Rick Gotkin is in his 36th season behind the Mercyhurst bench (photo: Mercyhurst Athletics).
When Mercyhurst defeated Bowling Green 4-3 in overtime last Friday, the school posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the victory was the 600th of coach Rick Gotkin’s career.
It turns out that after further review, it was “only” his 599th.
“There was a typo on my record,” said Gotkin. “But it doesn’t matter to me. I look at it as a program milestone. That achievement, should I be fortunate enough to get there, is really a program achievement. The coaches, the administrators, and the players all share in it.”
The New Hyde Park, N.Y. native took a winding road to get to Mercyhurst, arriving on campus in 1988. He’s now in his 36th season behind the Lakers’ bench.
Gotkin has coached in over 1,200 games at the same school, third all-time in Division I. His 599 wins leads all active coaches. He’s taken teams to the NCAA tournament in Division I, Division II and Division III, the only coach to do so. His teams have captured four regular season and three playoff titles and have qualified for postseason play in 33 of his 36 seasons.
A former player for Canton and Brockport, Gotkin majored in physical education and planned to be a teacher. But he got a coaching opportunity at Brockport and went on to be an interim head coach at Canton and then a player-coach in Scotland.
“I wasn’t much of a player, so as the coach I was smart enough not to play myself,” said Gotkin. “But I wanted to stay in hockey and had an opportunity to do so.”
Gotkin returned to the states to join Mike Addesa’s staff at Rensselaer before moving to a head coaching role at Mercyhurst, a new D-III program at the time. Gotkin shepherded the Lakers from Division III to Division II in 1992, and finally to Division I and MAAC/Atlantic Hockey in 1999.
In those early years, Gotkin did it all: coaching, recruiting…and laundry.
“My wife (Diane) and I used to come up on a Wednesday, it was our date night,” Gotkin said. “We’d pack the equipment to be ready for the weekend. She’d count how many rolls of black tape and clear tape we needed.
“On Sunday, we’d drag all the dirty socks and jerseys to the laundry and wash ’em. This went on for years. It just seemed normal then. I used to walk around the rink to pick up spare pucks. I still do.”
Gotkin’s challenge this season is one he’s faced before — a young team that has 11 freshmen and 2 transfers.
“I like our team” he said. “We’re got 16 or 17 returning players, and the freshmen have been good; they’ve pushed our upperclassmen.
“We’re still figuring things out, who can help us on any given night. Five of our first eight games have been nonconference and that afforded us the chance to use some different people.”
So far, there have been ups and downs.
“We lost a (2-1) lead against Ohio State (4-3 loss),” said Gotkin. “We led Notre Dame 3-1 in the second but they came back and won (4-3 in overtime).
“But we came back against Bowling Green and won in overtime.”
In that contest, Mercyhurst erased a 3-1 Falcons lead, getting the game-winner from Phillip Waugh with just over a minute left in OT.
Owen Say, who has seen the majority of time in net, stopped 30 shots for the win, including 16 in the third period.
The Lakers, who are 0-0-2 in league play with two shootout wins, travel to first-place Rochester Institute of Technology this weekend.
“It’s a huge task this weekend at RIT,” said Gotkin. “We know how good they are. It’s another good test for us. I’m excited to see how good we can become.”
It will be the next attempt(s) at win number 600.
After 36 seasons in Erie, Gotkin says even if that never comes (which it will), he’s able to look back on his and the Lakers’ accomplishments.
“It doesn’t feel like (36 years) until I say it,” he said. “I’ve always been happy at Mercyhurst. I kind of know what happy looks like for me, and this is it.”
The Salve Regina Seahawks have had a lot of goals to celebrate early in the 2023-24 season and will look to continue the trend in CCC play (Photo by Noah DeSantis ’26)
The Salve Regina hockey team is playing in their final season as member of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) before moving to the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) next season. The focus is clearly on competing to win a championship in their final year in a conference that produced three NCAA tournament bids last season.
“The CCC is a very good conference,” said head coach Zech Klann. “It was difficult for the team in the way we lost in the conference tournament last year and that certainly is something we want to move beyond this season against some very strong teams in the conference. Next year is next year and we will have our work cut out for us in what may be the most competitive league in D-III hockey. Right now, we are focused on this season and Wentworth coming up this weekend as our next challenge on the ice.”
The Seahawks are off to a 4-0-0 start which includes winning the Buffalo State tournament to open the season and a weekend sweep of Suffolk to open CCC play this past weekend. The offense has been rolling early with a pair of guys that have some familiarity in their times at the University of Maine before transferring to Salve Regina. Senior Johnny Mulera and junior Matthew Fawcett and their linemate, Joe Kile have the offense clicking as the line has combined for 25 points in the four games where the Seahawks have outscored their opponents by a 26-8 margin.
“With the loss of Brenden Kim to injury and some other impacts on the blueline, it has been good for us to have such depth upfront that we haven’t had here in a while,” noted Klann. “I don’t mind leaning on the offense a bit right now while we get a bit healthier with the defensive unit. Our goaltending has been great, and we have been scoring goals while playing good team defense to help our depleted D-corps. Johnny and Matthew have been a big part of that offensive surge and with Joe that line really helps set the tone for the group.”
Mulera was part of the World University Games roster where D-III players competed for the USA on a global stage. The team won the country’s first medal, a silver, and when the Seahawk forward came back, his coach noted an improved version of the player who left his college squad to represent his country on the ice.
“First, it was great that Johnny and Mitch (Walinski) were able to play and contribute to the success of the team in the World University Games,” stated Klann. “You always want your players to enjoy a great hockey experience and what can be better than representing your country in an international tournament. I told them both to work hard and to learn from the experience and I think they both did that. Johnny came back to the team with his confidence soaring and was much more vocal in the room as a leader. That is helping this team which is already a close-knit bunch without a lot of ego, so things are good like we haven’t seen here since before COVID.”
The close-knit nature of the team is something that coach Klann thinks will be enhanced by a first half of the season that includes 10 of their 14 games being played on the road. The opening schedule includes two tournaments (Buffalo State tournament and Skidmore Invitational), four home-and-home conference weekends and two mid-week non-conference games with Albertus Magnus and New England College.
“I think the bus trips and going on the road really helps to bring the team together early,” said Klann. “A lot of our kids from Canada are used to much longer bus rides but this has helped bring the group together quicker and we are seeing that already on the ice in just the first few games. Our focus now is to continue to get better, get healthy and compete at the highest level in our conference and our schedule.”
Salve Regina continues CCC action this weekend with a two-game series against Wentworth and follows that with a Tuesday night non-conference game on the road against future NEHC opponent Albertus Magnus.
Damien Carfagna has been steady on the Ohio State back end this season (photo: Ohio State Athletics).
With a month of the 2023-24 season behind them, the Buckeyes may not be where they’d like to be, but they’re definitely not where they think they’ll be five months from now.
“We’re doing fine,” said Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik. “We continue to try to strive to get better. That’s our goal. Lots of new players. Lots of new faces. I think we’re still feeling our way. We’re far from a finished picture.”
After opening the season with wins over Mercyhurst and Lindenwood, the Buckeyes have gone 1-3-3 and are still looking for their first Big Ten win of the season. The Buckeyes lost 7-1 to Michigan in their initial B1G game Oct. 20 but bounced back the following night with a 2-2 tie and extra shootout point.
“No one likes getting punched in the face,” said Rohlik. “For the first half of the first night [against Michigan], we were right there. It was a good game. All of a sudden, things went sideways.”
Rohlik said that the Buckeyes did all they could to win outright the following night.
“To do it in the shootout was fantastic but I think guys, like every night, go out there to win a game, but it was a good bounce back for our guys and a good learning lesson,” Rohlik said. “We need to be at peak form every night to win in this league.”
On the road against Omaha the following week, Ohio State tied and won. Most recently, though, the Buckeyes seemed doomed to repeat the lesson of their series against Michigan. Last weekend, they were swept at home by Michigan State, 6-0 and 6-4.
In the second game, Ohio State led twice – first on Brent Johnson’s goal 11 seconds into the game and then again when Patrick Guzzo broke a 3-3 tie in early in the third – but the Spartans scored three unanswered third-period goals to win the game.
“I think our best hockey’s ahead of us, but I like our resilience,” said Rohlik. “I like our belief. I like what they bring every day in practice, so that shows me that these guys want to get better. They want to develop. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
The losses drop Ohio State from No. 13 to No. 19 in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, but polls aren’t something that Rohlik thinks about too much – whether it’s a weekly poll or the Big Ten preseason coaches poll, which predicted the Buckeyes would finish last in the conference.
“It doesn’t matter what happens to me in the first month of the year,” said Rohlik. “It matters what happens at the end of the year. There have been a lot of teams in this league that have been picked in a lot of different positions that end up way different.
“We’re in the best league in the country. We have the best coaches in the country. It’s the most competitive top to bottom and that’s what you want. For me, it doesn’t change what we do, or my approach or how hard we work. Ultimately, we just try to keep getting better.”
In their four Big Ten games, the Buckeyes have been outscored 21-7 and in three of those four games, Ohio State allowed six or more goals. Through their first eight games, the Buckeyes are allowing 3.33 goals per game on average for 44th-best team defense while scoring 2.56 per game (45th).
Until Friday’s 6-0 loss to Michigan State, Logan Terness (3.10 GAA, .836 SV%) had seen every minute of play in net this season for Ohio State. When Karsen Dorwart and Tommi Mannisto scored goals for Michigan State eight seconds apart midway through the third period, Rohlik tried to change the tenor of the game by putting junior Reilly Herbst in goal. Rohlik insists that Terness, a junior transfer from Connecticut, is Ohio State’s starter and he will not single out any player for the team’s sluggish start.
“You’ve got to win with all five, all six on the ice including your goalie,” said Rohlik. “That’s how we preach. If we’re going to have some success this year, it’s going to be because of team effort, all guys.”
Ohio State (3-3-3) continues Big Ten play this week on the road against Notre Dame (4-3-2). The Fighting Irish are the only unranked team in the Big Ten, although Notre Dame received votes in this week’s poll.
Since Notre Dame opened the Big Ten season with two ties against Penn State on the road last weekend, the Irish are also looking for their first conference win when they face off against the Buckeyes.
UMass players celebrate a goal Oct. 14 in a 6-3 win over Michigan (photo: UMass Athletics).
A little more than a month into the regular season, Hockey East has more than held its own against some of the top programs in the country.
The evidence is plentiful — Boston College played a down-to-the wire contest in a 4-3 loss to Denver (NCHC) on Oct. 21, then vaulted to the No. 1 ranking in the USCHO.com men’s Division I poll with a home sweep (by scores of 6-4 and 5-1) of Michigan State (Big Ten) the following weekend; both Maine and New Hampshire earned October splits against defending NCAA champion Quinnipiac (ECAC Hockey); Massachusetts split with Michigan (Big Ten) (a 7-2 loss on Oct. 13 and a 6-3 win the next night) and swept Minnesota State (NCHC) on the road a week later; Providence earned a split at Michigan (a 4-2 win followed by a 5-4 loss) on the season’s opening weekend and beat Denver 4-3 at home on Oct. 20; and just this past weekend, Boston University split at home (a 3-2 win followed by a 5-4 overtime loss) vs. North Dakota (NCHC).
“This is a big weekend for us,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said after the overtime loss on Saturday. “I think this weekend’s going to help us later on down the line.”
Though disappointed with the final result, Pandolfo had high praise for his team’s ability to hang with North Dakota, now ranked No. 4 by USCHO.com. The ninth-ranked Terriers thrice rallied to tie the game — at one point from a two-goal deficit with two strikes from sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson just over two minutes apart in the final minutes of the second period.
“To be down and keep coming back, it was good to see,” Pandolfo said. “North Dakota’s a very good hockey team. They’re going to beat a lot of teams. (They’re) a heavy team, they’re hard to play against. So, it’s going to help our group.”
The atmospheres inside each rink had more of a March feel than early October. BC drew sellout crowds of 7,884 to the Silvio O. Conte Forum vs. then-No. 1 Denver and the second game vs. Michigan State. A standing-room-only crowd of 3,465 packed Schneider Arena in Providence to watch the Friars beat Denver, and UNH drew more than 10,000 for its series vs. Quinnipiac.
