Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Down goes Wisconsin, twice
There will almost certainly be a new No. 1 team in the country this week, after top-ranked Wisconsin lost both games of a weekend series against No. 11 Michigan State.
Wisconsin had been having a moment early on this season, but the Badgers lost in their first game as the top team this year. Michigan State never trailed in its 4-2 home win Friday, as Tanner Kelly scored the game-winner late in the second period, less than four minutes after Joey Larson had given the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
Third-period goals Saturday from Larson and Nash Nienhuis helped MSU to a 3-2 win in front of a sold-out Munn Ice Arena crowd. MSU now sits atop the Big Ten standings and is the first team in the country to reach double-digit wins this season.
2. BU takes 2 from Maine in top-10 series
Eighth-ranked Boston University’s current winning streak has increased to four games, thanks to a home sweep last weekend of No. 9 Maine.
Maine’s Thomas Freel scored 14 seconds into Friday’s series opener, but BU clawed back to win 3-2. Macklin Celebrini tied the game still just 1:55 into the game, before Ryan Greene and Tom Willander bagged power-play goals in the second period.
In a 5-4 Terriers win Saturday, Quinn Hutson had two goals and three points, and Celebrini added three helpers. Luke Tuch, Shane Lachance and Devin Kaplan also scored for the hosts.
3. UMass takes 2 from Providence
Fifteenth-ranked Massachusetts picked up a big weekend sweep, beating No. 5 Providence in a pair of one-goal games in a home-and-home set.
The Minutemen overturned a 2-1 deficit Friday in Providence to win 3-2 on third-period goals from first Ryan Ufko and then Lucas Mercuri’s winner with 48.2 seconds left. Ufko then bagged an overtime winner in UMass’s 2-1 victory Saturday.
UMass has now won four of its last five games and faces another ranked opponent this Friday at No. 20 Harvard.
4. Tenth-ranked Cornell drops 2
Cornell ran into some difficulty last weekend, as the No. 10 Big Red fell at both seventh-ranked Quinnipiac and unranked Princeton.
The defending national champions from Quinnipiac jumped out to an early 3-0 lead Friday before cruising to an 8-4 victory. The Bobcats scored the game’s final three goals, too, to continue QU’s current winning streak. More on that in a minute.
Cornell was left frustrated again Saturday, losing 2-1 in overtime at Princeton. Brendan Gorman scored with 6.4 seconds left as the Tigers won in the extra period for a third time from their last four home games.
5. Quinnipiac keeps rolling
Quinnipiac has now won five in a row, with the last four all coming at home.
After Friday’s win over Cornell, the Bobcats kept rolling Saturday in a 7-4 win over Colgate. Jacob Quillan scored 45 seconds into a game where QU would never trail. He and Mason Marcellus would both score twice, and both would have a three-point night.
Quinnipiac has scored 31 goals during its current winning streak, the most the Bobcats have scored in a five-game stretch since November 2002.
6. Minnesota, Notre Dame share spoils
Sixth-ranked Minnesota and No. 17 Notre Dame split a Big Ten series last weekend in Minneapolis, with the host Gophers getting the last laugh.
Drew Bavaro’s fourth goal of the season, 3:30 into Friday’s third period, broke a 2-2 deadlock for Notre Dame before Landon Slaggert added an empty-netter in a 4-2 Fighting Irish victory. It was Notre Dame’s third win in a row, for a team that was unbeaten in seven (5-0-2).
The Irish couldn’t keep that going on Saturday, though, falling 4-1 to the Gophers. Rhett Pitlick scored twice for Minnesota in what was a three-goal weekend for him, and the Gophers used three unanswered goals to take the win.
7. Michigan, Penn State split, too
No. 12 Michigan and 18th-ranked Penn State split a Big Ten series last weekend, both of them high-scoring games in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Six different Michigan skaters scored in the Wolverines’ 6-4 win Friday, with Garrett Schifsky and Frank Nazar III recording two points apiece. On Saturday, an Aiden Fink hat trick lifted Penn State to a 5-3 victory.
Jacques Bouquot and Matt DiMarsico also scored for Penn State, which picked up its 200th NCAA win in program history.
8. Northern Michigan sweeps Alaska
Alaska has been knocking on the door of the USCHO Top 20 and led a group of teams receiving votes this week. They might be knocked back, though, after dropping two games last week at Northern Michigan.
The Wildcats won 3-1 on both occasions and got goals from three different skaters on both nights. Aiden Gallacher buried empty-netters both times, too, while Alaska’s Harrison Israels also scored in both games.
Northern Michigan has now won four straight ahead of a trip this weekend to Bowling Green.
9. Niagara’s Lammers reaches 100 wins
Sweeping a home-and-home series against Atlantic Hockey foe Robert Morris saw Niagara coach Jason Lammers reach 100 career NCAA victories, 81 of them coming with the Purple Eagles.
Niagara routed the Colonials in both games, starting with a 6-2 win Friday at home. Six different Purple Eagles scored on a night when NU recognized Bob Dwyer, a 2023 Niagara Athletics Hall of Fame inductee who has given generous donations to the university to expand its ice arena, now Dwyer Arena.
The Purple Eagles won again Saturday, 4-1 on the road, scoring four unanswered goals through as many Niagara skaters.
10. Extra rest does Omaha good
Unranked Omaha picked up a potentially big split last weekend at No. 3 Denver, and may have benefitted from a postponement amidst what became two games played over three days.
Denver won Friday’s opener 8-4, scoring five consecutive goals to overturn an early 2-1 deficit. Power-play goals early in the second period from brothers Zeev and Shai Buium got that burst started, but the Pioneers weren’t as fortunate in the rematch, falling 4-3.
That game started Saturday but was postponed after a scoreless first period due to bad ice conditions. Arena personnel tried to patch up a slushy puddle behind one of the end lines, but to no avail. After an hour-long delay, a decision was made to finish the game Sunday.
Omaha started brightest in the second period, as quick goals from Matt Miller and Ty Mueller gave the Mavericks a 2-0 lead after just 4:42. UNO would score all of its goals in that period, with Griffin Ludtke and Joaquim Lemay joining the fun.
Good thing there are lots of direct flights between Denver and Omaha.
