On the Fly
Friday, October 15
Bowling Green 0 at Clarkson 4
Junior Jake Morley and senior Brandon DeFazio registered a goal and an assist each as the Golden Knights blanked BGSU in Clarkson’s home opener. The Knights scored twice in the first and twice more in the third, as junior Paul Karpowich made 31 saves for his second career shutout – his first since the last day of January, 2009.
St. Lawrence 2 at Ferris State 4
Playing with an adjusted roster due to injuries, SLU couldn’t quite keep up with the Bulldogs in a tight loss. Junior Jacob Drewiske and senior Nick Pitsikoulis scored for the Saints, but rookie Matt Weninger surrendered four goals on 24 shots on enemy ice.
Rensselaer 2 at Northeastern 2
RPI scored both of its goals on the power play, going 2-8 with the advantage in a brutally physical, 26-penalty draw in Boston’s Back Bay. Bryan Brutlag and Chase Polacek lit the lamp for the Engineers, while Allen York made 26 stops in net.
Bentley 2 at Quinnipiac 3
The Bobcats’ 3-0 lead at the second intermission nearly evaporated before their eyes Friday night, but junior netminder Dan Clarke (23 saves) ultimately held his ground despite two third-period goals by the Falcons. Youth led the way for QU, as freshman Connor Jones and sophomore Russell Goodman scored on the power play for the ‘Cats, following sophomore Clay Harvey’s game-opening goal only 1:04 into the contest.
Union 1 at Alaska 2
Union sophomore Jeremy Welsh’s power-play goal opened the game, but the Nanooks closed it with single second- and third-period goals against Welsh’s classmate, Keith Kinkaid (23 saves). After Union scored 16 goals in two games against Sacred Heart, Alaska stymied the Dutchmen offense in allowing 23 shots – and only four in the third period.
Saturday, October 16
Bowling Green 3 at Clarkson 0
The Falcons rebounded against the Knights in Game 2, beating the hosts on the strength of first- and third-period goals, capped off by an empty-netter. BGSU sunk the Golden Knights’ power play on each of four advantages yet again, sending Clarkson’s PP unit to 0-9 on the weekend and 0-18 for the season. Karpowich made 21 saves in the loss.
St. Lawrence 0 at Ferris State 3
FSU completed the home sweep, scoring once in the first and twice in the second on Weninger (21 saves) before he was replaced by junior Joe Spadaccini (10 saves) to start the third. The Saints were blanked on the power play for the third straight game as well (0-12 in that stretch), after opening the season with a 3-5 performance at Minnesota State-Mankato.
Bentley 0 at Rensselaer 3
York earned his first shutout of the year and third of his career, stopping all 23 Bentley shots to extend RPI’s unbeaten streak to a modest three games (1-0-2). Polacek and senior Tyler Helfrich each notched a power-play goal and two assists, and sophomore C.J. Lee chipped in with a goal and a helper as well as the Engineers went 2-6 with the man-advantage.
Union 4 at Alaska-Anchorage 3
The Dutchmen bounced back with timely offense and a solid penalty kill against the Seawolves. Welsh scored another power-play goal for Union – which has tallied on the PP in all four games this year – and the visitors held UAA to 1-7 on the man-advantage. This allowed UC to retake the lead after surrendering a 3-0 first-period advantage, when junior Kelly Zajac scored his fifth of the season late in the second stanza. Kinkaid made 33 stops in net, supported as well by senior Adam Presizniuk’s first goal of the year and freshman Daniel Carr’s second.
In retrospect…
Prediction precision: 6-2-1 (.722)
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