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SATURDAY ROUNDUP: Ohio State sweeps No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 15 Colorado College sweeps No. 2 North Dakota, No. 19 New Hampshire sweeps No. 7 Maine, No. 3 Boston University beats No. 10 Providence, No. 12 Cornell captures Ivy League title in shootout, No. 8 Minnesota picks up split with Notre Dame in OT, Bowling Green’s win over St. Thomas complicates CCHA

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Ohio State’s Joe Dunlap and Wisconsin’s Daniel Laatsch chase the puck late in Saturday’s OSU win (photo: Ohio State Athletics)

Goals by Cam Thiesing and David Burnside put Ohio State up 2-0 over Wisconsin late in the first, and the Buckeyes never looked back in their 3-1 win, completing a sweep over visiting No. 4 Wisconsin.

David Silye scored on the power play in the second to draw the Badgers to within one, but Joe Dunlap responded for the Buckeyes less than three minutes later.

Kristoffer Eberly made 27 saves in the win, while Wisconsin’s Kyle McClellan stopped 26 shots.

The sweep was the first in Big Ten play this season for the Buckeyes, who have three total conference wins. The losses drop the Badgers from fourth to seventh in the PairWise Rankings.

No. 15 Colorado College 6, No. 2 North Dakota 2

After trailing 2-1 at the end of the first period, Colorado College tied the game 2-2 after two and then exploded for four third-period goals to beat visiting North Dakota 6-2. Kaidan Mbereko made 43 saves for the Tigers, who were outshot 45-32.

The win secures a weekend sweep in which the Tigers outscored the Fighting Hawks 13-3 following Friday’s 7-1 CC win.

Logan Will put the Tigers ahead for good in this one at 4:19 in the third, fed by Klavs Veinbergs and Nicklas Andrews.

Noah Laba led all Tigers with three points on an empty-net goal and two assists.

After Cameron Berg gave North Dakota a 2-1 lead on the power play at 19:51 in the first, neither team scored until Evan Werner tied it for Colorado College at 16:60 in the second.

No. 19 New Hampshire 5, No. 7 Maine 2

Colton Huard’s power-play goal early in the third period put New Hampshire ahead of Maine 3-1 and held up as the game winner as the Wildcats completed the sweep of the Black Bears in the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.

The goal was the second on the night for the Wildcats’ power play. Trailing 1-0 in the second period, Harrison Blaisdell’s marker tied the score for New Hampshire midway through the second, and Morgan Winters gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead after two.

Harrison Scott answered Huard’s goal at 9:09 in the third but Cy LeClerc scored for New Hampshire less than 30 seconds later to make it 4-2. Liam Devlin’s unassisted goal at 16:03 capped the scoring in the game.

Jakob Hellseten had 21 saves in the win. Victor Ostman stopped 31 for Maine as the Wildcats outshot the Black Bears 36-23.

No. 3 Boston University 5, No. 10 Providence 2

After trailing 1-0 on Jamie Engelbert’s early first-period goal for Providence, four different Terriers scored four consecutive goals en route to Boston University’s 5-2 win in Agganis Arena.

Nick Zabaneh tied the game for BU at 12:60 in the first, assisted by Jeremy Wilmer and Gavin McCarthy. Wilmer also assisted on Tom Willander’s late first-period goal that gave the Terriers a 2-1 lead after one.

It was Lane Hutson’s goal from Jack Hughes at 15:26 that eventually won the game for Boston University.

Shane Lachance scored twice in the third period for BU, at 2:51 to give the Terriers a 4-1 lead and again at 16:07, two minutes after Craig Needham drew Providence to within two.

Mathieu Caron had 32 saves for Boston University. For the Friars, Philip Svedebäck stopped 28.

Yale 1, No. 12 Cornell 1

Dalton Bancroft and Gabriel Seger scored for Cornell in the shootout following a tie with Yale, giving the Big Red the Ivy League title for the second consecutive season. It’s the first time that Cornell has won consecutive Ivy League championships since 2020, when it captured its third in a row.

The title is decided among the six Ivy League teams that play in the ECAC. It’s the 26th time that Cornell has earned the honors.

All the regulation scoring in this game was done within less than two minutes late in the first period. Yale’s Will Richter made it 1-0 at 16:09 and Cornell’s Tyler Catalano answered at 17:15.

Through three periods and overtime, Cornell outshot Yale 23-17. Jack Stark had 22 saves for Yale, Ian Shane 16 for the Big Red.

No. 8 Minnesota 3, Notre Dame 2 (OT)

After losing 6-1 at Notre Dame Friday, Minnesota gutted out a 3-2 overtime victory to earn a split on the weekend.

It was Jimmy Snuggerud’s 19th goal of the season at 1:18 in OT that won the game, following Justen Close’s save on Drew Bavaro at the other end just seconds before.

The four regulation goals came within a 14-minute span in the second. Connor Kurth put Minnesota on the board at 1:44 with Justin Janicke tying it for Notre Dame at 6:27. The Fighting Irish took the lead on Jayden Davis’s goal at 13:22, but Jaxon Nelson tied for the Gophers at 13:40.

Close ended the night with 24 saves. Minnesota outshot Notre Dame 39-26. In net for the Irish, Ryan Bischel made 36 saves.

Bowling Green 3, St. Thomas 1

With a 3-1 road win over St. Thomas, Bowling Green takes five of six points from the Tommies and moves into a three-way tie for second place with St. Thomas and Minnesota State in the CCHA standings.

Brett Pfoh, Seth Fyten and Ben Doran each had goals for the Falcons. Doran had an assist for two points in the game. Bowling Green’s Jaden Grant also had two points.

In goal for the Falcons, Cole Moore made 30 saves as St. Thomas outshot Bowling Green 31-25. Jake Sibell had 22 saves for the Tommies.

Prior to the weekend, Minnesota State led the CCHA with 35 points, one ahead of the Tommies, four ahead of Bemidji State and five in front of the Falcons. With Bemidji State sweep of Ferris State, the Beavers are now in first place with 37 points. The result of the Bowling Green-St. Thomas series gives each team 35 points and that tie with Minnesota State.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Edwards’ acrobatic goal gives No. 2 Wisconsin 4-3 overtime win over No. 5 Minnesota

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MADISON — Wisconsin sophomore Laila Edwards earned some redemption Friday night. The Badger forward got caught up in the battle portion of her team’s border battle with Minnesota late in regulation, taking a penalty for tackling Abbey Murphy with just 1:07 left in regulation. The Gophers capitalized just six seconds into the player advantage as Josefin Bouveng ripped a slapshot from the right faceoff dot to tie the game 3-3 and force overtime.

The home team controlled possession for much of the start of overtime and when they switched lines for a third time, Edwards got her chance to make amends. Casey O’Brien passed her the puck at the blue line right as she took to the ice and Edwards saw a path to the net by swinging wide to the right. Using her big frame, she cut back to the net front, protecting the puck and giving herself room. She was past Madeline Wethington, but the two got tangled up, twisting Edwards so she was on her knees with her back to the goal. But using her long reach and stick, she completed the play and slid the puck past Skylar Vetter to give Wisconsin the 4-3 overtime win.

“It was a stupid penalty,” Edwards said. “I should know not to get into it with Murphy. So that was on me, and I had to do my best to make it up and, luckily, I did.”

The idea of redeeming herself was on her mind when she got on the ice in overtime, but she knew she said she knew she had to be careful not to get too eager or overplay the situation.

“At this level I think it’s important to keep a level head and I was a bit down after getting that penalty,” Edwards said. “But I think the main emotion I felt after getting that goal was just relief because I knew I let the team down and I had to make it up. I felt instant relief and I was very grateful.”

The acrobatic final play overshadowed a game that was something of a goalie showdown as both Vetter and Jane Gervais made spectacular save after spectacular save to keep their teams in the game. Vetter in particular was crucial in ensuring that a fast-paced Badger team was not able to run up the score.

While Wisconsin controlled much of the start of the game, holding Minnesota without a shot for the first seven minutes of play, it was the Gophers that got on the board first. Careless play with the puck along the boards in their defensive zone led to a turnover and the puck on Peyton Hemp’s stick all alone in front of Badger goalie Jane Gervais. Hemp’s shot beat her through the five-hole to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Wisconsin was finally able to get on the board in the second when Kelly Gorbatenko’s no-look pass found Laney Potter crashing the net through the slot. Potter’s shot was a no-doubter to tie the game 1-1. They took a 2-1 lead when Chayla Edwards’ shot was deflected by Marianne Picard.

Josefin Bouveng tied the game 2-2 early in the third on a turn around top shelf wrister, but less than three minutes later Lacey Eden carried the puck around the net and found Britta Curl in the slot, where she shot through Vetter’s five-hold to give Wisconsin a 3-2 lead. They carried the lead until Laila Edwards’ ill-timed penalty.

As Wisconsin’s biggest names were stymied by a hot Vetter, it was a second-pairing defender and third-line forward that kick-started the Badger offense. It speaks to the team’s depth.

“That’s a sign of something that is good and positive when you can get some depth in your scoring,” UW coach Mark Johnson said. “It certainly puts confidence in the players who do it. More importantly it makes it more challenging to play against us.”

Curl was unsurprised that the team was getting key contributions from players further down the scoresheet. Teams like the Badgers and Gophers match up well through their top lines, often neutralizing each other.

“I’ve noticed in my career that in big games like this it often comes down to your third line or your second or third D pair,” Curl said. “Ours really stepped up today.”

