Two thrilling games, both of which went to overtime, was among the highlights of the weekend schedule in the NCHA.
The Milwaukee School of Engineering and Aurora battled through a hard-fought series that resulted in the Raiders winning 5-4 on Friday before the Spartans bounced back with a 2-1 win on Saturday.
In the finale, the two teams combined for 19 shots in the opening period. But neither team scored.
Tied at 1-1 after the second period, a scoreless third paved the way for OT.
Dylan Rauh prevailed with the game-winner in the second minute of the extra session on a night when Aurora got 41 shots off.
Josh Boyko came through with 43 saves while Derrick Budz came through with a pair of assists. Brendan Blair scored Aurora’s other goal. Aurora is 3-1 on the year.
The Raiders capitalized on the power play in Friday’s win over the Spartans, scoring on three of their four power-play opportunities.
Jeff Makowski tallied the game winner less than four minutes into the OT period as MSOE earned its first conference win of the season and its fifth victory overall.
Kevin Paganini tallied two goals while Logan Halladay managed 46 saves for the Raiders.
Saints pick up a pair of wins
Saint Scholastica split a weekend series with Lawrence, winning the finale 5-4 in overtime Sunday. It earned a 3-1 win over Saint John’s last Wednesday.
Sam Fuss punched in the game winner in the OT win, scoring 14 seconds into the expera period.
Jack Bostedt made 29 saves as the Saints improved to 2-5 on the year and also earned their first NCHA win of the season.
Arkhip Ledenkov scored twice for the Saints and also dished out an assist. Fillmon Ledenkov added three assists.
Lawrence won the opener of the series on Friday with a 7-3 win. Seven different Vikings scored while Alex Mosquera came through with a big performance between the pipes, stopping 34 shots as Lawrence earned its first win of the season.
Bulldogs sweep Sabres
Adrian gained the upper hand with a sweep of Marian in a weekend showdown, winning 8-4 on Friday before closing out the series with a 5-1 win.
The Bulldogs improved to 9-5 on the season.
Alessio Luciani paved the way in the final game of the series, scoring twice and dishing out a pair of assists. Jaden Shields added a goal and two assists.
Adrian held a 38-19 advantage in shots and took control in the third period by scoring three times. The Bulldogs are now 17-2 lifetime on their home ice against the Sabres.
Thunder struck
Trine rallied for a 4-3 overtime win against Marian Sunday thanks to a goal by Corey Robertson less than a minute into the extra session.
Garrett Hallford tied the game with just 26 seconds left in regulation to force OT. The goal by Hallford was his fourth of the year.
Falcons bounce back
After losing 1-0 to Wisconsin-Stevens Point earlier in the week, Wisconsin-River Falls bounced back in a big way Saturday by skating past the Pointers 6-2.
Charlie Singerhouse scored twice to pace the Falcons, who built a 3-0 lead in the opening period and never looked back.
Singerhouse also dished out an assist while Adam Canepa tallied a pair of assists.
Vilho Saariluoma also scored twice for UW-River Falls. He recorded an assist as well as the Falcons nailed down their second win of the season.
Dysen Skinner earned the win, making 24 saves, including 10 in each of the final two periods of play. Skinner played all 60 minutes.
Blue Devils keep streak intact
Wisconsin-Stout stretched its win streak to two Friday with a 4-2 win over Northland.
The Blue Devils have won three of their first four games of the season and are in first place in the WIAC standings.
Peter Verstegen, Steven Mordini, Logan Nelson and Kobe Keller all scored goals for the Blue Devils, who trailed 1-0 after one period of play but dominated the final period by scoring three goals.
Zack Cloutier made 34 saves as he picked up his third win of the year.
