Two Sacred Heart players have been suspended one game apiece by Atlantic Hockey.
Mike Lee was whistled for a contact to the head major and given a game misconduct in the first period of Tuesday night’s loss to American International.
Additionally, Ruslan Rakhmatov was assessed a contact to the head major and game misconduct late in the second period of last night’s game.
Both players will be unable to suit up for Sacred Heart on Saturday, Jan. 19 against Air Force.
Western Michigan coach Andy Murray doesn’t want to talk about the roll his Broncos have been on lately if it means piling pressure on his players.
What WMU has done in the last two months, however, is extraordinary. The Broncos are unbeaten in their last 10 games, including a shootout win Jan. 8 against fourth-ranked Minnesota Duluth. That and nine outright victories since Nov. 3 have Western on its longest positive streak since 2010-11 when the Broncos went 8-0-6 in a 14-game stretch.
The Broncos are as hot as any team in college hockey and are at a high-water mark in Murray’s eighth year at WMU and sixth in the NCHC. Two one-goal home wins last weekend against No. 20 Miami saw Western jump four spots to No. 10 in the latest USCHO poll.
Four different Broncos scored in WMU’s 4-3 win on Friday, with Josh Passolt netting the game-winner on a 4-on-3 power play. The sophomore forward then scored twice in Saturday’s 3-2 victory before he was named the NCHC’s offensive player of the week.
“I thought our two games against Miami were outstanding games,” Murray said Monday at his weekly press conference. “We had great crowds here at Lawson and it was packed each night, and the building was alive.
“Our players came out (playing) hard, and Miami is a team that you can call an arch-rival. They came over from the CCHA with us, and the Broncos and the RedHawks have played a lot of hockey games against each other, and every one of them seems to come down to the end of the game.
“We were defending and blocking shots at the end of both games as they had their goaltender pulled. Exciting hockey, and the most important thing is we got the victories.”
Another reason for Western’s success this season is senior goaltender Trevor Gorsuch. After posting a .875 save percentage and a 3.55 GAA in four games last season, he took the mantle as WMU’s starter in early November and is sitting on a .928 save percentage and 2.02 GAA through 11 games.
“I think Trevor’s been trying to get this opportunity for a few years now,” Murray said. “He’s in his senior year, this is his last kick at it, and to Trevor’s credit, he changed his game. Trevor needed to quiet his style down a little bit, and he’s done that working with (WMU goaltending coach) Tom Askey and I think it’s paid dividends for him.
“He’s stopping a lot of pucks, the guys believe in him and I think with that, the overall unity on the team in terms of defensive play has been that much better. We’re excited for Trevor, and he’s always been one of our hardest-working guys on the team and he’s continuing that, and we’re all pulling for him.”
Not everything has gone Western’s way, as junior forwards Wade Allison and Dawson DiPietro have missed time. Murray said they are day-to-day having been evaluated Monday.
With or without that pair, Western has a tough run of games coming up. The Broncos visit second-ranked St. Cloud State this weekend before hosting No. 3 Denver on Jan. 25-26.
What will happen in that four games and beyond is uncertain, but one thing is for sure: WMU is approaching the season’s home stretch with the right collective mindset on the ice.
“A lot of youth players should come out and watch our team practice and see how much emphasis we put on skills and pace and tempo, and our guys have been getting after it in practice,” Murray said.
“We’ve got some good players and we’re playing quality teams, and you have to be at your best every single night. We played some good hockey this weekend and are going to need to continue to do that, and we’re just trying to feel good after every hockey game, and if you do that, you can a series of wins going.”
North Dakota has added Lone Star Brahmas (NAHL) goaltender Harrison Feeney, effective immediately.
“We are incredibly proud of Harrison,” Brahmas owner Frank Trazzera said in a news release. “He has been an exemplary leader on and off the ice for our team and we have no doubt he will continue to excel. We are looking forward to watching his continued success as his career progresses.”
In his two years with the Brahmas, Feeney played 48 games and put up a 23-13-7 record, a 1.73 GAA and a .929 save percentage.
“It’s been a quick past couple days,” Feeney said. “I’m really excited to get started with North Dakota, but I’m really thankful for everything that the coaches and team did for me here (with the Brahmas). It’s been a really good experience with the Brahmas and I wish the team nothing but the best. Hopefully, we can make a really deep run in the playoffs.”
Feeney will be joining North Dakota this week.
Due to the anticipation of Sunday’s winter storm in the northeast, the Bowdoin-Middlebury women’s series at Bowdoin has been moved up slightly for this weekend.
The Polar Bears and Panthers will now play at 5 p.m. on Friday evening and at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Most fans’ eyes naturally gravitate to the top of the standings.
Who is going to win the regular-season title? Who’ll get home ice in the playoffs?
This year, however, there may be almost as much attention paid to the six, seven, and eight positions in the standings. After allowing every team a playoff berth the last few years, Hockey East has reverted to its old policy of allowing only the top eight teams in.
Which means three squads are going to be left out in the cold.
One of the teams in the thick of the fight for the last of those berths has been putting the pedal to the metal of late.
Merrimack has won its last three games (two of them league contests) to position themselves in a tie (sort of) with Maine for eighth place, one point behind seventh-place New Hampshire. The “sort of” disclaimer comes because Merrimack is giving away three games in hand to Maine and two to UNH.
“I haven’t even looked at the standings,” first-year Merrimack coach Scott Borek says. “I couldn’t even tell you where we are.
“I knew back at the beginning of the year that we’d be in the group fighting for a spot. We have a great senior class, and they deserve it. I’d like to see them get it.
“But we’re just focused on getting better. We’re literally paying zero attention to the standings. We’re getting better and just have to push in that direction.”
That push has seen the Warriors topple second-place Northeastern in its barn, 1-0, knock off Michigan 4-2, also on the road, and defeat Connecticut, a key competitor for the final playoff spots, 5-2.
That’s a heckuva push.
“We have defended really, really hard and been getting good goaltending,” Borek says. “Those two go hand in hand. I think of goaltending as a six-person position.
“And our work ethic has been exceptional the last three games.”
Freshman Chase Gresock has also been exceptional. The team’s second-leading scorer, he scored in each of the three wins and collected two assists against Michigan and one against UConn. For his efforts, he earned Hockey East Player of the Week honors.
“The best thing about Chase as a player is that he spends a lot of time between the dots,” Borek says. “He puts himself in position to make plays. He’s heavy over the puck, and he has success because of that.
“He hits the net with 80 percent of his shots, so he gives himself a chance to score. He plays both ends of the ice.
“He’s going to be a heckuva player in Hockey East.”
The Warriors had several high points early in the season–shutting out Boston University 4-0 and defeating Boston College 2-1 — but hit the skids shortly thereafter, going 1-10-1, culminating in a potentially costly 2-1 overtime loss to UNH to kick off the new year.
Through that tough stretch, however, Borek maintained an optimistic outlook.
“One thing that encouraged us was our leadership,” he says. “Our captains, the three seniors and junior Johnathan Kovacevic, were looking forward. They had the team focusing on getting better each day.
“The effort was there despite the lack of success. The leadership kept us going.”
Arguably, the schedule had also been working against the Warriors. To date, Merrimack has played one of the toughest, if not the toughest, league schedules to date. They’ve played first-place Massachusetts twice, second-place Northeastern three times, third-place BC twice, and Providence three times. All of that will even out when the Warriors face a preponderance of bottom-half teams down the stretch, the same teams they’ll need to shoulder aside for one of the final playoff berths.
To do that, they’ll almost certainly need continued improvement on special teams. Although the statistics have been distorted by all their matchups against top teams, the numbers aren’t pretty. In league play, the Warriors power play has converted only 10.7 percent of the time and the penalty kill has succeeded only 76.1 percent. That gives a special-teams net of minus-14, far and away worst in the league. Exacerbating that situation, Merrimack’s 17.2 penalty minutes per game trail only Maine’s 18.2.
“We’re a much better team five-on-five, but our statistics are improving on the PK,” Borek says. “We’re improving a lot on the PK.
“And as our offense is gaining confidence, that’s going to improve the power play. Both groups are improving.”
The next test for those units comes in Friday’s pivotal contest with UNH. Given the two teams’ positions in the standings, it’s a four-point contest.
“They have really good sticks offensively,” Borek says. “They’re very opportunistic. That’s how they beat us the first time.
“They are a very different team from us. They need two chances to score where we need five. We’re just going to have to be more physical than them, out-defend them, and outwork them.”
