Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. B1G serves up a trio of thrillers at Wrigley Field
Piggybacking off the NHL’s annual Winter Classic, B1G took its game to Wrigley Field over the weekend and treated fans to three down-to-the-wire games — one decided by a single goal scored in the final minute, an overtime tie and an overtime win.
Ohio State and Michigan got the “Frozen Confines” event started with a bang on Friday night, as the Buckeyes earned a 4-3 win on Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s power-play goal with 38 seconds remaining in the contest.
Despite bitter cold, plenty of fans stuck around to watch Notre Dame and Penn State skate to a 3-3 tie, with the Fighting Irish winning the shootout after a marathon eight rounds.
On Saturday, the Wrigley fun continued when Michigan State nipped Wisconsin in an OT thriller. Daniel Russell scored his second goal of the game with 1.4 seconds to go in overtime to lead Michigan State to a 4-3 win over Wisconsin. The win was the 1,400th in program history, dating back to its 1922 founding. No. 1 Michigan State is now unbeaten in its last seven games (6-0-1).
“It was like a dream,” said Russell. “One you’re never, ever going to forget. That was amazing. Unforgettable. I just knew there wasn’t much time left, so I was going to try to get to the net any way I could.”
2. Hockey East makes it a Saturday sweep
It was a perfect 7-0 Saturday night for Hockey East.
Four schools scored season highs in goals — UMass and Vermont each put up an eight spot (the Minutemen beat Robert Morris 8-0, the Catamounts were 8-1 winners over St. Lawrence, Connecticut was a 7-3 winner over Harvard and Northeastern tied its season high with five goals in a 5-1 win over Quinnipiac.
“It’s definitely a good step in the right direction,” Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe told WRBB radio after beating Quinnipiac. “We talked about that it’s a new year, the 2025 version of the Huskies. And we just want to continue to build on it.”
Hockey East woke up Sunday morning with five teams in the top 10 of the Pairwise (Boston College, Providence, Maine, UMass Lowell and New Hampshire). Thanks to Eric Gallanty of NESN for those stats.
3. Augustana sweeps Colorado College on the road
Augustana has only been a Division I program for two seasons, yet it proved it belongs with the sport’s blue-blood programs — at least for one weekend — with a sweep at No. 8 Colorado College. Game scores were 5-1 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. It was the highest ranked opponent Augustana defeated since the program’s inception in 2023.
Tyler and Hayden Hennen became the first brothers in program history to record goals on the same night in Saturday’s win.
4. Western Michigan sweeps, Ferschweiler extended as coach through 2030
Western Michigan capped off a sweep of Alaska Anchorage with a 5-2 victory on Saturday night to improve to 13-4-1 overall on the season.
WMU got two goals each from Owen Michaels and Liam Valente, while Iiro Hakkarainen added a goal of his own. Tim Washe won 16 of 17 faceoffs and Cameron Rowe made 12 saves in net.
The school also announced over the weekend that coach Pat Ferschweiler agreed to a contract extension through 2030. Ferschweiler took over before the 2021-22 season, turning the program into a national contender. He has won 81 games during his tenure, including 46 in NCHC play. The Broncos have made the NCAA tournament every season since.
5. Minnesota shares the wealth in sweep of Mercyhurst
Let it be said that Minnesota knows how to evenly distribute the scoring load.
The Gophers were the only B1G team not to participate in the Wrigley Field festival over the weekend, but they made the most of their time with a 6-2, 5-2 sweep of visiting Mercyhurst. Six different Gophers scored on Friday night, while five different players lit the lamp on Saturday. Ryan Chesley netted the eventual game winner Saturday as part of a career-best three-point game, while Nick Michel scored his first goal with Minnesota.
“It was a good weekend for us,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said. “A lot of guys stepped up and got us through the weekend. Nick Michael getting the goal and seeing the success for him after playing a few games here already — he’s got a great heart, he’s got talent, and all our guys accept everything that’s been thrown at them.”
6. Maine and Denver split at Alfond
In the only matchup of the weekend featuring two clubs among the USCHO.com Division I men’s poll’s top 10, Denver and Maine split a pair at Alfond Arena before a packed house each night. The series was tight as can be, as the teams traded 2-1 victories, with No. 6 Denver getting the win Friday and Maine returning the favor on Saturday.
“That was one of those games, after (Friday) night, it could’ve gone one way or the other,” Maine coach Ben Barr told the Portland Press Herald on Saturday. “And it went the right way as far as the reaction and response to it. Every player, I thought, you could put him on the ice and you were fine with it. That’s what we have to be. And now we have to build on it.”
7. College hockey heats up southwest at pair of holiday tournaments
Wrigley Field wasn’t the only place hosting neutral-site fun over the weekend. Two schools got to hoist trophies at holiday tournaments at locales that, even though the games were held indoors, were much warmer than the Frozen Confines.
In Palm Desert, Calif., UMass Lowell was a 3-2 winner over Omaha to take the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup. In Tempe, Ariz., host No. 19 Arizona State was a 4-0 winner over No. 16 Cornell to win the Desert Hockey Classic for the second consecutive season.
“It’s great, two years in a row. It’s always great to win a trophy, especially in front of our fans,” Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. “To do it against such a good team and a good program is awesome. I’m happy for our players. They’re doing a great job. They’re playing selflessly for each other and that’s why we’re playing really well right now.”
8. UNH continues hot streak
Don’t look now, but New Hampshire is unbeaten in its last seven games. The Wildcats’ streak continued with two wins over Princeton at Hobey Baker Rink (3-0, 4-3). UNH wrapped up non-conference play with an 8-1-1 record, including a 4-1-1 mark against the ECAC.
Ryan Conmy scored in Saturday’s 4-3 win, extending his point streak to 11 games with his 10th goal of the season.
9. Sacred Heart, Air Force split
The battle for the top spot in Atlantic Hockey America remains tight with Sacred Heart on top at 10-6-2 and 35 points, and Bentley right behind at 9-4-1 and 30 points.
Sacred Heart split a pair of 3-0 decisions over the weekend vs. Air Force, winning Friday but losing Saturday. Bentley lost ground when it was swept at Niagara, 3-2 in overtime Friday and 4-2 on Saturday.
Bentley took two games of a home-and-home series between the two teams in November, but there won’t be a rematch until Feb. 22 — the last day of the regular season — in Fairfield, Conn.
10. College stars light up World Juniors
Michigan State’s Trey Augustine made 26 saves to become the all-time winningest American goaltender in World Junior Championship history as the U.S. National Junior Team earned a 4-1 victory over Czechia in the semifinals of this year’s tournament in Ottawa Saturday night.
Team USA got goals from Boston College’s Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard (who’s also the USA captain), Boston University’s Cole Eiserman, and Oliver Moore of Minnesota.
The U.S. team faced Finland in the gold medal game Sunday night, winning 4-3 in overtime on a Teddy Stiga (Boston College) goal.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said United States coach David Carle, who regularly coaches Denver. “We played an excellent Czech team and it was a very difficult game. We continue to grow as a group.”
