basis, it’s my job to make sure we come back to what we need to do. You know, everybody’s in the same boat. Everybody wants to play well going down the stretch, and we want to be in meaningful games at the end. The only way to do that is to take it a day at a time.”

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Quinnipiac finding way as Bobcats ‘still just working and trying to build to get better for March’

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Quinnipiac’s Matej Marinov was sharp in net last Saturday against Princeton (photo: Farrah Chernov),

It sure didn’t take long for college hockey to start celebrating over the fallen giant.

For years, the Quinnipiac-established juggernaut ruled ECAC. The Bobcats won Cleary Cup after Cleary Cup and while they didn’t claim a conference championship, trips to the Frozen Four and the first ECAC national championship since Union and Yale’s consecutive titles more than cemented their elite-level status.

As the first month ended, a 3-5 record salivated onlookers who wanted to ignore the 8-2 win over New Hampshire or the 3-0 win over Holy Cross, and not even a sweep over Brown and Yale or a 3-1 win over Cornell stopped the macabre fun of sharpening pitchforks or lighting torches over the grounded giant in Hamden, Conn.

Finally, finally, the mightiest sword in ECAC would stop swinging, and attention would rightly turn towards the megaliths in Hockey East, the Big Ten and the NCHC. A new parity would emerge for the 11 other teams stepping through the fallen idols, and headlines swerved towards other teams.

And then this weekend’s sweep over Princeton happened, and the Bobcats, the team that wouldn’t compete for a conference championship in 2025, opened a six-point lead for first place over Clarkson and Union despite using a couple more out-of-hand games than those other two teams.

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

“We played well during the Princeton series,” said Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold. “We weren’t perfect, but we played really well. We had good goaltending on both nights, we were very opportunistic, and I thought we were resilient. I liked where our compete was, and we’re still just working and trying to build to get better for March, which is where we took a good step this weekend.”

A good step is an understatement for a team that enters mid-January with the duality of more-modest numbers capable of still ranking among the nation’s best programs. An offense with 3.20 goals per game is better than Providence, Boston College or the high-flying western teams from the Big Ten, and the 2.30 goals allowed, while a hair behind Clarkson for the overall body of work, is right next to the top-ranked Friars while edging the Golden Knights in ECAC-centric games.

Two of the Bobcat scorers – Holy Cross transfer Jack Ricketts and second-year graduate senior Travis Treloar, a former Ohio State product – are within striking range of Brandon Buhr’s goals lead, and Aaron Schwartz, an incumbent recruit in his first year of college hockey, is right behind both with eight goals on the season. Second-year forward Mason Marcellus, meanwhile, is one assist behind Colby MacArthur for the league lead, and both Jeremy Wilmer and Andon Cerbone – a transfer and a Quinnipiac recruit – are among the league’s best point distributors.

“Our biggest strength has been our character,” said Pecknold. “It’s our culture [because] it’s a really good group of guys. The buy-in isn’t all the way there, but we’re getting there. When we’ve played to our identity, we win a lot of our games, and we’ve made progress over the course of the year. We weren’t playing to our identity at all in October, and that’s where we struggled, so we’ve made progress towards our ultimate goal of being great night in and night out, but there’s still work to be done.”

Quinnipiac’s identity was initially thought to hang in limbo among the other ECAC programs because Pecknold struck the chord between homegrown recruits and incoming transfers, but mixing the portal with his own group caused a natural reset after the national championship team graduated and matriculated its players into more long-term careers.

The lone remaining members from that team are few and far between, and the trio of bejeweled Bobcats still on the roster didn’t number many games beyond Victor Czerneckianair’s 40 appearances.

Churning the season forward, though, seemed to bring that full-blown reputation back towards the surface of Quinnipiac’s game. Ricketts, for example, posted the second goal of the 4-2 win over the Tigers with a smartly-timed power play goal in the immediate aftermath of goals by first-year, in-house recruits in Elliott Groenewold and Aaron Schwartz. The next night, Ricketts again scored in the first period before Ryan Smith and Marcellus, two more in-house finds, added insurance goals in the second period.

“You’re always tweaking things and changing things because you have to adapt,” Pecknold noted, “and that’s about trying different kids at center or left wing, different power play units, stuff like that. But my opinion is that our identity is our core, and we’ve won a lot of games over the last 12-15 years by playing to that same identity. It’s nothing crazy or earth-shattering to the way we play, but it’s a battle sometimes. Our kids have to be selfless, and we try to get them to understand that being selfless and defending better gets them to play more offense.”

Nearly everyone circled the wagons on Quinnipiac’s drop-off when the Bobcats struggled out of the gate in October, but there’s now clarity towards the top of the league table as January swings into gear because the Bobcats are once again in the national tournament hunt.

Once left for the middle of the Pairwise Rankings, the No. 15 team is hanging on the bubble with an opportunity to gain spots in the near interim. Its 24 points are eight clear of the first round drop into the single-elimination first round games, and the gap widens even further as programs cycle back into sixth or seventh place despite holding games-in-hand over the first place side.

Nearly everyone has to travel to the M&T Bank Arena to play a team with an absurd 31-3-1 record over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, and the 7-4 record this year dropped only a loss to Northeastern beyond the bad weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard.

Colgate and Cornell arrive this weekend for a massive series, and beyond that, Clarkson’s arrival in early February likely seats a table for the Cleary Cup’s home stretch in the aftermath of the CT Ice Tournament’s first round game against UConn – a sneaky big game with Pairwise implications.

“I’m big about controllables,” Pecknold said, “and you don’t control [home ice]. When games happen, let’s handle what’s in front of us, which is a game against Colgate on Friday. I don’t overthink homestands or being on the road because I want to focus on what’s next for that week and where we are right now. That means Colgate on Friday and a quick turnaround against Cornell. We had a great practice [on Monday], and we’re getting better every day, and that’s what we’re going to work on.”

Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association announces watch list of 33 goaltenders for 2025 National Women’s Goalie of the Year award

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Michelle Pasiechnyk was a Women’s Goalie of the Year semifinalist for the third straight season, winning in 2024 (photo: Gary Mikel).

The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association has announced a watch list of 33 goaltenders for the title of 2025 National Women’s Goalie of the Year.

The award was created in 2021 to recognize the top female goalie in NCAA Division I hockey. Northeastern’s Aerin Frankel, who graduated in 2022, was the recipient in the first two years the award was presented, followed by fellow Husky Gwyneth Philips in 2023 and Clarkson’s Michelle Pasiechnyk last year.

The goalies to watch come from all five NCAA Division I conferences with 17 from the United States, nine from Canada and seven from Europe (two from Finland and Sweden and one each from Austria, Denmark and Slovenia.)

This initial watch list of outstanding goalies is comprised of those with a goals-against average of 2.10 or lower or a save percentage of .920 or higher. A committee of voters — made up of a cross section of coaches, administrators, and media — will pare this list down within the next two weeks and then ultimately choose the winner who will be announced in March during the NCAA Frozen Four.

NOTE: The process allows for goalies not on this first list to be considered before the first vote.

2024-25 Women’s Goalie of the Year Award Watch List

AHA
Katie DeSa, Penn State (JR – Pawcatuck, CT); Allie Kelley, Syracuse (GR – East Berne, NY); Maggie Hatch, Robert Morris (SO – Cleveland Heights, OH); Magdalena Luggin, Mercyhurst (FR – Vienna, Austria); Jorden Mattison, Mercyhurst (GR – Welland, ON).

ECAC Hockey
Annelies Bergmann, Cornell (SO – Detroit, MI); Kaley Doyle, Quinnipiac (GR – Livonia, MI); Pia Dukaric, Yale; (SR — Ljubljana, Slovenia); Julia Minotti, Clarkson (Junior – Laval, PQ); Hannah Murphy, Colgate (GR — Bradford, ON); Emma-Sofie Nordström St. Lawrence (JR – Herning, Denmark); Ainsley Tuffy, Harvard (FR – Duxbury, MA)

Hockey East
Sedona Blair, New Hampshire (SO – Eden Prairie, MN); Grace Campbell, Boston College (JR – Kensington, MD); Tia Chan, UConn (SR – Hamilton, ON); Abby Hornung, Holy Cross (JR – Ashland, MA); Lisa Jönsson, Northeastern (FR – Stockholm, Sweden); Callie Shanahan, Boston University (SR – Commerce, MI); Paige Taborski, Northeastern (SR – Roscoe, IL; Hope Wallinski, Providence (SR – Lincoln, RI); Megan Warrener, UConn (SR – Stoney Creek, ON).

NEWHA
Jill Hertl, Franklin Pierce (JR – Highland Park, IL); Lauren Larson, Sacred Heart (SO – Dayton, MN); Hannah Saunders, Post (JR – Ottawa, ON); Abbie Thompson, LIU (GR – Forest Lake, MN); Jadyn Weiser, Assumption (SO – Albertville, MN).

WCHA
Sanni Ahola, St. Cloud State (GR – Helsinki, Finland); Hannah Clark, Minnesota (FR – Oshawa, ON); Ève Gascon, Minnesota Duluth (SO – Mascouche, PQ); Tindra Holm, Minnesota Duluth (SR – Skellefteå, Sweden); Emilia Kyrkkö, St. Cloud State (FR – Nokia, Finland); Hailey MacLeod, Ohio State (JR – Abbotsford, BC); Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin (SO – Seven Fields, PA).

BRACKETOLOGY: As calendar hits January, time for not-so-early predictions for 2025 NCAA men’s hockey tournament

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Denver players cut down one of the nets after winning the 2024 NCAA national championship (photo: Jim Rosvold).

The calendar has turned to 2025, which means we are in a good place to begin taking a deep dive into the PairWise Rankings in a weekly segment called “Bracketology.”

For those who aren’t familiar, each week I will attempt to predict the field for this year’s NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey tournament and look at trends as to which teams may or may not make the tournament field.

Let’s begin this week by going over some of the basic selection criteria and the guidelines we need to follow when seeding the field.

