SATURDAY ROUNDUP: Michigan completes sweep of Wisconsin, jumps into four-way tie in B1G; UNH gets stellar goaltending performance in upset of No. 16 UML; Miami earns second straight tie against No. 5 St. Cloud State; Holy Cross completes weekend sweep of Bentley

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Michigan had plenty of reason to celebrate on Saturday scoring seven times in a 7-4 victory that completed a Big Ten weekend sweep of Wisconsin (File photo: Jim Rosvold)

It might seem like catching Minnesota in the B1G is a tall task, but the battle for second place (and third, fourth and fifth) got a whole lot closer on Saturday as Michigan earned a 7-4 victory and series sweep over Wisconsin to move into a four-way tie for second with Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State.

The Buckeyes and Wolverines each have two games in had on the Spartans and Nittany Lions.

Eric Ciccolini scored twice of Michigan and T.J. Hughes added a goal and three assists in the victory. Tyson Jugnauth scored twice and added an assist in the loss for Wisconsin.

Michigan never trailed in the game, jumping to leads of 3-0, 5-1 and 7-2 before Wisconsin struck twice in the later stages of the game.

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New Hampshire 5, No. 16 UMass Lowell 4

It was a crazy third period that ended with host UMass Lowell recording a total of 44 shots on goal but that wasn’t enough as Chase Steven scored twice in 15 seconds for New Hampshire as the Wildcats upset the River Hawks.

Combined with an overtime win over No. 15 Merrimack on Friday, New Hampshire posts a five-point weekend to move to ninth place in Hockey East, just four points out of a first-round home ice playoff spot.

UNH jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Cy LeClerc and Damien Carfagna. But Lowell dominated the second, tying the game on goals by Carl Berglund and Scout Truman while also holding the Wildcats with a single shot on goal.

After Lowell grabbed the lead on a goal by Filip Fornaa Svensson, the Wildcats responded with three goals in less than five minutes to grab a 5-3 lead. Lowell pulled with one on a Jon McDonald goal but goaltender Tyler Muszelik finished the night with 40 saves, 17 in the final period.

No. 5 St. Cloud State 1, Miami 1 (F/OT, SCSU wins shootout)

For the second straight night, Miami, sitting at the bottom on the NCHC standings, took St. Cloud State to the brink, earning a 1-1 tie through regulation and overtime.

John Waldron scored an extra-attacker goal with 32.3 seconds remaining in regulation to earn the tie.

Similar to Friday’s 3-3 tie, the Huskies won the shootout to earn a four-point weekend and maintain a tie for second in the NCHC standings with Western Michigan, which defeated Minnesota Duluth, 4-1, on Saturday. Denver, bay virtue of a 4-1 win over Colorado College, remains two points ahead of both teams and still has two games in hand in NCHC play.

Holy Cross 3, Bentley 2 (F/OT)

Holy Cross, a team picked to finish last in Atlantic Hockey prior to the season, continued its impressive second-half run on Saturday, earning a 3-2 overtime win over Bentley finishing off the weekend sweep of the Falcons.

The two points for the overtime win move the Crusaders into a tie for the fourth and final home ice spot in Atlantic Hockey with Mercyhurst. There are six games remaining for each team.

Jack Ricketts scored a shorthanded, unassisted goal with 1:04 remaining in the overtime session for the victory.

Both teams traded goals through regulation, though Holy Cross never trailed, jumping to leads of 1-0 and 2-1.

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