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TMQ: New No. 1 Quinnipiac demonstrates a rare quality: consistency

By Jim Connelly and Paula C. Weston
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Connor Clifton and Quinnipiac are 19-1-3 heading into a Tuesday night game at Maine (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).

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: Quinnipiac has been sitting atop the PairWise Rankings and has had the top RPI for a few weeks now. And Monday, the voters in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll decided it was time for the trifecta as the Bobcats took over the top spot from North Dakota. The fact of the matter is that Quinnipiac, which was idle last weekend, has been the most consistent team in the nation this season.

That Quinnipiac has reached the top spot for the first time this season is impressive. Voters began the season ranking the Bobcats 18th, but all year Quinnipiac has found ways to win games. In fact, the Bobcats are 5-0 in one-goal games this season (they also have three ties). I always think the ability to win the close games is a great characteristic for a successful team. That seems to be what Quinnipiac is building right now.

Paula: The Bobcats seem to have everything they need to control their own destiny right now. They are sixth in the nation in scoring with 3.78 goals per game and every skater who has seen significant playing time has at least a goal. They’re tops in the nation defensively, and as you’ve noted, Jim, senior Michael Garteig (1.41 GAA, .940 save percentage) is making a great argument for the Hobey Baker Award. Their combined special teams is seventh, their win percentage tops the nation and they are getting good play from every single class combined with great leadership from upperclassmen.

And all of this in one of the toughest leagues in the nation. In the past few seasons, ECAC Hockey has experienced a welcome revival and is producing some really exciting hockey.

We’ve talked a lot about parity this season. We’ve talked a lot about perceptions of different leagues, different programs. Consistency, however, is so often elusive at the Division I level, proof of which we’re seeing in mid-January. That the Bobcats have been able to maintain their consistency all season is a sign that they are legitimate contenders for the national championship. Their fate may really be in their own hands.

That consistency bug is something that caught my attention last weekend. After playing fairly consistently through the last month of the first half, Bowling Green is now struggling. The Falcons lost in overtime to Lake Superior State on Jan. 9, then followed that up with a 2-1 loss to Miami on Saturday. After sweeping Merrimack Jan. 8-9, Cornell lost a 1-0 game to Rensselaer on Friday and tied Union 3-3 on Saturday after leading that game 3-0. There are so many programs that cannot find ways to maintain consistency, cannot find ways to win those close games.

Then there is the insanity that is Michigan hockey this season. Five unanswered goals in Sunday’s third period to beat visiting Ohio State 8-6. A 5-5 tie on Friday. Frankly, if you’re giving up 11 goals in a weekend, you shouldn’t be winning — but the Wolverines are.

Jim: I will start with Michigan. That offense is impressive, but let’s remember one thing: Defense wins championships. I have strong concern over the fact that the Wolverines need to tighten up the back end if they will be successful.

But going back to your discussion of parity, I have some concerns. Look at Hockey East, for example. Last weekend was the first time all season that all 12 teams played league games and all were involved in two-game series — some home-and-home, some not. What was shocking was that not a single series was a split. Four were sweeps and two included a tie to give one team a three-point weekend.

To me, that is simply shocking. At least in Hockey East, I feel like the league is beginning to be a group of haves and have-nots. Boston College, Boston University, Providence, Notre Dame and UMass-Lowell seem poised to battle for the four first-round byes. The other seven teams seem poised to battle to be spoilers, maybe get hot down the stretch and be a playoff upset darling.

The Big Ten and ECAC seem positioned to have similar fates.

So I guess as much as we talk about parity, I wonder how much parity will be left in March.

Paula: I agree that what the Wolverines are doing is unsustainable. Their goaltending is improving, but their overall team defense is awful. Their overconfidence in their ability to overcome large deficits will be their undoing down the road. The goaltending in the Big Ten this season is mediocre at best. Michigan can certainly win the league and return to the NCAA tournament, but the Wolverines will be in for a very rude awakening come late March if they can’t defend their end.

I’ve seen Hockey East as haves and have-nots all season, Jim. Perhaps that’s because I’m seeing the league from a distance, or perhaps the league is falling into place along what are some fairly stereotypical lines — or at least along the lines of what people perceive to be the haves and have-nots in the league, in recent years.

What’s happening in the NCHC is interesting. I’m not surprised that Omaha and North Dakota split two games last weekend in spite of UNO’s stumble against Denver on Jan. 8-9. I think that’s another league of the haves and have-nots, with North Dakota and St. Cloud State likely battling in the end for the regular season championship, but Denver appears to have awakened. The Pioneers are 3-0-3 since the first of the year, with a sweep of Omaha and two of those ties against Notre Dame. That league looks to be shaping up to have three tiers, with four middle teams that may make some noise as the season progresses, but two teams that look as though they have little hope of making progress, Miami and Colorado College. Earlier this season, Jim, you expressed your surprise at CC’s plight because the Tigers appear to have a decent team. I am stunned that the RedHawks have only seven wins this season and are 2-8-2 in conference play.

Jim: I think the NCHC is so interesting right now. I agree about it becoming a two-horse race with North Dakota and St. Cloud State, but I also see that conference with some teams that will be exciting to watch in March and April. I think Miami could be a spoiler, that Omaha and Denver are both threats to win the national title and Colorado College has a lot of the components to be a scary postseason team.

Let’s think about it: When it comes to the NCHC, if the last-place team won the conference tournament, would you really be surprised? I look at every other conference standings and don’t think I could make that statement. Even the six-team Big Ten, where the title requires just three wins, I can’t imagine Michigan State or Wisconsin making that run. Can you?

Paula: Nope, I cannot see Michigan State or Wisconsin making that run at the Big Ten championship, nor do I see the last-place teams in other conferences making noise, but you are right about Miami and Colorado College in postseason. I am sure that no coach in the NCHC would want to face either team in the NCHC Final Faceoff, where either could win two games in single elimination.

The NCHC does own the best interconference record among all the leagues, even better than Hockey East and ECAC, two leagues that I admit to perceiving as “better” — whatever that means — than any of the other conferences. I think when it comes to the NCHC, it may be the only conference from which a team near the bottom of the standings at the end of the season can not only win the league’s autobid but advance through the NCAA tournament quite a ways, too.

Thumbs up

To Miami coach Rico Blasi. Or, really, to the person that took this picture.

 

Thumbs down

To the Buckeyes and Wolverines for their brawl at the final buzzer of Sunday’s 8-6 Michigan win in Ann Arbor. It began when the Buckeyes’ Dakota Joshua shoved the Wolverines’ Nicholas Boka from behind in front of the Michigan net as time expired. That brought officials immediately to the spot to attempt to prevent a melee, but Michigan’s Dexter Dancs jumped in, followed by Ohio State’s Miguel Fidler — and then virtually everybody who was on the ice at the time. Wolverines goaltender Steve Racine — steps from the fray — had the good sense to step away from it all.

In the end, a dozen players received penalties at the 20:00 mark of the third period, totaling 94 of the game’s 112 penalty minutes, including game disqualifications for Ohio State’s Joshua and Brendon Kearney and Michigan’s Dancs and Cutler Martin.

[youtube_sc url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiYWxo_0zgM]

Coming up

It’s a fairly light week for games between teams ranked in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

It starts Thursday when No. 1 Quinnipiac hosts No. 16 Rensselaer.

No. 3 Providence and No. 8 UMass-Lowell play a home-and-home series Friday and Saturday, while No. 15 Denver hosts No. 19 Minnesota-Duluth for a pair.

Call interference on prolonged dump-and-chase contact, officials reminded

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A midseason memo tries to clear up some NCAA hockey rules questions (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).

College hockey officials recently got a reminder to call penalties on defenders who don’t immediately release an opponent on a dump-and-chase situation.

In a December conference call for national and conference supervisors of officials, it was mentioned that the standard of enforcement for that kind of interference may be slipping.

A four-page memo from Michigan State coach Tom Anastos, the chair of the NCAA ice hockey rules committee, and Steve Piotrowski, the secretary-rules editor went out earlier this month to clarify the rule on dump-and-chase contact.

The emphasis seems to be on penalizing the delayed contact with a player after he or she sends the puck deep into the zone.

The memo read, in part:

The committee’s consensus is that defenders should be allowed to engage/bump/contact an attacking player “immediately” after the puck is released on a dump in, but players are expected to release the attacker and pursue the puck or retreat following this initial contact. The same standard would be applied regardless of whether or not the attacking player was knocked down. However, it ultimately was decided that the “immediacy” of the contact continues to be a determination made by the officials on a case-by-case basis.

Therefore, as a reminder, immediate contact may be made against the attacking player who dumps the puck past a defender. The defender is obligated to release immediately so as not to be guilty of interference. The standard is no longer two seconds or two strides after releasing the puck. It should be noted that allowing offensive players more freedom here must not be taken as license to create collisions at higher speed.

We’ll see whether that results in more interference penalties in the final two-plus months of the season.

