Two top 10 teams in the USCHO.com poll went at it over the weekend as Trine faced St. Norbert, and ultimately, the two teams ended their series with a split.
The No. 7 Thunder handed the Green Knights their first loss of the year on Saturday, winning 4-0 on the road over the second-ranked team in the country.
Christian Wong-Ramos came up big as he made 29 saves on his way to his third shutout win of the year.
The Thunder are now 10-1-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the NCHA.
St. Norbert is 12-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference and won Friday’s game 2-1 as it handed Trine its first loss of the year. Cameron Morris scored the game winner in that one. Hunter Garve came through with 23 saves.
Neither team could convert on the power play as the Green Knights went 0-for-2 and the Thunder were 0-for-3.
While the two teams split, Trine comes out of the weekend still atop the standings, holding a point lead over St. Norbert.
Gusties continue win streak
Gustavus was once 0-3. Six wins later, the Gusties are the hottest team in the MIAC.
They completed a sweep of Augsburg over the weekend, winning both games by a 5-1 score, and are still in first place in the conference, sitting at 5-1 in MIAC play and 6-3 overall.
Marko Belak racked up 25 saves in Saturday’s win, with Jackson McCarthy tallying two assists and Grant Ellings racking up a goal and an assist. The game was tied at 1-1 before Gustavus scored the next four goals.
Belak finished with 14 saves and Jack Suchy recorded a goal and assist to help lead the offense for Gustavus, which is in the midst of its best win streak since the 2013-14 season.
Saints split with Pipers
St. Scholastica ended its weekend series with Hamline with a 6-1 win.
Nathan Adrian scored twice and dished out an assist while Jacob Seitz tallied a goal and assist. Eino Rissanen made 26 saves as the Saints improved to 7-4-1 overall and 3-3 in the MIAC. Hamline dropped to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
St. Scholastica saw its five-game win streak snapped on Friday as Calvin Knight scored a game-winning goal with 37 seconds remaining to lift Hamline to a thrilling 5-4 win.
Carson Simon had a big night for the Pipers, coming through with a hat trick. He also dished out an assist. Along with Knight coming up big in crunch time, he also tallied three assists. Brandon McNamara made big plays as well, finishing with four assists, while Maximillian Haselbacher racked up 28 saves.
Good weekend for the Cardinals
Saint Mary’s was nothing short of dominant as it opened its series against Concordia with a 5-0 win on Friday. The Cardinals then played the Cobbers to a 2-2 Saturday but came away with a shootout win.
A.J. Ruskowski stopped a season-best 44 shots, including all three attempts in the OT shootout.
On Friday, Ruskowsk recorded his first shutout of the season. Joona Juntunen and Warner Young each scored a goal and had an assist. Tommy Wright finished with two assists.
The Cardinals are 5-3-1 overall and are still unbeaten in the MIAC with a 3-0-1- record.
Blugolds pull off upset
UW-Eau Claire needed a big win and the Blugolds got it, blanking 10th-ranked UW-River Falls 3-0 on Saturday.
Max Gutjahr stopped 25 shots and made 14 of those saves in the final period as the Blugolds won their first game over a top 10 opponent since January of this year. The win also capped a weekend where Eau Claire won both games via shutout as it beat Northland 6-0 one night earlier.
Tyler Herzberg , Max Dronen and Connor Szmul all scored for the Blugolds, who improved to 4-5-1 overall and 3-1 in the WIAC.
Two thrilling wins
UW-Superior went to overtime in both of its games over the weekend, knocking off No. 10 UW-River Falls 3-2 before closing things out with a 4-3 OT win over UW-Stout on Saturday.
The Yellowjackets kept their unbeaten streak in Friday games intact, improving to 5-0 as they took down the Falcons. Reed Stark was the hero, scoring at the 2:50 mark of the extra session for the win. Kobe Grant made 39 saves for his second win and helped Superior end a five-game winless streak against River Falls. Daniel Rozsival and Justin Dauphinais also scored goals for the Yellowjackets. He had an assist on the game-winning goal as well.
Stark again was clutch when it mattered most as he also scored the game winner in Saturday’s win over the Blue Devils. He scored at the 2:10 mark of OT and also racked up two assists in the victory.
It’s the first time all season Superior as won back-to-back games as it improved to 6-3-1 overall and 3-1 in the WIAC.
Shootout win
UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout played to a 2-2 tie on Friday but the No. 13 Pointers managed to win the shootout.
They wrapped up the weekend with an 10-0 win over Northland, improving to 4-3-1 overall and 1-1-1 in conference play.
Alex Proctor made 32 saves. Fletcher Anderson and Chris Engelbert both scored in the shootout. Andrew Poulias and Peyton Hart scored in regulation for the Pointers.
Stevens Point scored eight goals in the third in its win over Northland and six of those goals came off the power play, setting a school record. Proctor recorded his first shutout of the year.
A sweep for the Bulldogs
Sixth-ranked Adrian needed overtime to finish off a two-win weekend against the Sabres.
Ryan Pitoscia was the hero, scoring in OT to lift the Bulldogs to a 4-3 win.
Ian Amsbaugh played a key role in the win, scoring a goal and tallying two assists, while Dershahn Stewart racked up 25 saves. Stewart had 25 saves in Friday’s 4-3 win, which didn’t come easy as Adrian saw a 3-0 lead disappear before Patrick Saini scored the game winner. Connor May finished with two assists. Stewart made 11 of his saves in Friday’s win in the third period. Adrian is 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the NCHA and has won its last four games.
Spartans go unbeaten against Vikings
Aurora swept Lawrence with a pair of 5-1 wins and improved to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play.
In Saturday’s win, Aurora put together a complete game, with Hassan Akl leading the way with a pair of goals. Akl also came through with three assists and JaCob Mucitelli made 20 saves.
Four goals over the final two periods were key for Aurora in Friday’s victory. Five different players scored a goal and Jacob Brockman came through with two assists. Mucitelli made 16 saves.