The game was an important one for both teams in terms of Pairwise and postseason positioning. Thanks to the overtime and Colgate’s loss to Yale, Wisconsin vaulted to the #2 spot, while Minnesota climbed to #3. The win also gave the Badgers a five point edge over the Gophers in the conference standings. Ohio State can clinch the conference title by earning two points on Saturday.

The sold-out crowd was loud and boisterous in the face of this close game, adding even more to the game. But Laila Edwards said that the anticipation of the Border Battle and the atmosphere in LaBahn are why players chose to play for Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“These are the moments I live for,” Edwards said. “I mean, every game is important but these in particular, there’s so many emotions and a lot of pressure. And pressure’s a privilege, so I try to take advantage of that privilege and do what I can to help the team win.”

The two teams will meet again on Saturday at 2 p.m. central. The game will be streamed on BigTenPlus.com.

FRIDAY ROUNDUP: Ohio State downs No. 4 Wisconsin in OT, No. 15 Colorado College beats No. 2 North Dakota, No. 19 New Hampshire upsets No. 7 Maine, Notre Dame routs No. 8 Minnesota, top-ranked Boston College drops No. 11 UMass

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Ohio State players mob overtime hero Davis Burnside after the Buckeyes defeated Wisconsin Friday night (photo: Big Ten Hockey Twitter).

No. 15 Colorado College displayed its offense Friday night, defeating No. 2 North Dakota 7-1 at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Zaccharya Wisdom scored four goals and added an assist for the Tigers, while Klavs Veinbergs had a goal and two assists and Gleb Veremyev went for a goal with an assist.

Tyler Coffey also scored, Ryan Beck chipped in four assists, and Kaidan Mbereko made 23 saves in goal.

Riese Gaber tallied the Fighting Hawks’ goal and goalies Hobie Hedquist and Ludvig Persson combined to make 24 saves.

SCOREBOARD | POLL | PAIRWISE

Ohio State 3, No. 4 Wisconsin 2 (OT)

Ohio State’s Stephen Halliday tied the game 2-2 at 18:21 of the third period and then Davis Burnside won it at 4:38 of overtime as the Buckeyes knocked off No. 4 Wisconsin Friday night at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Michael Gildon scored Ohio State’s other goal, while Halliday added an assist for a two-point game and Scooter Brickey posted a pair of helpers to back Logan Terness’ 28 saves in goal.

For Wisconsin, Jack Horbach and Ben Dexheimer scored and Kyle McClellan finished with 20 stops between the pipes.

No. 19 New Hampshire 6, No. 7 Maine 2

Liam Devlin’s hat trick led New Hampshire to a 6-2 win over Maine Friday night at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.

Ryan Conmy added a goal and an assist and Jakob Hellsten made 18 saves for the win in goal.

Stiven Sardarian and Harrison Blaisdell also scored and Alex Gagne added two assists for the Wildcats.

Cole Hanson and Anthony Calafiore netted Maine’s goals, Ben Poisson assisted on both, and Albin Boija made 20 saves in the Black Bears crease.

Notre Dame 6, No. 8 Minnesota 1

Danny Nelson scored once and added two assists and Cole Knuble potted a pair of goals as Notre Dame downed Minnesota 6-1 at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind., Friday night.

Carter Slaggert went for a goal and an assist and Paul Fischer tacked on two assists to back goaltender Ryan Bischel’s 31 saves.

Landon Slaggert and Drew Bavaro also scored for the Irish.

Aaron Huglen scored for the Gophers and Justen Close and Nathan Airey combined on a 22-save effort between the pipes.

No. 1 Boston College 5, No. 11 UMass 1

Cutter Gauthier and Ryan Leonard each scored a pair of goals in a 5-1 win for Boston College over UMass at the Mullins Center on Friday night in Amherst, Mass.

Andre Gasseau added an empty-netter in the final minute for the Eagles and goalie Jacob Fowler posted 25 saves in the win.

Lucas Mercuri scored the UMass goal and netminder Michael Hrabal made 20 saves for the Minutemen.

No. 10 Providence 2, No. 3 Boston University 2 (Providence wins shootout)

Nick Zabaneh and Sam Stevens scored for Boston University and Tanner Adams and Chase Yoder scored for Providence as the two teams skated to a 2-2 tie Friday night at Schneider Arena in Providence, R.I.

Providence won the shootout against BU and gained the extra point in the Hockey East standings.

BU goalie Mathieu Caron made 35 saves, while Philip Svedebäck stopped 27 for the Friars.

No. 5 Denver 5, Minnesota Duluth 4 (OT)

Aidan Thompson was the overtime hero, scoring his second goal of the game at 1:46 of extra time and lifting Denver past Minnesota Duluth 5-4 from Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn.

The Bulldogs had scored two late goals 34 seconds apart from Aaron Pionk (17:41) and Luke Loheit (18:15) to force overtime.

McKade Webster and Tristan Broz had a goal and an assist each for the Pioneers, while Carter King also scored and Matt Davis stopped 32 shots in goal. Miko Matikka rank up a pair of assists for DU.

Loheit had an assist for a multi-point game for UMD, while Quinn Olson and Aiden Dubinsky also scored.

Minnesota Duluth goalie Zach Stejskal finished with 35 saves.

No. 9 Quinnipiac 6, Union 2

Jacob Quillan, Christophe Fillion and Charles-Alexis Legault each had a goal and an assist as Quinnipiac downed Union 6-2 at the M&T Bank Center in Hamden, Conn.

Travis Treloar, Iivari Räsänen and Andon Cerbone added goals for the Bobcats and Alex Power and Cooper Moore contributed two assists each.

Between the pipes for Quinnipiac, Vinny Duplessis made 20 saves before giving way to Noah Altman, who made two saves in the final 3:33.

Nate Hanley and John Prokop scored for Union and Kyle Chauvette made 36 saves in goal.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: Conference tournament details for each league

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The DI women’s regular season winds down over the next two weeks and conference playoffs are on deck. There is almost no uniformity to the postseason, as each women’s college hockey conference tournament uses a different format. Here’s a short primer on what each league’s championship looks like and the dates for the 2024 tournaments.

CHA

The top four teams in the CHA advance to the post season. There is a best-of-three semifinal series with the No. 1 seed hosting the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed hosting the No. 3 seed Feb. 23-25. The two winners will face off in a single-elimination Championship game March 1-2 that will be hosted by the highest remaining seed.

The overall tournament winner receives an auto-bid into the NCAA Tournament.

ECAC

All twelve teams advance to the post season. The top four teams receive an opening round bye and will not play the weekend of Feb. 23-24.

The opening round is a single-elimination round. The No. 5 seed hosts the No. 12 seed, the No. 6 seed hosts the No. 7 seed hosts the No. 10 seed and the No. 9 seed hosts the No. 8 seed.

No. 12 at No. 5
No. 11 at No. 6
No. 10 at No. 7
No. 9 at No. 8

The quarterfinal round is a best-of-three series taking place March 1-3. The No. 1 seeds hosts the winner of the 8/9 game, the No. 2 seed hosts the winner of the 7/10 game, the No. 3 seed hosts the winner of the 6/11 game and the No. 4 seed hosts the winner of the 5/12 games.

The bracket will reseed after the quarterfinal and the highest remaining seed will serve as host for the semifinals and finals on March 8 and 9.

Hockey East

All Hockey East teams advance to the postseason. All games are single-elimination and are hosted by the higher seed. Seeds No.1 – No. 6 receive an opening round bye. No. 7 will host No. 10 and No. 8 will host No. 9 in opening round games on Feb. 28.

Teams are reseeded before heading into the quarterfinals. The top two seeds will host the winners of the opening round games while No. 3 will host No. 6 and No. 4 will host No. 5. Those games are schedule for March 2.

Semifinals are scheduled for March 6 and the Championships will be played on March 9.

NEWHA

All eight teams advance to the postseason. The quarterfinals are a best-of-three series to be held Feb. 23-25 at the higher seed’s rink.

No. 8 at No. 1
No. 7 at No. 2
No. 6 at No. 3
No. 5 at No. 4

The semifinals are slated for March 2 and are single-elimination. The teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals.

Lowest Remaining Seed at Highest Remaining Seed
Second Lowest Remaining Seed at Second Highest Remaining Seed

The Championship game is March 9 at the highest seed’s home rink.

WCHA

All eight teams advance to the postseason. The quarterfinals are a best-of-three series to be held March 1-3 at the higher seed’s rink.

No. 8 at No. 1
No. 7 at No. 2
No. 6 at No. 3
No. 5 at No. 4

Winners advance to the Final Faceoff, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed. The semifinal games are schedule for March 8 at 1 and 4 p.m. central time. The Championship is schedule for 2 p.m. central on March 9.

The 2024 NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament Selection Show will air live on ESPNews at 12:30 p.m. eastern on March 10.

Pioneers seeking great finish with balanced approach

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Senior Kimball Johnson and teammate Brian Scoville have led a young group of Utica players to the regular season title in the UCHC with expectations for greater successes (Photo by Maxwell LeBuis – YSM Media)

A quick look at the UCHC standings finds an unbeaten Utica squad entering the final week of the regular season and prepping for another conference title run beginning next week. While the results are not necessarily unusual, the way coach Gary Heenan’s team has achieved them has been different than recent past rosters. A look up and down the stat sheet shows great contributions from the full roster and balance that Utica has taken advantage of in their claim to the No. 2 ranking in the country behind Hobart. The formula may be different, but the “all-for-one” approach is setting the Pioneers up for a strong playoff run in February and March.