The midseason memo also addressed:

• When a whistle should blow and where a faceoff should take place when a puck is deliberately batted with the hand or a high stick into a goaltender.

• Helmet safety.

• Assessing a penalty when the offending player can’t be identified.

• And procedures for teams leaving the ice after a period.

Check out the full explanations for those here.

Vermont coach Sneddon suspended one game by Hockey East for ‘inappropriate behavior directed towards game officials’

USCHO Staff Report
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Hockey East has suspended Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon for one game as a result of inappropriate behavior directed towards game officials in the Jan. 16 home game against Providence.

“Coach Sneddon has admitted that he lost his composure on the bench,” said Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna in a statement. “He has accepted full responsibility for his actions and has already offered a formal apology to the on-ice officials.”

Sneddon will miss the Catamounts’ next game at Connecticut on Jan. 22. He will be able to return to the bench on Saturday evening when the Catamounts visit Massachusetts.

Yale, Dartmouth streaking; North Country teams headed in different directions

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While neighboring Quinnipiac has been in the spotlight for its 19-1-3 start, Yale has been on an impressive run of its own over the last month.

A sweep of travel partner Brown last weekend pushed the Bulldogs record to 5-0-1 since Dec. 11.

It wasn’t an easy weekend for Yale, however. The Bulldogs trailed 1-0 early on Friday against the Bears and were outplayed for stretches of the game. Yale was bailed out thanks to a season-high 34 saves from goalie Alex Lyon. It was another close game on Saturday, as Ted Hart scored in overtime to give Yale a 2-1 win.

It was a relatively quiet weekend for the officials in the series, as there were a combined four penalties called in both games, including only one (against Brown) in Friday’s game. That’s not surprising given that the Bears (60th) and the Bulldogs (59th) are each currently ranked in the bottom of Division I in terms of penalties minutes per game.

“That’s discipline and respect for the game,” said Yale freshman JM Piotrowski of the Bulldog’s low penalty total. Piotrowski’s first collegiate goal on Friday was the game winner against Brown, and came after Cody Learned forced a turnover in the Bears zone.

“You finish every hit but you don’t go over the line. For example [Friday] Cody makes a big hit and separates the guy from the puck and I’m able to go in and have a scoring chance.”

Friday’s game was the first time since early November that Yale forward Mike Doherty was in the lineup. The junior led the team in goals last season, and is averaging just under a point a game this year. While coach Keith Allain said the Bulldogs aren’t entirely healthy yet, Doherty’s return adds some needed depth to the team down the stretch.

North Country Teams heading in different directions

St. Lawrence was a force in the second half last year, only losing four regular season games in January and February. The Saints have already surpassed that number in the last ten days, as losses at Harvard and Dartmouth pushed St. Lawrence’s losing skid to five, dating to Jan. 8.

The good news for St. Lawrence is that it only has two more weekends on the road over the last month-and-half of the season. SLU hosts Brown and Yale this weekend.

As for Clarkson, the Golden Knights beat Harvard 5-1 Saturday after a loss to Dartmouth Friday. Saturday’s win was the second conference win for Clarkson after not winning a league game for the first three months of the season. Overall, the Golden Knights are 3-1 since a five-game losing streak that spanned December and January.

Big Green Streaking

Dartmouth’s impressive run in 2016 continued this weekend, as the Big Green swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence at home to move to 5-1 since the start of January.

It took some time for Dartmouth to come together, but the recent stretch has pushed the Big Green to .500 overall and in ECAC play as well. The team is also currently tied for 19th in the PairWise.

Senior Charles Grant continued his strong play with 62 saves over the weekend, while senior forward Jack Barre in second in the league in points since the start of January, only trailing Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey.

 

No splits from a full weekend of Hockey East play

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These are the three things I think I learned this week.

1. It was great to see the first full weekend of Hockey East play.

Hey, I like the prime nonconference games as much as the next guy. But it was great to see the first full slate of six league games on Friday and another six on Saturday.

We’ll have another full slate this upcoming weekend before the Beanpot interrupts that for a couple weeks. The next six-for-six on back-to-back nights will be the weekend of Feb. 12-13.

And the results of this past weekend’s six series all meant a lot. There wasn’t a single split in the bunch.

2. Four teams swept.

Three of them — Massachusetts-Lowell, Notre Dame and Providence — are jostling for position at the top of the standings; one team, Northeastern, used its sweep to escape the cellar.

With the sweep, Lowell maintained its position at the top of the standings in terms of total points, albeit while still conceding games in hand to every other league team.

Notre Dame and Providence kept pace, remaining in striking range. Both will leapfrog the River Hawks if they cash in their extra games.

And while it might be tempting to consider Northeastern’s sweep of minimal importance since those two wins were the Huskies’ first two in league play, they arguably swept the top opponent of the four. Combined with last weekend’s road sweep of nationally ranked St. Lawrence, the Huskies are now playing like many of us thought they’d play all year.

3. At the other end of the spectrum, four teams got swept and one of the other two suffered almost as bad a fate.

We’re giving Boston University a partial pass since its single point against BC isn’t the end of the world. When Top 10 opponents are involved, that’ll happen.

But Maine’s singleton came against Connecticut with both games at home, and also dropped the Black Bears into last place. A point is a point, but still….

As for the teams that got swept — New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Merrimack and Vermont — one can argue that UNH fell the hardest. The Wildcats had the best opportunity of them all to move into the top of the middle tier of teams and were facing the Huskies, admittedly hot but still 0-8-3 in Hockey East games.

So a particularly tough weekend for UNH, but try telling that to the other three sweep-ees.

Three things: More overtime, but ground gained?

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1. Tech beats MSU (finally), and gains some ground

For once, a key WCHA series this weekend didn’t end in a split. Michigan Tech took three of four points from conference leaders Minnesota State in a (very snowy) Houghton on Friday and Saturday. Despite the crazy lake-effect snow on Saturday night, 3,153 people saw the Huskies beat the Mavericks 3-1 — their first win over the MSU since the 2011-12 season. That snapped a 10-game winless streak (which included Friday night’s 2-2 tie) and ultimately pulled the Huskies into a a tie for second place with idle (in the conference) Bowling Green.

2. Nonconference struggles continue

Speaking of Bowling Green, the Falcons once again lost in nonconference play — this time falling to instate rivals Miami 2-1. The RedHawks scored with two seconds left in the game to earn the win in Oxford. The loss gives BG an 0-3 record against NCHC foes and moves them to 4-4-1 overall in nonconference play. It’s one area where the league has struggled — overall conference teams are 23-28-9 out of the league, including a dismal 2-15-2 against the NCHC. The only two teams to beat NCHC foes so far are Bemidji State (over Minnesota Duluth) and Alabama Huntsville (which split with Colorado College). It’s part of the reason why there’s only one WCHA team (MSU) in the top 20 of the Pairwise rankings so far. And it’s getting to the point where opportunities for nonconference wins (and chances to improve PRW rankings) are going to be scarce. On a more positive n0te, Bemidji State swept Arizona State, which should help a little — especially since the conference’s PWR took a hit when the Sun Devils swept Lake Superior State on the road, and also beat Alaska earlier this season.

3. More splits (shocking, right?)

Aside from Tech taking three points from MSU, two conference series ended in splits: Alaska at Northern Michigan and Alaska Anchorage at Lake Superior State. In Marquette, the Nanooks beat the Wildcats 3-2 (in overtime, because of course) on Friday before NMU won 5-3 on Saturday. In Sault Ste. Marie, the Lakers ended up with a 4-2 win in Saturday before the Seawolves took Sunday’s game 3-1.

And finally, one more result of note: Ferris State has yet to sweep or be swept, and the Bulldogs continued that streak this week, when they took three points from Huntsville. The Bulldogs and Chargers tied 3-3 on Friday but the Bulldogs won 4-1 on Saturday.

Weekend wrap: Jan. 17

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United States wins Under-18 Championship
Connecticut signee Natalie Snodgrass’ second goal of the game 1:47 into overtime gave the U.S. a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Canada and its second straight gold medal.

Leads solidified
In all four leagues, the team that entered the weekend leading the conference maintained the advantage. Although the gap to the nearest pursuer didn’t increase, crossing a week off the remaining schedule and maintaining the status quo is always a good thing.

Quinnipiac gets help
In a week where the ECAC leader played a nonconference series while others cashed in some games in hand, the No. 4 Bobcats were able to maintain their margin when Harvard had a pointless weekend. Meanwhile, Quinnipiac swept visiting Robert Morris, 3-2 and 2-0.

Friday’s game wasn’t actually as close as the final score, as the hosts built a three-goal lead after two periods on goals from Nicole Kosta, Lindsey West, and Meghan Turner, and the Colonials didn’t get back within one until Rikki Meilleur’s extra-attacker goal with under eight seconds left. Natalie Fraser scored the other goal for the visitors, who got two assists from Amber Rennie. Taylar Cianfarano contributed a pair of helpers for the Bobcats.