Arlan: Some weeks on the schedule are smooth sailing for the top teams. This was never going to be one of those, as there were a number of clashes of ranked teams or programs just outside the rankings. Ultimately, only two top-10 teams had perfect slates. Defending champion Clarkson came into the weekend at No. 6 and wasn’t seriously threatened on the road at Rensselaer or Union. No. 2 Minnesota returned home from Minnesota State with a sweep.
The glass was more full than not for fifth-ranked Princeton, which took three points home after a visit to two ranked conference foes, as well as No. 9 Colgate, whose three-point weekend included a tie with the Tigers. No. 1 Wisconsin, Northeastern, Cornell, Ohio State, and Boston College all settled for two points. The most disappointing series belonged to Providence; the Friars entered at No. 8, but lost both halves of a home-and-home set to Boston University.
Where does all of this leave the conference races? Princeton has a 10-point bulge in the ECAC that isn’t nearly as comfortable as it appears because its three closest pursuers all have four games in hand on the Tigers, but only Clarkson could possibly catch them without any outside help. Northeastern is in slightly better shape in Hockey East, up six points on BC after the two completed their league head-to-head meetings and benefiting from Providence’s misfortune versus BU. The WCHA teams have now all completed at least their first half of the league action, and the Badgers have the best winning percentage and will be able to pass the Gophers if they maximize their two games in hand. The CHA will reach its halfway mark on Monday, and Robert Morris sits one point ahead of Mercyhurst.
In the PairWise Rankings, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northeastern, and Ohio State currently hold the top four spots, with the ECAC trio of Princeton, Clarkson, and Cornell in line for at-large bids. If nothing changes and we don’t get any upset winners of conference tournaments, it would be those seven plus the CHA champion. However, if this season has taught us anything, it is that upsets are a certainty.
In light of all of that, what result or results did you find to be the most significant?
Nicole: The Badgers really needed to respond after the frustrating loss in Columbus on Friday. They were swept there last year, and they outshot the Buckeyes but couldn’t find the back of the net again, so I think they really needed that bounce back. It’s kind of impossible to know how significant it is, but I think that was the kind of game that could have been a defining moment in the season for them and could have gone either way. For Ohio State’s fortunes, getting that win was a big step and helps keep them among the top teams.
I know it’s just a product of how the schedule shakes out, but I always find it frustrating when many of the top teams are playing premier games while the others are facing teams at the bottom of their conferences. I can’t wrap my head around how to compare Wisconsin’s weekend outcomes to Minnesota’s. Same goes for putting context around Princeton in relation to Clarkson.
I’m not sure that it’ll end up being significant, but I thought Princeton really made a statement with that no-holds-barred beat on Cornell. I always struggle with trying to figure out how some of the teams in the middle rankings compare to each other, but I had a gut feeling after watching Princeton in their first weekend on the ice that they had something to pay attention to. In a previous Wednesday Women, I said that I was a bit more secure in Princeton and their ceiling relative to Cornell’s and I feel a bit better about that statement right now.
You were higher on Cornell than I was at the time. What are your thoughts on that game?
Arlan: Regarding the schedule, I don’t try to compare Minnesota playing in Mankato with Wisconsin playing in Columbus. At this point of the year, I instead compare the Gophers’ trip to Mankato with what UW did in that city, and both teams’ results versus the Buckeyes. Both swept the Mavericks and split with OSU, so that’s a wash. I kept Wisconsin at the top because it has performed better against UMD, and Princeton is better than anyone UM played out of conference. If that’s wrong, then it will emerge over the next couple of weeks.
Your liking of Princeton over Cornell was due in part to you watching the Tigers in person, was it not? I haven’t seen very much of either. I gave the Big Red a bit of a pass because its spotty results came at the start of November when players and coach Doug Derraugh were away doing the Four Nations bit. It looks like the holiday break came at a bad time for the Big Red. They finished 2018 with an impressive win over Clarkson and then were idled for a month and a week. In their three outings since returning last week, they needed late-game heroics to tie Penn State, a third period goal to defeat Quinnipiac, and a more than they had versus Princeton, apparently.
So here we are, halfway through January, and Cornell has yet to reach double digits in wins. Despite that, it still has a better record than teams like OSU, Colgate, and BC. Ever since the stockpile of Canadian national-team talent graduated, Cornell has found its success through being sound defensively. That defense had few answers for freshmen Sarah Fillier and Maggie Connors. Each had four points; they scored all but one of the goals, and both had helpers on the fifth. Derraugh was likely left thinking that life was easier in the days when top Canadian recruits picked his school rather than Princeton, Clarkson, or Colgate.
I haven’t watched Friday’s game yet; I hope to at some point. However, the quick answer is that Cornell isn’t the type of team that is built to prosper when it lets a top opponent own the first period. A 16-5 shot advantage and a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard suggest that is what happened.
I see the ECAC race as being down to Princeton and Clarkson. I give the Golden Knights a thread of hope only due to their games in hand and still getting two shots at the Tigers. Are you ready to call it in Princeton’s favor, or am I missing a route by which some other team could still emerge on top?
Nicole: I actually didn’t get to see the Tigers in person — just on the stream against Wisconsin, but I was impressed with them nonetheless. They were in Madison on their very first weekend of play because of that delayed Ivy League start, and I expected to see some opening week stumbles/nerves, but they really weren’t in evidence.
That was a stretch of UMD, Princeton, and Minnesota visiting LaBahn, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that at the time, I was most impressed with Princeton out of the three. That’s subjective, and my expectations of each team and how folks play in Madison definitely plays into that, but I thought the Tigers handled the Badgers about as well as I’ve seen.
That’s where I started, and then we add in the play of Fillier and Connors on top of what we expected from the returners and the fact that the Badgers are their only losses and it’s hard to argue against them.
With that in mind, I have to think the conference is Princeton’s for the losing. They’ve simply been more solid and consistent than anyone else, and while I’ll agree with you that Clarkson can’t totally be counted out, both for your reasons and because of who they are, I think we’re talking a pretty low percentage at this point.
You mentioned a possible winter break hangover for Cornell, and that sure does seem possible — they had last played on Dec. 1. That’s a massively long time to be off the ice, especially for another team that had a late start. Obviously they were on the ice for practice, but coaches will always tell you that can’t come close to approximating game play, and in this case, it seemed to leave them unprepared for that tough battle right off the bat.
In terms of PairWise, we’ve got .111 separating Cornell, which is currently in an NCAA tournament, and Providence, Colgate, Boston University, and Boston College. Look into your crystal ball — who do you think is most likely to get that last spot?
Arlan: I don’t see it as being a case of a number of teams fighting for the seventh spot that Cornell currently holds. Who knows if the seventh spot will even be worth a spot in the tournament, and it looks like there are more slots still in doubt.
Ohio State sits fourth, but the Buckeyes aren’t home free yet. Their longest winning streak, which is also their longest unbeaten streak, is three games. They played tight games with just about everyone except UMD, which is next up. Will they find winning to be as easy in Duluth? OSU got swept there last year, when its longest winning streak was five games. Stylistically, the Buckeyes aren’t that much different from teams like BC and Minnesota, and the Bulldogs caused problems for each.
Princeton is only .0079 behind Ohio State in RPI, and the Tigers have the longest active unbeaten streak at 18 games. It seems somewhat likely that either Princeton or Clarkson, which sits just another .0010 back in RPI, would eventually overtake the Buckeyes. Princeton and Clarkson will play twice, so if one sweeps those two games, then it could leapfrog the Buckeyes. There hasn’t yet been a season where three WCHA teams were seeded in the top four, and eventually the mathematics will work against this being the first.
The RPI gap between Clarkson and Cornell is a bit more appreciable, but at .0136, it is still a margin that can be easily overcome in the games that remain. So it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a team that is currently in the top six being overtaken by someone ranked lower.
The odds favor a WCHA champion who would have received an at-large bid anyway, but there is a decent chance that the playoff winner of ECAC Hockey or Hockey East will come from outside the top six. If that happens, then the question of who finishes seventh in the RPI and the PairWise will be moot.
So which lower-ranked team could win its conference tournament? I’m sure the first name out of most mouths would be BC, but the brand of hockey that they are playing of late isn’t what typically brings success in March.
Saturday’s game with Northeastern was almost a must win, and the Eagles got it by scoring early and often. Megan Keller netted the first two goals with 12:27 elapsed, and what stood out to me was how BC committed to scoring at all costs. Keller scored from down low both times, and when she attacks the net, none of the forwards cover her point. On the first goal, four BC players were below the faceoff dots, and the last defender was also closing in on the net. The Eagles are daring the opponent to make a save and make them pay with a rush up the ice, and all too often this year that is what has happened. Their style looks designed to capitalize on the Hockey East of three years ago, when they were vastly superior to everyone else. Now other teams have fast skaters who can finish.