First the field is selected based on two types of participants: automatic qualifiers (AQs) and at-large. AQs are the six conference tournament champions from AHA, B1G, the CCHA and ECAC, Hockey East and the NCHC. The remaining 10 teams are the 10 highest-ranked teams in the PairWise Rankings.

Currently, that gives us the following 16 teams:

1. Michigan State*
2. Boston College
3. Maine*
4. Minnesota
5. Providence
6. Denver
7. Western Michigan*
8. Boston University
9. Ohio State
10. UMass Lowell
11. Connecticut
12. Michigan
13. New Hampshire
14. Quinnipiac* (ECAC Champion)
15. Minnesota State* (CCHA Champion)
16. Bentley* (AHA Champion)

Now that we have our field of 16, we need to seed the tournament into four regions (host school in parenthesis): Manchester, N.H. (New Hampshire), Allentown, Pa. (Penn State), Toledo, Oh. (Bowling Green), and Fargo, N.D. (North Dakota). There is one overarching rule that supersedes all others: Host teams must be placed in their region.

Right now, only one host is qualified: New Hampshire, the host in Manchester.

Next, we seed the tournament based on bracket integrity, that is 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3, vs. 14, etc. That gives us the following bracket:

1. Michigan State
8. Boston University
9. Ohio State
16. Bentley

2. Boston College
7. Western Michigan
10. UMass Lowell
15. Minnesota State

3. Maine
6. Denver
11. Connecticut
14. Quinnipiac

4. Minnesota
5. Providence
12. Michigan
13. New Hampshire

Next, we should place each four-team bracket attempting to keep the highest number-one seeds nearest their campus. That said, New Hampshire and its bracket will be placed in the Manchester Region.

After that, Michigan State should be placed in the Toledo Region, Boston College in the Allentown Region and Maine in the Fargo Region. That gives us the following:

Toledo Region
1. Michigan State
8. Boston University
9. Ohio State
16. Bentley

Allentown Region
2. Boston College
7. Western Michigan
10. UMass Lowell
15. Minnesota State

Fargo Region
3. Maine
6. Denver
11. Connecticut
14. Quinnipiac

Manchester Region
4. Minnesota
5. Providence
12. Michigan
13. New Hampshire

Next, we have to avoid setting up interconference matchups in the opening round. That is to avoid having two teams face one another in the first round who may have played days earlier. Right now, we have no interconference matchups. Pretty ideal.

What isn’t ideal is having a number of regions where attendance will be a concern. Manchester should be solid with the host school and Toledo having Michigan State less than two hours from Lansing and Ohio State even closer is a good draw. But Fargo, with three eastern teams, could struggle for attendance as would Allentown. The closest of those four teams is Boston College and that is five hours away by car.

So is there something we can do? In terms of moving top seeds, that’s not possible. Shifting either Maine or Boston College to Manchester would create a first-round matchup between Hockey East teams, as New Hampshire must be the #4 seed in the Manchester Region.

But could we make another switch by moving teams within their seeding band (teams 5-8 form the #2 seed band, 9-12 form the #3 seed band and teams 13-16 form the #4 seed band).

It would be possible, though, to switch seeds in the #4 band to get teams closer to their campus without sacrificing bracket integrity. Moving Quinnipiac from Fargo to Allentown and Minnesota State from Allentown to Fargo would bring both much closer to campus (Quinnipiac is 3hr, 15min from Allentown; Minnesota State is 4hr, 25 min from Fargo).

Could we make more changes? Possibly, but for now, I’m okay with making this simple one and calling this our bracket for this week.

Here is the final bracket for this week:

Toledo Region
1. Michigan State
8. Boston University
9. Ohio State
16. Bentley

Allentown Region
2. Boston College
7. Western Michigan
10. UMass Lowell
14. Quinnipiac

Fargo Region
3. Maine
6. Denver
11. Connecticut
15. Minnesota State

Manchester Region
4. Minnesota
5. Providence
12. Michigan
13. New Hampshire

Last teams in (at-large): New Hampshire, Michigan
First teams out (at-large): Arizona State, St. Cloud State

Following conclusion of 2024-25 college hockey season, Ferris State coach Daniels retiring after 36 seasons with Bulldogs

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Ferris State coach Bob Daniels has been behind the Bulldogs bench for 36 years (photo: Ferris State Athletics).

One of college hockey’s legendary chapters will come to a close later this year as Ferris State men’s hockey coach Bob Daniels has officially announced his retirement.

Daniels, who ranks as one of NCAA Division I’s winningest active head coaches, will close a 33-year head coaching career and 36 years overall with the Bulldogs following the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign. His final day will be May 31.

The Bulldogs plan to honor Daniels at a home game to be determined later this season.

“Coach Daniels is an iconic figure in the hockey world and has been a huge ambassador for the sport and Ferris State University,” said FSU athletics director Steve Brockelbank in a statement. “He has invested so much over the last 36 years to both Bulldog hockey and the Big Rapids community. We are grateful for all he has done and the countless lives he has impacted along the way. Today, we celebrate all his accomplishments and thank him for his extraordinary efforts.”

Daniels won his 500th game at the Bulldog helm earlier this season and has led the Bulldogs to all four NCAA tournament appearances in school history, including a historic trip to the 2012 Frozen Four and a berth in the national championship game. The Bulldogs also reached the final eight of the national tournament and were within a game of the Frozen Four in 2003, 2014 and 2016.

This year marks the Bulldogs’ 50th season of college hockey and 47th campaign at the NCAA Division I level. Daniels has been involved in the program for 36 of those years, first serving as a Bulldog assistant coach from 1989 to 1992 prior to being appointed as the school’s fifth head coach in program history.

“When I came to Ferris State University in 1989, I never imagined being here 36 years later,” said Daniels. “I feel extremely blessed to have worked at such an outstanding institution with such wonderful people. It’s been an honor and privilege to serve as coach.

“I would particularly like to thank the great coaches, players, support staff and administrators whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with. This includes our current coaching staff of Mark Kaufman, Drew Famulak and Dave Cencer and administrators president Pink, AD Steve Brockelbank and sport administrator Tim Blashill. I would also like to highlight the efforts of so many boosters, including the Blueline Club and Solid Ice who have given so much time and effort enhancing the program and student athlete experience.

“For the immediate future, I would like the focus of attention placed where it belongs, with our current team,” Daniels added. “I’m very proud of their hard work and determination in pursuit of bringing a championship to Ferris, and they deserve our staff’s undivided attention in the remainder of the season.”

Along with serving as Ferris State’s head coach, Daniels and his family have been highly active in the local community and involved in numerous charitable endeavors over the course of his career while supporting local youth hockey and skating activities.

Daniels’ coaching staff ranks among the most tenured in all of college hockey as associate head coach Drew Famulak has been by his side for the past 32 years. Fellow assistant Mark Kaufman is currently in his 21st season at FSU over two different stints while assistant coach Dave Cencer has been with the program for the past 19 years.

Having the longest personal tenure of any FSU head coach in school history, regardless of sport, Daniels has coached 10 All-Americans during his coaching career at Ferris, including 2002-03 Hobey Baker Hat Trick Award national finalist and four-time Stanley Cup champion Chris Kunitz. Hundreds of his former players have gone on to enjoy success on the professional and international levels in various leagues around the globe, including the NHL, and he’s mentored countless others who have gone on to achieve coaching success, such as notable NHL names Jeff Blashill, Derek Lalonde, Seth Appert and John Gruden, among others.

Through his competitive desire and tireless work ethic, Daniels has established great respect on both the conference and national levels. He was appointed FSU’s head coach on the eve of the 1992-93 season and led the Bulldogs to 21 victories and a CCHA tournament semifinal berth. At the time, the accomplishment signified only the fourth time a Ferris team had won 20 games in a season and the second time in which a first-year coach won more than 16 games at FSU.

Under Daniels’ guidance, Ferris State turned in one of its best performances ever in the program’s NCAA Division I history for the 2002-03 campaign with a school-best 31-10-1 overall record. The Bulldogs also claimed their first-ever CCHA regular-season championship title with a first-place 22-5-1 league mark and advanced to the NCAA tournament’s West Regional title game in their initial NCAA tourney appearance. FSU also earned the distinction of being the nation’s first team to reach the 30-win plateau in 2002-03 and also competed in the CCHA Super Six championship tourney for the first time since 1993.

For his efforts, Daniels was also honored as the 2002-03 coach of the year by the March of Dimes West Michigan Sports Awards along with being a unanimous choice as the CCHA’s coach of the year. One of the crowning highlights in Daniels’ coaching career occurred April 17, 2003, when he was selected the recipient of the 2003 Spencer Penrose Award as the AHCA’s Division I national coach of the year.

In 2011-12, Daniels claimed CCHA and national coach of the year accolades for the second time in his career after leading the Bulldogs to the program’s second-ever league regular-season championship and a historic first-ever trip to the Frozen Four where FSU reached the national championship game. The Bulldogs closed the memorable campaign with a 26-12-5 mark and were ranked No. 1 in the nation. Ferris State placed fifth or higher four times in the final five seasons of the original CCHA, including the 2011-12 title run.

Daniels also guided the Bulldogs to the WCHA regular-season championship in FSU’s debut season in 2013-14 along with an NCAA Elite Eight appearance while earning WCHA coach of the year accolades and runner-up honors for national coach of the year. In 2015-16, Daniels led FSU to the school’s first postseason tournament championship ever as the Bulldogs claimed the WCHA Final Five championship during a memorable postseason run. FSU advanced to the national tournament for the third time in five years while reaching the NCAA Elite Eight.

Daniels attained a milestone in his distinguished coaching career by recording his 300th career win following a 4-1 decision at Bowling Green midway through the 2010-11 season. He won his 400th game as the Bulldogs’ head coach in 2015-16 and recorded his 500th career victory earlier this year with a 3-2 win over Lake Superior State Nov. 16 in the first-ever college hockey game played at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, becoming just the 17th NCAA Division I coach to ever achieve 500 wins, including the fifth active head coach to reach the milestone. His 33 seasons as a head coach currently ranks second overall among active NCAA Division I hockey coaches in years of service.