Saturday, Sydney Rossman saved all 14 shots to record her 11th shutout of the season, tying her once more for the national lead. The game was scoreless until Nicole Connery tallied 3:03 into the third period. Cianfarano sealed the win with an empty-netter. Nicole Brown assisted on both. Jessica Dodds was a hard-luck loser, despite stopping 25 of 26 shots.

Mercyhurst gets split
A day after Syracuse shut out Mercyhurst, 2-0, to forge a tie atop the CHA, the Lakers reclaimed the solo lead with a 3-1 victory.

On Friday, the Orange scored twice from the blue paint. Nicole Ferrara swatted home a power-play rebound in the second period, and Emily Costales swung a puck around the goaltender a third of the way through the final frame. The Lakers were held to 16 shots, and Jenn Gilligan handled all of those.

Mercyhurst struck early on Saturday when Paige Horton and Jenna Dingeldein converted power-play opportunities in the opening stanza. Rachel Smith made it 3-0, and goalie Sarah McDonnell did the rest, yielding only a goal by Ferrara out of the 40 shots she faced.

Another Eagle reaches milestone
Haley Skarupa’s 100th goal at Boston College highlighted the No. 1 team’s sweep of Merrimack to run its perfect start to 23 games. She reached the century mark at 7:01 of the third period in Saturday’s game, her second goal of the game, and she also had two assists. Alex Carpenter matched her four points with a goal and three helpers. Makenna Newkirk scored twice. Gabriella Switaj gained the 6-0 shutout with eight saves.

The home-and-home series began on Friday at Merrimack, where Samantha Ridgewell made 52 saves to limit BC to goals from defensemen Toni Ann Miano and Megan Keller. Katie Burt backstopped the 10-save shutout as the Eagles won, 2-0.

Wisconsin heats up
As the temperatures fell in Bemidji, No. 2 Wisconsin’s offense started to heat up. Jenny Ryan’s tally in the final minute of the first period was the game’s only goal as the Badgers shut out No. 6 Bemidji State, 1-0, on Friday. Ann-Renée Desbiens’ shutout was her 11th of the season and the 28th of her career.

The Badgers completed the sweep in far different fashion, scoring a trio of goals in each of the first two periods and rolling over BSU, 7-1. Sarah Nurse and Emily Clark each netted a pair of tallies. There was only 2:06 remaining when Kristin Huber became the only Beaver to get a puck by Desbiens in four games played by the teams.

Dynamic first line
No ranked team was busier than No. 7 Northeastern, and the Huskies won three times to run their winning streak to nine games. The top line of Kendall Coyne, Hayley Scamurra, and Denisa Krížová dominated the score sheet, combining for 30 points on the week.

Coyne was involved in every goal, scoring twice and assisting on the other three, in Northeastern’s 5-1 defeat of Providence. Scamurra added a goal with three assists and Krížová potted two plus a helper.

Krížová had a hat trick with two assists as the Huskies blew out Maine, 8-1. Coyne was held without a goal, but made up for it with five helpers. She had two goals on Sunday as Northeastern completed the sweep of Maine, 5-2. Scamurra had a goal and two assists. Audra Richards scored in both games for the Black Bears.

Moving up
A week after falling out of the rankings, Colgate made a push to get back in as it climbed the ECAC standings.

The Raiders scored three unanswered goals in the second period in a come-from-behind win over Cornell, 4-3. Shae Labbe’s power-play goal, the third of the game for Colgate, midway through the game was the deciding shot. Kaitlin Doering scored twice for the Big Red.

Bailey Larson led all scorers with three assists as the Raiders downed Brown, 6-2. Breanne Wilson-Bennett, Annika Zalewski, Labbe, and Cat Quirion had two-point games.

Megan Sullivan scored the winning goal with 93 seconds left to lift Colgate over Yale, 4-3. She and Zalewski finished with a goal and an assist.

Julia Vandyk earned all three wins to up her record to 9-0-2 on the season.

How the rest of the top 10 fared
Minnesota State extended No. 3 Minnesota to the limit, but the Gophers came away with one-goal wins both days. Kelly Pannek, Dani Cameranesi, and Megan Wolfe all had a goal and an assist as Minnesota built a three-goal lead and won, 3-2, on Saturday, when Anna Keys and Lindsey Coleman scored in a late rally that fell short by the Mavericks. Hannah Davidson’s early goal and 48 saves by Brianna Quade had MSU poised for the upset on Sunday, but Pannek assisted on third-period goals by Lee Stecklein and Wolfe as the Gophers squeezed out a 2-1 win.

No. 5 Clarkson won twice on home ice, starting with a 1-0 defeat of Dartmouth. Shea Tiley’s 22 saves made Loren Gabel’s goal 78 seconds into the game stand up as the winner. Robyn Chemago stopped 41 shots for the Big Green. The Golden Knights scored four unanswered goals over the final 23:03 to top No. 8 Harvard, 5-2. Geneviève Bannon and Rhyen McGill had a goal and an assist for Clarkson.

The Crimson also fell at St. Lawrence, 2-0. Amanda McClure and Hannah Miller scored first-period goals, and Grace Harrison earned her first shutout with 24 saves.

No. 9 North Dakota came home from Minnesota-Duluth with a sweep. The Fighting Hawks won, 2-1, on Friday thanks to goals from Samantha Hanson and Amy Menke and 21 saves from Shelby Amsley-Benzie, who allowed only an extra-attacker goal by Sidney Morin. Gracen Hirschy’s goal in the final minute of overtime gave UND a 4-3 triumph. The Bulldogs, who got 44 saves from Maddie Rooney, rallied behind third-period goals from Morin and Demi Crossman, the latter an extra-attacker effort with 22 seconds left in regulation.

Other action
St. Cloud State traveled to Ohio State and swept the Buckeyes by identical 2-1 verdicts. Katie Fitzgerald made 60 saves in the series, and Julia Tylke scored the winning goal both days.

Syracuse blanked Union, 4-0. Jenn Gilligan made 20 saves, and Alysha Burriss had a goal and an assist.

Laura Bowman scored a minute into overtime in Penn State’s 3-2 win at RIT to salvage a split. The Tigers took the opener, 3-0, keyed by 33 saves from Jetta Rackleff.

Dartmouth and St. Lawrence skated to a 2-2 draw, breaking a 10-game losing streak for the Big Green. Both Chemago and Harrison made 32 saves, and the Saints’ Justine Reyes scored the tying goal at 8:58 of the third period.

Brown and Cornell also tied, 2-2, on Saturday. Monica Elvin made 46 saves and sophomore Cynthia Kyin’s first goal as a Bear gained them the point.

A day earlier, Cornell outlasted Yale, 6-4. The Big Red got off to three-goal lead 14:30 into the game, and the Bulldogs tied it with a three-goal second period. Cornell won when Jess Brown scored twice late to complete her hat trick. Pippy Gerace had a pair of goals for the Big Red.

Rensselaer swept Union, 2-0 and 3-0. Laura Horwood scored in both games and Lovisa Selander was flawless in stopping 61 shots on the weekend.

Boston University and Vermont played to a 3-3 deadlock on Saturday. Taylor Willard’s second goal of the game with 2:22 to go gained the Catamounts a point. Freshman Sammy Davis netted her first hat trick to help the Terriers to a 6-2 win in the rematch. Samantha Sutherland added a goal with two helpers.

Connecticut took three of four points in a home-and-home series with Providence. Christina Putigna’s third-period goal for the Friars answered an early tally from Theresa Knutson in a 1-1 tie. Knutson came back with a natural hat trick to give the Huskies a 5-2 win on Sunday.

Weekend wrap: Jan. 17

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With just about five weeks left until the end of the regular season, every game now takes on a whole new meaning as teams begin to jockey for position in conference standings and contenders start to separate themselves from pretenders.

There was a lot of that last weekend in the women’s Division III docket.

Top-ranked Plattsbugh put up 18 goals on William Smith in a two-game sweep by scores of 9-0 Friday and 9-1 Saturday.

In the opener, Kayla Meneghin and Giovanna Senese each recorded two goals and three assists, Melissa Sheeran two goals and two assists, and Erin Brand a pair of goals for the Cardinals as Camille Leonard made 12 saves for the shutout. On Saturday, Jordan Lipson posted two goals and an assist, Melissa Ames two goals, Sheeran a goal plus two helpers and Julia Duquette and Meneghin added a goal and an assist. Kassi Abbott needed to make just eight saves for the shutout.

No doubt the Cardinals remain atop the USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll come Monday afternoon.

No. 2 Elmira also earned a sweep, beating Neumann 6-2 and 8-0 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Louisa Lippiatt Durnell tallied two goals and an assist in the first win, while Kyle Nelson stopped all seven shots Sunday and Kristin Chivers scored two goals for Elmira. Rachel Grampp and McKenna Farole added a goal and two assists apiece.