“It has definitely been by committee this season and we knew that going in,” said Heenan. “We do not have anyone leading any category in the league but have leadership in important team statistics like faceoff win percentage and plus/minus. We do not have the high-end guys with big numbers that we have had in the past couple of seasons here, but we have many players who are contributing up and down the lineup and we have given our young guys a chance to compete for playing and special teams time while learning the college game. We have had a different lineup each weekend game with five-in and five-out to give everyone in the lineup a chance to play and grow.”

With such a young group, leadership and showing the right way to practice and play has fallen to defenseman Brian Scoville who is enjoying his best season since coming to Utica. Scoville (8G – 17A – 25 Pts; +29) leads the team in scoring and plays big minutes in every situation along with assistant captain Kimball Johnson who mans the opposite pairing for the Pioneers. Getting four first-year students that dress every game on the blueline up to speed has been a big part of Scoville and Johnson’s calling while making sure the team overall is on the fast track to learning and improving.

“Brian did not get any ice time on the power play when we had Jason [Dobay] and Justin [Allen] here,” stated Heenan. “Now he is leading the first power play group and Kimball the second unit. We never knew he had such a cannon from the point, but he is using it effectively this year and has been incredibly dependable for us on the ice every other shift and over 25 minutes per game. Those two play on opposite shifts except maybe in the final minute of a period or key game situation so they have really helped accelerate our development with the young players this season.”

Historically, Utica has played a No.1 goaltender with a backup and this season has also reflected a different kind of balance between Bryan Landsberger and Ethan Roberts. Landsberger won twenty-five games a year ago but was on the losing end of the season ending NCAA tournament loss in overtime to UNE. Roberts came in to start the season and played as the No. 1 with Landsberger working hard to get crease time. Since December, the pair have alternated Friday and Saturday games, and the team has benefited from the balance and competitive support the two netminders have provided over the past couple of months.

“We have moved to a 1A and 1A model with Bryan and Ethan,” stated Heenan. “Lands probably got punished a little unfairly for the overtime loss last season but to his immense credit he came in here and just worked harder while supporting Ethan. I think the alternating approach helps the team with a fresh guy each night and a different goalie to challenge the opponent in a two-game series. We like how it is working out and both guys are supportive of each other while focused on playing their best when called upon.”

With just the final weekend series against Arcadia on tap to close out the regular season, the Pioneers are gearing up for another UCHC title run that will have some challenging opponents potentially coming to Utica in the next couple of weeks. The focus is on the conference title to guarantee entry to the national tournament again.

“No question our league is better this year,” noted Heenan. “We are coming into the last weekend of the regular season, and everyone is playing for something in terms of playoff position or getting in to the post-season so we cannot take a team like Arcadia lightly. Wilkes and Stevenson have both proven to be very good hockey teams and while we haven’t seen them since the first half, we know that like us they have improved their game in preparation for a chance to win a conference championship. There is a lot riding on the next couple of weeks and being at home is great for our young team to stay focus and rested. We are finalizing our lineup for this part of the season with some recent tinkering to three lines upfront, but we are excited to see where this team can go.”

Quarterfinal action in the UCHC tournament begins on Wednesday, February 21 with Utica having already clinched the top seed and awaiting the results of this weekend to determine their quarterfinal opponent.

 

Home underdogs, semifinalist goalies each highlight four of our five games this week: USCHO Edge college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 15

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USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin and Ed Trefzger look at five key college games.

Games this week:

  • Boston College -166 @ UMass +130; over/under 6
  • Maine -160 @ New Hampshire +124; o/u 5.5
  • Air Force +190 @ RIT -250; o/u 6
  • Wisconsin -220 @ Ohio State +170; o/u 5.5
  • North Dakota -238 @ Colorado College +180; o/u 5.5

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four, April 11 and 13 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Check out all of USCHO’s podcasts, including USCHO Weekend Review and USCHO Spotlight, plus our entire podcast archive.

Continue

NCAA D-III West Hockey Weekend Picks

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Joe Westlund and the Bthel Royals are hoping to win a MIAC regular season title this weekend. (Photo Credit: AJ Barett)

It’s the final week of the regular season in the MIAC while conference tournament action gets underway in the WiAC and NCHA. Expect some exciting matchup, especially in the MIAC where Bethel and Augsburg are both vying for the right to win the regular season title and secure the top seed for the tournament.

MIAC

Augsburg (13-8-2, 10-3-1) ) vs. St. Scholastica (15-7-1, 8-5-1)

Talk about a matchup with a ton on the line. The Auggies are currently in first place and have a shot to keep things that way with a stellar performance against the Saints.

There was a time this season when St. Scholastica seemed destined to be the MIAC champ but it’s been an up and down second half. Still, they are conference tourney bound and will finish no worse than the third seed.

Should be a fun matchup with goaltender Samuel Vyletelka of the Auggies up against an offense that has some of the top offensive threats in the game, including Arkhip and Filimon Ledenkov.
Augsburg, 4-2; St. Scholastica, 3-1

Bethel (15-5-3, 9-3-2) )vs. Hamline (7-14-2, 3-10-1)

Oh what an opportunity the Royals have coming off a bye weekend. They are three points behind Augsburg in the standings but can make up that ground with a big showing against the Pipers. On paper, Bethel is favored, especially with Tyler Kostelecky, who has been clutch and is tied for second in goals scored this season with 11.
Bethel, 5-2 and 4-1

Saint Mary’s (8-13-2, 6-7-1) vs. Concordia (10-10-3, 5-7-2)

Both teams are on the outside looking when it comes to the conference tournament, but anything is possible depending on how the weekend shakes out. The Cardinals are sixth in the standings and the Cobbers are seventh. If special teams plays a key role in this one, keep an eye on Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe of the Cobbers and Bud Winter of the Cardinals. The two have combined for 14 power play goals, including nine from Henkemeyer-Howe.
Concordia, 5-3; Saint Mary’s, 4-3

St. Olaf (10-10-2, 6-6-2) vs. Gustavus (10-11-2, 5-8-1)

The Oles control their own destiny heading into this series, currently sitting in fifth place in the standings. The Oles know they just need to get into the tourney and anything can happen from there. But the Gusties have been playing well lately, winning three in a row, and they won’t make anything easy for the Oles, who have won two in a row. A split in this series won’t be a surprise.
St. Olaf, 4-3; Gustavus, 3-2

NCHA

MSOE (14-9-2, 8-9-1) at Aurora (13-11-1, 12-6)

The Raiders and Spartans split in the regular season and that makes things interesting going into this conference tournament opener. MSOE has one of the top goal scorers in the league in Seth Benard, who has tallied 13 goals. But Aurora’s Jakson Kirk has matched that total. Carson Jones of the Raiders and Chase Broda of the Spartans have 12 goals apieces. Should be a fun one to watch.
MSOE, 5-4; Aurora, 4-3; Aurora, 2-1 mini game

Concordia (8-17, 6-12) at No. 3 Adrian (19-5-1, 16-2)

Adrian is the team to beat heading into this tournament as the No. 1 seed and the Bulldogs dominated the Falcons in the regular season, outscoring them 14-2 in two games. Adrian simply has too many options to turn to on offense, plus great goaltending from Dershahn Stewart, and that should allow them to win this series with ease.
Adrian, 6-2 and 5-1

Lawrence (8-15-2, 6-10-2)  at No. 11 Trine (18-7, 13-5)

Nothing came easy for Thunder the last time they went up against the Vikings as they lost one game by a 4-2 score and then had to grind out a 3-2 win in overtime. Trine should have the upper hand playing at home and knowing a lot is on the line, but expect Lawrence to battle. The Vikings have some confidence, having lost just once in their last four outings.
Trine, 3-2 and 4-3

Marian (9-15-1, 5-12-1) at No. 10 St. Norbert (18-6, 15-3)

The Green Knights come in as the favorite and swept the regular season series against the Sabres. St. Norbert is always tough on home ice, losing just once there this season, and it has the luxury of having the top two goal scorers in the conference on its roster in Liam Fraser and Adam Stacho. The two have scored 16 goals apiece. Marian, winning just once in its last six, will need to play near perfect hockey to pull off an upset.
St. Norbert, 6-0 and 5-1

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Regular-season championship coming down to Michigan State, Wisconsin as both teams know ‘you have to earn it’

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Wisconsin’s Ben Dexheimer plays the puck in front of Kyle McClellan during a recent game (photo: Tom Lynn).

The Big Ten regular-season title is Michigan State’s to lose.

What’s also true is that the Big Ten is Wisconsin’s to win.

With three weeks remaining until conference playoffs, the Spartans remain at the top of the standings with 46 points after sweeping Michigan last weekend. The Badgers paced Michigan State with a sweep of their own over Notre Dame, staying five points behind the Spartans in second place.

This weekend, Wisconsin has the chance to overtake Michigan State when the Badgers travel to Ohio State and the Spartans enjoy a bye week. Wisconsin has six remaining B1G games to Michigan State’s two.

Both teams have stumbled a little in recent weeks, which has made things even more interesting at the top of the standings. Wisconsin went 1-2-1-1 in the four games immediately preceding last weekend’s home series against Notre Dame. The Spartans split each of their three B1G series leading up to the sweep of Michigan.

Things are so tight at the top of the standings that Michigan State is guaranteed to win the regular-season title – and the first-round conference playoff bye – only if the Spartans win out their season. Wisconsin needs to win five of their six remaining games to take first place.

How can it get tenser than that? Michigan State finishes its season on the road against Wisconsin.

Before that point, the Badgers play both last-place Ohio State and sixth-place Penn State on the road, and Mike Hastings is taking absolutely nothing for granted. Hastings said that his team’s in no danger of letting down after playing Notre Dame.

