United States wins Under-18 Championship
Connecticut signee Natalie Snodgrass’ second goal of the game 1:47 into overtime gave the U.S. a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Canada and its second straight gold medal.

Leads solidified
In all four leagues, the team that entered the weekend leading the conference maintained the advantage. Although the gap to the nearest pursuer didn’t increase, crossing a week off the remaining schedule and maintaining the status quo is always a good thing.

Quinnipiac gets help
In a week where the ECAC leader played a nonconference series while others cashed in some games in hand, the No. 4 Bobcats were able to maintain their margin when Harvard had a pointless weekend. Meanwhile, Quinnipiac swept visiting Robert Morris, 3-2 and 2-0.

Friday’s game wasn’t actually as close as the final score, as the hosts built a three-goal lead after two periods on goals from Nicole Kosta, Lindsey West, and Meghan Turner, and the Colonials didn’t get back within one until Rikki Meilleur’s extra-attacker goal with under eight seconds left. Natalie Fraser scored the other goal for the visitors, who got two assists from Amber Rennie. Taylar Cianfarano contributed a pair of helpers for the Bobcats.

Saturday, Sydney Rossman saved all 14 shots to record her 11th shutout of the season, tying her once more for the national lead. The game was scoreless until Nicole Connery tallied 3:03 into the third period. Cianfarano sealed the win with an empty-netter. Nicole Brown assisted on both. Jessica Dodds was a hard-luck loser, despite stopping 25 of 26 shots.

Mercyhurst gets split
A day after Syracuse shut out Mercyhurst, 2-0, to forge a tie atop the CHA, the Lakers reclaimed the solo lead with a 3-1 victory.

On Friday, the Orange scored twice from the blue paint. Nicole Ferrara swatted home a power-play rebound in the second period, and Emily Costales swung a puck around the goaltender a third of the way through the final frame. The Lakers were held to 16 shots, and Jenn Gilligan handled all of those.

Mercyhurst struck early on Saturday when Paige Horton and Jenna Dingeldein converted power-play opportunities in the opening stanza. Rachel Smith made it 3-0, and goalie Sarah McDonnell did the rest, yielding only a goal by Ferrara out of the 40 shots she faced.

Another Eagle reaches milestone
Haley Skarupa’s 100th goal at Boston College highlighted the No. 1 team’s sweep of Merrimack to run its perfect start to 23 games. She reached the century mark at 7:01 of the third period in Saturday’s game, her second goal of the game, and she also had two assists. Alex Carpenter matched her four points with a goal and three helpers. Makenna Newkirk scored twice. Gabriella Switaj gained the 6-0 shutout with eight saves.

The home-and-home series began on Friday at Merrimack, where Samantha Ridgewell made 52 saves to limit BC to goals from defensemen Toni Ann Miano and Megan Keller. Katie Burt backstopped the 10-save shutout as the Eagles won, 2-0.

Wisconsin heats up
As the temperatures fell in Bemidji, No. 2 Wisconsin’s offense started to heat up. Jenny Ryan’s tally in the final minute of the first period was the game’s only goal as the Badgers shut out No. 6 Bemidji State, 1-0, on Friday. Ann-Renée Desbiens’ shutout was her 11th of the season and the 28th of her career.

The Badgers completed the sweep in far different fashion, scoring a trio of goals in each of the first two periods and rolling over BSU, 7-1. Sarah Nurse and Emily Clark each netted a pair of tallies. There was only 2:06 remaining when Kristin Huber became the only Beaver to get a puck by Desbiens in four games played by the teams.

Dynamic first line
No ranked team was busier than No. 7 Northeastern, and the Huskies won three times to run their winning streak to nine games. The top line of Kendall Coyne, Hayley Scamurra, and Denisa Krížová dominated the score sheet, combining for 30 points on the week.

Coyne was involved in every goal, scoring twice and assisting on the other three, in Northeastern’s 5-1 defeat of Providence. Scamurra added a goal with three assists and Krížová potted two plus a helper.

Krížová had a hat trick with two assists as the Huskies blew out Maine, 8-1. Coyne was held without a goal, but made up for it with five helpers. She had two goals on Sunday as Northeastern completed the sweep of Maine, 5-2. Scamurra had a goal and two assists. Audra Richards scored in both games for the Black Bears.

