Four teams broke out the brooms; earn weekend sweeps
While the Upper Midwest was shoveling out from a pre-Thanksgiving snow, Adrian, Concordia (Minn.), St. Norbert, and St. Thomas won hard-fought sweeps of their weekend games.
The NCHA
St. Norbert earned two hard-fought road victories this past weekend. The defending D-III national champions defeated Wis.-Eau Claire 3-2 Friday and 5-2 on Saturday. Cody Keefer scored two goals, one on a power play, and Seth Soley scored for St. Norbert on Friday, while Tyler Jundt and John Waggoner scored for Wis.-Eau Claire. The teams combined for 73-minutes in penalties and, with 1:39 left in the second period, a scuffle broke out between the two teams. All 10 players ended up in the penalty box with double minors for roughing. Wis.-Eau Claire skated out to a 2-0 lead in the first period of Saturday’s game behind goals by Andrew Wilcox and Jared Williams. St. Norbert charged back behind Keefer and Soley. Once again. Soley scored the first two goals and Keefer scored the game-winning goal as St. Norbert took the lead for good at 17:37 of the second period.
Also in the NCHA
For the second week in a row, Wis.-River Falls earned three out of four points and remained undefeated. Friday, Wis.-River Falls and Wis.-Stevens Point battled to a 2-2 tie. Alec Hagaman scored on a power play and Jeff Burke tied the game for Wis.-River Falls. Johnny Meo and Kyle Politz scored for Wis.-Stevens Point, and goalie Brandon Jeager stopped Wis.-River Falls’ Jason Yeul on a penalty shot. Wis.-River Falls continued the barrage against Jeager on Saturday, as the Falcons registered 43 shots on goal. Justin Brossman’s unassisted short-handed goal at 8:29 of the third period proved to be the game-winner, as Wis.-River Falls won 2-1.
Wis.-Superior and Wis.-Stout split the weekend series at Wessman Arena in Superior. Wis.-Superior began the weekend with a 4-1 victory. Pat Dalbec notched the game-winning goal for Wis.-Superior. Mike Hartviksen scored the clincher just 22 seconds into overtime for Wis.-Stout, as they defeated host Wis.-Superior 2-1.
MCHA
Adrian dominated the series by shutting out Lake Forest over the weekend. Six players scored seven times on Friday, as Adrian cruised to a 7-0 win. On Saturday, Adrian won 4-0. Shelby Gray led the way offensively with four goals and two assists. Adrian had its power play in overdrive over the weekend, scoring 50 percent of the time.
Also in the MCHA
Northland had a home sweep of visiting Finlandia. Colin McIntosh had two goals in Friday’s 5-2 win for Northland. Northland also won 3-2 on Saturday.
Marian and Lawrence skated to a pair of 2-2 overtime draws in their series.
MIAC
Two preseason favorites for the MIAC title squared off over the weekend. Michael Krieg scored the game-winner 31 seconds into overtime as St. Thomas beat Gustavus Adolphus 4-3 Friday night. Ryan Johnson scored twice for Gustavus. The next night, Rob Phillip scored the game-winning power-play goal for St. Thomas, as the Tommies won 3-1 to sweep the Gusties.
Also in the MIAC
Concordia (Minn.) posted its own sweep to keep a one-point lead in the MIAC standings. Kelly Andrew made 24 saves on Friday and Chris Neamonitis had 37 saves on Saturday as Concordia (Minn.) defeated Bethel,2-0 and 1-0.
St. Olaf and Hamline split their weekend series. Ben Leis stopped 26 shots as St. Olaf beat Hamline 4-0 on Friday. The next night, Hamline got two goals from Cory Belisle that helped defeat St. Olaf, 4-3.
Augsburg scored two third period goals to defeat St. John’s 3-2. On the following night, St. John’s rolled out to a 5-0 lead to cruise to a 5-3 victory and earn a series split.
