Blake Pietila collected 10 shutouts in 2022-23 for Michigan Tech (photo: Michigan Tech Athletics).
Michigan Tech’s Blake Pietila has been named the CCHA student-athlete of the year for the 2023-24 season.
He was recently named a CCHA scholar-athlete and has been on the conference all-academic team for the last four years.
Given annually, the award is presented to one CCHA student-athlete who performed consistently as a regular member of their CCHA varsity hockey team, displayed outstanding sportsmanship, made satisfactory progress towards a degree, displayed leadership, and was active in community service off the ice, encompassing a positive culture of the institution and league. The award is nominated and voted on by each CCHA institution’s faculty athletics representative.
Pietila has started 28 of Tech’s 31 games this season. The alternate captain ranks fifth in the nation in minutes played and eighth in the nation with 754 saves this season. Pietila is 11-11-6 between the pipes with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in the spring and is currently pursuing a master of business administration, holding a 3.62 cumulative grade-point average.
For his senior design project as an undergraduate, Pietila worked with a worldwide steel manufacturer and a UK-based engineering firm to solve an issue involving the interior design of an autonomous electric vehicle. Aiding a team that helped find a way that would allow the vehicle to be converted from single-use to multi-use, they were able to design, model, and are presently testing a system that allows for the vehicle to be efficiently transitioned from package/cargo to passenger transportation. His major contributions to this project included designing a custom T-rail system that will house a ball roller bearing, allowing for translational motion along the rails, as well as doing a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on the locking pins that secure the mechanism into place.
Pietila was named the CCHA goaltender of the month for December after leading the Huskies to the 2023 Great Lakes Invitational title. He was honored on the GLI all-tournament team after making a career-high 54 saves in a shootout win over No. 7 Michigan State. Pietila has also twice been named the CCHA goaltender of the week this season—an award he’s received 16 times in his career.
For his career, Pietila has been a three-time finalist for the Mike Richter Award. He was a 2023 first team all-American and the CCHA player and goaltender of the year last season. He was a Hobey Baker top-10 finalist in 2023 and has been a nominee for the past four seasons.
Pietila was an all-CCHA first team selection in 2023 and second team pick in 2022. He holds Michigan Tech records for wins (69), shutouts (21), goaltender games played (133), season shutouts (10), season goals-against average (1.81), and season save percentage (.934). He is the active NCAA goaltender leader in games played, wins, and shutouts and is third in career saves and seventh in career goals against average.
Colgate senior forward Kristýna “Kalty” Kaltounková received a two-game suspension from ECAC Hockey that was served during the Raiders’ games on Feb. 2 and 3. Kaltounková also did not dress for Colgate’s games on Feb. 8 and 9.
Per Quinn Schmidt, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications at Colgate, Kaltounková “served a two-game suspension issued by the ECAC and has since taken some time away from the team.”
The reason for the suspension was not disclosed.
Doug Christiansen, ECAC Hockey Commissioner, replied to a request for comment with the following statement:
“ECAC Hockey holds all student-athletes, coaches, officials and league partners accountable for maintaining the highest levels of conduct. ECAC Hockey reserves the right to administer discipline when deemed appropriate. Any disciplinary actions taken by ECAC Hockey will remain confidential per league policy.”
Kaltounková is tied for fifth in the country with 49 points on 25 goals and 24 assists. In January, she broke the Colgate program record for most goals in a career – she has 82.
Cornell players celebrate a goal during the Big Red’s 6-1 win over Union last Saturday (photo: Leilani Burke/Cornell Athletics).
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.
Dan: A good Tuesday to all of you out there, and an especially Happy Tuesday to those of us on the East Coast preparing for a battering ram nor’easter. We’re getting this thing going on a Monday, and the hot rumor is that a foot of snow is about to dump its way into my front yard before lunchtime tomorrow.
The good news: my kids love snowbanks and playing in the snow. The bad news: they’ll have to do it in a house where my work laptop instantaneously becomes everyone’s favorite toy.
Onto the hockey and teams holding serve after the week’s results pressured the PairWise Rankings. Boston College remained No. 1 despite losing to Boston University in the Beanpot semifinals, and North Dakota remained at No. 2 with a bye, one week after a sweep of Miami brought its unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-1). For what it’s worth, that game could’ve been much worse after North Dakota dropped a 2-1 lead into a 4-2 deficit in the second period.
I’ve got this uneasy feeling about the race atop the rankings because it feels too jammed. Maine’s overtime loss to Providence dropped the Black Bears to No. 6 and upended the race for a regional, and UMass snuck into the 10-slot by sweeping past Connecticut. Cornell jumped into 13th and is now breathing down Quinnipiac’s neck.
The race is tightening, and while it’s exciting, I’ve got the feeling that something is going to break things open in a big way. Take a 30,000-foot view and hit me with the perspective as the Beanpot championship round gets underway in Boston.
Paula: Dan, with the exception of the clouds carrying that storm your way, I don’t have the sense that anything is going to break open at all this week or for the remainder of the regular season.
Yes, it’s close at the top of the PairWise, as tight as the race is for the regular-season title in several conferences, but in the second half of the season, every bit of movement among the top teams in the PWR feels glacial to me: slow, steady, incremental, and in some cases inevitable.
A few weeks ago, I would have put money against any team from the Big Ten earning a top seed at any regional, but the sustained solid play of Michigan State and Wisconsin may prove me wrong. I also would have put money on Minnesota finishing lower than 10th in the PWR, but the Golden Gophers are playing some of the best hockey in all of D-I right now and look to me to be on solid postseason ground.
What seems inevitable to me is that either BC or North Dakota will be the top seed overall and BU will be among the top three. That’s as far as I can go in terms of predications, especially with Michigan State ending the regular season on the road in Wisconsin and how wide open the B1G postseason tournament may be.
I can see Maine, Denver, Minnesota and Quinnipiac finishing in the PWR pretty much where they are now – in Nos. 6 through 9 – given their remaining schedules.
Where I see a lot of volatility is from Nos. 13 through 17, which includes seven teams with Cornell and St. Cloud tied at No. 13, Michigan (15), New Hampshire (16) and three teams – Colorado College, Omaha, Arizona State – tied at No. 17. There is going to be more than one good team sitting out the NCAA tournament this year. It would be wild to me if it were Arizona State, a team with 20 wins. And No. 22 RIT needs an autobid to play in the tournament in spite of having 19 wins already this season.
I can’t remember, Dan, a season with this many teams playing such good, good hockey. We hate the word “parity” here at USCHO because it’s so often misused. Parity doesn’t mean “equally good,” strictly speaking, but I think we’re seeing a season in which there is just a ton of outstanding hockey being played.
Dan: Outstanding hockey is definitely true! I look at even what I’m witnessing in ECAC with Cornell chasing down Quinnipiac, which looked like it was running away with the league at the halfway point of the season. The Big Red are now a weekend’s work away from jumping on the Bobcats and making the Cleary Cup race something worth watching with its ensuing fallout in the national picture.
The hockey aspect really shines a light on one thing for me, and that’s the sheer volume and depth of talent that we’re seeing on every single one of these teams. Fan voting remains open for the Hobey Baker Award, and while that’s something of a popularity contest among fans, the vast majority of guys nominated for the award are turning out phenomenal seasons. It’s a deeper talent pool than the years where I’d see schools represented and chuckle about their names being on the list, and I think it’s creating a scenario where the trip to the Hobey Hat Trick is much more competitive than most years.
From a frontrunner standpoint, it feels like Gabe Perrault and Macklin Celebrini are likely to lead the pack from the eastern schools, but a Cutter Gauthier, Collin Graf, Lane Hutson, Josh Nadeau and Bradly Nadeau could easily sneak into the conversation. Tommy Scarfone is a goalie from Atlantic Hockey who is posting some incredible numbers for arguably the league’s best teams.
I readily admit the names are off the top of my head, but before we take a deeper dive, who are the names on the top of your head who you think are ready to burst into the Hobey conversation?
Paula: Honestly, all of my own top picks are from the east, including Perrault, Gauthier, Hutson and Josh Nadeau.
One of my favorite players this season has been Denver defenseman Zeev Buium. His hockey sense is incredible, he’s good on both sides of the puck, he’s fearless – but he’s a rookie. Given the way I think he’ll develop at Denver, he’ll be in the mix in 2025.
I don’t really see any Hobey dark horses – it seems as predictable to me as does the way the PWR is shaping up – but there are other players worth mentioning. I like Minnesota’s Jimmy Snuggerud and Michigan’s Rutger McGroarty, but I don’t see either of them contending because of the seasons their teams have had in a very, very tough Big Ten conference.
Wisconsin goaltender Kyle McClellan is worthy of Hobey consideration, but I doubt very much that any goaltender will win the Hobey in the foreseeable future, given the talent at other positions and the existence of the Richter award.
Given the seasons that so many top players are having, I’d be surprised if the Hobey went to someone who plays for a team without the word “Boston” in its school’s name.
But you make reference to league play with Cornell chasing down Quinnipiac, and that my friend is an area where very little seems inevitable. With conference postseason play beginning as early as March 2 in Atlantic Hockey and as late as March 15 in the NCHC, there is anywhere from two weeks to a month remaining in regular season play.
It’s only in the ECAC where a single top team has a significant points lead over its nearest opponent. Quinnipiac is eight points up on Cornell, but the Big Red has a game in hand on the Bobcats. Quinnipiac closes out the season against five of the six opponents Cornell will still face.
The Bobcats are 4-1-0 this season against their remaining opponents; Cornell is 6-0 against theirs. I don’t think that Cornell catches Quinnipiac, but there is a slim possibility that it happens.
For obvious reasons, I’m intensely interested in that season-ending B1G series between Michigan State and Wisconsin. Anyone who says that they thought from the start that the B1G season would come down to those two teams is a liar – but what a season of hockey they’ve given us. Five points behind the Spartans, Wisconsin has two games in hand on both Michigan State and third-place Minnesota. Eleven points out of first, the Golden Gophers are mathematically in the hunt, but not practically.
A point behind Minnesota State, St. Thomas has two games in hand on the Mavericks, as does Bemidji State three points out of first place and Bowling Green five points out –and Minnesota State ends its season at Bemidji. The CCHA is crazy.
How do you see conferences playing out?
Dan: My opinion is honestly very different from when I talked conferences a couple of months ago, but I think some of the same rules apply across the board.
