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At Michigan State, rebuilding is a deliberate process

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Jake Hildebrand and Michigan State split at New Hampshire last weekend (photo: Jim Rosvold).

For Michigan State, the slow path to rebuilding is no accident.

“It’s a calculated plan,” said assistant coach Tom Newton, now in his 25th year with the Spartans.

“If you want to have a good team, you can take some shortcuts and you can have a good team for a year or two and be back at the bottom of the barrel,” said Newton. “Tom [Anastos] wanted to build a program. The type of player and student-athlete he wanted to bring in, he went out and found them.”

Newton — or Newts, as he’s often called — is widely regarded as one of the nicest guys in the business, and keeping him on after being hired was widely regarded as one of Anastos’ smartest decisions when he took the helm in East Lansing four years ago.

It’s clear that Anastos has made many good decisions since, not the least of which has been his patience with a program that he considered a bit underdeveloped in terms of talent. Instead of blasting the players he inherited, Anastos was as professional and kind as he could be while still insisting that the Spartans needed to raise their talent level.

“That’s right,” said Newton. “You get nowhere when you’re not positive. You alienate the players, the alumni, the fans.”

From the get-go, the Michigan State players bought into Anastos’ vision and the program progressed steadily in its first three seasons with Anastos as head coach. “That’s no easy thing,” said Newton. “They’re kids. They have to buy into it on their own.”

The result is this season’s modest success, a 3-5 record and a month with only one weekend that didn’t see a win. “We’d like to have more wins,” said Newton. “That’s the only drawback.”

Last weekend, the Spartans went east to challenge New Hampshire, another team that is in a bit of a rebuilding phase. Friday’s 4-2 win was “an exciting game,” said Newton. “I thought that we did a good job taking advantage of the moments of the game. We maximized our scoring opportunities and put the pucks away. When they had those opportunities, [goaltender] Jake Hildebrand was outstanding.

“That was our first game on a 200-by-100 surface and we transitioned pretty well. I thought we were tentative in one-on-one situations, but otherwise we played well.”

In some ways, Newton said, the Spartans had the better game in Saturday’s 5-2 loss. “Our quality of play, our one-on-one intensity was better,” he said. “Their goaltender probably came up a little bigger than the night before. The game probably liked them a little better. They got a couple of goals on really good efforts, great shots by their guys that Jake had no chance on.”

Coming out of a split like that, Newton said: “We take the experience that you have to manage the moments. You have to take advantage of their weak moments to create offense, and you have to shut down their moments and not allow them to create those moments. That’s what we have to do every game. We have to be real good each night for 60 minutes. We’re getting closer and closer to that.”

One sign of welcome change so far this season is the extra offense the Spartans are getting, a result of their relentless effort. Last year, Michigan State finished the season averaging 2.19 goals per game and it was anybody’s guess as to who would show up on the score sheet this season.

Now the Spartans are averaging 2.38 goals per game through eight contests — modest progress, but progress nonetheless. Matt Berry leads the team with five goals, another welcome sign for a player whose career has been hampered by injury; last season, Berry had 10 goals in 23 games.

The Spartans are also seeing hopeful things from sophomore Mackenzie MacEachern (4-4–8) and junior captain Michael Ferrantino (4-3–7). MacEachern had eight goals in 36 games last season; Ferrantino netted nine in 36 games.

“We very seldom question our effort,” said Newton. “We work hard but don’t work as smart as we should sometimes, but that’s hockey. If you have good effort, the quality of your decisions is the difference between winning and losing. If you work hard, it does not guarantee success, but if you work hard and make good decisions and are playing a team on par with you for talent, you should be winning.”

Another welcome sign is the play of junior Hildebrand, who made 42 saves in Friday’s win and 16 in Saturday’s loss. He’s having a better start to this season than last, said Newton — “he’s playing Hildebrand-esque” — and it doesn’t hurt that the team is doing a little better offensively.

“Pitchers and goaltenders both appreciate a little help up front,” said Newton.

This weekend, the Spartans take on No. 8 Boston College for a single game in East Lansing Friday night.

“Obviously, their reputation precedes them,” said Newton. “I think they’re a team that always has high expectations. They lost some very talented players from last year’s team and they’re probably in a situation when they’ve definitely reloaded but finding out roles on the team.

“I think we’re going to find a very hungry, talented hockey team coning in here, which we have great respect for. At the same time, we’re going to make sure that we force them to play their best game against us.”

Grant Besse and Wisconsin haven’t won since last season’s Big Ten championship game (photo: Rachel Lewis).

Staying positive

It’s challenging to remain upbeat after your team’s worst start since 1932-33, but after Wisconsin dropped a pair of home games to North Dakota last weekend, losing 4-3 and 5-1, coach Mike Eaves saw a few positives.

“Walking out of the locker room, our penalty killing was better, our power play gave us energy,” Eaves said Saturday. “We created more offense and were closer to earning a victory than last night, so that’s the building block we leave with tonight.”

The three-goal output Friday was a high mark for the Badgers this season, and heading into the third period Saturday night, Wisconsin trailed by just one goal.

Wisconsin’s offense is averaging 1.17 goals per game, second-to-last in the country, and the Badgers are giving up 3.33 goals per game (46th).

In 1932-33, the Badgers lost all nine games they played. More recently, in the 2008-09 season, it took Wisconsin eight contests to win a game, having started the season 0-6-1.

The 0-6 Badgers are off this weekend, next facing Colorado College on the road Nov. 21, followed by a road game against Denver the next night.

Quick stats

• Minnesota and Penn State are tied for second (with Robert Morris) in scoring offense nationally, each averaging 3.88 goals per game.

• Minnesota’s power play is second nationally (32.3 percent); Penn State’s (27 percent) is tied with Quinnipiac for third.

• Penn State senior forward Taylor Holstrom (3-8–11) is tied for third nationally in points per game (1.57).

• Minnesota senior forward Kyle Rau (3-9–12) is fourth (1.50).

• Penn State junior forward Eric Schied (5-1–6) is one of two players nationally with three game-winning goals, second in the country.

• Minnesota junior defenseman Mike Reilly (2-9–11) leads defensemen in points per game (1.38).

• Michigan’s Dylan Larkin (2-5–7) is tied with four other rookies for third among freshmen in points per game (1.00).

• Michigan is 31st nationally in points per game (2.71).

• Averaging 15.9 minutes per game, Michigan is eighth in the nation in penalty time and the only Big Ten team among the top 20 teams nationally in average penalty minutes per game.

The Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge

Somehow, the Big Ten is ahead this week. Sixteen games have been played, and the Big Ten holds a 19-18 lead in points.

This weekend’s series between Penn State and Massachusetts-Lowell will count as part of this challenge. The Nittany Lions are 1-0-1 in the challenge after their win and tie against Connecticut in October, and Lowell is 1-1 with a loss to Michigan and win over Michigan State last month.

The conference that records the most points from the 20 games between these leagues designated as part of the challenge will be rewarded with a cup. Teams earn two points for a win, one point for a tie, and a bonus point is awarded to a team with a road win.

Players of the week

Two players receive their first awards, while the middle guy is a ringer.

First star — Minnesota sophomore forward Taylor Cammarata: Cammarata led all scorers nationally last weekend with five points, all assists, in Minnesota’s two-game sweep of Notre Dame. He assisted on the game-winning goal in Friday’s 5-0 win and had a career-high three assists on the first three goals in Saturday’s 4-2 win. Cammarata leads the nation in assists per game with 10 in eight contests. This is his first career Big Ten weekly award.

Second star — Minnesota junior goaltender Adam Wilcox: Wilcox recorded a series .953 save percentage and 1.00 GAA versus the Fighting Irish, recording his ninth collegiate shutout Friday night. Saturday’s win was his 58th victory for the Gophers. This is his sixth career Big Ten weekly award, his first since March 4, 2014.