“It was so great,” BC coach Greg Brown said after the loss to Denver. “The kids are so excited for it. The student body, the last two home games, has been incredible. We hope they keep coming. It definitely adds to the atmosphere. The players feed off their energy. It’s the atmosphere you want to play in.”
No stranger to playing in front of large and feisty crowds in his own building, Denver coach David Carle made note of the vibe inside the two Hockey East rinks his team visited on the weekend of Oct. 20.
“To be honest, usually it’s pretty quiet here, but tonight it was rocking,” Carle said after the win over BC. “I hope it’s like this all the time when we come out here. It was a great, unbelievable atmosphere. The students were into it. The fans are into it — they’re yelling during the whole power play. I thought it was exceptional. They’re into the calls, they’re into the goals. Providence was the same way. (It’s) what you want.”
With Hockey East play in full swing, November won’t be as jam-packed with high-profile nonconference matchups as October was, but there are a few big non-league games on the horizon — BU hosts No. 10 Quinnipiac Nov. 22, No. 14 UMass is at Harvard (ECAC Hockey) Nov. 24 and Providence is at No. 16 Arizona State for two games on Nov. 24 and 26.
Endicott College Women’s Hockey. (Photo via Endicott Athletics)
Conference play is underway in D-III Women’s hockey and that means the fun has begun. We saw many close matchups this past weekend including a few upsets and first-ever victories for some programs. It’s also worth noting some teams, one, who has charged up the rankings as of late. This season will be over sooner rather than later, enjoy it.
CCC
The CCC, one of the most up-in-the-air leagues in terms of the auto-bid and 50/50 games has seemed to keep the reputation running as this past weekend featured a few surprises.
Seemingly enough, the weekend featured two upsets and arguably three… we’ll start in Beverly, MA where Endicott hosted Nichols. Endicott entered with a 2-0 record, including a win over #10 Norwich, whilst Nichols, who hasn’t won more than 6 games since 2019 entered with a 2-0 record after sweeping Salem State.
Nichols vs #15 Endicott
In Friday’s game, Nichols pulled off the win over #15 Endicott, winning 2-1 in OT. The Gulls got on the board first when Lily Anderson scored a rapid 1:42 into the opening frame. We wouldn’t see another red lamp until the 3rd when Ema Jaskova for Nichols tied it up just before the midway point of the 3rd at 7:34. Hopefully everyone was back from the bathroom and put their phones away for the overtime puck drop because Nichols’ Victoria Khou would score an entire 9 seconds in (0:09) into the extra frame to keep the Bison undefeated and get a massive win for the program.
McKenzie Muir – Feb. 01, 2022; Burrillville, Rhode Island, USA; during a nonconference matchup between Rivier College and Nichols College at Levy Rink. The Bison won the game 8-1 over the Raiders. Photo by Brian Foley for Foley-Photography.com.
Nichol’s goaltender McKenzie Muir was credited with the victory, making an impressive 46 saves in the overtime victory.
Endicott would take game two on Saturday in Nichols 3-1, Muir made another 41 saves in that game, bringing her weekend total to 87…
Salve Regina vs Suffolk
Salve Regina, who’re improving each year under 4th year Head Coach David Lun, have begun the season 3-0 after sweeping the reigning conference champion Suffolk, who’s 0-4, being led by their new Head Coach Abby Ostrom.
Salve Regina Women’s Hockey (Photo via today.salve.edu)
The Seahawks got a huge pair of victories for the program, defeating the Rams 2-0 & 4-3 in the home/away series. Salve moves to 3-0, with some very winnable games ahead.
The point leader for the weekend for Salve was Emily Wroblewski (2G, 1A), and goaltender Sydney Baxter picked up a pair of W’s, making 30 saves in Friday’s shutout victory & 30 in the 4-3 win, giving her 60 saves for the weekend.
Other CCC Results
Friday:
Univ. New England 2-1 Western New England
Saturday:
Western New England 3-0 Univ. New England
NEHC
The NEHC had the featured game of the weekend which included #12 Elmira & #13 Norwich. Odds would say Elmira should win this game, Norwich entering 0-2 with losses to Endicott & William Smith, also running with a very young/new roster, but that’s why you play the games…
#12 Elmira vs #13 Norwich
Norwich hosted the Soaring Eagles who were coming off a 7-2 victory against New England College. A rematch of last year’s conference championship, which featured penalties coming into play as well, especially late in this game, but here’s your recap:
Scoring began late in the 1st period when Madison Anderson put the Cadets up 1-0. That lasted until Alayna Toole for Elmira opened the 2nd period with a goal less than a minute in (0:37) to tie it 1-1. As mentioned, penalties became a problem, no powerplay goals were scored, but it obviously hindered opportunities for the penalized side to score. Entering the 3rd period, penalties were 5-2, led by Elmira, midway through the 3rd period, Elmira’s McKenzie Schmidt would take a 5-minute major (contact to the head) which put the Soaring Eagle shorthanded for a good portion of the final frame.
#13 Norwich University defeated #12 Elmira College 3-1 at home on 11/4/23. (Photo by Sean Kolesarich)
The penalty was killed off, but Norwich’s Marja Linzbichler netted the winning goal with under two minutes remaining (18:06). The Cadets would then add an empty net goal to seal the deal (Aimee Headland, 19:37), giving her team the massive 3-1 victory.
Norwich wins what felt like a must-win game even though it really wasn’t due to it being so early in the season but going 0-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play is far from ideal. The NEHC remains Norwich’s conference until they’re dethroned.
Other NEHC Results:
Friday:
#12 Elmira 7-1 New England College
Castleton 2-0 Johnson & Wales
Plymouth State 3-2 UMass-Boston
William Smith 3-2 #13 Norwich
Saturday:
Plymouth State 1-0 Johnson & Wales
Castleton 1-1 UMass-Boston
William Smith 6-1 New England College
SUNYAC
The newly added women’s hockey category of the SUNYAC conference had its first official weekend of conference play.
#14 Cortland vs Morrisville
#14 Cortland survived against two former members of the program at the coaching helm for the Mustangs, winning 2-1 in overtime. Head Coach John Briggs, former assistant coach for Cortland, and Assistant Coach Monica Cahill, former player for Cortland, have shown vast improvements on the ice for Morrisville compared to past performances.
This game began with an early goal by Dany Donegan at the 6:17 mark of the 1st to put the Red Dragons up 1-0. Mustangs would answer on the powerplay in the 2nd period, Allie Davidson scored late at 17:39 to tie it. Both teams would battle, Morrisville showing their strides of improvement, but couldn’t hold Cortland as Kait Bourgeois scored the winner at the 3:50 mark of overtime to keep the Red Dragons undefeated, who now hold a record of 4-0 after this past weekend.
Oswego vs #3 Plattsburgh
The NEWHL champion Plattsburgh Cardinals (won all 5 conference titles, regular season & playoffs), look to continue their conference dominance regardless of what the conference is called. If anything, their medals/banners won’t be boring saying the same name each year, good change of pace.
#3 Plattsburgh defeats Oswego State 3-1 on 11/3/23. (Photo by Gabe Dickens)
The Cardinals opened their season vs rival Oswego State who’re much improved under Head Coach Mark Digby. Plattsburgh won the game 3-1, but Oswego got on the board quick and early, with Mack Hull scoring 1 minute 2 seconds (1:02) into the game. The Cardinals answered midway through as Adriana Urban tied it at the 10:14 mark. The 2nd period was scoreless, and Julia Masotta would add the winner 11:04 into the 3rd, and her teammate Mae Olshansky sealed the deal with a powerplay goal at 14:31.
Other SUNYAC Results:
Friday:
Potsdam 2-1 Canton
Saturday:
Morrisville 2-0 Potsdam
Canton 1-0 Oswego
D-III Independent
Hilbert College, who went winless last year, notched their first-ever program victory on Saturday (October 28th), defeating King’s College 5-3. This game featured a lot of action, 2 powerplay goals for Hilbert, a shorthanded goal for Kings, and four 3rd period goals. Kings led the game in penalties 6-1 and Hilbert won the shots battle 31-29.
MCLA defeats Hilbert College for their first-ever wins as a program. (Photo by MCLA Athletics)
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) won their first ever games this weekend (11/3-4) as well, against recently mentioned Hilbert College. MCLA won 3-2 & 4-3 to move to an overall record of 2-2-0 after getting swept in week one vs Wilkes. MCLA is now 2-0 in “conference” play.
UCHC
The defending conference champion #11 Nazareth Golden Flyers swept Stevenson over the weekend, winning handily, 5-0 & 6-1. Nazareth, a very young team, gets a nice start to the season with a few winnable series ahead. They’ve got a pair of games at home vs Kings and then a two=game road trip to Chatham who’s looking to pull an upset, a well improved squad under Head Coach Michael O’Grady. The real test comes on Tuesday, 12/5/23 against #5 Hamilton, who we don’t really know what to expect considering their Coach of the Year Emily McNamara left for her Alma Mater Middlebury (Assistant Coach).
#8 Utica University moves to 4-0 on the season. (Photo by Kayleigh Sturtevant – Utica Athletics).
#9 Utica University, who’s off to a now 4-0 start including a ranked victory over #6 Adrian, got two wins for the weekend sweep vs Lebanon Valley, winning a slim 2-1 & then 4-1. The Pioneers faced some troubles in game one as they were trailing early in the 2nd period when Hailey Modlin scored a shorthanded goal 1:25 into the middle third. Modlin then added another an exact 2 minutes later (3:25) to give the Pioneers the 2-1 lead, holding on as the GWG (game-winning-goal). Jordan Kowalski tacked on an assist on both goals.
Other UCHC Results:
Friday:
Arcadia 3-1 Neumann
Alvernia 6-0 Kings
Saturday:
Arcadia 5-0 Neumann
Alvernia 5-1 Kings
Manhattanville 3-2 OT Wilkes
Sunday:
Manhattanville 3-2 Wilkes
Another weekend is concluded, Utica is charging up the rankings, up to #8, while early on we’re seeing the level of competition and skill levels evening out, gone are the days of knowing who’s winning each conference from day one. Enjoy it while it’s here.
Denver’s Freddie Halyk was named the NCHC goaltender of the week on Monday after leading the Pioneers to two wins over Colorado College over the weekend (photo: Jamie Schwaberow/Clarkson Creative Photography).
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: Happy Tuesday everyone!
I hope you all had an opportunity to catch your breath after a wild weekend throughout the college hockey ranks. It was easily one of those times where few games disappointed while giving us a plethora of things that we’re going to talk about.
As usual, I’m going to start with the new USCHO.com poll and a couple of things I floated as part of this week’s Monday 10. We don’t usually see No. 1 teams lose their top spot unless they lose a game along the way, but I fully expected Boston College to drop first place votes to some combination of Denver and Wisconsin after their respective series.
Sure enough, Wisconsin picked up the numbers, and the Badgers posted 12 first place votes despite staying behind Denver in the polls. Less than 50 points now separates No. 1 from No. 3.
Jimmy, you and I both watch a lot of BC hockey and have been riding the Wisconsin story for the better part of the last few weeks. What stuck out to you about what you saw yesterday afternoon?
Jim: I got to see Boston College close up this weekend and I can testify this team has all of the tools. Now making sure that the toolbox is made of metal and in great shape is the only question for this team.
The reality is this BC may be young, but the chemistry of the club already seems apparent.
As for Wisconsin, I wasn’t sold on this team when they were 5-1. My mind told me that the Minnesota and Michigan weekends would be the necessary tests that would reveal the Badgers identity.
Well, tests passed. At 9-1 Wisconsin rose to third in the poll and has opened everyone’s eyes. This will mean the Badgers wear a bullet on their collective backs, but this team seems prepared to handle things.
We’ve talked about the obvious, thus far. What about surprises? What teams are your positive and, maybe, not so positive surprises thus far?
