Fitchburg State’s Antoine Gignac is one of many players in the first half that has celebrated an overtime goal and victory – who is calling game this weekend? (Photo by Fitchburg State Athletics)
For many teams this weekend represents the end of the first half of the season. There are a very few games next week and therefore, the last opportunities for creating positive momentum heading into the semester break and holiday season. It has been a very exciting and dynamic start to the 2023-24 season and this week should keep that track record intact. Last week I finished my eastern week of picks going 8-2-2 (.750). That brings the season total to 56-25-7 (.676) which is again returning to a positive direction towards my 70% success rate goal. There are several interesting matchups this week that will be interesting games among ranked teams on the schedule, so looking for a strong finish from this week’s picks for the East:
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Morrisville v. Brockport
This Golden Eagles have played everybody tough on their schedule and face a mid-week SUNYAC challenge from the visiting Mustangs. This one is close to start and the home team finds a way to score and win late with an empty-net goal to provide some cushion – Brockport, 4-2
Thursday, December 7, 2023
Assumption v. Westfield State
The Greyhounds are 11-1-0 on the season and enter this non-conference matchup with the Owls on a high after an NE-10 sweep of rival St. Michael’s over the weekend. Need to beware of the Owls who will be a very tough out – Assumption, 4-3
Albertus Magnus v. Castleton
The Falcons were on a recent roll until Tuesday’s 1-0 loss at Trinity but still have an opportunity to close out the first half of the season on a positive note. The Spartans are always tough on home ice and special teams are the decisive factor in a win for the visitors – Albertus Magnus, 3-2
Friday, December 8, 2023
Curry v. Anna Maria
The Colonels better be ready from the puck drop of the opening period because the AmCats like to start fast and then make things difficult for the opposition in their ability to come back. Goaltender Matthew Hennessy keeps the game close, and overtime might be needed to decide the winner here – Curry, 4-3
(10) Skidmore v. (7) Geneseo
The Thoroughbreds are certainly going to earn their unbeaten record through the first half if they can master the Knights on the road. Geneseo did not surrender a goal last weekend and goals will be at a premium with the goaltending strengths for both squads. Thinking an overtime tie but having to pick a winner will stick with the home team – Geneseo, 2-1
Johnson & Wales v. Rivier
The Raiders have had a very solid first half under first-year coach Shaun Millerick and waste no time getting off to a quick lead against the Wildcats on home ice. It is a comfortable but hard-fought win for the home team – Rivier, 5-2
Amherst v. Williams
The two rivals always produce close battles on the ice and this one will be no exception. Neither team has seen the desired results in the early games so closing out the first half with a win is important before heading into the semester break. Mammoths eke this one out with Shane Toporowski netting a big goal, or two – Amherst, 3-2
Wilkes v. Alvernia
The Colonels have been rolling and until last weekend, so were the Golden Wolves. Home ice matters in this one and an important win among the teams chasing Utica is what both teams want and need in this weekend series. This one needs overtime to find a winner – Alvernia, 4-3
(2) Plattsburgh v. Buffalo State
The Cardinals are looking to rebound from last week’s loss to Oswego. Going on the road helps with focus and a fast start helps start a new win streak with a comfortable win over the Bengals – Plattsburgh, 4-1
Saturday, December 9, 2023
(4) Utica v. Oswego
The Lakers have knocked off Hobart and Plattsburgh this season and would love to add another win over a ranked team to boost their resume. Pioneers have been very good on special teams and a late power play is decisive for the visitors – Utica, 4-3
(1) Hobart v. Trinity
This game will be close and goals will certainly be at a premium. Statesmen will not get their eighth shutout of the season, but one goal is not enough for the Bantams take a win against the nation’s No. 1 ranked team – Hobart, 3-1
(5) Elmira v. Brockport
The Soaring Eagles have been on a roll and look for Chance Gorman, Janis Vizbelis and Bailey Krawczyk to continue the productive ways in a win that is more comfortable than the score indicates – Elmira, 4-2
Colby v. Tufts
This is the official TRAP GAME alert of the week as the Jumbos are coming off back-to-back wins on the road and look to carry the momentum forward against a talented Mules squad. Tough barn to play in and the Jumbos take advantage of the home-ice advantage – Tufts, 3-2
Franklin Pierce v. Arcadia
The home team needs to get off to a good start and make the Ravens play their game. Arcadia does get off to a quick lead but must survive a furious rally from the visitors – Arcadia, 4-3
Some great games involving ranked teams this weekend which obviously can impact the poll come Monday. It may be the last weekend of action for most teams, but no team is going to leave anything on the ice heading into the break – “Drop the Puck!”
Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley talks strategy with his squad during a recent home game at the RMU Island Sports Center (photo: Robert Morris Athletics).
Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley says that he’s an impatient person, especially when it comes to coaching.
Schooley, who has been in charge of the RMU program since its inception in 2004, had to rebuild it after the school eliminated the men’s and women’s teams at the end of the 2020-21 season.
It was a shocking announcement. The programs were healthy and successful at the time.
Through a lot of fundraising work, both teams were restored by Dec. 2021, but it would take Schooley and his staff two seasons to rebuild. All but four players transferred out when the program was cut.
Schooley had the benefit of the transfer portal and an extra year of eligibility for players due to the pandemic, but it was still a daunting task.
This year’s squad is comprised of 13 freshmen new to the program, three redshirt freshmen who arrived last year, four leftovers from the 2020-21 team, and 10 transfers.
After an emotional start to the season, the Colonials have struggled at 2-11-3 overall, 1-9-2 in Atlantic Hockey.
“We’re still trying to figure out where we are as a hockey team,” said Schooley. “When you have so many new players, most of them haven’t played together, and the ones that have, it was three years ago.
“There are so many variables of putting a team together and getting everybody on the same page. We’re still trying to figure out where we are as a hockey team.”
That can take some time, but Schooley said, “You have to be patient a little bit, it’s hard to be patient. I’m not a patient person.”
It’s especially frustrating for him because his program was in a good place when it was canceled.
“We had a really good team when they disbanded the program,” said Schooley. “And we were going to be really good the next year. We’re still feeling the effects of it.”
Once the program was reinstated, it was back to the drawing board, but in a different environment than the first time around. And with different expectations.
“You can get older quicker (now), but the difference of when you bring in all freshmen, you knew at that time they were going to be there for four years,” said Schooley. “And you were going to get better as your four years go along.
“You can change your program in a quick way with the transfer portal and all that right now. Compared to when we did it before, we knew that we were building for a four-year plan. Now it’s a quick turnaround.”
Not quick enough for Schooley’s liking, at least so far. The Colonials are struggling to score, currently last in the conference (1.75 goals per game).
Freshman Tanner Klimpke leads the team in scoring (four goals, six assists). Six of the top ten scorers are rookies.
“Our freshmen are leading us right now,” said Schooley. “We’ve got some good players that are fifth years transfers that haven’t hit their stride yet and are still trying to find it.
“Scoring’s been tough, so you need your goalie even more in cases like that.”
Veteran Chad Veltri, who backstopped Niagara for four years, returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh for a fifth and final season at RMU. On Friday, Veltri made his 3,000th career save against Rochester Institute of Technology in a 4-1 loss, a game in which the Colonials were outshot 54-16. He became the 10th player in league history to reach that plateau.
“Both of our goaltenders have played well,” said Schooley. “(St. Lawrence transfer) Francis Boisvert played well in (a Nov. 10-11 series at) Alaska and Chad has been very good.
“The problem that our goaltenders are facing right now is if they get to two or three, we’re in trouble because we haven’t been able to score as much as we need to. If we can keep them playing in the way they’ve been playing, when we hit our stride from a goal-scoring standpoint, it’ll be that much better for us.”
The Colonials have a home-and-home series with Niagara this weekend and then host No. 12 Arizona State before Christmas. While the first half of the season has held some disappointments, Schooley remains optimistic. And impatient.
“We wanted it to be easy,” he said. “We thought we were going to just dive right back in. But it’s a process and we’ve got to stick together and continue to move forward and be prepared to do everything that we need to do to be successful.”
Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski recap last week’s NCAA women’s hockey action, including St. Cloud State’s 2-1 victory at No. 1 Ohio State and Minnesota Duluth’s win at No. 2 Wisconsin. And we hear from officials at Delaware, which announced plans to add a varsity women’s hockey team in 2025, and the CHA, which invited the Blue Hens to the conference.
Drop us a line with questions or comments. Connect with Nicole at @NicoleHaase and with Todd at @ToddMilewski.
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#2 UW-River Falls defeat #8 Adrian 7-5 on 11/30/23. (Photo by Pat Deninger)
We had a wild weekend out west, including a non-conference top-10 matchup where twelve goals were scored… while we had some intriguing matchups amongst conference foes, we focused on a few highly competitive top-ranked teams. This all comes just before we get ready for the first semester/winter break where all teams would like to finish strong headed into the Christmas & New Year’s season.
*Note: the game recap of #1 Gustavus vs #2 UW-River Falls was technically played in week 7 (12-5-23), but due to the magnitude, significance, and the date this article is posted, it’s included in this recap. Also, this is the case for the #9 UW-Eau Claire vs Hamline game, very little occurred in the WIAC, therefore this game from week 7 (12-5-23) is included in this week’s article.
#8 Adrian at #3 UW-River Falls – Thursday 11-30-23
This was a wild game as we expected, but it didn’t occur in the way you’d expect… I pointed out last week that in this one Adrian had to stay out of the penalty box vs this River Falls powerplay, which they failed to do, costing them three goals, but what looked like a River Falls blowout, became a stellar game.
To begin, UWRF’s Brooke Lemke scored early into the game, 3:17 into the 1st, to which Adrian’s Courtney Ben would answer later in the 1st at 12:01, but that tie didn’t last long, RF’s Kaitlyn Ronn scored 58 seconds later at 12:59 to retain the Falcon lead. RF ended the period with a powerplay goal at 18:34 from Megan Goodreau.
In the 2nd, Kaitlynn Ronn scored her second of the game at 4:57 to make it 4-1, then her teammate Aubrey Nelvin scored on the powerplay at 7:25 to give River Falls a 5-1 lead, this is where it looked bad for Adrian halfway through the game. Both teams would score to end the period, Karmen Anderson for Adrian and MaKenna Aure on the powerplay.
In the 3rd, Adrian got out of the deficit quickly scoring at 1:28 (Une Bjelland), 3:31 (Tia Liscelle), & Une Bjelland again (14:10), to make the score 6-5 with less than 7 minutes to go in the game… UW-River Falls then sealed it at 19:44.7, their star Maddie McCollins scored to make it 7-5 and the Falcons of River Falls avoid the blown lead and also the upset, defeating #8 Adrian to improve to 9-0-0.