Third star — Michigan State junior forward Michael Ferrantino: Ferrantino scored three goals in Michigan State’s road split with New Hampshire, including the game-winning goal in Friday’s 4-3 contest. Ferrantino, the Spartans’ captain, has four goals and three assists in eight games this season; last year, he went 9-11–20 in 36 games. This is his first career Big Ten weekly award.

My ballot

1. Minnesota
2. North Dakota
3. Massachusetts-Lowell
4. Michigan Tech
5. Boston University
6. Colgate
7. Boston College
8. St. Lawrence
9. Minnesota-Duluth
10. Robert Morris
11. Union
12. Providence
13. Minnesota State
14. Miami
15. Quinnipiac
16. Vermont
17. St. Cloud State
18. Denver
19. Omaha
20. Northern Michigan

Boston College goalie Billett takes leave of absence; Eagles add Joyce

USCHO Staff Report
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Boston College announced Tuesday that senior goaltender Brian Billett has taken a personal leave of absence from the team and added sophomore goalie Alex Joyce to the roster. According to a BC news release, Billett’s leave of absence “does not stem from any violation of team rules or policies.”

Tech goalie also serves his country

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Michigan Tech senior goaltender Matt Messina served a three-month tour in Afghanistan with the Minnesota Air National Guard.

As part of an F-16 crew, the Duluth native worked avionics (communications, navigation, weapon delivery and flight controls). His unit served as air support for troops that were in a firefight or pinned down.

[youtube_sc url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUY0_09W7Xo&feature=youtu.be]

Brown forward Lappin hit with two-game suspension by ECAC Hockey

USCHO Staff Report
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ECAC Hockey announced on Tuesday that Brown junior forward Nick Lappin has been handed a two-game suspension as the result of his actions against Clarkson on Saturday, Nov. 8, at Meehan Auditorium.

The league action was taken after review of an incident that occurred at the 3:43 mark of the second-period where Lappin was assessed a major penalty for hitting from behind and a game misconduct.

Lappin is not eligible to compete in Brown’s next two games this weekend when the Bears travel to Harvard and Dartmouth.

TMQ: On Sun Devils, postseason bans and postgame vulgarities

By Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski
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Alec Hajdukovich and Alaska got news last week that they’d miss the postseason this season because of NCAA punishments (photo: Rachel Lewis).

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.

Todd: There’s plenty to talk about in college hockey after the last week brought a postseason ban for Alaska and a Cornell-Quinnipiac coaching confrontation, but let’s start with talk of a 60th Division I men’s program.

In a series of tweets last Friday, Let’s Play Hockey reported that AHL Chicago Wolves owner Don Levin was in talks with Arizona State about being the lead donor of a push to start a varsity program at the Tempe school. The school and Levin, whose son plays on the Sun Devils’ club team, denied the report to ASU blog House of Sparky.

There has been plenty of talk about further expansion since Penn State made the jump to varsity status two seasons ago. Do you think Arizona State could be the next one in, and would it be a smart move?

Jim: I think anything can happen but I personally doubt this will and, if so, whether it makes sense. While I totally support expansion, I think it needs to be carefully planned. You can’t take the NHL approach and expand simply to expand. Arizona is a significant trip for any team in the nation, something that threatened the future of Alabama-Huntsville in not-so-recent days.

At the same time, the market has hardly been kind to the NHL in its time there. Attendance hasn’t always been strong and corporate support has followed. It does seem the Coyotes are on better footing now but that club received serious relocation consideration. Does that market need college hockey?

College hockey needs to first grow in markets that support the sport — major cities with successful NHL teams. If we had 80 or so successful programs, then I think a one-off approach in experimental markets makes sense.

Am I just too negative about warm-market hockey?

Todd: I don’t know if it’s about the weather, but it’s hard not to think about U.S. International and Northern Arizona when we start talking about Arizona State. Those schools were part of the Great West Hockey Conference with Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage in the 1985-86 season. Soon, U.S. International (a San Diego school) and Northern Arizona were out of the varsity hockey business.

I don’t doubt that things would be different at Arizona State, a school with a far deeper athletic program. And playing in an area of the country removed from other college hockey programs can work — see the Alaska schools. But it could be a tough sell for the long term.

We’ve heard talk about the University of Rhode Island and the University of Buffalo as possible Division I programs, but it really comes down to money, doesn’t it?

Jim: It does, and that is what keeps me from writing off Arizona State. If it has the potential to receive money similar to what Terry Pegula gave to Penn State, almost everything is possible. But the investment to begin a program is in the millions and most schools don’t simply have that type of money at their disposal.

Todd: Speaking of money, a series of NCAA violations involving player eligibility will cost Alaska-Fairbanks $30,000. Even more significantly, the punishment handed down last week by the NCAA included a postseason ban for this season.

I get that it’s unfair to punish athletes for the offenses committed by administrators before their time at the school. But I struggle to come up with what would be a good punishment in that case. Your thoughts?

Jim: I have the same feelings. Today’s student-athletes did nothing wrong but will pay for the actions of others. Still, you can’t allow a program that significantly breaks the rules to profit from a potential postseason appearance. This has been the NCAA’s way of handling things for many years for violating schools.

My only alternative way of dealing with this also hurts current student-athletes, and that is stiffer fines. At the end of the day, the people who break the rules will never pay unless they are banned from working in college athletics. It is always a trickle-down punishment.

Todd: We can’t wrap up this week without mentioning what happened at the end of Saturday’s Cornell-Quinnipiac game. Angered by Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold claiming one of the Cornell players embellished a hit from behind, Big Red coach Mike Schafer had some harsh words for Pecknold in the postgame handshakes, and it carried over to Schafer’s meeting with the media.

Schafer drew a one-game suspension from ECAC Hockey for his vulgar language critical of Pecknold. Right call by the league?

Jim: I think the league definitely had to act. Once the comments went viral and were picked up by The Hockey News, it has become a bit of a spectacle. What shocked me most was the apology by Schafer and Cornell’s athletic director in this release from the school:

Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom ’77 Head Coach of Men’s Hockey at Cornell University, has issued the following statement following ECAC Hockey’s announcement that he has been suspended for the team’s next game.

“I’d like apologize for using profane language in my postgame comments on Saturday evening following our contest against Quinnipiac. My language was unnecessary, and I did not represent Cornell and our hockey program in a first-class manner.

“Cole Bardreau, who had previously suffered a serious neck injury, was run into the boards from behind in the game,” Schafer added. “Cole’s status continues to be evaluated, but the hit on Saturday may force him to miss future games. I was angry that there was no recognition of the seriousness of the play and let my emotions get the best of me after the contest. The safety of student-athletes is paramount to me. I have apologized to Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold for my comments.”

“I respect Coach Schafer’s passion and respect for the health of his student-athletes,” said Andy Noel, the Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education. “He used inappropriate words to describe how he was understandably upset at the situation. The Cornell Department of Athletics and Physical Education understands ECAC Hockey’s decision to suspend Coach Schafer for this isolated incident.”

That may be the most unapologetic apology I have read. But I think much of this shows some of the personality conflicts among ECAC coaches. Last year, we had Seth Appert and Rick Bennett fighting on ice and this year they worked a Dunkin’ Donuts drive thru together. Maybe next season Pecknold and Schafer can sell pizza at the takeout window at Frank Pepe’s in New Haven?

Thumbs up

To the sellout crowd last Wednesday at Hartford’s XL Center for Connecticut’s Hockey East home debut against Boston College. More of those — and more performances like the Huskies posted in the win over the Eagles and a tie at Boston University on Saturday — could mean some big things ahead for UConn.

[youtube_sc url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weSSv89IgEA]

Thumbs down

To Ferris State’s offensive production. The Bulldogs have allowed 11 goals over their last seven games, which really should net more than two victories. But they’ve scored only four goals in those seven contests. Ouch.

Coming up

There are three series between ranked teams on this week’s schedule:

• No. 1 Minnesota plays a home-and-home series against No. 13 Minnesota-Duluth.

• No. 2 North Dakota hosts No. 7 Miami.

• No. 10 Vermont plays at No. 16 Providence.

Gadowsky, Hendrickson are guests Nov. 11 on USCHO Live!