How do you view BC after its big win over Northeastern? Will it now be a confident team that will get on a roll and become the contender that we expected to see much earlier? Or will it continue to get burned by a high-risk strategy?
Nicole: I agree that Saturday was must-win for them, but I’m not sure I believe it’ll matter. They’ve had a number of situations lately where they probably should have adjusted and bounced back after a loss and just haven’t. Coming out of winter break with that loss to New Hampshire leaves me rather doubtful that there’s going to be any major turnaround there. There have been too many instances of tough losses that should have rallied the team and sparked them that were then followed up by more head-scratching losses for me to believe that this one could be the turning point.
As you mentioned, they’re super vulnerable, and they haven’t been able to back up the risky strategy or adapt when it goes against them. One the one hand, I love that Keller can score and be such a threat; on the other, they have what should be a pretty stout defense, and they’re not letting those players do what they do so well. Honestly, the whole thing baffles me a little bit as I’ve not thought of Katie Crowley as a coach who can’t or won’t make adjustments. The combined coaching talent and hockey knowledge on that coaching staff is absurd, so trying to understand this year’s strategy leaves me more than a little confused. It just feels like that squad is being maximized and that they’re not harnessing all of the talent together to make a super strong team.
After looking like she basically decided that there was no way she was letting her team lose on Saturday, I saw some chatter about Megan Keller and the Patty Kaz. I’m always a bit stubborn about voting for a defender based on their scoring, but what are your thoughts on Keller’s play this year and on how we should evaluate defenders?
Arlan: You saw chatter saying that Keller should win the Kazmaier? In my opinion, that would be a bit of a reach if BC’s season continues to be as disappointing as it has been to this point. Should Keller be a Top-10 finalist? Yes, I think so, and I have throughout. However, for her to win it, something fairly drastic would have to change. She’s having a nice season, but Monique Lamoureux had a 65-point senior year as an offensive defenseman and didn’t even get into the top 10. Keller is a plus-16; Elizabeth Giguère has a plus/minus that is twice that. For Keller to win on such an underachieving team, she’d have to clearly be the best player in the country, and right now that would be a difficult case to make.
In terms of a more general case when it comes to evaluating blueline players, offense has always won awards, and defense rarely does. Is that fair? No. Maybe the saying, “Defense wins championships” means that it only wins championships. It certainly doesn’t win a player much in the way of awards, but coaches know, and teammates know, so that has to be enough for those who work just as hard to keep the puck out of the net. Personally, I do consider defense as well when looking at the scoring statistics. It is harder to compile numbers for those who line up on defense, but that handicap goes out the window for a player who is always rushing up ice with the forwards and not really playing her position.
One player that I don’t think we’ve mentioned very much as a Patty Kazmaier contender is Fillier, but she’s starting to build a case. She leads the country in scoring average with two points per game, and it is hard to dispute the impact that she’s had on Princeton’s success.
I’m guessing that there will be a number of surprises in the top 10 from what we may have expected before the season. I thought that too much was made of Alina Mueller being the leading scorer in the 2018 Olympics, given that 60 percent of her points came in the first game against an overmatched Korean team whom the American and Canadian players didn’t face, while Switzerland played both Korea and Japan twice. Now that I’ve seen her, she’d make my Kazmaier Top 10. I’d have thought that Kelly Pannek or Sarah Potomak would be in the discussion, but if Minnesota is represented at all, it will be sophomore Grace Zumwinkle. Wisconsin is similar, with Abby Roque doing more damage than her more heralded senior teammates.
It is an odd year in that neither of the two teams that have been fixtures in the top two of the rankings in recent weeks has a player who looks to be a threat to win the award. How does your personal Kazmaier ballot look at this point?
Nicole: I agree that Sarah Fillier is firmly in my top 10 now, and I think she may have moved into the lead for rookie of the year conversations as well. I’d have thought Mueller all but had that sewn up, but Fillier has stepped it up recently, and voters tend to love someone that shows up for their team when titles are on the line, so if she continues her second-half surge, she’ll be difficult to beat.
Early on, Jesse Compher wasn’t on my list, but I think deserves a top-10 nod, as well. I didn’t expect BU to be in contention for the NCAAs, but they’re in that group right on the cusp that has all the opportunity to make their own destiny. Zumwinkle gets a nod from me, and I’d go with Annie Pankowski over Roque if I were to choose a Wisconsin player, as the majority of Roque’s points come on assists and Pankowski is one of the top six goal-scorers in the country.
I’d have a hard time putting three players from one team in the top 10. An exception would be for a truly dominant team, and I don’t think Clarkson this year is that team. I think it’s Michaela Pejzlová that gets left out, unfortunately, but how Clarkson closes out the season could have an impact on this.
I don’t think a goalie ultimately makes the top-10 this year, but that also depends on how much Northeastern uses Aerin Frankel and how her numbers shake out if they do. She’s the obvious choice for most impactful, but she’s also only played about two-thirds of their games. If her team doesn’t think she’s the best goalie to start in every situation, then it’s difficult to say she’s the best goalie in the country.
So my top 10 would be Elizabeth Giguère, Compher, Loren Gabel, Fillier, Mueller, Keller, Jessie Eldridge, Pankowski, Zumwinkle and Maureen Murphy. I wouldn’t set my three for awhile, but my early take on it is Giguère and Fillier and I have no idea who the third would be. I think Giguère is the more impactful player, but I could see Gabel getting the nod instead, as a senior. It’s just not how I’d vote.
Does your list look much different?
I assume you’ll be heading to the border battle in Minnesota this weekend, but what other games are you keeping an eye on this week?
Arlan: A lot of the separation between players under Kazmaier consideration is still negligible, so I could see quite a bit of flux as weeks pass.
At this point, I couldn’t in good conscience put forth a Kazmaier top 10 that included either Pankowski or Zumwinkle but excluded Emma Maltais. Maltais is producing at a higher rate than any Badgers or Gophers, and she also has 50 percent more points than anyone else for Ohio State. I could say that Zumwinkle’s point totals are lower because the Gophers have rolled four lines all season, while the Buckeyes rely heavily on their top two lines, but that just strengthens a case for Maltais. The Gophers lead the country in scoring because they have four lines that can legitimately produce offense. Ohio State scores less than three times a game, Maltais has been involved in half of their goals, and I doubt that the Buckeyes would be fourth in the country without her. I think that the comparison plays out similarly if you put Maltais alongside any Badger, although admittedly Pankowski has more star power, and that doesn’t hurt in the Kazmaier process. It’s possible that the WCHA gets greater representation than just one player, given the league has three teams ranked in the top four.
I’m not sure about Eldridge, either. I’d agree that she’s the player you most notice for Colgate, but there isn’t the separation within her roster that there is for somebody like Jaycee Gebhard, who has 15 more points and twice as many goals as any of her teammates. One can say Eldridge plays in a tougher league, but 14 of the 22 games Robert Morris has played were out of conference, and when the two teams met on the ice for a series, Gebhard had four points to Eldridge’s two.
I like to give some love to the goalies, so I’d put Lovisa Selander on my list. Lindsay Reed of Harvard has better numbers, but Selander has the Engineers ahead of the Crimson in the ECAC standings, and I read somewhere that she’s closing in on a career saves record. Any time we have a chance to spread recognition beyond a small subset of players, I want to do so.
As for the week’s schedule, not a lot jumps out at me, as we don’t have matchups of ranked teams other than No. 1 at No. 2. Minnesota State has an odd schedule for the WCHA, in that it plays at St. Cloud on Friday afternoon, and then plays a nonconference game outside at Bemidji State on Saturday for Hockey Day Minnesota. I see that the forecast high temperature is minus-6 degrees for that one, so Wisconsin versus Minnesota indoors sounds just fine for my viewing pleasure.
One final question before we wrap. If the playoffs started today, the teams missing out on the postseason would be Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, and Union in the ECAC, plus New Hampshire and Holy Cross in Hockey East. Do you anticipate any changes to the list over the next six weeks of action, or should those teams start looking into early plans for Spring Break?
Nicole: You’re right, leaving Maltais off was definitely an oversight. I do think there’s sort of a couple of shoe-ins, and then narrowing down that next batch is more difficult. At this point, there’s about 12 women on my watch list, and figuring out where to place them would be difficult for me.
In the ECAC, I think the team not currently in the tournament that is most likely to get there is Yale. Their win at Clarkson is certainly an outlier, but it also shows that there’s more to this team than some of the rest of their record shows. They’re just one point back of the last spot and two back of seventh place, so there’s definitely room for them to make a move. I think St. Lawrence might be the most vulnerable. You mentioned both Reed and Selander in net for Harvard and RPI, and they’re a huge reason each of those teams will win games down the stretch.