Dan: I’m going to go completely off the board and give a huge shoutout to Augustana for its performance over the first month of Division I hockey. I know the transfer portal era makes it easier to build a competitive roster on shortened timing, which itself is a huge switch from when Robert Morris started its program 20 years ago, but the Vikings are finding a cohesion and chemistry that’s made them competitive from the opening jump of this season. They nearly beat Michigan Tech twice this season and spent late October rubbing elbows with Denver and Colorado College after sweeping Bowling Green back in mid-October.
I kind of assumed that the Bowling Green games were the kind of breathless games that accompany a grand unveiling, but I’m starting to believe in Sioux Falls as a legitimate college hockey hometown. Head coach Garrett Raboin found some alchemy by hitting the portal for over a dozen players, and I’m starting to eyeball a couple of teams who should probably be wary if Augie keeps building in the right direction. I more specifically envision a team like a Notre Dame or Arizona State hanging around the Pairwise portal before running into a bad loss along the way.
That said, Arizona State avoided a major slip this weekend when it struggled to put Stonehill away in both games in the desert. I know how the saying goes. Nobody ever asks how a team wins…they just ask how many, so I’ll try not to take too many shots at the weekend. Plus the Sun Devils are completely undefeated at home with Denver coming to town this weekend.
This is a huge stretch out in Arizona where the next six games are at home. Alaska Anchorage is coming in the aftermath, and the two games against Providence are going to feature a top-5 caliber team.
We’ve discussed Arizona State at length on the USCHO Edge podcast. Are we looking at the make-or-break stretch for the independent’s trip to the NCAA Tournament?
Jim: Your question is interesting because many (including you over text message on Friday night) thought that a loss against Stonehill would’ve been a season ender this weekend past.
The reality is that one game is always one game, particularly in an independent schedule where you assemble the teams you know may or may not elevate or drop you in the PairWise.
A regulation loss to Stonehill would not have been good for Arizona State. That said, a 67% (value for OT win) of a .8 (value for playing at home) win, equals 53.6 percent of a win, so basically a tie against a team that hadn’t won a game.
It’s not the best feeling for the Sun Devils, but any coach will tell you it is sometimes difficult to rally a team to play an opponent that seems inferior.
The credit at the end, though, is Arizona State still took two wins.
Are you concerned about the Sun Devils, though? Thus far, I am not.
Dan: I would have been much more concerned if Stonehill won one or both of those games, but in the absence of the all-important first win by the Skyhawks, I’ll bite on Arizona State missing what amounted to a missed encounter with a meteor.
You made a great point on Arizona State during last week’s USCHO Edge discussion that I’m going to come back to, largely because we might not see other teams succeed as independents. Greg Powers has been able to construct a schedule around his flexibility that makes the Sun Devils a virtual lock as long as they don’t lose every single one of those games. They have to just hold serve against certain opponents and then win key games throughout the season.
Last week was a case of holding serve, and with Denver coming to town, I think dodging the crater is exactly what Arizona State needed. I’ll wait to bite until after this weekend for sure, but I think I’m in the boat where I’m still floating through the desert with them.
There are teams that I think should be concerned, though, and you and I have talked about them before. Has the list changed at all since a couple of weeks ago?
Jim: I think it is difficult because I am adding new teams to the list of “don’t crash” as they achieve good things.
For me, New Hampshire is on that list and tied and lost against a very good Providence team this weekend past. I’m not panicking yet.
But I also look at a team like Notre Dame. Maybe I should have great concern for the Irish any time they’re not in the top 15. I trust Jeff Jackson to reload all the time.
I just can’t see where this team belongs. It feels like a bottom two in the Big Ten, but that league is so tight the Irish could become a top three with a few upsets that I am not expecting.
Overstatement on all accounts? Possible. I just want to see more from this Irish team at this point.
Brett Petersen is in his 24th season coaching the Gustavus men’s hockey team (photos: Gustavus Athletics).
Gustavus men’s hockey head coach Brett Petersen is stepping down at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.
Petersen will remain at the college and assume a new role as director of club sports once his duties as the head men’s hockey coach are completed.
“I am full of emotion today,” Petersen said in a statement. “I am so grateful to President Rebecca Bergman and athletic directors Al Molde and Tom Brown for allowing me to be the head hockey coach at Gustavus for these past 23 seasons. It has truly been an incredible ride. I am also extremely excited to finish my last season with this great group of young men, and I am thrilled to begin expanding our club sports programs at the college.”
Petersen is currently in his 24th season as the head coach of the Gustie men’s hockey program where he holds an overall record of 258-269-65. His 258 wins rank second in program history to legendary coach Don Roberts.
Petersen has been named MIAC coach of the year three times, once in 2002 after helping the Gusties make the jump from ninth place the year before to a second-place finish in the conference, again in 2010 after leading the Gusties to their first MIAC title since 1993, and in 2018 after reaching the MIAC playoff championship game with seven more wins than the previous season.
While at Gustavus, Petersen has directed the Gusties to three NCAA tournament appearances, highlighted by a national runner-up finish in 2009 — the highest finish in program history.
Petersen will assume his duties as the college’s full-time director of club sports at the end of the hockey season. Stepping into this new role following a national search, Petersen will focus on expanding club sports opportunities at Gustavus by recruiting future Gusties, managing club sports coaches, and developing a competitive club sports program that will enhance students’ academic and co-curricular experience at Gustavus. More information about the expanded Gustavus club sports program will be available in early 2024.
“Coach Petersen has been a tremendous asset to the men’s hockey program for nearly a quarter century, and I join countless alumni, players, colleagues, and fans in thanking him for his dedication as head coach,” said Gustavus athletic director Tom Brown. “I’m excited to welcome Brett to a new role in Gustavus Athletics. We’re lucky to have his experience and relationships to draw upon as we begin to build a best-in-class club sports program at Gustavus.”
A national search for the next Gustavus head men’s hockey coach will begin at the end of the hockey season.
Boston College took both games last weekend against UMass Lowell (photo: Meg Kelly).
Boston College is again the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, getting 30 first-place votes this week.
Denver stays No. 2 with five first-place votes, while Wisconsin moves up two spots to No. 3, garnering 12 first-place votes in the process. North Dakota falls one to No. 4, and Providence jumps up two places to sit fifth, also with a first-place vote.
Minnesota holds steady at No. 6, Cornell is up three to No. 7 and also got two first-place votes, while Michigan falls four spots to No. 8, Boston University stays ninth, and Quinnipiac falls two to No. 10 in this week’s rankings.
Maine makes a big jump, going from No. 20 to No. 13, while Ohio State falls six to No. 19 and Minnesota Duluth drops four to No. 18.
Previously unranked RIT is in the rankings this week, coming in at No. 20.
In addition to the top 20 teams, 13 other teams received votes this week.
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.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger discuss the results of the weekend and the news of the week in college hockey on the November 6, 2023 edition of USCHO Weekend Review:
• No. 1 Boston College becomes the first top team in the poll to sweep a weekend
• No. 5 Wisconsin remains the biggest story of the season with a sweep of Michigan
• No. 3 North Dakota and No. 9 Boston University split
• Stonehill came this close to getting its first Division I win
• RIT is off to another strong start in AHA
• The surprise ECAC story right now might be Dartmouth
• 2024 Friendship Four field announced
• A look at current out-of-conference records and their impact
The two teams fought back and forth to start the game and it was Svenja Voight who opened the scoring to put St. Cloud up 1-0 midway through the first. It seemed like that might be all the scoring for the first frame, but two late penalties gave Wisconsin the opportunity they needed. Kirsten Simms scored on the first and Britta Curl set a new program record by scoring in her 10th consecutive game on the second to put the Badgers up 2-1 heading into intermission. Alice Sauriol tied the game 2-2 in the second, but Simms scored her second of the game less than a minute later to put UW up again. Ava Murphy hit a rocket late in the frame to make it 4-2 and that’s how the game would end. The Huskies came out strong to start the second game, outshooting Wisconsin 15-8, but it was the Badgers who scored first when Laila Edwards lit the lamp to make it 1-0. Katie Kaufman got it back midway through the first with a power play goal to make it 1-1. Maddi Wheeler put UW ahead in the opening minutes of the second, but Sauriol’s second of the weekend in the final seconds of the frame sent the teams to the second intermission tied 2-2. A quick lapse from St. Cloud late in the game proved to be the turning point as a too many skaters penalty turned into a power play goal from Casey O’Brien with under four to play. SCSU pulled their goalie shortly thereafter in an attempt to find the tying goal, but Edwards scored an empty netter and then Sarah Wozniewicz got one of her own to give Wisconsin the 5-2 win and weekend sweep. The Badgers are now 12-0 to start the season.
(2) Ohio State at Bemidji State
The Buckeyes came out on fire on Friday night and put the game out of reach before two minutes had even elapsed. Jocelyn Amos, Delaney Fleming and Sloane Matthews each scored in the stretch. Overall, 15 different Ohio State players tallied a point. Joy Dunne led the team with three goals and an assist while Kiara Zanon had two goals and an assist to lead OSU to a 9-1 win. Things looked a little different on Saturday, as Matthews scored the only goal of the first period by putting away a rebound to make it 1-0. Amos received a pass from behind the goal and scored from the slot in the second to make it 2-0 after two. The game blew open in the third as Olivia Mobley, Dunne and Emma Peschel each found the back of the net to give Ohio State the 5-0 win and weekend sweep.
Brown at (3) Colgate
Ten different Raiders tallied points as Colgate jumped out to a 4-0 lead in this one before Brown was able to pull back two. The Bears ran out of time and Colgate took a 4-2 win. Dara Greig, Danielle Serdachny, Neena Brick and Emma Pais scored for the Raiders. Olivia Williamson and Elodie Roy scored for Brown in the loss.
(7) Yale at (3) Colgate
Colgate goalie Kayle Osborne logged her third shutout of the season to backstop her team to a 4-0 win. Danielle Serdachny followed up her own rebound to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead after one. Kaia Malachino scored a beautiful goal directly off a faceoff in the second to make it 2-0. Kristýna Kaltounková and Elyssa Biederman added insurance goals in the third frame to finish out the 4-0 victory.
Minnesota State at (4) Minnesota
In the first game of the series, special teams made the difference as the Gophers went 2-for-2 on the power play and the Mavericks were 0-for-5. Minnesota State took an early lead on a rebound thanks to Whitney Tuttle and the Mavs built on that momentum, outshooting Minnesota 22-20 through the first two periods. Abbey Murphy continues to be a big part of keeping the Gophers in games, scoring her tenth of the season and tying the game thanks to the power play goal. Nelli Laitinen and Ava Lindsay added goals in the final frame to give Minnesota the 3-1 win. On Saturday, the teams battled through a scoreless first period. In the middle frame, Lauren Zawoyski buried her first career goal for Minnesota State, putting home a rebound to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead. The Gophers tied the game later in the period on a great pass from Lindsay to Emma Kreisz to tie the game 1-1. Madison Kaiser tallied the game-winner late in the third to give Minnesota a 2-1 win and weekend sweep.
(5) Clarkson at Union
The Golden Knights continued their unbeaten start to the season with a balanced win over Union on Friday. Sara Swiderski scored in the first and Brooke McQuigge added a power play goal in the second to make it 2-0. Riley Walsh got Union on the board late in the second, but Dominique Petrie scored just 19 seconds into the third to put an end to any comeback. Nicole Gosling’s power play goal gave Clarkson the 4-1 win.
(5) Clarkson at RPI
Marah Wagner’s power play goal put RPI up 1-0 near the midpoint of the first, but Nicole Gosling responded a few minutes later to make it 1-1. From there, Sena Catterall took over the game. Her first goal came just nine seconds after Goslings. She continued to terrorize the Engineers through the rest of the game, scoring the only goal of the second frame and adding a power play goal in the third to complete a natural hat trick. Brooke McQuigge scored later in the frame to complete the 5-1 win for the Golden Knights.