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Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky, and USCHO.com Hockey East columnist Dave Hendrickson are our  guests on the Nov. 11, 2014 edition of USCHO Live!

Join us for the conversation and information, Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 8 to 9 p.m. EST at blogtalkradio.com/uscholive. If you can’t listen live, check out the podcast of USCHO Live! available on the player at the right (click through if you’re reading this via RSS.)

Be part of the conversation! Call (657) 383-1910, send your tweets to @USCHO, or your emails to [email protected]. Each episode of USCHO Live! features a look at news around NCAA hockey, a look ahead at upcoming games and events, and conversation with people who coach, administer and play college hockey, and journalists who cover the sport.

About the hosts

Jim Connelly is a senior writer at USCHO.com and has been with the site since 1999. He is based in Boston and regularly covers Hockey East. He began with USCHO.com as the correspondent covering the MAAC, which nowadays is known as Atlantic Hockey. Each week during the season, he co-writes “Tuesday Morning Quarterback.” Jim is the winner of the 2012 Joe Concannon award, and is a studio analyst for NESN.

Ed Trefzger has been part of USCHO since 1999 and now serves as a senior writer and director of technology. He has been a part of the radio broadcasts of Rochester Institute of Technology hockey since their inception — serving as a producer, studio host, color commentator and as RIT’s play-by-play voice for eight seasons. Ed is VP and general manager of CBS Sports Radio affiliate 105.5 The Team in Rochester, N.Y.

ECAC Hockey suspends Cornell coach Schafer one game for postgame comments

USCHO Staff Report
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ECAC Hockey announced Monday that Cornell head coach Mike Schafer has been assessed a one-game suspension as the result of his postgame actions after the Cornell at Quinnipiac contest Saturday, Nov. 8, at High Point Solutions Arena.

The league action was taken in accordance with Section VI (Conduct and Ethics) of ECAC Hockey Policies and Procedures.

According to QBSN, Schafer and Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold appeared to exchange words in the handshake line and Schafer later told the media that, “You wonder why the guys were pissed at the end at center ice. It’s not the kids. They take the lead from us, so yeah, I contributed to it because I’m pissed off at their coach at the end of the game for being such an a**hole.”

Quinnipiac’s Danny Federico and Cornell’s Joel Lowry each received 10-minute misconducts for their roles in a scrum during the handshake.

The Bobcats won the game 1-0.

Matthew Peca hit Cornell’s Cole Bardreau from behind early in the second period and received a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Bardreau was not injured on the hit and played the rest of the game. That incident was what sparked Schafer’s behavior and he admitted as much in a statement Monday evening.

“I’d like apologize for using profane language in my postgame comments on Saturday evening following our contest against Quinnipiac,” Schafer said in a statement. “My language was unnecessary, and I did not represent Cornell and our hockey program in a first-class manner. Cole Bardreau, who had previously suffered a serious neck injury, was run into the boards from behind in the game. Cole’s status continues to be evaluated, but the hit on Saturday may force him to miss future games. I was angry that there was no recognition of the seriousness of the play and let my emotions get the best of me after the contest. The safety of student-athletes is paramount to me. I have apologized to Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold for my comments.”

“I respect Coach Schafer’s passion and respect for the health of his student-athletes,” added Cornell director of athletics and physical education Andy Noel. “He used inappropriate words to describe how he was understandably upset at the situation. The Cornell Department of Athletics and Physical Education understands ECAC Hockey’s decision to suspend Coach Schafer for this isolated incident.”

Schafer will miss Cornell’s next game Friday, Nov. 14, when the Big Red hosts Clarkson.

Women’s D-III wrap: November 10

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The long grind begins anew in D-III. Here’s a glance at last weekend’s results.

ECAC East
Coach Steph Moberg’s initial season at Castleton kicked off in a positive way. The Spartans took a pair of victories this weekend; shutting out Southern Maine, 5-0, and following with a 5-1 win over the University of New England. Power-play production has been an early plus for Moberg’s crew thus far, running at 26.7 percent.

Massachusetts- Boston sophomore Sarah Alonardo and senior forward Alyssa Sullivan combined for six goals in weekend wins over New England College and Plymouth State.

Norwich outshot its opponents, 59-22, over the weekend, resulting in a pair of wins. Cadets goalie Celeste Robert registered two shutouts in the process.

St. Anselm joined in on the double win weekend, garnering tightly played victories against Franklin Pierce and St. Michael’s.

Kyra Herbert scored twice and Kirsten Shaughnessy acquired a shutout leading in Manhattanville to its first win of the season against Nichols.

ECAC West
Plattsburgh goaltender Ally Ross collected a pair of wins in a weekend sweep of Neumann. The Cardinals 5-1 victory on Sunday was highlighted by three power-play goals.

Utica utilized a 41-shot performance to overwhelm newcomer William Smith, 6-3, on Sunday. The Pioneers received goals from five different players in the contest.

Georgia Kleiner’s goal 41 ticks into overtime provided Buffalo State with a 3-2 road win over Potsdam. The Bears responded in the second portion of the two-game weekend series on Izzy Fairman’s game-winning goal midway through the third for a 2-1 final.

MIAC
Bethel’s Lindsay Burman registered a five-point weekend in a home-and-home series with Wisconsin-River Falls. Burman’s insurance marker at the outset of the third period was her second of the game in a 6-3 win over the Falcons. Burman was named MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete of the Week for her play.

Gustavus Adolphus took advantage of two second-period power-play opportunities, including a five-on-three, in topping Wisconsin-Superior, 3-1, at Don Roberts Arena. Freshman Katie Aney potted the game-winner.

NCHA
Adrian bowled over Marian twice, taking 7-1 and 6-2 road wins. Kaylyn Schroka recorded four assists Friday afternoon. Kelsey Kusch added five points to her individual statistics (2-3-5) over the weekend.

Nina Waidacher notched her sixth goal of the young season as St. Scholastica tripped up Finlandia, 4-0, on Saturday. The Saints outshot the Lions, 72-26, in the weekend sweep.

Lake Forest rebounded from a pair of opening weekend defeats by taking out St. Norbert by identical 5-1 scores. Goalie Allie Carter, the recipient of both wins, upped her save percentage to .921 as a result.

Concordia (Wis.) remained unbeaten after grinding out a tie and a victory against Augsburg. Friday afternoon at Augsburg Ice Arena, the Falcons struck first on a tally by Veronika Metanova and held service until the third when Augsburg junior Kayla Fuechtmann beat Andrea Mizanskey for the 1-1 deadlock. Baylee Darling notched the game-winner with under four minutes left in regulation in Saturday’s 3-2 win by Concordia.

WIAC
Wisconsin-Steven Point’s Janna Beilke-Skoug turned away 35 of 36 shots she faced over the weekend in a sweep of Concordia (Minn.). Three different goal scorers aided the Pointers in Saturday’s 3-0 triumph over the Cobbers.

Wisconsin-River Falls split a home-and-home with Bethel, the 3-1 win coming on Friday at the W.H. Hunt Arena. Dani Buehrer collected the game-winning goal for the Falcons. The Falcons then lost on Saturday, 6-3, as detailed above.

The weekend that was

By Dan Hickling & Brian Lester
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Tyler Beasley’s two goals helped Nichols overcome Curry last Saturday (photo: Dan Hickling).

As the weeklong grind begins, it’s never a bad thing to reflect back on the weekend that was in NCAA Division III hockey.
East columnist Dan Hickling and West columnist Brian Lester have the low-down.