Holy Cross and UNH are probably the two out in Hockey East. New Hampshire has a rough final stretch to the season, with two games each against Providence and BU, plus a game against BC. In addition, they’ve got Maine, who’s just above them in the rankings. Grabbing points is going to be tough. Vermont has it slightly easier, especially in those final two weekends where everything will be down to the wire.
Of course, my dismal record in picks doesn’t lend a lot of credence to my take on these things, and this season has shown us anything can happen. We’ll have tight races in all the conferences, meaning this last month or so is going to feature some very competitive hockey. I’m looking forward to it.
Colgate was riding high coming into the final nonconference series of the season this past weekend against UMass Lowell.
The Raiders started the new year on the right foot as they came back from behind to defeat then-No. 5 Quinnipiac and then Princeton, the defending conference champions, the following night.
Momentum was building in Colgate’s direction and then the struggles of the 2018-19 season hit them right back in the face, suffering a weekend sweep to the River Hawks, losing 2-0 and 4-1.
Colgate finished the regular-season nonconference slate with a 3-9-0 record.
“We came off a nice weekend two weekends ago with the sweep on the road against Quinnipiac and Princeton,” Colgate coach Don Vaughan said. “Thought we turned the corner and had our goal scoring drought solved against two pretty good teams. We came into a weekend series against a really good Lowell team that’s really stingy. They are really patient, Norm (Bazin) got them playing his game. They are hard to play against.”
That nine-goal outburst against Quinnipiac and Princeton is 28 percent of the goals the Raiders have scored the entire season. Scoring once this past weekend has been closer to the norm as they are 59th in the nation in goals per game at 1.45.
While there’s frustration with the lack of goal scoring this season, Vaughan said it’s not for lack of effort, and that the pucks haven’t bounced their way.
“That’s something I am really proud of this group — we haven’t rolled over,” Vaughan said. “There’s been some opportunities to do that with the injuries early on and there were some games that we got behind, couldn’t find our way out. They are coming to the rink every day, competing hard, buying in to what we are trying to do. Their attitude has been great.”
Could that be some coach speech? Sure, but stats back that statement up. Colgate is 1-2-1 when scoring first, but are 5-1 in one-goal games. Both of their ties this season came after they were blown out the night before.
The outlook of the season all changed on the opening of NHL free agency last July. While all eyes were on where John Tavares was going to sign, the team that was probably hit hardest by that day wasn’t the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars or the Tampa Lightning, the teams that met with Tavares, but Colgate.
The Stars signed Colgate’s star sophomore goalie Colton Point, their fifth-round pick in 2016. Obviously, it left the Raiders in a pinch as he was going to be the only upperclassman goalie on the roster and a mentor to incoming freshman Mitch Benson.
“As a first-year, for someone for all intents and purposes until July 1, (Benson) was expected to ease himself into Division I hockey,” Vaughan said. “He would have been playing behind Colton Point, but that all changed, obviously. He had to change his mindset and he was prepared to do that. He came in super prepared to be the guy, and he’s being pushed by our other two goaltenders (Andrew Farrier and Will Friend). He has given us an opportunity most nights to be competitive and certainly, we haven’t helped him offensively. We did last weekend, which was great. I was happy for him because he made the saves he needed to make at the right time. That’s all you can ask from your goaltender.”
Benson has been in net for five of the Raiders’ six wins this season as he’s 5-10-2 with a 2.94 GAA and a .903 save percentage. Farrier, who’s the other goalie to see regular-season action, is a freshman, as is Friend.
Vaughan’s focus is the game on Friday against Dartmouth, but knows if the team wants to turn around their season with just conference games remaining, defense will be the key.
“To me, it starts on the back end for us with our defense,” Vaughan said. “Nick Austin and Trevor Cosgrove have been really good for us, two sophomores that played a lot of minutes for us as freshmen and continue to do so as sophomores in all situations. Some nights, it may be a little too much. You look back to the Quinnipiac game on the road, the offense came from the back end. The nights where we had success, that’s where it started for us, with our defense.”
The Robert Morris women’s team announced Tuesday that former Minnesota Duluth forward Alison Rodgers has transferred to RMU for the spring semester, which began Monday.
The sophomore will practice with the Colonials for the remainder of this season, and will be eligible to play as a junior for the 2019-20 season.
“I love the team atmosphere, and it’s really cool to be so close to Pittsburgh,” Rodgers said in a news release. “My dream job is something in the medical field.”
Rodgers appeared in three games for the Bulldogs in 2018-19 after playing in 32 as a rookie, finishing the 2017-18 campaign with 17 shots on goal and blocking four shots.
After 13 seasons as head coach at his alma mater St. Cloud State, Bob Motzko is in his first season behind the Minnesota bench. Host Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger caught up with Motzko after the Gophers swept Notre Dame on the road to talk about this year’s team, the Big Ten, the spotlight that shines on the coach of a high-profile program, and his thoughts on this year’s USA World Juniors team.
This episode is sponsored by the 2019 NCAA Frozen Four, April 11 and 13 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour for more information.
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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: Paula, we have a new No. 1 as Massachusetts catapults over St. Cloud State this week after a weekend of multiple upset of nationally-ranked teams.
For St. Cloud, dropping to No. 2 in the poll probably doesn’t feel that bad. After losing to Minnesota Duluth on Friday, that probably felt like a given. But when St. Cloud went down 2-0 on Saturday against the Bulldogs, there could’ve been a sense of panic setting in.
Instead, the Huskies pulled themselves up by the boot straps and rallied for the game’s final four goals to salvage what could’ve been a lost weekend.
To me, that is a pretty impressive accomplishment, probably more so than UMass’ sweep of an offensively-challenged Vermont team. Yes, I do believe UMass deserves the top ranking (I voted for that myself), but in terms of what a team accomplished on a weekend, St. Cloud State’s split may mean more to the team come postseason.
Do you agree?
Paula: Well, Jimmy, I do agree – to an extent.
That kind of in-season rebound to salvage a weekend against a very tough opponent is something that can help a team understand its own strengths, but only if the Huskies internalize and sustain the lesson learned the night before when they gave up two late third-period goals in the loss.
It all depends on what St. Cloud does this coming weekend, in my opinion, against a very hot and confident Western Michigan team. The Huskies opened their second half with a 7-2 loss to Union in the Three Rivers Classic, a game in which they struggled from the start and in which they surrendered two goals within the first two minutes of the third period. They followed that up with a win the next night with a 5-2 win over Robert Morris, scoring three goals in the third period of that contest.
Yes, St. Cloud appeared more ready Friday night against Minnesota Duluth than the Huskies did against Union, outshooting the Bulldogs 26-10 in the first two periods of that loss, but the Friday-loss-Saturday-win pattern of the first two weekends of 2019 may be something of a concern. If the Huskies don’t come out with their strongest game Friday against the Broncos, then maybe there’s something going on in the second half that wasn’t evident in the first. And in NCAA play, there are no second nights after a first-night loss.
If we’re talking about resilience and fortitude – and the NCHC – equally impressive to me was Denver’s ability to take care of business against a team the Pioneers should have beaten, Omaha. In Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win, the Pioneers could have lost that game in the second period alone, when the Mavericks outshot them and scored two goals to Denver’s one, but Denver did what good teams do and turned up the heat in the third, resulting in Ian Mitchell’s game-tying goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
With both St. Cloud and Denver, we’re talking about teams who should be finding ways to win, something we touch on frequently here. In January, though, the lessons seem sharper in some ways.
Jim: I think anything that occurred last weekend for St. Cloud (and a number of other teams) can be forgiven when you consider the players who were absent from their respective teams because of the World Juniors. I’m not sure Ryan Poehling would have changed a ton in that Union game, but I’m sure it would have been a far different on-ice situation for the Huskies, so I’ll let that one slide.
But your point is correct. Teams who start showing the strongest character in victory in the second half of the year tend to have a higher level of success.
Another team I want to look at is Clarkson. I think the Golden Knights are better than most are giving them credit. When they got swept by Penn State in the opening weekend of the season, I think too many wrote off this team that lost a lot from the ’17-18 national tournament club.
I think this year’s team is equally as strong as a year ago and are proving it on the ice in the second half. They opened by winning the Desert Hockey Classic in Arizona, arguably the toughest of the holiday tournament fields. Since then, they’ve posted three more wins and currently sit 14th in the PairWise. There is enough experience on this team to make them dangerous for the entirely of this season.
