This past weekend, the best conference in college hockey, the NCHC, was back in action with some great matchups. Let’s dive into how each team fared.
#8 Western Michigan at Nebraska-Omaha
Last Friday we previewed this matchup and discussed what needed to happen if the Mavericks wanted to pull off an improbable upset. On Friday night, Omaha jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period but wasn’t able to take it to the locker room after giving up three, second period goals. They were able to tie things up early in the third, but the Broncos scored on a powerplay with 14 seconds left in regulation to prevail and give them a chance for the weekend sweep.
On Saturday night, Omaha had the Broncos playing from behind early once again as they went to the first intermission with a 2-1 lead. The Mavericks didn’t take their foot off the gas and piled on three more goals in the second before giving up two more to take a 5-3 lead into the third. The Broncos’ comebacks hopes were ended on an empty net goal with 20 seconds remaining to secure the win for Omaha, as well as a weekend split.
#1 St. Cloud State vs. Miami (OH)
The best team in the country hosted The Redhawks from Miami this weekend. Friday night’s game was tight through two periods of play. SCSU jumped out in front after the first, but the two teams traded goals in the second to give the Huskies a 2-1 edge going into the third. SCSU showed why they are the best team in the country during the third period as they poured in three goals to send the Redhawks back to their hotel in disbelief. The final score was 5-1 in favor of the Huskies.
Saturday night wasn’t any different. The Huskies asserted their dominance early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead, and added three more in the second to break the game wide open. Miami managed to find the back of the net once in the third, but the damage had already been done at that point. SCSU won once again by a score of 5-1 to earn the weekend sweep.
#7 Denver vs. North Dakota
Denver came into this series looking to rebound after last weekend’s dismantling by Western Michigan. The Pioneers scored a goal apiece in the first and second periods to take a 2-0 lead into the third. With five minutes left in the game, North Dakota scored to make it a one-goal game, but wasn’t able to tie things up. Denver was able to hold on a get a much-needed rebound win.
Saturday night was a battle for these two teams. Denver struck early in the first to go up 1-0 and looked to be taking that lead into the third period until North Dakota snuck one in with 13 seconds left in the period to tie things up. Both teams shot 10 times in the third but weren’t able to get anything past, which officially ended the game as a tie. 3v3 overtime looked like it would be similar to the third period until Denver was able to score in the final 20 seconds to unofficially earn the weekend sweep. These were much-needed wins for the Pioneers who are looking to get back on track.
#3 Minnesota Duluth at Colorado College
The defending national champion Bulldogs went on the road to Colorado Springs to take on the Tigers from Colorado College. The champs had their work cut out for them early as the Tigers went into the first break up 1-0 and into second up 3-1. The Bulldogs looked for a big third period to tie things up, but weren’t able to find it, losing 4-1. This was a big upset for the Tigers who have been looking for some momentum to make a push in the NCHC standings.
The Bulldogs were hungry for revenge on Saturday but neither team was able to find the back of the net after 20 minutes of play. Then, the Bulldogs finally found what they were looking for as they exploded for three goals in the second and three more in the third to cap off a 6-0 win. Unfortunately, a split wasn’t what the Dogs were looking for, but Saturday night’s win should serve as momentum going into next weekend.
NCHC Standings:
After this weekends action, the conference standings are as follows:
- St. Cloud State- 39 points (12-2-2)
- Minnesota Duluth- 31 points (10-5-1)
- Western Michigan- 29 points (9-6-1)
- Denver- 25 points (7-6-2)
- North Dakota- 22 points (7-8-1)
- Colorado College- 17 points (5-8-2)
- Omaha- 14 points (4-11-1)
- Miami (OH)- 12 points (3-11-2)
NCHC Players of the week
SCSU took home offensive and defensive player of the week awards after their sweep of Miami (OH). Junior Forward Ryan Poehling won offensive player of the week after a 5-point weekend. He tallied two goals and two assists in Friday nights win for a career-high of four points and added one more assist on Saturday night for the fifth. Senior Defenseman Jimmy Schuldt won defensive player of the week. He blocked two shots Friday night, as well as scoring to break a 1-1 tie, and adding an assist later in the third period. Saturday night he racked up two more assists and another blocked shot. The senior played a vital role in limiting the Redhawks to only two goals on the weekend.
Omaha freshman, Taylor Ward won rookie of the week for his play against Western Michigan. The freshman scored a goal in the second period to go up 2-0 on Friday night and tied a career high three assists on Saturday night to total four points on the weekend.
Denver freshman, Filip Larsson, took home the goaltender of the week award after a big weekend against rival North Dakota. Larsson earned a career-high, 45 saves in Friday’s win and racked up 31 more on Saturday night. He only allowed 2 goals all weekend to have a save percentage of .974 which was the best in the conference this weekend.
For the second straight week, the NCHC saw four teams inside the top 8 in the USCHO polls. SCSU remained in their #1 spot while Minnesota Duluth fell to #5. Denver stayed put at #7 and WMU stayed at #8. NCHC action will pick back up this weekend and we look forward to recapping it for you next Monday. For more college hockey news you can follow us on Twitter @StudentUHockey