EAST – Dan Hickling

ECAC EAST – Babson, Castleton and Massachusetts-Boston all enjoyed productive, two-win weekends … Top-line center Mike Driscoll potted two goals in Babson’s 7-0 blanking of D-II foe St. Anselm. Goalie Jamie Murray made 25 stops for the shutout and even racked up an assist. Murray then turned in an 18-save whitewash the next night against New England College. … Likewise, Castleton goalie Ryan Mulder was perfect in both his starts, with blankings of both Southern Maine (4-0) and UNE (3-0). … UMB’s Steven Buco scored with 1:39 gone in overtime to cement Friday’s 5-4 over New England College. The next night, Buco turned playmaker, setting up both of Nathan Milam’s goals in a 3-1 win over St. Anselm. Milam already has five tallies in the new season.
ECAC NORTHEAST – Just three games on the slate, all on Saturday, and two of them decided by one goal … Wentworth’s Ben Brouillard netted the game-winner at 11:42 of the third in a 3-2 triumph over Salve Regina. Kevin Crowe also scored twice for the Leopards, who are now 3-0 overall for new head coach Jay Pecora. … Suffolk got third-period goals from Justin Selep and Danyil Medvedev to take a 3-2 squeaker over Salve Regina. Medvedev’s game-winner came at 15:44 … Tyler Beasley scored twice on power plays in the third period to lift Nichols to a 4-1 win over Curry.
ECAC WEST – Elmira went to overtime twice, against Neumann and Manhattanville, and emerged with just one point. Neumann’s Chris Bournazos scored on a power play at 2:14 of extra time to beat Elmira 3-2 on Friday. The Soaring Eagles had erased a 2-0 deficit with third-period tallies from Alexander Taulien and Eric David. … On Saturday, Greg Whittle scored with 3:37 left in regulation to help Elmira salvage a 1-1 tie. … Nazareth and Utica played twice, with the upstart Golden Flyers taking a 2-2 tie on Friday followed by a 5-4 win the next night. In that win, Nazareth scored three unanswered goals in the third to erase a 4-2 Utica lead on home ice. David Seward’s tally at 7:43 was the game-winner.
MASCAC – The lone weekend tilt was an exciting one, a 5-5 deadlock between Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Framingham. UMD held a 5-3 lead with 1:48 left the third before Brendan McCarron and Keith Barnaby both scored for Framingham. Barnaby’s goal came with just 10 seconds remaining. Jaret Babych scored twice for the Corsairs in the second period. UMD outshot their hosts 6-2 in overtime, but Framingham goalie Alessio Muggli held firm to preserve the tie.
SUNYAC – Plattsburgh won both its starts in different fashions. On Friday, Cardinals goalie Brady Rouleau outdueled Brockport’s Jared Lockhurst in a 1-0 victory. Rich Botting netted the game’s lone goal at 13:32 of the second period. Lockhurst made 33 saves in a losing effort. The following night, Platty ran past Geneseo, 7-4, outscoring the Knights 6-1 over the last two periods. Seven different Cardinals scored as they erased a 3-0 Geneseo lead. … Morrisville and Buffalo State hooked up for a pair of ties, 4-4 and 5-5. The Bengals had to rely on last-minute heroics both times, with game-tying goals coming from Jake Rosen at 19:43 on Friday and Marcus Michalski at 18:06 the next night. … Oswego prevailed in its only start, 6-4 against Cortland, with half a dozen goal getters chipping in.

WEST – Brian Lester

MIAC – Competitive nonconference games were the story for a couple of teams over the weekend…St. Olaf came through with, perhaps, the biggest win, knocking off Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3-2 on Saturday. The Pointers were the 2014 national runner-up, but the Oles showed up ready to play. Steven Sherman scored the game winner as St. Olaf won its first game of the year. The Oles won despite the Pointers’ 50-33 edge in shots. Steve Papciak racked up 48 saves for St. Olaf….St. John’s led twice but had to settle for a 3-3 tie against Eau Claire on Sunday. It was the first ever tie between the two schools. Neal Smith, Tyler Dunagan and Tyson Fulton all scored goals for the Johnnies, who have yet to lose in four games. Saxton Soley came through with 23 saves. The Johnnies and Blugolds combined to go 0-for-7 on the power play. St. John’s held a 33-26 edge in shots.
NCHA – Nationally-ranked opponents Adrian and St. Scholastica avoided upsets over the weekend. Adrian exploded for three goals in the third period on Friday to knock off the Milwaukee School of Engineering 5-4 and avoid an upset loss. The Bulldogs were paced by Jeremy Olinyk, who scored twice in the victory. Olinyk also dished out an assist. James Hamby came up with 18 saves. Adrian held a 45-24 edge in shots. The Bulldogs completed a sweep of the Raiders on Saturday and have won their last 11 games against the Raiders. They own a 29-3-2 record in the all-time series….St. Scholastica picked up a pair of 4-3 wins over Concordia (Wis.). In the series finale on Saturday, Dylan Nowakowski scored twice, including the game-winner. Corey Koop was tough between the pipes, racking up 29 saves for the Saints. St. Scholastica has opened the season strong, winning its first four games. The Saints have scored four or more goals in each of their four wins.

Dylan Nowakowski scored twice as St. Scholastica swept Concordia (Wis.) last weekend (photo: CSS Athletics).

WIAC – Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Wisconsin-River Falls showed flexed their offensive muscle in non-conference wins over the weekend…River Falls scored three times in the third period to roll to a 5-2 win over Hamline on Saturday. Christian George scored twice for the Falcons, who owned a 33-26 advantage in shots. George added an assist as well and now has eight goals in his career. Jeff Bergh scored his third career goal in the win for River Falls. The Falcons, 2-0 on the season, were 3-of-7 on the power play. Tanner Milliron tallied 24 saves….Eau Claire opened its 2014-15 season in style, blanking St. Olaf 3-0 on Friday. The Blugolds shut out the Oles for the first time in 26 meetings. Adam Knochenmus, Brandon Whalin and Ethan Nauman all scored goals for the Blugolds, who are the defending WIAC tournament champions. Tyler Green came through with his first shutout win since Feb. 7 of this year. Green racked up 32 saves.

Quinnipiac rebounds, Saints sweep, Yale and Union reeling

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Two games don’t make a season, but this past weekend certainly helped get Quinnipiac put an early season slump behind them.

The Bobcats (5-2-1) beat Colgate and Cornell, extending their winning streak to four games.

More importantly, Quinnipiac’s defense and goalie Michael Garteig didn’t allow a single goal  either night after giving up at least three goals in all but one its games entering the weekend.

“That’s the best team defense we’ve played in the two years I’ve played,” Garteig said following Saturday’s win. “Guys were doing the right things, the little things to bail me out if I was to let up a rebound. That’s not just our defense, but it was our forwards too.”

With players like Matthew Peca, Sam Anas, and talented freshman Landon Smith, the Bobcats should not only score, but possess the puck for much of the game, which has been their trademark the last several seasons. If the defense can build off this weekend, Quinnipiac should continue to put their sluggish start behind them.

Tim Clifton scored with less than two minutes left to give the Bobcats a 1-0 win Saturday in a game that was marred by Peca getting a five-minute major and game misconduct for hitting the Big Red’s Cole Bardreau from behind. Those emotions spilled over into the post-game handshake, where Cornell’s Joel Lowry and QU’s Dan Federico each got a ten-minute misconduct, and into the post-game press conference, where Big Red head coach Mike Schafer ripped Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold.  Check out the audio here. 

Schafer seemed to be upset that Pecknold was calling for embellishment after Bardreau took the hit. Bardreau suffered a serious season-ending injury after getting hit from behind in 2013.  His post-game interview includes some pointed comments towards Pecknold and some profanity that should likely earn a fine from the league.

Hayton making an impact  

It’s barely a month into the season, but here’s some perspective. St. Lawrence freshman Kyle Hayton posted his third shutout of the season in a 4-0 win at Yale Saturday.

Last year’s starter, Matt Weninger, never had more than two shutouts in any of his four seasons. In fact, the Saints haven’t had three shutouts as a team since the 2005-06 season. The three shutouts are a team rookie record and are the most by any Saints goalie since current pro Mike McKenna had three in 2004-05.

Saints coach Greg Carvel called Saturday’s shutout a team effort, but that doesn’t detract from the job Hayton has done through the first ten games. He has a 1.97 goals-against-average and a .943 save percentage, and Carvel raved about his makeup earlier in the season.