Paula: To me, what makes Clarkson impressive begins where the first half of the season ended. After dropping a 4-2 game to St. Lawrence Dec. 7 in which they badly outshot the Saints, Clarkson shut out St. Lawrence the following night, halting a two-game skid and beginning their current six-game win streak. In that series against St. Lawrence, the Golden Knights – like St. Cloud and Denver – found a way the second night to beat a team that stymied them the night before in spite of their having thrown everything at the net.
Clarkson has Jake Kielly in net, the Golden Knights are tied with Denver for 10th nationally in scoring and Clarkson has the fourth-best defense in the nation. They are not a team that should be underestimated.
You mention Clarkson’s two losses to Penn State early in the season and now it’s impossible for me to avoid talking about the Nittany Lions, a team that I find fascinating this season. They were 8-0-1 to open the season before conference play began and are now 5-6-1-1 in B1G play, with an additional nonconference tie against Princeton during that span, too.
Penn State leads the nation in scoring, still averaging nearly five goals per game – which is astounding to me – and yet the Nittany Lions are giving up nearly four goals per game on average, singlehandedly reinforcing the adage that defense wins games. Penn State scored four goals in each of its games against Michigan State last weekend yet lost Saturday to the Spartans, 6-4, the only game this season in which the Spartans gave up four goals and won.
The Big Ten is a glorious mess this year, with some really good play and teams struggling for many different reasons, but the Nittany Lions seem to typify the conference. They’ve scored as many goals as they’ve given up in league play, they’re below .500 in conference play yet a point above Wisconsin in the standings and they’ve split points in every league series this season.
Jim: Well, the Big Ten is hardly the only conference in a situation where things are so close.
While the Big Ten has 10 points separating their seven teams (in a league where three points is earned for a win), Atlantic Hockey also has just 10 points separating first through last in an 11- team league. Granted Atlantic Hockey only awards two points for each win but imagine sitting in dead-last right now knowing that if you go on a run, sure, you might now win the regular-season title, but you easily could jump to a point where your team is battling for a first-round bye.
That, to me, is pretty crazy.
Paula: Crazy, and also why the results of the two tie games that Air Force and Army played this weekend were so interesting. Heading into last weekend, American International was on top of the AHA standings with 19 points, Air Force was in second with 18, Niagara in third with 16, followed by three teams with 15 points – Mercyhurst, Army, Robert Morris – and RIT with 14.
Air Force and Army each earn a point, which is enough for the Falcons to top the standings as AIC fell twice to RIT – which, along with how everything else played in that crazy league last weekend, was enough to vault RIT into fourth place. Mercyhurst with its sweep of Canisius is tied for second place with American International and Army – having tied the now-first place Falcons – is still what would be considered the middle of the pack, tied with Niagara, each with 17 points, each just three points out of first place.
The craziest thing of all to me at this point is that RIT has the highest PairWise of any AHA team – this week – and is 32nd.
I’m looking forward to how the season plays out with every league, but Atlantic Hockey may be a photo finish. Given the parity among all D-I men’s teams, too, I wouldn’t want to face the AHA playoff champion in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Each week, USCHO.com will present its Plays of the Week via our YouTube channel.
The weekend was a mixed bag for many teams and a virtual disaster for some who saw key losses in conference play and wins by nearby competitors eat into their lead in the standings. Massachusetts-Boston and Plymouth State dropped a couple of points in their respective races, while Wesleyan remained unbeaten in NESCAC play without surrendering a goal in their two games. There was a lot of nonconference action as well that provided some great hockey, including Utica and Oswego in an overtime 3-3 tie. Here is a recap of the action.
CCC
The University of New England traveled west to face Buffalo State on Friday and skated away with a 6-1 win over the Bengals. Ryan Bloom and Brady Fleurent each had three-point games, while goaltender Tate Sproxton stopped 29 of 30 shots to pick up his third win of the season. On Saturday, UNE made it a clean sweep of SUNYAC opponents with a 7-3 win over Morrisville. Bloom and Tyler Seltenreich each had a pair of goals for the Nor’easters, while Jeff Eppright recorded three points in the win.
Curry enjoyed a three-win week with Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Plymouth State and a weekend sweep of Bryn Athyn. The Colonels were led by Zachery White’s two goals and four total points in Saturday’s 6-2 win. On Sunday, Billy Rizzo posted a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win that moved Curry to 9-5-2 on the season.
Independents
Canton faced Potsdam on Saturday and rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the final five minutes of regulation to tie the game at 3-3 before winning it in overtime on Tyler Bullard’s goal less than a minute into the extra session. Tyson Bruce cut the deficit to one goal before Jake Mayette scored with the extra attacker on the ice and 45 seconds remaining in regulation. Goaltender Michael Cerasuolo stopped 46 of 49 shots as the Kangaroos were outshot 49-33 for the game.
MASCAC
Plymouth State has seen a sluggish start to the new calendar year and on Thursday lost to Fitchburg State 2-1 on home ice. The Falcons took advantage of goals from Nick DiNicola and Ricky Kramer as well as 43 saves from netminder Brian McGrath to earn the key conference win over the Panthers.
On Saturday in nonconference action, four goals from Sascha Figi wasn’t enough for a Falcons’ comeback as they dropped a 7-5 decision to Wentworth. The Leopards were led by Georgy Gorodetsky’s hat trick.
Massachusetts-Dartmouth picked up three big points with a 5-1 win on Thursday over Salem State and a 3-3 overtime tie with Plymouth State on Saturday. Against the Panthers, late power-play goals from Kai Kapossy and Steven Leonard rallied the Corsairs from a 3-1 deficit to earn the tie and point in the standings.
NE-10
Assumption and St. Michael’s split their weekend series. The Purple Knights won the opener on Friday with Zach Sullivan picking up the game-winning goal in the third period. On Saturday, the Greyhounds needed Devan Sheth’s overtime goal with just nine seconds remaining in the extra session to earn a 3-2 win and split of the two-game set in Vermont.
Saint Anselm moved to 5-1-0 in NE-10 play with a weekend sweep of Stonehill. Following a 2-1 win on Friday, the Hawks took advantage of two goals from Sean Verrier and three points from Anthony Iacullo in the 5-2 win that moved them to the top of the conference standings.
NEHC
New England College continued its hot play by beating Massachusetts-Boston, 3-2, on Friday night. The loss for the Beacons was their first in league play. Adam Zollner, William Riise, and Connor Fries staked the Pilgrims to a 3-0 lead, and goaltender Anthony Pupplo stopped 36 of 38 Beacons shots to pick up the win. On Saturday, the Pilgrims skated to a thrilling 4-4 overtime tie with Babson. Each team came back from a one-goal deficit twice in the game, with Nick Rosa’s third period tally earning the deadlock.
Three power-play goals in the second period broke open a scoreless game at Hobart and helped Norwich on the way to a 4-2 win over the Statesmen, who suffered their first loss in 2019. On Saturday, the Cadets couldn’t hold onto a 3-2 lead in the third period as Skidmore’s Matt Wolf scored in the final five minutes of regulation to earn the Thoroughbreds a 3-3 tie.
NESCAC
Wesleyan and goalie Tim Sestak continued their hot play in Maine with a 5-0 win over Bowdoin and a 0-0 overtime tie at Colby. Sestak stopped all 47 shots he faced in the two games to earn two more shutouts, and the Cardinals remained unbeaten in NESCAC play, moving to 6-0-2 on the season.
Williams earned a pair of nonconference wins with a 6-3 decision at Manhattanville and a 4-0 shutout over Plattsburgh on Saturday night. Marcus Mollica and Roberto Cellini staked the Ephs to a 2-0 first-period lead, and Will Somers and Bobby Beniers added second- and third-period tallies respectively to support Michael Pinios’ 24-save effort.
SUNYAC
Oswego hosted a talented Utica squad on Friday night in a seesaw affair that ended in a 3-3 overtime tie. The Pioneers took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals from Joey Rutkowski and Conor Landrigan, but Josh LeBlanc tied it for the Lakers in the second period at. The third period saw Utica’s Josh Haskin and Oswego’s Derek Brown exchange goals just 69 seconds apart early in the final period for the final scoring of the contest.
Geneseo took a pair of wins over UCHC opponents by downing Lebanon Valley, 6-2, and Stevenson, 7-0. In the Saturday win over the Mustangs, the Knights got two goals from defenseman Mitch Ferguson along with single goals from five other players. Devin McDonald made 19 saves to record his eighth shutout of the season.
UCHC
Nazareth raced out to a 4-0 first-period lead that included Brian Miller’s hat trick on their way to a 5-1 win over Cortland. The nonconference win moved the Golden Flyers to 8-4-4 on the season.