(6) St. Lawrence at RPI
Four different Saints scored and Taylor Lum and Mae Batherson each added two assists to lead SLU to a 4-1 win on Friday. Sarah Marchand tipped in a shot from Batherson to open the scoring. In the second, Julia Gosling added a power play tally to extend the lead to 2-0. RPI took advantage of a 5-on-3 when Maddy Papineau found plenty of open net at the back door to make it 2-1. Abby Hustler was the beneficiary of a breakaway shorthanded chance engineered by Lum, who drew the goalie, leaving Hustler to score and make it 3-1. Anna Segedi’s empty-net goal completed the 4-1 win.
(6) St. Lawrence at Union
The Garnet Chargers put pressure on St. Lawrence from the opening faceoff, but were not able to break through. The Saints withstood the push and finally found their footing as the period wore on. They took advantage of an odd-skater rush to go up 1-0 thanks to Mae Batherson. After Maren Friday was given a major penalty for boarding, Julia Gosling scored on the power play to make it a 2-0 advantage at the first break. Kylie Mastel scored on a rebound as the major penalty wound down to start the second. From there, St. Lawrence was in control. Gosling, Anna Segedi and Batherson each lit the lamp in the second to extend the lead to 6-0. Union’s Amanda Quan scored in the third, but St. Lawrence took the 6-1 win.
(7) Yale at (10) Cornell
Six different Cornell skaters lit the lamp to give the Big Red a 6-1 win. Gabbie Rud, Rory Guilday, Lily Delianedis, Izzy Daniel, Mckenna Van Gelder, and Claudia Yu each found the back of the net. Carina DiAntonio’s goal six seconds into the second period cut the lead to 2-1, but Delianedis responded shortly after to shut down any hopes of a rally for the Bulldogs.
St. Thomas at (8) Minnesota Duluth
Reece Hunt scored in the opening minutes of the first to give UMD a 1-0 lead on a shot from the slot after a St. Thomas turnover. Mannon McMahon stole the puck behind her own blueline and took it to the net herself to increase the lead to 2-0. In the second period, Hunt scored again from the slot on another pass from Olivia Wallin. The Bulldogs had penalty trouble the whole game, but particularly in the third, but they killed off all seven penalties, including a 5:00 major to Mary Kate O’Brien for contact to the head that negated a UMD goal. Allie Monrean broke up the shutout midway through the final frame, but couldn’t complete a comeback and Minnesota Duluth took a 3-1 win. On Saturday, McMahon put UMD up in the first with a backhander. In the second, Hann Baskin and Olivia Wallin added to the lead in the second and O’Brien made it a 4-0 win with a third-period goal. The Bulldogs swept the weekend and are on a six-game win streak.
Dartmouth at (9) Quinnipiac
Mia Lopata scored her first career goal with a slap shot from the point to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead at intermission. Jenna Donohue scored on the power play early in the second to tie the game for Dartmouth. Sadie Peart responded for Quinnipiac with a power play goal of her own to make it 2-1, but the Big Green weren’t going to go away easily and Kenzie Bachelor tied the game 2-2 with under a minute to play in the second. Late in the third, Kendall Cooper took the puck to the net on the power play and sniped it top shelf to give Quinnipiac the 3-2 lead and eventual win.
Harvard at (9) Quinnipiac
The Bobcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period and never looked back. Sadie Peart scored a natural hat trick in the third – the first of her career – and added two assists in the game to lead the team to the 7-1 win. Kate Reilly had three assists and Kendall Cooper had two to help power the Bobcats. Gwynn Lapp was the goal scorer for Harvard in the loss.
Brown at (10) Cornell
Continuing the display of depth for the Big Red this weekend, five different women scored to lead Cornell to a 5-1 win over Brown. The victory moved Cornell to 8-0-1, tying their program best start to the season. Izzy Daniel, Lily Delianedis, Grace Dwyer, Avi Adam and Karel Prefontaine all lit the lamp, the latter for her first career goal. Sam Broz was the goal scorer for Brown in the loss.
(12) Vermont at Holy Cross Holy Cross outshot Vermont 9-3 in the opening period, but the teams went into the locker rooms in a scoreless tie. The Catamounts opened the scoring two minutes into the second with a goal from Lara Beecher. The Crusaders took advantage of UVM’s penalty trouble to tally two power play goals to take a 2-1 lead near the midpoint of the game. McKenzie Cerrato tied things up before the end of the period and the teams could not find a game winner during regulation. Millie Sirum took the puck from along the boards and sniped a goal in overtime to give Holy Cross the win. The Crusaders have played overtime in seven of their nine games so far this season.
(13) Northeastern vs. Connecticut
Connecticut earned their first win over Northeastern in six seasons on Friday night thanks to a shutout by Megan Warrener and goals from Jada Habisch, Brianna Ware and Brooke Campbell. The defense added 19 blocks to help shutdown NU and earn the win. In the second game of the weekend, neither team took a penalty and Habisch’s goal late in the third was the difference maker as UConn took a 1-0 win and weekend sweep.
Maine at (14) Boston College
Julia Pellerin and Caroline Goffredo scored in the first to give BC a 2-0 lead, but Maine struck in the final minute of the frame with a goal from Ava Stevenson to narrow the lead to 2-1 at intermission. Ann-Frederique Guay pulled the Black Bears back into the game with a power play goal early in the second to make it a 2-2 game. Goffredo scored her second of the game to put BC up 3-2. Guay brough the score to 3-3 on a great pass from Ida Kuoppala, who earned her 100th career point on the assist. Guay completed her hat trick on the power play with a snipe to the far top corner to give Maine a 4-3 win. On Saturday, Gaby Roy’s first-period goal had BC up 1-0. Lily Fetch and Kuoppala found the back of the net in the second to put Maine ahead 2-1 at the midpoint of the game. Sammy Smigliani evened things up for the Eagles before the end of the period. In the third, Boston College put the game away thanks to Annaka Mettler’s first career goal and an empty-netter from Sammy Taber to take the 4-2 win.
Harvard at (15) Princeton
Ellie Bayard scored on a Princeton turnover to put Harvard up 1-0 in the first. In the second, Sarah Fillier fed Issy Wunder from behind the net to tie the game 1-1. Princeton outshot Harvard 69-43 overall and 31-20 on goal, but the Tigers could not get another one past Alex Pellicci and the game ended a 1-1 tie.
Dartmouth at (15) Princeton
The teams fought to gain an advantage through a scoreless first and Dartmouth broke through first early in the second thanks to Izee Powell, but Princeton quickly responded with a goal from Sarah Paul to tie it 1-1. Shae Messner’s power play goal at the Big Green up 2-1 heading into the third. However, the Tigers found another level in the last period, scoring four unanswered to take a 5-2 win. Jane Kuehl scored twice and Issy Wunder and Maggie Johnson each scored on the power play to close out the game for Princeton.
Will Redick recorded four points and setup Connor Tait’s overtime goal in a 6-5 comeback win over Babson on Saturday (Photo by Plymouth State Athletics)
This weekend saw the combination of non-conference excitement and opening conference play with some critical contenders facing-off to open their league schedules. Several ranked teams showed their game coming into form while others looking to be ranked (Salve Regina and Elmira) continued their winning ways in the second weekend of play. Lots to cover including a few overtime thrillers. Here is the wrap-up of the action in the East:
CCC
Endicott and Curry opened CCC play with a two-game series and the teams split the weekend’s action with each team taking a win on home ice. On Friday night, the Colonels spotted the visitors a 2-0 first period advantage but rallied back with three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 win. Austan Bellefeuille and Manny Cabral owned the offense in the third period with a goal and an assist each to rally the Colonels. Bellefeuille scored the game-tying goal with Cabral assisting and Cabral netted the game-winning goal with a helper from Bellefeuille in the final two minutes. On Saturday, the Gulls scored three in the first period and two more early in the second period for an insurmountable 5-0 lead on the way to a 6-2 win. Cass Bowes scored two goals and added an assist to pace the offense in Endicott’s first win on the season.
Salve Regina continued their winning ways with a pair of wins over Suffolk to open CCC play. On Friday, the Seahawks erased a 2-1 deficit with a three-goal second period on the way to a 5-2 win. Johnny Mulera chipped in with a goal and an assist. On Saturday, the Seahawks took the offense on the road with Mulera again contributing heavily in an 8-3 win. Mulera recorded one goal and three assists, while Matthew Fawcett and Aidan Coupe added two goals each in the blowout win.
The University of New England bounced back from their opening loss to Plymouth State with a weekend sweep of Western New England to open CCC action. On Friday, the Nor’easters spotted the Golden Bears and early 1-0 lead before tallying six unanswered goals including two from Nathan Chickering. Back home on Saturday, UNE took advantage of four power play goals and a four-goal third period to cruise to a 7-2 win. Juraj Elias scored two power play goals while Chip Hamlett picked up three assists.
Independents
Anna Maria did everything but win on Saturday night in their non-conference game against Fitchburg State. The AmCats twice rallied from one-goal deficits against the Falcons including Max Wennerberg’s tying goal just past midway of the third period. They put 48 shots on Falcon netminder Frederick Soderberg but could only get two goals past the Falcon goalie. Tied at 2-2 after regulation, the game went to overtime where with just over a minute remaining, Kristopher Zapata netted the game-winner for Fitchburg State.
MASCAC
Following up on their opening game win against UNE, Plymouth State opened league play on Thursday on the road against Worcester State. The Panthers left little doubt by scoring the first eight goals of the game and cruising to a 9-1 win. Will Pray scored two goals and added two assists for the Panthers. On Saturday, the Panthers hosted the NEHC’s Babson squad looking for their first win of the season. The Beavers carried a 4-2 lead entering the third period only to see PSU score three unanswered goals to take a 5-4 lead. Mike Stevens tied the game late for Babson sending the contest to overtime where Connor Tait needed just 17 seconds to send the Panthers to a thrilling 6-5 overtime win. Will Redick assisted on the goal and added a goal and two other assists for a four-point game that helped keep the Panthers unbeaten.
After opening their MASCAC season with a 2-2 overtime tie with Fitchburg State on Thursday night, the Trailblazers picked up their first program win on Saturday over Rivier by a 4-3 score. Trailing 3-1 after the opening period, MCLA scored three goals in the third period to take the win. Cade Herrera scored a hat trick for the Trailblazers.
NE-10
St. Michael’s remained among the unbeaten teams when they emerged with a pair of overtime wins over Southern New Hampshire to commence NE-10 action. On Friday, the Purple Knights took advantage of Cas Kantgias’ overtime goal just 36 seconds into the extra session to skate off with a 5-4 win over the Penmen. Scoring was more limited on Saturday, but overtime was still required to try and settle a 2-2 regulation tie. In the extra session, Zach Taylor needed only 18 seconds to give St. Michael’s the 3-2 win and move them to 4-0-0 on the young season.
After skating to a 2-2 tie with Post on Friday night, the defending champion Hawks broke into the win column with a 6-3 win on Saturday. A four-goal third period broke open a 2-2 game as Max Burum chipped in with a pair of goals for the Hawks.
NEHC
The marquee matchup on Friday was in Geneva, NY where Hobart hosted Norwich to open NEHC conference play. One goal in each period and 20 saves from Damon Beaver led the statesmen to a 3-0 win. On Saturday, the offense took off for seven goals with Luke Aquaro opening and closing the scoring in a 7-0 win over New England College. Mavrick Goyer made 15 saves for his second shutout that extended Hobart’s shutout streak to three games.
Hobart’s travel partner Elmira continued their fast start with a pair of conference wins to move to 4-0-0 on the season. The Soaring Eagles shutout NEC on Friday, 4-0 led by a goal and two assists from Nicholas Domitrovic and a goal and an assist from Bailey Krawczyk. Kyle Curtin picked up the shutout making 22 saves. Things were a lot more dramatic on Saturday against Norwich where overtime was required to decide a winner. Elmira held a 4-2 lead with less than ten minutes remaining in the third period only to see Holden Doggett and Clark Kerner score goals just six seconds apart to tie the game at 4-4. In the overtime session it was Jordan Gonzalez who netted the game winner with assists from Sean Kennedy and Domotrovic for the thrilling 5-4 win.