Nothing is going to be set in stone. Even Hockey East is arguably wide open, and I’d put my Monopoly money on Maine making a run past BC or BU by the time the league gets to TD Garden. I’d also throw a flyer down on UMass since the Minutemen are sneaky good, and I’d honestly take them over Providence at a time when they’re arguably passing the Friars in the national numbers – provided they even get to Boston. The league itself still has to deal with UConn and Northeastern, and I’m convinced Jerry Keefe’s team is primed for a major run down the stretch.
ECAC? We’ve covered that at length, but this feels like a year where anything’s possible since the parity is paired with a single-game elimination in the first round. Truly anything is possible this year, and it’s worth noting – which is going to come up several times in the next month – that Quinnipiac won its only ECAC championship in 2016 despite being the undisputed cream of the crop. Every time a team rises, it falls almost immediately, and this is a year where I’d lay some good attention on the six Ivies if someone decided to get hot – Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown especially.
Out west? I don’t even know. The CCHA is chaos right now, and I’m rooting for St. Thomas because I think the NCAA rule regarding transition teams is archaic and draconian. The NCHC? Give me anyone. The Big Ten? Tell me if you don’t see four or five teams capable of winning the whole thing right now.
Atlantic Hockey? Bentley’s going to win it. Mark it down. It’s going to happen at home, and I’m going to have the broadcast of a lifetime.
Last question from me – as we near postseason time, the single-elimination conversation starts to inevitably come back around. I’m still very vocal about wanting more hockey and wanting best-of-three weekends throughout the entire postseason, but I understand that this simply isn’t a realistic expectation. Tell me your thoughts. Best of one? Best of three? Round robin? What’s an ideal way to settle the score once we get to the playoffs?
Paula: I really like best-of-three quarterfinal weekends. I really dislike every team in any conference with eight or more members making the tournament.
If a conference has more than eight teams, the top eight should make it with a first-round, best-of-three weekend. The semifinals should be single elimination. There should never be a third-place game.
That’s my playoff bible right there.
I’m also in favor of more uniformity in terms of when conference playoffs begin, league to league.
The Big Ten does the best it can with seven teams. The regular-season champ earns a first-round bye and the remaining teams play a best-of three weekend, followed by a weekend of single-elimination semifinals, followed by the championship game a week later. I dislike the three-week format, but until and unless the Big Ten picks up another team, this is it.
And like so many others, I am all in on regionals being hosted on campuses. I understand the logistic difficulties, but I’ve spent too many weekends in empty, atmosphere-less arenas where players as well as fans deserve a much better college hockey experience.
Northeastern captured the 71st Beanpot on a Gunnerwolfe Fontaine goal in overtime, something that seems immaterial to many but could have some impact in the PairWise as the college hockey season draws to a close (Photo: Rachel Bergstein)
BOSTON — You may say whatever you want about the Beanpot. Yes, it’s a geocentric event with only the same four teams from the Boston area participating year in and year out.
Outside of the Bay State, maybe the interest is limited though NHL Network carried this year’s feed and ESPN used to place the event on its top network years ago.
To the four participating schools, winning is everything, which could feel weird happening at the same time these schools are also competing for league titles, playoff positioning and NCAA berths. The trophy does mean a lot to these institutions.
But given the time of the year, the four games played at TD Garden over the first two Mondays in February can mean as much to each team’s national positioning as any strange shaped trophy such as the Beanpot itself.
Teams have felt great entering the tournament, lost two games including a consolation game typically played in front of a few hundred fans, and dropped from NCAA contention to PairWise irrelevance.
This year’s tournament was a little different.
Boston College entered top in the PairWise and even after a loss to Boston University in the semifinals, never fell. A 5-0 win over Harvard in Monday’s consolation game guaranteed the Eagles will remain the top team in the PairWise.
That, though, was no guarantee when BC drove from Chestnut Hill to the West End of Boston on Monday afternoon. Had the Eagles lost, they would have fallen behind North Dakota for the top overall spot in the PairWise.
It might not seem like much, but it certainly can be.
The championship game had a little more on the line. Boston University entered as the third ranked PairWise team. A win, loss or tie might not have felt consequential, but losing in regulation would have meant shortening the gap between both Wisconsin and Michigan State.
That could, with a few more speed bumps, result in a second seed in a region versus a top seed, something that could also result in shipping the Terriers away from one of the two eastern-located regions of Providence, R.I., and Springfield, Mass.
So as much as the trophy meant to the Terriers and Huskies – and believe it when it’s said, it means everything – the position for BU in the national picture was also on minds.
Monday’s championship game, a back-and-forth dramatic overtime thriller won by Northeastern in what most would consider an upset over the No. 3 team in the nation, could end up having bigger PairWise implications.
No, it won’t bump the Huskies into any sort of an NCAA at-large position. That ship has all but sailed. But it certainly could slightly damage Boston University.
Let’s look at some numbers for the Terriers. Had they won in regulation (BU led, 3-2, after two periods) they would have improved their RPI to .6102. Though they would’ve remained third in the PairWise, BU would have been just .0009 – read that as nine-ten-thousandth of a percentage point – behind North Dakota, the second team in the PairWise.
Losing in overtime dropped the Terriers slightly, to .6037. Sure, they’re still sitting in third and probably feel comfortable in that position with Wisconsin currently at .5964. But that difference of about .0080 is felt (had BU lost that game in regulation, their RPI would be .6005, so maybe there is a silver lining).
For those not indoctrinated to the PairWise and, more importantly the RPI, these fractional differences mean tons. The difference between .6012 and .6037 might be two wins against certain teams. And not having that little fractional advantage could mean the difference between a number one and number two seed in the NCAA Tournament.
And as already mentioned, for a team like, say, BU it could mean the difference between playing in Springfield or Providence and Maryland Heights, Mo.
So while it is understandable for many to shrug off the Beanpot; we get it, you’re not from Boston. The importance of the tournament, though, always seems to mean more than just an odd-shaped trophy in the overall college hockey landscape.
In the first game, the Buckeyes came out strong, scoring three times in the first on goals from Jocelyn Amos, Jenna Buglioni and Cayla Barnes. The Mavericks pushed back in the second and third, outshooting OSU 8-5 in the final frame, but could not get a puck past Raygan Kirk and Ohio State took the 3-0 win. Hannah Bilka tallied her 100th career assist in the game. On Saturday, Whitney Tuttle’s goal late in the first had Minnesota State up 1-0 at the intermission. The Buckeyes came out flying in the second and scored three, plus three more in the third to tally six unanswered. Kiara Zanon, Buglion, Joy Dunne, Lauren Bernard, Hadley Hartmetz and Stephanie Markowski each lit the lamp for Ohio State. Claire Vekich added a late goal for MSU, but Ohio State took the 6-2 win and weekend split. Barnes tallied her 100th career point and the win was OSU’s 23rd in the WCHA, tying a program record for conference wins with four games left in the regular season.
(2) Wisconsin at Bemidji State
The Badgers came out firing on Friday, lighting the lamp six times in the opening frame en route to a 10-0 win. Laila Edwards and Kirsten Simms each netted a hat trick and Casey O’Brien tallied her 100th career assist in the win. In the second game, Casey O’Brien scored twice and Kelly Gorbatenko, Marianne Picard, Kirsten Simms, Cassie Hall and Maddi Wheeler each lit the lamp once to lead Wisconsin to a 7-0 win and weekend sweep.
(3) Clarkson at (12) Princeton These two were evenly matched on Friday, with the game-winning overtime goal served as the difference in shots between the teams as well. After more than 60 scoreless minutes, Nicole Gosling sniped a shot in while the Golden Knights were four-on-three to end the game and give Clarkson the 1-0 win.
(3) Clarkson at (9) Quinnipiac It was the Nicole Gosling show for Clarkson this weekend. She repeated Friday night’s feat, winning the game in overtime for the Golden Knights. She also assisted on the first Clarkson goal of the night, meaning the OT game-winner was also her 100th career point. Haley Winn scored through traffic on the power play to give Clarkson the 1-0 lead in the second. Just two minutes later, Quinnipiac equalized right after a power play expired to tie the game 1-1. A back and forth third didn’t decide this one and it wasn’t until overtime nearly expired that Rachel McQuigge found Gosling, who ended the game and gave Clarkson the 2-1 win.
Union at (4) Colgate
The Raiders took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission thanks to goals from Elyssa Biederman and Danielle Serdachny. Riley Walsh cut the lead in half midway through the final frame, but Tessa Holk’s shorthander gave Colgate a 3-1 lead. Ashley Adams pulled the game within one for Union, but they ran out of time to finish out a comeback and the Raiders took the 3-2 win.
RPI at (4) Colgate
Colgate outshot RPI 56-8, but this game was scoreless for nearly 50 minutes as Amanda Rampando put together an absolutely massive showing in net for the Engineers. It was the Raiders’ senior night, but the game was won by rookie Emma Pais, who took the puck from the faceoff dot in and sniped a show glove-side high. She also added an empty-netter to secure the 2-0 win for Colgate.
(10) St. Cloud State vs (5) Minnesota
In the first game, SCSU out-shot Minnesota 24-20, but Abbey Murphy was the difference-maker and her lone goal in the second proved to be enough for the Gophers to take a 1-0 win. On Saturday, Murphy scored her 29th goal of the season to put Minnesota up 1-0 in the first. St. Cloud State responded in the second as Avery Farrell tied it 1-1. But the Gophers pulled away and put the game out of reach in the third. Ella Huber made it 2-1 13 seconds into the frame. Madison Kaiser’s goal with seven to go pushed the lead to 3-1. Then Huber and Ava Lindsay each found the empty-net to end any chance of a Huskies comeback and Minnesota took a 5-1 win and weekend sweep.
RPI at (6) Cornell
The Big Red killed six Engineer penalties and Lily Delianedis scored in overtime to give Cornell the 1-0 win.
Union at (6) Cornell
Maya Jones scored late in the first to put Union up 1-0. McKenna Van Gelder scored midway through the second to tie the game. In the third, with less than three minutes on the clock, Kaitlin Jockims skated around the defense to extend the Big Red lead to 3-0. Van Gelder put the game out of reach before Union could pull their goalie and Cornell took the win.
