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 St. Cloud State, UMD, Minnesota State, and Bemidji State men’s hockey results and analysis each week throughout the college hockey season.
This past weekend, lots of winning to go around for these four teams, aside from the the Beavers of Bemidji State.
WCHA MINNESOTA STATE/BEMIDJI STATE: The only matchups of the weekend that pitted two Minnesota sides against each other saw the Mavericks keep pace with Ferris State at the top of the WCHA standings with a sweep of BSU.
Friday, two power-play goals and 11 MSU skaters getting on the score sheet were the ticket to a 5-2 win, solidified by 26 saves from goalie Cole Huggins.
Saturday the game was in doubt until the end, but the deciding goal came with just under 12 minutes to go in the contest, Sean Flanagan scoring for the Mavericks to make the final 3-2.
Ferris State swept Northern Michigan over the weekend, so the Mavericks remain two points behind the Bulldogs for the conference lead. With the two wins over BSU, Minnesota State has essentially secured a spot in the top-two – barring a big collapse during the last four weekends of the conference regular season.
NCHC MINNESOTA-DULUTH: UMD extended their unbeaten streak to seven games this weekend with a shootout win (officially a tie) and 2-1 victory over Colorado College.
The No. 17 Bulldogs really should’ve secured all three points Friday, outshooting CC 52-22, but goalie Josh Thorimbert stopped 50 of those shots to send the game to a shootout.
Once there, Caleb Herbert made sure two points wouldn’t be stolen from UMD, as he was the only skater to find the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 shootout win.
Saturday, Colorado College was able to score just once, and while the goal with five minutes left in the final period made things interesting, it was another masterful performance by Aaron Crandall in net, who stopped 31 of 32 Tiger shots.
With the results, UMD now sits second in the NCHC standings, just two points behind St. Cloud State for the conference lead.
NCHC ST. CLOUD STATE: The nation’s No. 6 team came out on the other end of a shootout Friday, falling to No. 15 Denver in the premiere series of the weekend.
Officially a 2-2 tie after Denver evened things up with five minutes left in the third period, Gabe Levin of DU gave his squad the shootout win in round five, lighting the lamp after it was deadlocked at 2-2 after four rounds.
Saturday, SCSU bounced back to take a 4-2 win in the battle of ranked teams, scoring four times in the final 30 minutes after falling behind 2-0.
Nic Dowd was in on three of the four goals, sealing the win with 43 seconds left into an empty Pioneer net.
The University of Minnesota was swept for the first time in two years late last week, here are the recaps of the losses to the Badgers.
We’ll leave you alone, enjoy the week.