Neumann picked up its first win of the season in a 6-1 rout of Anna Maria on Friday night. Six different players scored for the Knights, who went 3-for-8 with the man advantage. On Saturday, Neumann skated to a 1-1 overtime tie with Chatham in UCHC play. Despite outshooting the Cougars 44-34, including 5-0 in the overtime period, neither team could find the game-winning goal in the 3-on-3 overtime session.
Three Biscuits
Brian Miller, Nazareth: Miller scored a first-period hat trick as Nazareth raced out to a 4-0 lead on the way to a 5-1 win at Cortland on Saturday.
Sascha Figi, Westfield State: Figi tallied four times, giving him 18 on the season, in the Falcons’ 7-5 loss to Wentworth. Two of the goals came with an extra attacker on the ice, but the late rally fell short in the loss to the Leopards.
Georgy Gorodetsky, Wentworth: Gorodetsky posted a hat trick for Wentworth in a nonconference win over Fitchburg State on Saturday. The three goals give Gorodetsky 10 on the season.
With just a few weeks remaining on the regular season schedule, the conference play is really going to heat up during the upcoming weeks. There continue to be surprises each and every week, so the race to the finish is going to be very exciting.
Ben Sands, a 1954 Tufts graduate and the recipient of the athletic department’s first Brown and Blue Award last April, passed away following a brief illness on Jan. 11.
A native of North Reading, Mass., Sands was a former hockey player and coach of the Jumbos who as an alumnus worked tirelessly to keep the program in good standing.
He was a defenseman in the 1950s before the hockey program was dropped in 1960. He was instrumental in bringing the sport back to campus first as a club team and then at the varsity level in 1986. He was head coach for six seasons, compiling a 73-63-4 record and earning ECAC Coach of the Year in 1988.
When budget cuts again threatened the team’s status in the early 1990s, he established the Friends of Tufts Hockey to support the program. That led to a healthy future for the team, which included joining the NESCAC in 2001.
On Feb. 14, 2009, prior to a Jumbos home game at Valley Forum in Malden, Mass., Tufts dedicated its new locker room in honor of Sands.
As part of the inaugural Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner last April, Tufts presented Sands with the Brown and Blue Award, which recognizes alumni, donors, benefactors, and supporters who have made significant contributions to the success of Tufts athletics.
“Not one to seek out or accept credit for his work, Ben quietly spearheaded fundraising efforts to underwrite our hockey program during tough times,” Tufts coach Pat Norton said in a statement. “His generosity of spirit is a model for others to emulate.”
Sands also led his 50-year reunion class at Tufts in raising more than $10,000 for the Medford Public Schools to purchase books for the district’s libraries. He was also president of the Jumbo Club, a class reunion committee leader and vice president of the Tufts University Alumni Association.
Ben and his wife Judy spread their generosity locally and around the globe. Ben and Judy married in 1954 and raised five children. They have 12 grandchildren. He was active in North Reading town government, serving as a selectman for six years and many years as chairman of the housing authority. In 2005, Ben and Judy turned the annual winter training trip for Tufts’ women’s swimming and diving team into a grand humanitarian effort, organizing the donation of nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies to children in the Dominican Republic. They also took yearly trips to Guatemala bringing toys to children in remote villages.
“Ben Sands was a tremendous supporter of Tufts athletics for many, many years, but more importantly he was just a wonderful human being,” Tufts director of athletics John Morris added. “He loved and appreciated life and showed that by giving back in so many ways. We were lucky to have him on our team at Tufts.”
Visiting hours will be 3-7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18, and the funeral will be 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, with both being held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Reading, Mass.
After sweeping Vermont over the weekend, Massachusetts is back at No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, up one spot from the Jan. 7 rankings.
Former No. 1 St. Cloud State split with No. 5 Minnesota Duluth and falls a spot to No. 2 this week.
USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll – Jan. 14, 2019
Denver remains ranked third after sweeping Omaha, while Ohio State stays fourth after a split with Michigan.
The only new team in the rankings this week is North Dakota, as the Fighting Hawks are No. 20 after sweeping Colorado College.
The USCHO.com Poll consists of 50 voters, including coaches and beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.
No. 10 Wisconsin-Eau Claire versus Lake Forest: Lake Forest 3-1, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 2-1
The Foresters got outshot by the Blugolds, 37-17, and had the majority of the 11 penalties that occurred in the game. However, Lake Forest did something Wisconsin-Eau Claire did not, as the Foresters capitalized on their opportunities. The win for the Foresters was driven by the defense and goaltending in the first game. In the second game, the shots were skewed again in favor of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 47-17. However, in the second game the Blugolds found the back of the net just enough to win the game. Unfortunately, the loss on Friday night could be enough to bump Wisconsin-Eau Claire out of the top 10 rankings.
No. 4 St. Thomas versus No. 9 Gustavus Adolphus: St. Thomas 3-1, Tie 2-2
St. Thomas has impeccable defense and goaltending this year. This Friday night, Gustavus had 21 shots on net, which just wasn’t enough to get past a seasoned veteran between the pipes like St. Thomas has. Similarly, St. Thomas did not have many shots on net themselves with just 13. The difference was that they must have been quality shots for three of them to get behind goaltender Amanda DiNella. The tie on Saturday was not surprising, as many top matchups in the West have ended in a tie this year. I would be surprised if either team moved in the rankings as a result of this weekend results.
No. 8 Hamline versus Augsburg: Tie 2-2, Hamline 3-2
The tie Friday actually helps Augsburg as they continue to try and climb in the MIAC standings. From Hamline’s perspective, it’s not a great outcome as they are fighting for the first-place spot with St. Thomas. Augsburg must be happy with the weekend outcome as they were able to hold a ranked opponent to a close game. That result is measured for the conference way beyond the score.
Oswego versus Potsdam: Potsdam 3-2, Tie 1-1
The loss and tie Oswego suffered over the weekend hurts their race for the regular season title in the NEWHL. They will now need to work hard to earn second place in the conference standings. Potsdam is now tied for second in the NEWHL standings with Oswego. This weekend could not have gone better for the Bears. Potsdam still has many important conference games that remain on their schedule.
No. 3 Elmira versus Manhattanville: Elmira 2-0, 2-0
This was a key matchup for Elmira to win as they continue to be a top team in the UCHC. It’s great to see Manhattanville hold the number three team in the country to only two goals a game. Manhattanville is continuing to have a good season and could potentially get an upset in the conference playoffs. The UCHC is strong and has great potential to be one of the best conferences down the road.
No. 2 Adrian versus Trine: Adrian 2-1 (OT)
Trine has officially become the dark horse of the NCHA. Trine upset Lake Forest earlier in the year and almost beat the number two team in the country this weekend. The shots of this game were 52-15; goaltender Molly Scarborough for Trine is the main reason they were able to hold the Bulldogs to overtime. Adrian senior Kortney Diaz scored the tying goal and overtime winner to push past the Thunder.
No. 1 Wisconsin at No. 7 Ohio State
Wisconsin outshot the Buckeyes 32-20, but Jincy Dunne’s first-period power-play goal was the difference Friday as Ohio State won, 1-0. In game two, Britta Curl put Wisconsin up 1-0 less than a minute into the game. Emma Maltais responded midway through the first, but Sophie Shirley’s power-play goal had the Badgers up 2-1 heading into the first-period break. Annie Pankowski doubled the lead in the second, but Sophie Jacques closed the gap with 26 seconds left in the period. In the third, it was all Badgers as Curl scored her second and Sophie Shirley iced it to give the Badgers the 5-2 win.
No. 2 Minnesota at Minnesota State
Emily Oden had a goal and one assist and Taylor Heise had two assists as the Gophers won on Friday, 5-1. Taylor Williamson, Grace Zumwinkle, and Abigail Boreen put Minnesota ahead with a 3-0 lead on Saturday, but Minnesota State came back with two goals in a minute from Jordan McLaughlin and Brooke Bryant to make it 3-2. Alex Woken scored an unassisted goal just before the period break have Minnesota up 4-2 entering the third period. Brittyn Fleming pulled the Mavericks closer, but Amy Potomak put it away for the Gophers as they won 6-3.
No. 10 Boston College versus No. 3 Northeastern
Tori Sullivan, Chloè Aurard, and Andrea Renner scored in the opening frame to put Northeastern up 3-0 Friday, and they never looked back. Daryl Watts ensured it wasn’t a shutout, but Kasidy Anderson’s empty-netter iced the win as Northeastern took game one 4-1. On Saturday, Megan Keller scored twice in the first to put Boston College up early in the game. Renner cut the lead late in the period, but Watts’ goal with 27 seconds left in the first put the Eagles up 3-1. Kali Flanagan and Kelly Browne scored for Boston College and Anderson added another on the weekend to put the score at 5-2 after two periods. Brooke Hobson and Maddie Hartman scored for Northeastern to cut the lead to one with about 13 minutes to go, but that would be the closest it would get. Delaney Belinskas scored twice to close out the game for the Eagles as they won, 7-5.