Third-ranked Adrian swept Concordia (Wis.), escaping with a 4-3 win Friday before taking a 7-1 win Saturday.

Brooke Lupi had a hat trick Friday for the Bulldogs, while Christina Pattengale was sharp, making 38 saves in goal for Concordia. Saturday afternoon, Lexi Holman’s goal at 19:04 of the third period broke up Brooke Gibson’s shutout bid, but she still finished with 14 saves. Lupi with two goals and two assists, Kaylyn Schroka with two goals and three assists, and Kristin Lewicki with two goals and an assist led the Adrian offense.

Another sweep saw No. 4 St. Thomas take both from St. Mary’s in a home-and-home series.

Saturday, UST scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 win and then Sunday, Mackenzie Torpy made 20 saves for the win. Frani Marshall played the final 7:51 and stopped both shots she faced. Hannah Burns scored two goals for the Tommies and Kathryn Larson added a goal and two assists.

Lake Forest went into the weekend ranked fifth and will no doubt maintain that spot after winning two close games on the road at St. Scholastica, 2-1 Friday and 3-1 Saturday.

Friday, national goal-scoring leader Michelle Greeneway scored both, including the game-winner at 15:40 of the third period. Allie Carter made 19 saves for LFC and Lindsey Hartfiel also stopped 19 for the Saints. Saturday, Olivia Spellmire’s short-handed goal at 11:20 of the third stood as the winning tally. Carter made 15 saves and Hartfiel stopped 30.

No. 6 Amherst stumbled a bit at Bowdoin, losing 3-2 Friday, but regrouped for a 3-1 victory Saturday.

Ariana Bourque’s goal with seven seconds left Friday earned Bowdoin the shocking win after Eileen Harris had tied the game for Amherst at 17:38. In Saturday’s contest, Julie Dachille started the scoring for Bowdoin, but Amherst scored the next three to gain the split.

Seventh-ranked Middlebury beat both Utica and Endicott over the weekend. Katarina Shuchuk’s first goal of the season late in the second period proved to be the winner in a 2-1 win over Utica Friday and in the second game, Marisa Dreher pitched a 12-save shutout. Vendela Jonsson made 48 saves for Endicott. Katherine Jackson fired home two goals for the Panthers and Maddie Winslow added a goal and a pair of assists.

Wisconsin-River Falls, ranked eighth, did not play over the weekend, but did play two weeknight games last week, topping St. Scholastica 7-5 Tuesday and St. Benedict 11-1 on Wednesday.

No. 10 Castleton upended No. 9 Norwich 1-0 on Saturday night with Ashley Pelkey netting the lone goal of the game at 13:49 of the second period. Spartans’ goalie Jess Cameron made 39 saves in the win. Laurie King turned aside 23 for Norwich.

Norwich previously beat St. Anselm 3-2 Friday, as Erin Joyce’s second goal of the game 10:33 into the third period stood as the winner. Celsete Robert kicked out 31 shots for the win in net.

Castleton began the weekend with a 4-1 win against Plymouth State on Friday. Aimee Briand tallied two goals and an assist for the Spartans and Taylor Steadman chipped in a goal and an assist.

All in all, look for the poll to stay the same Monday, save for a possible Norwich-Castleton flip.

Extra sessions and last-minute heroics

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Last-minute heroics
A couple of NCHC teams had last-minute heroics lead to favorable outcomes.

Western Michigan traveled to Denver to face the Pioneers. On Friday, the Broncos trailed 4-2 with under three minutes left when they got a power play. Coach Andy Murray pulled his goaltender for a six-on-four, and got a goal from Sheldon Dries at 18:11 to pull within one. The Broncos then had a few chances to get the tying goal, but Tanner Jaillet stood strong, and Matt Marcinew added an empty-netter at 19:34 to seal the win.

In the rematch Saturday, Marcinew scored a power-play goal at 9:43 of the third to put Denver up 2-0, but just 26 seconds later, Colt Conrad answered, making things tight down the stretch. Murray again pulled Hafner, and again the ploy worked, as Frederik Tiffels scored with just 20 seconds left in the game. After just missing on a shot that trickled wide that would have given the Broncos an outright win in the first overtime, Taylor Fleming scored on a surprise shot to give Western an extra point for winning the three-on-three overtime.

Miami also needed last minute heroics Saturday to beat No. 16 Bowling Green. After giving up a goal in the first period, Alex Gacek tied the game in the second period for Miami, and then Anthony Louis scored the game-winner with just two seconds left in the game on a one-time blast from the left faceoff circle.

Extra sessions
Denver and Western Michigan weren’t the only teams to play an extra session this weekend. St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth went the distance on Saturday in their rematch. Dominic Toninato gave Duluth a 1-0 lead in the first period, and then St. Cloud’s Joey Benik tied it in the second, getting his 100th career point in the process. The first five-minute overtime couldn’t decide anything, as Charlie Lindgren made three saves for St. Cloud and Kasimir Kaskisuo made two saves for Duluth. St. Cloud won the three-on-three session on a goal from Patrick Russell, getting St. Cloud the extra point in the standings. Lindgren made a season-high 38 saves, and St. Cloud is now in sole possession of first place in the NCHC, leading North Dakota by two points, though North Dakota has two games in hand.

St. Cloud also beat Duluth on Friday, 3-1, behind 28 saves from Lindgren and goals from Mikey Eyssimont, Kalle Kossila, and Blake Winiecki. Kossila is tied for 10th in scoring nationally with 28 points, and is third among NCHC players, trailing Drake Caggiula of North Dakota (30 points) and Omaha’s Jake Guentzel (32 points). St. Cloud’s offense is fourth nationally, as its power play.

The other extra session on the weekend is what allowed St. Cloud to pass North Dakota. Omaha rebounded from getting swept by Denver last weekend to beat North Dakota on Friday, 4-3 in OT. Rhett Gardner gave North Dakota an early lead with a power-play goal at 5:57 of the first, but Omaha’s Jake Guentzel answered at 15:31.

The second period featured early and late goals from Omaha. Ian Brady scored at 1:56 to give Omaha the 2-1 lead, but Troy Stecher answered at 16:08. Then Jake Randolph barely beat the buzzer, scoring at 19:59 to send Omaha into the third period with a 3-2 lead. Brock Boeser scored a power-play goal at 13:24 of the third to tie it, but Austin Ortega scored the game-winner in OT at 2:29.

Splits
North Dakota got the split with a convincing 5-1 win on Saturday, getting goals from five different players. Just as Omaha had used a late goal to spark a win on Friday, North Dakota used a late goal to get momentum. After Omaha took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Tyler Vesel on a power play at 17:55, Caggiula answered with a power-play goal at 19:53 to tie the game. Coltyn Sanderson then scored the game-winner at 3:33 of the second period, and Boeser gave North Dakota the two-goal lead with a goal at 6:08. Cam Johnson made 28 saves in the win.

Rankings roundup: How ranked teams fared, Jan. 11-17

USCHO Staff Report
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Miles Wood (center) and No. 4 Boston College earned three points against Doyle Somerby, Sean Maguire and No. 10 Boston University (photo: Melissa Wade).

Here’s how the teams ranked in the Jan. 11, 2016, USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll fared between Jan. 11 and Jan. 17:

RANK LAST WEEK’S RESULTS RECORD THIS WEEK’S GAMES
1
North Dakota		 Friday: lost to No. 9 Omaha 4-3 (OT)
Saturday: beat No. 9 Omaha 5-1		 19-3-2 Friday-Saturday: vs. Colorado College
2
Quinnipiac		 Off 19-1-3 Tuesday: at Maine
Thursday: vs. Rensselaer
3
Providence		 Friday: won at Vermont 3-1
Saturday: won at Vermont 6-3		 15-3-4 Friday: vs. UMass-Lowell
Saturday: at UMass-Lowell
4
Boston College		 Friday: beat No. 10 Boston University 5-3
Saturday: tied at No. 10 Boston University 1-1		 15-4-3 Friday: at Massachusetts
Saturday: vs. Connecticut
5
St. Cloud State		 Friday: won at No. 17 Minnesota-Duluth 3-1
Saturday: tied at No. 17 Minnesota-Duluth 1-1		 18-5-1 Friday-Saturday: vs. Western Michigan
6
Michigan		 Friday: tied at Ohio State 5-5
Sunday: beat Ohio State 8-6		 14-3-4 Thursday: vs. U.S. Under-18 Team (ex)
7
Harvard		 Friday: beat No. 18 St. Lawrence 3-2
Saturday: lost to Clarkson 5-1		 9-4-3 Friday: at Colgate
Saturday: at Cornell
8
Cornell		 Friday: lost at No. 20 Rensselaer 1-0
Saturday: tied at Union 3-3		 11-3-3 Friday: vs. Dartmouth
Saturday: vs. Harvard
9
Omaha		 Friday: won at No. 1 North Dakota 4-3 (OT)
Saturday: lost at No. 1 North Dakota 5-1		 15-6-1 Friday-Saturday: vs. Miami
10
Boston University		 Friday: lost at No. 4 Boston College 5-3
Saturday: tied No. 4 Boston College 1-1		 11-7-4 Friday: at Maine
Saturday: vs. Maine
11
UMass-Lowell		 Friday: won at Massachusetts 4-1
Saturday: won at Massachusetts 5-0		 14-4-4 Friday: at Providence
Saturday: vs. Providence
12
Yale		 Friday: beat Brown 3-2
Saturday: won at Brown 2-1 (OT)		 10-4-3 Friday: at Clarkson
Saturday: at St. Lawrence
13
Notre Dame		 Friday: beat Merrimack 7-2
Saturday: beat Merrimack 5-1		 12-4-7 Friday-Saturday: at New Hampshire
14
Denver		 Friday: beat Western Michigan 5-3
Saturday: tied Western Michigan 2-2		 10-7-5 Friday-Saturday: vs. Minnesota-Duluth
15
Penn State		 Friday: beat Wisconsin 4-3 (OT)
Saturday: beat Wisconsin 4-1		 15-4-3 Friday-Saturday: at Ohio State
16
Bowling Green		 Saturday: lost at Miami 2-1 13-7-5 Thursday-Friday: vs. Alaska-Anchorage
17
Minnesota-Duluth		 Friday: lost to No. 5 St. Cloud State 3-1
Saturday: tied No. 5 St. Cloud State 1-1		 8-8-5 Friday-Saturday: at Denver
18
St. Lawrence		 Tuesday: lost at Clarkson 3-1
Friday: lost at No. 7 Harvard 3-2
Saturday: lost at Dartmouth 4-2		 10-10-2 Friday: vs. Brown
Saturday: vs. Yale
19
Minnesota State		 Friday: tied at Michigan Tech 2-2
Saturday: lost at Michigan Tech 3-1		 11-8-5 Friday-Saturday: vs. Lake Superior State
20
Rensselaer		 Friday: beat No. 8 Cornell 1-0
Saturday: tied Colgate 2-2		 12-7-5 Thursday: at Quinnipiac
Saturday: vs. Union

Weekend wrap: Jan. 17

By Tim Costello & Brian Lester
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Trevor Fleurent scored the overtime winner Friday for the University of New England to upset Norwich and keep the Nor’easters unbeaten in their last 10 games, including six wins in a row that have vaulted them into fourth place in the NEHC standings. (photo: David Bates/Fotografix Studio).

So we are already halfway through January and the conference competition is heating up with many leaders are being challenged by teams looking to make their presence known.

Nonconference games, while not worth points in the standings, are important in building a resume for national consideration, but more importantly, building a level of consistency that will help any team compete for conference glory over the final weeks of the season.

Upsets abounded again this week and the biscuit winners really earned their recognition.

Here is the East recap:

ECAC Northeast
Four different goal scorers and 25 saves from Kevin Aldridge moved Endicott closer to league leader Nichols, who dropped their first game in conference play to Suffolk by a 5-2 score. Justin Selep scored two goals, including one shorthanded, to back senior Brandon Smolarek’s 32 saves in moving Suffolk into a tie at the top on points, while the Bison have a game in hand on the Rams.

Becker’s Nicholas McKee scored the game winning goal just 33 seconds after Kyle Lebrun had tied the game for Wentworth early in the third period. Tyler Stepke made the lead stand up with 14 third period saves.

ECAC West
Hobart and Elmira joined ECAC Northeast schools Salve Regina and Curry in the first Vineyard Classic played on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Hobart took the title by downing Curry in the opening round by a score of 4-2 before downing Salve Regina in the championship game by a 2-1 score. The Seahawks earned the place in the final by downing Elmira 3-1. Special teams and goaltending owned the first two periods of the final before Vincent Russo’s goal with just under three minutes in regulation provided the winner for the Statesmen by a 2-1 score.

In a nonconference game that saw a total of 86 shots on goal, Mike Davis set up linemate Jory Mullin before he scored his second of the game for Neumann with just over two minutes remaining in regulation to earn a hard fought 5-5 tie with Geneseo.

MASCAC
Plymouth State earned a 4-2 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Thursday, but stumbled on Saturday to a Salem State team that is hot on their trail for the top spot in the conference standings. The Vikings outshot PSU by a 41-28 margin and broke open a tie game with three unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes for the win.

Westfield State dropped four important points with a 10-4 loss to visiting Fitchburg State before losing to UMD on Saturday by a 4-2 score. Cameron Snyder finished with six points for the Falcons as they scored nine times in the first two periods of play against the Owls. Linemates John Celli and Nat Rojas chipped in with five and four points, respectively, as the big line combined for four goals and 15 points.

NE-10
In one of the wilder games of the weekend, Morrisville won a 7-6 overtime battle with Southern New Hampshire that saw the home team rally from 5-0 and 6-2 deficits in the third period to force overtime where Danny Liscio scored the winner for the Mustangs. Darren Young was the offensive star with four goals in the game, which also were his first four goals on the season.

NEHC
As is often the case, the travel partner games between Babson and Massachusetts-Boston usually find the visitor taking the win on each of the two nights. This year was no different as Babson handed the Beacons their first loss in conference play with a 3-2 win at the Clark Center on Friday night. Saturday saw the Beacons return the favor with a 4-1 win led by two goals from Colin Larkin.

UNE had another four-point weekend, including an overtime upset of Norwich at Kreitzberg Arena by a score of 4-3. The Nor’easters rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force the extra session where Trevor Fleurent won it with under a minute remaining in overtime. UNE followed the big win up with a 4-1 over St. Michael’s, while Norwich had to go to overtime for a second game in a row where they eked out a 1-0 win over Southern Maine.

Another crazy game on the weekend saw Skidmore’s Anthony Bird score the game tying goal with the extra attacker on the ice and just half a second left on the clock in a 6-6 tie with New England College.

NESCAC
Trinity took an important four points in conference play by downing Colby 4-3 and Bowdoin 3-1. Ethan Holdaway and Ryan Cole potted two goals each on the weekend for the Bantams.

Amherst broke back into the win column with a 4-2 win over Tufts where four different players scored goals for the Lord Jeffs.

Wesleyan picked up a pair of points with yet another pair of ties, giving them a total of seven ties on the season. The Cardinals rallied from two goals down to tie Bowdoin 3-3 behind three points from James Kline and scored an extra-attacker goal on Saturday with just 46 seconds remaining to tie Colby 2-2.

SUNYAC
Third-ranked Plattsburgh made a road trip through NESCAC for a pair of nonconference games against Middlebury and Williams. Friday saw the Cardinals’ Michael Radisa score twice to break open a scoreless tie in a 3-0 win. On Saturday, Plattsburgh outshoot Williams by a 45-10 margin, including 19-1 in the first period, but they could not get enough past the Ephs’ Michael Pinios, who made 43 saves and got some help from David Italiano, who scored twice for the home team, including the game winner less than one minute into overtime.

Weekend Biscuits
Michael Pinios, Williams – the Ephs’ goaltender stood up to an offensive barrage from Plattsburgh by making 43 saves, including 18 in the first period where his team was outshot 19-1 to keep them in the game. Williams rallied for a 3-2 overtime win.

Cameron Snyder, Fitchburg State – the forward led his line with two goals and four assists for six points in the Falcons 10-4 win over Westfield State on Thursday night. Snyder’s line finished the game with a 4-11-15 line in the boxscore.

Darren Young, Morrisville – the forward broke into the goal scoring column in a big way netting his first four goals on the season in a 7-6 win for the Mustangs over Southern New Hampshire.

WEST WRAP – Brian Lester

MIAC

In one of the biggest games of the weekend, St. Thomas knocked off nationally ranked Eau Claire 2-0 to make a statement in the non-conference showdown. It marked the first time all season the seventh-ranked Blugolds have been kept off the scoreboard. Joe Morris stopped all 36 of the shots he faced en route to the win. The Tommies capitalized on a pair of power play goals to earn the victory. Willie Faust scored one in the first period and Joakim Broberg scored one in the second. St. Thomas improved to 9-6-2 on the year while Eau Claire fell to 11-4-2 … St. John’s earned a split in its weekend series with St. Olaf, winning 7-2 Saturday. The Johnnies fell 4-2 to the Oles Friday. St. John’s scored five third-period goals en route to the win in the series finale. Daniel Tripicchio dished out a career-best three assists. Kevin Becker and Huba Sekesi each came through with a goal and an assist. The goal was the sixth of the year for Sekesi. Saxton Soley made 19 saves and is now 4-9-2 on the year. The win was the 42nd of his career. He ranks third all-time in school history in wins. In the 4-2 loss Friday, Nick Marsh scored twice for the Oles. Ole Stetsaas also scored twice for St. Olaf. Connor Kelly and Sean Lang both scored for the Johnnies … Bethel came through with a 6-2 win over Wisconsin-Superior Saturday to end its five-game winless streak. The Royals raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Travis Payne fueled the early attack as he scored three first-period goals en route to the hat trick. It caps off a big week where he scored a total of six goals, with five coming in the first period of play. Jesse Garcia made 33 saves for the Royals to earn his second win of the year. The win for Bethel was its second of the season as it improves to 2-10-2.

