One, two, three.
Those are the seeds St. Olaf beat during a remarkable run through the MIAC tournament that ended Saturday night with a stunning win over top-seeded and nationally ranked Augsburg.
Already riding the high of road wins over second-seeded Concordia and third-seeded Saint John’s, the seventh-seeded Oles rose to the occasion once again, earning their first win over a top five opponent since 2014 and securing an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Jonathan Young helped make it all possible against the Auggies, the fourth-ranked team in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll. He tallied three points, two of which came off goals as he recorded the first multi-goal game of his career.
Sean Walsh, Parker Casey and Brendan Darby also scored for the Oles (11-14-3), who had lost last their last eight against top five opponents. Darby is the only player among the Oles that scored who isn’t a freshman.
Casey scored off a rebound to put St. Olaf up 1-0 after one period, and the Oles stretched that advantage to 3-0 after two periods thanks to goals by Young and Walsh. Young has scored a goal in three consecutive games. Walsh has scored five goals in his last seven games.
Young then added another goal in the third, scoring off the power play, and Darby finished off the scoring with his sixth goal of the year.
Jarod Blackowiak and Austin Dollimer both scored for the Auggies (24-4), who came in searching for their fifth MIAC crown in the last six seasons.
For the Oles, it was just their third time playing for the title and their second time winning it. They last won the championship in 2006. They were the runner-up in 2012.
Lukas Haugen helped seal the deal by making 25 saves in goal as the Oles ended the Auggies’ 16-game home winning streak. Haugen has won five times in his last six starts and helped the Oles beat Augsburg for the first time since 2018.
Though the Auggies came up short in the MIAC final, they are still in a position to make the NCAA tournament when the field is announced Monday morning.
Blugolds stun Pointers for WIAC crown
Heading into Christmas break, UW-Eau Claire was 4-8. Fast forward nearly three months later and the Blugolds are sitting atop the WIAC as owners of the Commissioner’s Cup.
Facing off against ninth-ranked UW-Stevens Point, UW-Eau Claire capped off a remarkable second-half of the season with a 6-2 win over the Pointers on the road Saturday night.
A string of five consecutive goals during a stretch in the second and third periods gave the Blugolds control. Sammy Martel fueled the attack, scoring twice as UW-Eau Claire built up a 5-1 lead. Jordan Randall, Quinn Green and Simon Sagissor also scored during the outburst.
Willy Stauber added a goal in the final four minutes of the third to finish off the scoring while Wilson Northey and Noah Finstrom both scored for the Pointers.
Martel’s goal with under six minutes to play in the second period tied the game at 1-1 before Randall gave the Blugolds the lead for good just over a minute later.
Ryan Oullette made 37 saves to earn his 17th win of the year.
Despite the win, UW-Eau Claire isn’t expected to move on to the NCAA tournament as it was ranked 27th in the latest Pairwise Rankings. There is no automatic bid to the tournament out of the WIAC.
The Blugolds improve to 18-11-1 with the win and are unbeaten in their last 13 games. They’ve won their last seven.
The Pointers drop to 21-6-1 and are a long shot to make the tourney after Saturday’s loss as they were 13th in the PairWise rankings. Their 21 wins mark the seventh time in the last eight years they’ve hit that win total.
Bulldogs roll past Green Knights
With two nationally ranked teams squaring off against each other with a championship on the line, the expectation was the game would be close.
Adrian never let that happen.
The top-ranked team in the country in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll crushed rival St. Norbert 12-3 to claim the Harris Cup Saturday night.
Up 4-2 after one, the Bulldogs scored six times in the second period to take control once and for all, setting a record for goals scored in an NCHA tournament final while securing an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
It took less than two minutes for Adrian to get on the board against the fifth-ranked Gree Knights as Jaden Shields scored at the 1:45 mark to put the Bulldogs on top 1-0.
Adrian never looked back from there as it went to stretch its win streak to 28 games, the longest in school history, while winning its 28th game of the season. Now 28-1 on the season, the Bulldogs have set a new mark for best record in program history as well as racking up the most wins in program history.
Zach Goberis and Alessio Luciani scored two goals apiece, with Goberis adding two assists on his way to a four-point night. Shields added a pair of assists to his stat line and Matus Spodniak also scored a goal and dished out two assists.
Tournament MVP Cameron Gray notched his 20th win of the year. He made 20 saves. Shields, Sam Ruffin and Terry Ryder, as well as Gray, earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
The Green Knights (22-6) lost for the third time this season to the Bulldogs. Michael McChesney, Liam Fraser and Peter Bates, the player of the year in the conference, all scored for St. Norbert, which still has an opportunity to pick up an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament when the field is announced Monday morning. Colby Entz made nine saves.
Adrian has been, arguably, the best team in college hockey all season. The Bulldogs have scored five or more goals 20 times this season and the margin of victory against the Green Knights was their largest since a 10–0 win over Concordia on Jan. 29. The NCHA crown is their first since 2020. Adrian as won its last five games against St. Norbert.
