FRIDAY RECAP: Top-ranked Minnesota rallies late to topple North Dakota, St. Cloud State downs Minnesota State, Denver upends Providence, Fantilli’s hat trick lifts Michigan past Lake Superior State

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Minnesota celebrates Matthew Knies game-winning goal in overtime on home ice over North Dakota (photo: Jim Rosvold).

Matthew Knies was the overtime hero as No. 1-ranked Minnesota rallied late for a 3-2 overtime victory against No. 7 North Dakota Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Playing in front of an over-capacity crowd of 10,418, the Gophers tied the game with the goalie pulled when Mason Nevers jumped off the bench and found the back of the net from the high slot as the clock hit 1:24 remaining in regulation to force overtime.

“Nevers was our best player tonight,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “Just working his tail off and we reward him putting him out there and he scores right away. I couldn’t be happier. There is an upperclassman stepping up.”

Friday night’s announced attendance of 10,418 ranks seventh all-time at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Jackson LaCombe also scored for the Gophers and Justen Close finished with 16 saves.

For North Dakota, Drew DeRidder made 35 saves while Jake Schmaltz finished with two points, scoring the game’s opening goal before adding an assist on Riese Gaber’s power-play goal late in the second period for his eighth multi-point game of his career.

No. 8 St. Cloud State 3, No. 2 Minnesota State 2

Second-ranked Minnesota State took a one-goal lead midway the second period but could not hold on as No. 8 St. Cloud State claimed a 3-2 victory over the visiting Mavericks Friday night at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

St. Cloud State led 1-0 after the first period of play when Zack Okabe’s shot found the back of the net at 13:30.

Minnesota State took a 2-1 lead during the second period on goals from Sam Morton and Tony Malinowski.

The Huskies knotted things up on a goal from Grant Cruikshank right before the end of the period and the two teams entered the locker room tied at 2-2 after 40 minutes of action.

Kyler Kupka tallied a power play goal 35 seconds into the third to take 3-2 lead and the Huskies held on the rest of the way.

Jaxon Castor made 30 saves for St. Cloud State and Keenan Rancier stopped 25 shots in the game for the Mavericks.

No. 4 Denver 4, No. 11 Providence 1

No. 4 Denver defeated the No. 11 Providence 4-1 on Friday night to open the weekend series at Magness Arena.

DU used three power-play goals to give Providence its first loss of the season, as Rieger Lorenz scored his first collegiate marker midway through the first period and Carter King and Massimo Rizzo also found the back of the net with the man advantage in the middle frame. Casey Dornbach also scored for the Pioneers.

“We showed a lot of maturity, especially in the third period,” said DU coach David Carle. “I thought the special teams were excellent in the second. Obviously, three power-play goals were a huge factor in the win. We spent a lot of time in their zone on the power plays because of our puck support and winning battles to extend in zone time. I thought the kill was good. On the opposite side, we made them break a lot of puck zones. Our special teams were huge.

“We didn’t win the special teams battle last weekend and then you talk about the maturity in the third period, it was a total team effort to be able to close it out.”

Shai Buium led the Pioneers with three assists while Mike Benning (two assists) and Dornbach (one goal, one assist) also posted multi-point performances. Goaltender Magnus Chrona made 25 saves in the victory.

Parker Ford tallied Providence’s only marker on the power play with 2:51 remaining the second period, cutting the deficit to 3-1 at the time.

No. 5 Michigan 5, Lake Superior State 2

Freshman phenom and top NHL draft prospect Adam Fantilli recorded a three-goal game to lead No. 5-ranked Michigan to a 5-2 victory over Lake Superior State on Friday evening at Taffy Abel Arena.

Erik Portillo had 26 saves in goal while Jacob Truscott recorded a four-point night, scoring once and adding three assists. Kienan Draper also scored for the Wolverines.

Jordan Venegoni and Brandon Puricelli scored for the Lakers, Jacob Bengtsson assisted on both, and Ethan Langenegger registered 35 saves in suffering the loss.