St. Scholastica and goaltender Tyler Bruggeman shut out MSOE last Friday night (photo: St. Scholastica Athletics).

NCHA

Adrian continued its dominance of the NCHA as it swept Lake Forest over the weekend. The Bulldogs topped the Foresters 5-1 Friday and finished off the sweep with an 8-3 win. Mathew Thompson came through with a hat trick Saturday, scoring two of his three goals during a five-goal second period. The second-ranked Bulldogs own the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at any level of college hockey, getting through their last 15 games without a loss. They are 14-1-1 overall and 10-1-1 in the NCHA. Thompson also dished out an assist in the win. Dillon Kelley made his second career start in goal for the Bulldogs and racked up 25 saves. It’s a new career-high for the sophomore goaltender. Thompson scored a goal and dished out two assists in Friday’s victory. Tyler Parks won his fourth game in goal, making a season-best 32 saves. The stage is now set for a showdown with top-ranked St. Norbert this coming weekend. Both games will be played in Wisconsin … The Milwaukee School of Engineering salvaged a split in its weekend series with St. Scholastica, winning 3-2 Saturday. An empty-net goal by Clint Garris in the third period served as the game-winner for the Raiders, who are now 10-5- overall and 5-5 in the conference. Nick LaRue and Omar Mullan also scored goals for the Raiders. The Saints came through with a 2-0 win over the Raiders in the opening game of the series. Tyler Bruggeman got the shutout as he racked up 20 saves. It was his eighth win of the year. Keegan Bruce and Derek Sutliffe both scored goals for the Saints, who improved to 9-3-1 overall and 7-2 in the conference … Top-ranked St. Norbert blasted Finlandia 7-1 and 8-0 to complete a weekend sweep in NCHA action. Pijus Rulevicius scored twice for the Green Knights Saturday, pushing his goal total to nine for the season. Nick LeSage also scored a pair of goals Saturday. St. Norbert is 13-1-1 overall and 9-1 in the conference. The Green Knights are unbeaten in their last 13 games. They have won five consecutive games.

WIAC

Wisconsin-River Falls skated to a 3-0 win over Gustavus Adolphus Saturday in a nonconference game. The Falcons improved to 11-4-3 on the year. Joe Drapluk, Christian George and Kyle Gattelaro all scored goals for River Falls. George tallied an assist on the goal by Gattelaro. Tanner Milliron was again impressive as he made 18 saves to nail down the shutout win. He is now 9-4-3 on the season. He has come up with two shutout wins in the last three games. The Falcons are unbeaten in their last seven games … Wisconsin-Stevens Point cruised to a convincing 4-1 win over Augsburg. The win was the sixth in the row for the reigning national runner-up. Tanner Karty scored twice in the victory. He has three goals in all this season. Jacob Barber and Jono Davis also scored for the Pointers, who finish 8-0 against the MIAC this season. Max Milosek earned the win in goal by making 25 saves. It was his ninth victory of the year … Wisconsin-Stout pushed its win streak to three games Saturday with a 6-3 win over St. Mary’s. The Blue Devils scored five or more goals for the third consecutive game. Jake Useldinger struck for two goals in the victory. He now has eight on the year. The Blue Devils improved to 9-4-3 on the year. They opened the weekend with a 5-3 win over St. Thomas. Gavin Smith scored his first collegiate goal in the victory. Useldinger also scored in the win.

Two sweeps, a lot of goals and some fisticuffs highlight the weekend in the B1G

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Greetings from the frozen tundra that Minnesota turned into this weekend. ‘Twas a perfect weekend to park yourself on the couch and never leave. All six Big Ten teams squared off against each other this weekend. Here’s how things played out:

  • Minnesota swept Michigan State at home
  • Penn State swept Wisconsin at home
  • Ohio State and Michigan tied on Friday in Columbus with the Buckeyes winning the shootout. Michigan rebounded with a win on Sunday in Ann Arbor

Here are my three thoughts from the weekend:

1. The standings are starting to take shape

Now that we have a decently-large sample size, it’s a little bit easier to speculate on which teams will be fighting for the league’s championship come March. In my eyes, Penn State, Michigan and Minnesota are the clear-cut favorites to be in the picture. Ohio State will probably end up a couple points behind the big-three and Wisconsin and Michigan State will occupy the cellar.

Next weekend will be an interesting one in the Big Ten, not because two of the top teams are going agains each other, but because Minnesota and Penn State both go on the road to face Wisconsin and Ohio State respectively. Both Michigan schools will play U.S Under-18 once Team next weekend.

2. Michigan State is struggling mightily 

It can’t be fun to be a Michigan State fan right now. The Spartans played what was probably one of their better games of the season on Saturday, and they lost 3-1 to the Gophers. Michigan State is now 5-17-2 (1-7-0 B1G) and has lost eight games in a row.

I knew Michigan State wasn’t going to be an offensive juggernaut this season, but I did not expect the Spartans to struggle this much. After losing in overtime twice at the Great Lakes Invitational, the Spartans have given up 15 and eight goals in their first two conference series of 2016. Michigan State had a strong spring last year and ended up with a 17-16-2 record, but considering the team only won 11 and 14 games the two season prior to that, you have to wonder how safe Tom Anastos’ job is.

3. Michigan’s defense still scares me

The Ohio State and Michigan home-and-home series was easily the most entertaining one in the conference this weekend, in my opinion. Friday’s game featured multiple late third-period goals, including one in the final 10 seconds to send the game to overtime. Saturday’s bout, a 8-6 Michigan victory, actually ended with the two teams exchanging some pleasantries.

Michigan took four of six point from the Buckeyes, but the Wolverines have now given up 10 or more goals on a weekend in half of their Big Ten series so far. Even with the high number of goals given up, Michigan has still managed to get good results. A team cannot win in the postseason with offense alone, however.

The Wolverines schedule is about to become more difficult, too, not only because of the opponents but also the fact that the they won’t play at home much the rest of the way. Nine of Michigan’s remaining 13 games will be played away from Yost Ice Arena. That being said, if the race does come down to the final two weeks the Wolverines play three of their last four contests at home.

Geneseo defenseman Hutchinson one of three found dead at off-campus residence

USCHO Staff Report
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Matthew Hutchinson, a Geneseo senior, was found dead Sunday morning (photo: Dan Hickling).

Matthew Hutchinson, a Geneseo senior defenseman, was one of three people found dead at an off-campus residence Sunday morning, local police said.

The others were Geneseo women’s basketball player Kelsey Annese, 21, and Colin Kingston, 24, according to a Geneseo Police Department spokesperson.

Hutchinson, 24, who played in Geneseo home games Friday and Saturday night, also was a volunteer firefighter. (More on Hutchinson’s firefighting here.)

Geneseo Police Officer Jeffery Szczesniak said at a Sunday news conference that a knife was recovered from the scene and no firearm was used. He said it was too early in the investigators to label any of the three people a suspect, but they believe one may be the perpetrator.

The residence at 18 Wadsworth Street was where Annese lived, Szczesniak said.

Officers were called there around 6 a.m. Sunday and found the three bodies, Szczesniak said. The investigation is ongoing and no cause of death has been released, he said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all involved,” the school said in a news release. “It is our hope that we can rally together to support each other during this time of mourning.”

Hutchinson, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound defenseman from North Vancouver, British Columbia, was a member of Geneseo’s student-athlete advisory committee, according to his team bio. He joined the Knights after playing for Chilliwack, Quesnel, Surrey and Coquitlam in the BCHL.

He was a Geography major and Business Studies minor, according to the school.

UPDATE (Jan. 18): According to the Democrat and Chronicle, Kingston was “a distraught ex-boyfriend [who] stabbed two SUNY Geneseo students to death before calling his father and taking his own life,” police said Monday afternoon.

According to the report, Kingston, who recently broke up with Annese after a three-year relationship, brought a “large knife” to the home and confronted Annese and Hutchinson and an altercation ensued.

 

Three Things: Shake, Rattle, and Roll

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It never ceases to amaze me how a weekend of hockey can provide thrills, spills, and spine-tingling chills – and prove absolutely nothing.

The two best teams in Atlantic Hockey went toe-to-toe this weekend with Robert Morris and Holy Cross facing off at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. On Friday night, a track meet of a game featuring 64 shots and 11 penalties for 22 minutes produced a 5-4 result in favor of the Colonials.