 Bulldogs, Dutchmen scuffling

Yale and Union have won the last two national championships. But neither team has gotten off to a particularly strong start in conference play, going a combined 0-4-2 thus far.

The Bulldogs tied Clarkson Friday and then were blanked 4-0 by St. Lawrence, a game where goalie Alex  Lyon was pulled after one period. Union saw a 3-0 lead turn into a 4-3 overtime loss to Dartmouth Friday and then rallied to tie Harvard 2-2.

Union’s four straight losses prior to Saturday’s tie were the most in a row for the Dutchmen since the 2006-07 season. Their current five-game winless streak comes on the heels of a 22-game unbeaten streak and 15-game home winning streak, both which dated to last year.

But it’s still early. Like the rest of the Ivy teams, Yale has the disadvantage of a late start, while Union has overcome stretches of rough play before. Don’t count either one out  just yet.

Rankings roundup: How ranked teams fared, Nov. 3-9

USCHO Staff Report
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Jake Kulevich and No. 4 Colgate rebounded from a loss to Quinnipiac with a win over Princeton (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).

Here’s how the teams in the Nov. 3, 2014, USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll fared from Monday, Nov. 3 to Sunday, Nov. 9:

RANK LAST WEEK’S RESULTS RECORD THIS WEEK’S GAMES
1
Minnesota		 Friday: beat No. 15 Notre Dame 5-0
Sunday: beat No. 15 Notre Dame 4-2		 7-1 Friday: vs. Minnesota-Duluth
Saturday: at Minnesota-Duluth
2
North Dakota		 Friday: won at Wisconsin 4-3
Saturday: won at Wisconsin 5-1		 7-1-1 Friday-Saturday: vs. Miami
3
Boston College		 Wednesday: lost at Connecticut 1-0
Friday: lost to No. 5 Boston University 5-3		 4-4 Tuesday: vs. Harvard
Friday: at Michigan State
4
Colgate		 Friday: lost at Quinnipiac 5-0
Saturday: won at Princeton 5-1		 7-3 Friday: vs. St. Lawrence
Saturday: vs. Clarkson
5
Boston University		 Friday: won at No. 3 Boston College 5-3
Saturday: tied Connecticut 4-4		 5-1-1 Friday: at Maine
6
Massachusetts-Lowell		 Friday: tied Northeastern 3-3
Saturday: won at Northeastern 5-0		 6-1-2 Friday-Saturday: at Penn State
7
St. Cloud State		 Friday: lost to No. 17 Minnesota-Duluth 3-2, OT
Saturday: lost to Minnesota-Duluth 3-1		 3-5 Friday-Saturday: at Western Michigan
8
Union		 Friday: lost to Dartmouth 4-3, OT
Saturday: tied Harvard 2-2		 5-4-1 Friday: vs. Quinnipiac
Saturday: vs. Princeton
9
Michigan Tech		 Friday: beat Alaska-Anchorage 2-0
Saturday: beat Alaska-Anchorage 3-1		 8-0 Friday-Saturday: at Bemidji State
10
Denver		 Friday: beat Western Michigan 5-4
Saturday: lost to Western Michigan 6-3		 5-3 Friday: vs. Colorado College
11
Miami		 Friday: beat Colorado College 3-0
Saturday: beat Colorado College 5-1		 7-3 Friday-Saturday: at North Dakota
12
Providence		 Friday: beat Merrimack 3-2
Saturday: lost at Merrimack 1-0		 3-4-1 Friday-Saturday: vs. Vermont
13
Minnesota State		 Friday: beat Bemidji State 6-3
Saturday: beat Bemidji State 5-3		 7-3 Off
14
Vermont		 Friday: beat Maine 4-3, OT
Saturday: beat Maine 4-1		 6-1-1 Friday-Saturday: at Providence
15
Notre Dame		 Friday: lost at No. 1 Minnesota 5-0
Sunday: lost at No. 1 Minnesota 4-2		 5-4-1 Friday-Saturday: at Merrimack
16
Ferris State		 Friday: won at No. 20 Northern Michigan 1-0, OT
Saturday: lost at No. 20 Northern Michigan 2-0		 4-5 Thursday-Friday: vs. Alaska-Anchorage
17
Minnesota-Duluth		 Friday: won at No. 7 St. Cloud State 3-2, OT
Saturday: won at No. 7 St. Cloud State 3-1		 6-4 Friday: at Minnesota
Saturday: vs. Minnesota
18
Robert Morris		 Off 7-0-1 Friday-Saturday: vs. Air Force
19
Omaha		 Friday: won at Ohio State 4-1
Saturday: won at Ohio State 4-3		 6-1-1 Off
20
Northern Michigan		 Friday: lost to No. 16 Ferris State 1-0, OT
Saturday: beat No. 16 Ferris State 2-0		 6-1-1 Off

Three things: Nov. 19

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Minnesota-Duluth pulls off big sweep in St. Cloud
No NCHC team came out of this weekend looking rosier than Minnesota-Duluth, which made the short trip down to St. Cloud State and pulled out a pair of wins over the seventh-ranked Huskies.

It all started on Friday night when the No. 17 Bulldogs picked up a big 3-2 overtime victory. A pair of power play goals in the first 10 minutes of the  third period put SCSU ahead, but UMD’s Andy Welinski tied the game with 5:46 left in regulation before Cal Decowski notched the game-winner 2:06 into the resulting extra period.

Bulldogs freshman goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo was outstanding in UMD’s nets, stopping 33 of the 35 shots he faced on the night.

He then followed that up with another 27 saves the following night when the Bulldogs came away 3-1 winners to clinch a series sweep against their intrastate league rival. UMD found itself up 2-0 through Saturday’s first 20 minutes before senior Justin Crandall – who, and it could just be me who thinks this, seems to have been playing for UMD forever -  picked up an empty-net insurance goal with just over a minute left to play.

With the two wins in St. Cloud, Minn., UMD jumped to 6-4-0 overall on the season and 4-2-0 in NCHC play. The Bulldogs are now three points clear at the top of the league standings, although that could soon change as everyone else in the NCHC has league games in hand on Duluth.

UMD has another pair of tough tests coming up this weekend in the form of a home-and-home against Minnesota.

 

UNO backup bounces back to keep Mavericks rolling
Not many people expected a whole lot from Nebraska-Omaha early on this season. Considering the Mavericks have 12 newcomers this year – 11 freshmen and a transfer from Vermont – the skepticism was entirely understandable.

However, No. 19 UNO has been on a real roll here in the first few weeks of the campaign. The Mavericks were 4-1-1 through six games heading into their non-conference series at Ohio State last weekend.

Considering how the season’s started, UNO’s 4-1 win over the Buckeyes on Friday night was pretty standard. Half of the Mavericks’ goals came on power play opportunities, and senior goaltender Ryan Massa kept up his good early form in stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced.

He then suffered a hand injury during his team’s practice the following morning, though, and that put him out of the rematch with OSU. In stepped sophomore backup Kirk Thompson, who conceded three Buckeyes goals in the first period before recovering and helping UNO to a 4-3 win.

Thompson finished the game with 27 saves, 22 of which came over the game’s final 40 minutes.

UNO (6-1-1, 2-0-0) is off this next week before hosting Minnesota-Duluth Nov. 21-22. The Nov. 21 meeting with the Bulldogs will be the Mavericks’ first home game in nearly a month and a half.

UND’s hot streak away from home continues
Wisconsin has been in a bad way early on this season, dropping each of its first four games. The Badgers finally made their home debut last weekend against North Dakota, though, and UW was hoping to finally pick up a W or two at the Kohl Center.

That didn’t happen. Instead, second-ranked UND stormed into Madison and came away with a pair of wins. It’s all UND has done on the road so far this season, as it’s now 5-0-0 away from Grand Forks, N.D. since the start of the current campaign.

Even better if you’re a UND fan, the men in green and white are now riding an eight-game unbeaten streak at 7-0-1.