Skidmore opened their conference schedule with a pair of 7-3 decisions over Massachusetts-Boston and Johnson & Wales. Kaeden Patrick led the offense on Friday night for the Thoroughbreds by scoring two goals and adding an assist in the road win over the Beacons. On Saturday, Kaeden Patrick added another two goals and an assist to help Skidmore ease past the Wildcats and move to 3-0-0 on the season.
SUNYAC
Plattsburgh opened the SUNYAC schedule on Wednesday with a 5-1 win over Morrisville. Jacob Hearne picked up the win in goal while five different players scored goals for the Cardinals who had the remainder of the weekend off.
Oswego opened SUNYAC play with a pair of wins over Fredonia and Buffalo State. On Friday, Nolan Barrett broke open a 1-1 game with two goals in the first period to help the Lakers to a 4-1 win over the Blue Devils. On Saturday, Shane Bull scored twice in the third period to support goaltender Cal Shell who made 17-saves in a 4-0 win over Buffalo State.
Like their travel partner, Cortland also stayed among the nation’s unbeatens with a pair of wins featuring their early season goal scoring prowess. Friday’s win over Buffalo State featured Nate Berke scoring one goal and adding two assists in a 6-3 win. Saturday saw the Red Dragons surrender the first goal but scored the next three goals on the way to a 5-2 win over Fredonia. Anthony Bernardo scored twice and added an assist for Cortland with Colby Seitz picking up a goal and an assist. Jack Riedell made 23 saves to earn the win in goal.
Geneseo hosted travel partner Brockport on Friday with Stefan Miklakos scoring two goals to pace the Knights’ 6-2 win. Adam Harris picked up his third win of the season in goal and has surrendered just five goals in those three games. On Saturday, Geneseo played future SUNYAC member Canton and needed a three-goal third period to break open a 1-1 contest with the Kangaroos. Kelson Hooper was outstanding in goal for Canton stopping 45 of 48 shots in the 4-1 loss.
UCHC
Last season Stevenson pushed Utica to the limit in their regular season contests where it took overtime to decide the outcome. This season the combatants opened conference play in Utica this weekend and played to a thrilling 2-2 overtime tie on Friday night (Stevenson won the shootout) where both goaltenders were exceptional. Stevenson’s Ty Outen (36 saves) and Utica’s Ethan Roberts (34 saves) kept the game tight to open UCHC play. On Saturday, the game was again tied after two periods of play at 2-2 but the Pioneers scored three times off the sticks of Shane Murphy, Khristian Acosta, and Jakob Breault to ease to a 5-2 win over the Mustangs.
Alvernia stayed unbeaten at 3-0-1 with a pair of conference wins over Neumann this weekend. Friday night’s game saw the Golden Wolves hold off a determined Black Knights squad as two late empty-net goals from Hunter Alden and Frazer Dodd provided the needed margin in a 6-3 win. Saturday was a little easier for the home team who scored three shorthanded goals from Vincent Servizzi, Isaac Chapman, and Peter Falivena on the way to a comfortable 7-2 win and weekend sweep.
Wilkes played a home-and-home weekend series with nationally ranked Albertus Magnus and skated away with a pair of wins over the Falcons. At home on Friday, the Colonels took advantage of a goal and an assist from Billy Berry and 33 saves from Jack Perna in a 4-1 win. On Saturday, Wilkes scored two power play goals and the first three goals in the game in route to a 3-1 win and weekend sweep.
Manhattanville evened their season record with a weekend sweep over Arcadia to open UCHC play. On Friday, the Valiants took advantage of three power play goals in a 5-3 win over the Knights. Saturday saw the Valiants jump out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 but needing to hold off Arcadia’s late rally for a 4-3 win. Sebastien Wood made 31 saves, including 14 in the final period to earn the victory.
Three Biscuits
Cade Herrera – MCLA – scored a natural hat trick to rally the visitors to a 4-3 win over Rivier on Friday night.
Frederick Soderberg – Fitchburg State – stopped 46 of 48 shots to backstop the Falcons to a 3-2 overtime win over Anna Maria on Saturday. The win was Soderberg’s first of the season.
Jordan Gonzalez – Elmira – scored the overtime goal that gave the Soaring Eagles a 5-4 win over Norwich and kept them unbeaten on the season.
Bonus Biscuits
Kaeden Patrick – Skidmore – had a six-point weekend with two goals and an assist in Thoroughbred wins over UMass-Boston and Johnson & Wales.
Gary Heenan – Utica – the Pioneers’ head coach picked up his 350th victory with Saturday’s win over Stevenson.
Week two only reinforced that teams need to play the full sixty minutes, or more, if they want to earn victories. The action across the slate of games was dramatic and comeback wins were in abundance in several critical conference matchups to open the season. Don’t expect anything less from now until March!
Michigan State went on the road and swept Ohio State last weekend (photo: Michigan State Athletics).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1) Wisconsin sweep badgers BC for No. 1 …
It’s entirely too rare for a No. 1 team to lose its top ranking without some form of loss, but Wisconsin made a compelling case to jump to the front of the line with its weekend sweep over No. 4 Michigan. At 7-1 entering the weekend with five first place votes, the Badgers took six points from Big Blue with a pair of resounding wins that bookended a Friday night comeback with a Saturday night winner in the closing seconds of the third period.
Neither win felt probable, but after building a pair of one-goal leads in the first period of Friday night’s game, three straight Michigan goals gave the Wolverines a 4-2 lead after the halfway point of the second period. Cruz Lucius scored a power-play goal just over a minute later, but it wasn’t until Simon Tassy’s power play goal in the third that the Badgers added full pressure to the game’s last four minutes. Thirty seconds later, a stretch pass broke the offense up ice with Tyson Dyck, who promptly fed a cross-ice pass to Owen Lindmark, who roofed a shot to the dark recesses of Mom’s peanut butter cabinet and past goalie Jake Barczewski for a 5-4 winner.
The next night, a 1-1 game earmarked for overtime never found the three-on-three frame after a greasy scrum in front of Barczewski set the 12,000-plus fans at the Kohl Center into another frenzy with less than seven seconds left in the third period. A power play goal, Wisconsin walked away from the home series by earning six points and arguably staking its claim to the status of best team going in college hockey.
2) … but how can you unvote a No. 1 if it doesn’t lose?
The only problem for Wisconsin – and for Denver, for that matter – is that Boston College didn’t lose. Fresh off its wins over Michigan State, the newly-minted No. 1 team in the nation watched its early 2-0 lead evaporate on Friday when UMass-Lowell scored once in the first and once in the early minutes of the second, but freshman Aram Minnetian’s first career goal clinched a 3-2 win before 6,600 fans at Conte Forum. The next night in Lowell, another 6,000-person crowd at the Tsongas Center watched the Eagles again score first and build a lead in the second before Nick Rheaume added pressure with a third period goal.
Lowell had been on the outside of the top-20 conversation, but the overall strength of Hockey East was long a conversation before the Eagles stepped on the ice for either game. No. 1 teams are often not unseated without a loss, either, but given the wins by Denver, it’s likely at least one western team steals some of the 36 first place votes awarded to BC in last week’s pre-Halloween voting.
3) Mile High wins
Any argument against either BC or Wisconsin has to at least start with Denver’s sweep over Colorado College in which the Pioneers rocked the Tigers with a pair of blowout scores. They actually trailed at home before a 7,000-fan crowd on Friday night after the first period, but a trio of goals in the first half of the second period included Carter King’s short-handed goal before Jack Devine lit the lamp twice in a two-minute span in the third period. A late goal by Jared Wright finished Colorado College off with a 6-1 win, and it became a familiar sight after Wright’s second goal of the weekend topped a 5-1 win on Saturday.
King again scored for Denver in the third period, but two power play goals lifted Denver after Colorado College knotted the score at 1-1 after one.
Like UMass-Lowell, Colorado College had been on the outside of the national rankings, but a one-loss record prior to the weekend enhanced the quality of wins for the No. 2 team in the country. With North Dakota losing one of its games against Boston University, a likely scenario exists for the team to siphon first place votes away from BC after 57 points separated the two for the past week.
4) The North (Dakota) remembers
Speaking of those Fighting Hawks, a trip to Boston wasn’t a full-blown disaster, but a 3-2 loss to the scuffling Terriers caused the team to drop to No. 8 in the early season Pairwise Rankings. The rule of thumb is usually that the Pairwise doesn’t come under serious consideration until the second half of the season, but the overtime win over Saturday helped North Dakota avoid another potential drop to a BU team that desperately needed a marquee win.
It didn’t help that North Dakota’s result on Friday could easily pinpoint its causation to the time it spent in the box. The one-goal game fell on the shoulders of two BU power play goals, including a game-winner in the third period by Luke Tuch, and the five opportunities were double what the Terriers afforded the Fighting Hawks’ special teams.
A short-handed goal at least mitigated the damage, but a 3-1 lead on Saturday that included a power play goal instead struggled to keep up with Lane Hutson’s hat trick and a third-period comeback that tied the game with just over two minutes remaining. Jackson Blake at least picked up the win in overtime, but the razor thin margin gained another measure back for a BU team that took five points from UMass the previous weekend.
5) Sun burnt
The losses wouldn’t have proven disastrous for North Dakota in the long run, but two wins that were nondescript at their face value were instead crises averted for an Arizona State team that faced off with Stonehill over the weekend. On both occasions of the two games at Mullet Arena, a team that gave up seven goals in four of its first seven games instead battled the No. 16 team in the nation, and an early third period goal by Dominick Campione gave the Skyhawks a 4-2 lead in the last frame of Friday’s series opener. Ryan O’Reilly, Brian Chambers, and Matthew Kopperud tied the game to avoid the loss, but it wasn’t until the last minute of overtime that Anthony Dowd grabbed the win against the last-ranked team in the Pairwise Rankings.
Saturday followed a similar storyline after Henri Schreifels and Charles Bonquier scored goals in the early second and third periods to give Stonehill a 2-1 lead. Tyler Gratton eventually tied things before Kopperud scored with nine minutes remaining to give the Sun Devils their sweep.
Independents usually have to craft their way into the tournament anyways, but the November Pairwise Rankings offer a story of what could have happened to Arizona State with a pair of losses. Stonehill is, to this point, ranked 64th out of 64 teams after going 0-7 in its first games, but the Sun Devils, now 19th in the PWR, would have needed to essentially avoid another damaging loss against teams like Alaska-Anchorage or Robert Morris. They also would have needed to win games that they already need to win against Denver and Providence, both of which appear on the schedule before December.
6) Viking raiders
Like Stonehill, another pleasant surprise almost unfolded in the Upper Peninsula after Michigan Tech nearly lost both of its games against Augustana. The Vikings were already riding a wave of momentum after sweeping Bowling Green and upsetting Denver with a shootout win that technically went into the record books as a 5-5 tie, but the win over Colorado College in their second game in the Rocky Mountains pushed them over .500 heading into a weekend against a future CCHA conference opponent.
Augie wound up losing both games to the previously-winless Huskies, but their four-goal first period in Friday’s game shocked much of the Macinnes Arena crowd with an outburst that began in the first 90 seconds. Two Tech goals turned it into a one-goal deficit, but Quinn Rudrud and power play goals by Owen Bohn and Jack Jenson brought the Vikings into a two-goal advantage before Tech scored three times in the second.
It was as wild as it sounds, but an easier third period softened the eventual game-finishing goal by Isaac Gordon that gave him a hat trick during the 6-4 win.
The next night offered more of the same, and after Gordon and Rudrud scored for each team in the first period, Augustana entered the final minute with a one-goal lead before Ryland Mosley scored a tying goal with 20 seconds remaining and a winning goal in the first 90 seconds of overtime.
7) Bentley bounceback, electric boogaloo
As for brand new but resurgent, Bentley continued its quiet journey through the first half of the Atlantic Hockey schedule by rebounding from a 3-0 loss to American International on Thursday to take a second consecutive split with a 3-1 win on Friday.