Tied 3-3 after the second period, Brandon Denham scored to put RMU up 4-3 at the 7:45 mark, his 15th goal of the season. That lasted until Timmy Moore, who had the primary assist on the Denham goal, was called for boarding at 15:16. With three seconds left on the power play, TJ Moore tied the game.

But David Friedmann scored with 39.6 seconds left in the game to lift the Colonials.

That’s a great game. So what did they do for an encore? A 5-2 Holy Cross win featured 77 shots, 15 penalties for 30 minutes, two more power play goals. The Crusaders never trailed, opening up a 2-0 lead in the first period.

But RMU never went away. Holy Cross led 2-0, and Robert Morris made it 2-1. Holy Cross took a 3-1 lead in the second period, and the next goal was on a Colonial stick. Holy Cross finally took a 4-2 lead, and it took an empty net goal to salt the game away with about 1:45 left on the clock.

The top two teams in Atlantic Hockey played each other this weekend. Robert Morris entered the weekend with a two point lead. They exited the weekend with a two point lead. A weekend split solved absolutely nothing. But boy did it entertain.

Standings Shakedown

We entered the weekend with one team (RIT) in third place, three teams (Air Force, Sacred Heart, and Mercyhurst) tied for fourth one point behind them, and two teams (Bentley and Canisius) tied for seventh two points behind that group. We exit the weekend with a little bit of breathing room and a little bit clearer of a picture into next week.

Air Force used a three-point weekend at Army West Point to take sole possession of fourth after Sacred Heart and Mercyhurst split their series. And Canisius moved in front of Bentley by three points after the Golden Griffins edged rival Niagara with a win and tie of their own.

RIT’s sweep of Bentley allowed the Tigers to pull into the rearview mirror of the Crusaders and Colonials by virtue of the split at Holy Cross. Meanwhile, the Falcons fell into eighth place after coming up empty at home.

It never ceases to amaze me in this league how one point on one weekend can and will make a difference down the stretch.

Lost In The Shuffle? I don’t think so.

This weekend was a perfect storm of storylines.

Robert Morris-Holy Cross? Best two teams in the league.

Air Force-Army West Point? The only two games between the only two service academies with Division I hockey.

RIT-Bentley? Teams with a relatively even history, especially of late, creating a nice rivalry. Of course if you read us, it’s also a chance to have Chris Lerch and me go head-to-head.

Niagara-Canisius? Battle of the Bridge.

Sacred Heart-Mercyhurst? Two teams tied for fourth place battling a weekend of great hockey down in Connecticut.

This was the perfect weekend for Atlantic Hockey fans, an enjoyable weekend of hard-fought games. People always want to talk about Atlantic Hockey as a mid-major type of league, but that’s not the case at all. This was an ultra-competitive weekend of games, full of emotion. When it was over, in many ways, we had some answers to questions about what’s next. In many other ways, though, we’re just getting warmed up.

Gallery: North Dakota earns a split with Omaha

By Bradley K. Olson
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No. 1 North Dakota defeated No. 9 Omaha 5-1 on Saturday to claim a split of the teams’ NCHC series.

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NCHC hands down one-game suspension to Omaha’s Parizek for illegal hit

USCHO Staff Report
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The NCHC has issued a one-game suspension to Nebraska-Omaha junior forward Justin Parizek after an illegal hit during Omaha’s game at North Dakota on Jan. 15.

Parizek was suspended after a review of a play in which his stick was used to deliver a hit to the head of a North Dakota player, who was not in possession of the puck, at 10:49 of the second period at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.

A minor penalty for interference was issued on the play.

Parizek will be required to serve the suspension during Omaha’s next game on Jan. 16 in the series finale against North Dakota. He is eligible to return for the Mavericks next series against Miami on Friday, Jan. 22 in Omaha.

Canisius’ Boyd’s hit on Niagara’s Teichroeb gets one-game suspension from Atlantic Hockey

USCHO Staff Report
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Atlantic Hockey has issued a one-game suspension to Canisius freshman forward Cody Boyd, making him ineligible to play against Niagara on Jan. 16.

Boyd’s suspension was a result of the major penalty and game misconduct he received in the first period of the game Jan. 14 against Niagara. Boyd made contact with Niagara goaltender Jackson Teichroeb’s helmet, sending the goaltender to the ice and his helmet into the net.

According to an AHC-issued news release, “While both commissioner [Robert] DeGregorio and supervisor of officials Eugene Binda agreed with the call on the ice, they also determined that the hit warranted additional discipline.”

ECAC Hockey picks: Jan. 15-19

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Here’s a look at this weekend’s ECAC Hockey games:

Friday, Jan. 15

Clarkson at Dartmouth
Coming off of a 3-1 win over St. Lawrence on Tuesday, the Golden Knights will head to Hanover to take on Dartmouth, a team that finally seems to be finding its stride. The Big Green cured their offensive ails in a 5-2 win over Holy Cross last Sunday, holding a 6-8-1 record heading into the middle of January. Both teams struggled in their first-half campaigns and will be looking to build on some recent success.
Clarkson 3, Dartmouth 2

No. 18 St. Lawrence at No. 7 Harvard
This should be one of the games of the weekend in ECAC play. St. Lawrence has struggled after the break, bringing a three-game losing streak into this weekend’s matchup against the No. 7 Crimson. The Saints have scored only three goals in their last three games and given up 10 along the way. Harvard, on the other hand, has played two one-goal games against top opponents Boston University and Quinnipiac. For Harvard, the Saints should be a nice change of pace.
Harvard 4, St. Lawrence 1

No. 8 Cornell at No. 20 Rensselaer
Cornell continues to climb the standings, both nationally and within the conference. After an embarrassing 8-0 loss to Ohio State in late December, Cornell has responded with two big wins over previously ranked Merrimack. RPI is 1-1-1 in January thus far, and has only slightly moved up in the top-20 rankings. It’ll look to solidify its position.
Cornell 3, Rensselaer 0

Colgate at Union
Don’t look now, but the Dutchmen might be in full turnaround mode. The team holds a 9-7-5 record heading into mid-January, and while the 5-0 loss to Quinnipiac sticks out, it’s hard to blame for the blowout loss against a team that has been doing that to anyone it has played. Colgate, however, continues to struggle. Last weekend’s 5-1 win over Maine snapped a four-game losing streak, which included a 3-1 loss to Maine the previous night and a 7-5 loss to Brown in December. These teams look like they’re moving in different directions.
Union 4, Colgate 1

Brown vs. No. 12 Yale (Friday in New Haven, Saturday in Providence)
It’s been an abysmal year for Brown, which has struggled to find consistency on both ends of the ice. But if the Bears can hang their hat on something, it’s the team’s 4-3 win over Providence in early January. It seems, at least, Brown can play with college hockey’s top opponents. It’ll need some of that magic against No. 12 Yale, which comes into Friday’s contest 4-1-1 in its last six games. The Bulldogs tied Michigan Tech 1-1 last Sunday and will look to rebound against the suffering Bears.
Yale 2, Brown 0

Saturday, Jan. 16

No. 18 St. Lawrence at Dartmouth
If the Big Green are going to have any chance of turning their season around, it’s Saturday against No. 18 St. Lawrence. The Saints look like they’re ripe for the taking, losers of their last three games. Dartmouth finally seems to be gaining some traction after an inconsistent first half. Saturday’s game, at least, will illustrate what Dartmouth is capable of.
St. Lawrence 3, Dartmouth 3 (OT)

Clarkson at No. 7 Harvard
The Golden Knights will have their warmup against Dartmouth on Friday before taking on a hungry Harvard team on Saturday. Unfortunately for Clarkson, this weekend’s matchups for the highly ranked Crimson seems primed for a sweep given Harvard’s two losses to BU and Quinnipiac.
Harvard 5, Clarkson 3

Colgate at No. 20 Rensselaer
Another game of two teams moving in very different directions. Colgate has amassed 14 losses this season, snapping its four-game losing streak to Maine last Saturday. The Raiders also have allowed 74 goals this season, the most in the ECAC. RPI, newly reacquainted with the top-20 rankings, should have no problem adding to that list.
RPI 4, Colgate 0

No. 8 Cornell at Union
It’s an intriguing matchup, though on paper it might not look like it. Cornell has slowly climbed the leader boards all season long, while Union seems in the midst of a late-season turnaround. For the Dutchmen, it’s a test to see how far they’ve come.
Union 4, Cornell 3

Tuesday, Jan. 19

No. 2 Quinnipiac at Maine
The Bobcats have the weekend off before taking on lowly Maine in a midweek showdown. The over-under for this game might be astronomical, but the Black Bears are hoping the long layoff will make the Bobcats rusty.
Quinnipiac 5, Maine 0

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Jan. 15-17

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After last weekend, it looks to me as though the Big Ten standings may be shaping up along the lines of how they’ll appear at the end of the season. I could be wrong, of course. I’m often wrong.

Let’s see how Drew Claussen and I are doing with the picks.