The point leader in this game for River Falls was the 2023 USCHO Women’s D-III Player of the Year Maddie McCollins (1G, 5A). For Adrian, it was Une Bjelland (2G, 1A).
Shots were 38-22 in favor of UWRF, UWRF also went 3/3 on the powerplay in this game.
#1 Gustavus at #2 UW-River Falls – Wednesday 12-5-23
Gustavus entered this game with a perfect record of 7-0-0 but hadn’t been tested to the level UW-River Falls has, who sat with a perfect record as well of 9-0-0. Gustavus’ best wins were against Augsburg & Saint Mary’s, while River Falls’ best wins were vs Augsburg, Saint Mary’s, #8 UW-Eau Claire, & #8 Adrian.
In this massive game of 1v2, UW-River Falls came out on top, shutting Gustavus out 2-0. Shots were near even, 30-29 in favor of the Falcons, while penalties were also near even, three for UWRF, two for Gustavus.
#2 UW-River Falls defeated #1 Gustavus 2-0 on 12/5/23. (Photo by Carly Lynch)
The way this went down was a lone goal from Alex Hantge midway through the 2nd period at 10:55. Then Aubrey Nelvin capped it off with an empty netter at 18:34 of the 3rd period.
Both goaltenders played well, Katie McCoy, who seems to set a record every other week whether program or national for the Gusties, suffered a rare loss, making 28 saves. River Falls’ Jordan O’Connor made 29 saves in the shutout victory.
Women’s hockey seems to give us the matchups we want, obviously these schedules can’t be created midseason, but they’ve continued to deliver year in and year out with incredible tournaments out east, while giving us sensational matchups out west, where we have consistent top-5 matchups multiple times per season.
MIAC
Augsburg and St. Olaf played a pair of games, Augsburg sweeping the series, winning 3-1 & 2-1. A surprise this season is St. Olaf’s struggles, the Ole’s sit at 0-6-0 in MIAC play, but they’re 4-7-0 overall.
Augsburg swept St. Olaf this past weekend. (Photo by Kevin Healy)
St. Scholastica swept St. Catherine’s 4-3 & 4-2; both teams are currently on the playoff bubble. It’s still early, but these teams will likely be competing for that last playoff spot or at least in the running, so this series meant a lot.
Hamline continued their winning, defeating Concordia (Minn.) 5-2 & 2-1. Hamline, currently sitting in 2nd in the MIAC behind unbeaten (in conference play) Gustavus, who swept the dark horse Saint Mary’s, with a record of 5-1 in the MIAC, 7-3-0 overall.
NCHA
#8 Adrian swept Concordia (Wis.), winning 9-1 & 4-0.
Aurora swept Dubuque, winning 9-1 & 5-1.
Lake Forest swept Lawrence, winning 4-0 & 2-1.
Marian swept Trine, winning 3-0 & 2-1 in OT.
WIAC
The lone WIAC matchup last weekend was UW-Stevens Point vs Northland, UWSP won 2-0. Since not much occurred other than this game in the WIAC, we’ll review the #9 UW-Eau Claire vs Hamline non-conference game from 12/5/23.
In this one, Eau Claire coming off a rough stretch of games as they are nearing the end of the short-term gauntlet of top-ranked opponents and tough non-conference teams such as Hamline, so this one was vital.
UW-Eau Claire defeats Hamline 2-1 on 12/5/23. (Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com)
UWEC started off the scoring extremely early in the 1st, Sam Bendholz scored a rapid 51 seconds into the game. The Pipers then tied it up in the 2nd, Haley Eder-Zdechlik scored at 16:53 to tie it up going into the 3rd period.
Kylie Wiltse would score the winner for the Blugolds at 3:18 of the final frame, giving the Blugolds a huge 2-1 win.
Goaltender Josie Mathsion made 18 saves for Eau Claire & Olivia Rinzel made 15. Shot totals were very low, 19-17 in favor of Hamline, penalties were one-sided, Hamline with five & Eau Claire with one.
Western New England Women’s Hockey (Photo via Western New England Athletics)
Nearing closer to the semester break, teams are making their final push to end the first half on a high note. We had some great games out east this past weekend, including some highly ranked matchups.
CCC
Two teams that have come out swinging this year, looking to make that next leap are Western New England & University of New England. The Golden Bears & Nor’easters are currently tied atop the CCC with 15.5 points apiece.
This past weekend, the two went unscathed, WNE going 2-0, while UNE went 1-0-1 (lost shootout). Meanwhile, Endicott is sitting close behind at 14.5, then Salve Regina who’s looking to make some noise, sits at 13.5, with the next closest being Suffolk at 7.5.
Western New England had a pair of games with Nichols who finds themselves at the bottom of the CCC, winning both by scores of 4-1 & 1-0.
On Friday in the 4-1 win, WNE’s Maddie Pope (2G), Alyssa Murphy (3A), & Maggie Holt (3A) led the Golden Bears on the stat sheet, while goaltender Kayla Ireland had 16 saves. On Saturday, Julia Roman had the lone goal which came at 16:16 of the 2nd period, giving WNE the slim 1-0 shutout victory. Rieley Jessie-Gerelli made 29 saves in the shutout win.
As for the University of New England, who’s 5-3-3 overall (4-1-3 in CCC) under 1st year Head Coach Cassandra Sherman, Univ Southern Maine ‘17, they tied Suffolk on Friday 1-1 (lost shootout) & won 2-1 on Saturday.
In game one, Delanie Corcoran had 34 saves for UNE & Lily O’Neil had 19 saves for Suffolk, then in the game two victory for UNE, Corcoran had 36 & O’Neil had 26. The point leader on the weekend was UNE’s HannahHumes with a pair of goals in the Saturday victory.
Other CCC news was Salve Regina sweeping Curry College, winning 2-1 in OT & 4-0. The notable performances were goaltending, in the 2-1 OT win for Salve, Curry’s SoleilArchambeault made 37 saves on 37 shots in 41:01 minutes in the loss, while Salve’s SydneyBaxter made 22 of 23 in the victory. Another thing to note, in the 4-0 Salve victory, two goals were empty net.
NEHC
Nothing too crazy occurred in the NEHC this past weekend, here’s a quick recap of the notable events.
#11 Elmira
#11 Elmira got a pair of wins, a blowout 11-1 win over Johnson & Wales and a 3-1 win vs UMass-Boston. In the game vs J&W, Elmira outshot them 55-15, scoring 3 powerplay goals & 2 shorthanded, and goaltender Chloe Beaubien made 14 saves. In the game vs UMB, Elmira outshot them 34-8, scoring a shorthanded and powerplay goal. Goaltender Leonie Kuehberger made 7 saves in the victory.
Southern Maine
University of Southern Maine Women’s Hockey (Photo by James Liebowitz)
Southern Maine got a pair of wins, defeating Plymouth State 2-0 & Castleton 3-1. Madison Chagnon & Caroline Thompson scored the goals to propel the Huskies past the Panthers. Goaltender Haley McKim made 24 saves in her shutout victory. In their game vs Castleton, Saige Macleod, Olivia Stewart, & Madison Chagnon scored for USM, getting them the 3-1 victory. Goaltender Haley McKim had a stellar performance, making 40 saves, only allowing a single goal on 41 shots.
William Smith
William Smith grabbed a pair of wins, defeating UMass-Boston 2-1 & Johnson & Wales 4-1. William Smith is quietly putting together a great season after two early losses to Oswego State, they have a 3-2 win over (ranking at time of win) #13 Norwich. They sit with a record of 9-3-0 overall, 5-1-0 in the NEHC, tied with Elmira in 2nd place behind first-place Norwich.
The point leaders for the Herons this weekend were Emma Faso (3G), Brianna Felice (2G), Colleen Quirk & Sarah Hearns both had 3A, while Quirk added a goal as well in the win over UMB for a weekend-leading 4 points for the Herons. Goaltender Annie Hauser made 28 saves on 29 shots vs UMB & 24 saves on 25 shots vs J&W.
NESCAC
Four ranked teams played this past weekend, #2 Amherst, #5 Middlebury, #6 Hamilton, & #7 Colby. One upset occurred; this was Bowdoin defeating Colby 3-1 in game two of the weekend series.
#2 Amherst vs #5 Middlebury – Friday & Saturday
Friday:
Amherst shutout Middlebury 4-0 in game one, a surprising result as they held the Panthers to zero goals for the first time this season. Natalie Stott continued to dominate in net, she currently sits at 5-0-1, a .979 save-percentage, .49 GAA, and three shutouts in 6 games. In this game, Stott had 31 saves in the shutout victory. Amherst began with a shorthanded goal late in the 1st period (18:21), Maeve Reynolds. Jayna Park then added a pair of goals, one being on the powerplay. Rylee Glennon capped it off with a goal at 3:21 of the 3rd period, giving the Mammoths a 4-0 win. Shots were 31-26 Middlebury.
Amherst’s Natalie Stott vs Williams College (Photo via Amherst Athletics)
Saturday:
This game was a low-scoring defensive affair, a 1-1 tie, Middlebury led in shots 38-27, penalties were moderate, three on Middlebury & two on Amherst. The lone goals for each team were from Middlebury’s Kate Flynn at 3:36 of the 2nd period & Cara Mancini at 18:38 of the 2nd for Amherst.
#6 Hamilton
Hamilton went undefeated in their series vs Trinity, but left with a blemish, defeating Trinity 3-1 & tying 1-1. In game one, all four goals came in the last 4 minutes of the game… Claire McGennis at 16:22 for Hamilton, then an entire 15 seconds later, Abby Smith fired one in to double the Continental lead. Then, a short 2 minutes 22 seconds later (18:59), Trinity scored a powerplay goal (Jelani Adorno). Then to end it, Hamilton’s Lydia Bullock tossed in an empty netter to seal the deal and win 3-1. Trinity led in shots 29-16.
In the 1-1 tie, Hamilton outshot Trinity 34-14, penalties were near non-existent, the lone offense was a Trinity penalty in the 1st period. The lone goals were scored by Hamilton’s Sophia Testa at 6:43 of the 2nd and Trinity’s Marta Mazzocchi late in the 3rd at 13:12.
#7 Colby
Colby split with Bowdoin, winning 4-0 & losing 3-1. In game one, Colby came out firing, scoring four 1st period goals, Meg Rittenhouse scored a quick 12 seconds in (00:12), Megan Martodam at 8:06, Maria Pierce at 11:38, & Breanna Studley at 19:31. These goals held up, goaltender Grace Caligiuri made 14 saves in the shutout victory.
In game two, Bowdoin got outshot a lopsided 35-11, but found a trio of goals in those 11 shots. Starting off the scoring was Beth Sinson for Colby, extremely late in the 1st period at 19:10, but that would be the end of the Mules’ scoring. In the 2nd period at 11:42, Anyi Sun scored on the powerplay, then at 12:01, Luna Lu gave the Polar Bears the 2-1 lead headed into the 3rd. Elena DiMagno would then top it off at 10:22 and send the Polar Bears home winners over #7, winning 3-1. Goaltender Sarah Peterson made 34 saves in the victory, while Grace Caligiuri made 8 in the loss.