“In this league, you have to be past that by now,” said Hastings. “If you don’t play well, you’re going to get beat and depending on how you play, you could get embarrassed. I don’t care who you’re playing in our league. You have to go out and earn your points.”

Wisconsin brings the best defense in the country into Columbus this weekend, allowing just 1.87 goals per game. The Badgers have allowed two or fewer goals in their last four contests, including limiting Minnesota – a team that averages 3.50 goals per game – to three goals total in a series two weeks ago. In that series against the Golden Gophers, the Badgers were held to two themselves, earning them two of six points for their efforts.

Numbers, said Hasting, can be deceiving. Take those nation-topping defensive numbers, for example.

“Depending on what weekend, what day you’re talking about, I think those numbers have been accomplished in different ways,” said Hastings. “At times, unfortunately, we’ve left Kyle on an island, where he’s had to be better than good, where’s he’s needed to be special. So he’s maybe made some mistakes disappear through his play.”

Kyle is, of course, Kyle McClellan, the goalie with the third-best goals-against average (1.89) nationally and nation-leading save percentage (.932).

Hastings said that earlier in the season, forwards were doing a good job of getting back and jumping into defensive play – “playing connected, defending in groups of five, not giving up a tremendous amount of outnumbered rushes” – but that at other times, both the blue line and McClellan have had to do some heavy lifting.

“Then there’s been different times when our defensive corps has gone out and had to wear a lot of rubber, have had to block a lot of shots, had to make some defensive plays under duress,” said Hastings.

“When we’re at our best, it’s when we give Kyle the opportunity to see it and stop one and be done, and the only way that we do that is when our defensive corps are doing what they should do, our forwards are coming back and being connected with their defensive corps so that we’re getting out of our zone and not spending extended amounts of time there.”

After trailing Notre Dame 2-0 at the end of the first period Friday night, the Badgers scored two in the second and two in the third in the 4-2 win. David Silye’s second goal of the game at 1:18 in the third was the game winner. Wisconsin didn’t trail again in the series following that go-ahead goal.

To hold onto their five-point lead over Wisconsin, the Spartans beat Michigan 5-1 on the road and then 3-2 in Little Caesar’s Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings, in the annual Duel in the D game, which drew a record crowd of 18,410.

The win was the 20th of the season for Michigan State. The last time the Spartans won 20 games was in 2007-08, which is also the last time that Michigan State won the national championship.

The sweep also gives Michigan State a 3-1-0 record against Michigan for the season, the first time that’s happened since 2009-10. The Wolverines have, in a weird way, played a significant role in Michigan State’s development this season. After Saturday’s win, Adam Nightingale referenced Michigan State’s first series of the season against Michigan (Jan. 19-20), a split, to make two related points.

“If you look at our season, we’re not perfect,” said Nightingale. “We still have a lot to work on, but looking back at moments, we went out in October and lost two games to Boston College. We didn’t lose again until we lost to Michigan 7-1 at home in regulation.”

Nightingale was talking about a stretch of 14 games following 6-4 and 5-1 losses to Boston College Oct. 26-27 during which the Spartans went 10-1-3, the only in overtime against Minnesota Nov. 26.

That 14-game span without a regulation loss ended with a 7-1 loss to Michigan Jan. 19. The Spartans won 7-5 on the road the following night, a game they were losing by three goals midway through the second period.

“Going through that and then losing 7-1 and being down 4-1 is painful,” said Nightingale, “but if you take the right approach, I think it’s a big-time opportunity for growth and I think our team grew through that.”

Nightingale said that the Spartans have “an even keel approach” and stressed the importance of taking a breath after a big win. “We’re still trying to lay the foundation of what we want this to look like. I think having poise, if you want to be an elite team, that’s a key characteristic.”

As the Spartans sit this one out, the Badgers will play a series that no doubt will feel like playoff hockey three weeks before the end of the season.

“Any time you go on the road in the Big Ten, you have to earn it,” said Hastings, adding that in that regard, the Buckeyes “are not going to be any different” than any other B1G opponent Wisconsin faces.

“They know that the playoffs are coming,” said Hastings. “We know that the playoffs are coming. We’re both trying to hone our group to be as good as we can be once that puck drops in the second season, so for us, it’s just about staying on our dailies. Our group has done a good job of that.”

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Mercyhurst hoping last weekend’s win over first-place RIT starts to get Lakers out of ‘a heck of a rut’

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RIT’s Cody Laskosky and Mercyhurst’s Kyler Head go for the puck during a game last weekend (photo: Mercyhurst Sports Information).

On Jan. 5, Mercyhurst defeated Sacred Heart 7-2, a convincing way to start the 2024 portion of the Lakers’ schedule.

Rick Gotkins’ team was 7-9-3 at the time, in the thick of things in the Atlantic Hockey standings.

Then the Lakers experienced what Gotkin called a “rut.” It lasted nine games (0-9), finally coming to an end on Saturday with a 3-2 victory over first-place Rochester Institute of Technology.

“In every season, there are grooves and ruts,” said Gotkin. “We’ve been in a heck of a rut.”

In these situations, the only way out is through, and Gotkin, in his 36th season behind the Mercyhurst bench, says while it’s been a frustrating stretch, his team has stuck together.

“None of us – coaches, players, or fans – want to watch their favorite team lose,” he said. “In that regard, it was frustrating.

“But we found positives in every single game, things that we could take away and learn from. Guys were working hard in practice and still finding ways to make things fun.”

Gotkin says the schedule that the Lakers played during that stretch contributed as well.

“No excuses, but seven straight road games was tough,” he said. “On paper, it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. How much that played into (the losing streak), I don’t know.

“But all the way through this, I thought we were better than the results.”

It was darkest before the dawn for Gotkin and his team. Last Friday, they lost a heartbreaker to RIT that saw the Lakers fall behind 2-1 before mounting a comeback that saw them open leads of 5-3 and 6-4 before the Tigers tied the game with 37 seconds left and won it 13 seconds into overtime.

On Saturday, Mercyhurst never trailed, holding back a furious comeback attempt by RIT to earn a 3-2 win.

“It was a really good win for us,” said Gotkin. “Especially after the wild game on Friday where it was last goal wins. They got the last goal.

“There was less emotion on Saturday. We went about our business and did the things we needed to in order to win and recognized that we beat a very good team and can build on that.”

Freshman Simon Bucheler and sophomore Owen Say combined for 84 saves on the weekend. Say has seen the majority of time in net, but Bucheler has two wins against RIT so far this season, including a 51-save 2-0 shutout on Nov. 11.

“We have great belief in both (goaltenders)”, said Gotkin. “They’re young and have had to go up against more experienced guys. Our league has great goaltending, lots of seniors and fifth-year seniors, and they’ve held their own.”

The Lakers do have experience up front, with juniors and seniors comprising nine of Mercyhurst’s 10 top scorers. But the top spot is occupied by freshman Boris Skalos, who leads the team in goals (12) and is tied for the lead in points (21) with senior Steven Agriogianis.

“We knew (Skalos) was a really good player,” said Gotkin. “Did we expect him to lead the team in scoring? He’s done it kind of quietly. He’s a great kid and really, really good. We lost 17 players from last year, and guys like Boris have been very important.”

Mercyhurst travels to American International for a pair of games this weekend, before ending the regular season with three games against Niagara. The Lakers currently sit in ninth place, three points away from home ice in the first round.

The Lakers have shown throughout the season that come playoff time, they can be a force to be reckoned with. They have defeated first-place RIT (twice) and second-place Sacred Heart this season.

“We’ve seen it before,” said Gotkin. “A seventh or eighth place team winning (the Atlantic Hockey tournament championship).

“We want to play our best hockey at the end of the season, and we’re moving in that direction.”

This Week in Hockey East: Beyond the Beanpot, Boston schools looking to home stretch, conference postseason play

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Northeastern won the 2024 Beanpot and celebrated on TD Garden ice Monday night (photo: Jim Pierce).

Not long after Northeastern took a twirl on the TD Garden ice, hoisting high the Beanpot trophy before a delirious (not to mention large) student section for the fifth time in the last six tournaments, the focus of the three Boston-based Hockey East teams shifted to what lies ahead — a sprint to the regular-season finish line and the conference and NCAA tournaments.

Though they enter the final four weekends of the regular season riding the biggest wave of momentum, the Huskies find themselves in the toughest position. At No. 20 in the PairWise as of this writing, Northeastern is firmly on the bubble, and will have to either win the Hockey East tournament or finish the season strong and get a lot of help to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA’s big dance.

The Huskies (13-12-2, 6-11-0 Hockey East) put themselves in a big hole with a just two wins in 10 games to start to the season, but currently ride a six-game winning streak that includes wins over their crosstown rivals, Boston College and Boston University. Northeastern plays a home-and-home series this weekend vs. UMass-Lowell.

The Huskies made it clear, moments after their thrilling 4-3 overtime win over BU in the Beanpot final, that they’re ready to fight.

“We kept receipts at the beginning of the year; we heard all the noise,” said Northeastern junior forward Justin Hryckowian, who notched five points in two Beanpot games and assisted senior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine for the overtime winner vs. BU. “We stuck together through it. We’re a resilient group now. We’re kind of jelling at the right time.”

BU (19-8-1, 13-4-1), despite four losses in its last seven games, is in great shape with six to play. The Terriers are third in both the PairWise and the USCHO.com men’s D-I poll, first in the league standings, and feature five of the top ten scorers in the league — Macklin Celebrini (first), Lane Hutson (fifth), Ryan Greene (ninth) and Jeremy Milner and Quinn Hutson (tied 10th).

