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.
This past weekend, all of Minnesota’s Division I hockey programs except Bemidji State were at the inaugural North Star College Cup at the Xcel Energy Center. Here’s what the X held in store for some of the best hockey schools in the nation.
NCHC MNNESOTA-DULUTH:In the opening round of the tournament for the Bulldogs, they pulled the upset of Minnesota State Friday to set up a clash with the Gophers Saturday for the North Star College Cup title.
In their 5-4 victory over the Mavericks, who were in the receiving votes portion of the USCHO.com national poll last week, it took overtime to move on in a game that featured six special teams goals between the two teams.
The final of those goals was from Alex Iafallo with just 27 seconds remaining in overtime to give UMD the win.
Saturday, the Bulldogs gave the Gophers all they could handle, but couldn’t take down the tournament title in a shootout. Here’s the full recap of Saturday’s action, as we cover the Gophers on a game-by-game basis.
Despite the shootout loss, the game will officially be ruled a tie, with the shootout only in effect for tournament purposes. UMD would have to be considered the biggest winner of the tournament, with the win over MSU night one, and tie with the No. 1 team in the land to close out the weekend.
NCHC ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies opened with the Gophers Friday, in what turned out to be a surprisingly one-sided affair.
Here’s the full recap of the No. 5 Huskies 4-1 loss to Minnesota, a night in which the U scored twice on the power play.
Saturday, St. Cloud State scored three times on the power play and got two tallies from Jonny Brodzinski to bounce back, taking down MSU for third-place in the inaugural tournament with a 6-4 win.
WCHA MINNESOTA STATE: Based on the recaps above, you already know what happened with the Mavericks, the only winless team out of the weekend with the overtime loss to UMD and 6-4 loss to SCSU.
The Mavericks are back to conference play this weekend against Northern Michigan, who trail them by seven points in the WCHA.
WCHA BEMIDJI STATE: The only team not at the North Star Cup this weekend has a split to show for their series with conference foe Alaska-Fairbanks.
A tale of two nights is the best way to describe the weekend for the Beavers, as they were shut out Friday 3-0 thanks to 27 saves from Nanook goalie Sean Cahill.
Saturday, it was BSU slamming the door on Fairbanks offense, winning 4-0 behind 25 saves from Andrew Walsh and two goals from Cory Ward.
The Beavers trail Alaska-Anchorage by one point for fourth in the WCHA, but are just four points out of second. Don’t worry Bemidji State fans, next year you’ll be included in the North Star Cup action.
Until next weekend, enjoy the Polar Vortex while waiting for hockey to return.