No. 6 Massachusetts 7, Union 1

No. 6 UMass had six different goal scorers and 13 different players record at least one point in the squad’s 7-1 victory over Union on Friday night at the Mullins Center.

“I got a lot of questions this week about if I was worried about a letdown after last weekend and I wasn’t going into tonight,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “I thought the kids practiced really hard all week and I’m impressed with this group. They’ve been very consistent. Tonight was a really solid 60 minutes other than a little bit of puck mismanagement, I didn’t think we gave up a lot. The special teams are outstanding. It’s great that we were able to get Henry Graham in there, but that was a really good follow up game after the highs of last weekend.

“It was a really solid game for the group.”

Minutemen goalie Luke Pavicich made 17 saves over the first 51:59 and Graham turned aside all five shots he faced over 8:01 between the pipes, his first collegiate action.

Kenny Connors scored twice with an assist and Ryan Lautenbach added a goal and a pair of helpers in the win. Ryan Ufko chipped in two assists and Cole O’Hara notched a goal and an assist. Single goals came from Linden Alger, Taylor Makar and Jerry Harding.

Bram Scheerer netted the lone Union goal and Connor Murphy stopped 32 shots in taking the loss between the pipes.

No. 14 Connecticut 4, No. 9 Boston University 3 (OT)

The 14th-ranked Huskies took down No. 9 Boston University Friday night on the road at Agganis Arena, 4-3 in overtime on an Andrew Lucas goal at the 56-second mark.

Lucas also had an assist for a two-point performance.

Nick Capone, Tristan Fraser and Ryan Tverberg also scored, Justin Pearson contributed two assists, and Logan Terness finished with 24 saves in getting the win in net.

For the Terriers, Jamie Armstrong went for a goal and an assist, Jeremy Wilmer and Case McCarthy added goals, and goalie Vinny Duplessis kicked out 26 shots.

Wisconsin 5, No. 10 Minnesota Duluth 2

Wisconsin overcame an early deficit to defeat No. 10 Minnesota Duluth 5-2 on Friday at Amsoil Arena.

NHL draft prospect Charlie Stramel scored his first NCAA goal for the Badgers, to go along with a goal and two assists from Jack Gorniak, a goal and a helper from Cruz Lucius, and single goals from Ty Smilanic and Owen Lindmark.

In goal, Jared Moe made 38 stops for the Badgers and Zach Stejskal turned aside 31 for the Bulldogs.

Luke Loheit and Blake Biondi scored the goals for UMD.

Bemidji State 5, Michigan Tech 2

Bemidji State defeated Michigan Tech 5-2 in the CCHA opener Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

The Huskies led 2-0 before the Beavers responded with five straight.

“I thought we were pretty good in the first 5:00. Blake kept us in the game, but they brought it to a level that we may not be capable of getting to,” MTU coach Joe Shawhan said. “The goal getting called off was a big turning point, but the reality of it is, throughout the game, we were hanging on.”

Logan Ganie opened the scoring just 2:08 after puck drop for the Huskies and Michigan Tech scored again early in the second period when Ryland Mosley scored.

Lleyton Roed and Eric Martin scored two goals each for the Beavers and Mitchell Martan added a solo in the win.

Blake Pietila made 37 saves for the Huskies and Mattias Sholl stopped 17 for the Beavers.

RIT 4, Air Force 2

RIT’s Carter Wilkie tallied a goal and an assist while goaltender Tommy Scarfone stopped a season-high 36 shots in a 4-2 victory at Cadet Ice Arena Friday night to split the series.

Simon Isabelle scored a goal in his third consecutive game. Cody Laskosky assisted on Isabelle’s goal to extend his season-opening point-scoring streak to six games.

Gianfranco Cassaro registered two assists and leads the team with seven points on two goals and five assists over the Tigers’ last five games. Tanner Andrew and Tyler Mahan added goals for the Tigers.

For Air Force, Guy Blessing made 30 saves and Luke Rowe posted a goal and an assist. Parker Brown also scored.

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