The first weekend in December saw clutch goaltending, as Concordia (Minn.) moved to within a point of St. Thomas in the MIAC. In other Midwest action, Wisconsin-River Falls sits atop the NCHA standings alone after sweeping Wisconsin-Superior, and Adrian comes back in the MCHA after a disappointing Thanksgiving tournament.
MIAC
Concordia (Minn.) remained unbeaten in its last five games against St. Thomas with a win and a tie over the weekend. Actually, Concordia was only 12 seconds away from a sweep, but St. Thomas tied Saturday’s game with the goalie pulled in favor of the extra player.
St. Thomas started the series strong by jumping out to a 2-0 lead Friday. Brandon Bahnemann and Travis Baker each scored first period goals for St. Thomas. Concordia (Minn.) took control, tying the score 2-2 in the second period on goals by Dan Hrabowych and Braden Rahman. Ben Payne scored the game-winning goal at 4:53 of the third for Concordia.
Saturday’s game saw Concordia take 10 penalties, but kill all 10, including a pair of five-on-threes. Concordia goaltender Chris Neamonitis stopped 43 shots on the evening.
Also in the MIAC
Bethel jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 5-2 victory on Friday over Hamline. Chaz Gerads scored the game-winning goal at 3:31 in overtime to seal the sweep for Bethel on Saturday.
St. Olaf and St. Mary’s split their weekend series. Kevin Harris scored twice for St. Olaf in its 5-2 Friday victory. Andrew Ketterer scored with less than a second left in the game, giving St. Mary’s a dramatic 2-1 win on Saturday.
Gustavus swept Augsburg over the weekend. Gustavus registered a 6-0 shutout Friday and scored three power-play goals on Saturday on its way to a 4-1 victory.
NCHA
Wis.-River Falls established itself as the conference juggernaut in the NCHA by sweeping Wis.-Superior on the road over the weekend. After starting the season with eight straight home games, No. 4 Wis.-River Falls played on the road for the first time this season.
Friday night saw Wis.-Superior start off the scoring with a second period goal from Pat Dalbec, but it was all Wis.-River Falls after that. Jason Yuel tied the game for Wis.-River Falls and Jake Calleja scored the game-winner in the second period. Justin Brossman and Alec Hagaman added insurance goals in the third period.
Wis.-River Falls defeated Wis.-Superior 2-1 Saturday. Adam Cardwell and Jon Schreiner scored for Wis.-River Falls, while Jeff Forsythe scored a short-handed goal at 8:10 in the third period for Wis.-Superior.
Also in the NCHA
St. Scholastica remained unbeaten in its last five games. St. Scholastica topped Wis.-Stout in a wild 8-6 victory on Friday. Tyler Miller scored his first collegiate hat trick to lead St. Scholastica. Branden Gay recorded his own hat trick for Wis.-Stout in the loss. Saturday’s game saw both teams matching each other goal-for-goal in a 3-3 overtime tie.
Wis.-Eau Claire and Wis.-Stevens Point split the weekend series. Wis.-Eau Claire won 4-1 Friday and Wis.-Stevens Point scored a 2-1 victory Saturday.
MCHA
Adrian returned to the win column with a pair of wins over Concordia (Wis.) this weekend. Zach Wilson registered the hat trick in Adrian’s 9-4 Friday victory. Lukas Ciotti scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third, as Adrian collected the sweep with a 5-3 win Saturday.
Also in the MCHA
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) swept its series against Lake Forest. MSOE erupted for six goals in the third period in a 9-3 win on Friday. On Saturday, MSOE withstood two third period goals by Lake Forest to hold on to a 4-3 victory.
Marian remained undefeated in the MCHA with a win and a tie over Northland this weekend. Marian defeated Northland 8-4 on Friday, and the two teams skated to a 5-5 overtime draw on Saturday.
Lawrence and Finlandia split their weekend series. Finlandia won the series opener on Friday by a 6-2 score. Lawrence came back Saturday with a 5-1 victory.