SUNYAC
The main matchup of the weekend was #4 Plattsburgh vs #13 Cortland. The Cardinals took this one 2-0, continuing their conference-play dominance. Plattsburgh led 31-20 in shots, penalties were low, Plattsburgh with two & Cortland with one. The goals came from Ciara Wall at 9:41 of the 1st period and very late in the 2nd by Mae Olshansky at 19:40.5. Goaltender Lilla Nease made 20 saves in the shutout victory.
Plattsburgh also defeated Canton, winning 4-2 on Saturday. Julia Masotta scored the first two goals of the game, leading the team. Kendall Wasik had three assists in the game. Goaltender Chloe Lewis made 26 saves on 28 shots. The overall shots were in favor of the Cardinals, 37-28, penalties were near even, four for Canton & three for Plattsburgh.
UCHC
The key weekend series in the UCHC was clear, #14 Nazareth vs undefeated Chatham. Chatham (6-1-2), much improved under 5th year Head Coach Mike O’Grady, who had a program-best season in ‘21-’22, now on pace for a new program-best season in ‘23-’24.
Nazareth (5-1-1), a very young squad, entered facing their first test besides Cortland, who was their lone loss on the season coming into this weekend.
Nazareth Women’s Hockey (Photo via Nazareth Athletics)
In game one, the Golden Flyers won 3-1, their goals came at 9:00 of the 1st by Ingrid Holstad, then Holstad showed up again, scoring in the 2nd period at 2:42 on the powerplay, then exactly 5 minutes later (7:42), Julia Holmes put Nazareth up 3-0 until Chatham’s lone goal came at 14:13 of the 3rd period on the powerplay from Rainey Jessup. Nazareth outshot Chatham 40-17.
In game two, Chatham would like the last minute of this game back, showing that it truly is a 60-minute game. Abi Fuzaylov put the Cougars up 1-0 late in the 1st at 19:18.3, which held up all the way until the last minute of the game, where at 19:10.2, Ingrid Holstad appeared once again, scoring to tie the game up, where Nazareth would win the shootout for the extra league point. Goaltender Lilly Rogers played exceptionally well, making 51 saves on 52 shots in this one. Nazareth outshot Chatham 52-11.
Austen May and Providence play at Boston College this weekend (photo: Lydia Vigneau).
Opening up the Hockey East notebook as the calendar turns to December…
— There’s only one all-Hockey East game this weekend, but it’s a big one as No. 9 Providence makes the short trip up I-95 to take on No. 2 Boston College on Saturday afternoon (4:30 p.m., NESN) at Conte Forum.
The Eagles go into Saturday ranked second not just in the USCHO.com D-I men’s poll, but also in the Hockey East standings with a 5-2-1 record (12-3-1). The USCHO voters didn’t punish the previous week’s No. 1 BC too badly after a split against Northeastern (previously winless in league play) last weekend, with each team winning on enemy ice. The Friars are 4-2-2 in Hockey East, a mere point behind BC, and 9-4-2 overall.
It’s the first of three meetings this season between the two programs and the last before the holiday break. The next PC-BC meeting will actually be BC’s next game — more than a month away — Jan. 12 in Providence. PC’s only game in the interim is a “New Year’s Eve Eve” contest at crosstown rival Brown (ECAC Hockey).
— Both BC and Boston University have spent time this season as the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com poll, but this week’s poll provided what could be a first — the schools are deadlocked at No. 2 behind North Dakota (NCHC).
Each school received 890 points from the 50 voters, with BU receiving eight first-place votes to the Eagles’ four. A week earlier, BC edged out North Dakota by a single point, 960 to 959.
Fans will have to wait for a BC-BU showdown — Jan. 26 is the first meeting of the year between the two schools, the first of a home-and-home weekend series that starts at BC. The only other scheduled meeting of the year will come on Feb. 6, the first round of the Beanpot at TD Garden. A lot of different things would have to fall into place for the teams to still be tied in the poll more than a month from now, but it’s a good bet the teams will at least both be highly ranked and battling for the top spot in the Hockey East standings.
— If Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, Hockey East could be the Association of Brotherly Love. Two sets of brothers have recorded hat tricks this season, with Maine’s duo of Bradly and Josh Nadeau the latest to pull off the feat. The pair led the nation in scoring over the weekend with seven and six points, respectively, as the Black Bears beat rival New Hampshire, 5-2, and Connecticut, 7-3.
Both brothers scored hat tricks in separate games and had the primary assists on each of the other’s goals. They became the first brother duo to share Hockey East Player of the Week honors in more than 17 years.
The Nadeaus are listed as freshmen, though Josh is older by two years. Bradly was a first-round draft pick and 30th overall pick of the Carolina Hurricanes. As linemates for the Penticton Vees, the brothers helped lead the team to the British Columbia Junior Hockey League regular season and tournament titles a year ago.
Setting the precedent this season for hat-trick-recording brothers were the Hutsons at BU. Quinn Hutson, a sophomore forward, notched his first career three-goal game as part of a four-point night in a 6-1 blowout of UMass Lowell on Nov. 11. Six days earlier, sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson thrice lit the lamp in one game in a 5-4 overtime loss to North Dakota.
— Despite only one intra-conference matchup (PC-BC), there’s plenty of action on the weekend slate, with every team in action except BU and UConn. Union (ECAC Hockey) will be participating in three of those games — hosting Maine Wednesday, then a Friday-Saturday series at Vermont.
Hockey East announced today that the women’s game between Boston University and Maine, previously scheduled for Oct. 27, 2023, has been rescheduled to Jan. 8, 2024, at 5 p.m. at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.
St. Thomas currently sits in first place in the CCHA standings (photo: Rebecca Twite).
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 hearty and happy Tuesday to you all, and a special happy holiday season as we break into December.
I’m sure, Paula, that Midwest winters are coming just as the New England snow and cold is on the way, but I’d like to think that those of us out east can offer some solace since we’ve been sitting on 50 degrees for the better part of the last week or so…unless it means Boston is going to fall into the ocean.
Speaking of falling into the sea (and that was even a bad bridge by my standards), I’m still breathless from the hockey we experienced over the weekend. Every league had something to offer, but I think everything begins with the Denver-North Dakota series out in Colorado.
It had it all, including a major North Dakota comeback, and I left that series thinking that those two teams were the best teams in the country (right now). For a Boston guy who loves, eats, sleeps Boston hockey, it wasn’t even that difficult to swallow the pill. Both teams deserve top billing in the country, but at the end of the day, North Dakota was a hair better, and that’s why four of six points went back to Grand Forks.
What were your takeaways from the weekend, and what else could have contended with North Dakota-DU?
Paula: Oh, Dan, what a series! And I think that the voters probably got it right even though I didn’t agree with the majority of them this week.
That North Dakota comeback was, indeed, spectacular and any game in which the Fighting Hawks and Pioneers combine for a dozen goals – with each team recording separate four-goal periods – but what elevated that series even further is the way in which Denver came back from behind to win in OT the following night.
I can’t say enough about the play of Zeev Buium, Carter King and Massimo Rizzo. Buium’s goal to tie the game midway through the third was one thing, but the game-winning goal was everything hockey should be, with Buium and Rizzo skating in two-on-one, Rizzo taking the shot, and the rebound coming to King crashing in as the third man on the rush. There are some goals for which highlight reels are made, and that is one of them.
That series epitomized what college hockey should be. It felt like playoff hockey. I love that both the Fighting Hawks and the Pioneers are playing this way in December.
As I said, though, I didn’t agree with the majority of poll voters this week and it’s not because I don’t think North Dakota is deserving of the top spot. My pick, though, was Boston University. At this point in the season, I have a soft spot for teams that take care of business when they can, and the Terriers certainly did that against Merrimack, outscoring the Warriors 9-3 in two games and ending the first half of the season seven full points behind two excellent second-place Hockey East teams.
Other teams that took care of things nicely by beating teams they should have include No. 5 Quinnipiac – another strong candidate for first in the nation – No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 8 Maine. Collectively, the Bobcats, Badgers and Black Bears outscored opponents 31-7. Quinnipiac and Wisconsin allowed one goal each all weekend.
After a couple of months of genuine parity play, Dan, are we finally seeing some teams pull away and begin to create definition within their conferences?
Dan: Surprisingly, I don’t think anyone is truly pulling away. I feel like everyone is facing a threat in their leagues, and I think we’re seeing more parity than ever before.
The only league where any team should probably feel comfortable is ECAC, and that’s largely because a “work-in-progress” Quinnipiac team is still proving itself better than the rest of a league that’s heading for one or two bids at most this year. That’s a conversation for another day, maybe even later in this space, but the results from a team that sent four teams to last year’s tournament has been grisly at best so far.
BU has a seven-point lead in Hockey East, but I’d argue that Maine is the best team in the league right now. Boston College is coming off being No. 1 in the nation, and both Providence and New Hampshire are right in the thick of the fight. Any type of regression from those top three teams could send them spiraling into fifth or sixth, where UMass is currently sitting.
Atlantic Hockey is notoriously even, and RIT is the lone team ranked despite being in second place in the conference. AIC is creeping up the standings, Holy Cross is standard, Bentley is one of the most pleasant surprises in the country (top five defense!), and Niagara and Canisius round down to sixth and seventh. The only team that’s mathematically got some ground to cover is Robert Morris, but I remember a year where Derek Schooley took a one-win team at Christmas to fourth or fifth place and a conference championship.
St. Thomas leads the CCHA.
Hold on a second, I’m going to let people read that again.
OK, we’re back. St. Thomas leads the CCHA by two points over Michigan Tech, and Minnesota State and Bemidji State are right there. Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan are a weekend’s work away from catching even the top of the league.
And then there’s the NCHC, where North Dakota and Denver are actually trailing St. Cloud State. Western Michigan is getting itself right, and Omaha is there. Miami is probably the one team that I’m counting out because it’s yet to win a league game.
I can’t remember anything being this tight at the holidays, but here I am, loving every second. I recognize that this is going to shift over the next month, most likely, but the surprises are there.
For me, the biggest surprise is, like I mentioned, Bentley. My Falcons were picked dead-last in Atlantic Hockey before the season but have only been swept once this season with a pair of 2-0 losses to Holy Cross. Andy Jones has this team clicking, and the nonconference games against BU and UMass Lowell impressed just how far this team is coming with embracing its new style. I don’t know if it’s enough to make a run this year, especially in a league that’s usually one bid, but I’m thoroughly enjoying the hockey.