Daniels has built a national reputation for his intense knowledge of the game and outstanding leadership. In the summer of 1994, he served as head coach at the United States Olympic Festival in St. Louis, coaching Team West to a bronze medal finish. He has also assisted with the U.S. National Junior Team in competition against teams from Canada, Sweden and Russia.

A Michigan State graduate, Daniels began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Miami in 1986-87 and broke into the CCHA as an assistant at Illinois-Chicago from 1987 to 1989 prior to joining the FSU program.

In addition to his coaching duties, Daniels served a four-year term on the American Hockey Coaches Association’s (AHCA) board of governors and was a representative of the NCAA Tournament West Regional Selection Advisory Committee. Most recently, he served on the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey National Committee.

Bob and his late wife, Leslie, are parents of three children – Jenna, Pete and Sara. His oldest daughter (Jenna) competed as a member of the Bulldog women’s cross country/track and field teams while son Pete was a member of the Big Rapids High School hockey and golf teams. He was remarried in the fall of 2023 to Laura Daniels and the couple currently resides in Cadillac.

The Bulldogs will conduct a national search for a new head coach led by DHR Global Search.

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In honor of Daniels and his family, the city of Big Rapids plans to name the new playground at Hemlock Park in his family’s honor. Over 25 years ago, the late Leslie Daniels co-led the building of Playscape, a wooden play structure located downtown. The structure had been a community hub and point of pride enjoyed by thousands of children and annually maintained by Bulldog hockey players and fellow student-athletes. A new inclusive state of the art playground was recently erected in the same location and funds are currently being raised to rename the playground as the “Daniels Family Playground”.

To contribute to the project, visit this link.

Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation announces 14 nominees for 2025 award for ‘college hockey’s finest citizen’

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A new version of the Humanitarian Award debuted in 2015.

The Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation announced 14 nominees for the 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award on Tuesday afternoon.

The award, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary season, is presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen — a student-athlete who makes significant contributions not only to his or her team but also to the community-at-large through leadership in volunteerism.

The following are this year’s nominees:

David Breazeale, Sr., D, Maine
Keri Clougherty, Sr., D, Boston College
Kendra Fortin, Sr., D, Bemidji State
Alex Gagne, Sr., D, New Hampshire
Hank Kempf, * Sr., D, Cornell
Josh Luedtke, Sr., D, St. Cloud State
Cameron Mannion, Sr., D, Stonehill
Raice Szott, * Gr., D, Merrimack
Sarah Thompson, * Gr., F, St. Lawrence
Jacob Truscott, Sr., D, Michigan
Clara Van Wieren, Gr., F, Minnesota Duluth
Makenna Webster, Sr., F, Ohio State
Audrey Wethington, Gr., F, Minnesota
Luke Wheeler, Sr., F, Bowdoin

* 2024 HHA Finalist

Finalists for the 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award will be announced in February. The 2025 recipient will be announced on Friday, April 11 during the NCAA men’s Frozen Four weekend in St. Louis.

Penn State’s Dylan Lugris was honored as the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award recipient last year in Saint Paul, Minn. Boston University’s J.P. McKersie was the inaugural recipient of the award in 1995.

“In the end, it’s not how many times you touch the puck, but how often you touch a life.”

For more information visit www.hockeyhumanitarian.org.

TMQ: Comparing Hockey East, NCHC chances for 2025 NCAA tournament representation, more discussion on CHL players coming to NCAA teams

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

Jim: Well, Ed, we’re coming off a week where it was difficult to be a top-20 team.

Sure, there were success stories like No. 7 Maine’s road sweep of No. 8 UMass Lowell, and No. 20 Quinnipiac’s three-win week, but there were a lot of bumps and bruises along the way for many of the nation’s best.

The one that stood out to me was No. 2 Boston College’s loss to Merrimack on Friday. The Eagles were playing their first game in 32 days but had the reinforcements of six returning gold medalists returning from World Juniors. And after taking a 2-0 lead in the first period, it seemed like BC was ready to cruise.

Not so fast, though, said Merrimack scoring three times in four minutes in the second and closing the game with the final five goals in a 5-2 win.

This game might be one the Eagles can point back to as a wake-up call when all is said and done. They now realize that there are no nights off and even a couple of mediocre minutes can cost games.

It also underscores the strength of Hockey East, top to bottom. The conference currently has seven teams ranked in the top 13 of the PairWise, five in the top 10. Those numbers feel crazy to me.

Ed: I agree, Jim. But this is certainly a good time to be doing social media and PR for Hockey East! Imagine getting in seven teams to the NCAA tournament in a league that had 10 gold medalists in Ottawa.

The seven teams in Hockey East and the four inside the bubble for the Big Ten make a ton of sense when you look at the biggest contributing factor to where a conference ends up overall in the PairWise and that’s the league’s overall non-conference record. As we write this, the Big Ten is at .742 out of conference and Hockey East is .716. Those numbers won’t change too much with just nine non-conference games remaining in Hockey East (including four for the Beanpot) and the Big Ten with six.

Meanwhile, the NCHC has just two teams inside the bubble – Denver and Western Michigan – and a nonconference winning percentage of .586, including losing records against the Big Ten and Hockey East. And the NCHC’s nonconference schedule is done. Arizona State is right on the cusp at No. 14 as of today.

I’m not too worried about BC’s loss, and you’re right about it being a wake-up call.

As I look at the top teams in the three leagues I mentioned, I can picture a great Frozen Four in St. Louis. Just imagine four teams out of a selection of the current top eight: Michigan State, BC, Maine, Minnesota, Providence, Denver, Western Michigan, and Boston University.

It’s not looking so great for the other three conferences, though. Each is in a position to get just the automatic qualifier in the tournament, and the league that is a surprise to me – given what we expected at the start of the season – is ECAC Hockey.

Jim: I agree about the ECAC. This conference, which in the last 12 years with national championships by Yale, Union and Quinnipiac, took such a major step forward but not seems to be regressing.

We have mentioned in the past that the COVID season and having eight of the 12 league members sit out the season obviously hurt. But more so, I feel like the portal has really crushed the ECAC.

Maybe I feel this way because I call mostly eastern games. But it seems every night in Hockey East, I see a team with at least one – usually multiple – former ECAC players on their rosters.

In a way, you can make similar statements about Atlantic Hockey and the CCHA. Players from those leagues litter rosters throughout Hockey East and the Big Ten. So I guess it shouldn’t surprise us to see the marked separation of NCAA possibilities based on the haves and have nots.

That makes me wonder, though, if adding talent from Major Juniors help this situation. A deeper player pool should be a good thing for competitive balance but even I can admit that might just be a dream? What do you think?

Ed: That’s a great question, and one I’ve actually been doing a bit of thinking about.

We’re already seeing a shift in recruiting for the next couple of seasons. Looking at players announced on various recruiting sites and social media, in the last month about half of the players have come from the OHL, QMJHL or the WHL and most of those would not have been eligible for NCAA hockey until November’s decision.

However, I think this is only the first shoe to drop. We’re seeing a lot of 20-year-olds at the end of their Major Junior eligibility finding the college route in the U.S. as a way to keep playing at a high level that they haven’t had before. In the short term, this seems to be having the most impact on players from the USHL, BCHL, NAHL, and Hockey Canada’s Tier II/Junior A leagues.

This could be good for competitive balance as teams have a bigger and better player pool to choose from. But it could also just mean better players in all leagues but in proportion to how the talent is distributed now.

What happens next is what promises to be more seismic.

Major Juniors will not have any issue with its “overagers” moving on and playing in the NCAA. But wait until a big-name 16- or 17-year-old signs with a top college team. The battle between going the college route or Major Junior, which once was pretty straightforward, and which had at first glance appeared to be settled with allowing Major Junior eligibility, will now become more heated.

Couple all that with D-I losing a team and 30 or so roster spots with the demotion of American International, and a possible roster limit of 26 players, and there could be a bigger player pool chasing as many as 100 fewer opportunities.

Care to peek into your crystal ball on this?

Jim: You said, “But it could also just mean better players in all leagues but in proportion to how the talent is distributed now,” when talking about competitive balance and that’s exactly what I would expect to happen.

The best players – no matter where they come from – still want to go to the best programs. And in recent years we have seen more traditional programs as the prime destination for the top players. That likely won’t change. If anything, some high-end players could be older as they age out of the CHL.

All that said, as a fan of the game, I do look forward to what we anticipate is a large pool of the game’s best players playing college hockey.

In related news, the case of House v. NCAA and its proposed settlement will move to its next phase on Feb. 1 after the public comment period ends. It will be in this phase that we should learn whether the proposed roster limits in college sports (proposed as 26 for Division I hockey), will likely be decided. This will be something that defines college hockey and other sports for a long time to come.

Ed: I’m still trying to understand all the nuances of the settlement. We also have seen reports as we were filing this that a former attorney for the National Basketball Players Association may file an objection to the settlement.

However House v. NCAA turns out going forward, expect to see more regulation of NIL, “salary” caps for universities, most of the money going to football and basketball, and limitations to roster sizes that reportedly even the plaintiffs in the case oppose.

The settlement represents a significant shift toward a more professional model in college sports, but it doesn’t address all labor issues. Athletes remain non-employees without the right to unionize. I’ve seen arguments that the settlement will further widen the gap between Power Five and non-Power Five schools.

There are just so many moving parts, and as an athletic director told me recently, much of what’s reported as rumor doesn’t line up with what they are being told by the NCAA. We’ll just have to keep our eyes on things and report them as they develop.

Jim, if you had told me five years ago that we’d have NIL, Major Junior eligibility, annual transfers with no delays, and all of the other things rumored and reported, I’m not sure I’d have believed you.

Yet, here we are.

Michigan State still top-ranked team in USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll with 48 first-place votes in Jan. 13 rankings

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Isaac Howard scored five goals last weekend for Michigan State (photo: Michigan State Athletics).

With 48 first-place votes, Michigan State is again the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll.

Boston College, Minnesota and Western Michigan remain No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, and Maine jumps up two spots to sit fifth this week.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll – Jan. 13, 2025

Providence falls one spot to No. 6 while getting a first-place vote, Denver is down one to seventh, also getting a first-place vote, Ohio State is up three to No. 8, UMass Lowell falls one to No. 9, and Michigan is down one to sit 10th in this week’s rankings.