(7) St. Lawrence at (9) Quinnipiac
After an even, back and forth first period, St. Lawrence looked to be taking control in the second. Anna Segedi’s power play goal three minutes into the frame made it 1-0. Abby Hustler scored twice later in the frame, first with a perfectly placed five-hole shot and then burying a rebound from Mae Batherson’s shot. As much as the Saints controlled the second, Quinnipiac carried the third. Nina Steingauf started the scoring with a five-hole shot of her own before Jess Schryver took advantage of an odd-skater rush to make it 3-2. The Bobcats completed the comeback with under four to play as Sadie Peart deflected a shot in to tie the game 3-3. Both teams had chances that looked like they were going to end the game early in extra time, but a big save by Logan Angers stopped SLU and a shot off the post stopped Quinnipiac. In the end, Hustler completed her hat trick by anticipating a Bobcat pass. She stole the puck and took off alone, winning the game on a blocker-side shot that gave St. Lawrence the 4-3 win. The victory secured a first-round bye in the ECAC playoffs for SLU.
(7) St. Lawrence at (12) Princeton
The two teams took a period to feel each other out before Sarah Fillier’s shot from the faceoff dot put Princeton on the board midway through the second. Less than a minute later, the Saints capitalized on the power play as Abby Hustler continued her tear and deflected in Julia Gosling’s shot to tie the game 1-1. Later in the period, Kristina Bahl’s shot from the slot added a second power play tally for St. Lawrence, giving them a 2-1 lead. Kennedy Wilson poked in a rebound from a shot by Taylor Lum to give SLU some breathing room and the eventual 3-1 win.
(8) Minnesota Duluth at St. Thomas
On Friday, Reece Hunt single-handedly defeated the Tommies, as she scored all four Minnesota Duluth goals. Clara Van Wieren and Olivia Wallin each had three assists in the win. Rylee Bartz was the goal-scorer for St. Thomas in the loss. In the second game, the teams were tied after the first as UMD’s Katie Davis and St. Thomas’ Brieja Parent each lit the lamp. But the Bulldogs pulled away in the second on goals from Hunt, Nina Jobst-Smith and Jenna Lawry. Wallin closed out the scoring late in the game to secure the 5-1 win and weekend sweep.
(11) Connecticut at (13) Northeastern
UConn came back from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime, but the extra frame could not decide a winner and Northeastern earned an extra conference point with the shootout win. Taze Thompson put the Huskies up 1-0 early in the first by burying a rebound and Mia Langolais extended Northeastern’s lead early in the second to make it 2-0. Ashley Allard took a cross-ice pass midway through the game to cut the lead to 2-1. Ainsley Svetek’s shot from distance deflected through traffic and into the net to tie the game 2-2 and force overtime. Peyton Anderson won the shootout for Northeastern.
(11) Connecticut at Holy Cross
Junior goaltender Megan Warrener is now unbeaten in 13 straight appearances as UConn skated to a 5-1 win. Coryn Tamala had the Huskies up 1-0 after the first period. In the second, Megan Woodworth and Riley Grimley extended the lead to 3-0. Millie Sirium pulled one back for Holy Cross, but Ava Rinker’s power play goal before the end of the second seemed to put the game out of reach. Kathryn Stockdale added a goal in the third to give Connecticut the 5-1 win.
Maine at (13) Northeastern
Skylar Irving scored twice and Gwyn Philips posted a shutout to lead Northeastern to a 4-0 win. Katy Knoll opened the scoring on the power play and Megan Carter closed out the win with an empty-netter.
(14) Penn State at Robert Morris
A very even first period ended with a Penn State 1-0 lead thanks to Tessa Janecke on Friday. Alyssa Machado extended the lead to 2-0 with a shorthander early in the second. But Robert Morris struck back quickly, tying the game up with two goals in 34 seconds. Morgan Giannone scored on the power play with a no doubter from close range. Janelle Evans followed that up to make it 2-2. The tie lasted less than five minutes as Penn State pushed back, this time scoring their own pair of quick goals as Mya Vaslet and Brianna Brooks each lit the lamp 43 seconds apart to give the Nittany Lions the 4-2 lead heading into the third. From there, it was the Mya Nugent show, as she cut the lead with a snipe midway through the frame and then forced overtime with a snipe from the slot with an empty-net and under a minute to play. Neither team could breakthrough and the first game ended a 4-4 tie. On Saturday, Penn State outshot Robert Morris 69-28, but Emma Gorski was absolutely stunning in net, setting a new program single-game save record with 65 saves. The Nittany Lions were relentless and Brooks scored late in the first to give them a 1-0 lead. Kendall Butze’s power play goal in the second extended the lead to 2-0, but RMU quickly replied with a special teams goal of their own from Alaina Giampietro to make it 2-1. Brooks extended the lead back to two with another power play goal. Robert Morris fought back and Madison Primeau followed her own shot to make it a 3-2 game about a minute later. Freshman Janelle Evans continued her great rookie season with the Colonials by scoring the game-tying goal to force overtime and then coming back to score the game-winner in the extra frame. Allyson Hebert forced a turnover and fed Evans, who was off to the races and beat the goalie five-hole to give Robert Morris the 4-3 win, which cliched them a spot in the CHA playoffs in their first season back on the ice following the university’s attempt to shutter the program.
Vermont at (15) Boston College
Katie Pyne’s goal in the opening two minutes of the game had BC up 1-0. They carried the lead into the second, but a quick goal from Natálie Mlýnková had the game tied 1-1. The Eagles took the lead back on a goal credited to Julia Pellerin that was actually a Vermont own goal. Lily Humphrey’s goal with 21.3 seconds left in regulation sent the teams to overtime, where they could not come up with a winner. It was Boston College’s seventh tie of the season and once again Kara Goulding was the hero. She now has two shootout-winning goals, but no official goals in her collegiate career.
Adrian clinched a fifth straight NCHA regular-season title. (Photo provided by Adrian Athletics)
Adrian is the regular-season champion of the NCHA once again.
The Bulldogs, ranked third in the USCHO.com poll, clinched their fifth consecutive title Friday night and the 15th conference title overall with a 6-2 win over Trine in a battle of nationally ranked teams.
A balanced attack paved the way for the Bulldogs to get the job done and lock down the top seed for the conference tournament.
Four players tallied multiple points, including Mathew Rehding, who scored a goal and dished out two assists. Bradley Somers finished with a goal and an assist while Riley Murphy recorded a goal and assist. Matt Couto dished out two assists and Dershawn Stewart came through with 28 saves.
Adrian was just as dominant on Saturday, rolling to a 7-3 win to close out the regular season on a high note.
The Bulldogs (19-5-1, 16-2) scored three goals in the third period to finish out the game. Connor May and Riley Murphy fueled the offensive attack with two goals apiece. Ryan Pitoscia and Rehding both tallied a goal and assist.
Adrian heads into the NCHA tournament having won 10 of its last 11 games, scoring five or more goals seven times during that stretch.
Vikings win rivalry series
Lawrence prevailed in the Battle of Highway 41 Saturday after ending the game against Marian in a 4-4 tie, though the Vikings did lose the shootout 1-0. Lawrence won Friday’s game 3-1.
Not only did Lawrence win the rivalry trophy, it also secure a spot in the NCHA tournament as the sixth seed.
Miles McCue scored a goal and tallied an assist while Cory Checco dished out two assists. Jack Michels came through with a goal and assist in Friday’s 3-1 win over the Sabres.
Lawrence is 8-15-2 overall and 6-10-2 in the NCHA. Marian will be the seventh seed in the tourney and is 9-15-1 overall and 5-12-1 in the conference.
MIAC
Auggies in first place
Augsburg surged to the top of the MIAC standings by sweeping Hamline. The Auggies won the opener 4-3 and then cruised past the Pipers 3-0 on Saturday.
By winning both games, Augsburg secured a ninth consecutive trip to the MIAC tournament and is hoping to repeat as conference tourney champs this year.
Samuel Vyletelka notched the 10th shutout of his career, recording 26 saves, and he leads the league in saves with 720.
Nick Catalano, Cade Stibbe and Daniel Chladek all scored for the Auggies, who outshot their opponent 29-26 after getting beat in that category the previous seven games.
Eight different players factored into the scoring on Friday, with Parker Landon and Stibbe tallying two assists apiece.
Augsburg is 13-8-2 overall and 10-3-1 in the MIAC.
Gusties sweep Cobbers
Gustavus finished off its weekend with a 5-4 overtime win against Concordia to complete a sweep of the Cobbers.
Wilmer Svensson scored the game winner with less than a minute to play as the Gusties won their third consecutive game. They are now 10-11-2 overall and 5-8-1 in the MIAC.
Jackson Hjelle tallied 21 saves.
Gustavus has scored five or more goals in its last three games, including seven in a 7-2 victory on Friday. It’s the first time Gustavus has scored seven goals in a conference game since January of 2020. The Gusties scored four of those goals in the final period.
Cardinals split with Saints
Saint Mary’s managed a split against St. Scholastica but remains just outside the top five in the MIAC standings.
The Cardinals, one point behind St. Olaf, won 4-2 on Friday but dropped a 4-1 decision to the Saints Saturday.
Four different players scored and A.J. Ruskowski made 48 saves, the most in his career. Laudon Poellinger scored the game winner with less than five minutes to play in regulation. The Cardinals scored three goals in the third period of that game.
Gabe Potyk scored the lone goal for the Cardinals in Saturday’s game. They are 8-13-2 overall and 6-7-1 in the conference.
Carsen Richels tallied a goal and an assist for the Saints, who are 15-7-1 overall and 8-5-1 in the MIAC, good enough for third place in the standings.
WIAC
Pointers clinch regular-season title
Facing a 2-1 deficit after one period of play, UW-Stevens Point rallied for a 4-2 win over UW-Superior Saturday to wrap up the season on a five-game winning streak.
Alex Proctor racked up a season-best 43 saves while Connor Witherspoon scored a goal and dished out two assists as the Pointers (19-5-1, 13-2) won kept momentum on their side.
No. 7 UW-Stevens Point opened the weekend with a 2-1 win to clinch the regular-season WIAC title for the eighth time in the last 10 years.
Cody Moline scored the game-winning goal and Nico Chmelevski tallied two assists.
War on 94 ends in split
UW-Stout secured third place in the WIAC standings with a 2-1 win over UW-Eau Claire on Friday in the opening game of the War on 94 series.
Maksis Brimanis and Dylan Rallis both scored goals for the Blue Devils. Tyler Masternak stopped 37 shots.
But the Blugolds bounced back in the rivalry series Saturday to secure the No. 2 seed for the WIAC tournament.
Max Gutjahr stopped 27 shots for his 15th win of the season. Sammy Martel. Kyler Grundy and Willy Stauber all scored for the Blugolds. Grundy and Martel also racked up assists.
UW-Eau Claire is 16-7-2 overall and 10-4-1 in the WIAC. UW-Stout finishes 10-13-2 overall in the regular season and 8-7 in the WIAC.