That’s always an interesting group of teams – surprising and enjoyable, yet not likely to make the tournament. Find me a team that you love that fits that bill – just a good old fashioned fun team to watch, even if the odds are still against them winning their league or making the tournament.
Paula: For me, that team would be Alaska, a sentimental favorite from my days covering the Nanooks in the CCHA as well as a team whose fate tugs at my heart because of its status as an orphan. Nothing against the other nonaffiliated teams, but the Nanooks are showing some flare this season.
Last weekend, the Nanooks swept in-state rival Alaska Anchorage to take their 13th straight Governor’s Cup, the trophy awarded to the Alaska team with the most wins against the other. Since the Nanooks swept the Seawolves earlier in November, Alaska has four games of a possible six this season over Anchorage and, so, the Cup.
Back to that theme of taking care of business, the Nanooks outscored the Seawolves 8-1 in the two games in Anchorage. Right now, Alaska is averaging 3.5 goals per game, 13th best in the nation with a defense allowing 2.50 (15th).
Up front, the Nanooks have Brady Risk with his eight goals and 12 assists, ninth nationally for points per game, plus Harrison Israels (11 goals, four assists) and Anton Rubtsov (four goals, 10 assists) who are both among the top 40 or so point-getters nationally. On top of that, Pierce Charleson (2.11GAA, .922 SV%) is backstopping the Nanooks to the nation’s 15th-best team defense (2.50).
Sure, their schedule doesn’t provide a complete picture of how competitive they are, but the Nanooks have played well against St. Cloud and Michigan Tech and they’ll be tested in the second half in the Great Lakes Invitational, with a road series against North Dakota and two series against Arizona State.
They’re playing solid hockey, but they may as well be playing on the moon. It’s a shame.
Pivoting a bit back to what you said about conferences feeling really tight. I agree that they do, but I still contend that some programs may be creating some space – even with half a season left. That tightness, I think, makes it just as difficult to catch a leading team as it does to remain at the top of the standings.
I’m thinking of the Big Ten, specifically. Eight points separate sixth-place Penn State from first-place Michigan State. The teams between – Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Wisconsin – all have the talent, time and opportunity to make a run for a regular-season title. The problem, though, is that those six teams are all so equally matched that splitting with each other for the remainder of the season as many of them will won’t create much movement in the conference.
That’s why I think Wisconsin’s sweep of last-place Ohio State was so important this week with Michigan State idle and the four other teams in the mix splitting series. That’s why I think what BU and Quinnipiac did was important, too, heading into the midseason break.
And that’s all I’ll say about that.
Hey, how about those Nadeau brothers?
Dan: Oh, you mean the two guys with nearly the same stat lines for a Maine team that, and I repeat, is probably running as one of the best and hottest in the country?
Josh singlehandedly put his name into the annals of the UNH-Maine rivalry with a hat trick on Friday before Bradly scored three times against UConn on Sunday. They’ve got a near-identical stat line, and they’re running Maine straight up the polls after everybody lost hope about the ability for the Black Bears to win in the northern reaches of Hockey East. Needless to say, they’re headlining exactly what Maine needed after Jeremy Swayman had that team in the tournament before COVID knocked everything out.
I love Maine – obviously – but I’m also very much on board with what it means to have a GOOD Maine team rocking into college hockey. Derek Schooley mentioned this on the USCHO Weekend Review podcast, but there were 4,661 people at Alfond Arena for the Sunday afternoon game against UConn. That’s a near-sellout on an NFL Sunday opposite a slate of games that normally draws people to watering holes and establishments for wings and adult beverages. In Orono, 4,661 people chose to instead watch college hockey, though, as I noted, a New England pro football day actually doesn’t sound all that great right now.
I don’t know about this run’s sustainability after the holidays and into the second half, but it sure is fun right now.
We have time for a quick point or two before the week ends, but I didn’t want to wrap up without mentioning Delaware hockey. For those who missed it, the University of Delaware announced it would add women’s hockey and join College Hockey America in July, 2025. The Blue Hens will hire a head coach in the next year before spending a year building a program that will eventually take the ice for the 2025-2026 season, and they bring women’s hockey closer to 50 overall teams with their addition.
I didn’t realize that Delaware had ice rinks readily available, but the proximity to Philadelphia makes sense for a school that needed to offset its Title IX spending after moving to the bowl subdivision in football. The addition of women’s hockey taps them into a growing talent pool, and I love, love, love, love the thought of another women’s hockey program coming to Division I. Maybe it’s because I’m looking at my two daughters as I write this, but I’m dreaming about the possibilities if they ask me to put on skates. Combined with the new women’s hockey pro league, the game is growing at a rapid rate, and I’m so excited for commissioner Michelle Morgan and the entire CHA family.
We’ve both been around hockey for a long time and seen a ton of developments – positive and negative – through the years. I just hope this is the next step in growth and equality for a sport that needs and deserves this moment.
Paula: I’m with you on all of this. Anything that adds to the growth of the sport we love is great. I love that Maine – another sentimental favorite of mine – is getting so much support while playing really entertaining hockey. Delaware is an excellent addition to the women’s Division I family, and who doesn’t love a hockey team whose mascot is the Blue Hens?
The worst years of COVID aside, participation youth hockey in the U.S. has grown steadily in the past decade and the involvement of women and girls continues to outpace that of their male counterparts. According to USA Hockey’s 2022-23 membership report, while women and girls account for about 15% of participation in amateur hockey overall, the rate at which the sport is growing for women and girls outpaces that of growth for men and boys every year.
And according to the report, hockey is growing in states that don’t immediately leap to mind when discussing hockey, like Arkansas, Idaho, and Virginia. The three big M states – Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan – which have been the cradle of amateur hockey for decades saw no growth to negative growth in the past year.
The expansion of the NHL throughout the U.S. certainly helps to fuel the interest in playing hockey, and the more kids that play, the better our chances of seeing the D-I footprint increase.
I admit to having being somewhat cynical about the growth of D-I programs on the men’s side for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the cost. Hockey is an expensive sport in many different ways. The challenges aren’t limited to the cost of facilities. There’s so much more. Add to that the difficulty of conference alignment and membership, and I get a bit discouraged.
I will say this, though. Having spoken with the conference commissioners at the start of this season, I think the sport is in excellent hands. I’m confident that the men’s D-I leadership group is the right bunch of humans to navigate some really odd post-COVID, early 21st century waters.
SCSU went into Columbus and did what no other team has been able to accomplish this season – defeat Ohio State at home. It was the Huskies’ first win over OSU since 2017. The Buckeyes came out firing, outshooting St. Cloud 21-6 in the first (and 46-15 overall). Makenna Webster scored for OSU midway through the first and from there, Sanni Ahola was unbeatable. St. Cloud took advantage on special teams, scoring twice on the power play in three opportunities. First, CC Bowlby tied the game just four seconds into the player advantage as she redirected a puck in at the far post on a pass from Katie Kaufman. Six minutes later, Greta Henderson found the perfect time to score her first career goal as she put pressure on the net as Laura Zimmerman shot and was in the right place to put the puck in the net when the rebound left it sitting in the crease. St. Cloud killed two third-period penalties to hold on to the lead and get the win. The second game started close again, as goals by Cayla Barnes and Zimmerman had the game tied 1-1 at the first intermission. A nine minute stretch in the second period put the game out of reach as Olivia Mobley scored twice and Jennifer Gardiner and Kiara Zanon each added a tally to make it 5-1 Ohio State. Joy Dunne added a power play goal for Ohio State before Taylor Lind scored on the advantage for St. Cloud to make it 6-2, but OSU skated away with the win and weekend split.
(6) Minnesota Duluth at (2) Wisconsin
Minnesota Duluth’s tough defense and a bit of a disconnect between the Badgers meant Wisconsin had a slow start on Saturday. But Kelly Gorbatenko scored early in the second and that seemed to shake off some of the rust for UW. Britta Curl gave the Badgers a 2-0 lead in the final minute of the second period and Lacey Eden’s sharp angle put back late in the third gave Wisconsin a 3-0 win. On Sunday, the teams skated to more than 40 minutes of scoreless hockey before UMD took advantage of a juicy rebound to go up 1-0 on a goal from Clara Van Wieren. Four minutes later, Mannon McMahon put another rebound away to extend the lead to 2-0. Cassie Hall cut the lead to 2-1, but the Badgers struggled to pull even. Jenna Lawry made it a 3-1 lead for the Bulldogs with about five to play. Wisconsin finally connected on the type of play they’d been trying to make happen all game with 3.7 seconds left on the clock to make it 3-2, but ran out of time to do more and UMD took the win. The Badgers were 0-for-6 on the PP on Sunday and 0-for-8 on the weekend.
Bemidji State at (3) Minnesota
The start of Friday’s game was promising for Bemidji as Talya Hendrickson had them up 1-0 midway through the frame. Unfortunately for them, they were playing against Abbey Murphy and she chose to remind them early and often this weekend. Her first goal of the series took her from the neutral zone to the net quickly where she faked the goalie and scored easily to make it 1-1. The Gophers then put the game out of reach with a six-goal second period. Audrey Wethington, Murphy (on the power play), Emma Kreisz, Josefin Bouveng, Lauren O’Hara and Ava Lindsay each lit the lamp to make it 7-1 Minnesota. It was O’Hara’s first collegiate goal. Kate Johnson pulled another back for the Beavers, but Lindsay and O’Hara scored in the final two minutes to close out the 9-1 win. On Saturday, the Gophers put the pressure on right away. Sadie Lindsay scored her first career goal nine minutes in and that opened the floodgates. Bouveng, Ava Lindsay, Peyton Hemp and Nelli Laitinen each scored to make it 5-0 at the first intermission. Murphy scored twice in the second, with a power play goal from Hemp in between to make it 8-0 at the second break. Ella Huber’s goal in the third pushed it to 9-0 before Genevieve Hendrickson broke up the shutout to get Bemidji on the board and make it 9-1.
(5) Clarkson at Dartmouth
Darcie Lappan’s hat trick led Clarkson in a 5-0 win on Friday. Cherkowski and Lappan scored on the power play in the first. Lappan assisted on Sena Catterall’s goal in the second after scoring her own second goal. Then she closed out the scoring in the third.
(5) Clarkson at Harvard
There were nine different goal-scorers in Clarkson’s 9-1 win over Harvard on Saturday, their highest goal total in nearly six years. Baylee Kirwan, Brooke McQuigge and Dominique Petrie had the Golden Knights up 3-0 early in the second. Harvard scored their goal thanks to Shannon Hollands to make it 3-1, but it was all Clarkson from there. Darcie Lappan, Alexie Guay, Keira Hurry, Laurence Frenette, Bridget Stevenson and Rebecca Morissette closed out the game with six unanswered.