“I like our team,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said after the Beanpot championship loss. “Yeah, we had a little bit of a rough patch there, losing three games in five days. We bounced back pretty well. (I) like the way we played tonight. We just ended up on the wrong side of it. (I) think we’re in a good spot.”

All three meetings between the Terriers and Huskies this season have been decided 4-3 in overtime, with Northeastern holding a 2-1 edge.

“Obviously, this time of year is when you want to be playing your best hockey,” Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe said. “(You) need your best players, your best leaders to show up in these big games and lead the way. (It) hasn’t been an easy year. We started out the season 2-7 and we’ve had to keep grinding through it. You gotta give our leadership group credit, because they did not sweat it one ounce this year. They believed in each other and kept focused on getting better every day.”

BC (21-5-1, 13-3-1), which was a 5-0 winner over Harvard (ECAC Hockey) in the Beanpot’s third-place game, is No. 1 both in the PairWise and the USCHO poll. Both BC and BU face ranked opponents this weekend, both of whom will be fighting to bolster their own status in the PairWise and Hockey East standings. The Eagles play home-and-home against UMass (10th PairWise, 11th USCHO) while BU does the same against Providence (11th PairWise, 10th USCHO).

For the fourth straight season, the Hockey East tournament will feature all 11 schools and will be a straight single-elimination affair (previous iterations of the tournament featured only the top eight programs and a best-of-three quarterfinal round). The preliminary round will be held March 13, the quarterfinals are set for March 16, with the semifinal and final March 22-23 at TD Garden.

BRACKETOLOGY: This week presents less of a headache in Springfield regional, but UMass as host still requires some effort when bracketing

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Collin Graf and Jayden Lee celebrate a recent goal for Quinnipiac (photo: Farrah Chernov).

If you read last week’s Bracketology, you are familiar with the nightmare that was created when you had three Hockey East teams in the No. 1 seed and UMass, the host in the Springfield, Mass., regional, sitting as a four seed.

What it created was either the conundrum to move North Dakota from the Sioux Falls regional to Springfield, swapping for a Hockey East team like Boston University or Maine, or do the relative unthinkable and allow two Hockey East teams to face one another in the opening round, typically taboo when seeding the NCAA tournament.

The good news: UMass won twice this past weekend and moved to a No. 3 seed, while Maine dropped to a No. 2 seed. That translates to being able to keep the remaining two Hockey East No. 1 seeds – Boston College and Boston University – in the two eastern-area regions.

The bad news: We’ll still need to maneuver some team placement to place UMass in Springfield and still protect things like attendance and bracket integrity.

Let’s start, though, with the easy things. Namely, determining the 16 teams in the field.

Here they are:

1. Boston College
2. North Dakota
3. Boston University
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
6. Maine
7. Denver
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
10. Massachusetts
11. Western Michigan
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State
14. Cornell
15. RIT (current top winning percentage in AHA)
16. Bemidji State (current top winning percentage in CCHA)

Here are how the four brackets would shake out based on the perfect 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc. bracketing.

1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State

2. North Dakota
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
15. RIT

3. Boston University
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
14. Cornell

4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State

Let’s look for first-round interconference matchups. Right now, we have none. So let’s assign each bracket to a region, remembering that UMass has to play in Springfield.

Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State

Springfield, Mass.
2. North Dakota
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
15. RIT

Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. Boston University
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
14. Cornell

Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State

Right away, I see one major issue. Boston University and North Dakota, two top seeds are about as far from home as they can get. Does it make sense to switch those two teams alone? It wouldn’t really destroy the bracket. But how about if you simply swap the 1 vs. 4 seed matchup in each region?

Thus, you’d have:

Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State

Springfield, Mass.
3. Boston University
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
14. Cornell

Sioux Falls, S.D.
2. North Dakota
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
15. RIT

Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State

Personally, I like this bracket as it brings both North Dakota and BU to appropriate regions and also allows BU rival Cornell to be their first round opponent at a venue about halfway between the two campuses. It also maintains 2 vs. 15 and 3 vs. 14 matchups in the first round.

Could there be another swap? Possibly if you want to move Providence from the Maryland Heights Regional to the Providence Regional. The Friars are not the host in Providence (Brown is). And with both Boston College and Quinnipiac in this region, I’m not that worried about attendance. Moving Providence would also be complex if you want to try to maintain any semblance of bracket integrity (you’ve be swapping a 9 seed for a 12 seed, allowed but not very fair).

We’ve seen the committee twice keep Providence local in the two past regionals hosted by Brown. And maybe it will eventually shake out that way, but I’m not inclined to do that right now.

So my final bracket is:

Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Minnesota
9. Quinnipiac
16. Bemidji State

Springfield, Mass.
3. Boston University
7. Denver
10. Massachusetts
14. Cornell

Sioux Falls, S.D.
2. North Dakota
6. Maine
11. Western Michigan
15. RIT

Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Wisconsin
5. Michigan State
12. Providence
13. St. Cloud State

 

Hockey Commissioners Association announces 10 semifinalists for 2024 Mike Richter Award as college hockey’s top men’s goaltender

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Mike Richter and Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe pose with the 2023 Mike Richter Award presented to Devon Levi. The goalie was unable to attend because of his NHL schedule (photo: Jim Rosvold).

The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the semifinalists for this year’s Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey since 2014.

Ten goaltenders from a watch list of 30 were singled out by a panel of voters from across the hockey community.

Seven of the goalies come from the United States and three from Canada. Minnesota and Quebec lead the way with a pair each. Two are graduate students, two are seniors, three are juniors, one is a sophomore and two are freshmen. Two were semifinalists last year in Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel and Minnesota’s Justen Close.

Three finalists will be announced in early March and the winner of this year’s award will be announced in April during the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn.

The six NCAA Division I conferences are all represented among the semifinalists with the Big Ten boasting four goalies, ECAC Hockey with two and Atlantic Hockey, the CCHA, Hockey East and the NCHC with one each.

Semifinalists for 2024 Mike Richter Award

Trey Augustine, Michigan State, FR
Ryan Bischel, Notre Dame, GR *
Justen Close, Minnesota, GR *
Vinny Duplessis, Quinnipiac, SR
Jacob Fowler, Boston College, FR
Kaidan Mbereko, Colorado College, SO
Kyle McClellan, Wisconsin, SR
Tommy Scarfone, RIT, JR
Ian Shane, Cornell, JR
Jake Sibell, St. Thomas, JR

*2023 semifinalist

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

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Miami getting rejuvenated mentally, physically with Denver next weekend, end of regular season approaching

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Bruno Bruveris has been a bright spot this season for Miami (photo: Bella Sagarese).

It’s not uncommon for teams to hit a bye week at inopportune times, having been firing on all cylinders and perhaps viewing an extended break between games as a momentum-stopper.

Miami is now in its last bye week of the season, with six games remaining. The RedHawks have dropped eight straight and are all but mathematically locked into the bottom seed for the NCHC playoffs and are as much in need of a break as any team at this point.

But, although two losses at home last weekend to 16th-ranked St. Cloud State saw Miami remain 14 points clear at the bottom of the conference standings, there were some things that gave coach Chris Bergeron reason for optimism going forward.

Among them has been the recent play of freshman goaltender Bruno Bruveris. The Latvian stepped in when graduate student Logan Neaton, the lone NHL Draft pick on Miami’s roster this season, picked up an injury after starting 18 of the team’s first 20 games. That itself has been a theme for this RedHawks team, ever since projected top-line center Albin Nilsson suffered an injury on the first day of fall camp and would miss half the campaign.

Bruveris had a tough outing in Friday’s series opener with St. Cloud State, making just 14 saves in a 5-2 loss. He was far busier Saturday but also better, making 33 saves and keeping the RedHawks competitive until they fell 3-1, thanks in part to two third-period goals.

Through 11 appearances this season, Bruveris has gone 1-9-0 and has an .873 save percentage for a Miami team that is 7-19-2 overall and just 1-16-1 in the NCHC.

“Bruno, like anybody else, wants to win,” Bergeron said after Saturday’s game. “I think he has played better hockey than his record indicates over the last number of starts, since Neaton has been out, let’s just say, so I feel for him. I know there were some pucks he wanted back last night, but he really battled back last night, and I would’ve liked to have seen him get rewarded for that effort, because he deserved it.

“We’re still learning about Bruno, but that type of response is pretty serious. He did the same thing at Duluth. The Friday night game (a 6-2 loss Jan. 26), he got pulled and he had a great game on Saturday (in a 3-2 overtime loss). I thought he did great tonight, and I wish he could’ve got a better result.”

Those could be coming more regularly, with more players likely to become available for action starting next weekend at fifth-ranked Denver. Miami then hosts No. 18 Omaha and finishes the regular season away to No. 13 Western Michigan.

“I think we need to work on our conditioning a little bit for one more stretch,” Bergeron said. “We’ve only practiced with 11 forwards for a bit, and I think now we’re going to be at 13, hopefully potentially 14.

“We’ll get some rest here mentally and physically over the first few days of this week, then we’ll go back to work and prepare for Denver, which we know is a very long trip and a difficult team to play against in their rink.”

D-II/III East Men’s Hockey Game Picks – February 14, 2024

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Babson travels to Elmira for a quarterfinal matchup on Saturday in the NEHC having seen a lot of past success as the road team come playoff time (Photo by Babson Athletics)

It may be Valentine’s Day but do not look for much love to be shared between foes on the ice this week.

