Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Maine rallies to beat UNH in ‘Border Battle’
Maine took five points from rivals New Hampshire in this weekend’s “Border Battle,” battling to a 1-1 tie on Friday before rallying to win Saturday’s game 5-2.
After two periods of scoreless hockey on Friday, Harrison Scott’s tip-in goal with 46 seconds to play helped the Black Bears tie it up 1-1. Conor Lovett had given the Wildcats a 1-0 lead three minutes into the third period. The Black Bears won the shootout to earn the two points.
On Saturday, UNH’s Ryan Conmy and Kristaps Skrastins each scored to make it 2-1 in the second period, but Maine rallied with four goals in the third period to earn the victory. Josh Nadeau had four points and five different Black Bears scored. Albin Boija made 22 saves and is now 18-5-5 on the year.
The Black Bears, currently tied atop the Hockey East standings with Boston College, takes on UConn in a single game next weekend.
2. BC snaps losing streak to top UMass
Boston College’s season-long two-game losing streak is no more. The Eagles, who had lost to Boston University in the Beanpot final on Monday before falling to UMass 3-2 on Friday, topped the Minutemen 4-1 on Saturday.
Eamon Powell, Andre Gasseau, James Hagens, and Ryan Leonard each scored for the Eagles, with Leonard also picking up two assists.
On Friday night, it was Jack Musa, Cole O’Hara and Kenny Connors who scored for UMass.
BC travels to Vermont next weekend while UMass takes on New Hampshire in a home-and-home set.
3. WMU slightly increases NCHC lead over ASU
Western Michigan increased its slim lead over Arizona State in the NCHC standings thanks to a five-point weekend over Omaha and Arizona State taking just three points from Minnesota Duluth.
The Broncos beat the Mavericks 5-4 in overtime Friday night before scoring six goals in a 6-1 rout on Saturday. Joona Väisänen scored twice on Friday, including the game-winner. Six different Broncos scored on Saturday, including Zach Nehring, who also had two assists.
Meanwhile, Arizona State had some trouble with Minnesota Duluth. The Sun devils earned three points the hard way, losing 3-2 in overtime on Friday night before skating to a 3-3 tie on Saturday with a shootout win. Artem Shlaine scored three goals on the weekend, while Lucas Sillinger added a goal and three assists.
WMU started the weekend just three points ahead of both ASU and Omaha but have increased their lead over Arizona State. The Broncos have 45 points, the Sun Devils are on 40 and Omaha is on 38.
The Broncos have two games-in-hand on both Arizona State and Omaha. Coincidentally, they will travel to Tempe next weekend for a huge series.
4. Gophers, Wolverines play two overtime games
Minnesota and Michigan twice went to overtime this weekend at Yost Arena, and both games saw the Wolverines come away with two points.
On Friday night, the Wolverines’ Garrett Schifsky and Kienan Draper had given Michigan a 2-1 lead in the second period before Minnesota’s Jimmy Clark tied it up in the third. Ethan Edwards scored the game-winner in overtime.
In Saturday’s game, a 2-2 tie, T.J. Hughes scored for Michigan to extend his NCAA-best points streak to 15 games. Michael Hage also scored for Michigan while Matthew Wood and Oliver Moore scored for the Gophers.
The Gophers will host Ohio State next weekend in their final home series of the season while Michigan is off next week and will take on Ohio State Feb. 27-28.
5. Augustana takes four from Michigan Tech, still barely alive for MacNaughton Cup
With CCHA-leading Minnesota State idle this weekend, the series pitting second-place Augustana and fourth-place Michigan Tech was huge to determine which of them still had a shot to win the league’s MacNaughton Cup title. In the end, Augustana took four of the six possible points from Tech, which leaves both teams with an outside shot at winning a league title.
On Friday, Augustana beat the Huskies 5-1 behind two goals from Hunter Bischoff and 18 saves from Richter Award Semifinalist Josh Kotai. That win helped the Vikings clinch home ice in the CCHA playoffs in their first year as full members.
On Saturday, the Vikings rallied twice–once from a 3-0 deficit and again from a 4-3 hole–to earn a 4-4 tie. Alex Nordstrom scored a pair of goals for Michigan Tech, who won the shootout for the two points.