Union at (7) Quinnipiac
Emerson Jarvis picked up a rebound and wrapped it around the back of the net to open the scoring for the Bobcats late in the first and give them a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Kahlen Lamarche extended the lead to 2-0 in the second after Kate Reilly took the puck the length of the ice. Riley Walsh cut the lead to 2-1 before the second intermission. In the third, Jess Schryver called game, scoring off a turnover early and putting away a rebound late to secure the 4-1 win for Quinnipiac.
RPI at (7) Quinnipiac
Madison Chantler scored early in the game to give Quinnipiac the lead. Maddy Samoskevich’s power play goal late in the first gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead at intermission. Meagan Byrum pulled one back for RPI to make it a 2-1 game, but a minute later Veronica Bac made sure Quinnipiac had that two goal lead once again. Emerson Jarvis made it 4-1 before the second break. Nina Christof added a power play goal for the Engineers as the game wound down, but Quinnipiac took a 4-2 win.
(8) St. Lawrence at Harvard
Harvard goalie Alex Pellicci made 52 saves as St. Lawrence outshot the Crimson 52-19. The Saints were stymied and Gwynn Lapp scored in the final minute of overtime to give Harvard the 1-0 win.
(8) St. Lawrence at Dartmouth
The Saints’ special teams were on a tear to start this game, scoring twice on the power play and once shorthanded to give them a 3-0 lead before 10 minutes had elapsed. Julia Gosling had the shorthander and Abby Hustler scored both the extra attacker tallies. Dartmouth responded in the second half of the opening frame, with goals from Hamilton Doster and Tiffany Hill, both of which had a single assist from Mia Buonarosa. Gosling scored early in the second to make it 4-2 St. Lawrence, but the Big Green were once again able to respond, this time with a Shae Messner goal. Hustler completed a hat trick in the third and Anna Segedi’s power play goal pushed the Saints lead to 6-3. Dartmouth had a late push, with goals from Laura Fuoco and Ally Dixon, but they ran out of time to complete a comeback as St. Lawrence took the 6-5 win.
Merrimack at (11) Connecticut
After an even, back and forth first period, the teams traded power plays and Merrimack took a 1-0 lead thanks to an extra-attacker goal from Sophie McKinley. Connecticut responded quickly as Brianna Ware scored after wrapping around the net less than a minute later. Neither team was able to figure it out in regulation. In overtime, Coryn Tormala fed Camryn Wong and the Huskies took a 2-1 win.
(11) Connecticut at (15) Boston College
Sammy Smigliani continued her scoring touch on Saturday, putting BC up 1-0 heading into the first intermission. Katie Pyne’s breakaway goal in the second put the Eagles ahead 2-0 as the third began. Riley Grimley used some deft stickhandling to put the puck in the net early in the second to cut the lead for Connecticut and make it 2-1. The Huskies pulled their goalie in the waning minutes and Jada Habisch scored the equalizer with 35 seconds left in regulation. Overtime could not find a winner and the teams ended up with a 2-2 tie.
RPI at (12) Princeton
Sarah Fillier and Sarah Paul each scored twice and Emma Kee and Issy Wunder each added a goal to lead Princeton to a 6-0 win on Friday.
Union at (12) Princeton
Union goalie Sophie Matsoukas seems to have Princeton’s number as the Garnet Charger netminder has stopped more than 40 shots from the Tigers in all three of her career starts against them. Saturday was no exception, as she made 44 saves and kept Princeton at bay after Jane Kuehl’s goal 2:55 into the game. Princeton outshot Union 67-50 overall and 45-24 on goal, but Union found an equalizer midway through the second on a goal from Riley Walsh to tie the game at 1-1 and that’s how the game ended.
(13) Vermont at Maine
Mira Seregely snapped a gorgeous shot that deflected in to give Maine the lead midway through the first. Rahel Enzler scored on a breakaway backhander to give the Black Bears a 2-0 lead at the end of the first. Lara Beecher went bar down to Cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second. But Maine responded by turning a neutral zone turnover into a breakaway that Enzler put away to make it 3-1. Kaylee Lewis scored at the last possible portion of a second, 19:59.9, to make it 3-2 but Maine took the win.
(13) Vermont at New Hampshire
The Catamounts outshot the Wildcats 25-15, but could not break down UNH’s defense to find the back of the net. Nicole Kelly scored on a diving shot with just two minutes left in regulation to give New Hampshire the 1-0 win.
Brown at (14) Yale
Elle Hartje cleaned up her own rebound to put Yale on the board first on Saturday. Anna Shelden responded for Brown to tie the game 1-1 with about six minutes left in the first. Ray Jordan’s sweet top shelf wrister on the power play gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. Stephanie Stainton made it 3-1 early in the second and Yale held out for the win. In game two of the series, the Bulldogs leapt out to a 3-0 lead in the first part of the period and did not look back. Julia Simon, Anna Bargman and Gracie Gilkyson each lit the lamp. Cassidy Piersiak broke the stalemate a few minutes later to send the teams to the locker room with Yale up 3-1. In the second, Jade Iginla cut the lead to 3-2, but the Bears could not come up with the equalizer. Sylvia Bojarski added an empty-netter to close out the game and secure the 4-2 win.
(15) Boston College at Providence The Friars outshot BC 34-25 but the Eagles made their shots count and skated away with a 5-1 win on Friday. They did it with a goal from Sammy Smigliani followed by a goal from Caroline Goffredo twice and a lamp-lighter from Gabby Roy sandwiched in between. Grace Shirley ruined the shutout midway through the third, but Providence couldn’t muster more and Boston College took the win.
North Dakota players celebrate a recent win at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. (photo: Russell Hons).
With 33 first-place votes this week, North Dakota is the new No. 1-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, moving up one spot in the rankings.
Last week’s No. 1 team, Boston College, falls to No. 2, picking up four first-place votes.
Boston University is up one to No. 3, getting eight first-place votes, while Denver moves down one to No. 4, garnering two first-place votes. Quinnipiac stays at No. 5, collecting the remaining three first-place votes this week.
Wisconsin holds steady at No. 6, Michigan State is up one to No. 7, Maine jumps up three spots to sit eighth, Providence stays No. 9, and Minnesota falls three places to No. 10.
Unranked last week, Notre Dame is back this week at No. 20.
In addition to the top 20 teams, nine other teams received votes in this week’s rankings.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s 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.
From left, Izzy Daniel, Stella Retrum, and Tindra Holm (photos: Cornell Athletics, Penn State Athletics, LIU Athletics).
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its national women’s monthly award winners for November.
Cornell graduate forward Izzy Daniel is the player of the month, while Penn State freshman forward Stella Retrum is the rookie of the month and LIU junior goalie Tindra Holm is the goaltender of the month.
Daniel followed a 17-point October with a 16-point November — six goals and 10 assists in eight games, good for a two points per game average.
Retrum was the CHA’s rookie of the week three times in November. She went for 5-6-11 in six games, good for 1.83 points per game.
Holm averaged 33 saves per game in a 6-0-0 month and put up an 0.82 GAA and a .975 save percentage.
From left, Zeev Buium, Jared Westcott, Aiden Fink, and Nils Wallstrom (photos: Denver Athletics, Lake Superior State Athletics, Penn State Athletics, AIC Athletics).
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its national men’s monthly award winners for November.
Denver freshman defenseman Zeev Buium and Lake Superior State senior forward Jared Westcott are co-players of the month, while Penn State forward Aiden Fink is the rookie of the month and AIC freshman goalie Nils Wallstrom is the goaltender of the month.
Buium led all NCHC players with 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in eight games and became the first freshman defenseman ever to earn NCHC player of the month honors.
Westcott led all CCHA skaters in goals (7) and points (14) with his line of 7-7-14 in eight games.
Fink went for 8-6-14 in eight games for the Nittany Lions, averaging a goal per game and 1.75 points per game.
Wallstrom went 7-1-0 with a 1.38 GAA and a .947 percentage, allowing two or fewer goals in each game.
Derek Schooley and Ed Trefzger are joined by guest host Dan Rubin to discuss the results of the weekend and the news of the week on the December 4, 2023 edition of USCHO Weekend Review.
The marquee series of the weekend – No. 2 North Dakota at No. 3 Denver – delivered
Boston University jumps to second in the PairWise with a weekend sweep of Merrimack
Quinnipiac continues to roll in a down year in the ECAC
Wisconsin is back on track
Maine is third in the PairWise at 8-3-1
Western Michigan improved to 10-3-1 and is inside the PairWise bubble
Alaska is up to 21st in the PairWise after sweeping Alaska Anchorage
Shane Buill led the offense in the Lakers’ 5-3 win over previously unbeaten Plattsburgh on Saturday night (Photo by Oswego Athletics)
And then there was just one…
With Oswego knocking No. 1 ranked Plattsburgh from the ranks of the undefeated, it is just Skidmore remaining with an unbeaten record (shootout loss in Skidmore Invitational reflects as an overtime tie) and a very few weekends remaining in the first half of the season. Competition continues to be fierce across every conference and the action this weekend certainly showed some of the contenders who have kicked their games into another gear heading towards the semester break. Here is a summary of the action in the East last week:
CCC
Endicott and Salve Regina played a two-game series between ranked teams, and it was the Gulls who took advantage of the points available. On Friday night, the teams played a playoff style game that ended in a 2-2 overtime tie (Endicott won shootout for CCC tiebreaker purposes) with goaltenders Cayden Bailey and Atticus Kelly accounting for 83 saves for both teams. On Saturday, the Seahawks played host and skated to a 2-1 first period lead on Matthew Fawcett’s goal in the final ten seconds of play in the period. Jackson Sterrett tied the score for the Gulls in the middle stanza and became the hero when he scored the game winning goal in the final two seconds of regulation to give the Gulls an exciting 3-2 win. Andrew Kurapov assisted on all three Endicott goals while Ruyan Wilson stopped 21 of 23 shots to earn the win in goal.
After skating to a 2-2 overtime tie on Friday night against Nichols, the University of New England returned home on Saturday looking to keep pace with Endicott. After ceding the first goal of the game to the Bisons’ Jack Lee, the Nor’easters scored three unanswered goals from Anthony Cinato, Ryan Kuzmich and Garrett Devine and held on for a 3-2 win. Billy Girard IV made 18 saves in the win.
Curry was looking for a weekend sweep of Wentworth following a 3-1 win on Friday night against the Leopards, but the home team had other plans for the Colonels on Saturday. Curry’s Wilhelm Patriksson gave the Colonels a 1-0 lead with this power play goal in the first period but from then on it was the Leopards who dominated the scoring with five unanswered goals in a 5-1 win. Jack McGovern stopped 37 of 38 shots and five different players scored for Wentworth who earned a weekend split with the win over Curry.