St. Cloud State falls out of the top 10, going to No. 15 this week.

Unranked last week, UConn enters the poll this week at No. 17.

In addition to the top 20 teams, 12 others received votes this week.

The USCHO.com Division I Men’s 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.

NCAA D-II/III East Men’s Ice Hockey Weekend Wrap-up – January 13, 2025

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UNE downed Plattsburgh in the first ever meeting between the two schools to give the Nor’easters some mid-season hardware winning the Comfort Inn Complex Winter Classic Tournament (Photo by UNE Athletics)

And then there was one…

Coming up on the mid-point of January and the D-II/III landscape now only finds one remaining unbeaten team and it is the defending national champions from Hobart following two highly contested wins over Skidmore this weekend in NEHC action. The other unbeaten entering the weekend, Geneseo, saw their unblemished record get smudged just a little as they suffered a 6-2 loss at Elmira before rebounding with a lopsided win over Fredonia. The University of New England captured some in-season hardware by winning the Plattsburgh tournament and there was plenty of other great action across the region to recap. Here is the wrap-up for the action in the east:

CNE

The University of New England traveled west to play in the Comfort Inn Winter Classic hosted by Plattsburgh and opened with a matchup between nationally ranked teams when the Nor’easters played Wilkes on Saturday. After an evenly played first period which ended with the teams tied at 1-1, the Nor’easters kicked the offense into high gear as Ryan Kuzmich scored two goals and the Nor’easters erupted for four in total in first twelve minutes of the second period to pace a 7-2 rout over the Colonels. Nathan Chickering added two goals in the third period to close out the scoring for UNE. On Sunday, UNE faced Plattsburgh for the very first time in the team’s history and the visitors were intent on making the long road trip worthwhile with a big win. Following a scoreless first period, Juraj Elias and Drew Olivieri bookended the second period with goals for a 2-0 lead after two periods of play. In the third period the Cardinals battled back only to see Olivieri extend the advantage back to two goals. Kevin Weaver-Vitale again closed the deficit to a single goal as the Cardinals applied pressure on UNE netminder Stefan Carney, but Chickering called game with a shorthanded, empty-net goal for the final margin of 4-2 and the championship trophy to UNE.

Endicott downed Conn College on Tuesday as Atticus Kelly stopped 27 of 28 shots and John Goldowski and Andrew Kurapov scored in the first period for a 2-1 road win over the Camels.

Curry also played a non-conference game against Keene State and skated away with a 9-1 drubbing of the Owls. Blake Rothstein and Eelis Laaksonen each scored a pair of goals while Gage Dill chipped in with three assists for the Colonels. Goaltender Cam Smith stopped 14 shots to earn his first victory of the season for Curry.

After a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to Post on Wednesday, WNEU traveled to Morrisville and found their scoring touch in a 6-0 win for the Golden Bears. Justin Sullivan led the way scoring a hat trick while Nolan Dawson added a goal and an assist for the visitors. Goaltender Logan Palmer made 34 saves to earn the shutout victory.

After dropping their opening round game at Plattsburgh to the host school in the Comfort Inn Complex Winter Classic Tournament, Wentworth handed Wilkes their third loss of the week with a 3-2 overtime win in the consolation game. George Kolovos had given the Leopards a 2-1 lead in the third period only to see the Colonels tie the game in the final two minutes of regulation. Kolovos proved to be the hero in overtime netting the game-winner just over three minutes into the extra session.

MAC

Stevenson and Neumann played an important two-game series to open the second half in MAC play and the Mustangs swept the series and all-important points in the standings. The Mustangs completed a very successful tour in Europe during December and carried their strong play into conference play with 6-1 and 4-2 wins over the Knights. On Friday, the Mustangs scored three goals in the first period and three in the third to seal a comfortable win. Blake Benson scored two goals and added an assist to pace the Stevenson attack. On Saturday, Caden Smith and Gage Parillo got the Mustangs off to a fast start with goals in the opening seven minutes of play. Liam McCanney added a shorthanded goal in the third period and a much-needed ENG to close out the 4-2 win and weekend sweep.

Lebanon Valley took a pair of games over King’s to move over .500 in MAC play. On Friday, the Flying Dutchmen scored three unanswered goals over the final forty minutes of play to break a 2-2 tie and skate off with a 5-2 win. Ethan Hoover led the offense with two goals and an assist while Harris Blackwood  chipped in with one goal and an assist in the win. Saturday saw LVC jump out to a 4-0 lead on the way to a 5-3 win over the Monarchs. Blackwood scored two more goals and added an assist while Darion Benchich scored two goals added two assists for a four-point game to lead the Flying Dutchmen.

Alvernia was another MAC team that completed a weekend sweep as they leveled their conference record at 5-5-0 with a pair of wins over Misericordia. On Friday, the teams battled back and forth to a 3-3 tie after Misericordia’s Ethan Hollingsworth scored early in the third period for the visitors. The Golden Wolves then scored five of the next six goals to earn an 8-4 victory. Edvin Robertsson paced the offense with two goals as seven different players scored for Alvernia in the win. On Saturday, the game was much closer as Easton Inglis and Riley Egan scored in the second period to break a 1-1 tie for a final score of 3-1. Goaltender Will Augustine stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn the win.

MASCAC

Plymouth State returned to conference play with a pair of wins over Rivier and rival, Fitchburg State to remain unbeaten in league action. On Thursday, Ethan Stuckless and Brendan Doyle each scored two goals in a 6-1 win over the Raiders. Saturday saw the Falcons take an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Niklas Millhorn before the Panthers answered with goals from Will Pray and Dante Moretti for a 2-1 lead after two periods of play. Millhorn tied the game late in the third period setting up the dramatic ending in overtime as Will Pray scored his second goal of the game in the extra session to give PSU a 3-2 OT win.

Massachusetts-Dartmouth picked up two wins over the weekend extending their win streak to three games. On Thursday, the Corsairs built a 3-0 lead before downing Worcester State, 4-1. Tyler Stewart scored once and added an assist for UMD. On Saturday, Stewart’s power-play goal in the third period proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 win over Anna Maria. Goaltender Graham Burke was outstanding in goal stopping 39 of 41 shots to earn the important MASCAC win over the AmCats.

Westfield State also extended their win streak to three games following wins over Framingham State and Rivier. The Owls built a 5-1 lead over the Rams on Thursday with Christopher Miraldo pacing the offense with two goals and an assist in the opening two periods of play. The Rams scored three unanswered in the third period, including two by Brent Scott, but could not find the equalizer in a 5-4 win for the Owls. On Saturday, four different players scored for Westfield State and goaltender Aiden Winslow stopped 36 of 37 shots in 4-1 win over the Raiders.

NE-10

St. Anselm returned to NE-10 play with a three-game week that featured two wins and an OT tie (Hawks won the shootout). On Tuesday, three third period goals from Hunter Brackett, Patrick DeMarinis, and Max Burum sealed a 4-1 road win over St. Michael’s. On Friday, the Hawks skated to a 3-3 OT tie with Southern New Hampshire and won the shootout (2-1) over the Penmen setting up Saturday’s re-match. A four-goal second period blew open the game as the Hawks cruised to a 7-2 win with seven different players scoring goals for St. Anselm.

Assumption and St. Michael’s split their weekend series with the Greyhounds taking the game on Friday and the Purple Knights earning the split on Saturday. After St. Mike’s took a 1-0 lead, Assumption scored the next four goals including two by John Woernle to post the 4-1 win. Saturday saw limited scoring as Ty Bloom and Jack Macdonald provided all the scoring goaltender Evan Plunkett would need as the netminder stopped all 40 Greyhound shots in 2-0 win for the Purple Knights earning them a split.

NEHC

Hobart remained unbeaten as the Statesmen took a pair of 5-3 wins on the road against Skidmore. On Friday, the Thoroughbreds jumped to a 3-1 lead on a goal from Evan Brown and two power play goals from Zach Lindewirth only to see Hobart score the next four markers of the game. Austin Mourar, Tanner Daniels, Nick Dimatos and Luke Aquaro erased the deficit in the comeback victory. On Saturday, Lindewirth tied the game at 2-2 early in the third period but the Statesmen again produced three unanswered goals to skate away with a second win by a 5-3 margin.

Elmira captured three wins to open their second half of the season including a resounding 6-2 win over previously unbeaten Geneseo on Friday. After Tuesday’s 4-2 win at Potsdam in their return to action, the Soaring Eagles were definitely ready to play against the Knights. Chance Gorman gave Elmira a 2-0 lead and after Sean Melso halved the deficit, the Soaring Eagles scored three in a row in the third period for a comfortable 6-2 win. Brody Haynes stopped 28 of 30 shots to earn the win. On Saturday, Elmira completed the non-conference trifecta with a 4-3 OT thriller over Brockport. Power play goals from Gorman and Ryan Reifler gave Elmira a 3-2 lead in the third period  but Jordan Rosenbaum tied the score for the Golden Eagles making an overtime necessary to determine a winner. Carter Wisely netted the game-winner in the opening two minutes to give Elmira the OT win and three-win week.

Babson extended their win streak to five games with a weekend sweep of VSU-Castleton on home ice. A three-goal third period broke a 1-1 deadlock on Friday as the Beavers eased to a 4-1 win over the Spartans. On Saturday both teams found their scoring touch as Babson raced to a 7-3 lead after two periods and held on for a 7-5 win. Seven different players found the back of the net for Babson who scored all their goals at even-strength.

Norwich rebounded from their championship game loss in the NSB tournament to Hamilton with a weekend sweep of Massachusetts-Boston in their return to NEHC play. Ben van Waterschoot’s ENG in the final minute proved to be the game-winning goal  as Koyle Bankauskas scored his second of the contest for the Beacons with just a second remaining in a 3-2 Cadet win. Saturday’s game was eerily similar as the Cadets held a 2-1 lead late in the third period and got some breathing room with Jason Galotti’s ENG in the final minute for a 3-1 win and weekend sweep. Sami Molu picked up both wins in goal stopping 44 of 47 shots in the two games.

