Monday 10: New college hockey season underway with upsets, exhibition games headlining opening weekend

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Miami players celebrate Justin Stupka’s goal last Saturday night (photo: Lexie Cunningham).

Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.

1. Michigan Tech, Muckalt split with Minnesota

There are 11 teams with new head coaches this season, including Michigan Tech, with new skipper Bill Muckalt, a longtime Michigan assistant who spent last season leading Lindenwood.

The Muckalt era began at MTU with a non-conference split at No. 8 Minnesota, with the Gophers prevailing on Friday 6-3, and the Huskies erasing a 3-1 deficit on Saturday for the split with a 5-3 victory.

Max Koskipirtti put the Huskies ahead for good late in the second period.

“I’m really proud of the bounce back,” said Muckalt. “It was a great team effort against a quality opponent in a great environment.”

2. New building at Union sees 1-1 tie between Garnet Chargers, Army West Point

Another new coach, Army’s Zach McKelvie, had to settle for a 1-1 tie in his debut as his Black Knights took on Union at their brand-new M&T Bank Center.

Connor Smith scored for Union midway through the third period to tie the score, but neither team could find the winner in regulation or the subsequent overtime. Army West Point won the ensuing (meaningless) shootout, 2-0.

3. Lowell opens conference play with 4-0 win over Merrimack

We had a single conference game played on opening weekend, a 4-0 win by UMass Lowell over Merrimack in Hockey East play.

Jay Ahearn, a transfer from Niagara, scored twice for the River Hawks, who also got goals from rookie Tnias Mathurin and sophomore Mirko Buttazzoni. Freshman goalie Austin Elliott stopped all 17 shots he faced for his first collegiate win and shutout.

“It’s great to play an official game and get to hit somebody other than each other after a couple weeks,” said Head Coach Norm Bazin. “It was a great result. I thought the crowd was outstanding.”

4. Another clean sheet from a rookie leads Wisconsin over Lindenwood

Lindenwood also has a new coach, but Keith Fisher will have to wait a while longer for his first win. His Lions were swept by Wisconsin on home ice, 3-0 and 7-2. Freshman goalie Daniel Hauser picked up both wins for the Badgers, including his first collegiate shutout on Friday.

Christian Fitzgerald scored four goals for Wisconsin on the weekend, including a hat-trick on Saturday.

5. Miami is off to a 2-0 start with sweep of Ferris State

Last season, the Miami RedHawks won a total of three games. One weekend into this season, they’re 2-0 following a 6-4, 3-1 sweep of Ferris State in Oxford.

On Friday, Miami scored four goals in the final 15 minutes of play to erase a 3-2 lead by the Bulldogs. Canisius transfer Matteo Giampa had a pair of goals for the RedHawks, who scored six goals in a game for the first time since 2021.

Saturday’s 3-1 win featured 19 saves by Matteo Drobac, who became the first Miami goaltender to win his first two starts since Jay Williams in 2012.

6. Penn State sweeps Arizona State in the desert

The weekend series between the Nittany Lions and the Sun Devils was the only one between ranked teams on opening weekend. Penn State made an early statement with a 6-3, 4-2 road sweep.

On Friday, No. 14 Arizona State had leads of 2-0 and 3-2 before fifth-ranked PSU took control with four third period goals to put the game away.

Highly touted Penn State rookie Gavin McKenna scored his first collegiate goal on Saturday to go with two assists on Friday. His first tally was a big one – the game winner with two minutes to play.

7. Quinnipiac defeats Boston College to open season

The only other matchup between ranked teams this past weekend was a single game between sixth-ranked Boston College and No. 13 Quinnipiac on Friday.

The Bobcats scored three second-period goals en route to a 4-3 over the Eagles at Conte Forum.

Chris Pelosi’s goal from Charlie Leddy and Antonin Verreault midway through the second frame turned out to be the game-winner.

The road team has won each of the last three meetings in the series and the Bobcats have won five of nine against the Eagles.

8. Michigan and Bemidji pile it on in opening weekend sweeps

The goal lights might need new bulbs at Yost Arena and Avis Alaska Sports Complex as Michigan and Bemidji scored a combined 32 goals this weekend.

No. 12 Michigan easily handled Mercyhurst on home ice, 11-1 and 7-0.

Sophomore Will Horcoff had five goals for the Wolverines on the weekend, including a hat-trick on Friday. Four other Michigan players had at least two goals in the series, while goaltender Jack Ivankovic stopped 25 of 26 shots in the two games, including an 11-save shutout on Saturday.

Bemidji pummeled host Alaska Anchorage, 9-2 and 5-0. The nine goals scored by the Beavers on Friday was a Division I school record.

Senior Reilly Funk led the way with three goals on the weekend, while classmate Adam Flammang was the high scorer with a goal and four assists. Rookie goaltender Max Hildebrand picked up his first collegiate win in net on Saturday, a shoutout.

9. Atlantic Hockey’s on the board

The conference has struggled in non-conference play, going 17-65-8 (.233) last season. Opening weekend has seen some wins already by AHA teams, including Canisius’ 3-1 and 4-2 wins, respectively, over Clarkson and St. Lawrence at HaborCenter and Niagara’s 5-2 win over St. Lawrence at Dwyer Arena.

The league ended up 3-3-1, a place to start.

10. NCAA teams dominate in exhibition play

As usual, the season kicked off with a bevy of exhibition games, mostly between NCAA and Canadian college competition.

The NCAA went 6-0 against USports.

Denver defeated UNLV 6-1 at Magness Arena on Saturday, notable because much was made of the 6-6 tie last season between at the time the defending national champions vs. a rising club team.

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