The fifth of those wins came on Friday in less-than-pretty fashion. UND found itself down 2-1 to the Badgers after the first two periods, but the visitors stormed back and scored three goals in the final 20 minutes – two of them coming off Michael Parks’s stick – to win 4-3.

UND was more comfortable on Saturday during a 5-1 sweep-clinching win, but it didn’t come quite as easily as the score suggests. UND again had to score three third-period goals in the rematch to pull away from the Badgers.

North Dakota (7-1-1, 2-0-0) is back at home this weekend to take on No. 11 Miami.

A comeback becomes a sweep, belief in Storrs and struggles at the Heights

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Vermont showed a lot of meddle this weekend earning a sweep over Maine. And that leads the three things I learned about Hockey East this weekend:

1. Friday rally turns into a weekend sweep for the Catamounts

It appeared Maine was about to win just its second road game in the Red Gendron era on Friday night when the Black Bears held a 2-0 lead early on Vermont and a 3-2 advantage in the closing minute. But a Mario Puskarich goal with the goalie pulled for the extra attacked with just 59 seconds remaining knotted the game at three. Then with 1:47 left in overtime Mike Stenerson buried the game winner, demoralizing Maine. The momentum from Friday carried into Saturday as Vermont scored twice in less than a minute early and never looked back, posting a 4-1 victory for the sweep. UVM is now 4-1-1 in league play and tied for first place with Massachusetts-Lowell. Part of that is a perfect 4-0 record at home.

2. Three huge points spark a lot of belief in Connecticut

UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh knew Wednesday night was going to be a special night. Not only was his team playing its first Hockey East game in the XL Center in front of a sold out crowd, on the opposite bench was Cavanaugh’s former mentor Boston College coach Jerry York. Little did he know that at the end of the night, Cavanaugh would be congratulated by York for winning, 1-0, pulling off the upset of the then-No. 3 Eagles. Four night later, this time at Agganis Arena, Cavanaugh’s squad huge blow for blow with a Boston University team some think may be among the nation’s elite, battling to a 4-4 tie against the 5th-ranked Terriers. It is early, but having played just a single home game thus far, UConn looks pretty impressive and hardly the near-consensus late place team most of us though they would be.

3. Panic at the Heights?

Speaking of Boston College, the 1-0 loss to UConn was the middle loss of three straight losses for the Eagles. It is the first three-game losing streak for BC since the 2009-10 season. That team went on to win the national championship, but title thoughts right now seem pretty far away from BC. The Eagles struggled to score in the first two of the three losses, falling 2-1 in OT to Denver before the 1-0 shutout by the Huskies. On Friday, the offense returned and BC took a 3-2 lead in the third period only to allow rival Boston University to score the final three goals of the game for a 5-3 Terriers victory. The good news was that BC coach Jerry York felt his team played a good game on Friday against BU but were just victimized by some unlucky puck luck. BC won’t have to wait too long in hopes of returning to the win column as the Eagles face Harvard on Tuesday.

Three things from the weekend that was in the Big Ten

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Greetings from Mariucci Arena’s press box. Four Big Ten teams were in action this weekend and, outside of the team that I just got done watching, the results weren’t great. Here’s how things shook out:

  • Minnesota swept Notre Dame, winning 5-0 on Friday and 4-2 on Sunday.
  • Wisconsin was swept at home by North Dakota. UND won 4-3 on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday.
  • Ohio State was swept by Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks won 4-1 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday.
  • Michigan State split with New Hampshire. The Spartans won 4-3 on Friday and lost 5-2 on Saturday.

Here are three things I saw this weekend:

1.    Minnesota has cemented its spot as the best team in the conference, so far

I know, conference play is still weeks away and the meat of the conference schedule is a couple months away, but Minnesota’s early-season performance has proven that it is the team to beat in the Big Ten this season.

Minnesota put on a clinic in its 5-0 blowout victory over Notre Dame on Friday and responded with another convincing win on Sunday.

The Gophers recipe for success, score a lot of goals and hold opponents to low shot totals. Minnesota has average 3.78 goals per game this season and held the Fighting Irish to 20 shots on Friday and 23 on Saturday. The Gophers are giving up 2.13 goals per game this season.

Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said that he saw a lot of improvement from Minnesota this weekend, which could be a bad thing for the Gophers opponents considering they came into the weekend with a 5-1 record.

“We had some continuation shifts,” he said. “Two or three in a row where we were able to sustain momentum, and we hadn’t seen that this year.”

The high-scoring games and lack of shots by Notre Dame overshadowed Adam Wilcox’s play in net, but the junior backstop looked the best he has looked all year in net. Both Lucia and Wilcox noted that the goaltender was comfortable in net.

“I started to feel like myself tonight,” Wilcox said after Friday’s game. “Kind of like how I felt last year. I think I just needed to get a little more balanced and a little more calm. I was working on that in practice, and I had a really good week of practice and it carried over into the game.”

Minnesota will play a home-and-home series with Minnesota-Duluth next weekend. The Gophers are 1-0 against the Bulldogs this year, as they won the contest the two teams played at the Ice Breaker Tournament 4-3.

2.    Ohio State and Wisconsin were swept on home ice

Sending the home fans home disappointed is never a good thing, doing it twice in one weekend is even worse. Both Wisconsin and Ohio State did just that this weekend.

Wisconsin’s nightmare start to the season continued, courtesy of North Dakota. The Badgers are now 0-6

The Badgers held a 2-1 lead in the third period of Friday’s game until North Dakota scored an even strength, power play and short-handed goal in the third period. The Badgers scored with 19 seconds left in the game to make it 4-3.

“We had a 2-1 lead going into the third period against the No. 2 team in the country, we would have taken that if somebody had told us that would’ve been it,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. “On the other side of the coin, it’s probably the formula that we got outshot 43-20, and that’s probably going to be a formula for a while in the fact that we need Joel [Rumpel] to play well for us until we can get more experience under our young people and figure out our roles.”

North Dakota scored four unanswered goals on Saturday to win 5-1.

“It’s obviously tough when you start 0-6, but we took a lot of big steps this weekend,” Rumpel said. “They’re the No. 2 team in the country and we were tied, beating them and down by one. Both games we went into the third, so obviously we can tell that we’re getting better, so I wouldn’t call it discouragement, but more like improvement.”

Omaha was riding a hot streak going into its series against Ohio State. I thought that home ice would help the Buckeyes get a win weekend, but it did not.

The Buckeyes’ sported some cool-looking camouflage sweaters for Friday’s game, but their poor special-teams performance held them back. Omaha scored two power-play goals in the game and held the Buckeyes scoreless on five power-play opportunities.

After a week off, Wisconsin with travel to Colorado to play Colorado College and Denver. The game against the Tigers will be a “something has to give” contest, as they are also struggling this season (currently 2-6).

Ohio State will play a home-and-home series with Bowling Green next weekend.

3. Michigan State wins on Friday and gets blown out on Saturday

The Spartans put themselves in a good position to sweep New Hampshire on the road, but failed to execute on Saturday.

“Both games this weekend had some key moments in them,” MSU head coach Tom Anastos said after Saturday’s game. “Last night those key moments seemed to go our way and tonight they seemed to go their way. I thought their goaltender played really strong tonight and we were unable to convert some of the good scoring chances that we had and the game got away from us. I give them a lot of credit.”

This weekend was the second time in three opportunities that Michigan State has had an opportunity to sweep an opponent, and failed.

Michigan State plays Boston College on Friday.

Three things

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1. Separation Saturday

Some teams are nearing the quarter pole of the conference season, and we’re starting to see a little bit of daylight between the top teams and rest of the pack. Michigan Tech continued to roll as it remained undefeated and atop the standings with its sweep of Alaska Anchorage. The Huskies are 8-0-0 for the first time since 1972-73. I was 9 months old when that season began! Minnesota State and Bowling Green kept pace with their own impressive sweeps, remaining two points back and hoping not to let Tech get too far ahead, like Ferris State did a year ago.