After splitting with Robert Morris last weekend, earning three points offered a window into just how much the Falcons improved on a game-to-game basis. Having missed a wide open opportunity to score early in Thursday’s game, Bentley found its groove on Friday with more judicious shooting against goalie Nils Wallstrom, and a power play goal from Ethan Leyh tied the game before Nik Armstrong-Kingkade scored the eventual game-winner in the second period. On both occasions, Bentley used its speed and passing to weave through the harder, more rugged AIC team, and a late empty net goal added a little whipped cream to the sundae that started when the Yellow Jackets won their AHA opener one night earlier.
The weekend added Bentley into an already-jammed Atlantic Hockey standings, and while RIT and Sacred Heart continue to set the pace, eight teams are already evening the field behind the top two slots in the season’s early goings. Compared to other leagues that featured a handful of six-point weekends, it’s a sign of things to come for a conference known for its overall parity and second half seasonal chaos.
8) This is Sparta
Michigan State needed a rebound after a weekend sweep by Boston College dropped Sparty to the No. 12 spot in the national polls. They entered the weekend with a one-spot advantage over Ohio State, but the pair of wins over the Buckeyes regained footing in a conference where No. 4 Michigan ate two losses against Wisconsin.
Neither game felt particularly out of reach for Michigan State, and after the Spartans beat Ohio State with a 6-0 demolition on Friday, its wild second period in Columbus instead preceded two goals and an extra empty netter for a 6-4 win on Saturday.
As the Big Ten continues to gather steam among its members, the wins moved Michigan State to 11th in the early season Pairwise Rankings and likely moved it within the Top 10 of the upcoming national poll while simultaneously separating the Spartans from Michigan, which dropped to 15th and Ohio State, which tumbled into 22nd.
9) Holiday music is OK in November. There, I said it
There’s a common argument about when Christmas music is acceptable, but in ECAC, the red and green streamers flowed through a weekend that saw two of its Ivy League members gain a foothold with great weekend efforts.
Cornell’s first trip east produced a 10-2 aggregate in a pair of wins over Yale and Brown, and while the Big Red were only playing their third and fourth games of the season, the victories felt like a statement and a reminder of the separation between the rebuilding teams and the inherent powerhouse. Having already swept Minnesota-Duluth in non-conference games, the one first place vote feels like it might have some good company despite most voters accepting the late start as a reason to drop the team in the rankings. Entering the weekend behind No. 8 Quinnipiac, it feels like the No. 10 team in the nation is likely to gain more foothold among the teams situated out east.
Dartmouth, meanwhile, found an unexpected five-point weekend after Joey Musa and Luke Haymes each scored comeback goals against the eighth-ranked Bobcats. The Big Green sent the game to a shootout as a result, and the memory of last week’s 18-round, 1-0 battle against Harvard remained fresh as Nikita Nikora pushed a winner past goalie Vinny Duplessis in the final round.
The “win” still technically left Dartmouth with a winless record on the season, and the Big Green needed to wait another night before defeating Princeton, 5-4, to earn their first official victory of the season.
Just like that, both Cornell and Dartmouth stood alone at the top of the conference standings with six points.
10) Packin’ ‘em deep
The first month of the season jammed fans into arenas across the country, and this weekend continued a trend of sell-outs and large crowds feverishly following the college hockey universe. The aforementioned crowds at Wisconsin, Ohio State, Boston College, and UMass-Lowell bookended the numbers that nearly pushed 5,000 fans into Agganis Arena at Boston University, and even more unknown buildings are bringing people through turnstiles at a blistering pace.
Outliers like RIT’s Brick City Classic game at Blue Cross Arena are included, but barely a handful of the 62 teams with reported capacities are currently below 50 percent on the season. Twenty-eight teams are reporting numbers higher than 80 percent capacity, and 47 teams are averaging over 1,500 fans per game with 39 of those programs drawing 2,000 fans or more on a per-game basis.
That number is in line with some of the overall attendance figures from last season, but the figures are inching higher than the last years before the COVID-19 pandemic sent sports into the mini-tailspin that included empty arenas and a more virtual engagement.
Gustavus pulled off an upset of UW-Stevens Point over the weekend. (Photo provided by Gustavus Athletics)
The offense came to life for Gustavus in the final period of a showdown with nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point Friday night.
The Gusties scored five times in the final 20 minutes of action, and at the end of the night, they were celebrating a 6-4 win over the fifth-ranked Pointers.
It was a night to remember for Gustavus, which refused to back down with the odds stacked against it.
It trailed 3-1 after two periods before Nate Stone trimmed the lead to 3-2 when he scored a little over six minutes into the third period.
The Pointers went back in front 4-2 on Noah Finstrom’s power play goal before the Gusties stole the momentum.
Grant Ellings, Connor Mahony, Jack Suchy and Stone all scored in the final eight and half minutes of play to lift the Gusties to the victory. The Pointers had pulled their goalie ahead of that final goal by Stone, who scored an empty-netter with 35 seconds remaining.
Gustavus held a 37-23 advantage in shots and Jackson Hjelle rose to the occasion when it mattered most. He made a huge save on a point-blank shot that helped the Gusties avoid a potential overtime. Suchy scored moments later to put Gustavus in front for good a 5-4.
The Gusties (2-1-1) didn’t have the same fortune Saturday in a 4-0 loss to No. 10 UW-Eau Claire.
Saints sweep through weekend
St. Scholastica improved to 3-0 after taking down UW-Stout and No. 5 UW-Stevens Point over the weekend.
In Saturday’s upset win of the Pointers, the reigning regular-season MIAC champion got 23 saves from Jack Bostedt and goals from Sam Olson and Brodie Girod. Girod’s goal off the power play put the Saints up 2-0 in the third.
Nathan Adrian assisted on Girod’s goal and stretched his point streak to three games.
In Friday’s 7-4 win over the Blue Devils, seven different players scored, with Nathan Adrian tallying a goal and two assists. Jacob Seitz came through with a goal and an assist.
Two more wins for the Blugolds
Tenth-ranked UW-Eau Claire topped Saint John’s and Gustavus to keep its record perfect on the year. The Blugolds beat the Johnnies 4-2 on Friday and blanked Gustavus 4-0 on Saturday.
Neither team scored in the first two periods. Everything favored the Blugolds in the third.
Midway through the action, Leo Bacallao punched in a goal, his second of the year, as UW-Eau Claire grabbed the only lead it would need.
Cade Lemmer made it 2-0 and Quinn Green cashed on a 2-on-1 opportunity for a 3-0 advantage. That was his second goal of the year.
Jack Johnston scored the final goal of the night for UW-Eau Claire (3-0), which has scored for or more goals in every game this season.
Max Gutjahr notched the fourth shutout of his career as he made 24 saves.
Against the Johnnies, Gutjahr made 27 saves while Willy Stauber scored the game winner with less than five minutes left in regulation. Kyle Olesiuk capped the scoring with an empty-netter.
Men’s Ice Hockey: Gustavus Adolphus College Gusties vs. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds
Saint Mary’s and Hamline split
The Cardinals and Pipers split their MIAC-opening series over the weekend. Saint Mary’s won the first game 2-0 but Hamline answered with a 3-0 win Saturday.
Matt Sankner stopped 24 shots for his second career shutout and Saint Mary’s scored twice in the second period to help secure the win.
Bud Winer scored midway through the period and Colin Tushie added an insurance goal with less than two minutes left.
The Cardinals (1-3, 1-1) were not as fortunate on Saturday against the Pipers (2-2, 1-1).
Dallas Duckson scored a goal in the second period before Brandon Brandon McNamara and Jacob Wille scored goals in the final two minutes of the third to finish off the victory. Wille’s goal was an empty-netter.
Royals win and tie
Bethel and St. Olaf played to a 1-1 tie in the finale of their MIAC series Saturday. But the Royals ended up earning a shootout win on Jack Brown’s goal.
Bethel (3-0-1, 1-0-1) remains unbeaten on the season. St. Olaf (1-2-1, 0-1-1) while the Oles will have to wait for their first conference victory.
Luke Posner put the Royals up 1-0 near the midway point of the opening period. The Oles tied the game at 1-1 on Cody Sherman’s goal with under six minutes to play in regulation.
Travis Allen tallied 29 saves for the Royals. Lukas Haugen made 20 saves for St. Olaf.
The Royals won Friday’s game 2-1 in overtime thanks to a goal by Tyler Kostelcky as Bethel started 3-0 for the second consecutive year.
Cobbers remain unbeaten
Concordia continued its impressive start to the season with wins over UW-Stout and UW-Superior. The Cobbers are 3-0-1 and their four-game unbeaten streak is their best since the 2005-06 campaign when they started 4-0.
Against the Yellowjackets in a 4-0 win Saturday, Concordia scored four unanswered goals in the third period to secure the victory.
Liam Haslam scored the first goal of the night, which also happened to be his first of the season and the Cobbers rolled from there.
Cole O’Connell, Troy Dahlheimer and Mason Plante added goals to cap the scoring.
Matt Fitzgerald made 22 saves on his way to his first career shutout and owns a 0.97 goals against average on the year.
Concordia opened the weekend with a 6-2 win over Northland and has scored four or more goals in three of its games.
Six different players scored, including Zach Stoner, who got the scoring started with the first goal of his college career. The Cobbers led 3-0 after one and never looked back.
Adrian dominates Marian
The No. 2 ranked Bulldogs swept their first NCHA series of the season, winning 5-1 and 7-2 over the Sabres for their first two wins of the year.
In the final game, Adrian held a 31-27 advantage in shots, with Dershahn Stewart making 25 saves. Adrian (2-1-1, 2-0) scored four goals in the opening period and never looked back. Zachary Heintz, Devyn Orpana, Mathew Rehding and Alec Loveisek all tallied a goal and an assist. Nick Cherkowski had a goal and assist for the Sabres (0-4, 0-2).
Adrian scored three times in the final period of the opener. Rehding led the way with two goals while Jacob Suede dished out two assists as Adrian began its run at another conference title on a high note.
Green Knights edge Foresters
St. Nobert won a pair of one-goal games over Lake Forest this past weekend, earning NCHA victories by the scores of 4-3 in overtime and 3-2 in regulation.
The Green Knights trailed on both nights, including by a 2-1 score on Saturday. On the power play, Gustav Portillo punched in a goal at the 6:33 mark for his first collegiate goal to tie the game. St. Norbert (3-2, 2-0) grabbed the lead for good when T.J, Koufis scored at the 11:01 mark.
Portillo tallied a goal and an assist while Logan Dombrowsky came through with two assists. Hunter Garvey racked up 24 saves.
The Foresters (2-2, 0-2) led 2-0 after one period thanks to goals by Sanom Griffen and Chase Freiermuth.
Lake Forest led St. Norbert 3-1 after two periods before the Green Knights scored twice to tie it and send it to overtime.
Adam Stacho pulled the Green Knights within one midway through the third and then tied the game with 1:54 left in regulation.
Those were his two biggest goals on a night when he recorded a hat trick to go along with an assist. Liam Fraser dished out three assists and Dayton Deics finished with two assists.
Vikings hold own against Raiders
Lawrence came out of its NCHA series against MSOE with a tie and a win. The Vikings and Raiders played to a 2-2 tie Friday before Lawrence won the finale 2-1.
Lawrence is now unbeaten in its last three games.
Saturday’s game was tied at 1-1 going into the third when Cole Schneider came through with a hard shot from above the circles to push the Vikings in front 3-2 at the 3:32 mark.
Lawrence (2-1-1, 1-0-1) was able to hang on from there. Nolan Mahaffey made six of his 29 saves in the third to help seal the deal on the win. Austin Schwab tallied 26 saves for MSOE (2-1-1, 0-1-1).
Lawrence led midway through the second thanks to a goal from Jack Michels before Presto Park tied the game with under two minutes left. Both teams combined to go 0-for-8 on the power play.
In Friday’s tie, MSOE led 1-0 after one and 2-1 after two before the Vikings forced overtime with a goal in the third period. Neither team scored in OT but MSOE did win a shootout 3-1 to gain a point in the standings.
Owen Carlson made 48 saves for the Vikings. Schwab came through with 25 saves for the Raiders.
Trine sweeps Spartans
The Thunder remained unbeaten on the year after closing out an NCHA series against Dubuque with a 5-1 win Saturday. Trine blanked the Spartans 4-0 on Friday.