Minnesota Duluth’s Gabbie Hughes was the 2023 recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award (photo: Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation).
The Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation announced five finalists for the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award, presented annually to college hockey’s “finest citizen” for leadership in community service.
Hank Kempf, Junior, Defense, Cornell
Kempf founded the “Big Red Blocks for Healing” campaign that is raising funds for Kesem, a national charitable organization that supports children who are affected by a parent’s cancer. The fundraiser is nearing $6,000 in pledges alone and hopes to raise up to $15,000. In addition to Kempf’s campaign, he has been active within the Cornell and Ithaca communities, aiding several not-for-profit organizations and helping a diverse array of community members. His efforts have included: supporting the Newfield Schools Mentor Program; working with the Racker Center, which provides strength-based support for individuals with disabilities and their families; and participating in local fundraisers for cancer research. He has also been active with the Portal de Belen Foundation, participating and leading the Cornell men’s hockey team’s service trip to the Dominican Republic this past summer, where the group spent time building a community service center, distributing clothing, shoes, and food to those in need, and participating in other acts of service. The group also provided computers, school supplies and sports equipment to local schools and played baseball nightly with the community’s kids.
Dylan Lugris, Junior, Forward, Penn State
Lugris formed a strong bond with the local sled hockey organization, the State College Coyotes, after arriving on campus in 2021. He started attending their weekly practices and encouraged teammates to join him as he learned more and more about the sport of sled hockey and the Coyotes organization. In an effort to make a difference for a struggling organization that only practiced once a week and did not compete in actual games, Dylan came up with the idea of the Penn State Sled Hockey Classic last January. His mission is to grow the game of hockey while bringing awareness and knowledge to the sport of sled hockey and to provide the Coyotes the means necessary for organizational growth. As a result of his efforts, a charity sled hockey scrimmage between the Coyotes and the Penn State men’s hockey team at Pegula Ice Arena in front of the passionate Penn State fan base was held. All preparation and in-arena logistics were managed solely by Dylan and his Penn State teammates. Since the initial Penn State Sled Hockey Classic in February 2023, the Coyotes have more than doubled in roster size and are now proud members of the Northeast Sled Hockey League. The Coyotes compete in multiple games per month thanks in large part to the nearly $50,000 Dylan and his Penn State teammates have raised for the organization over the past year.
Jack Quinn, Senior, Forward, Long Island
Through his years at LIU, Jack Quinn has reached hundreds of people with his altruistic spirit and servant heart. Jack truly embraces the maxim “never underestimate the impact you can have on someone else’s life.” Standing in the gap for those in need has been a theme throughout Jack’s life and has carried over with distinction throughout his collegiate career. Jack does not limit himself to serving just one group, but rather a wide range of individuals across multiple organizations, stepping in wherever there is a need. To this end, Jack has taken the initiative to lead on-ice events with a number of youth hockey organizations in Long Island year-round, including practices/clinics with the Long Island Gulls, Long Island Arrows, Beaver Dam, P.A.L. Islanders and NY Islanders Learn-To-Skate program. He has participated in the Hockey Helps Marathon to raise funds for local charities and led LIU with the Island Harvest Food Bank Drive, a hunger-relief organization with a mission to end hunger on Long Island. Jack similarly took the lead role with LIU Hockey in preparing Thanksgiving meals for Long Island families in need through an organization called Carroll’s Kitchen. Jack also spent many hours finding homes for rescued animals in LIU’s Pet Adoption Program and volunteering to raise awareness regarding heart disease with the American Heart Association. In addition, two organizations that Jack has been particularly close to, and to which he continues to dedicate his service, are the Long Island Warriors, a hockey program consisting solely of military veterans who use hockey as therapy in coping with physical and mental disabilities; and to the Hockey in Harlem program which provides inner city youth with access to hockey.
Raice Szott, Senior, Defense, Merrimack
Szott has developed, coordinated and participated in several events and initiatives that exemplify Merrimack’s mission to engage and support the community. Szott launched the Merrimack College Women’s Hockey Community Service Committee, which has led to several volunteer and fundraising opportunities in the Merrimack Valley. She has coordinated fundraisers to support local nonprofits, including first responders and the Ellie Fund, a local foundation that assists men and women suffering from breast cancer. Szott has coordinated volunteers for Merrimack’s Relay For Life, local girls’ hockey programs and after-school programs at local elementary schools. In addition, Szott oversaw logistics for a number of events, including: a teddy bear toss at a Merrimack College women’s ice hockey home game to benefit Toys for Tots; multiple Skating Strides games for the Ellie Fund; and a team event for the school’s “Relay for Life Walk” this coming April. Szott also created a program dedicated to teaching and mentoring young girls to help them build confidence through ice skating and hockey.
Sarah Thompson, Senior, Forward, Syracuse
Thompson launched ‘Sticks Together’ two years ago to provide children in disadvantaged areas opportunities to learn and grow through the sport of ice hockey. She has led humanitarian trips to Buenos Aires, Argentina, aiming to reach families living in low-income communities where opportunities for children to learn and play sports can be few and far between; and to Muizenberg, South Africa, where the focus was to provide an opportunity for children whose schools lack the funds and resources to provide physical education classes for their students. Thompson is currently planning a similar trip this summer to Tigman Village, Palawan. As a part of the ‘Sticks Together’ initiative, Thompson partners with CARHA Hockey and Play It Again Sports to collect recycled hockey sticks and other street hockey equipment to use during the trips and then donate to the schools.
Gabbie Hughes from Minnesota Duluth was honored as the 2023 recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award.
The 29th recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian Award will be honored in a ceremony on Friday, April 12 as part of the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four weekend in Saint Paul, Minn. Additionally, the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation will make a donation to the charity most important to each of the five finalists. These donations are made possible with the generous support of the award’s partners and donors.
Jacob Fowler has been a wall in net this season as a freshman for Boston College (photo: Brody Hannon).
With 24 first-place votes this week, Boston College retains the top spot in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll by one voting point (949-948) over No. 2 North Dakota, who received 14 first-place votes from the voters and remains the second-ranked team.
Boston University stays No. 3 with 11 first-place votes and Wisconsin is again No. 4 with the last first-place vote. Denver moves up one to sit fifth this week.
Michigan State rises three to No. 6, Maine is again seventh, Minnesota is still No. 8, while Quinnipiac is down four to ninth and Providence holds steady at No. 10.
No new teams enter the poll this week.
In addition to the top 20 teams, nine others received votes in this week’s rankings.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
Wilkes forward Nick Swain buried the overtime winning goal against Stevenson as part of his hat trick in a 4-3 win in UCHC play (Photo By Steve Finkernagel)
Congratulations to the teams that have already clinched the regular season title and with it the top seed for the upcoming conference tournament. Those teams include Assumption, Curry (hold tiebreaker over Endicott), Geneseo, Hobart, Plymouth State, Trinity, and Utica. While these teams have earned their just rewards in home-ice advantage there have been some terrific battles across all the conferences for teams looking to improve their position in the standings and playoff seeding or in some cases, just get in to the post-season. Here is this weekend’s wrap-up in the East:
CCC
With just one game remaining on the conference schedule, Curry has secured the top spot regardless of the outcome of their remaining game based on holding the tiebreaker over second place Endicott. Third place finds Salve Regina ahead of UNE with one game remaining for each.
Curry sealed the top spot with wins over Wentworth and Western New England over the weekend by scores of 4-1 and 3-2. On Friday night, Ben Biester and Tao Ishizuka broke a 1-1 tie with second period goals and Tauron Haddon-Harris sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the third period to down the Leopards. Saturday was a battle with the Golden Bears who rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the middle period with a shorthanded tally from Justin Sullivan and a power play goal by Kyle Knight to send the game to the final period knotted at 2-2. Gage Dill scored the game-winner for the Colonels who sent 57 shots at WNE’s Anthony Aureliano who finished the night with 54 saves in the losing effort.
Endicott secured second place in the CCC standings despite an overtime loss to UNE by winning on Saturday over Suffolk. Friday night saw a playoff style thriller as the Gulls took a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals by Collin Kleiser in the second period before Ryan Kuzmich leveled the score for the Nor’easters to close out the middle stanza. Neither team could find the back of the net in the third period leaving overtime to decide the contest off the stick of UNE’s Garrett Devine just 69 seconds into the extra session and a 3-2 win over the Gulls. On Saturday on home ice, Endicott took advantage of two goals and an assist from Jackson Sterrett and a goal and an assist from Andrew Kurapo vina 4-2 win over the Rams.
With UNE managing just a 3-3 overtime tie with Nichols on Saturday (won the shootout), Salve Regina had the opportunity to take sole position of third place in the standings and did so with wins over Suffolk and Wentworth. On Friday, the Seahawks scored three goals in the first and third periods to earn a 6-4 win at Suffolk. Matthew Fawcett led the offense with a goal and three assists. Playing on Sunday afternoon at hoe against the Leopards, Walter Baumann led the Salve attack with a hat trick as the Seahawks cruised to a 7-1 win. Johnny Mulera also chipped in with two goals and an assist in the Seahawks tenth conference win.
Independents
Anna Maria downed Post on Tuesday, 5-3 before closing out their 23-24 season against Rivier on Saturday. The scoring was at a premium as goaltenders Cole Johnston (AMC) and Will Augustine (RC) were outstanding in net for their respective teams. Liam Hennessy’s late first period goal was answered in the final 30 seconds of the period by the AmCats’ Guillaume Coulombe. Jon Tavella gave the Raiders a one goal lead with a power play goal only to see Derek Raposo respond for the visitors sending the contest to the third period tied at 2-2. Johnston (39 saves) and Augustine (41 saves) made sure the contest finished that way as the teams skated off with a 2-2 overtime tie.
Anna Maria finished their season with a 14-9-1 record while Rivier stands at 10-11-3 with one game remaining against Franklin Pierce on Tuesday.
MASCAC
While Plymouth State has comfortably been ensconced in the top spot in the MASCAC standings, the battles for position for the remaining playoff spots have been intense with surprises and upsets coming each Thursday and Saturday without exception.
While the Panthers won both contests over Fitchburg State, 7-2 and Framingham State, 3-1, the battles for position below kept things tight entering the final week of the season. Massachusetts-Dartmouth remains in second place following a pair of much needed wins over Worcester State and Salem State. On Thursday, Michael Perrone (2 goals, 1 assist) and Collin Patterson (1 goal, 2 assists) paced the Corsairs to a 5-3 win over the Lancers. On Saturday, Perrone and Patterson repeated their out put in the opening period of a 5-2 win over the Vikings.