For the NEHC it is now “win or go home” time as the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament begins on Saturday. Elsewhere there are still battles across the conference for playoff position, home-ice seeding and for some, earning a spot in the conference tournament to play on further this season. There is no question the stakes are higher and like the action on the ice, I need to be better for my picks moving forward and last week trended in a positive direction when  my picks went 11-2-2 (.800). The solid week pushed my overall numbers to 122-54-14 (.679) which is heading towards a very productive playoff run in February and into March. This week features the final picks of the regular season as well as the quarterfinal round for the NEHC in an expected exciting week in the East beginning on Wednesday night:

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

(4) Geneseo v. Morrisville

The Knights do not have much to play for having already secured the top seed in the SUNYAC tournament but knowing they have a bye to open the tournament, the Knights might just fly around like it is already a quarterfinal matchup. The Mustangs have been tough at home but are no match for the depth of their opponent –  Geneseo, 4-2

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Plymouth State v. Massachusetts-Dartmouth

The Panthers and Corsairs are currently sitting No. 1 and No. 2 atop the MASCAC standings and while this game might not mean too much to the regular season impact, the message that can be sent for the playoffs is important as a possible final round matchup. Visitors eke it out –  PSU, 4-3

Worcester State v. Salem State

The Vikings have two of the conference’s best in Erik Larsson and Zach Dill upfront, but they will need some secondary scoring to overcome a determined Lancer team that will look for an upset at “The Rockett” – Salem State, 5-4

Friday, February 16, 2024

Salve Regina v. University of New England

Can it get much better than the final game of the regular season deciding the final home-ice seeding in the CCC? This one means a lot for the home team if they want the tiebreaker to take third place over the visitors. Salve Regina has been hot offensively in last two games and continue with a big road win  – SRU, 3-2

Assumption v. Southern New Hampshire

The Penmen have the most to play for in this matchup as they are in a battle for second place with St. Michael’s and Franklin Pierce lurking just a point behind. The Greyhounds are in tune up mode for a NE-10 title run and will be extremely focused to continue their dominant season – Assumption, 4-3

(6) Trinity v. Wesleyan

The Bantams have clinched the top seed and Wesleyan needs a couple of wins and a lot to go right elsewhere just to qualify for the NESCAC tournament. The motivation is high for the Cardinals, but the Bantams take it to their Connecticut neighbors – Trinity, 5-3

Franklin Pierce v. St. Anselm

The Ravens might consider this to be a possible NE-10 tournament matchup in the not-so-distant future, but the focus is on a good weekend and results that might earn them second place in the standings. This series will be very entertaining with the visitors finding an OT winner to open the two-game series – FPU, 4-3

Arcadia v. (2) Utica

The Pioneers have been rolling through the UCHC and will not take their foot off the gas pedal in fine-tuning their game for a playoff run into March. A fast start from a deep and balanced group of front spearheads a comfortable win at home – Utica, 6-2

Cortland v. Oswego

The Lakers are at home and need a win to secure the second seed in the SUNYAC playoffs with Plattsburgh having a game in hand. The Red Dragons are locked into the No. 4 spot so they cannot change anything other than sending a message for the playoffs. It is a playoff style game with a home team win – Oswego, 3-2

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Massachusetts-Boston v. (13) Skidmore

The No. 6 seeded Beacons travel to face the No. 3 seeded Thoroughbreds in what projects to be a low-scoring quarterfinal matchup in the NEHC. Sam Best has been good for UMB, but Tate Brandon is a bit better and makes the difference here – Skidmore, 3-2

Southern Maine v. (12) Norwich

The teams closed out the regular season in Maine and now the Cadets play host in this quarterfinal matchup where they will not take for granted the win that earned them the  No. 2 seed. Kerner & Co. get it done to the delight of the Kreitzberg faithful –       Norwich, 4-2

VSU-Castleton v. (1) Hobart

The Statesmen hosted the Spartans last Friday and won comfortably but do not expect Mark Taylor’s team to relax now that the stakes are much higher. Nobody has taken out Hobart on home ice and the Spartans will not in this game either – Hobart, 4-1

Babson v. (8) Elmira

The dreaded No. 4 hosting No. 5 game is always a tough pick, and the Soaring Eagles earned the hosting role by a tiebreaker over the Beavers. It is a TRAP GAME alert if there is such a thing in the playoffs because the Beavers have a three-game win streak for only the second time this season. Character players make the difference in a stunning OT win for the visitors – Babson, 3-2

King’s v. Manhattanville

The Valiants lost two critical games to Chatham last weekend with a home-ice playoff berth in sight. The Monarchs will not be an easy out but M’ville needs to build some momentum for the UCHC tournament and win here helps – Manhattanville, 5-3

Fredonia v. (5) Plattsburgh

The Cardinals may not be playing for a higher seeding, but Fredonia is definitely in a playoff eligibility and position battle. This one will be tight early until the Cardinal 200-foot pressure wears down the Blue Devils – Plattsburgh, 5-2

Lots to play for in the final games of the regular season and quarterfinal playoff games. It is what everyone has been playing for and leading up to – “Drop the Puck!”

Addressing CHL rumors, talking mens, women’s college hockey growth with College Hockey Inc.’s Snee: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 6 Episode 15

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College Hockey Inc. executive director Mike Snee joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to address CHL eligibility rumors, women’s college hockey and CHI’s new director of women’s hockey Sadie Lundquist’s hiring, continued expansion, educational efforts, and more.

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four, April 11 and 13 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Check out all of USCHO’s college hockey podcasts, including USCHO Weekend Review and USCHO Edge, plus our entire podcast archive.

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This Week in CCHA Hockey: Bowling Green finding renewed footing as program as ‘players deserve all the credit’

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Quinn Emerson posted three points last weekend as BGSU swept Lake Superior State on home ice (photo: Brent Cizek).

Bowling Green is a case study in how quickly fortunes can change in college hockey.

With six games left to play in their season, the Falcons are now in fourth place in the CCHA, still very much in the race for the MacNaughton Cup.

But that wasn’t always the case.

“Coming into the year, and if we’re having this conversation in the preseason, in August, we felt like we were going to have a good team. We were picked to finish third by the coaches,” head coach Ty Eigner said in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon. “Obviously, we went through what we went through, and I do think it just took us some time to get our footing. And now we’re at a point where our program, our guys and our staff, everybody’s moved past that and moved forward. These players deserve all the credit.”

Eigner, of course, is referring to the incident that happened right before the season began that involved former player Austen Swankler and accusations of hazing. Eigner and several players were suspended before it was found that no hazing occurred. The players were cleared, but the Falcons played several games at the beginning of the season with no coach and a sorely depleted squad. Back then, it didn’t seem like the Falcons would be competing for much of anything in February and March.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, the Falcons have gone from a precarious position–at the holiday break, they were lingering near the bottom of the CCHA standings in seventh place–to a legitimate shot at the CCHA title. The Falcons (12-16-0, 10-8-0 CCHA) have 30 points and are just five points off league-leaders Minnesota State with two games in hand. Granted, part of this is due to the fact that the Mavericks are not the sure-fire favorites they have been in the past. The league as a whole has also been average outside of the conference. But that just made conference games all that much more important, which might explain why five teams still have a shot at the league championship with just three weeks to go in the regular season.

“Minnesota State did such a good job prior to this,” Eigner said of the league’s parity this year. “It was always Minnesota State and then everybody else fighting for second, and that was always a close race. But now, it’s everybody fighting for first and that’s a good thing. And again, we’ve said all year long that if you get surprised by your opponent playing well, then that’s on you, because I think every team in our league has won a series on the road and everybody’s swept a series at home. And so if anybody is surprised by the results, then they’re not paying attention.”

The Falcons have also helped themselves get into this position by simply winning when it matters. After coming back from the holiday break and being swept by Ohio State in early January, BG has won five of six games. First they split with Minnesota State–which was their first win over the Mavericks since 2019–then they swept Ferris State and Lake Superior to move into a tie for fourth place.

And the way they got those wins bodes well for the Falcons. They scored at least three goals in all five wins, but most significantly, their scoring came from all over the place.

“The way we recruit and the way we build and build our team is we want to be a four-line team, and if we have 12 forwards and seven D on a night then everybody’s going, and if we have 13 forwards and six D, everybody’s going,” Eigner said. “We don’t want to have to rely on one pair of D who plays 27 minutes and then everybody else is kind of mixed in, we want everybody to have a role and everybody to feel like they’re going to contribute and that’s what this team has been doing. And the last six, eight games, when we’ve had the success we’ve had, it’s because we’ve been able to do that.”

The Falcons will be needing to use some of that depth going forward, since they will be without leading scorer Ryan O’Hara. Eigner said he had season-ending knee surgery last week and will miss the rest of the year. They’ll also be without junior defenseman Ben Wozney, who had shoulder surgery this week.

Still, it seems BG’s depth has been on display and they’d had players step up. The win against MSU, for example, had four different goal scorers. In the Ferris State series, freshman defenseman Michael Bevilacqua had two goals and an assist while freshman forward Ben Duran had a goal and two assists. Against Lake State (a 6-3 and 4-2 sweep) it was Quinn Emerson and Ethan Scardina who led the way in two different games.

“So we’ve had guys step up, they’ve had opportunities. For example, Ethan Scardina had a good weekend this weekend up front, and Ben Duran had a good weekend. On the backend it’s Gustav Stjernberg one night, or it’s Michael Bevilacqua. Or it’s Eric Parker, who has been playing really well,” Eigner said. “So we’re getting contributions from all our lines and then our D – all six or seven D depending on the night – are contributing whether it’s on the five-on-five, on the power player, or on the penalty kill, so that’s a good spot to be in.”