Following a 10-1 rout of Southern Maine on Friday led by hat tricks from Maksim Tseglnik and Sam Anderson, Albertus Magnus looked for a weekend sweep on Saturday with a win against the Huskies. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead after the first twenty minutes, but USM responded with a pair of goals in the second period for a 2-1 lead. Three goals in the opening seven minutes of the third period gave the Falcons a 4-2 lead and they held on for a 4-3 win to extend their win streak to three games.

 NESCAC

Hamilton remained unbeaten in 2025 with road wins over Bowdoin and Colby over the weekend. On Friday, the Continentals raced to a 3-0 lead and skated off with a 4-1 win backstopped by Charlie Archer’s sixteen saves and goals from four different players. In a critical game against Colby on Saturday, Hamilton scored a goal in each period before Max Abene broke Archer’s shutout bid with a goal in the final minute of regulation as the Continentals took a 3-1 win over the Mules.

Trinity broke into the win column in 2025 picking up a pair of NESCAC road wins over Middlebury and Williams. The Bantams trailed the Panthers by a goal twice on Friday night before rallying with three unanswered goals in the third period to skate off with a 4-2 win. James Barbour scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to pace the Trinity offense. Against the Ephs, the Bantams scored three early goals and cruised to a 6-2 win. Barbour added another goal and two assists while Spencer Korona added three assists for the Bantams.

SUNYAC

Buffalo State extended their second half win streak with a non-conference sweep of Chatham. The Bengals won a seesaw affair on Friday with Jason Kwestel scoring one goal and adding an assist in a 4-3 win over the Cougars. On Saturday, the game looked to be comfortably in Buffalo State’s favor as they entered the third period with a 4-1 lead only to see Dylan Young and Nick Cyprian score early in the third period to reduce the lead to a single goal. Joonas Linnavuori added some margin with an ENG late in the third period for a 5-3 final score. Goaltender Drew Doran picked up the win making nineteen saves.

Cortland won two games of three against UCHC opponents. On Monday, the Red Dragons downed Wilkes 3-2 with Sam Christiano, Justin Legault, and Andrew Clouden providing the goals in a hard-fought road win. Returning home on Friday, Cortland entered the third period with a 4-2 lead only to see Nazareth score three unanswered goals and hold on for a 5-4 win. Dylan Wiemer was strong in goal for the Golden Flyers , particularly in the third period where he made 12 saves and helped kill multiple power plays in the final five minutes of action. On Saturday, Cortland rebounded with a 6-2 win over Manhattanville spurred by a four-goal second period. Johnny Facchini’s goal and two assists along with Evan Beaudry’s three helpers paced the Red Dragon attack.

UCHC

Utica hosted a red-hot Oswego squad on Friday night to open the second half of the season and the “new look” Pioneers skated away with a 5-3 win led by two goals from Eric Vitale and 24 saves from incoming transfer (University of Dubuque) Ryan Piros in goal. Brian Scoville, Bax Anthony and Jakob Breault all chipped in with two assists for the Pioneers.

Geneseo rebounded quickly following their first loss of the season as the Knights routed Fredonia on Saturday by a 9-2 score. Eight different players scored goals for Geneseo with Cooper Fensterstock leading the offense with three assists.

Prior to their overtime loss to Elmira, Brockport rallied from a 3-1 deficit (this scenario is really playing out too much across all the games this season) to tie the score with two goals in the final four minutes before winning the game in overtime with Kaleb Miller netting the game-winner for the Golden Eagles.

Three Biscuits

Justin Sullivan – Western New England – scored a hat trick to pace the offense for the Golden Bears in a 6-0 win over Morrisville on Saturday.

Sam Anderson & Maksim Tseglnik – Albertus Magnus – both players scored hat tricks for the Falcons in a 10-1 rout of Southern Maine on Friday night.

Evan Plunkett – St. Michael’s – stopped all 40 shots by Assumption in the Purple Knights’ 2-0 win on Saturday to earn a weekend split with the Greyhounds.

While the upset meter (excluding Geneseo loss to Elmira) was relatively quiet this weekend, the action is certainly ramping up where no lead is apparently safe, and teams can expect to find bonus hockey to be a necessary part of finding wins in the second half of the campaign. There is a lot to be excited about now that everyone has returned to the ice, and we are halfway through January. Buckle up!

Turmoil within the top 20, PairWise dominance for Hockey East, Big Ten: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 13

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Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review games of the weekend and news of the week.

They discuss the week’s results for the top 20 in the USCHO.com Division I men’s ice hockey poll. They highlight the standout performance of Maine, who swept UMass Lowell on the road and solidified their defensive strength; Denver’s close wins over Miami, positioning them close to first in the NCHC; and the unexpected struggles of Colorado College and St. Cloud State. The commentary covers key games, impressive individual performances, and the fluctuating standings within conferences. They also delve into the sustainability of Hockey East’s dominance in the pairwise rankings and Army’s unprecedented 22-goal weekend against Mercyhurst.

Times are approximate:

00:15 Introduction and hosts
00:54 Maine’s impressive weekend
02:48 Denver’s close wins over Miami
06:03 Colorado College’s struggles
07:23 BU’s offensive surge
09:48 Quinnipiac’s winning streak
11:49 UConn’s rise in Hockey East
14:29 BC’s unusual stumble
17:03 Ohio State’s strong season
19:09 St. Cloud state’s january drop
20:11 Cornell’s setback against Sacred Heart
22:16 Analyzing the PairWise Rankings
23:34 Hockey East’s NCAA tournament prospects
26:16 Arizona State’s unexpected performance
29:47 Wisconsin’s struggles and tournament chances
31:12 Augustana’s potential as a spoiler
33:39 ECAC’s historical performance in PairWise
37:04 Army’s offensive explosion
40:46 Wrapup

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

Find our podcast archive at USCHO.com/podcasts

NCAA D-III West Hockey Weekend Wrap-up

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Iam Amsbaugh helped Adrian knock off Trine over the weekend. (Photo provided by Adrian Athletics)

Two top 10 teams battled in NCHA play and it was Adrian that prevailed, holding off Trine 4-3 at home.

The seventh-ranked Bulldogs scored three times in the final frame to secure the win over the No. 5 Thunder.

It was David Clarke that delivered the game winning goal, scoring with a little over five minutes to play as Adrian stretched its win streak to nine games. The Bulldogs are 12-3, with six of those wins coming on their home ice. They are 6-2 in league play.

Adrian has scored at least four goals in seven consecutive games and the win over Trine marked its third one goal win during the current hot streak.

Bradley Somers and Iam Amsbaugh both played well in the win, dishing out two assists apiece. Riley Murphy, Ben Loreto and Ryan Pitoscia all scored and Dershahn Stewart racked up 14 saves.

Adrian and Trine will meet against in mid-February, playing a home and home on the final weekend of the regular season.

Despite the loss, Trine is still atop the standings, leading St. Norbert by a point. The Thunder are 12-2-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the NCHA.

Pipers pull off sweep

Hamline won its two biggest games of the year, sweeping St. Olaf in a MIAC series. 

Skating into the weekend on a five-game losing streak, the Pipers beat St. Olaf 4-3 on Friday night before closing things out Saturday with a 2-1 win.

Hamline improved to 5-10 overall and 4-4 in the MIAC as it swept the Oles for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.

The Pipers scored twice in the second as they erased a one-goal deficit. Derek Becklin tied the game and Tanner Rausch delivered the game winner.

Maximilian Haselbacher tallied 26 saves as Hamline swept a weekend series for the first time all season.

Friday’s win was the Pipers’ first since Nov. 27. Thomas Carls and AJ Carls each tallied a goal and assist.

Gusties on a roll

Gustavus took down Saint Mary’s in a weekend MIAC series, beating the Cardinals 5-1 on both nights while stretching its win streak to four games. The Gusties have won 10 of their last 12, improving to 10-5 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

Gustavus has scored four or more goals in four straight games. Colin Androlewicz made 21 saves on Saturday while Hunter Newhouse scored twice and has tallied a team-best 10 goals this season for the league-leading Gusties.

In Fridays win, five different players scored goals, including one by Newhouse. Androlewicz made 20 saves.

Royals end non-league play on high note

Spencer Kring scored twice to help lead the way for Bethel in a 6-3 win over UW-River Falls on Friday. Chase Beacom added three assists and Austin Ryman came through with 30 saves, coming up with 12 in each of the final two periods.

The Royals have won four in a row and are now 7-5-1 on the season. They have gone 4-1-1 against WIAC competition this season.

Blue Devils impressive at home

UW-Stout has been tough to be beat on its own ice and that trend continued this weekend. The Blue Devils beat Augsburg 5-1 on Friday and topped Concordia 6-3 on Saturday. They are now 8-6-1. All eight of their wins have come at home, where they are 8-2.

Tyler Masternak stopped 35 shots against the Cobbers while Nicolas Pigeon found the back of the net twice. Zach Laurila and Noe Perez each tallied a goal and assist. Gunner Moore finished with two assists. Pigeon has scored 10 goals this year.

Nicholas Stevens dished out three assists in Friday’s win while Jacob Halvorson tallied a goal and assist. Maksis Brimanis added two assists and Masternak finished with 23 saves.

Eight wins and counting

UW-Superior keeps rolling along, pushing its win streak to eight games with a 2-1 overtime win over Saint John’s on Saturday.

Justin Dauphinais was the hero as he scored the game winner off an assist from Daniel Rozisval to give the Yellowjackets their longest win streak since November of 2008.

Kobe Grant came through with 33 saves as he won his fifth game of the season.

Dauphinais and Rozisval played a key role offensively, with Dauphinais scoring twice and Rozisvall tallying two assists.

The win caps an impressive run through non-league play as the Yellowjackets went 7-2-1 against opponents outside the WIAC. Superior owns a 12-3-1 overall record this season.

The victory was also the third of the OT variety this season. Superior is 3-0-1 in those games and improved to 4-0 when taking 40 or more shots in a game. They finished with a 41-34 advantage.