The Huskies, still in fourth place in the conference standings, have series with Ferris State and St. Thomas remaining on the schedule. They have a points percentage of 0.561. The Vikings are finished with their CCHA games for the season and remain in second place with a points percentage of 0.625. Idle Minnesota State is still in first with a 0.697 points percentage.
6. Holy Cross keeps rolling, sweeps Mercyhurst to go atop AHA standings
Holy Cross’ unbeaten streak extended to 12 this weekend with a sweep of Mercyhurst. In the process, the Crusaders leapt into sole possession of first place in Atlantic Hockey.
The Crusaders, who are five points ahead of second-place Bentley and six ahead of Sacred Heart, beat the Lakers 4-1 and 7-3 over the weekend. On Thursday, Jack Stockfish scored twice and Devin Phillips and Liam McLinskey each had a pair of assists while Gale Thomas made 28 saves in the net. On Friday, McLinskey had a five-point game with two goals and three assists.
Bentley couldn’t keep pace with the Crusaders, earning just two points from their weekend series against Canisius.
The AHA regular season ends next weekend. Holy Cross takes on Bentley and American International, while Bentley will travel to take on Holy Cross and Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart gets to play AIC in addition to Bentley.
7. Six-point weekend keeps Quinnipiac atop ECAC
Quinnipiac increased its lead in the ECAC standings this weekend with a six-point road sweep over Union and RPI.
The Bobcats combined for 13 goals on the weekend, beating Union 7-2 and RPI 6-2. Both games featured four-goal third-period rallies.
On Friday, Jack Ricketts scored twice–including the game-winner in the second period–before four different players scored in the third to seal the win.
In Saturday’s game, RPI had scored twice in the second period to make it 2-2 but the Bobcats again scored four times in the third to run away with it. Ricketts, Travis Treloar, Chris Pelosi and Tyler Borgula all scored in the third.
8. Clarkson leapfrogs Colgate, Union for second
Meanwhile, Clarkson’s six-point weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard–combined with Colgate being swept by Yale and Brown and Union failing to beat Quinnipiac–put them into second in the conference.
Ayrton Martino had a seven-point weekend for the Golden Knights, with two goals and an assist in the 4-1 win over Dartmouth and notching a pair of goals and a par of assists in the 6-0 win of Harvard. Goaltender Marcus Brännman made 17 saves for his first shutout of the season. Ethan Langenegger had 12 saves in the Dartmouth game.
Quinnipiac is atop ECAC with 40 points while Clarkson is just four points back with 36. Colgate and Union are tied for third with 34.
9. Denver splits with UND
If the season ended now, the defending national champs and the No. 10 team in the Pairwise would be on the road in the first round of the NCHC playoffs. They would be traveling to take on the team ahead of them, North Dakota. As luck would have it, those two teams met this past weekend at Magness Arena. But nothing was resolved–the teams split their weekend series. The Pioneers won 4-0 on Friday but the Fighting Hawks evened the series with a 3-1 win on Saturday.
Jack Devine had two goals on Friday while Boston Buckberger had a career-high three points. The Pioneer goalies combined for a shutout after Matt Davis left the game late in the third with an injury. He made 15 saves before Freddie Halyk saved six in the final 14:17.
On Saturday, North Dakota’s T.J. Semptimphelter made 33 saves and Ben Strinden, Cameron Berg and Dylan James each scored for UND.
The Pioneers take on Miami next weekend while North Dakota hosts Minnesota Duluth.
10. LIU sets program record for wins with sweep of Alaska Anchorage
Long Island continues to make strides. The Sharks swept Alaska Anchorage this weekend and are now 17-11-2. LIU’s previous high mark of 16 was set last season.
On Friday night, the Sharks scored five unanswered goals for a 6-1 win. Isaiah Fox, Austin Brimmer, Connor Geregga, Isaac Lambert, Josh Zary and J.R. Perdion all found the back of the net while goalie Noah Rupprecht made 11 saves.
In Saturday’s game–a 4-2 win–LIU had to rally from a 2-1 deficit with three third-period goals. Four different players–Carter Rapalje, Daniel Baldassarra, Trent Powell, and John Gormley–all scored for the Sharks in addition to Rupprecht’s 18 saves.
The Sharks have series with Stonehill and Alaska Fairbanks remaining and could earn 20 wins for the first time in program history.
