Welcome to the final weekend of 2023. A handful of games are on tap in the west region of NCAA Division III hockey, including No. 2 St. Scholastica heading over to Wisconsin to take part in the Superior Showdown.
Meanwhile, Aurora heads East to take on nationally ranked Norwich in one of the bigger games of the weekend. Nationally ranked Trine is also out on the East Coast as it will play a couple of games against Hamilton.
Here’s a look at the picks.
Friday
No. 2 St. Scholastica (9-0) vs. Dubuque (0-10-2)
The Saints should have no trouble at all taking care of business against the Spartans, who are in their first year as a program.
St. Scholastica is unbeaten for a reason and is making its fourth appearance in this tournament. It has great balance on offense and a stellar defense. Filimon and Akrhip Ledenkov each have 15 points while Jacob Seitz leads the Saints in goals scored with seven. The Saints also have great depth in goal, with Jack Bostedt and Eino Rissanen.
For Dubuque, its focus will be on keeping it as close as possible. Lyncoln Bilenberg-Howarth leads the team with a goal and six assists.
St. Scholastica, 7-0
UW-Superior (7-6) vs. Marian (5-8)
The Yellowjackets skated into the holiday break with a two-game winning streak and feeling good about the direction its headed in after starting the year 1-5.
They hope to keep things rolling the right way when they host the Sabres in their own holiday tournament this weekend.
Gavin Rasmussen leads the Yellowjackets with five goals and four assists. He’s one of two players with five goals on the year as Justin Dauphinais has also hit that mark. UW-Superior has also been solid defensively, allowing just two goals in its last two outings.
Marian won’t be a pushover. The Sabres swept Concordia ahead of their Christmas break, outscoring the Cobbers 11-6, and hope that momentum travels with them to Superior.
Generating offense early is key. Marian features two players with six goals (Nicholas Cherkowski and Jaymes Knee) and another with five goals (Caden Carlson).
UW-Superior, 4-2
Saturday
Aurora (7-4-1) vs. No. 11 Norwich (6-3-1)
The Spartans open their weekend with a big test against the 11th-ranked team in the nation in Vermont.
Aurora has won its last three and already has won win this season against a nationally ranked team as it beat Adrian back in November by a 4-3 score.
It’s an opportunity for the Spartans to make a big time statement. A total of 13 players have scored two or more goals and it’s going to take a balanced attack to pull off the upset. Akl Hassan is the points leader for Aurora with four goals and 11 assists.
Norwich has given up just 18 goals this season while scoring 35 and this should be an entertaining game. Let’s go with the upset here.
Aurora, 4-3
No. 14 Trine (10-2)) at Hamilton (7-1)
The 14th-ranked Thunder have won two in a row and are 5-1 at home this season. But they’ll be looking for a little revenge in this series as Hamilton handed Trine a 4-0 loss on Nov. 26 during a tournament at SUNY Canton.
Shaking off the rust will be key as Trine hasn’t played a game since Dec. 2. The good news for the Thunder is they are 5-0 in games on an opponent’s home ice.
Trine is up against a Hamilton team that received votes in the last USCHO.com poll of 2023, so this is a statement game for both teams.
The Continentals are on a three-game winning streak and playing for the first time since Dec. 9.
I can see a sweep here by the Thunder. It wouldn’t surprise me. But I’m thinking these two teams will split.
Trine, 5-3; Hamilton, 4-3