No. 5 Princeton at No. 4 Cornell
Maggie Connors and Sarah Fillier led the Tigers with two goals and two assists each as Princeton rolled to a 5-0 win.
Quinnipiac at No. 4 Cornell
Cornell got on the board first with a goal from Joie Phelps to head into the first break with a 1-0 lead. Kati Tabin tied the game in the second for Quinnipiac, but Maddie Mills scored the game-winner 2:22 into the third to earn the 3-1 win for the Big Red.
No. 5 Princeton at No. 9 Colgate
Princeton extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games with a 4-4 tie against Colgate. Claire Thompson opened the scoring early, putting the Tigers up 1-0 2:13 into the game. Tanner Gates tied it for Colgate two minutes later. Maggie Connors and Carly Bullock scored in the second to help the Tigers pull away 3-1, but Colgate came roaring back in the third. Malia Schneider and Shae Labbe tied the game. Connors scored her fourth goal of the weekend with 1:02 left to play, and it looked like it would be a game-winner, but Jessie Eldridge scored with 9.4 seconds left to tie the game 4-4 and force overtime.
No. 6 Clarkson at Rensselaer
T.T. Cianfarano and Josiane Pozzebon each had a goal and an assist and 11 different Golden Knights tallied points as Clarkson cruised to a 5-1 win. Jaimie Grigsby was the goal-scorer for RPI.
No. 6 Clarkson at Union
Michaela Pejzlová scored two goals and had three assists to lead Clarkson to a 6-0 win over Union. Loren Gabel had three goals in the win.
Boston University versus No. 8 Providence
On Friday, Sammy Davis scored twice in the span of a minute late in the first period to give BU at 2-0 lead before Maureen Murphy put Providence on the board just before the horn. Sara Hjalmarsson tied the game up 1:14 into the second, but Emma Wuthrich gave the Terriers a 3-2 lead heading into the third. Hayley Lunny knotted the score once again midway through the third, but Nara Elia responded and Deizray De Sousa potted an empty-net goal to give BU the 5-3 win. On Saturday, both teams scored early, but BU began to pull away as Mackenna Parker and Natasza Tarnowski scored 28 seconds apart to give the Terriers a 3-1 lead heading into the first-period break. Cassidy MacPherson scored a short-handed goal in the second to narrow the margin, but De Sousa’s third-period goal ensured a 4-2 win and weekend sweep for the Terriers.
Marian knocked off No. 6 St. Norbert, 3-1, Friday night in an historical win for the program. It’s the first time in program history that the Sabres have beaten the Green Knights.
Marian scored three goals in a span of 4:41 in the first period to take control against the reigning national champions. Nick Monfils started the outburst with his seventh goal of the season. Lane Valimont punched in his third goal, and Tony Ring came through with the first goal of his career as the Sabres went in front 3-0 in the first period.
Marian held a 34-33 edge in shots. Hunter Vorva nailed down his third win over a ranked team this season as he stopped 32 shots. He is now 7-5-2 on the season.
Evan Cholak scored the lone goal for the Green Knights.
Marian is now 8-6-3 overall and is 6-3-1 in the NCHA.
Pointers stay unbeaten
Wisconsin-Stevens Point reminded everyone why it’s the best team in the nation, edging Augsburg, 3-1, Friday in a showdown between two of the top five teams in the nation.
The top-ranked Pointers scored three goals in the second period to erase a deficit against the fourth-ranked Auggies.
Jordan Fader, Tanner Karty, and B.J. Duffin all scored goals for the Pointers, who overcame an early deficit. The Auggies went ahead 1-0 in the first on a goal by Chandler Madry.
The Pointers dominated in shots taken, racking up 32 compared to only 16 by the Auggies. Connor Ryckman was impressive once again in goal, stopping 15 shots. Nick Schmit made 29 saves for Augsburg.
The Pointers closed out their weekend with a 4-1 win over Saint John’s and are now 17-0-2 on the season. Their win streak now stands at 11 games.
Stephan Beauvais came through with two goals to pave the way for Wis.-Stevens Point in the victory over the Johnnies. Carter Roo dished out two assists in the victory. Connor Ryckman made 15 saves.
Cardinals earn split with Cobbers
Saint Mary’s enjoyed its best offensive performance of the season Saturday in a 7-2 win over Concordia in a MIAC series. The seven goals is the most the Cardinals have scored this season, with three coming in the first period as they opened up a 3-0 lead.
Ryan Stoynich led the attack with two goals. He also dished out an assist. Owen Sikich came through with a goal and an assist. Tommy Stang and Jack Stang each tallied a goal and an assist.
The Cardinals won for only the third time this season. They are now 3-10-3 overall and 2-4-2 in the MIAC.
Al Rogers finished with 20 saves in the win. Saint Mary’s held a 37-22 advantage in shots.
Concordia won Friday’s opener 5-3. The Cobbers scored twice in the third period to seal the deal thanks to goals by Jacen Bracko and Alex Stoley. The Cobbers are 10-5-2 overall and 6-1-1 in the conference.
Tommies keep streak intact
St.Thomas remained in contention for the MIAC title with a sweep of Gustavus Adolphus. The Tommies opened the series with a 3-2 win and closed it out with a 3-1 win Saturday, stretching their unbeaten streak to six games. St. Thomas is now 9-4-2 overall and 3-1-2 in the conference.
The Tommies scored twice in the second period to go in front for good. Brett Gravelle scored twice, including the go-ahead goal. Alex Trapp scored an insurance goal.
Cam Buggrabe improved his record to 6-0-1 on the year. He stopped 34 shots for the Tommies, who have won five games during their unbeaten streak.
Blugolds stay on a roll
Wisconsin-Eau Claire earned a 4-2 win over Saint John’s Friday night, scoring twice in the third period to take control. Zach Dyment made 15 saves for his seventh win of the season at home. He has won 13 games in all this year.
Lucas Kohls scored twice, including once off a power play. Braxton Collins scored his first goal of the year. He scored an empty-netter to put the exclamation point on the victory. Zach Kennedy also scored for the Blugolds.
The Blugolds pushed their win streak to four games Saturday with a 3-2 win over St. Olaf.
In the 29th meeting between the two teams since 1979, Wis.-Eau Claire prevailed after jumping in front 3-0. Jon Richards, Logan Von Ruden, and Andrew McGlynn all scored for the Blugolds, who improved to 15-2-2 on the year.
With the weekend sweep, the Blugolds pushed their home record to 8-0-1.
Blue Devils edge Pipers
Dylan Zins delivered the game-winning goal in Wisconsin-Stout’s 2-1 win over Hamline Friday. The goal was the second of the year for Zin, and the Blue Devils have now won 12 games, five more than they did all of last season.
Conner Valesano also scored for the Blue Devils. Tommi Ahlgren made 19 saves. The Blue Devils held a 29-20 edge in shots.
The Blue Devils fell 3-2 in overtime to Augsburg Saturday. Dmytro Kobylyanskyi scored the game-tying goal against the Auggies to force OT. Raphael Gosselin also scored for Wis.-Stout. His goal was his third of the season.
Tommy Carey punched in a goal in OT to lift Augsburg to the win. It was his sixth of the year.
Raiders march past Saints
Five unanswered goals helped propel the Milwaukee School of Engineering to a 6-3 win over St. Scholastica Saturday in NCHA action. The Raiders trailed 2-0 early, but scored the next five goals in the game to take the momentum away from the Saints. They improved to 6-8-3 overall and 4-4-2 in the conference.
Nick Redmon, Adam Ostrowski, Stian Owens, Will Gauthier, Adam Czarnecki, and Brandon Turer all scored goals for the Raiders. Redmon, Ostrowski, and Turer all dished out assists as well in the win.
Rock Boynton made 33 saves in the win. The Raiders held a 39-36 edge in shots. The win ends a two-game winless streak.
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. The Broncos keep on keepin’ on
With a sweep of visiting Miami, Western Michigan extended its nation-leading unbeaten streak to 10 games (9-0-1). During this stretch, the Broncos are scoring 3.8 goals per game on average while allowing 1.7. Sophomore Josh Passolt netted three goals against the RedHawks, including Friday’s game-winning goal. Passolt has 14 goals in 20 games this season, six more than he had in 35 games his freshman year. Passolt is now third nationally in goals per game.
