This was the second to last weekend before the NCHC tournament. We saw a few teams trying to lock up home ice for the tournament and had a battle of top 10 teams. As always it made for a lot of great action.
#1 SCSU at #10 WMU
We’ve already done an in-depth recap of this matchup that you can find here. I will say this. St Cloud showed the country why they’re ranked #1 in the country. After an incredible third-period comeback win on Friday, the Huskies completely dominated Saturday’s contest. They’re without the best in the nation.
Miami (OH) at #3 Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs were looking to lock up home ice for the first round of the NCHC Tournament. All they needed to do was get the win against Miami on Friday night. They did just that winning the game 4-2. Scoring for the Bulldogs was Noah Crates, who had his first career multi-goal game, along with Peter Krieger and Cole Koepke. For the Redhawks, goals were netted by Jonathan Gruden and Ryan Siroky.
Saturday night got off to an exciting start. Each team scored three goals to end the period just as deadlocked as it started. Nick Wolfe scored two goals in the first 86 seconds of the first period for the Bulldogs. The second period was just as deadlocked as the first. Both teams took the lead temporarily but at the end of the 20 minutes everything was tied at five goals apiece. Finally in the third there was some separation. Only one goal was scored and it was by Kobe Roth to give UMD the win. This weekends sweep gives the Bulldogs a lot of momentum going into next weeks battle with St Cloud State.
#6 Denver at Omaha
The Pioneers were also looking to lock up home ice advantage for the NCHC Tournament with a win. Denver struck twice in the first to get off to a good start but the Mavericks cut the deficit to one 30 seconds in the second. The third period saw Denver pull away with two more goals to get the win and secure home ice.
Saturday night was a steady goal scoring night. Each team sounded the horn in the first to keep things tied at the first intermission. Denver took the reins in the second getting on the board twice, but Omaha also scored again to keep things close. It was a 3-2 game going into the third in favor of the Mavericks. With less than six minutes left in the third, Kevin Conley tied things up for Omaha and sent the game to overtime. The game ended in a 3-3 tie but Denver was able to win in a shootout. For Omaha, this was a good outing. They’d been dominated by Denver all year so to get out of this game with a tie was big for them.
#20 North Dakota at Colorado College
North Dakota found themselves back in the top 20 this week after a few strong outings. They went out to Colorado College to meet a Tiger team that’s been playing HOT. Friday night was a defensive battle for the first 40 minutes. Going into the third the game was still tied at 0-0. Finally in the third we saw some offense as CC scored three unanswered goals to start the period. North Dakota finally scored with three and a half minutes to go, but it wasn’t enough. The Tigers had pulled off their second straight upset.
North Dakota was looking for revenge on Saturday night and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Goals were scored by Cole Smith and Matt Kiersted. The 2-0 lead held through the rest of the first and all of the second. Christiano Versich cut the lead to one late in the third, but their wasn’t enough time left for the Tigers to rally. The Eagles barely survived their trip to Colorado Springs, but getting out with a win was huge.
Conference Players of the Week
Offensive: Ben Lizotte of St Cloud State took home the offensive award after a six point weekend. His production was key to the Huskies sweep of Western Michigan. He had three assists in their comeback win on Friday, including the game tying and game winning goals. On Saturday he found the back of the net twice while adding another assist.
Defensive: Mikey Anderson of Minnesota Duluth took home the defensive award. He dished out two assists apiece in each game along with blocking four shots.
Freshman: Noah Cates of Minnesota Duluth was the freshman of the week. This was largely due to his huge Friday night. He scored two goals in the first 90 seconds and also dished out an assist for a three point weekend.
Goaltender: Alex Leclerc of Colorado College was this weeks goaltender of the week. He notched 29 saves in a Tuesday matchup with #6 Denver. Had another 34 saves, 14 being shorthanded, on Friday and then another 34 on Saturday. He posted a .960 save percentage for the weekend.
Weekly Rankings
The conference saw all five of last weeks teams remain in this weeks USCHO rankings. St. Cloud State almost unanimously remained at #1 while UMD stayed at #3. Denver also stayed put at #6 while Western Michigan continues to slide. The Broncos currently sit at #12, two spots down from last week. Despite a split with CC, North Dakota moved up one spot to #19.
For more college hockey coverage follow us on Twitter @StudentUHockey and we look forward to recapping next weeks regular season finale for you.