A four-goal second period put the game out of reach as the Thunder improved to 4-0 overall nad 2-0 in the conference.
Tim Organ and Sam Antenucci fueled the attack, each scoring a goal and dishing out two assists. Kyle Kozma started in goal and racked up 13 saves. James Eng scored the lone goal for Dubuque, which is still searching for its first win. The Spartans, a brand new NCAA team, are 0-4-1 overall and 0-2 in league play.
Michael DiPietra scored twice for Trine in Friday’s win. The Thunder have scored four or more goals three times this season.
Christophe Fillion helped Quinnipiac to a big win Saturday night over Harvard (photo: Rob Rasmussen/P8Photos.com).
Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of Oct. 30 fared in games over the weekend of Nov. 3-5.
No. 1 Boston College (7-1-0)
11/03/2023 – RV UMass Lowell 2 at No. 1 Boston College 3
11/04/2023 – No. 1 Boston College 3 at RV UMass Lowell 2
No. 2 Denver (6-1-1)
11/03/2023 – RV Colorado College 1 at No. 2 Denver 6
11/04/2023 – No. 2 Denver 5 at RV Colorado College 1
No. 3 North Dakota (5-2-1)
11/03/2023 – No. 3 North Dakota 2 at No. 9 Boston University 3
11/04/2023 – No. 3 North Dakota 5 at No. 9 Boston University 4 (OT)
No. 9 Boston University (4-3-1)
11/03/2023 – No. 3 North Dakota 2 at No. 9 Boston University 3
11/04/2023 – No. 3 North Dakota 5 at No. 9 Boston University 4 (OT)
No. 10 Cornell (4-0-0)
11/03/2023 – No. 10 Cornell 3 at Yale 1
11/04/2023 – No. 10 Cornell 7 at Brown 1
No. 11 Western Michigan (4-1-1)
11/03/2023 – No. 11 Western Michigan 5 at RV Omaha 2
11/04/2023 – No. 11 Western Michigan 2 at RV Omaha 3 (OT)
No. 12 Michigan State (7-3-0)
11/03/2023 – No. 12 Michigan State 6 at No. 13 Ohio State 0
11/04/2023 – No. 12 Michigan State 6 at No. 13 Ohio State 4
No. 13 Ohio State (3-3-3)
11/03/2023 – No. 12 Michigan State 6 at No. 13 Ohio State 0
11/04/2023 – No. 12 Michigan State 6 at No. 13 Ohio State 4
Minnesota Duluth returned home for a rematch against Minnesota and came away with a 3-3 tie before winning the shootout at Amsoil Arena.
The night began with a tribute to former Bulldogs standout Adam Johnson, including a video, moment of silence, and stick salute. Each of the UMD players wore an “AJ” helmet sticker in remembrance as well.
Jack Smith, Cole Spicer, and Ben Steeves scored for the Bulldogs.
Jimmy Snuggerud scored for the Gophers, while Aaron Huglen and Jaxon Nelson scored 23 seconds apart in the second period.
Matthew Thiessen ended the night with 47 saves for UMD, beating his previous career-best single-game total by 10 saves.
Justen Close stopped 27 for Minnesota.
In the shootout, Quinn Olson and Steeves scored for Minnesota Duluth.
No. 1 Boston College 3, UMass Lowell 2
Boston College scored a pair of power-play goals and Jacob Fowler posted 28 saves as BC swept a two-game Hockey East series against UMass Lowell with its second straight 3-2 victory on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center.
Cutter Gauthier scored his eighth goal in as many games and added an assist, while linemates Will Smith and Ryan Leonard lit the lamp in the second period. The pair’s third linemate, Gabe Perreault, collected a career-high three assists as he factored into every goal.
Jack Collins and Nick Rheaume scored for the River Hawks and Luke Pavicich finished with 28 saves in goal.
No. 2 Denver 5, Colorado College 1
Denver defeated Colorado College 5-1 on Saturday night at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo., to sweep the weekend series and retain the Gold Pan trophy.
The Pioneers have now won 13 consecutive regular-season contests against CC and have earned the Gold Pan for five straight years. The teams meet again at the end of the season on March 8-9, but DU only needed a series split in the four-game series to keep possession of the Gold Pan.
Boston Buckberger, Miko Matikka, Sam Harris, Carter King and Jared Wright found the back of the net for DU, while Freddie Halyk made his third consecutive start and stopped 20 shots for the win. He has allowed only two goals in those three starts.
Gleb Veremyev scored the lone goal for the Tigers and Kaidan Mbereko made 22 saves in goal.
No. 3 North Dakota 5, No. 9 Boston University 4 (OT)
Jackson Blake scored just 20 seconds into the overtime session to guide North Dakota to a 5-4 win over Boston University on Saturday night at Agganis Arena in Boston.
Blake’s goal helped UND record its first win in Boston over the Terriers since Mar. 16, 1990 and snapped a six-game winless drought against BU dating back to 2012.
Owen McLaughin, Riese Gaber, Jayden Perron, and Ben Strinden also scored for North Dakota.
Ludvig Persson finished with 29 saves in goal for the Fighting Hawks.
For BU, Lane Hutson tallied a hat trick and Devin Kaplan’s goal with 2:17 left in the third period sent the game to overtime.
Mathieu Caron made 21 saves for the Terriers.
No. 5 Wisconsin 2, No. 4 Michigan 1
Mathieu De St. Phalle’s power-play goal with 6.5 seconds left in regulation lifted Wisconsin past Michigan on Saturday night in front of 12,218 fans at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
MATHIEU DE ST. PHALLE WINS THE GAME ON THE POWER PLAY!
Carson Bantle also scored for the Badgers and Kyle McClellan stopped 28 shots between the pipes.
Wisconsin skated into the third period with a 1-0 lead, but Michigan tied the game just over one minute into the final frame on a shot from Garrett Schifsky.
The scoreboard remained quiet until Michigan challenged a shot, thinking it should be a goal. After review showed the shot hit the crossbar, it was no goal, and having already used their timeout, the Wolverines were assessed an automatic delay-of-game penalty to put Wisconsin on a power play with less than two minutes left in the third.
Jake Barczewski made 29 saves for Michigan.
No. 8 Quinnipiac 6, No. 19 Harvard 0
Quinnipiac rolled on Saturday night, scoring four in the third period to run away from Harvard by a 6-0 final at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center in Cambridge, Mass.
The 6-0 defeat is the largest margin of victory for either team in the series’ history, dating back to the Bobcats’ entrance into the ECAC in 2005.
No. 9 Boston University downed No. 3 North Dakota, 3-2, in the opener of a two-game series against the Fighting Hawks at Agganis Arena (Photo: BU Athletics/Jon Rather)
Luke Tuch’s power play tally with 15:41 remaining in regulation broke a 2-2 tie as No. 9 Boston University opened a two-game home series against No. 3 North Dakota with a 3-2 victory.
Each team scored goals in the first and second period, sending the game to the final frame tied a 2. Dylan Peterson scored for the Terriers just 51 seconds after Jackson Blake gave the Fighting Hawks a 1-0 lead in the first.
North Dakota’s Ben Strinden had an equally quick answer to Lane Hutson’s goal in the second period, tallying at 13:07, 24 seconds after the Terriers took the lead.
Mattieu Caron was impressive in net for the Terriers stopping 32 shots, including 16 in the third period.
No. 1 Boston College 3, UMass Lowell 2
Newly-minted number one Boston College survived a tremendous effort from UMass Lowell, getting a third-period goal from defenseman Aram Minnetian, his first collegiate goal at 1:19 of the third period in a 3-2 victory over the River Hawks.
Boston College proved its offensive prowess early with rookie Ryan Leonard burying a goal 51 seconds into the game and Cutter Gauthier one-timing a puck on the power play at 9:49 of the opening frame.
Filip Fornaa Svensson pulled Lowell within a goal 41 seconds after Gauthier’s tally. And Scout Truman buried a rebound goal 1:20 into the second.
UMass Lowell pressed the top-ranked Eagles in the second, outshooting them, 13-8, but BC net minder Jacob Fowler was strong after allowing the tying goal. Fowler finished with 27 saves.
The two teams meet again in Lowell on Saturday.
No. 5 Wisconsin 5, No. 4 Michigan 4
One of the biggest early surprises from the 2023-24 season, Wisconsin, remained red hot on Friday, scoring the game’s final three goals including two in a 29-second span late in the third to shock the Wolverines in front of 10,114 at the Kohl Center.
Michigan grabbed a two-goal lead on tallies by Gavin Brindley at 15:07 of the first and a quick pair by Frank Nazar and Brindley less than two minutes apart in the second.
Cruz Lucius responded with a goal 64 seconds later, at 15:04 of the second. Simon Tassy had the tying goal on the power play with 4:15 left and Owen Lindmark netted the game-winner with 3:46 remaining to ignite the Kohl Center crowd.
Last weekend, the Dartmouth Big Green were on the wrong side of the longest shootout in men’s Division I college hockey history, unable to score in 18 attempts.
Combined with attempts on Friday, Dartmouth had missed 20 straight. But Nikita Nikora’s shootout goal, the only one scored between the Big Green and defending national champion Quinnipiac, gave Dartmouth the extra point in the ECAC standings on Friday, after a 2-2 tie.
Quinnipiac never trailed in the game jumping to a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the first on Travis Treloar and another go-ahead goal from Christophe Tellier at 1:39 of the second.
Dartmouth’s Luke Haynes evened the game with 4 minutes left in the second and the two teams exchanged chances in the third period in overtime to force the shootout.
No. 6 Minnesota 5, No. 14 Minnesota Duluth 1
The Golden Gophers bounced back from a lost weekend against Wisconsin with a five-goal explosion against in-state rival Minnesota Duluth, a 5-1 victory.
Bryce Brodinski scored twice and Rhett Ptilick added a goal and an assist in the victory.
Jack Devine scored twice and 15 different Denver skaters registered points on the evening and the second-ranked Pioneers improved to 5-1-1 on the season.
The two teams will face one another in Colorado Springs on Saturday but then won’t finish their four-game series for the Gold Cup until the final weekend of the regular season.
Brett Humberstone and the Pointers face St. Scholastica this weekend. (Photo Credit: UW-Stevens Point Athletics)
Week two is here and another busy slate of games is ahead, including a matchup worthy of the postseason when St. Scholastica takes on UW-Stevens Point while Lake Forest tries to keep its momentum going when it opens NCHA play against St. Norbert.
Friday
Saint John’s (0-1) vs. No. 10 UW-Eau Claire (1-0)
The Johnnies come in looking for their first goal of the season. It won’t be easy against the Blugolds, who are nationally ranked and riding high after a big win over Augsburg last week in a battle of ranked teams. Slowing down the balanced offensive attack of the Blugolds is key. A quick UW-Eau Claire is important if it is to prevail on the road against a team that is always tough at home. UW-Eau Claire, 4-3
UW-Superior at No. 12 Augsburg (0-1)
The Auggies lost a tough one in overtime against UW-Eau Claire last week despite scoring four goals.
Shoring up things defensively is going to be important. Augsburg was outshot 38-16. Samuel Vyletelka made 33 saves. If he’s on his game, the Auggies will be tough to beat. The Yellowjackets are looking to bounce back as well after a wild comeback attempt fell short.
One thing is for certain. UW-Superior can score goals and it’s a team that won’t back down from a challenge. Augsburg, 5-4
Saturday
UW-Stout (0-0) at No. 12 Augsburg (0-1)
The Auggies face their second consecutive tough test here when they take on the Blue Devils, who are coming off a stellar season. The Blue Devils are in a similar position as they will come into this game after playing St. Scholastica a night earlier in their opener. The Blue Devils beat the Auggies in overtime a year ago. Maybe it happens again. UW-Stout, 4-3
No 5 UW-Stevens Point (1-0) at St. Scholastica (1-0)
The Pointers were an NCAA tournament team last season. The Saints just missed on a playoff berth after falling short in the MIAC championship game. This is a statement kind of opportunity for St. Scholastica, who have two of the best offensive players in the country in Arkhip and Filimon Ledenkov.