2. Upsets are the new normal
Seven of the top 10 teams in the country lost at least a game this past weekend.
No. 1 St. Cloud State split with No. 5 Minnesota Duluth. No. 4 Ohio State split with unranked Michigan. No. 6 Quinnipiac lost to unranked Harvard. No. 7 Providence lost to two unranked teams, Boston College and Boston University. No. 9 Notre Dame was swept at home by unranked Minnesota. No. 10 Bowling Green split with unranked Michigan Tech.
Among the top 10 teams in the nation, only No. 2 Massachusetts, No. 3 Denver and No. 8 Minnesota State escaped the weekend unscathed. The Minutemen swept Vermont soundly, 4-1 and 5-1. Denver beat Omaha in a pair of close games, 1-0 in regulation and 3-2 in overtime. The Mavericks also had a pair of close wins, beating Ferris 3-2 in overtime and 2-1.
3. Some things end, some continue
With those upsets, there were bound to be streaks broken – and there were. Ohio State’s seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3) ended with the loss to Michigan Friday night. Providence’s eight-game unbeaten streak (5-0-3) ended with Friday’s loss to Boston College.
With its sweep of Omaha, Denver extends its win streak to seven games.
4. Minnesota buys a new broom
With 5-1 and 2-1 wins over Notre Dame, Minnesota completed its first weekend sweep over a single opponent this season. Minnesota’s last sweep of a Big Ten opponent was its two-game set against Wisconsin last season, Feb. 9-10. In 2017-18, the Golden Gophers had five sweeps against single opponents in single weekends.
Incidentally, the Golden Gophers had something to say about that sweep.
We have an incredible amount of respect for @paulacweston.
That being said, we encourage the fine folks at @USCHO to pick against the #Gophers for the rest of the season. pic.twitter.com/EGyl5HaYuu
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) January 13, 2019
5. Northeastern buys a new broom, too
Northeastern moved into second place in the Hockey East standings with 3-2 and 4-0 wins over Maine, the Huskies’ first road sweep of the Black Bears since 2008. Sophomore Cayden Primeau had 33 saves in Saturday’s shutout, his ninth career shutout and third of this season. The Huskies have just one loss in their last 11 games.
6. The Armed Forces force two OT games
Air Force and Army West Point registered two 2-2 overtime games, with the Black Knights scoring twice in the third period Friday to tie and Air Force scoring in the third period Saturday to knot that contest.
The series accounted for two of three overtime contests in Atlantic Hockey, where three points separate first-place Air Force from Army and Niagara, each with 17. In between, though, American International and Mercyhurst are tied with 19 points and RIT has 18.
7. The first in his class
Denver freshman Cole Guttman had the overtime game-winning goal for the Pioneers against Omaha Saturday, making Guttman the first freshman in the country to reach the 10-goal mark this season.
8. A career high for Harvard’s Lackey
Harvard senior goaltender Michael Lackey is putting up career numbers this season. Lackey (2.32 GAA, .920 SV%) had a career-high 46 saves in the Crimson’s 2-1 win over Quinnipiac Saturday night, including this beauty on Michael Lombardi’s breakaway.
What a save by Lackey! https://t.co/rWplvmHuB1 #GoCrimson pic.twitter.com/STOVTBKrgg
— Harvard Men's Hockey (@HarvardMHockey) January 13, 2019
9. Alabama Huntsville kills it – again
It’s been a tough season for Alabama Huntsville, but the Chargers have begun the second half of the campaign with some success. On the road this past weekend, Huntsville lost to and tied Lake Superior State and picked up a shootout point Saturday night.
In their last four games, all since the start of the calendar year and all in conference play, the Chargers are 1-2-1-1.
And the Chargers’ penalty kill continues to be, well, killer. Against Lake Superior, Alabama Huntsville extended its PK streak to 21 straight successes, and the Chargers have the sixth-best penalty kill in the country (88.0).
10. Penn State scores eight goals, splits anyway
Penn State is a team that can find the net. The Nittany Lions scored four goals in each of their home games against Michigan State this weekend. They also gave up six in Saturday, losing to the Spartans 6-4. Penn State leads the nation in scoring, averaging 4.86 goals per game, but the Nittany Lions are 55th nationally in scoring defense, giving up 3.86 goals per game. Six different Nittany Lions scored in the split.
Michigan State goaltender John Lethemon made 40 saves in his fifth win of the season Saturday.
Seven of the top 10 teams in the USCHO men’s NCAA division I poll saw losses over the weekend. Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger look at some key results from the past week and survey standings among the six conferences.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA men’s ice hockey Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y., April 11 and 13: ncaa.com/frozenfour
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Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of Jan. 7 fared in games over the Jan. 11-12 weekend.
No. 1 St. Cloud State (15-3-2)
01/11/2019 No. 1 St. Cloud State 1 at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 3
01/12/2019 No. 1 St. Cloud State 4 at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 2
No. 2 Massachusetts (17-3-0)
01/11/2019 Vermont 1 at No. 2 Massachusetts 4
01/12/2019 Vermont 1 at No. 2 Massachusetts 5
No. 3 Denver (14-4-2)
01/11/2019 Omaha 0 at No. 3 Denver 1
01/12/2019 Omaha 2 at No. 3 Denver 3 (OT)
No. 4 Ohio State (13-5-4)
01/11/2019 RV Michigan 2 at No. 4 Ohio State 1
01/12/2019 RV Michigan 2 at No. 4 Ohio State 4
No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (12-6-2)
01/11/2019 No. 1 St. Cloud State 1 at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 3
01/12/2019 No. 1 St. Cloud State 4 at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 2
No. 6 Quinnipiac (16-5-1)
01/11/2019 Dartmouth 1 at No. 6 Quinnipiac 5
01/12/2019 RV Harvard 2 at No. 6 Quinnipiac 1
No. 7 Providence (12-6-4)
01/11/2019 No. 7 Providence 2 at Boston College 4
01/12/2019 Boston University 4 at No. 7 Providence 3
No. 8 Minnesota State (18-5-1)
01/11/2019 No. 8 Minnesota State 3 at Ferris State 2 (OT)
01/12/2019 No. 8 Minnesota State 2 at Ferris State 1
No. 9 Notre Dame (12-8-1)
01/11/2019 Minnesota 5 at No. 9 Notre Dame 1
01/12/2019 Minnesota 2 at No. 9 Notre Dame 1
No. 10 Bowling Green (15-5-3)
01/11/2019 No. 10 Bowling Green 0 at Michigan Tech 2
01/12/2019 No. 10 Bowling Green 3 at Michigan Tech 2
No. 11 Penn State (13-7-2)
01/11/2019 Michigan State 2 at No. 11 Penn State 4
01/12/2019 Michigan State 6 at No. 11 Penn State 4
No. 12 Northeastern (14-4-1)
01/11/2019 No. 12 Northeastern 3 at Maine 2
01/12/2019 No. 12 Northeastern 4 at Maine 0
No. 13 Arizona State (16-9-1)
01/11/2019 No. 13 Arizona State 1 at No. 17 Cornell 6
01/12/2019 No. 13 Arizona State 2 at No. 17 Cornell 3
No. 14 Western Michigan (13-6-1)
01/11/2019 No. 20 Miami 3 at No. 14 Western Michigan 4
01/12/2019 No. 20 Miami 2 at No. 14 Western Michigan 3
No. 15 Union (11-6-4)
01/11/2019 No. 15 Union 1 at No. 16 Clarkson 5
01/12/2019 No. 15 Union 4 at St. Lawrence 3
No. 16 Clarkson (14-6-0)
01/11/2019 No. 15 Union 1 at No. 16 Clarkson 5
01/12/2019 Rensselaer 2 at No. 16 Clarkson 5
No. 17 Cornell (9-5-1)
01/11/2019 No. 13 Arizona State 1 at No. 17 Cornell 6
01/12/2019 No. 13 Arizona State 2 at No. 17 Cornell 3
No. 18 Lake Superior (14-6-2)
01/11/2019 Alabama Huntsville 2 at No. 18 Lake Superior 7
01/12/2019 Alabama Huntsville 1 at No. 18 Lake Superior 1 (OT)
No. 19 Yale (8-5-3)
01/07/2019 No. 19 Yale 3 at Maine 4 (OT) (Cross Insurance Arena, Portland, Maine)
01/12/2019 Sacred Heart 1 at No. 19 Yale 3
No. 20 Miami (9-9-4)
01/11/2019 No. 20 Miami 3 at No. 14 Western Michigan 4
01/12/2019 No. 20 Miami 2 at No. 14 Western Michigan 3
RV = Received Votes
