Welcome to our weekly college hockey roundup looking back at the world of Division I hockey around the state.
This will be where you can find Saint Cloud State, UMD, Minnesota State, and Bemidji State men’s hockey results and analysis each week throughout the college hockey season.
In the first edition of 2014, we take a look at where teams stand heading into the meat of their schedule, and for those that were in action, what they were able to accomplish over the weekend.
WCHA BEMIDJI STATE: Entering the weekend, the last time Bemidji State won a game was, conincidentally, against their weekend opponent Lake Superior State way back on Nov. 23.
BSU must have the No. 19 Lakers pegged this year, as they took a road sweep of LSSU in convincing fashion over the weekend.
Friday, a 5-2 win saw the Beavers put up three power play goals on five man-advantage opportunities. Saturday in a slightly closer contest, a 1-1 game going into the third period turned into a 3-1 win for BSU, with Matt Prapavessis and Markus Gerbrandt lighting the lamp in the third.
The Beavers are now 3-1 against Lake Superior State this year, leaving them 4-10-6 against all other opponents. They hop from a tie for sixth to fourth alone in the WCHA standings, just three points behind Bowling Green for second.
WCHA MINNESOTA STATE: The Mavericks, sitting just outside the USCHO.com top 20 poll, won’t be receiving too many votes for a national ranking this week, as their offense hit a road block against Alaska-Anchorage over the weekend.
A pair of one-goal performances is all MSU could muster, as Friday UAA got a game-winner from Jordan Kwas halfway through the third-period, and Saturday the Seawolves got two goals from Ben Matthews in a 3-1 victory.
The Mavericks sit third in the WCHA standings, but the spot is much less comfortable after the sweep, with BSU and UAA both within four points of MSU.
NCHC ST. CLOUD STATE: In a matchup of ranked teams, the No. 2 Huskies split with NCHC foe Denver, who came into the weekend ranked 17 in the country.
SCSU let the pucks fly against the Pioneers Friday, putting up six goals from five different skaters in a 6-3 win.
Saturday, Denver were the ones finding goals easy to come by, as a 5-2 decision went their way, ending the Huskies nine-game road winning streak.
With the split, St. Cloud State stays five points clear of Denver in the NCHC standings, and remain one point ahead of UND for the league lead.
NCHC MINNESOTA-DULUTH: The Bulldogs picked up a much needed sweep of Nebraska-Omaha over the weekend, winning 3-2 Friday and 3-1 Saturday.
All six of UMD’s goals over the weekend came even strength, with their star of the weekend clearly coming in goal, as net-tender Aaron Crandall stopped 90 UNO shots over the two nights.
Minnesota-Duluth needed the upset wins, as they improve to 5-5 on the conference season, just two points out of third place.
The Gophers were in action last night and conclude their series with Penn State tonight in Happy Valley at 6 p.m. You can find all of those game recaps on our sports page, as we cover the U of M on a game-by-game basis.
We’ll reconvene next week, with the Hockey City Classic on the docket this weekend.