Fitchburg rallied back from their loss to PSU with a hard fought 3-1 win over Worcester State on Saturday. Tied at 1-1 entering the third period, Michael Imala gave the Falcons the lead and Hunter Dunn sealed the win with an empty-net goal for a 3-1 final score. Frederick Soderberg was outstanding in goal stopping 31 of 32 shots for FSU.
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has found their game in February in their first season in MASCAC and won back-to-back games for the first time this season, while picking up their third win in their last four games. On Thursday, Cade Herrera and Charlie Addesa scored third period goals to break a 1-1 tie and help the Trailblazers to a 3-1 win over Salem State. Matthew Gover made 40 saves to earn the win. Saturday, the Trailblazers used the same formula to upset Westfield State. Easton Moore scored a pair of goals in the final period to help MCLA to another 3-1 win. Gover was solid again recording 21 saves in MCLA’s sixth win of the season.
NE-10
Assumption has owned first place since the first half of the season and clinched the top seed in the upcoming NE-10 playoffs but the battles for positions below are heating up with three teams looking to get hot at the right time of the season separated by just one point entering the final week of play. The Greyhounds split a weekend series with one of those challenging teams, St. Michael’s. On Friday, Assumption needed a third period rally to down the Purple Knights, 3-2. Leo Piandes and Luke Evers scored goals early in the third period to give the Greyhounds the come-from-behind win. On Saturday, the visitors got their payback as Quinn McCarthy, Case Kantgias, David Ciancio and TJ Beaver helped the Purple Knights to a 4-1 lead after two periods which goaltender Cole Manahan made stand up for the win making 55 saves to upset the Greyhounds.
Southern New Hampshire holds just a one-point edge for second place following a weekend split of games with St. Anselm. Kurt Watson and Anthony Marchant provided the scoring and goaltender Collin Berke stopped 46 of 47 shots in a 2-1 win for the Penmen over the Hawks on Friday night. The Hawks bounced back in a big way on Saturday, securing the split with an 8-3 romp over SNHU. Luke Linart scored a pair of goals and added an assist while Will Christensen and Alec Grace each chipped in with a goal and assist apiece in the comfortable win.
Franklin Pierce remained just one point behind the Penmen, tied with SMC following a weekend sweep of Post. Devin Rohrich scored a goal and assisted on another to help pace the Ravens to a 5-2 win on Friday night. On Saturday, the Ravens needed a third period rally to erase a 4-2 deficit and earn a 5-4 win over the Eagles. Power play goals from Trevor Lawler and Douglas McGuire tied the game at 4-4 setting up the dramatic finish for John Sterling who netted the game-winner with just eight seconds remaining in regulation time.
NEHC
Hobart finished off their NEHC schedule on home ice remaining unbeaten in The Cooler on the season while also securing coach Mark Taylor’s 400th career win with a weekend sweep of VSU-Castleton and Skidmore by scores of 6-3 and 5-1 respectively.
Norwich (hold the tiebreaker with Skidmore) secured second place in the standings as they rebounded from Friday’s loss at Babson with a 5-2 win over Southern Maine on Saturday. Second period goals from Ben Van waterschoot, Patrick Del Vecchio and Bryan O’Mara broke open a 1-1 tie sending the Cadets on to the win.
Babson followed up their 2-1 win over Norwich on Friday with a 4-3 win over New England College to extend their win streak to three games. Nolan Dion scored his first goal of the season in the final minute of regulation to help the Beavers to the win and weekend sweep. Despite being tied with Elmira in points, the Soaring Eagles hold the tiebreaker and will take the final home-ice position following their win over VSU Castleton on Saturday.
Skidmore ends up in third place following their split with Elmira and Hobart over the weekend and the quarterfinal round shapes up like this for Saturday. No. 1 Hobart will host No. 8 VSU-Castleton; No. 2 Norwich will host No. 7 Southern Maine; No. 3 Skidmore hosts No. 6 Massachusetts-Boston and No. 4 Elmira hosts No. 5 Babson.
NESCAC
Trinity has clinched the top seed in the NESCAC tournament with just one week remaining on the schedule following their weekend sweep of Colby and Bowdoin. Following a 5-3 win over Colby that featured five different goal scorers, the Bantams squeaked out a 2-1 playoff-style victory over the Polar Bears on Saturday, 2-1. Devan Tongue and Nicholas Siffringer provided the scoring and Devon Bobak stopped 17 of 18 shots in the win.
While Bowdoin remains in second place, Tufts, Hamilton, and Amherst are all battling for position separated by just five points entering the final weekend after playing some head-to-head action this weekend.
Tufts found some needed points over the weekend but lost contests to Amherst and Hamilton in overtime over the weekend. On Friday night, the Mammoth rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the third period and downed the Jumbos with Josh Burke’s game-winner just 26 seconds into the extra period. The Continentals also needed overtime against Tufts as Sam Miller’s power play goal late in the third period tied the game for the Jumbos before Devon De Vries shocked the Jumbos just over a minute into overtime for a 3-2 win.
Williams and Middlebury played a pivotal home-and-home series to stay in the playoff fray with each team winning on the opponent’s home ice. On Friday, Cal Sandquist was brilliant in goal stopping all 33 Panther shots in a 1-0 win for the Ephs. Saturday’s game saw many more goals and momentum swings as the Ephs nearly rallied back from a 6-2 deficit before losing to Middlebury 7-5. Jackson Morehouse scored a hat trick for the visitors who needed Andrej Hromic’s empty-net goal to seal the win.
SUNYAC
With just a week remaining on the schedule, the only things confirmed are Geneseo as the top seed, Cortland as the No. 4 seed and Morrisville eliminated from playoff contention. After that it sets up a crazy final week for team looking to earn a playoff spot and improve their seeding.
Geneseo clinched the top seed with a pair of wins over Fredonia and Buffalo State. Alex Dameski’s hat trick helped ease the Knights to a 7-4 win over the Blue Devils on Friday night. On Saturday, the Bengals proved to be a much tougher out in a tighter game. Zach Rehbaum and Peter Morgan provided the two goals that goaltender Jacob Torgner would need in a 2-1 victory that clinched the regular season title.
The battle for second place is still open with contenders Oswego and Plattsburgh facing off on Saturday in a great rivalry game with a lot at stake. The Lakers routed Potsdam 9-0 on Friday night while Plattsburgh eked out a 5-4 win on the road against Cortland setting up the battle for second place on Saturday. The game had all the intensity on would expect from these two longtime foes as the third period would ultimately decide the contest. After Ryan Butler tied the game at 2-2 early in the third period for the Cardinals, AJ Ryan and Matt McQuade would score less than a minute apart, late in the third to open a two-goal advantage for the Lakers. Bennett Stockdale would cut the lead in half with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, but Cal Schell and the Lakers held on for the exciting 4-3 win.
A tie with Buffalo State on Friday and win over Fredonia on Saturday helped Brockport move into fifth place just ahead of the Bengals entering the final week of the regular season. On Saturday, three second period goals from Chase Maxwell, Nick Serafin and Spencer Flansburg erased a 1-0 Blue Devil lead. Connor Galloway sealed the 4-2 win with an empty-net goal as Brockport, Buffalo State and Fredonia are separated by just one point with the Bengals and Blue Devils having a game in hand over the Golden Eagles.
UCHC
Utica clinched the regular season title and top seed with a weekend sweep of Alvernia. The Pioneers built a 3-0 lead on Friday and skated away with a 4-1 win over the Golden Wolves. Four different goal scorers chipped in for Utica with Jakob Breault contributing a pair of assists. On Saturday, it took four unanswered goals to erase a 2-1 deficit on the way to a 5-2 win for Utica. Matt Wood led the offense with a goal and an assist while Ethan Roberts earned the win in goal making 30 saves.
While Stevenson, Wilkes, Alvernia and Manhattanville have all secured playoff positions the seeding is still very much up in the air from No. 4 to No. 8 as teams enter the final week looking to move up or secure a position.
Chatham helped their playoff chances while keeping Manhattanville from moving up the standings with a two-game sweep over the Valiants. On Friday, the Valiants rallied from a 4-3 deficit to tie the score in the third period on a goal from Lane Paddison in the first minute of play. Neither team could score in regulation and the Cougars found overtime magic off the stick of Milan Cermak with just under 40 seconds remaining in the bonus period for a 5-4 OT win. On Saturday there was no overtime drama as goals by Liam Murphy, Lucas Rothe, and Kadsen Johnson helped the Cougars to a 3-0 lead on the way to a 3-1 final score. Goaltender Cameron Kuntar was exceptional in goal stopping 52 of 53 shots to earn the win.
Stevenson closed out their regular season schedule with a series against Wilkes and the two teams split the weekend series with each winning a one-goal game. On Friday, Nick Swain scored a hat trick, including the overtime winning goal as the Colonels upended the Mustangs 4-3. On Saturday, Stevenson earned the split with a 3-2 win. Liam McCanney broke a 2-2 tie in the third period and Ty Outen made 29 saves in the one-goal victory for Stevenson.
Three Biscuits
Chris Alexander – Johnson & Wales – scored a pair of goals and added assists on two more to help pace the Wildcats to a 5-2 win over Massachusetts-Boston on Friday.
Nick Swain – Wilkes – scored a hat trick including the overtime winner in the Colonels’ 4-3 upset over Stevenson on Friday night.
Walter Baumann – Salve Regina – scored a hat trick to lead the Seahawks to a comfortable 7-1 win over Wentworth on Sunday afternoon.
Bonus Biscuits
Matt McQuade and Shane Bull – Oswego – both recorded hat tricks in the Lakers’ 9-0 win over Potsdam on Friday night.
Cal Sandquist – Williams – stopped all 33 shot attempts by Middlebury in backstopping the Ephs to a 1-0 road win over the Panthers on Friday night.
Jackson Morehouse – Middlebury – recorded a hat trick in Saturday’s exciting 7-5 road win over Williams to help the Panthers stay in the NESCAC playoff hunt.
This is a big week as the regular season closes out and final positioning in the conferences is established while over in the NEHC, the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament will kick-off with some intriguing matchups and upset potentials on tap. Approaching the “win or go home” portion of the season – isn’t this great?!
Mason Nevers celebrates a goal in Minnesota’s 3-0 win over Penn State last Saturday night (photo: Matt Krohn).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Minnesota puts forward statement weekend with back-to-back shutouts
Goaltender Justen Close posted identical 3-0 shutouts on Friday and Saturday nights over Penn State to reaching a healthy eight-point lead in the Big Ten standings over fourth-place Notre Dame. For Close, who finished the weekend stopping all 66 shots he faced, earned his 12th and 13th and now stands tied atop the all-time Gophers shutout list with Kellen Briggs and Adam Wilcox.
