David Pope is one of the leading scorers in the NCHC,
Six of the eight NCHC teams played this weekend. With all but one team ranked in the top 20, it made for an exciting weekend of hockey.
UNO 12-11-1 (19) vs DU 14-6-4 (4)
Denver showed why they are a highly-ranked team this weekend. Not only did they sweep the Mavericks, but they picked them apart allowing no goals and scoring nine of their own.
The scoring started in the final minutes of the first period. Jarid Lukosevicius scored on the power play for the Pioneers to give them a 1-0 lead.
Just under three minutes into the second period, DU struck again, this time at even strength, to propel the Pioneers to a 2-0 advantage.
The floodgates opened in the final period. Troy Terry and Lukosevicius scored a pair of power play goals within two minutes of each other early in the period. Erich Fear scored his first goal of his collegiate career with the final goal of the game in a 5-0 route of the Mavericks.
Although he let in five goals, UNO goaltender Evan Weninger put up a valiant effort in the loss. He recorded 43 saves, but did not get help from the defense in front of him all night.
Saturday’s matchup was more of the same.
The Pioneers scored in the final minutes of the first period to take a 1-0 lead once again.
This time, it took them until the end of the period to score their second goal. Henrik Borgström scored his NCHC-leading 16th goal of the season giving DU a 2-0 lead.
With a 2-0 lead heading into the third period, the Pioneers coasted along to a 4-0 victory with two goals in the period.
Denver heads to North Dakota to face UND. They split their matchup in November and were 1-1-1 against each other last season.
Nebraska-Omaha faces WMU this weekend in Michigan. While the Mavericks are still ranked, they need to pick up their play on the road if they want to reach the NCAA playoffs. They are 4-8-0 on the road so far this season.
UND 12-8-6 (11) vs UMD 13-9-3 (9)
UMD came into the weekend not having lost to UND since the 2015-2016 season. That trend continued last weekend with the Bulldogs sweeping the Fighting Hawks.
Friday started off slow. The game remained scoreless until just over half-way through the period when Joey Anderson scored on the power play. UND answered with their own power play goal before the first period had ended tying the game at 1-1.
The Bulldogs added two goals in the second period, one from Peter Krieger, and a power play goal from Parker Mackay. At the end of the second period, the score was 3-1.
UND looked poised to come back when they scored just 40 seconds into the third period to cut the deficit to 3-2. A minute later, the Bulldogs had regained a 2 goal lead at 4-2. The Hawks once again cut the lead to a goal, but an empty net goal from Riley Tufte for UMD sealed the 5-3 win.
Special teams were the difference. The Bulldogs scored on three of their five power plays. UND struggled and could on score a single goal in seven power-play attempts.
UND got off to a hot start on Saturday night. Shane Gersich and Austin Poganski netted goals in the first half of the first period to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored once in the period cutting the lead to 2-1.
The game was all Bulldogs after the opening period. Scott Perunovich scored two goals in the second period, both with a man advantage.
UMD then scored two more goals in the final period to put the game out of reach, and secure a 5-2 victory over the Hawks.
The theme of the weekend was special teams. The Hawks went 1-11, which played a big part in getting swept. The Bulldogs scored on eight of their eleven opportunities.
UND returns home to face the DU Pioneers. The Hawks have not beat DU at Ralph Engelstad Arena since 2015.
The Bulldogs host SCSU this weekend. The teams met last in early November. The Huskies dominated sweeping the series. The combined score was 10-3, with the Huskies scoring five goals in each game.
CC 10-11-3 vs WMU 13-10-1 (12)
Colorado College entered the weekend as the only NCHC team not to be ranked in the top 20. Don’t let that deceive you, they are still a solid team that would probably be higher in the standings in almost any other conference.
Friday evening started slow for both teams, although WMU put the puck on net 18 times to CC’s seven.
Late in the second period is when the action picked up. With just over a minute left in the period, Scott Moldenhauer got the puck in the net for WMU on a power play to give them the late 1-0 advantage.
The Tigers answered early in the final frame with a goal of their own. Ten minutes later, that had taken a 2-1 lead with a goal from Troy Conzo. The lead was quickly erased with a goal from the Broncos just two minutes later. At the end of regulation, the score sat at 2-2.
The overtime period was quick, it lasted just 35 seconds until Richard Zehnal scored the game-winner for the Broncos in a 4-3 victory.
Saturday night was another close affair.
In the first five and a half minutes, three goals were scored between the teams, one from CC and two from the Broncos. With a 2-1 lead, Cam Lee made it 3-1 for WMU with a goal late in the first period.
Neither team scored in the first 10 minutes of the second period. Trey Bradley and Mason Berg scored power play goals within two minutes of each other to tie the game at 3-3. Shortly after, the Broncos scored a power play goal of their own to once again regain the lead at 4-3.
Cozo struck quickly in the third for CC. He scored just 33 seconds into the period bring the game to a draw at 4-4. The Tigers took a 5-4 lead, but it was erased at the end of the period by an Austin Rueschhoff goal. The game went into overtime for the second time in the series.
This time, the Tigers came out victorious with a Nick Halloran goal to take the victory, and an extra point because of it.
CC remains home to face the Miami University RedHawks. They face each other earlier this season and split the series.
Western Michigan University travels to Omaha, Nebraska to face the Mavericks. Last season, they went 5-2 against the RedHawks including knocking them out of the NCHC playoffs.
Points Leaders:
1. Henrik Borgström DU 35 2. Nick Halloran CC 34
3. David Pope UNO 31