Moving up
A week after falling out of the rankings, Colgate made a push to get back in as it climbed the ECAC standings.

The Raiders scored three unanswered goals in the second period in a come-from-behind win over Cornell, 4-3. Shae Labbe’s power-play goal, the third of the game for Colgate, midway through the game was the deciding shot. Kaitlin Doering scored twice for the Big Red.

Bailey Larson led all scorers with three assists as the Raiders downed Brown, 6-2. Breanne Wilson-Bennett, Annika Zalewski, Labbe, and Cat Quirion had two-point games.

Megan Sullivan scored the winning goal with 93 seconds left to lift Colgate over Yale, 4-3. She and Zalewski finished with a goal and an assist.

Julia Vandyk earned all three wins to up her record to 9-0-2 on the season.

How the rest of the top 10 fared
Minnesota State extended No. 3 Minnesota to the limit, but the Gophers came away with one-goal wins both days. Kelly Pannek, Dani Cameranesi, and Megan Wolfe all had a goal and an assist as Minnesota built a three-goal lead and won, 3-2, on Saturday, when Anna Keys and Lindsey Coleman scored in a late rally that fell short by the Mavericks. Hannah Davidson’s early goal and 48 saves by Brianna Quade had MSU poised for the upset on Sunday, but Pannek assisted on third-period goals by Lee Stecklein and Wolfe as the Gophers squeezed out a 2-1 win.

No. 5 Clarkson won twice on home ice, starting with a 1-0 defeat of Dartmouth. Shea Tiley’s 22 saves made Loren Gabel’s goal 78 seconds into the game stand up as the winner. Robyn Chemago stopped 41 shots for the Big Green. The Golden Knights scored four unanswered goals over the final 23:03 to top No. 8 Harvard, 5-2. Geneviève Bannon and Rhyen McGill had a goal and an assist for Clarkson.

The Crimson also fell at St. Lawrence, 2-0. Amanda McClure and Hannah Miller scored first-period goals, and Grace Harrison earned her first shutout with 24 saves.

No. 9 North Dakota came home from Minnesota-Duluth with a sweep. The Fighting Hawks won, 2-1, on Friday thanks to goals from Samantha Hanson and Amy Menke and 21 saves from Shelby Amsley-Benzie, who allowed only an extra-attacker goal by Sidney Morin. Gracen Hirschy’s goal in the final minute of overtime gave UND a 4-3 triumph. The Bulldogs, who got 44 saves from Maddie Rooney, rallied behind third-period goals from Morin and Demi Crossman, the latter an extra-attacker effort with 22 seconds left in regulation.

Other action
St. Cloud State traveled to Ohio State and swept the Buckeyes by identical 2-1 verdicts. Katie Fitzgerald made 60 saves in the series, and Julia Tylke scored the winning goal both days.

Syracuse blanked Union, 4-0. Jenn Gilligan made 20 saves, and Alysha Burriss had a goal and an assist.

Laura Bowman scored a minute into overtime in Penn State’s 3-2 win at RIT to salvage a split. The Tigers took the opener, 3-0, keyed by 33 saves from Jetta Rackleff.

Dartmouth and St. Lawrence skated to a 2-2 draw, breaking a 10-game losing streak for the Big Green. Both Chemago and Harrison made 32 saves, and the Saints’ Justine Reyes scored the tying goal at 8:58 of the third period.

Brown and Cornell also tied, 2-2, on Saturday. Monica Elvin made 46 saves and sophomore Cynthia Kyin’s first goal as a Bear gained them the point.

A day earlier, Cornell outlasted Yale, 6-4. The Big Red got off to three-goal lead 14:30 into the game, and the Bulldogs tied it with a three-goal second period. Cornell won when Jess Brown scored twice late to complete her hat trick. Pippy Gerace had a pair of goals for the Big Red.

Rensselaer swept Union, 2-0 and 3-0. Laura Horwood scored in both games and Lovisa Selander was flawless in stopping 61 shots on the weekend.

Boston University and Vermont played to a 3-3 deadlock on Saturday. Taylor Willard’s second goal of the game with 2:22 to go gained the Catamounts a point. Freshman Sammy Davis netted her first hat trick to help the Terriers to a 6-2 win in the rematch. Samantha Sutherland added a goal with two helpers.