2. St. Cloud gets big bounce-back weekend with two-game sweep of Miami
It wasn’t too long ago we were talking about St. Cloud State as the final unbeaten team in the NCHC. But the Huskies entered this past weekend with just a single win in their last eight games (1-4-3). They had fallen below the cut line in the PairWise and were scraping for home ice position in the NCHC. A two-game sweep of Miami in Oxford pulled St. Cloud into second place in the league standings in inside the NCAA tournament cutline.
3. Michigan State sweeps rival Michigan on the weekend, takes the Duel in the D
Michigan State won rivalry week against Michigan, sweeping the Wolverines, 5-1 and 3-2, including a Saturday night win at Little Caesars Arena in front of 18,410. The sweep propels the Spartans to numerous milestones. First, they clinch home ice in the Big Ten quarterfinals. They also reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
4. Maine, Providence battle to split in front of sold-out crowds at Alfond
Two of Hockey East’s top teams faced off in a dramatic two-game slate in front of two sold-out crowds at Maine’s Alfond Arena. After the Black Bears held on for a 2-1 win on Friday behind 27 saves from rookie goaltender Albin Boija, Providence rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday. Hudson Malinoski tied the game with 4:33 left and Guillaume Richard scored on the power play 23 seconds into overtime to salvage two key points on the weekend.
5. Quinnipiac hits another road bump in 3-1 loss on Friday at St. Lawrence
After smooth sailing through the ECAC schedule for much of the season for defending national champion Quinnipiac, the Bobcats posted their third loss in as many league weekends on Friday, dropping a 3-1 decision to St. Lawrence. Quinnipiac mustered just a single goal on 42 shots thanks to a heroic effort by Saints goaltender Ben Kraws. The Bobcats did complete their trip to the North Country with a 4-2 victory over Clarkson on Saturday.
6. Minnesota State, Michigan Tech battle to split in key CCHA series
In a year where it feels much of the CCHA is playing at or near .500 hockey in league play, two of the top teams – Minnesota State and Michigan Tech – almost fittingly split their weekend series in Houghton. The Huskies won the opener, 3-1, behind 31 saves from Blake Pietila. But Minnesota State had the response, a 4-2 victory, on Saturday. The Mavericks hold the points lead atop the CCHA but are only a single point ahead of St. Thomas and the Tommies hold two games in hand.
7. UMass earns massive sweep of UConn to move into fourth in Hockey East
Massachusetts swept Connecticut on the weekend behind an impressive defensive effort where the Minutemen allowed just a single goal to the Huskies. The 2-0 and 3-1 wins move UMass into the fourth and final home ice spot in the Hockey East quarterfinals. More importantly, UMass moved to 10th in the PairWise, taking the Minutement from a would-be 4th seed to a 3rd seed. Though it might sound inconsequential, it could avoid some difficult decisions for the NCAA committee come March that were discussed in last week’s Bracketology (Matt, can you link here?).
8. In a difficult first season for Stonehill, finally a moment of sunshine
Nothing has been easy for first-year program Stonehill, which did not have much of a runway to establish a new Division I program. The Skyhaws hadn’t won a game entering Saturday afternoon’s contest with Lindenwood. Even worse, Stonehill had lost to that same Lindenwood team, 10-1, on Friday evening. But Jake LaRusso’s two third period goals broke a 1-1 tie as the Skyhawks won 4-2 for their first Division I men’s victory.
9. Arizona State sweeps Alaska to reach 20 wins, but falls further from NCAAs
There are only six teams in men’s Division I hockey with 20 wins right now and five of them are in the top nine of the PairWise. The one that isn’t is Arizona State, which swept Alaska twice at home this weekend. Even with the wins, the Sun Devils now sit 19th in the PairWise and are nearly mathematically eliminated from NCAA tournament contention, which raised some questions on social media on Sunday. The reality, though, is five of the ASU wins came in overtime and the team’s strength of schedule ranks just 31st 64. Additionally, the large majority of the Sun Devils schedule was played at home this season, making it difficult to add much for weighted road victories.
10. Boston University, Northeastern get ready for Monday’s Beanpot final
Two of the hotter teams in the east – Boston University and Northeastern – will meet tonight at Boston’s TD Garden for the championship game of the 71st Beanpot. Boston University if looking for its 32nd tournament championship while Northeastern is looking for its fifth championship in six tournaments after winning the title just four times in the event’s first 65 years.
UMass players celebrate a goal during the Minutemen’s weekend sweep over UConn (photo: UMass Athletics).
Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll of Feb. 5 fared in games over the weekend of Feb. 9-10.
No. 1 Boston College (20-5-1)
02/05/2024 – No. 3 Boston University 4 vs No. 1 Boston College 3 (Beanpot)
02/09/2024 – No. 17 New Hampshire 1 at No. 1 Boston College 6
No. 2 North Dakota (20-6-2)
Did not play.
No. 3 Boston University (19-7-1)
02/05/2024 – No. 3 Boston University 4 vs No. 1 Boston College 3 (Beanpot)
02/09/2024 – Merrimack 1 at No. 3 Boston University 7
Michigan State completed a weekend sweep if rival Michigan on Saturday, winning at Little Caesars Arena to clinch a 20-win season for the Spartans and home ice in the B1G playoffs (Photo: Michigan State athletics)
The tides have officially changed this season on the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry after the Spartans survived a late push by the Wolverines earning a 3-2 victory to clinch the first 20-win season for Michigan State since 2007-08.
The win also guarantees the the Spartans will have a home-ice berth in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten playoffs.
Michigan State never trailed, jumping to leads of 1-0 and 3-1. Tanner Kelly opened the scoring at 12:05 of the first.
After Michigan found the equalizer on Dylan Duke’s goal on the power play at 3:42 of the second, Tiernan Shoudy had an answer at 7:28 of the frame. The Spartans doubled the advantage at 14:19 on Karsen Dorwart’s goal.
The fourth line magic continues – Shoudy puts back the rebound off a Nienhuis shot, and Männistö picks up his second assist of the night. pic.twitter.com/sOw2ZF27Xs
Gavin Bradley closed the gap to a single goal with 9:09 left, but Michigan State survived the ending and goaltender Trey Augustine earned the victory making 36 saves.
Michigan State holds a 5-point lead in the standings over Wisconsin, but the Badgers still have two games in hand meaning they could overtake the Spartans if they were to win those games in hand.
Guillaume Richard scored a power play goal 23 seconds into overtime as Providence rallied from deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 to earn two Hockey East points at Maine.
The Black Bears still earned four of six point on the weekend after a regulation victory on Friday.
The Friars never held the lead in the game, but ended up victorious on the OT game winner after Liam Lesakowski was assessed a holding minor at 18:51 of regulation.
Richard paced the Friars offense with a goal and assist while Maine’s Bradly Nadeau finished the game with three assists.
Stonehill 4, Lindenwood 2
Stonehil, in its inaugural Division I season, earned its first-ever win scoring three times in the third period to beat Lindenwood, 4-2.
The win came a night after the Skyhawks were defeated, 10-1, by by the same Lindenwood team.
With the game tied at 1, Jake LaRusso scored twice for Stonehill in the third to give the Skyhawks a 3-1 lead. After David Gagnon pulled the Lions within a goal with 1:24 left in regulation, Anthony Galante sealed the deal with an empty-net goal with 38 seconds left.
No. 19 Omaha 3, No. 14 Western Michigan 2 (F/OT)
Omaha earned two much-needed road points in the NCHC, coming from a goal down in the third period and winning in overtime on Zach Urdahl’s goal at 2:31 of the extra frame.
Omaha never led in the game, falling behind 1-0 and 2-1 by the end of the first period. Nolan Sullivan’s power-play goal with 9:35 left tied the game and forced the extra session.
The overtime loss was the fifth of the year in NCHC play for Western Michigan, which still walked away with four-of-six points on the weekend and sits in third place in the NCHC.
Omaha remains in sixth place but has played two more games than the teams that surround it in the standings, Denver and Minnesota Duluth.
Plymouth State’s Myles Abbate was the 2023 winner of the Joe Concannon Award (photo: Plymouth State Athletics).
The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has announced that 38 players are semifinalists for the 23rd Joe Concannon Award, presented annually to the best American-born NCAA Division II/III hockey player in New England.
The award was established in 2001 shortly after the passing of the longtime writer for the Boston Globe who had a great passion for the game of college hockey while always advocating strongly for amateur athletics.
“This year has seen an incredibly competitive landscape at the DII/III level,” said Gridiron Club hockey awards committee chairman Tim Costello in a news release. “A watch list of over 80 outstanding players showcased a large number of outstanding players throughout the season to date, which has made this year’s group of nominees the most balanced the committee has seen in the history of the award. The 38 semifinalists represent our largest field in the 23-year history of the Concannon Award, and it was a great challenge to reduce the list to that number. We always expect to see the strongest contenders for the award emerge over the final weeks of the regular season, conference championship tournaments and the NCAA title chase in March.
“The committee will be watching closely to see which players rise to the top for this year’s Concannon.”
The 2023 winner was Plymouth State forward Myles Abbate.
Twenty-five schools are represented in the slate of candidates that includes five players from the NEHC, five from the NE-10, seven from the MASCAC, nine from the NESCAC and 10 from the CCC. Two independent programs, Anna Maria and Albertus Magnus, also have nominees this season.
The list of nominees includes 27 forwards, six defensemen and five goaltenders.
Assumption, Curry Endicott, and Trinity have three nominees each while UMass Dartmouth, Plymouth State, Salem State, Salve Regina, and Tufts, each have two nominees.
Albertus Magnus: Tim Manning, junior forward
Amherst: Ryan Tucker, senior forward
Anna Maria: Cam Tobey, graduate student defenseman
University of New England: Billy Girard IV, junior goaltender
VSU-Castleton: Andrew Stefura, junior forward
Westfield State: Gianluca Marini, senior forward
The Gridiron Club will announce the finalists and winner of the award in March, following league playoffs and before the start of NCAA Frozen Four on March 22 and March 24 on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Philippe Chapleau scored twice for St. Lawrence in the Saints’ 3-1 win over Quinnipiac Friday night (photo: C A Hill Photo).
Philippe Chapleau scored twice and Josh Boyer once and Ben Kraws stopped 41 shots as St. Lawrence downed No. 5 Quinnipiac 3-1 on Friday night in front of a raucous Appleton Arena crowd in Canton, N.Y.