Independents
Albertus Magnus increased their win streak to five games with wins over Post and Canton this week. On Tuesday, the Falcons took advantage of three-point games from Gustav Muller and William Lavigne in cruising to a comfortable 8-1 win over the Eagles. On Saturday, the Falcons scored a goal in each of the first two periods for a 2-0 lead entering the final period of play, but it only took the Kangaroos seven and a half minutes to erase the deficit and take a 3-2 lead on goals by Evan Pringle, Brendan Morrow, and Jackson Drysdale. Cameron Weitzman tied the score for the Falcons midway through the period and Zeth Kindrachuk scored the game-winning goal with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation. The win moved Albertus magnus to 7-3-0 on the season.
Rivier continued their winning ways with a Tuesday night win over Franklin Pierce. Four different players scored for the Raiders in the 4-2 win over the Ravens. Will Augustine picked up his second win of the season in goal stopping 36 of 38 shots.
One goal in each period and 33 saves from goaltender Matthew Hennessy helped Anna Maria to a 3-1 win over Morrisville on Saturday night. The AmCats moved to 6-3-0 on the season with the win.
MASCAC
Plymouth State continued their torrid play against conference foes with a pair of wins over Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Salem State. On Thursday, two goals from Will Redick led the way in a 3-1 road win over the Corsairs. On Saturday, Redick continued to have the hot hand netting a hat trick in the Panthers’ 6-1 win over the Vikings. The win extended the Panther’s unbeaten streak in league play to 6-0-2 this season.
Worcester State was also successful in picking up a pair of wins for the week with a 5-2 win over Salem State on Thursday and a 5-3 win over the Masschusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) on Saturday. After giving up a shorthanded goal to the Vikings’ Luke Day, the Lancers scored the next four goals to erase a 2-1 deficit and post the 5-2 win. Martin Dlugolinsky scored one goal and added two assists to lead the offense. On Saturday, Dlugolinsky and Maxwell Tucker each chipped in with a goal and an assist in the 5-3 win over the Trailblazers.
Fitchburg State and Westfield State played a thriller on Thursday that saw the Owls twice rally from one-goal deficits to leave the game tied at the end of regulation. Late in overtime with a power play, Antoine Gignac decided the contest with his overtime winner in the final minute of the overtime period and a 3-2 Falcon win. On Saturday, the Falcons couldn’t carry the momentum forward as Framingham State netminder Trevor Sternberg stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his first win of the season in a 3-1 win over the Falcons. Walker Smith, Cameron Lindsay, and Brady Rossbach scored for the Rams in the win.
NE-10
St. Michael’s played host to Assumption in the weekend battle between the top two teams in the conference and it was the Greyhounds who showed they are worthy of the top spot in the standings with a weekend sweep over the Purple Knights. On Friday, forward Shane Sullivan had himself a night with three goals and three assists in a 7-5 win over St. Michael’s that saw the Greyhounds launch 50 shots at the goal. On Saturday, Ryan Decker scored a pair of goals as Assumption raced out to a 6-0 lead before cruising to a 6-3 win and sweep of the Purple Knights moving them to 11-1-0 on the season overall and 8-1-0 in NE-10 play.
The defending champions from St. Anselm were off to a slow start but got a big boost with their win over D-I LIU on Tuesday. Trailing 2-1 after the first period on a last-minute goal by Will Christensen, the Hawks rallied in the third period with Patrick DeMarinis tying the game at 2-2 before Max Burum scored the game winner at 19:49.6 of the third period and a 3-2 win. On Friday, back in NE-10 play, Southern New Hampshire rallied for a 2-2 overtime tie with the Hawks with Ryan Pomposelli assisting on two third period power play goals for the Penmen to earn the tie. On Saturday, the battle of Manchester, NH was again a tight affair with the Hawks skating off wit a 4-3 win led by three assists from Christensen.
NEHC
Skidmore remains the only unbeaten among D-III teams in the east. With their weekend sweep of Southern Maine and Babson to move to 9-0-2 overall and 5-0-1 in NEHC action. On Friday, Ryan Waltman led the way for the Thoroughbreds with two goals and one assist in a 5-1 win over the Huskies. On Saturday the contest with the Beavers figured to be a closer affair and through the first period there was no scoring before Babson scored the only goal in the second period off the stick of Egan Schmitt for a 1-0 lead. In thew third period, Skidmore exploded for five goals including two from Kaeden Patrick to cruise to a 5-2 road win.
Hobart returned to NEHC action at home against Massachusetts-Boston and Johnson & Wales and produced two lopsided wins in The Cooler. On Friday, Tanner Hartman scored one goal and added assists on four others as the Statesmen comfortably skated past the Beacons by a 6-1 score. On Saturday night, Hartman reversed the scoring line with a four-goal game and added one assist in an 8-0 blowout over the Wildcats. Mavrick Goyer made 26 saves to earn the shutout win, Hobart’s seventh shutout on the season.
Elmira also produced a pair of wins over UMB and JWU to stay near the top of the NEHC standings. On Friday, the Soaring Eagles took advantage of two goals each from Janis Vizbelis and Bailey Krawczyk in a 6-2 win over JWU. On Saturday, Kerfalla Toure scored two goals and added an assist in Elmira’s 7-1 rout of the Beacons.
Norwich played travel partner New England College on Saturday night and needed a three-goal third period to skate away with a 4-1 win over the Pilgrims. Bertrand Cooper’s power play goal in the third period broke a 1-1 tie before Paul Schmid and Patrick O’Neal added insurance markers for the Cadets.
NESCAC
Trinity continued their winning ways in conference play with a weekend sweep of Hamilton and Amherst to move to 4-0-0 on the season. The Bantams and Continentals both came into Friday’s game looking to remain perfect in NESCAC play but it was the home team who enjoyed the better of things with Richard Boysen scoring two goals and Devon Bobak making 22 saves in a 4-1 win over the Continentals. On Saturday, Bobak was perfect with 18 saves and goals from John Campomenosi, Jacob Smith and Gerard Maretta led to a 3-0 win over the Mammoths.
Tufts is off to a great start in NESCAC play at 2-2-0 with a weekend sweep of Williams and Middlebury over the weekend. On Friday, Aidan Lovett, and Liam O’Hare each scored a goal and added an assist in the Jumbos’ 7-4 win over Williams. Goaltender Peyton Durand stopped 33 of 37 shots to earn the win. On Saturday, third period goals from Max Resnick and Cole Dubicki broke open a close game leading to a 4-1 win over the Panthers.
In the big Colby v. Bowdoin rivalry game, the Polar Bears outshot the Mules by a 50-24 margin but had to rally from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to earn a 3-3 overtime tie. Andy Beran was sensational for the Colby making 47 saves including 5 in the extra period to preserve the tie.
SUNYAC
Plattsburgh had two key SUNYAC games on the weekend and started out great on Friday with a convincing 6-1 win over Cortland on Friday night. Luk Jirousek led the way with two goals as the Cardinals won decisively over the Red Dragons in their annual Teddy Bear toss game. On Saturday against their longtime rivals from Oswego, the Cardinals dropped their first game of the season to the Lakers, 5-3. Shane Bull and Tyler Flack each scored a goal and added an assist while goaltender Cal Schell made 39 saves to pick up a big conference win.
Geneseo moved to 6-1-0 in conference play with two shutout wins over Fredonia and Buffalo State. On Friday, four different goal scorers supported goaltender Jacob Torgner’s 34 save shutout in a 4-0 win. On Saturday, Tyson Gilmour recorded a goal, and three assists and Stefan Miklakos added a goal and two assists in a 5-0 win over the Bengals. Torgner made 30 saves to complete back-to-back shutouts for the Knights.
UCHC
Manhattanville leveled their UCHC record at 4-4-0 with a big weekend sweep on the road against Alvernia. On Friday, Lane Paddison and AJ Bella scored in the first period and goaltender Sebastian Woods made 35 saves to make those goals stand up in a 2-1 win. On Saturday, Johno Hoins scored two goals to help the Valiants eke out another one-goal victory, 4-3. Woods was again outstanding making 37 saves in the win.
Neumann moved to 5-4-0 in UCHC play with a weekend sweep over Lebanon Valley. On Friday, Tony Andrews scored two of the Black Knights five unanswered goals to pace a 5-2 win over the Flying Dutchmen. On Saturday, the visitors again scored four unanswered goals but held off a furious LVC rally to earn the 4-3 win and weekend sweep.
Three Biscuits
Jackson Sterrett – Endicott – scored two goals including the game-winner in the final two seconds of regulation to give the Gulls a dramatic 3-2 win over Salve Regina on Saturday.
Will Redick – Plymouth State – scored a pair of goals in a 3-1 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Thursday and added a hat trick in a 6-1 win over Salem State on Saturday for a five-goal week.
Max Burum – St. Anselm – scored the game-winner in the final 15 seconds for the Hawks who upset D-I Long Island University, 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Bonus Biscuit
Jacob Torgner – Geneseo – the Knights’ netminder made 64 saves in a pair of shutout wins over Fredonia and Buffalo state this weekend.
The first half is winding down but not so much the action and intensity level on the ice. Just a couple more weekends for teams to earn results before the semester and holiday break so look for the excitement to continue in any action remaining on the schedule.
UW-Superior pulled off an upset of UW-Stevens Point over the weekend (Holden Law/UW-Superior Athletics)
It would have been easy for UW-Superior to come away from the weekend without a win. After losing 4-0 to nationally ranked UW-Eau Claire one night earlier, the Yellowjackets faced a tall order Saturday against UW-Stevens Point, which also happens to be ranked nationally.
Rather than stumble, they seized the opportunity, knocking off No. 8 UW-Stevens Point 3-1 to stay within striking distance of first place in the conference.
UW-Superior jumped on top 3-0 and held on from there as it notched an important victory.
Blake Holmes and Calvin Rasmussen each tallied a goal and an assist while Jan Skorpik racked up 26 saves for his second win.
The Yellowjackets are 6-6- overall and 4-2 in the league. The Pointers are 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference.
Big night for Blugolds
Kyler Grundy made the biggest play of the night for the Blugolds. In a tied game against UW-Stout, Grundy scored 78 seconds into overtime to lift No. 9 UW-Eau Claire to a 4-3 win over the Blue Devils.
Grundy got past a defender with a toe-drag move and then put the puck into the top left corner of the net to secure the thrilling win.
Max Gutjahr stopped 16 shots and won his seventh game of the year for UW-Eau Claire, which improved to 8-2-1 overall and 4-1 in the WIAC.
Quinn Green, Connor Szmul and Tyler Herzberg also scored for the Blugolds, who have won three consecutive games and are unbeaten at home this season (4-0-1).
Royals sweep Johnnies
Down two goals, Bethel rallied for a 4-2 win over Saint John’s to complete the MIAC series sweep of the Johnnies Saturday.
The Royals scored twice to tie the game at 2-2 going into the third and then capped the win with two goals in the final 20 minutes of action.
