SATURDAY ROUNDUP: No. 4 Wisconsin earns shootout win, takes three of six from No. 9 Minnesota on weekend; UConn upsets No. 10 Providence; No. 8 Michigan State, No. 15 Western Michigan bounce back to earn road splits; Berry earns victory No. 200

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No. 8 Michigan State bounced back from a 4-1 loss on Friday to earn a critical 4-0 road win and a weekend split at Notre Dame (Photo: Michigan State Athletics)

Friday night, No. 8 Michigan State allowed three third-period goals on the road to Notre Dame as the Irish broke open a game that was tied after 40 minutes.

Saturday, the Spartans had a simple answer: Don’t allow any goals.

Netminder Trey Augustine stopped all 30 shots he faced to earn the shutout and four different players scored for Michigan State as the Spartans earned a road split on the weekend with a 4-0 victory over the Fighting Irish.

Karsen Dorwart scored the only goal Michigan State needed at 17:33 of the first. Jeremy Davidson and Artyom Letshunov tripled the lead in the second before Red Savage capped the scoring with 8:01 remaining.

No. 4 Wisconsin 1, No. 9 Minnesota 1 (F/OT; Wisconsin wins shootout, 2-0)

William Whitelaw and Quinn Finlay each scored in a shootout as Wisconsin earned a critical extra league point after the two teams skated to a 1-1 tie with visiting Minnesota.

Badgers netminder Kyle McClellan stopped both Gophers shooters in the shootout after he finished regulation and 3-on-3 overtime with 27 saves.

Jack Horbach scored the lone Badgers goal at 5:54 of the first. Jaxon Nelson evened the score at 14:33 of the second, shortly after a Minnesota goal was disallowed on a coaches’ challenge.

The shootout loss for the Gophers was the fifth on the season, all occurring without Minnesota able to score a single goal. The Gophers are now 0-for-13 in shootout attempts this season.

Connecticut 2, No. 10 Providence 1

A night after Providence dominated with a 5-0 road victory over Connecticut, the visiting Huskies enacted revenge, holding off the Friars, 2-1, to split the weekend series.

Jake Richard and Chase Bradley scored the two UConn goals, giving the Huskies a 2-0 lead heading to the third.

After Matthew Wood was ejected from the game on a major penalty for boarding with 32 seconds left in the second, Providence pulled within a goal early in the five-minute power play as Chase Yoder scored 1:13 into the third.

But UConn killed the remainder of the major power play and closed out the game with goaltender Ethan Haider finishing the game with 42 saves in a game where Providence outshot UConn, 43-19.

No. 2 North Dakota 4, Miami 1

North Dakota earned a 4-1 victory over Miami and, in doing so, ran the team’s regulation unbeaten streak to 21 games, tying a program record.

The victory also gave coach Brad Berry win No. 200, all coming behind the North Dakota bench.

The Fighting Hawks scored twice in the first with Logan Britt and Cameron Berg finding the back of the net.

After Miami pulled within a goal on an Albin Nilsson tally at 4:04 of the second, Britt responded later in the frame with his second goal of the night.

Dylan James put the game out of reach with an empty-net tally with 2:20 left.

It took Berry less than nine seasons to reach the 200-win plateau. As head coach at North Dakota, his record now stands at 200-98-33, with four regular season NCHC titles, a postseason crown, four Frozen Four appearances and the national title in 2016.

No. 15 Western Michigan 7, No. 5 Denver 2

Visiting Western Michigan exploded for seven goals, including five straight after host Denver jumped to an early 1-0 lead as the Broncos earned an NCHC weekend split with the Pioneers, 7-2.

Offensively Sam Colangelo lead the way for the Broncos, scoring twice and adding an assist. Goaltender Cameron Rowe made 25 saves to earn the win.

These two teams split the season series, each taking two wins. The victory brings Western Michigan within a single point of Denver for the fourth and final home ice playoff spot in the NCHC playoffs with five full weekends remaining.

 

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