St. Lawrence defeated Quinnipiac for the first time since the 2020-21 season when the Saints claimed the ECAC Hockey championship in Hamden, Conn. It was also the Saints’ first home win over the Bobcats since the 2016-17 season.
Boston College scored three early goals en route to a 6-1 win over New Hampshire at Kelley Rink on Friday night in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Cutter Gauthier, who totaled three points in the victory, opened the scoring 1:07 into the game. BC went on to score three times over a span of 3:28. Jack Malone scored his first of two goals in the opening stanza and Ryan Leonard also lit the lamp.
Will Smith scored BC’s third power-play goal of the night midway through the second.
UNH got on the board in the third with a goal by Harrison Blaisdell, but the Eagles answered 61 seconds later with Malone’s second of the night to return the BC lead to four goals.
Oskar Jellvik picked up three assists on the night for the Eagles.
Jacob Fowler made 30 saves in the win, while Jakob Hellsten stopped 21 shots for the Wildcats.
No. 3 Boston University 7, Merrimack 1
Jack Harvey scored the first two goals of his Terrier career just 27 seconds apart as part of a five-goal second period to help lead Boston University to a 6-1 victory over Merrimack on Friday night at Agganis Arena in Boston.
BU never trailed as five different Terriers lit the lamp. Macklin Celebrini, Jeremy Wilmer, Quinn Hutson, Dylan Peterson and Case McCarthy all found the back of the net.
A sweet pass from Gally leads to the smooth finish from Quinn!
Harvey and Wilmer combined to score three times in a span of 1:24 to close out the second stanza and give the Terriers a 6-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Wilmer, Celebrini and McCarthy all added an assist to complete two-point nights while Jack Hughes and Lane Hutson each collected two assists apiece.
Mathieu Caron made 15 saves in 48:48 of work before giving way to freshman Max Lacroix, who stopped all six shots he faced in his collegiate debut.
Mark Hillier scored for the Warriors and Zachary Borgiel finished with 35 saves in goal.
No. 7 Maine 2, No. 10 Providence 1
Josh Nadeau and Anthony Calafiore each scored a goal and Albin Boija made 27 saves as Maine knocked off Providence 2-1 on Friday night from Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.
Luke Krys scored for the Friars and Philip Svedebäck made 21 saves between the pipes.
No. 4 Wisconsin 4, Notre Dame 2
Four unanswered goals in the final 21 minutes of play helped Wisconsin take down Notre Dame 4-2 on Friday night at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
Notre Dame’s Hunter Strand and Tyler Carpenter scored twice in the first period before Wisconsin tallied two in the final minute of the second from Christian Fitzgerald and David Silye.
SILYE (@Dsilye21 ) HAS US HOOTIN' AND HOLLERIN'! 🗣️
Just over one minute into the third period, David Silye scored his second goal of the evening to give the Badgers the lead. Carson Bantle then tallied an empty-net goal with two minutes remaining in the contest to seal the conference victory for the Badgers.
Wisconsin goalie McClellan finished with 21 saves, while Ryan Bischel collected 34 stops for the Irish.
No. 9 Michigan State 5, No. 11 Michigan 1
A four-goal third period for Michigan State spelled a second road victory at Michigan this season, as the Spartans skated away with a 5-1 win on Friday night at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Maxim Štrbák had a goal and an assist and Trey Augustine made 29 saves.
Michigan got on the board with a Gavin Brindley goal at 10:40 of the second period, but Tanner Kelly countered with the equalizer just 25 seconds later.
Russ gives the Spartans a 2-1 lead – his ninth of the season. Apples to Dorwart and Levshunov, pic.twitter.com/L1heH2ZtCy
MSU came out and put four goals on the board in the third period to put the game away. Daniel Russell broke the tie at 4:46, finishing off the first of Isaac Howard’s two primary assists on the night. Howard then set up Štrbák at 8:13 for a 3-1 Spartan lead.
The Spartans iced the game with a pair of empty-net goals at 17:18 (Red Savage) and 17:43 (Jeremy Davidson) to ice the victory.
Jake Barczewski made 25 saves for the Wolverines.
The teams complete their four-game season series on Saturday at 8:30 p.m., facing off at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit for the annual “Duel in the D” matchup.
No. 8 Minnesota 3, Penn State 0
Rhett Pitlick scored on Minnesota’s first two shots of the game and goaltender Justen Close stopped all 36 shots he faced, leading the Gophers to a 3-0 shutout over Penn State in front of a sellout crowd of 10,750 Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn.
The crowd was the largest attendance for a regular-season game in 3M Arena at Mariucci history.
Connor Kurth added a goal early in the third period for Minnesota.
For the Nittany Lions, Liam Souliere made 24 stops in goal.
RIT 7, Mercyhurst 6 (OT)
Simon Isabelle scored the game-winning goal with 12.7 seconds left in overtime to lead the Tigers to a 7-6 comeback victory at Mercyhurst Friday from the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa.
Trailing 5-3 with under five minutes left in the second period and later, 6-4 with 12:25 left in the third, RIT finished the game with three unanswered goals, including the game-tying goal by Aiden Hansen-Bukata with 36.2 seconds left in regulation.
RIT GOAL – ISABELLE WITH OT GWG AND THE TIGERS COMPLETE THE COMEBACK #RoarTech#RIT 7-6 MER | 00:12 | 3RD
Gianfranco Cassaro had a goal and two helpers for RIT, while Cody Laskosky and Gustav Blom and Isabelle all picked up a goal and an assist.
Philippe Jacques and Christian Catalano also scored in the win, while goaltender Tommy Scarfone finished with 23 saves.
For the Lakers, Garrett Dahm and Will Margel posted a goal and two assists apiece and Adrien Bisson, Boris Skalos, Duston Geregach and Barrett Brooks also scored.
In goal, Simon Bucheler turned aside 40 shots for Mercyhurst.
Max Resnick centers Tufts’ top line as he and the Jumbos pursue a NESCAC title (Photo by Michael Last-Tufts Athletics)
In the ultra-competitive conference that is NESCAC, Trinity has risen to the top of the conference standings and has a solid hold on first place entering the final two weekends of the regular season. After the Bantams sits Bowdoin and a surprising Tufts team that has continued to improve their play on the ice and learn the finer points of what is needed to win hockey games consistently. The focus to wrap-up the regular season is on getting those points in the remaining games and getting ready for a strong push in the conference tournament.
“We have played hard all year,” said head coach Patrick Norton. “Even in the games we have lost the effort has been there and we have played a lot of close one-goal games including several overtime games already this season. I do not think we are fully there yet in terms of our maturation, but this is a great group that continues to learn and incorporate those learnings into their play on the ice with a focus of being better and overcoming the adversity the game can present sometimes.”
Case in point for the Jumbos was the Williams/Middlebury weekend where the team struggled with things not necessarily in their control on Friday night in a 2-0 loss to the Ephs, juxtaposed with a team that trailed Middlebury 1-0 entering the third period and stayed level-headed about their quality of play and commitment to staying with the right things on the ice. The third period brought a pair of goals in the opening five minutes that helped propel the Jumbos to a hard fought 2-1 win over the Panthers.
“Even last weekend’s home-and-home series with Conn College showed some of the same things,” noted Norton. “I like when we stay the course when we are doing a lot of the right things but not necessarily seeing the results. The Williams game I thought we got caught up in what was or was not called and focus on things we do not control on the ice. We course corrected against Middlebury and even more so against Conn College this past weekend. This is a really good group that is learning the little things that teams need to execute to win. If we keep doing that internal development and growth as a group, it will be fun to see where this team can go.”
At the core of Tufts success this season is senior goaltender Peyton Durand. Durand (18GP – 1.88 goals-against average; .943 save percentage; two shutouts) has been super focused and incredibly dependable for Tufts in backstopping them to their current third place position in the conference. Despite a challenging road to get to his current performance levels, Durand has given the Jumbos a chance to win every night.
“When you look at the really good teams across D-I, D-III and virtually every level of hockey, success starts with one position, the goaltender,” stated Norton. “Peyton has seen great success this year that really is a carryover from last season and the Conn College weekend. I am not sure what really clicked on for him, but it was clear that something changed. He has a great relationship with our goalie coach Justin Ketola, and I think his focus on fundamentals and his mental approach helped set him up for success this season. He will kind of tip his hat to a player who beats him with a great shot but really gets to a place of “I am better than this” when he feels he gave up one he should not have. That mental toughness has been there all this year, and his numbers reflect that determination and focus.”
Upfront the Jumbos have been a balanced team with four lines capable of scoring goals and sustaining offensive zone pressure. One line in particular has emerged from last fall as the top line for the Jumbos and is led by junior forward Tyler Sedlak (9-11-20; +12).
“We put Tyler together with Max [Resnick] (6-13-19; +17) and Harrison {Bazianos] (8-9-17; +11) during the Thanksgiving Tournament and they clicked from the very first shift,” stated Norton. “It is no surprise they lead our team in scoring and points, but they are more than just an offensive group. With Tyler I see his speed game challenging opponents and elevating other players on our team. He has become a full 200-foot player and has asserted himself in winning 1-on-1 puck battles and backchecking aggressively to regain puck possession. One of our goals against Conn this weekend was a direct output of his backchecking. Other lines see the effort and they go out and emulate the energy and commitment to both ends of the ice. This has been a fun group that continues to enjoy their time on the ice and focus on being better when it is going to matter the most.”
Tufts closes out the regular season with home games against Amherst and Hamilton before an end of season road trip to Maine and battles with Colby and Bowdoin.
“We are focused on getting points,” noted Norton. “We are in a good spot now but want to finish strong in advance of the conference tournament. Last year Bowdoin won as the No. 7 seed so anyone in our league can get on a three-game win streak to take the title. We certainly hope to be one of those contending teams.”
Adrian takes on Trine this weekend in a crucial NCHA series featuring top 10 teams. ((Photo provided by Adrian Athletics)
February rolls on and it’s the end of the regular season for NCHA and WIAC teams while MIAC teams continue on with their regular season action for one more week after this one.
Speaking of the NCHA, the biggest matchup of the weekend out west features Adrian and Trine, two nationally ranked teams in the USCHO.com poll battling for the top spot.