Bethel has now won three consecutive games against Saint John’s – it earned a 3-2 win Friday – and it’s the first time the Royals have won at least three consecutive games against Saint John’s in more than a decade.
Bethel is 8-2-2 overall and 4-1 in the MIAC, moving to a tie with St. Scholastica for the top spot in the standings.
The win comes on the heels of an overtime victory Friday when Tyler Kostelecky scored the game winner.
Oles and Auggies split
St. Olaf opened its series against Augsburg with a 3-1 win thanks to a three-goal second period that proved to be the difference.
Tyler Green helped lead the way with his first multi-point game, dishing out a pair of assists, He has five assists in all this year. Matthew Pointer scored his first goal of the season. Thomas Lalonde made 26 saves and just missed on his fourth career shutout.
Augsburg bounced back Saturday with a 4-2 win. Nick Catalano provided a big boost, scoring twice, marking the second time in his college career he’s had a multi-point game. Samuel Vyletelka made 24 saves for the Auggies. Augsburg improved to 5-3-1 overall and 3-1 in the MIAC. The Oles are 5-5-2 and 3-2-1.
Pipers and Cobbers split
Jordan Hlaverson was the hero for Hamline on Friday in a 3-2 win in overtime. It was one of two goals on the night for Halverson, who also came through with an assist. Nikolai Dulak finished with a goal and an assist while Maximillian Haselbacher tallied 38 saves.
But Concordia bounced back in a big way Saturday, rolling to a 6-1 victory to earn a split in this MIAC series.
Mason Plante stole the spotlight in the victory, scoring a pair of goals and also dishing out two assists. The game was really never in doubt as the Cobbers led 3-0 after two periods. Joe Harguindeguy came through with the first three assist game of his career. Blaise Miller and Tucker Skime each scored their first collegiate goal and Matt Fitzgerald made 19 saves for his fourth win.
Concordia is 6-2-1 overall and 2-2 in the conference. Hamline is 4-7 overall and 2-4 in the MIAC.
Lumberjacks continue to battle
Reeling from a 9-0 loss to UW-Stout one night earlier, Northland gave everything it had Saturday night against UW-River Falls.
The Lumberjacks allowed their only goal of the night in the second period.
They had their own opportunities to score, taking 22 shots in the game while on the defensive end of the ice, Viktor Wennberg was tough as nails, stopping 49 shots, including 22 in the opening period.
Northland has lost 11 consecutive games and is 1-11 on the year while sitting at 0-6 in conference play.
Bulldogs keep on rolling
Third-ranked Adrian had no problem at all taking care of business against Concordia over the weekend, winning 8-0 and 6-2.
Zachary Heintz helped Adrian finish off the NCHA series Saturday by scoring a pair of goals. Speaking of Heintz, one night earlier, he notched his 100th career point in the 8-0 win over the Falcons.He scored three goals and dished out two assist in that win.
Bradley Somers tallied a goal and two assists after dishing out five assists on Friday, and Mathew Rehding finished with a goal and an assist. Jaden Shields dished out a pair of assists while Nolan Suggs started his first collegiate game and prevailed behind a 25-save effort.
Adrian has won three in a row and is 8-2-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
Green Knights end 2023 on a high note
St. Norbert swept MSOE over the weekend, winning 5-1 and 4-2.
A three-goal second period was the difference Saturday as the Green Knights completed a sweep of the NCHA series and picked up their eighth win in their last 10 games. The game marked the final time St. Norbert will play in 2023. It returns to action Jan. 12 against Aurora.
Hunter Garvey made 27 saves while Will Stomp tallied a goal and two assists. Liam Fraser finished with a goal and an assist. Logan Dombrowsky tallied two assists for St. Norbert, which improved to 9-4 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
St. Norbert won 5-1 in the opener Friday, scoring four goals in the first 11 minutes of play to set the tone. Fraser scored twice in the win and Adam Stacho tallied a goal and two assists. Dayton Deics had three assists.
Thunder Struck
No. 15 Trine closed out a series against Marian in impressive fashion, beating the Sabres 6-3 after winning 4-1 on Friday.
Six players scored in Saturday’s win. Sean Henry had one of those goals and also tacked on two assists. Drew Welsch finished with two assists as well.
Tine improved to 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
Foresters get back on track
Lake Forest had lost six consecutive games going into the weekend against Lawrence. But the Foresters are back to winning after sweeping the Vikings 6-3 and 3-2.
In Friday’s game, Lake Forest scored all of its goals in the second period on their way to the win. Griffen Sanom scored twice and Chase Freiermuth dished out three assists. Kohl Reddy racked up 22 saves and won his first game as a member of Lake Forest’s team.
On Saturday, Collin Bella scored with less than two minutes to play to lead the Foresters to the win. With the victory, Lake Forest jumped from ninth to sixth in the conference standings. Reddy made 35 saves.
The Foresters are 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the NCHA.
Alaska’s Pierce Charleson gets ready for a shot from Alaska Anchorage’s Conor Cole during Saturday night’s game (photo: UAA Athletics).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Northeastern takes one from No. 1 Boston College
The last time Boston College was ranked No. 1, the Eagles split a pair of road games with Maine and were bumped out of the spot they’d held for two weeks.
After making their way to No. 1 three weeks later, the Eagles split a home-and-home series with Northeastern.
Trailing 3-0 after one in Friday’s 5-3 home loss, Boston College scored three goals in the second half of the second period to tie the game. In the third period, however, Cam Lund netted his second and third goals of the game to put Northeastern ahead. It was Lund’s second collegiate hat trick.
Boston College bounced back on the road Saturday, winning 3-1 on goals from Gabe Perrault, Will Smith and Lukas Gustafsson. Smith assisted on Perrault’s game-tying goal in the third period, as did goaltender Jacob Fowler, who made 25 stops in the win.
2. No. 2 North Dakota, No. 3 Denver split
Denver saw two solid leads evaporate with four third-period North Dakota goals in Friday’s 7-5 game. The Pioneers came from behind to beat the Fighting Hawks 3-2 in overtime Saturday and earn a split at home.
The Fighting Hawks had four goals on eight shots in the third period of their Friday win as Jackson Blake, Louie Jamernik V, Riese Gaber and Cameron Berg each found the net.
Trailing 2-1 in the game Saturday, the Pioneers tied it midway through the third on a goal by Zeev Buium. Buium also factored into the OT game-winner, skating into the North Dakota zone on a 2-on-1 with Massimo Rizzo. It was the third man in, Carter King, who picked up Rizzo’s rebound for the winning goal. Rizzo leads the nation in assists with 22.
Denver’s win stopped North Dakota’s eight-game win streak.
Both the Fighting Hawks and the Pioneers are chasing first-place St. Cloud State in the NCHC standings. With 18 points, second-place North Dakota is two points behind St. Cloud. In third place, Denver is seven points out of first and a point ahead of fourth-place Western Michigan.
There is a full slate of NCHC games this weekend before the midseason break, including Denver’s road trip to Western Michigan.
3. Terriers solidly on top
No. 5 Boston University solidified its place at the top of the Hockey East standings with a home-and-home sweep of Merrimack, extending the Terriers’ conference win streak to six games.
Shane Lachance had two goals in Friday’s 4-1 road win, including the second-period game-winner. In Saturday’s 5-2 win at home, Nick Zabaneh’s first goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie at 7:27 in the third.
WHAT A TIME FOR YOUR FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON, ZABBY!
Mathieu Caron had 45 saves in the two wins. The Terriers outshot the Warriors 71-46 in the two contests.
Heading into the midseason break, Boston University has 23 points in the HEA standings, seven more than second-place Boston College.
4. No. 5 Quinnipiac closes out first half strong
With a 5-1 win over Rensselaer and 5-0 win over Union, Quinnipiac finishes the first half nearly unblemished in ECAC play, earning 22 of 24 possible conference points and sitting on top of the league standings with a 7-0-1 record.
Colin Graf had the game-winning goal at 12:24 in the first period of the win over the Engineers. Christophe Fillion’s goal at 1:11 in the second Saturday was the winner against Union.
Vinny Duplessis made 23 saves in the shutout, his second of the season and the seventh of his career.
The defending national championship Bobcats are now 27-2-1 in their last 30 ECAC games dating back to last season.
5. No. 6 Wisconsin makes most of it
In Big Ten play, only No. 6 Wisconsin made a clean sweep of things, beating Ohio State 3-0 and 6-1 at home and narrowing the gap between the second-place Badgers and first-place Michigan State.
Eight different players scored in the series for Wisconsin with Cruz Lucius recording goals in each game.
In the 6-1 win, the Badgers scored goals five different ways: once even strength four-on-four, once even strength five-on-five, twice on the power play, once short-handed and one with a penalty shot.
Kyle McClellan made 29 saves in his third shutout of the season and stopped 60 in the series.
The six conference points bring the Badgers’ season total to 18 so far, one behind first-place Michigan State. In addition to gaining ground on the Spartans, who had a bye week, Wisconsin benefits from the two other Big Ten series splitting.
In Ann Arbor, Notre Dame beat No. 13 Michigan 6-1 Friday with the Wolverines winning Saturday’s game 2-1. On the road Friday, No. 7 Minnesota beat No. 18 Penn State, while the host Nittany Lions defeated the Golden Gophers Saturday, 6-3.
Tied with Notre Dame at the start of the weekend, the Badgers are now three points ahead of the third place Fighting Irish.
6. No. 16 Cornell still looking for some consistency
After a 4-0-1 start to the season, No. 16 Cornell is 2-4-0 in its last six games after having split a home-and-home series with Colgate.
The Big Red won the opener on the road Friday night, 4-2, before dropping Saturday’s game at home by the same score to the visiting Raiders.
Gabriel Seger led all Cornell players with two goals and two assists, all in Friday’s win.
Reid Irwin had the game-winner for Colgate at 1:16 in the third Saturday.
After the loss, Cornell coach Mike Schafer said, “I told the players after the game, it’s been so long since I’ve been this angry and disappointed. We talked about trying to grow as a hockey team, and we’ve made some good strides, and we reverted to some terrible habits tonight.”
7. Tigers keep goals coming
No. 19 RIT scored 10 goals in a two-game sweep of Robert Morris, outpacing the visiting Colonials 4-1 and 6-2.
The Tigers’ goals-per-game average increased from 3.33 to 3.57 with the wins. In the last 10 games, RIT has averaged 3.80 per contest.
In the 6-1 game, the Colonials took a 2-1 lead on Cade Townend’s power-play goal at 14:55 in the second, but Carter Wilkie’s goal 55 seconds later was the first of three the Tigers scored within the final five minutes of the period. Tyler Fukakusa’s goal at 16:59 held up as the game-winner, followed by Elijah Gonsalves’ goal at 19:09.
