Last weekend featured three matchups with teams facing conference foes ahead of them in the standings, which will go a long way in the seeding of the conference as well as the national and pairwise rankings.
DU 14-6-6 (4) vs UND 12-8-8 (10)
After dropping both games in Duluth to UMD last weekend, the Fighting Hawks looked to try and climb out of the hole they put themselves in. Despite their best efforts, it did not happen.
The Hawks came out on fire Friday evening. UND dominated every facet of the game and took a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Cole Smith and Shane Gersich.
The Pioneers returned fire in the second when Dylan Gambrell got the puck by Cam Johnson to cut the UND lead to 2-1.
Heading into the final period of action, the Hawks were clinging to a 2-1 advantage.
DU quickly erased the Hawk lead with a goal just over two minutes into the third period. After Smith was tossed from the game, and given a contact to the head penalty and game misconduct, the Pioneers had a five-minute power play to take a lead.
Troy Terry did just that as he scored his 11th goal of the season on a power-play goal to put DU ahead, 3-2.
With the goalie pulled, UND was able to tie the game in the final minutes of the game to send it to overtime.
It took until the second overtime period to determine a winner. Terry once again came up big for the Pioneers scoring the game-winner in 3×3 overtime.
Saturday was much of the same.
After three periods, a winner was not able to be determined and the game sat at 1-1. Like the night before, a fourth period yielded no goals and sent the game into a second overtime period.
Ian Mitchell scored the game-winner for DU just over a minute into overtime to seal the sweep of UND.
Denver heads back home to Magness Arena where they host UMD this weekend. UMD has been red-hot winning eight of their last ten games and rising the rankings.
UND has this weekend off and faces Colorado College next weekend.
SCSU 15-6-3 (6) vs UMD 14-11-3 (9)
The Huskies started the season on a roll winning their first eight games and scoring less than three goals once. In January, they scored five goals twice and went 3-4 over that stretch. With UMD surging, they had to play like they did in October to hold off the Bulldogs. They were able to scrap together a split.
The first game was never in doubt for the Bulldogs. They finished the first period with a 3-0 lead, one goal coming with just 11 seconds remaining.
The Huskies started to fall apart in the second period. They gave up two short-handed goals in the final three minutes of play. One of those goals coming from Karson Kuhlman, his second of the game.
SCSU managed to finally score halfway through the final period, but the Bulldogs held them off preserving a 5-1 win.
David Hrenak struggled in net for the Huskies allowing five goals on just 18 shots from UMD.
Hrenak did not struggle Saturday.
UMD started the scoring eight minutes into the first period with a goal from Nick Swaney, but the Huskies tied it under two minutes later at 1-1.
Each goalie held the opposing team scoreless, and they headed into the final period deadlocked at 1-1.
At 14:50 in the third period, Patrick Newell scored the eventual game-winner for SCSU ending the game, 2-1.
Although they lost, UMD’s special teams were excellent holding the Huskies scoreless in their five power-play opportunities.
The Huskies face UNO this weekend. SCSU swept the Mavericks in Omaha earlier in the season scoring 12 goals to UNO’s 4.
UMD heads to Denver this weekend to face the Pioneers in a pivotal matchup as they try to ascend the NCHC ladder. DU swept the Bulldogs in Duluth in early December.
WMU 13-12-1 (15) vs UNO 14-11-1 (13)
The first time these teams met this season, the Broncos early dispatched the Mavericks letting in only three goals all weekend. Since then, the Mavericks have scored less than four goals in a game five times in their 15 games.
Friday the Mavericks scored two goals in the first two periods, one in each, and headed into the final period with a 2-0 lead. That is where things got interesting.
The lead was erased by the halfway point in the period, and the Broncos had tied it up at 2-2 with goals from Neal Goff and Austin Rueschhoff.
UNO took the lead back with a power-play goal just under 14 minutes into the period.
The Broncos pulled their goalie in an effort to tie the game, but goals from Zach Jordan and Cole Pickup, the first of his colligate career, shut the door on a comeback attempt.
Another power-play goal gave the Mavericks the eventual final score lead of 6-2.
Evan Weninger was a wall, saving 32 of the 34 shots he faced for the Mavericks en route to the victory.
It was a chippy evening with a combined 13 power plays between the teams, four of which related in goals.
Dawson DiPietro scored on the power play for the Broncos to take an early 1-0 lead Saturday night.
David Pope answered right back with a power-play goal of his own tying the match a 1-1. With another goal, the Mavericks made the score 2-1 before the end of the first period.
In the second period, Pope struck again with another goal, his 16th of the season tying him for the most in the conference.
19 seconds later, Omaha had scored again, amassing a 4-1 lead.
With the teams trading goals to end the period, they headed into the final frame of action with the Mavericks holding a 5-2 lead.
Tyler Vesel ended the second period with a goal for UNO and started the final period with his second goal of the game extending the Maverick lead to 6-2.
Two goals, one from each side, in a matter of 24 seconds was all that was left, and UNO left with a 7-3 victory, and a sweep over the Broncos.
WMU heads to Oxford, OH for face the Miami University RedHawks. They split their series earlier in the season with their win coming in overtime.
MU 9-12-3 vs CC 11-11-4
Miami University and Colorado College both sit in the basement of the NCHC standings. The conference title is just about out of reach, and at this point, the teams are battling to get a better seed in the NCHC tournament hoping for a berth to the NCAA playoffs from winning the tournament.
CC took at 2-1 lead in the opening period Friday. Trevor Gooch and Westin Michaud both scored their ninth goals of the season for the Tigers.
The teams’ leading scorer, Mason Berg buried the puck in the back of the net on the power play six minutes into the second period pushing the Tiger lead to 3-1.
Brian Williams scored his first colligate goal for the Tigers at the end of the second period, extending the lead to 5-1.
The RedHawks managed two goals, both on the power play, but it wasn’t enough. Both Berg and Williams scored in the period for the Tigers as they went on to win 6-3.
Saturday started with a bang from the Tigers, namely Nick Halloran. Halloran scored two goals in the first three minutes of the game shooting the Tigers out to a 2-0 lead.
The RedHawks got to work.
A goal from Cason Meyer cut the lead to one goal. Two power-play goals put MU up 3-2 midway through the period. The first period ended with the RedHawks holding a 3-2 lead.
The teams traded goals in the second period and headed to the final period 4-3, RedHawks with the lead.
Gooch netted the equalizer just under nine minutes into the third period. It would be the only goal of the period as they headed to overtime to determine a winner.
Neither team scored on the first 5×5 overtime, so a 3×3 period was necessary.
Christiano Versich scored the game-winner in overtime for the Tigers giving them the win, and sweep over MU.
The University of Miami returns home, where WMU awaits them. Last season, they split their series at home against the Broncos.
Colorado College has this weekend off, and resumes play next weekend against the University of North Dakota.
Points Leaders:
1. Nick Halloran CC 37 2. Henrik Borgström DU 36
3. David Pope UNO 35