Last week
Drew: 3-2-1 (.583)
Paula: 5-0-1 (.917)

Season
Drew: 53-33-14 (.600)
Paula: 58-28-14 (.650)

Everyone plays this weekend and it’s all conference action.

Michigan vs. Ohio State

Drew: Both of these teams are playing well right now. One, Michigan, is obviously playing better, but this should be an entertaining series. It’ll be interesting to see what the day off does to the team that wins on Friday. Sunday games can get weird sometimes. I still remember a Minnesota-Canisius Sunday afternoon matinee where the Gophers scored 12 seconds into the first and then both teams proceeded not to score for the rest of the game. There’s no denying how good Michigan has looked since its 3-2 loss to Minnesota (Dec. 12), and the Wolverines may be able to pull off the sweep this weekend. I’m going to pick a split, however, and am going to use some George-Costanza wisdom and go away from my mentality of picking the home teams to win in a home-and-home series.

Paula: Once upon a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s, this was a fun, contentious rivalry, fueled both by that irrational Michigan-Ohio State mutual hatred society — so weird to those of us who have lived in both states but who are not from either — and that brief period of time when the Buckeyes were consistently competitive. There were penalties, there was name-calling, it was … heavenly. Now, though, the rivalry is a bit muted because of OSU’s lack of recent success. That doesn’t mean that these games won’t be intense. Each team has a four-game unbeaten streak on the line, 4-0 for Michigan and 3-0-1 for Ohio State. Michigan leads this all-time series 78-34-12 and leads by roughly the same margin both in Columbus (34-17-5) and Ann Arbor (39-14-7). Michigan is 8-1-1 against Ohio State in their last 10 meetings, including a 3-1-0 record last season. The teams split their last home-and-home series, each winning in its own arena. Friday’s game in Columbus begins at 6:30 p.m. and is carried by Fox Sports Detroit; Sunday’s rematch in Ann Arbor begins at 5:00 p.m. and is televised by both Fox Sports Detroit and SportsTime Ohio.

Drew’s picks: Michigan 4-1, Ohio State 4-3.
Paula’s picks: Michigan 3-2, 5-3.

Michigan State at Minnesota

Drew: This is a good measuring stick series for Minnesota. If the Gophers want to be a team that has some postseason probability, they need to dispose of a team that can’t find a way to win as of late. Historically, even Minnesota teams that are better than this year’s have had trouble doing that (see the games against Wisconsin last season). For Michigan State fans, there’s just not a whole lot to be positive about right now. I do believe this games will be close, but I’m going to pick a Minnesota sweep. That may be because I’m slightly scared to pick a wrong-way split, too.

Paula: At this point, I think picking a Minnesota sweep is a sound thing. If the Spartans are to take points away from this weekend, I think they’ll do so Friday night. The Golden Gophers seem to be a team that applies lessons learned Friday night to Saturday games. The Spartans are looking to snap a six-game losing streak, having last recorded a win Dec. 11 against Wisconsin, and Michigan State is 0-9-1 in its last 10 games. The Gophers are coming off a road split with Penn State, with a 3-2 overtime loss Jan. 8 and a 7-1 win the following night. Minnesota is 5-5-0 in its last 10 and four of those games have gone to overtime — with two OT wins and two OT losses. The Gophers are 107-44-15 all-time against the Spartans and 6-1-3 in the last 10 meetings. Minnesota was 2-1-1 against Michigan State in 2014-2015. Friday’s game begins at 8:00 p.m. and is the second half of the Fox Sports Detroit double-header; the game is also carried by Fox Sports North Plus and SportsTime Ohio. Saturday’s game starts at 7:30 p.m. and is carried by the Big Ten Network.

Drew’s picks: Minnesota 4-2, 3-2.
Paula’s picks: Minnesota 3-2, 4-1.

Wisconsin at Penn State

Drew: Wisconsin has gotten points out of all three of its Big Ten series so far this season. That is, considering where they were last year, quite an accomplishment for the Badgers. That streak will be put to the test this weekend as the Badgers go into a tough building and play a team that wants to put its last game in the rearview mirror. I think Penn State gets back on track this weekend and picks up a couple Ws.

Paula: While it defies conventional wisdom, I think the Badgers will get at least a point this weekend and most likely on Saturday night. Wisconsin took two points from visiting Ohio State last weekend with a tie and the extra shootout point. The Nittany Lions split with Minnesota at home. Penn State took all four meetings between the teams in 2014-2015. Both of these games are televised as well. Friday’s 6:30 p.m. start will be covered by the Big Ten Network, while Saturday’s 6:00 p.m. game is carried by ESPNews.

Drew’s picks: Penn State 5-3, 6-3.
Paula’s picks: Penn State 4-2, Wisconsin 3-2.

Weekend West picks: Jan. 15-16

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We’ve reached the midway point of January and here are the picks for this week’s games.

The West slate includes a nonconference showdown between Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Augsburg.

Eau Claire (10-3-2) vs. Augsburg (9-4)

The Auggies are one of the hottest teams in hockey, having won their last five, and they have scored at least five goals in each of those wins. Nate Flynn leads the attack with 10 goals and 10 assists and Rory Vessel has tallied a goal and 11 assists. Jordyn Kaufer is having a solid season, winning eight games and fashioning a 2.44 GAA.

The Blugolds are also playing well, riding a three-game win streak into the matchup. They have cranked out 68 goals this year, including 16 by Adam Knochenmus, and have gotten solid goaltending play out of both Tyler Green and Jay Deo.

The team that plays the best defense will come out on top.

Eau Claire, 3-2.

Concordia (Minn.) (6-6-1, 4-0) vs. Hamline (4-7-4, 1-4-1)

The Cobbers have just one win in their last five and are looking to get back on track and stay in the hunt for a MIAC title. Jon Grebosky leads the team in goals scored with six, while Alex Reichle is 6-6 in 12 starts in goal. Concordia needs to be on top of its game offensively to sweep this series.

Hamline is winless in its last six and is searching for its first win since Nov. 25 when it defeated Wisconsin-Superior 3-1. Charlie Adams will be instrumental to the Pipers’ success this weekend. He has scored 10 goals and dished out 16 assists this season. Brandon Zurn will be counted on as well. He has 11 goals and 15 assists for the Pipers, who played in the NCAA tournament last year.

I think Hamline gets at least one win this weekend.

Concordia 5-3, Hamline 4-3.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point (10-3-1) vs. St. Mary’s (7-6-2)

The Pointers have won four consecutive games, scoring at least five goals in each of those games, and feature two players with double-digit goal totals. Joe Kalisz has tallied 12 goals and 12 assists while Lawrence Cornellier has come through with 11 goals and four assists. Stevens Point has struck for 69 goals in all and will be tough to slow down.

The Cardinals are eager to bounce back after dropping four of their last five. They have the offensive firepower to do it, having racked up 67 goals this year. Bob Kinne and Martin Gruse lead the attack with nine goals apiece. Both players have tallied nine assists apiece as well.

Stevens Point, 6-3.

Wisconsin-Stout (7-4-3) vs. St. Thomas (8-5-2)

The Blue Devils have shown promise, winning three of their last four, and they will head out on the road hoping to make a statement against one of the nation’s most successful programs. Balance will be the key to their success. The offense features seven players who have scored at least three goals. Joe Anderson leads the way with six on the season.

The Tommies are tough at home, fashioning a 4-1 record on their own ice, and they are balanced as well as nine players have come through with at least three goals. Connor McBride leads the attack with eight goals and four assists.

This one should be close but St. Thomas gets the edge at home.

St. Thomas, 4-2.

Lake Forest (6-7, 4-6) vs. Adrian (12-1-1, 8-1-1)

The Foresters have won three of four, earning a split with nationally ranked Milwaukee School of Engineering last week, but the challenge becomes even more difficult this week. Lake Forest will be up against the No. 2 team in the nation and will need to be sharp defensively. Leo Podolsky is 5-5 with a 3.26 goals against average. Billy Kent leads the offense with seven goals.

Adrian is a force to be reckoned with. The Bulldogs are on a nine-game win streak and show no signs of slowing down. They have more than doubled the goal total of Lake Forest, striking for 79 goals, and they won’t be easy to keep in check this weekend. Mathew Thompson is having a tremendous year, punching in 10 goals to go along with 11 assists.

Adrian, 8-3.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (9-4, 4-4) vs. St. Scholastica (8-3-1, 6-2)

The Raiders have won five of six and want to keep that momentum rolling. Gage Christianson has been a tremendous play-maker, dishing out 14 assists. He has also scored twice. Omar Mullan has been a key part of the offense, scoring six goals and dishing out four assists.

The Saints are on a two-game win streak and are 4-1-1 at home this season. Brandon Millin has been an integral part of the offense, coming up with nine goals and eight assists. Stephen Phee has struck for seven goals and six assists this year.

This should be one of the more exciting matchups to watch this weekend.

MSOE, 5-3, St. Scholastica, 6-4.

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