The Falcons have a big series this weekend against one of the teams ahead of them in the standings. They travel to Minnesota to take on second-place St. Thomas on Friday and Saturday. The Tommies (13-14-1, 11-7-0) have 34 points and are just a point behind MSU for first. So depending on how the series goes, either St. Thomas or Bowling Green could be atop the standings by Saturday night.

The Tommies swept the Falcons in Ohio way back in November, but BG was a different team back then. Still, Eigner knows just how strong a team the Tommies are and has been very impressed with the way they have played this season.

“We didn’t have our full lineup, but that’s not to take anything away from St. Thomas,” Eigner said. “Obviously they’ve done a really good job this year. Rico (Blasi, UST coach) and his staff have put themselves in a position where they believe they can win the league, which, for a program that’s in its third year, there’s something to be said for that.”

D-III Women’s East Week 16 Review: Nazareth runs the UCHC, Castleton’s senior day win, & a tournament outlook!

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Nazareth Women’s Hockey (Photo via Nazareth Athletics)

Nazareth clinches the UCHC again

This was supposed to be the year of the Pioneer (appreciate the rhyme) in the UCHC, but the young squad in Nazareth has done it again, winning the UCHC for the third-straight season, Chris Baudo continues to win, now with a record of 111-25-7 (via USCHO).

With their pair of wins over Lebanon Valley this past weekend (1-0 & 4-0), they’ve clinched home-ice for the conference playoffs, a spot they’ve seen the past two seasons.

With goaltender Maïka Paquin transferring to Syracuse University (NCAA D1) at the semester break, McKinley Hoff who’d been the normal starter, has continued to play well after they had a slow start to the season. Nazareth is 17-0-1 headed into the final weekend of conference play vs Manhattanville. They’ll then face Kings College on Wednesday 2/21/24 in the UCHC quarterfinals.

The Golden Flyers have won 12 of their last 13 games, their only loss coming to Williams (3-2 OT) and they defeated Utica twice on the road in this stretch, essentially locking up 1st place in the UCHC.

In the slim game one win vs LVC, Abby Flanagan scored the lone goal at 9:50 of the 1st period, holding to be the game-winner as goaltender McKinley Hoff made 14 saves, and LVC goaltender Mia Frisoni played an amazing game, making 52 saves in the 1-0 loss.

Game two was a little wider open, Nazareth winning 4-0, goals coming in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Alexis Kindred at 5:40 of the 2nd, then a few minutes later (8:44) Abby Flanagan doubled the lead. Juliet Rutigliano scored quickly into the 3rd (4:10), then Abby Flanagan scored her third goal of the weekend in the last minute at 19:26.0).

Mia Frisoni made another 50 saves in the game, totaling her at 102 on the weekend.

Castleton shocks Elmira!

Like Southern Maine earlier this season, Castleton picked up their first-ever victory as a program over Elmira College, shutting them out 2-0.

Castleton Women’s Hockey on senior day. (Photo via Castleton Athletics).

Castleton celebrated senior day in a big way, getting a program-changing win over the Soaring Eagles. Goaltender Kristen Dicicco made 37 saves in her huge shutout victory on her senior day.

In this game, one player scored both goals for the Spartans, Moa Carlsson scored a powerplay goal late in the 2nd period at 17:20, then again late in the 3rd at the 19:59 mark.

For Elmira, they enter the NEHC playoffs with a game hosting Plymouth State, one they’ll likely win, it’ll be interesting to see how they fare once they face the likely Norwich assuming they can get by the others in the league tournament.

Overall, they have a solid record of 17-7-1, but they’ve struggled against top competition, only beating Nazareth and Cortland, falling to the rest and tying Norwich once. Elmira has the potential to do big things, they’ve got their third head coach in three years, Greg Haney in his first year is doing well, but it’s sometimes a hard crowd to please when you’re used to a standard.

It’ll be interesting the rest of the way to see who comes away with the lone bid from the NEHC. 

Tournament outlook

Looking at the Pairwise currently, we see our auto-bids (assuming top seed wins conference tournament):

SUNYAC: #2 Plattsburgh (20-2-1)

NESCAC: #3 Amherst (18-2-2)

CCC: #13 Endicott (17-4-2)

UCHC: #14 Nazareth (17-5-1)

NEHC: #17 Norwich (18-5-2)

At-large:

NESCAC: #6 Middlebury (12-6-3)

NESCAC: #7 Hamilton (13-4-5)

Some teams that could throw things for a loop are at play here. Nazareth will likely have to beat Utica for a third-straight time this season in the UCHC finals, Chatham and Manhattanville, maybe even Wilkes could shock someone after having a program-best season, but it’s Nazareth’s conference to lose.

Endicott has been dominant in the CCC this season after Suffolk took a step back after making their first-ever NCAA tournament last season, but Western New England is a team to watch out for to cause some problems in the mix of teams at the top.

In the SUNYAC, look out for Oswego to be a dark horse, Cortland and Plattsburgh are the favorites to meet in the finals, Plattsburgh winning this conference year-after-year (seven in a row), we may be in for a change.

Oswego defeated both Cortland and Plattsburgh this season, they played one of the toughest schedules in the country considering road games and quality of opponents, they’re prepared as much as anyone for a run.

The NESCAC will likely be Amherst winning it for a second-straight season, Natalie Stott, one of the best goaltenders in the country, leads her team to another stellar season. It’s hard to tell how this conference will fare come tournament time because due to their lower sample size of games and SOS ratings, Middlebury or Hamilton could quite possibly lose their first-round games and still make the NCAA tournament as we saw Colby do last season, who went on route to win their first-ever NCAA playoff game Norwich.

D-III Women’s West Week 16 Review: Big weekend in the WIAC & MIAC, plus a ‘pleasant’ opinion on PairWise Rankings

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Women’s Ice Hockey: University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons vs. Concordia College, Moorhead Cobbers. (Photo by Wade D Gardner, d3photography.com)

#1 UW-River Falls remains undefeated, beating rival #6 UW-Eau Claire 4-3 in OT

UW-River Falls has been unstoppable this season, watching the game, the broadcaster mentioned when Eau Claire went up 1-0. It was only the second time River Falls trailed all season at any point in a game, the only other time was to UW-Superior in a game the Falcons won of course. 

In this one between the top rivals of the WIAC, Eau Claire gave River Falls arguably their best game all season including the matchups with #2 Gustavus. Sophie Rausch got her Blugolds on the board just before the midway mark of the 1st period, which was matched a brisk four minutes later by Madison Kadrlik to tie the game up 1-1, ending the 1st. 

The 2nd period brought us a trio of goals, two by the Falcons, one by the Blugolds. Alex Hantge opened it up quickly on the powerplay, only taking 3:28 to go up 2-1. It was quite quiet scoring wise the remainder of the period, but we saw some quick action in the last three minutes of the period. 

Eden Gruber tied it up once again for Eau Claire, which like back in the 1st period, this time quicker, Megan Goodreau put River Falls back on top, giving them the 3-2 lead headed into the final frame.

Goaltending was stellar for both sides, the bigger surprise coming from Eau Claire, not to say she wasn’t expected to perform well, but freshman Alexa Backmann had her biggest task yet of her young career facing the rival River Falls, not to mention they have the top offense and statistical leaders in the country… She made 33 saves in the game.

Once we got to the 3rd, we stayed even most of the period, but just past the midway mark we saw Sadie Long tie it up which held until overtime, a familiar place for these two. 

Once we hit overtime, we could see the 3v3 play was in favor of River Falls, controlling most of the play, Backmann for Eau Claire made save-after-save, but eventually Megan Goodreau ended it at 2:53 of overtime, keeping River Falls unbeaten, a perfect 24-0-0. 

Augsburg sweeps #15 Hamline

Augsburg entered the weekend already hot, winning 10 of their last 12 games, including wins over St. Norbert & #2 Gustavus. 

The Auggies met with Hamline, who’s had an impressive season, the best of Head Coach Whitney Colbert’s early tenure, starting 16-5-0 before the weekend, they were 16-3-0 before getting swept by #2 Gustavus. 

Women’s Ice Hockey: Augsburg University Auggies vs. University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets. (Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com)

Augsburg swept the Pipers on the weekend, winning 4-2 in game one which featured a shorthanded goal as well. Emily Cronkhite was the star of game one, scoring the first two Auggie goals, including the SH goal. 

The game went to the 3rd period tied 2-2, but Augsburg scored a pair, one in the first minute (1:05) by Tenley Stewart, then Claire Jenkins Coffman scored the dagger at 11:05 of the 3rd, Auggies took game one 4-2. 

Both goaltenders made 27 saves apiece.

Game two featured less goals, the Auggies scoring both of theirs on the powerplay, Kennedy Stein scoring the first goal at 12:26 of the 1st, then we had to wait until the 3rd period for another goal, this time again by the Auggies on the powerplay by Nora Stepan, the eventual game-winner. 

The Pipers added one to cut the lead in half, but it was too late, Abigail Chamernick added the goal just past the midway mark at 12:27. 

Augsburg takes game two 2-1. 

Chloe Stockinger made 33 saves in the victory to go along with her 27 on Friday. 

Tournament Outlook

With conference playoffs for some beginning this weekend, some playing their final regular season games this weekend, we’ll take a peek at the current pairwise selections and tournament teams from the west.