With its 7-1 win over the Concordia Cobbers on Friday, Superior improved to 7-0 in Friday night games, getting a goal and assist from Reed Stark and Trey Sauder. Blake Holmes tallied three assists.

Record broken

UW-Stevens Point took care of business as it beat St. Scholastica 6-3 on Friday and capped the weekend with a 4-1 win over Augsburg. 

Peyton Hart broke a school record in the process as the No. 14 Pointers have won a three in a row and are 9-4-1 overall. 

Hart scored twice in a span of 11 seconds. The previous mark was 24 seconds and was set in 1999 by Kevin Fricke. Alex Proctor came through with 29 saves. Andrew Poulias scored two goals in the win.

Ryan Maguire made 23 saves against Augsburg while Poulias came through with a goal and assist. Fletcher Anderson dished out two assists.

Raiders step up against Blugolds

Eddie Shepler had a big time game against UW-Eau Claire Saturday, recording a hat trick in a 6-3 victory over the Blugolds to help the Raiders complete a weekend sweep. Austin Schwab tallied 35 saves. 

The six goals are the most this season by the Raiders, who have won four in a row and improve to 7-7-1 on the year.

In Friday’s win, Schwab stood out as he came up with his second consecutive shutout win, racking up 24 saves in the victory.

Charlie Skinner and Brennan Dickey both scored in the win.

Monday 10: Army West Point fills Mercyhurst net 22 times, Minnesota Duluth takes both from No. 10 St. Cloud State, NCHC, Hockey East standings tightening up, Howard goes on scoring tear for Michigan State

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Minnesota Duluth swept No. 10 St. Cloud State over the weekend at AMSOIL Arena (photo: Minnesota Duluth Athletics).

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

  1. Army West Point sets an Atlantic Hockey scoring record

Army West Point swept a home series against Mercyhurst with 9-1 and 13-1 wins, setting an Atlantic Hockey record for goals scored in a game.

https://www.twitter.com/ArmyWP_Hockey/status/1878238897399841196

In that 13-goal game, the Black Knights led 2-1 after the first before they began to roll, starting with Mac Gadowsky’s first goal of the night at 5:07.

From Gadowsky’s second goal at 9:17 through Brent Keefer’s marker at 18:42, Army scored six times. The last three goals in the period were scored within a span of two minutes and two seconds.

Of course, several Black Knights had multipoint games. Nils Forselius had a goal and five assists, the first player nationally to record a six-point game.

Keefer and Gadowsky each had two goals and Nick Hong recorded his second career hat trick. Hong’s first goal of the night was the game winner and with the three tallies, Hong has eight goals on the season – one more than he had in 35 games last year.

Army outshot Mercyhurst 45-19. Starting Lakers’ goalie Simon Bucheler was relieved in the third period by Carter McPhail. Jacob Biron came in for Army in the third period after JJ Cataldo stopped 13-of-14 through the first 40 minutes of the game.

The sweep was the second of the season for Army.

  1. Minnesota Duluth upsets No. 10 St. Cloud State

Max Plante had a goal each night and Klayton Knapp earned his first career back-to-back wins – including his first career shutout – as Minnesota Duluth swept No. 10 St. Cloud State, 2-0 and 5-2, in NCHC play.

The sweep was the first at home this year for the Bulldogs, and the two wins extend their home dominance over the Huskies to six games.

Watch Dominic James getting a stick on a shot by Tyson Gross midway through the second period of Friday’s game, with Knapp doing all he can to take up space low in the net.

https://www.twitter.com/UMDMensHockey/status/1877902135905444011

Knapp had 28 saves in the shutout and stopped 20 of 22 the following night.

  1. It’s super tight in the NCHC

Duluth’s sweep makes the NCHC even tighter than it was a week ago. Six points separate the three teams at the top of the standings – Arizona State, Western Michigan, North Dakota – from the two teams tied for seventh place in the eight-team league.

With No. 4 Western Michigan sitting out the weekend, No. 14 North Dakota and No. 16 Arizona State split a series in Mullett Arena. Four different Sun Devils scored in Arizona State’s 4-1 Friday night win, while Cameron Berg and Sacha Boisvert played the hero roles in North Dakota’s 4-3 overtime win Saturday.

Berg had the tying goal for the Fighting Hawks with 28 seconds left in regulation, and this is what Boisvert did at 2:19 in OT.

https://www.twitter.com/UNDmhockey/status/1878275542564151630

Omaha swept No. 13 Colorado College at home, 5-2 and 3-1. Brady Risk earned his second career hat trick in Friday’s contest and UNO goaltender Simon Latkoczy made 75 saves on the weekend as the Tigers outshot the Mavericks 78-59 in the series.

No. 6 Denver swept Miami on the weekend, 4-1 and 6-2, keeping pace with the Mavericks in conference play.

The three first-place NCHC teams each have 19 points, followed by Omaha and Denver with 17 each. St. Cloud State sits alone in sixth place with 14 points and Minnesota Duluth and Colorado College each has 13 points.

Miami is in last place with one conference point, and the RedHawks remain the only D-I team without a conference win this season.

  1. There isn’t much breathing room in Hockey East, either

Three sweeps and two splits in Hockey East created movement in the conference standings but not so much space.

Heading into the weekend, No. 7 Maine was in the top spot with 18 points and remains there after sweeping No. 8 UMass Lowell, 3-1 and 2-1.

Prior to the weekend, four teams – Boston University, Boston College, Lowell, Providence – were knotted with 17 points each. No. 15 BU’s sweep of Vermont (6-1, 7-4) puts the Terriers in second place, a point behind the Black Bears.

No. 2 Boston College falls to third place after splitting a home-and-home series with Merrimack, losing 5-2 Friday and winning 4-1 Saturday.

The biggest Hockey East winner of the weekend was Connecticut. With their 4-1 and 3-2 wins over No. 17 New Hampshire, the Huskies are now tied with the Eagles in third place, each team with 20 points.

UMass drops from second place to fourth, tied with Providence, who did not play. Merrimack overtook Vermont, Northeastern and Massachusetts split the weekend, and New Hampshire remains in last place.

  1. And it’s just plain exciting in the Big Ten

Following up a spectacular weekend of hockey for the Frozen Confines in Wrigley Field, the Big Ten put on a big show with six teams in action – and results that show that no team in this league can be overlooked.

No. 11 Ohio State and No. 3 Minnesota split a pair of lopsided games in Columbus, with the Buckeyes winning 5-1 Friday and Minnesota following that up with a 6-1 Saturday win.

Mason Nevers, in his first action after sitting out seven games with an injury, had the Saturday game winner for the Gophers in the first period.

https://www.twitter.com/GopherHockey/status/1878228462894252443

Ten points separate first-place Michigan State (28) from fifth-place Michigan (18). The Gophers are one point behind the Spartans, the Buckeyes are four behind Minnesota, and Wisconsin – the only unranked team among the top five B1G programs – are two ahead of Michigan.

  1. Welcome to the Isaac Howard Show

 Michigan State’s Isaac Howard had 13 goals heading into the Spartans’ series against Penn State last weekend. Now the junior forward has 18 after scoring four in Friday’s 6-4 over the Nittany Lions and adding another in Saturday’s 2-2 tie.

Here’s the goal that earned Howard his first career hat trick Friday night.

https://www.twitter.com/MSU_Hockey/status/1877899535596278199

Howard became the top scorer in the nation with his four goals and an assist Friday and that did not change following Saturday’s game.

Howard had six goals in 36 games with Minnesota Duluth as a rookie before transferring to Michigan State last season. In 36 games with the Spartans last year, he netted eight.

  1. But then this happened Saturday

After their 6-4 loss in a physical back-and-forth game – and one in which they were uncharacteristically outshot 45-33 – the Nittany Lions tied the No. 1 team in the nation on Ben Schoen’s power-play goal at 18:16 in the third Saturday.

https://www.twitter.com/PennStateMHKY/status/1878249690560360958

The goal was Schoen’s third of the season and his second on the power play.

The Nittany Lions, last place in the Big Ten, earned their first Big Ten win of the season Jan. 5 when they shut out Notre Dame. In January, Penn State is 1-2-1 in B1G play.

  1. Army West Point wasn’t alone in lighting the lamp

While the Black Knights were the only team to hit double digits in a single game on the weekend, winning teams scored six or more goals in 14 different games on the weekend.

Among the losing teams in those contests, one hit the back of the net six times. Ferris State lost to St. Thomas 9-6 Friday before the Tommies secured the sweep with their 4-3 win Saturday.

Additionally, 10 teams capped their winning scores at five goals.

  1. Take, for example, No. 9 Michigan and Notre Dame

Speaking of scoring, Notre Dame and Michigan put up 19 goals in their split in South Bend. On the strength of a three-goal second period Friday, Michigan took the first game 5-3.

Notre Dame returned the favor in Saturday’s 7-4 win, scoring three second-period goals within a 32-second span.

Danny Nelson’s goal at 6:09 in the second period of Notre Dame’s win gave the Irish a 5-1 lead and stood as the game-winning marker as the Wolverines went on to find the net twice later in the second period and once in the third.

https://www.twitter.com/NDHockey/status/1878236129561817097

In Notre Dame’s win, Justin Janicke registered his first career hat trick, first career multi-goal game and a career-best five points.

  1. And in seven games, there was no scoring for the losing teams

Seven different goalies earned shutout wins on the weekend. There was Klayton Knapp in the first of Minnesota Duluth’s two wins over St. Cloud Friday night.

Also Friday, Connor Hasley set a Bentley Hockey single-season record with his fifth career shutout in some Falcon-on-Falcon crime when Bentley beat Air Force 1-0.

https://www.twitter.com/BentleyHockey/status/1877922882195464223

In his second shutout of the season, Lindenwood’s Owen Bartoszkiewicz made 23 saves in the Lions’ 3-0 road win over Stonehill.

Massachusetts and Northeastern exchanged shutout wins in their weekend series. In his first game back from the IIHF World Juniors, Michael Hrabal made 41 saves for his second shutout of the season in UMass’s 5-0 win Friday. Cameron Whitehead had 35 saves for the Huskies Saturday in their 3-0 win.