2. Strong between the posts

This league has some very good goaltenders. I thought about this while sitting in the Verizon Wireless Center press box in Mankato and seeing one of last year’s best goalies, Minnesota State’s Cole Huggins, struggle and get replaced by Stephon Williams. Williams has seven wins and a .901 save percentage. Coaches love the 90-percent threshold, but that number ranks 11th in the league. Northern Michigan’s Mathias Dahlstrom is at .970, and Tech’s Jamie Phillips is at .957. Ferris State’s C.J. Motte, who is 4-5-0, is at .946. Motte and Dahlstrom had quite the battle this weekend, each shutting out the other’s team in a series split, while Phillips allowed one goal against Anchorage.

3. From the Great Lakes to the Bering Strait

It’s time for the WCHA to embrace its gigantic footprint, one that includes three time zones. If you’re a fan of the league, a Friday or Saturday night means you can watch more than six straight hours of hockey. The league may not be getting the ESPN treatment, but prior to the Minnesota State-Bemidji State games, I was able to watch parts of Northern Michigan-Ferris State and Michigan Tech-Alaska Anchorage on WCHA.tv, then covered the Mavericks-Beavers games. After writing, I returned home, grabbed a cold beverage and was able to watch the end of the Alaska-Bowling Green games. Pretty cool, even if there remain a few technical glitches to work out.

Women’s D-I wrap: Nov. 09

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No lead is safe
Of the eight games played on Friday, five teams grabbed multiple-goal leads that didn’t stand up. Brown, St. Cloud State, Providence, and Lindenwood surrendered two-goal leads, while RIT’s three-goal margin didn’t last. No clear trend emerged once the game was tied. The team holding the original lead ultimately won twice and lost twice, while one game ended in a tie.

Fool me once …
On Friday, after Maine erased a two-goal deficit, host Brown scored the final three goals in a 5-2 victory. Kaitlyn Keon had two goals, Sarah Robson added a trio of helpers, and Erin Conway and Kelly Micholson contributed a goal and an assist.

It got worse for the Black Bears on Saturday. They raced to a 3-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old. Monica Elvin came on in relief for Brown at that point and slammed the door, saving all 27 shots that she faced, while her offense went to work. Robson scored in the first period, Keon connected twice in the second period to tie the game, and Sam Donovan potted the game-winner with 88 seconds elapsed in the final period. Robson capped the 5-3 Brown win into an empty net.

Turnabout is fair play
Things looked good for Lindenwood when Jordyn Constance scored from Shara Jasper and Katie Erickson on a second-period power play to put the Lions up, 2-0, in the series opener. Erickson had connected in the first frame with Jasper again helping. However, Rebecca Vint started a Robert Morris comeback with a power-play goal of her own, and Mackenzie Johnston scored in the third period to force overtime. Defenseman Natalie Fraser’s first goal in a Colonials uniform gave RMU a 3-2 victory 2:25 into the extra session.

Saturday’s game was a see-saw affair. The Lions took a lead just 30 seconds into the game, but didn’t get their second goal until 93 seconds into period three. That forged a 2-2 tie that lasted all of 12 seconds before Erin Staniewski put the Colonials back on top. Constance netted her second goal of the game at 13:19 on a power play to force overtime, where Erickson struck to produce a 4-3 win for Lindenwood in a game where it was outshot, 40-24.

The cup runneth over (just not the Four Nations Cup)
Northeastern is left to ponder what No. 1 Boston College will look like at full strength, after the Four-Nations-shortened version dumped the Huskies, 6-1. Yes, Northeastern was down two players for the same reason, but even without five stars, the Eagles unleashed a 46-shot barrage. Kate Leary and Kristyn Capizzano scored twice; Kali Flanagan and Emily Field added three-point games.

BC had its team together intact for its Sunday game and kept rolling with a 4-2 win over Vermont. Leary netted two more goals in a three-goal Eagles’ second-period rally, after Amanda Pelkey had given the Catamounts the lead earlier in the frame on the power play.

Finally!
After years of winless frustration dating back to 2008 in the head-to-head rivalry, Syracuse finally got the best of No. 7 Mercyhurst on Saturday with a come-from-behind, 4-1 win. After assisting on Nicole Renault’s tying goal, Stephanie Grossi scored the winning goal on a third-period power play. Alysha Burriss and Melissa Piacentini added exclamation points into an empty net, and Jenn Gilligan made 28 saves to earn the historic victory.

A day earlier, the Lakers had extended their mastery of Syracuse with a 5-1 win. Emily Janiga’s two points included a goal, her ninth, and Megan Whiddon assisted twice. Amanda Makela handled 28 of 29 chances.

How the rest of the top 10 fared
No. 6 Boston University was the only other ranked team in action. The Terriers took a 4-3 lead on Sarah Lefort’s power-play goal with under four minutes to play, only to have Yale’s Eden Murray tie it at 4-4 with an extra-attacker goal 1:55 later. The Bulldogs’ Courtney Pensavalle led all scorers with two goals and an assist. Each team converted twice on the power play, and the BU special teams added two more tallies while on the kill.

Other action
RIT took a three-goal, first-period lead Friday at Princeton, but was unable to hold it. Ali Pankowski tied the game at 3-3 early in the third period after Fiona McKenna and Hilary Lloyd had started the rally, with Molly Contini assisting on all three and Lloyd getting two helpers. Kelse Koelzer set up Morgan Sly for Princeton’s winner 1:36 into overtime. Freshman Alysia DaSilva made her debut in the Princeton net in relief to start the second stanza and handled all 11 shots she faced to earn the win. No leads were blown on Saturday, because none were taken as RIT and Princeton played to a 0-0 tie. Kimberly Newell made 40 saves, and Jetta Rackleff stopped all 28 shots she faced for RIT. The teams combined for 17 penalties.

After Molly Illikainen and Lauren Hespenheide scored 23 seconds apart for SCSU, Lauren Wash and Ali Svoboda answered for Rensselaer with tallies separated by 1:41 to send the teams to the first intermission deadlocked. Illikainen set up Abby Ness’ short-handed goal at 7:06 of the middle frame, and goaltender Julie Friend made 28 saves to preserve the Huskies’ 3-2 triumph. The Huskies completed the sweep in dominating fashion, outshooting the Engineers, 36-8, and getting goals from Lexi Slattery, Vanessa Spataro, and Illikainen in a 3-0 shutout.

Providence remained winless when it squandered a two-goal lead versus Union. Lexi Romanchuk and Haley Frade made it 2-0 at the 5:44 mark of the second period. Nicole Russell halved the margin 14:31 into the third period, Kathryn Tomaselli tied the game with 100 seconds left in regulation, and the Friars had to settle for a 2-2 tie.

Providence managed to avoid victory once more versus Connecticut on home ice on Sunday. The Friars spotted the Huskies the first goal, but roared back with three straight in the second period. Once the third period got underway, it was UConn’s turn. Emily Snodrass scored on a penalty kill 16 seconds after intermission, and 5:20 later, the Huskies were ahead on goals from Margaret Zimmer and Leah Lum. However, the Friars weren’t done, as Brooke Simpson scored an extra-attacker goal with four seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game, 4-4, and that’s how it ended. Cassidy Carels supplied a goal and two assists for PC.

Penn State allowed the opening tally to Colgate, but then scored five of the next six goals to seize control. Hannah Hoenshell had three points including two goals, and Laura Bowman found the net twice, also, as the Nittany Lions won, 6-4. Some of the storylines were the same on Saturday: Colgate scored early, Bowman had two goals, and PSU won again. Owing to Hannah Ehresmann’s 21 saves, that’s all the offense that was needed, and Sarah Nielsen finished off the 3-1 win into an empty net.

Ohio State jumped out to a two-goal lead 5:47 into its game at Minnesota State, thanks to tallies by Breanne Grant and sophomore Hayley Studler, the first in her career. Julia McKinnon built the Buckeyes’ lead to three before rookie Hannah Davidson’s first goal for the Mavericks provided the final 3-1 verdict. OSU completed the sweep on Saturday, 2-0. Danielle Gagne was the only shooter to beat Brianna Quade, who finished with 36 saves. That was enough, because Stacy Danczak turned away 17 shots and Kendall Curtis added an empty-net goal.