Three Tigers had multigoal weekends. Wilkie had a goal in each contest, as did Simon Isabelle. Philippe Jacques had two third-period goals in the 6-2 win.
RIT’s offense is tops in Atlantic Hockey and 10th nationally.
8. Alaska keeps Governor’s Cup for 13th season
With 5-0 and 3-1 road wins over Alaska Anchorage and after sweeping the Seawolves Nov. 3-4, Alaska has secured the Governor’s Cup for the 13th consecutive season.
Chase Dubois’ goal on the power play at 10:51 in the first period was the game-winner Friday night. Brady Risk had the first two goals for Alaska in the Saturday game.
Pierce Charleson, who spent his first three seasons with Michigan State, recorded his first shutout win Friday with 14 saves.
The Governor’s Cup, awarded annually to the Alaska team with the most wins over its in-state rival during a given season, originated in 1994.
9. Three periods, three goalies, zero wins
It’s been a tough season for Ohio State, a team still looking for its first conference win after being swept on the road by No. 6 Wisconsin, and nothing sums up how tough it’s been for the Buckeyes more than the box score in Saturday’s 6-1 loss.
Ohio State employed all three of its current goalies in the loss. Logan Terness started in net, allowing four goals on 17 shots through 26:35.
Reilly Herbst replaced Terness in net in the second and closed out that period, allowing two goals on six shots in just over 13 minutes of play.
Kristoffer Eberly played the entire third period, stopping all 10 shots he faced in the closing stanza. It was the freshman netminder’s collegiate debut.
Said coach Steve Rohlik, “We just didn’t play well tonight. It wasn’t our best effort. We got into penalty trouble and that put us in a tough position.”
Two of the goals that got past Terness came on the Wisconsin power play, and one of the two goals allowed by Herbst was scored four-on-four.
10. Two brothers, two hat tricks, second place
In No. 11 Maine’s 5-2 win over visiting New Hampshire, Josh Nadeau recorded his first career hat trick, including the game-winning goal at 18:32 in the second.
Not to be outdone, Bradley Nadeau – Josh’s younger brother – had a hat trick of his own in Sunday’s 7-3 win over Connecticut. Bradley Nadeau’s first career hat trick also included the game-winning goal, scored at 19:06 in the second period.
The brothers were each the first assist on the other’s hat-trick goals. So there’s that.
The two wins keep Maine in the hunt in Hockey East as first-half conference play comes to a close. Tied with No. 1 Boson College for second place in the HEA standings with 16 points each, the Black Bears and Eagles are seven points behind first-place Boston University.
No. 11 Maine (8-3-1)
12/01/2023 – No. 15 New Hampshire 2 at No. 11 Maine 5
12/03/2023 – Connecticut 3 at No. 11 Maine 7
No. 12 Arizona State (11-3-2)
12/01/2023 – No. 12 Arizona State 2 at RV Colorado College 2 (OT)
12/02/2023 – No. 12 Arizona State 2 at RV Colorado College 0
Massimo Rizzo’s one-timer leads to Carter King’s OT game winner for Denver over North Dakota (photo: Jamie Schwaberow/Clarkson Creative Photography).
In gritty, come-from-behind fashion, No. 3 Denver beat No. 2 North Dakota 3-2 in overtime, earning a split on the weekend and pulling to within three points of second-place North Dakota in the NCHC standings.
On the game-winning goal, Massimo Rizzo intercepted a North Dakota pass in the Denver zone and connected with Zeev Buium for a 2-on-1 opportunity. Carter King, the third man crashing in, picked up the rebound on Rizzo’s one-timer to end the game.
The Pioneers played from behind for much of the night. Late in the first period, Cameron Berg gave North Dakota a 1-0 lead after one. Aidan Thompson tied the score for Denver at 4:38 in the second, but Hunter Johannes made it 2-1 for North Dakota at 3:08 in the third.
Eight minutes later, it was Buium who tied the game again for the Pioneers from Thompson and Tristan Lemyre.
Freddie Halyk had 29 saves in the win as the Fighting Hawks outshot the Pioneers 31-22.
No. 1 Boston College 3, Northeastern 1
On goals from Gabe Perreault, Will Smith and Lukas Gustafsson, Boston College bounced back from its Friday loss to Northeastern with a solid win to earn the split in Hockey East play.
Trailing the Huskies 1-0 on Alex Campbell’s goal for Northeastern late in the third period, the Eagles tied the game on Perreault’s goal from Smith and goaltender Jacob Fowler on the power play at 5:45 in the second.
Smith’s game-winner from Aram Minnetian and Perreault came early in the second period.
Merrimack led 2-1 after the first but Boston University scored three unanswered in the third period, beginning with Jeremy Wilmer’s at 2:13 to tie the game. Zabaneh and Quinn Hutson led the Terriers in scoring with a goal and assist each, and Mathieu Caron had 23 saves in his 10th win of the season.
With their sixth straight conference win, the Terriers solidify their place at the top of the Hockey East standings heading into the midseason break.
No. 5 Quinnipiac 5, Union 0
The Bobcats finish the first half of the ECAC season undefeated (7-0-1) with their 5-0 win over Union.
Sam Lipkin led Quinnipiac with two goals. Christophe Fillion had the game-winning goal at 1:11 in the second.
After a scoreless first period, Fillion’s goal was the first of three Bobcat goals scored within the first five minutes of the second period. CJ McGee scored 38 seconds after Fillion’s goal, and Lipkin made it 3-0 at 4:30 with his first goal of the night.
Quinnipiac’s final two goals of the night were empty-netters, Victor Czerneckianair’s at 16:51 in the third followed by Lipkin’s second marker of the game at 17:57.
Vinny Duplessis made 23 in his second shutout for Quinnipiac and the sixth in his collegiate career. In net for Union, Kyle Chauvette stopped 30-of-33 shots he faced.
No. 6 Wisconsin 6, Ohio State 1
The Badgers completed their weekend sweep of the visiting Buckeyes with a 6-1 win to follow Friday’s 3-0 game.
Six different Badgers scored including Quinn Finley, whose penalty shot gave Wisconsin a 3-0 lead at 3:18 in the third. The goal is the fourth of the season for the freshman.
Ohio State used three goaltenders in the game. After allowing four goals on 17 shots through the first 26:34, Logan Terness was replaced by Reilly Herbst. Herbst allowed two goals in the remainder of the second period. In his first action of the season, Kristoffer Eberly played the third period, stopping all 10 shots he faced.
Kyle McClellan stopped 21-of-22 for Wisconsin.
With the six-point weekend, the Badgers move to within four points of first-place Michigan State. The Spartans did not play this weekend.
Ohio State is still seeking its first Big Ten win of the season.
No. 18 Penn State 6, No. 7 Minnesota 3
After losing 4-1 to Minnesota Friday, the Nittany Lions rebounded with a 6-3 home win over the Golden Gophers.
The Nittany Lions scored twice within a minute in the middle of the first period and never looked back. Reese Laubach’s goal at 11:07 gave Penn State the 1-0 lead, followed by Ryan Kirwan’s goal at 12:01.
Kirwin would score again at 10:19 in the second to make it a 3-0 game. Rhett Pitlick cut Penn State’s lead to two goals at the end of the second. The Gophers chased for the rest of the game but never came closer than that.
Jacques Bouquot’s unassisted goal at 10:06 in the third held up to be the game-winner.
Hockey East announced Saturday that Merrimack junior forward Matt Copponi has been suspended for one game stemming from an incident at 1:19 of the second period on Dec. 1 against Boston University.
On the play, Copponi was assessed a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct.
Copponi is ineligible to play tonight, Dec. 2, at Boston University and is able to return to the Warriors’ lineup on Dec. 8 at Yale.
Reigning co-player of year in WIAC Fletcher Anderson is off to a strong start to his season. (Photo: Rachel McCulloch UW-Stevens Point Athletics)
Golf is a challenging game, so perhaps it’s not exactly a stress reliever.
But playing the sport does give UW-Stevens Point hockey standout Fletcher Anderson something else to do to stay active when he’s not on the ice.
“I wouldn’t say it’s relaxing, but it definitely takes my mind off hockey. It’s good to that sometimes,” Anderson said.
Anderson used to play for the Pointers’ golf team in addition to being a key member of the hockey team at the WIAC school.
He was also a golfer his first three years of high school, helping the team win a city championship as a junior, before spending his senior year playing junior hockey.
And while he no longer plays golf for the Pointers due to the demands of playing two sports, the junior forward still hits the course whenever he gets a chance.
“My whole family golfs, and my friends back home do. It’s what we do in the summer. We’re at the course four or five times a week. It’s good to have something else to do.”
But let’s circle back to hockey. The thing here is Anderson is pretty good at what he does on the ice.
Last season, he was the co-player of the year in the conference, leading the team in goals (14) and ranking second in assists.
“I didn’t think I had a bad first half of the season, but I didn’t think I had as much of an impact on the game as I had the ability to,” Anderson said. “Eventually the puck started going in. I was fortunate to play with great teammates.”
Through nine games this year for the nationally ranked Pointers, Anderson has racked up four goals and seven assists. Three of those goals have come on the power play.
He’s pleased with the results but is quick to note the room for improvement.
“I feel pretty good but I’d like to have my game in a little better shape, be more consistent in five on five (situations). I want to be more effective there, a little bit more like how I was to end last year. I’m trying to get back into the groove of things.”
The Pointers as a team seem to have found their groove, sitting at 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the WIAC while riding a six-game winning streak.
“I feel we’ve rallied as a team and have taken steps forward,” Anderson said. “Our practices have been fast pace and awesome, and there has been good execution. We are definitely headed in the right direction.”
Anderson grew up in Ontario and so hockey was a sport he gravitated towards at a young age. He never looked back once he got started.
“I don’t ever remember not liking it. I’ve always had a great time playing,” Anderson said.
When he arrived on campus, he felt ready for the experience, point out his junior hockey experience prepared him well for college.
A concussion in practice kept him out of action for a handful of games his freshman year, though he still finished the season with seven goals and nine assists.
He’s coming into this year looking to build on that breakout sophomore season and talked about the keys to doing it.
“The big thing is consistency and always giving your best effort,” Anderson said. “You also want to be a in good position defensively and be there to support your teammates when they are making plays. This game is fast and you have to make plays with your feet moving. That’s a big focus for me.”
Anderson aims to continue being a difference maker for the No. 8 Pointers and he is looking forward to seeing what this team can achieve moving forward.
“We believe in ourselves and when we execute our game plan and plays, we are a very confident team,” Anderson said.
He adds one of the keys to success, particularly in the WIAC, is being effective with or without the puck.
“You can’t just be good with the puck You have to be good away from it. It’s about finding the open ice and using your IQ as much as possible to gain an advantage on an opponent,” Anderson said.