Matej Marinov posted 25 saves in his third shutout win of the season Saturday when No. 20 Quinnipiac beat Princeton 3-0.

In just his third start of the season, Michigan Tech’s Ryan Manzella stopped all 21 shots he faced in the Huskies’ 1-0 win over Lake Superior State Saturday. The shutout was the first of his career.

Rankings roundup: How the top 20 NCAA Division I men’s hockey teams fared, Jan. 10-11

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Cole Eiserman popped a hat trick Saturday night for BU (photo: Matt Woolverton).

Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll of Jan. 6 fared in games over the weekend of Jan. 10-11.

No. 1 Michigan State (18-2-2)
01/10/2025 – No. 1 Michigan State 6 at Penn State 4
01/11/2025 – No. 1 Michigan State 2 at Penn State 2 (OT)

No. 2 Boston College (13-4-1)
01/10/2025 – Merrimack 5 at No. 2 Boston College 2
01/11/2025 – No. 2 Boston College 4 at Merrimack 1

No. 3 Minnesota (18-4-2)
01/10/2025 – No. 3 Minnesota 1 at No. 11 Ohio State 5
01/11/2025 – No. 3 Minnesota 6 at No. 11 Ohio State 1

No. 4 Western Michigan (13-4-1)
Did not play.

No. 5 Providence (15-3-2)
01/07/2025 – No. 5 Providence 2 at Brown 0

No. 6 Denver (17-5-0)
01/10/2025 – Miami 1 at No. 6 Denver 4
01/11/2025 – Miami 2 at No. 6 Denver 6

No. 7 Maine (15-4-2)
01/10/2025 – No. 7 Maine 3 at No. 8 UMass Lowell 1
01/11/2025 – No. 7 Maine 2 at No. 8 UMass Lowell 1

No. 8 UMass Lowell (12-6-2)
01/10/2025 – No. 7 Maine 3 at No. 8 UMass Lowell 1
01/11/2025 – No. 7 Maine 2 at No. 8 UMass Lowell 1

No. 9 Michigan (13-8-1)
01/10/2025 – No. 9 Michigan 5 at Notre Dame 3
01/11/2025 – No. 9 Michigan 4 at Notre Dame 7

No. 10 St. Cloud State (11-9-0)
01/10/2025 – No. 10 St. Cloud State 0 at Minnesota Duluth 2
01/11/2025 – No. 10 St. Cloud State 2 at Minnesota Duluth 5

No. 11 Ohio State (15-6-1)
01/10/2025 – No. 3 Minnesota 1 at No. 11 Ohio State 5
01/11/2025 – No. 3 Minnesota 6 at No. 11 Ohio State 1

No. 12 Minnesota State (15-5-2)
01/10/2025 – No. 12 Minnesota State 2 at Northern Michigan 3
01/11/2025 – No. 12 Minnesota State 6 at Northern Michigan 1

No. 13 Colorado College (10-9-1)
01/10/2025 – No. 13 Colorado College 2 at Omaha 5
01/11/2025 – No. 13 Colorado College 1 at Omaha 3

No. 14 North Dakota (12-8-1)
01/10/2025 – No. 14 North Dakota 1 at No. 16 Arizona State 4
01/11/2025 – No. 14 North Dakota 4 at No. 16 Arizona State 3 (OT)

No. 15 Boston University (11-7-1)
01/10/2025 – Vermont 1 at No. 15 Boston University 6
01/11/2025 – Vermont 4 at No. 15 Boston University 7

No. 16 Arizona State (11-8-1)
01/10/2025 – No. 14 North Dakota 1 at No. 16 Arizona State 4
01/11/2025 – No. 14 North Dakota 4 at No. 16 Arizona State 3 (OT)

No. 17 New Hampshire (10-6-3)
01/10/2025 – RV Connecticut 4 at No. 17 New Hampshire 1
01/11/2025 – No. 17 New Hampshire 2 at RV Connecticut 3

No. 18 Cornell (6-5-4)
01/10/2025 – No. 18 Cornell 1 at RV Sacred Heart 1 (OT)
01/11/2025 – No. 18 Cornell 2 at RV Sacred Heart 4

No. 19 Clarkson (12-6-2)
01/10/2025 – Union 3 at No. 19 Clarkson 5
01/11/2025 – Rensselaer 4 at No. 19 Clarkson 1

No. 20 Quinnipiac (13-7-1)
01/06/2025 – Stonehill 1 at No. 20 Quinnipiac 6
01/10/2025 – No. 20 Quinnipiac 4 at RV Princeton 2
01/11/2025 – RV Princeton 0 at No. 20 Quinnipiac 3

RV = Received Votes

SATURDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Army West Point hangs 13 goals on Mercyhurst; Penn State ties No. 1 Michigan State; No. 2 Boston College downs Merrimack; Omaha sweeps No. 13 Colorado College; No. 7 Maine sweeps No. 8 UMass Lowell; Minnesota Duluth sweeps No. 10 St. Cloud State; No. 14 North Dakota clips No. 16 Arizona State in OT

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Army West Point players celebrate one of 22 goals scored this weekend against Mercyhurst (photo: Army West Point Athletics).

After topping Mercyhurst 9-1 Friday night, Army West Point bested those totals with an Atlantic Hockey America-record 13 goals in a 13-1 rout over the Lakers Friday night at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y.

Nik Hong had three goals and two assists, Nils Forselius added a goal and five assists, Mac Gadowsky put up two goals and two assists, and Brent Keefer went for two goals with an assist in the win for the Black Knights.

Dylan Wegner, Sam Groebner and Adam Marshall each had a goal and an assist and Jack Ivey and Joey Baez scored one each.

Hunter McCoy chipped in two assists, Ben Ivey a pair of helpers, and goaltender JJ Cataldo and Jacob Biron combined on an 18-save effort.

Mercyhurst’s Boris Skalos opened the scoring at 11:36 of the first period before Army West Point tallied the next 13.

Simon Bucheler and Carter McPhail made 32 saves in the Lakers crease.

SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS | POLL | PAIRWISE

No. 1 Michigan State 2, Penn State 2 (OT, Penn State wins shootout)

Ben Schoen’s goal at 18:16 of the third period lifted Penn State into a 2-2 tie with Michigan State at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa.

After nothing was settled in overtime, the Nittany Lions won the shootout.

Aiden Fink also scored for Penn State and goaltender Arsenii Sergeev made 22 saves.

Isaac Howard and Joey Larson scored for the Spartans and Trey Augustine stopped 25 shots in goal.

No. 2 Boston College 4, Merrimack 1

Ryan Leonard, Jake Sondreal, Brady Berard and Teddy Stiga scored as Boston College downed Merrimack 4-1 at Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass.

BC goalie Jacob Fowler finished with 22 saves.

For the Warriors, Nick Pierre netted the lone goal and Max Lundgren turned aside 37 shots between the pipes.

No. 3 Minnesota 6, No. 11 Ohio State 1

Mike Koster scored two goals and Liam Souliere made 32 saves as Minnesota defeated Ohio State 6-1 from Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Mason Nevers, Connor Kurth, Jimmy Snuggerud and Ryan Chesley added goals for the Gophers.

Gunnarwolfe Fontaine ruined Souliere’s shutout bid at 17:45 of the third period.

Ohio State goalies Kristoffer Eberly and Logan Terness combined on 27 saves.

No. 6 Denver 6, Miami 2

Six different players scored as Denver beat Miami 6-2 at Magness Arena in Denver.

Jared Wright, Jack Devine, Sam Harris, Aidan Thompson, Eric Pohlkamp and Kieran Cebrian found the net for the Pioneers and goalie Matt Davis made 10 saves.

Casper Nassen and Michael Quinn scored for the RedHawks and Bruno Bruveris finished with 36 saves in net.

No. 7 Maine 2, No. 8 UMass Lowell 1

Nolan Renwick and Thomas Freel scored in the first period for Maine and the Black Bears held on to take a 2-1 win over UMass Lowell at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.

Maine goalie Albin Boija stopped 25 shots in goal.

Jacob MacDonald scored the lone River Hawks goal and netminder Beni Halasz fashioned a 34-save effort.

Notre Dame 7, No. 9 Michigan 4

Justin Janicke went for three goals and two assists as Notre Dame defeated Michigan 7-4 at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.

Danny Nelson added a goal and two assists, Hunter Strand tallied two goals, and Paul Fischer added a goal of his own.

Owen Say made 37 saves in the Notre Dame cage.

For the Wolverines, Evan Werner, William Whitelaw, Philippe Lapointe and TJ Hughes scored and goalies Cameron Korpi and Logan Stein combined on a 22-save effort in net.

Minnesota Duluth 5, No. 10 St. Cloud State 2

Five different players – Jayson Shaugabay, Adam Kleber, Dominic James, Max Plante and Joey Pierce – scored as Minnesota Duluth beat St. Cloud State 5-2 at AMSOIL Arena.

Bulldogs goalie Klayton Knapp made 20 saves.

Daimon Gardner and Tyson Gross netted the SCSU goals and Gavin Enright stopped 21 shots between the pipes.

No. 12 Minnesota State 6, Northern Michigan 1

Josh Groll posted a goal and two assists to lead Minnesota State past Northern Michigan 6-1 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.

Steven Bellini and Evan Murr each had a goal and an assist and Jakob Stender, Kaden Bohlsen and Brian Carrabes added single goals.

Mavericks goalie Alex Tracy made 21 saves.

Ryan Duguay registered NMU’s goal and Ryan Oullette and Ethan Barwick combined to stop 26 shots in goal.

Omaha 3, No. 13 Colorado College 1

Zach Urdahl, Harrison Israels and Myles Hilman scored for Omaha as the Mavericks beat Colorado College 3-1 at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.

Omaha netminder Simon Latkoczy made 33 saves.

Fisher Scott scored CC’s lone goal and goalie Kaidan Mbereko finished with 27 saves.