New Hampshire got back in the win column by taking care of Vermont, 5-1. Brittany Zuback scored the first goal of the game for the Catamounts, but momentum turned on Jonna Curtis’ goal in the final seconds before intermission. She had two assists as the Wildcats netted a pair in both of the following periods, and Ashley Wilkes made 21 saves.

Dartmouth defeated St. Lawrence, 5-1, in a non-ECAC game in Rochester, N.Y. Lindsey Allen had a pure hat trick, the final two into an empty net; Robyn Chemago recorded 29 saves.

On Tuesday, Justine Fredette’s first career goal got Connecticut off and running in a 4-2 win over Brown. Four different Huskies scored and 10 collected a point. Kaitlyn Keon scored on a penalty shot for the Bears.

Three Things: November 9, 2014

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A look through the weekend that was in Atlantic Hockey:

Holy Mackerel!

Just under half of the institutions in Atlantic Hockey have roots in the Catholic Church. At the conclusion of this past weekend, four are in early season positioning for a first round bye under the new AHA format. Highlighting that run are Holy Cross and Sacred Heart, both of which gained monster three-point weekends.

Although a team not known for their offensive prowess, Holy Cross went pound for pound with RIT, scoring five goals and rallying after blowing leads on both nights. On Friday, the Crusaders built a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Danny Lopez and TJ Moore. RIT, however, tied it up with a second period goal from Brady Norrish and a third period goal from Andrew Miller. Holy Cross was able to grab a lead two minutes after the Tigers tied it up, but an empty net, extra attacker goal forced a 3-3 tie. On Saturday, RIT outshot Holy Cross, 2-1, but again the Crusaders built a lead, lost the lead, and scored a go-ahead goal. This time, it held up.

As for Sacred Heart, they continued their run of strong hockey by taking three points at home from Canisius. Down 2-1 in the second period on Friday, the Pioneers scored twice in four minutes in the late stages of the frame, including once on the power play. Andrew Bodnarchuk then held on with a strong third period to preserve the victory. After the team’s skated to a tie on Saturday night, the Pioneers found themselves in third place with eight points, undefeated in their last three games, three points back of idle first place Robert Morris.

Coaches, along with media members and fans, always talk about how it’s not where you start but where you finish. That said, fast starts are always a big help, and with an unbalanced schedule providing more east/west matchups, it’s good to see more parity coming down the pipeline with stronger eastern pod victories.

Holy Cross heads to Army next weekend, while Sacred Heart has a one game, non-conference tilt against UConn at the Taft School in Watertown, CT.

Wild Weekend In Erie

A great indicator of the crazy brand of hockey we all enjoy in Atlantic Hockey came from Mercyhurst-Army this past weekend. The series ended up as the highest-scored series with 14 goals scored over two nights, but what’s more amazing is that it came after the Lakers beat the Black Knights, 2-0, on Friday. That said, even that game provided some wildness, and no, I’m not talking about penalties.

Friday featured fantastic goaltending on both sides of the ice, highlighted by Jimmy Sarjeant’s 39-save shutout. But he was matched nearly stop-for-stop by Parker Gahagen, and Mercyhurst won the game based on goals 44 seconds apart. It was one of those games where a fan of good defensive hockey went home completely satisfied. Highlights are available by clicking here.

And then there was Saturday. I’m not sure if both teams used up all of their goaltending on Friday night, but it took the night off in the second game. They combined for six goals in the second period alone after a 1-1 first, including a penalty shot for Army scored by Tyler Pham. Mercyhurst rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game at 3-3, then rallied from down 4-3 to tie things up at 4-4……..all in the same period. Army took a 5-4 lead, but the Lakers finished things off by scoring twice and adding an empty net goal for a 7-5 victory.

Consider this. A night after he went toe-to-toe with arguably the league’s best goalie, Parker Gahagen gave up six goals and still made 34 saves. On the flip side, Sarjeant made 39 saves to shut out Army on Friday, but he didn’t finish the game on Saturday and picked up a no-decision as Spencer Bacon came off the bench, made 12 saves, and received his first career victory in just his second career appearance.

The Lakers head east for the first time this season to take on Bentley next weekend while Army wraps up nine of 11 at home to start the year against Holy Cross.

Niagara off the schneid

If you remember back to last season, I repeatedly said over and over how I didn’t think Robert Morris was as bad as their infamous record portrayed them. At one point, they were 0-5-1, then 1-8-1, then 2-12-2 as the calendar year turned over. This year, I said the same thing about Niagara.

Niagara lost on Friday night to Bentley, 6-0, which made them 0-8 on the season. Watching the Purple Eagles sure as heck didn’t feel like a team that was 0-8, and for the most part, it was just a case of something bad happening right as it felt like things were turning around. As they battled back, things just snowballed and went to worse, and the Falcons capitalized in their own building in a big way. It certainly wasn’t a lack of effort or talent. It just was it was.

But give credit where credit’s due. With players sidelined by injury, Niagara’s hung very tough, and it showed on Saturday night. They never trailed and prevented Bentley from scoring an even-strength goal in a 3-2 overtime victory. Coach Dave Burkholder’s team looked solid defensively all night, and Jackson Teichroeb made 28 saves to pick up the team’s first victory.

Ironically enough, Niagara outshot Bentley 31-30 with the 31st shot being Isaac Kohls’ overtime winner. It was the only shot in overtime.

The Purple Eagles now receive a much needed bye weekend to rest up their banged up roster before playing five of their next six games at home. It starts in two weeks against Army.

Gallery: Johnson & Wales at Wentworth

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Images from Wentworth’s 3-2 defeat of Johnson & Wales on Saturday, November 8, at Walter Brown Arena in Boston.

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Former Michigan All-American Grant passes away at 86

USCHO Staff Report
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Wally Grant helped Michigan to the 1948 national championship. He passed away Nov. 5 at the age of 86 (photo: University of Michigan Athletics).

Wally Grant, Michigan’s first three-time All-American and a key member of the Wolverines’ first national championship team in 1948, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 86.

Grant remained involved in the Michigan hockey program long after graduation, serving as president of the Dekers Blue Line Club, while also holding membership in the Graduate “M” Club and Michigan’s Victors Club. He was also the first former player to support an endowed scholarship for Michigan hockey, establishing the Mickey and Wally Grant Ice Hockey Scholarship.

“Wally and I became good friends in 1984 when I came back to coach the team,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said in a news release. “Although his career was outstanding, his relationship with the program was even more outstanding. He and his wife Mickey have been solid supporters in every regard. They’ve done whatever it takes to support this hockey team and all of the players and the program in general. Wally did it in such a happy, supportive, positive way. You just can’t say enough about his contributions to Michigan. We’re all going to miss him. He was a terrific guy, a great friend, and in his day he was a terrific player.”

A native of Eveleth, Minn., Grant led Eveleth High School to three straight unbeaten seasons, winning the first Minnesota state high school hockey championship in addition to playing quarterback on the football team and starring on the track team.

Grant played four years at Michigan, missing the 1946-47 season after serving 18 months in the United States Military. He returned in Jan. 1948 to help lead Michigan to the national championship, forming the formidable “G Line” along with center Wally Gacek and right wing Ted Greer. In the national championship game, Grant scored the game-winning goal at 1:30 of the third period to help the Wolverines defeat Dartmouth, 8-4. Grant scored 63 goals and added 83 assists for 146 points as a Wolverine.

In 1994, Grant was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. He is also a Legend of Michigan Hockey, a member of the University of Michigan Hall of Honor and the Dekers Club Hall of Fame.

A memorial service will be held in December. Details are still pending.

Gallery: Minnesota-Duluth overcomes St. Cloud State in OT

By Bradley K. Olson
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Here are photos from No. 17 Minnesota-Duluth’s 3-2 overtime win over No. 7 St. Cloud State on Friday in St. Cloud, Minn.:

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