MIAC
Hamline (7-12-2, 3-8-1) vs. Augsburg (11-8-2, 8-3-1)
The Pipers will have their hands full against the Auggies, who are in second place in the MIAC and still within striking distance of the regular season crown. If Samuel Vyletelka is on top of his game, and the offense is clicking, it will be tough for Hamline to sneak out of this series with a win. Vyletelka has 15 games with 30 or more saves. Augsburg, 5-2 and 4-1
St. Scholastica (14-6-1, 7-4-1) ) vs.Saint Mary’s (7-12-2, 5-6-1)
For the Saints, the goal is to get back on track after being swept by Bethel last week. The Saints have yet to go 2-0 in a weekend series in 2024 and wouldn’t mind seeing that trend change this week. The Cardinals need a strong performance here to keep their hopes alive for a MIAC tournament berth. St. Scholastica has played three consecutive games decided by a goal, two ending in losses. The little things matter. But it’s worth noting the Cardinals are 6-2-2 at home this year. Both of these games are at Saint Mary’s. St. Scholastica, 4-2; Saint Marys, 3-2
Concordia (10-8-3, 5-5-2) vs. Gustavus (8-11-2, 3-8-1)
While the Gusties are playing for pride, the Cobbers are in the hunt for a playoff berth. Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe has been playing well for Concordia, especially on special teams where he’s tallied eight power play goals, tied for the fifth most in NCAA Division III. Gustavus has one win in its last eight outings, but the Gusties compete as four of those losses are by a goal. Concordia, 4-3 and 3-1
NCHA
No. 10 Trine (18-5, 13-3 ) vs. No. 3 Adrian (17-5-1, 14-2)
Two top 10 teams in the nation playing for the right to be the top seed in the NCHA tournament. It doesn’t get much better than that.
As long as the Bulldogs earn at least one point over the weekend, they are good to go. The worse they could be, however is the third seed if they come up empty-handed.
Trine has an opportunity to win a regular-season NCHA title for the first time and need five points to do it. This should be fun to watch. Adrian, 5-4; Trine, 4-3
MSOE (12-9-2, 6-9-1) vs. Concordia (8-15, 6-10)
The Raiders are currently in the fifth spot for the upcoming conference tournament. They are up three points on the Falcons and need at least two more points this weekend to seal the deal on the five seed. But they could end up as low as eight if things don’t work out. Concordia also has a shot at the fifth seed if it can pick up five points. MSOE, 3-2; Concordia, 2-1
Aurora (12-10-1, 11-5) )vs. Lake Forest (6-17, 3-13)
The Spartans are assured of a top four spot. But they could end up as high as the No. 2 seed if they can dominate the weekend by winning every point and Trine fails to win a point. Either way, it’s a big series and a chance for Aurora to take some extra momentum into the playoffs.
Lake Forest is trying to salvage its season and avoid missing a tourney berth. They have a chance to be as high as sixth. The good news for Lake Forest is it holds a tiebreaker over Lawrence and Marian. Aurora, 5-2 and 4-1
WIAC
No. 15 UW-Eau Claire (15-6-2, 9-3-1) at UW-Stout (9-12-2, 7-6)
The Blugolds are unbeaten in their last seven and have already beaten the Blue Devils once this year, winning 4-3 on Dec. 2. UW-Eau Claire has recorded four shutouts in that stretch and defense will be key against a UW-Stout team that leads the WIAC in goals scored (84) and has the top two goal scorers in the league in Boyd Stahlbaum and Peyton Hart. UW-Eau Claire, 3-0 and 3-1
UW-Superior (11-11-1, 6-6-1) at No. 8 UW-Stevens Point (17-5-1, 11-2)
The Pointers look to wrap up the regular season on a high note and extend their win streak, which is currency at three games. The Yellowjackets beat the Pointers 3-1 back on Dec. 2 and wouldn’t mind a repeat of that success. UW-Stevens Point has lost just once at home this season while UW-Superior has just three wins on the road and is just 3-5-1 in 2024. UW-Stevens Point, 5-2 and 4-3
Tyler Kostelecky is playing a big role in Bethel’s success. (Photo Credit: Bethel Athletics)
Tyler Kostelecky is trusting the process. In his first year at Bethel after transferring in from Long Island, the sophomore forward has been one of the top players in the MIAC.
“It’s been more about the process for me and trying to stay glued to that over everything else,” Kostelecky said.
It’s safe to say going that route is paying off. He ranks second in the league in goals (11) and has dished out 10 assists.
“I’m playing pretty well and evaluating every game to see what I can do better to be able to help the team out as much as I can,” Kostelecky said.
After a stellar prep career at Maple Grove in his home state of Minnesota where he was a team captain his senior year, and after a couple of seasons of junior hockey, Kostelecky began his collegiate career out East.
But it ended up not being the right fit. And going to a school like Bethel made sense. It had a sense of familiarity to it.
“I was able to come back closer to home and I know several of my teammates from juniors and high school, and thought the world of those guys,” Kostelecky said. “I knew it was a good culture here, too. I’m happy with the decision.”
One of the best things about being at Bethel is that the Royals aren’t forgetting to have fun. And that seems to be working as they are enjoying a turnaround season, sitting in first place in the conference with a 9-3-2 record, three points ahead of second-place Augsburg. Bethel is 15-5-3 overall, sporting five more wins than it had all of last season.
“We’re allowed to have fun and be ourselves, and have a good time playing hockey,” Kostelecky said. “We’re expected to work, too, but I think us being able to have fun is a huge part of why we are doing so well. Everyone shows up to the rink with a lot of energy.”
Kostelecky played other sports growing up, like baseball and golf. He played baseball until his freshman year and played one season of JV golf.
But hockey was always his go-to sport.
“Hockey is what I always resorted back to,” Kostelecky said. “I spent my summers training for hockey. It was always my No. 1 sport. I love everything about it.”
And he knew he wanted to keep playing hockey beyond high school.
“For me, I did want to keep playing. I had goals for myself to play in college and beyond,” Kostelecky said. “You can’t always control everything, but for me, it was about being able to continue to play. I love the game and I want to play for as long as I can.”
The MIAC has been a fun league to play in for him. He loves how tightly contested it is week to week, where the phrase ‘any given night’ rings true.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming in, but I love it so far,” Kostelecky said. “I love that every team is right there, that there is no real separation between the top and bottom teams. If a couple of things go different, we could be in sixth. Every weekend is important. I love that every game means something.”
Bethel is off this weekend before wrapping up the regular season against Hamline Feb. 16-17. A successful series means the Royals lock down the No. 1 spot for the conference tournament.
“It’s nice that we have a chance to win the MIAC for the regular season and hopefully get the No. 1 spot in the tournament,” Kostelecky said. “For us, it’s about sticking to our own path and knowing what we have to do. We have to stay in our lane, do what we do well and execute that.”
Brody Lamb buried the overtime game winner as Minnesota won the Big Ten series opener at Wisconsin, 2-1 last Friday night (photo: Brad Rempel).
A marathon with potential for a photo finish, run on a treadmill.
That’s what this Big Ten season feels like.
With a month to go before conference playoffs begin, the standings seem to be nearly standing still. Michigan State remains at the top, Ohio State at the bottom, and any movement in between seems nearly negligible – until you take a slightly closer look.
In the second half of the season, B1G teams have played as many as eight conference games and as few as six. Going 5-3 since B1G play resumed in January, the Spartans have earned 15 points. That’s only two more than Minnesota has earned in two fewer games. Everyone else has earned 12 or fewer.
The landscape seems still, but the Gophers are on the move.
“Our team right now is just in a great spot.” That’s what Minnesota coach Bob Motzko told Minnesota play-by-play announcer Wally Shaver this week on the Gophers’ podcast after Minnesota took three of six points from Wisconsin on the road with a win and a tie.
“A lot of times you hear, ‘We’re peaking at the right time,’” said Motzko, “but how we came out of the Michigan State series and as we great during this weekend … we kept growing through the weekend, and Saturday from start to finish, we were dialed in to a player, to a man out there.”
Motzko referred to the “compete level” and “grit,” adding that “it doesn’t happen all the time.”
Minnesota beat Wisconsin 2-1 in overtime Friday on Brody Lamb’s 11th goal of the season – his fourth game winner – at 1:02 of OT.
Saturday’s game ended in a 1-1 tie with Wisconsin picking up the extra shootout point. In regulation in that contest, the Gophers had two goals disallowed – “two horrendous calls,” said Motzko.
At 13:50 in the second period, Ryan Chesley appeared to have scored for Minnesota, but the Badgers challenged the goal, and it was overturned for goaltender interference.
Then at 17:20 in the third, Mason Nevers found the back of the Wisconsin net, but the goal was waved off again for contact with Badgers goaltender Kyle McClellan.
“I thought we deserved a better fate obviously,” said Motzko. “That was the best Gopher game in my six years, from start to finish.”
The Minnesota-Wisconsin series was a second-half offensive outlier for both teams. Both the Gophers and the Badgers have been averaging well above three goals per game this season. The teams combined for five goals total. Neither team scored on one of the five total power-play opportunities in the series.
“Our power play wasn’t what it needed to be this weekend,” said Badgers coach Mike Hastings. The Badgers were 0-for-3 with the advantage against the Gophers. “We had a late power play on Saturday, and I don’t think we got a shot on net, so our execution was off there.”
In the second half of the season, Wisconsin had been held to fewer than three goals once, in the Badgers’ 5-1 loss to Michigan on Jan. 26. Prior to this series, Minnesota had scored fewer than four goals in a second-half game just once, in a 3-2 loss to Michigan State, also on Jan. 26.
The Badgers took the shots to the Gophers Friday, 41-29, with a 21-5 shot advantage in that game’s second period. The Gophers turned those tables Saturday, outshooting the Badgers 43-23.
Motzko said that Minnesota’s greatest challenge now is sustaining this momentum going forward.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys, of how this thing is starting to come together with this team, this year,” Motzko said.
Four of Minnesota’s six remaining games are at home, and all are against opponents behind them in the standings and against which the Gophers are 3-2-1 so far for the season.
With 40 points, first-place Michigan State remains five points ahead of Wisconsin and 11 ahead of Minnesota. The Badgers have two games in hand, though, on both the Spartans and the Golden Gophers.
Michigan State and Wisconsin are the only two teams in control of their own fate in terms of a first-place regular-season finish and that first-round Big Ten conference playoff bye. If the Spartans win their six remaining games, the conference is theirs; if the Badgers win seven of their eight, they win the title. The two teams meet to end the season in Wisconsin the first weekend in March.
The middle of the conference standings is so tight that none of the three teams vying for point there – Minnesota (29 points), Notre Dame (27), Michigan (25) – controls its own fate as high as a second-place win, although each is mathematically able to capture the regular-season title.