UW-Stevens Point is facing a big test on the road and is coming off a 4-2 win over St. Norbert. We are going to see a lot of offense in this one. Hard to bet against the Pointers, but in this instance, let’s go with the upset. St. Scholastica, 6-5
Friday and Saturday
Bethel (2-0) vs. St. Olaf (1-1)
A home-and-home matchup between two MIAC teams, starting Friday with the Royals hosting the Oles.
Bethel is off to a great start and has a ton of confidence after knocking off nationally ranked St. Norbert for the first time since 1989. Austy Ryman was a key to success, stopping 61 shots in two games over the weekend, including 31 against the Green Knights.
While Ryman as the defensive player of the week in the MIAC, the Oles had the offensive player of the week in Jonathan Young, who scored twice and dished out an assist last weekend. Should be a fun series to watch. Bethel, 4-1; St. Olaf, 3-2
Lake Forest (2-0) at St. Norbert (1-1)
Big opportunity here for Lake Forest, which looked impressive over the opening weekend, scoring 14 goals in two games and not allowing one. The Foresters beat then nationally ranked Babson along the way winning 4-0, and if that offense is clicking, they will be tough to beat.
The Green Knights are at home and that could play to their advantage. And they certainly have the talent to get the job done. I’m looking for a split here. Lake Forest, 5-2; St. Norbert, 4-3
MSOE (2-0) at Lawrence (1-1)
The Raiders have two wins, including one over Babson, and are playing well going into week two of the season. A total of 12 players have at least one point, with Carson Jones and Jacob Bosse each scoring three goals. That balanced attack will be key to their success this weekend. The Vikings split last weekend against Northland but will need a great game defensively to have a chance at success in this series. MSOE, 4-2 and 5-2
No. 2 Adrian (0-1-1) at Marian (0-2)
The Bulldogs have yet to win a game but they played Utica tough last weekend and hope to have a better result against the Sabres in their first NCHA series of the weekend. Adrian scored only two goals in two games against Utica but should get its offense going against the Sabres. Marian managed only three goals in two games last weekend and it won’t be easy putting the puck in the net against the Bulldogs. Adrian 6-2 and 5-1
Curry forward Timmy Kent will lead the offense against rival Endicott in a critical CCC matchup this weekend (Photo by Curry Athletics)
It’s only week two of the season and there are already intriguing matchups lining up across early conference play. Nothing should get teams more motivated than winning and getting points over key conference opponents. It is still very early in the season, and no one is going to win a conference championship in early November but, you don’t want to lose your shot with a poor start in league play either. Last week amidst all the marquee games I finished my first week going 8-4-0 (.667) so of course there is room for improvement, or not. Let’s see how the dozen picks below for some interesting games in the East treat me this week. Here are the picks:
Friday, November 3, 2023
(7) Endicott v. (13) Curry
Both teams are winless entering league play so that should add a little spice the CCC game that both teams want to send a message by winning. The Gulls just couldn’t find much offense in terms of goals at Norwich but look for them to make things difficult for the Colonels who always play well at home. This one might need some bonus hockey to decide a winner – Endicott, 4-3
(6) Norwich v. (1) Hobart
So, you want to know what a playoff game atmosphere looks like in November? Then The Cooler on Friday night is where you should be for a big NEHC contest between two of the top contenders. These two teams always play things tight and goals are always at a premium. Special teams are the difference for the home team who find a late goal and the two points – Hobart, 2-1
St. Michael’s v. Southern New Hampshire
Both teams are coming off confidence building weekends with wins to open the season. The Purple Knights seem to have found some offensive magic early in the season and that will propel them to an important NE-10 win and solid start to the conference schedule they missed out on last season – St. Michael’s, 3-2
Buffalo State v. Cortland
While everyone talks about the Big 3 in the SUNYAC, Cortland quietly outscored their opponents by a 15-4 margin in two games last weekend to go 2-0. League play means the stakes are higher, but the Red Dragons are tough at home and want to continue the winning trend behind the firepower of Nate Berke & Company– Cortland, 6-4
Stevenson v. (3) Utica
Last year the Pioneers needed overtime at Stevenson to keep their unbeaten conference record alive. This year the venue has changed but not so much the need for bonus hockey. The Mustangs keep this one physical and low-scoring, but the home team ekes out the “W” – Utica, 3-2
Albertus Magnus v. Wilkes
The Falcons have made the national poll for the first time after winning their opening two games. Wilkes struggled at Cortland but will be ready to host the Falcons. Tight game after forty minutes but the Falcons soar in the third to their third straight road win – Albertus Magnus, 5-2
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Western New England v. (11) University of New England
The Golden Bears want to prove they can play with anyone in the CCC, and their first taste of league play sees them traveling to play one of the top teams. UNE struggled against Plymouth State, but home ice means a lot to the Nor’easters who find a way to win – UNE, 3-2
Skidmore v. Johnson & Wales
The Thoroughbreds will be looking to break from the gate fast in NEHC play and a road game against the Wildcats should help them be successful. Too much depth for Skidmore and too much Tate Brandon for Johnson & Wales – Skidmore, 4-0
Fitchburg State v. Anna Maria
This game just seems like it is going to be a physical matchup with a lot of scoring coming off special teams. The AmCats just lost out to Assumption in the Woo Cup but get back on track with a nice win at home – Anna Maria, 5-4
MCLA v. Rivier
Welcome back to D-III hockey, Massachusetts Colle of Liberal Arts or MCLA! The team formerly known as North Adams State opens their season against Rivier who played Alvernia close last weekend. Home ice and a needed empty-net goal are the difference in this one for the Raiders – Rivier, 4-2
Babson v. (8) Plymouth State
The Beavers traveled west and came home with two losses and the road doesn’t get easier facing he Panthers on the road. These games are always close and Kalle Andersson is the difference as Craig Russell’s team finds a way to down the Beavers for a big win –PSU, 3-2
King’s v. Chatham
The Cougars have made great strides in the UCHC since joining the conference and certainly want to show other contending teams that they are not to be taken lightly. A win over King’s isn’t a nice to have; it’s a must have! – Chatham, 4-2
There are certainly going to be more surprises every week as teams figure out who they are and what their game is against very challenging opposition. This week adds the spice of conference play to the mix so look for more upsets and teams looking to build some success early in the season. Can’t take any team for granted – “Drop the Puck!”
TJ Hughes and No. 4 Michigan travel to play No. 5 Wisconsin this weekend (photo: Michigan Photography).
We’re going to vary from the normal USCHO Edge column this week and echo the USCHO Edge podcast in discussing Team Futures in this week’s column.
For those who aren’t familiar with the terminology, a “future bet” is one that you place that is graded on how a team finishes. In major sports like MLB or the NFL, a future has many meanings. Maybe you’re betting on whether a team wins its division. Maybe it has to do with reaching the conference final or, say, winning the American or National League and advancing to baseball’s World Series.
For college hockey, it’s much easier. There is exactly one futures bet – which team will win the national championship.
I call it a simple bet, but I’ll say in the modern betting game, it is actually anything but simple.
Here are some things that matter if you want to try to make a bet on the eventual national champion.
Shopping your bet matters a ton
Any seasoned gambler knows that odds on each and every bet available might vary by the book maker. Nowhere is that more true than on NCAA hockey futures.
Sure, there may be five different books whose odds slightly vary. But when we look at the modern-day sports books, the actual location of the book can significantly sway odds.
There are some states that don’t allow in-state residents to place wagers, including futures wagers – on teams based in their home state. So, let’s take my home state, Massachusetts. If I log into DraftKings, I’m not able to access lines on any Massachusetts teams. So no Boston College, no Boston University, no UMass schools.
Because that takes 12 teams out of the overall equation, the other teams have shorter odds.
Minnesota right now is +700, or 7-to-1, to win the national championships when all teams are available on DraftKings. But in Massachusetts, the Gophers are +600, or 6-to-1.
My point here is that when you’re considering making a play on a future, make sure you’re getting the best possible odds. Compare various online books. If you’re making a trip to a casino that has a sports book, look for longer odds – that is +800 is better odds than +700 because you’ll make $100 more per $100 bet on the higher odds number.
Favorites aren’t always favorable
When Quinnipiac hoisted the national championship trophy last April in Tampa, it’s likely you wouldn’t find too many gamblers holding a ticket on the Bobcats. At one point in the season, Quinnipiac was as high as +3000, meaning a $100 bet if placed with those odds paid $3100 once the Bobcats defeated Minnesota.
The reality is that very few favorites in the month of November go on to be the national champion. The college hockey season is long with ebbs and flows and – above all – plenty of injuries. Teams get on runs in the postseason (see Yale 2013, Providence 2015).
Thus, it is my belief that if you’re looking to make a bet in November, you’re better off trying to look at some early trends and prognosticate a team that might create incredible value (an example outside of hockey is the Texas Rangers, which at one point in August was 60-to-1, or +6000 to win the World Series).
Right now, it’s easy to look at teams that had low expectations but have shown positive signs thus far. Wisconsin, at 7-1-0, was still +3000 as of Monday to win the title. Arizona State, which began 4-0-0 before a loss and tie at Miami, is in the same camp at +4000.
Looking for even longer odds, New Hampshire has been strong against nationally-ranked opponents and sits at +15000. Their border buddies, Maine, have half the odds at +7500, but also have a more recognizable name in the sports books.
The low-cost solution: parlays
Anyone who listens to our podcasts or knows me well, knows I don’t love parlays. Two separate bets will often create one win and one loss. Made individually, those bets pretty much even off. Made in a parlay, you have one solid loser.
But you can create parlays of various futures to wage a tiny amount of money with the hope of a massive payout. This, in my opinion, is really about the entertainment. This of a parlay bet on futures being more like buying a Powerball ticket.
Here, though, is one example of a four-way parlay I built today. Let’s look at four champions: Super Bowl, College Football Playoff, the Final Four and the Frozen Four.
If we couple some favorites together – Kansas City in NFL, Michigan in college football, Kansas in basketball and Michigan in hockey – all four being victorious would pay about +170000. Thus a $10 bet could yield a payout of about $17,000 if all four hit. unlikely yes. But so is winning Powerball, right?
Use this as entertainment, not income
One last thought on futures. Unless you’re gambling through your local bookmaker as opposed to an app or casino, you’re likely putting up the money for your bet in advance. Thus, if you, say, wager $500 on five different college hockey futures, you’re not going to have access to that entire $500 until April.
Additionally, very few “sharps,” or professional gamblers who understand edges, typically on a game-to-game basis, will bet futures with much serious hope to win. These bets are considered fun by even the most serious bettors.
That’s the only approach to a future. Have fun and enjoy and, if you come out with an additional $2000 or so, know you made a good pick – and got lucky!
There are 1119 women rostered to play NCAA DI women’s hockey this season representing 17 countries. Players come from 34 US states, 11 Canadian provinces, 12 European and 3 Asian countries.
This data was collected by individually surveying the posted rosters of each NCAA DI team.
The US is home to the majority of players in Hockey East, NEWHA and the WCHA, while the split between US and Canadian players is much closer to equal in the CHA and ECAC.
Minnesota leads the way with 219 players. Ontario is the top Canadian province with 206 women calling it home.
Of the 1119 women rostered this season, 694 call the US home. The top three states by number of skaters are Minnesota, Massachusetts (105) and New York (50). Minnesota-born players make up 31.5% of all NCAA players this season and are a full 50% of the women playing in the WCHA in 2023-24.
In all, women representing 34 states are currently playing NCAA DI hockey. NEWHA leads the way with 78% of their players hailing from the US, followed closely by the WCHA, with 76% of their players claiming America as their home.
A full third of the women playing DI women’s hockey this season hail from Canada – 365 of the 1119 skaters. Players from 11 of the Canadian provinces and territories are taking the ice this season. The ECAC has the most players who call Canada home with 142 – that’s 46% of the women who play for ECAC teams.
There are 60 players from countries outside North America and they make up 5% of the total players rostered this season. Fifteen countries are represented. Hockey East leads the way in total number of countries represented with 11, while the 16 non-North American players skating in the WCHA are most among the conferences.