Auto-Bids

Barring any upsets, here’s the auto bids we’ll see from the west with their respective Pairwise rank:

MIAC: Gustavus #4

NCHA: Adrian #5

Barring any upsets, here’s the at-large bids we’ll see from the west:

WIAC: UW-River Falls #1

WIAC: UW-Eau Claire #8

Looking at the pairwise, we see Adrian at 23-2-0 behind Plattsburgh (20-2-1), Amherst (18-2-2), & Gustavus (18-4-0), they’ll be a catalyst in the situation. Assuming River Falls takes the top seed, Gustavus and River Falls will unfortunately have to face off in the quarterfinals, while Adrian will likely play the western-most remaining team from the east. If Adrian can make a final four appearance with UWRF/Gustavus, we can all but ensure a west final four as we hear there’s west-preference every year, but don’t see it. 

Adrian Women’s Hockey, #8 Maya Roy. (Photo by Jimmy Naprstek Photography)

Another aspect we can see is if Eau Claire (19-5-0) can hang on and steal an at-large spot as they trail behind Middlebury and Hamilton with records of 12-6-3 & 13-4-5, since after their win vs Northland, they fell in pairwise due to Northland’s current record, the Blugolds would’ve been better off playing 24 games without this Northland game (no offense to the Jills, it’s just a fact at this current moment in time), sample size matters. This also comes into play with Adrian, some of their conference teams actually hinder their pairwise when they win.

An interesting aspect of pairwise that continues to hinder the west on various fronts, in which we will continue to see it get worse as more leagues begin. When 1-2 leagues are added, we may not see a WIAC team in the tournament unless River Falls or Eau Claire (unless the others in the WIAC improve quite briskly) lose no more than 1-3 games. Meanwhile out east, just win 15 games and you’ll be in the running, obviously you’re by far the best, so it makes sense to you if you’re east of Michigan.

We must resolve this issue as we continue to tout the west and claim to be growing the game, meanwhile we’re hindering it by essentially telling some teams your season is irrelevant after mid-November because you lost two-three games so you better win out and pray.

I understand some conferences are better than others, and in no way does this mean I think some teams cannot beat anyone in the country, but with current budgets and mileage limits, why should we expect Gustavus, Hamline, River Falls, Eau Claire, St. Norbert & others to fly cross-country for all non-conference games just for a chance at playing east teams for their pairwise, when the NCAA themselves are too cheap to send a team over 600 miles (originally 500) to play a tournament game… I’m sorry, regular-season games should matter and we cannot continue to avoid fixing this issue based on the truth that it’ll take a lot of thinking and work to fix.

But hey, I’m just an observer… what do I know?

Women’s Division I College Hockey: The PodKaz Episode 13 – Patty Kaz contenders, the future of centralization and reaching the finish line

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USCHO’s Nicole Haase (@NicoleHaase) and Todd Milewski (@ToddMilewski) look back at some key results for players who might be in the mix for the Patty Kazmaier Award and examine the impact of the absence of Colgate’s Kalty Kaltounková. This week’s episode also includes talk about the future of Olympic centralization in the PWHL era and how it might change things for college players. Plus there’s a look ahead to the final week of the regular season in three conferences with an eye to final conference standings.

Find The PodKaz on:

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This Week in ECAC Hockey: Cornell making late-season push for Cleary Cup as Big Red taking strides to ‘become a better hockey team’

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Ian Shane has been a rock between the pipes this season for Cornell, earning five ECAC Hockey goaltender of the week honors (photo: Lexi Woodcock/Cornell Athletics).

There was a time around Christmas when the thought of moving the Cleary Cup away from Quinnipiac felt like a fool’s bet.

The Bobcats’ near-perfect 9-0-1 record placed them 11 points clear of their next-closest competitor thanks in no small part to a 5:1 scoring margin against ECAC opponents. They equally dominated the national rankings with the inside track towards a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament’s Pairwise Rankings, and few of the second half matchups offered potential potholes for a team that started to straighten itself out after transitioning away from last year’s national championship.

Cornell certainly wasn’t moving that needle at the time. The two wins at Arizona State shifted a significant amount of attention back towards Lynah Rink after the Big Red effectively eliminated the Sun Devils from national contention, but a string of conference results aside from the opening sweep over Brown and Yale produced a seventh-place position with a 3-4-1 record.

Challenger after challenger tried in vain to catch the Quinnipiac machine, but ECAC’s newfound parity ensured short-lived breakaways from the league’s peloton. No team captured the Bobcats’ magic, at least not until the Big Red – the team nobody talked about – exploded over the past month.

Another weekend sweep last week brought Cornell within eight points of Quinnipiac with a game in hand, and while the Bobcats are still the heavy favorite to win the Cleary Cup, it’s clear that the national storyline surrounding ECAC can’t go anywhere until head coach Mike Schafer’s team has its say.

“You can’t really impact what other people think about you,” Schafer said. “But I think it was around Christmas where we just needed to get better as a hockey team. We had to be better as a coaching staff, and around Christmas, we really evaluated what we were emphasizing in practice and asked if we were fundamentally sound enough to be a better hockey team. The answer was no, and we got back to things that sound basic but were just about the ability to win a puck battle and protect the puck by using your body and getting people around the puck. And after that, we started to become a better hockey team.”

Better is an understatement. Cornell fast-started as an undefeated team in October after it swept Minnesota-Duluth and won six points from the Brown-Yale road weekend, but the next weekend of league play offered just one point from a Dartmouth-Harvard series played on home ice. The weekend after that sent the team to Quinnipiac for a humbling 8-4 loss on Friday before a 2-1 overtime loss to Princeton on Saturday, and a later split against Colgate sent the Big Red hurtling down the standings despite a non-conference win over Boston University at Madison Square Garden.

None of it crippled Cornell, but the league quickly developed its one-bid reputation this year because everyone seemed to fall significantly behind Quinnipiac. The Big Red remained nationally ranked by the time they arrived in Lake Placid for the Adirondack Winter Festival, but they also sat at No. 21 in the PairWise Rankings with limited games remaining to make up ground. Clarkson was the latest team to elevate to second place with its one-point advantage over the Big Red, but Cornell’s 12 points sat two full weekends behind the runaway Bobcats with one bad weekend separating a drop to last place thanks to numbers that indicated a team still finding its way towards a 60-minute performance.

“Every coach says they’ll take fast starts and get out to leads,” Schafer said. “I think that if you hang your hat on that, you’re in trouble as a team. You see all kinds of statistics about what a team’s record is if it gets scored on, and you don’t want to be that team that gets scored on and has a hard time mentally working back into the game. Over the course of the year, we tried to install a full 60 (minutes), so that we have to keep plugging away and not get affected by it.

“Early in the year, we got scored on by Harvard, and it was a big game against a big rival – we wanted to win that game so badly. But we learned a little bit by playing BU, which is a great hockey team that scored on us first, that we came back on in the third period.”

Through it all, Cornell was able to tread water with official ties against UMass and Arizona State before the subsequent sweep in the desert, but the Big Red were never the sexy pick to chase down the league leaders. Every weekend saw some other team produce six points and explode to the front of the ECAC standings only to fall backwards within a week, but a reversal of fortune against Princeton brought extra momentum to a team that steadily rode its wave through an overtime win over those same Bobcats.

One weekend later, a four-point stretch against Harvard and Dartmouth got Cornell back inside the national bubble, and the Big Red erased the differential to Clarkson by plowing through the Golden Knights with a 7-2 victory one night after a 5-1 win over St. Lawrence. This past weekend’s trip to RPI and Union continued that stretch with another sweep, to which the 10-2 goal advantage in the Capital District pushed the Big Red to a 22-5 advantage over four different ECAC opponents.

“The hardest part for me was that we scored at RPI, but that team had no quit,” Schafer said, “and Union, too, is a very good team. We saw the success they had over their last 10 games, and they play hard. They compete hard. They have good special teams. That’s a tough place to play. So to come back the next day and bounce back by being ready to play, I was very happy with. I thought [Union] outplayed us, and they took it to us in the last period, which reinforced that we have to learn that it has to be the full 60 minutes.”

There’s now a component of a pennant race in ECAC. Quinnipiac’s overtime game against Cornell in late January was one day after a loss to Colgate, and a loss to St. Lawrence this past weekend combined with the off week for the Connecticut Ice Tournament to create a league race that nobody saw coming. The Bobcats are still eight points ahead, but a game in hand to the Big Red is part of a favorable finish where two of the last three weekends are at home. Brown and Yale visit this weekend before Cornell takes a trip to the North Country, but the last weekend of the season is at Lynah against Union and RPI.

It doesn’t mean Cornell is going to catch Quinnipiac, which plays four of its last five games at home, but the Big Red are making a case that’s difficult to ignore. Their 15-4-4 record is the highest winning percentage away from the top four teams in the PairWise Rankings and includes the lowest number of losses in the nation, but the unfortunate reality surrounding the lower number of nonconference games – an Ivy League staple – means the No. 14 team in the PairWise still has to make up extra ground over the last month.

Given that the CCHA and Atlantic hockey champions will erase the bottom two teams in the top-16, the Big Red know what’s in front – and what’s behind – as the last weeks commence.

“They’re consciously thinking about it,” Schafer said. “We learned our lesson early in the year when we were 4-0 with all of these young guys. We weren’t even that good of a hockey team, but we were fortunate to get off to a fast start. We had all kinds of holes, but they learned their lesson. We thought we were pretty good, and we found out pretty quickly that we weren’t that good. Rankings, winning streaks, they don’t mean much because we learned our lesson the hard way.

“We took it on our chins, and I don’t think these guys are going to make that mistake again.”

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