Reviewing Week 9 in the NCHC.
All eight NCHC teams played a conference opponent as the season has come to the half-way point and teams have a break until after Christmas.
UND 10-5-5 (6) vs SCSU 12-2-1 (1)
The Huskies and Fighting Hawks came into last weekend’s matchup as the top two teams in the NCHC standings. After the weekend, that would stay the case.
Friday night was a back-and-forth affair. After both teams failed to score in the opening period, they traded goals in the second period.
Easton Brodzinski scored his fifth goal of the season, but the 1-0 lead was quickly erased as Rhett Gardner netted his fourth of the year bringing the score to 1-1.
The final period was similar with the Huskies scoring first, the UND scoring shortly after to preserve the tie.
Two overtime periods were not enough to find a winner, and the teams headed to a shootout. UND scored on their first shot, and Cam Johnson stopped the SCSU try leading to a UND win.
Both goalies played very well and both had 30 plus saves. There could have been many more goals in this game from either side.
Saturday, the second period decided the game.
After a scoreless first period, SCSU scored three goals in the first ten minutes of the period including two from Mikey Eyssimont. The Huskies held a 3-0 lead before the Hawks scored their only goal of the game.
With both teams failing to score in the final frame, the Huskies walked away with not only a series victory but also remained atop the NCHC.
DU 9-3-2 (2) vs CC 7-7-2
Colorado College has not been successful against Denver University in the last few years. They haven’t beat them since 2014. Last weekend, they changed that.
The in-state rivals played a home and home series with the first game being in Denver, and the Saturday game being in Colorado Springs.
In Denver Friday evening, the Tigers were the ones to end the stalemate in the first period scoring with eight seconds to spare.
The Pioneers dominated the second period with three goals and a buzzer-beater of their own when Ian Mitchell scored his first goal of the season for DU with 17 seconds left in the second period. Amid the scoring of DU, CC’s Nick Halloran scored his sixth goal of the campaign. At the end of two periods, the score sat at 3-2, with DU leading.
The teams traded goals midway through the third period, but a clutch extra-attacker goal by Mason Bergh with seven ticks of the clock remaining to tie the game at 4-4 and send it to overtime.
After two overtime periods, the Tigers put the game away in the first round of the shootout to get the extra point in the NCHC standings.
In Colorado Springs the following night, the Tigers held a 1-0 lead from a first-period goal until the Pioneers scored 17 seconds into the third period.
Just like the prior game, a winner was not able to be determined in overtime, and the teams once again would go to a shootout. Denver was the victorious team this time scoring on their one and only opportunity.
Alex Leclerc was a stud in net for the Tigers with 30+ saves in each game.
MU 8-8-2 vs WMU 10-8-1 (12)
Miami University traveled to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan University last weekend. The Red Hawks were able to come away with some points and move up in the NCHC standings.
Friday, the underdog Hawks peppered the net to the tune of 34 shots and five goals. After scoring the only goal of the first, the Hawks would go on to score two more goals in the second period. The Broncos’ Hugh McGing scored his fifth goal of the season on a power play in the second as well.
At the end of two frames, the score sat at 3-1, with the Red Hawks in the lead. The two teams traded goals making it 4-2, but an empty net goal from Gordie Green sealed the game for Miami. It was Green’s 8th goal of the season.
Both Green and Josh Melnick lead the MU attack with three points each.
Saturday would be a closer affair. It featured goals by each teams’ high-profile scorers, who put on a display.
Dawson Dipietro opened up the scoring with his ninth goal of the season not even a minute into the first period. Miami answered back at the end of the first period with two goals of their own to gain a 2-1 lead.
Green scored his ninth goal of the season for the Broncos when he scored on the power play in the second period.
The game shifted to the Wade Allison show. Allison scored his 12th goal of the season in the second period, 13th in the third, and then 14th in overtime for not only a hat-trick but the win at 4-3.
UMD 8-9-2 (17) vs UNO 7-8-1
Duluth paid the UNO Mavericks a visit last weekend for a series at Baxter Arena gains their conference foes. Both teams sit at the bottom of the conference, a surprise for UMD after losing only seven games all year, they have already surpassed that total halfway through this season.
Friday was a shootout. The Mavericks and Bulldogs combined for six goals in the opening period, three for each team.
The Bulldogs took a brief lead to open the second period, but UNO came back with three goals of their own taking a 6-4 lead.
Joey Anderson scored for the Bulldogs at the beginning of the third period cutting the UNO lead to 1 goal. UMD would fall short on the comeback attempt as Luke Nogard netted a goal for the Mavericks, which lead to the eventual final score, a 7-5 UNO victory.
Saturday was the Bulldogs’ day. They scored the first goal of the game in the first period with a man advantage, and never looked back.
While the Mavericks scored a power-play goal of their own in the first quarter to tie the game, they would never see a tie or lead again Saturday evening.
Kason Kuhlman found the back of the net less than a minute into the second period. Nine minutes later, Blake Young would score a goal as well extending the Bulldog lead to 3-1. UNO scored quickly after, but Ryan Tufte scored his seventh goal of the season for UMD adding to a 4-2 lead.
The Bulldogs went on to score two more goals in the third period en route to a 6-2 victory.
Points Leaders:
1. Wade Allison WMU 25 2. Henrik Borgström DU 23
2. Troy Terry DU 23