No. 14 North Dakota 4, No. 16 Arizona State 3 (OT)

After Cameron Berg tied it 3-3 for North Dakota at 19:32 of the third period, Sacha Boisvert won it 2:19 into overtime as the Fighting Hawks knocked off Arizona State at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.

Jake Schmaltz and Jayden Perron added goals for UND and goalie Hobie Hedquist made 21 saves.

Artem Shlaine scored two goals for the Sun Devils and Bennett Schimek added one.

ASU goalie Luke Pavicich finished with 32 saves.

No. 15 Boston University 7, Vermont 4

Cole Eiserman netted a hat trick with an assist as Boston University defeated Vermont 7-4 at Agganis Arena in Boston.

Quinn Hutson and Jack Hughes each had a goal and two assists, while Jack Harvey added a goal and an assist and Ryan Greene a goal.

Terriers goalie Mathieu Caron turned aside 26 shots.

The Catamounts were led by Michael La Starza’s goal and two assists, Will Zapernick and Massimo Lombardi each going for a goal with an assist, and a goal from Timofei Spitserov.

Vermont netminder Axel Mangbo finished with 27 saves.

UConn 3, No. 17 New Hampshire 2

Hudson Schandor, Joey Muldowney and Tabor Heaslip scored to give UConn a 3-0 lead late in the second period and the Huskies held on for a 3-2 win over New Hampshire at Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs, Conn.

UConn goalie Callum Tung made 26 saves.

For UNH, Robert Cronin and Marty Lavins scored and Jared Whale collected 33 saves in goal.

Sacred Heart 4, No. 18 Cornell 2

Four different players scored goals as Sacred Heart doubled up Cornell 4-2 at the Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Conn.

Cole Galata, John Jaworski, Max Dorrington and Tyler Ghirardosi scored for the Pioneers and goalie Ajeet Gundarah made 27 saves.

Cornell’s Ryan Walsh and Jake Kraft scored and Ian Shane and Remington Keopple combined on a 17-save effort between the pipes.

Rensselaer 4, No. 19 Clarkson 1

Dovar Tinling scored two goals to guide Rensselaer over Clarkson 4-1 from Cheel Arena in Potsdam, N.Y.

Nathan Sullivan and Jake Gagnon also scored for the Engineers and Noah Giesbrecht stopped 34 shots in net.

Ryan Taylor scored for the Golden Knights and goaltenders Ethan Langenegger and Marcus Brännman made 19 saves.

No. 20 Quinnipiac 3, Princeton 0

Matej Marinov stopped all 25 shots fired his way as Quinnipiac shut out Princeton 3-0 from the M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn.

Jack Ricketts, Nate Benoit and Mason Marcellus scored for the Bobcats.

Arthur Smith made 18 saves in goal for the Tigers.

Flyers prospect Powell leaves Ohio State mid-freshman year to play with OHL’s Generals

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Noah Powell spent the first half of the 2024-25 season with Ohio State (photo: Ohio State Athletics).

The OHL’s Oshawa Generals have signed Ohio State freshman forward Noah Powell to an OHL scholarship and development agreement.

With the Buckeyes, Powell collected five points (two goals, three assists) in 17 games this season.

“We are very excited to add a player like Noah,” said Generals VP-GM Roger Hunt in a statement. “He is a player that knows how to score, he has real speed and an elite work ethic.”

Powell, from Northbrook, Ill., was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft.

FRIDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Merrimack upsets No. 2 Boston College; No. 11 Ohio State downs No. 3 Minnesota; Howard scores four as No. 1 Michigan State beats Penn State; Minnesota Duluth, Knapp shut out No. 10 St. Cloud State; Dugay’s hat trick lifts Northern Michigan over No. 12 Minnesota State; Risk nets three as Omaha defeats No. 13 Colorado College

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Merrimack erased a 2-0 deficit and defeated second-ranked Boston College 5-2 Friday night in Chestnut Hill, Mass. (photo: Merrimack Athletics).

After No. 2-ranked Boston College scored the game’s first two goals to take a 2-0 lead over Merrimack at the 7:51 mark of the second period, the Warriors roared to life, scoring five unanswered goals to down the Eagles 5-2 Friday night at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Antonio Venuto, Harrison Roy, Vann Yuhas, Zach Bookman and Ivan Zivlak scored for Merrimack and goaltender Nils Wallstrom finished with 27 saves.

For BC, Oskar Jellvik and Brady Berard scored and Jacob Fowler turned aside 23 shots in goal.

SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS | POLL | PAIRWISE

No. 1 Michigan State 6, Penn State 4

In an offensive affair, Michigan State beat Penn State 6-4 at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pa.

Isaac Howard scored four goals and added an assist for the Spartans, while Karsen Dorwart had a goal and two assists and Matt Basgall a goal to back Luca Di Pasquo’s 29 saves between the pipes.

Aiden Fink, Dylan Lugris, Charlie Cerrato and Dane Dowiak netted the Nittany Lions’ goals and Arsenii Sergeev made 39 stops in goal.

No. 6 Denver 4, Miami 1

Aidan Thompson, Eric Pohlkamp, Jack Devine and Zeev Buium led Denver to a 4-1 win over Miami at Magness Arena in Denver.

Colby Ambrosio had the Miami goal.

Between the pipes, DU’s Matt Davis made 18 saves and the RedHawks’ Bruno Bruveris 32.

No. 7 Maine 3, No. 8 UMass Lowell 1

After UMass Lowell took a 1-0 lead on a Lee Parks goal early in the second period, Maine came back with the next three to down the River Hawks 3-1 at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.

Harrison Scott scored twice and David Breazeale added a solo goal.

 

In net, Albin Boija made 26 saves for the Black Bears.

River Hawks netminder Henry Welsch recorded 24 saves.

No. 9 Michigan 5, Notre Dame 3

Kienan Draper posted a pair of goals to lead Michigan over Notre Dame 5-3 at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.

Mark Estapa, Phillippe Lapointe and Ethan Edwards added goals for the Wolverines, while Logan Stein finished with 28 saves in net.

For the Irish, Cole Knuble, Blake Biondi and Axel Kumlin found the net and Nicholas Kempf stopped 28 shots between the pipes.

Minnesota Duluth 2, No. 10 St. Cloud State 0

Max Plante scored late in the second period and Owen Gallatin added an empty-net goal as Minnesota Duluth upset St. Cloud State 2-0 at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn.

Minnesota Duluth goaltender Klayton Knapp made 28 saves for the shutout.

Gavin Enright stopped 32 shots in goal for the Huskies.

No. 11 Ohio State 5, No. 3 Minnesota 1

Five different players scored as Ohio State defeated Minnesota 5-1 at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Max Montes, Jake Rozzi, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Nathan McBrayer and Davis Burnside tallied for the Buckeyes and Kristoffer Eberly stopped 29 shots in goal.

Sam Rinzel registered the lone goal for the Gophers and goalies Nathan Airey and Liam Souliere combined on a 25-save effort.

Northern Michigan 3, No. 12 Minnesota State 2

Ryan Duguay notched all three goals as Northern Michigan edged Minnesota State 3-2 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.

Wildcats goalie Ryan Ouellette stopped 25 shots.

Will Hillman and Evan Murr scored for the Mavericks, while Alex Tracy made 20 saves in goal.

Omaha 5, No. 13 Colorado College 2

Brady Risk’s hat trick powered Omaha to a 5-3 win over Colorado College at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.

Sam Stange and Cam Mitchell added goals for the Mavericks and goalie Simon Latkoczy stopped 42 shots.

Ty Gallagher and Zaccharya Wisdom potted the Tigers goals and Kaidan Mbereko made 24 saves in goal.

No. 15 Boston University 6, Vermont 1

Quinn Hutson scored twice and goaltender Mathieu Caron made 27 saves as Boston University beat Vermont 6-1 at Agganis Arena in Boston.

Ryan Greene, Jack Harvey, Devin Kaplan and Jack Hughes added goals for the Terriers.

Jax Wismer got the Catamounts on the board at 7:49 of the third period and goalies Axel Mangbo and Connor MacKenzie combined to stop 22 shots.

No. 16 Arizona State 2, No. 14 North Dakota 1 (in progress)

Cullen Potter and Brasen Boser have scored for Arizona State and Dylan James for North Dakota as the Sun Devils lead North Dakota 2-1 at the end of the second period from Mullett Arena in Tempe, Ariz.

Arizona State goalie Gibson Homer has made 21 saves and UND goaltender TJ Semptimphelter 10 saves.

UConn 4, No. 17 New Hampshire 1

Hudson Schandor, Ryan Tattle, Jake Richard and Tabor Heaslip scored as UConn defeated New Hampshire 4-1 at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.

Huskies goalie Tyler Muszelik finished with 27 saves.

For the Wildcats, Robert Cronin broke Muszelik’s shutout bid at 18:11 of the third period and goalie Jared Whale stopped 21 shots.

No. 18 Cornell 1, Sacred Heart 1 (OT, Cornell wins shootout)

John Jaworski scored in the first period for Sacred Heart and Ondrej Psenicka answered late in the period for Cornell, but the game featured no more goals and the teams tied 1-1 at the Martire Family Arena in Fairfield, Conn.

Cornell won the subsequent shootout.

Big Red goalie Ian Shane made 17 saves, while Pioneers netminder Ajeet Gundarah posted a 40-save effort.

No. 19 Clarkson 5, Union 3

Ayrton Martino netted a pair of goals to lead Clarkson past Union 5-3 at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, N.Y.

Jared Mangan, Ryan Richardson and Talon Sigurdson also scored for the Golden Knights and netminder Ethan Langenegger finished with 17 saves.

Ben Muthersbaugh, Riley Brueck and Josh Nixon scored for Union and Kyle Chauvette made 32 saves in goal.

No. 20 Quinnipiac 4, Princeton 2

Four different players scored as Quinnipiac bested Princeton 4-2 from Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton, N.J.

Elliott Groenewold, Jack Ricketts, Aaron Schwartz and Aaron Bohlinger scored for the Bobcats and goalie Dylan Silverstein made 16 saves.

Princeton got goals from Jaxson Ezman and Tyler Rubin and 30 saves from goaltender Arthur Smith.

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