Connecticut took three of four points in a home-and-home series with Providence. Christina Putigna’s third-period goal for the Friars answered an early tally from Theresa Knutson in a 1-1 tie. Knutson came back with a natural hat trick to give the Huskies a 5-2 win on Sunday.

With just about five weeks left until the end of the regular season, every game now takes on a whole new meaning as teams begin to jockey for position in conference standings and contenders start to separate themselves from pretenders.

There was a lot of that last weekend in the women’s Division III docket.

Top-ranked Plattsbugh put up 18 goals on William Smith in a two-game sweep by scores of 9-0 Friday and 9-1 Saturday.

In the opener, Kayla Meneghin and Giovanna Senese each recorded two goals and three assists, Melissa Sheeran two goals and two assists, and Erin Brand a pair of goals for the Cardinals as Camille Leonard made 12 saves for the shutout. On Saturday, Jordan Lipson posted two goals and an assist, Melissa Ames two goals, Sheeran a goal plus two helpers and Julia Duquette and Meneghin added a goal and an assist. Kassi Abbott needed to make just eight saves for the shutout.

No doubt the Cardinals remain atop the USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll come Monday afternoon.

No. 2 Elmira also earned a sweep, beating Neumann 6-2 and 8-0 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Louisa Lippiatt Durnell tallied two goals and an assist in the first win, while Kyle Nelson stopped all seven shots Sunday and Kristin Chivers scored two goals for Elmira. Rachel Grampp and McKenna Farole added a goal and two assists apiece.

Third-ranked Adrian swept Concordia (Wis.), escaping with a 4-3 win Friday before taking a 7-1 win Saturday.

Brooke Lupi had a hat trick Friday for the Bulldogs, while Christina Pattengale was sharp, making 38 saves in goal for Concordia. Saturday afternoon, Lexi Holman’s goal at 19:04 of the third period broke up Brooke Gibson’s shutout bid, but she still finished with 14 saves. Lupi with two goals and two assists, Kaylyn Schroka with two goals and three assists, and Kristin Lewicki with two goals and an assist led the Adrian offense.

Another sweep saw No. 4 St. Thomas take both from St. Mary’s in a home-and-home series.

Saturday, UST scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 win and then Sunday, Mackenzie Torpy made 20 saves for the win. Frani Marshall played the final 7:51 and stopped both shots she faced. Hannah Burns scored two goals for the Tommies and Kathryn Larson added a goal and two assists.

Lake Forest went into the weekend ranked fifth and will no doubt maintain that spot after winning two close games on the road at St. Scholastica, 2-1 Friday and 3-1 Saturday.

Friday, national goal-scoring leader Michelle Greeneway scored both, including the game-winner at 15:40 of the third period. Allie Carter made 19 saves for LFC and Lindsey Hartfiel also stopped 19 for the Saints. Saturday, Olivia Spellmire’s short-handed goal at 11:20 of the third stood as the winning tally. Carter made 15 saves and Hartfiel stopped 30.

No. 6 Amherst stumbled a bit at Bowdoin, losing 3-2 Friday, but regrouped for a 3-1 victory Saturday.

Ariana Bourque’s goal with seven seconds left Friday earned Bowdoin the shocking win after Eileen Harris had tied the game for Amherst at 17:38. In Saturday’s contest, Julie Dachille started the scoring for Bowdoin, but Amherst scored the next three to gain the split.

Seventh-ranked Middlebury beat both Utica and Endicott over the weekend. Katarina Shuchuk’s first goal of the season late in the second period proved to be the winner in a 2-1 win over Utica Friday and in the second game, Marisa Dreher pitched a 12-save shutout. Vendela Jonsson made 48 saves for Endicott. Katherine Jackson fired home two goals for the Panthers and Maddie Winslow added a goal and a pair of assists.

Wisconsin-River Falls, ranked eighth, did not play over the weekend, but did play two weeknight games last week, topping St. Scholastica 7-5 Tuesday and St. Benedict 11-1 on Wednesday.

No. 10 Castleton upended No. 9 Norwich 1-0 on Saturday night with Ashley Pelkey netting the lone goal of the game at 13:49 of the second period. Spartans’ goalie Jess Cameron made 39 saves in the win. Laurie King turned aside 23 for Norwich.

Norwich previously beat St. Anselm 3-2 Friday, as Erin Joyce’s second goal of the game 10:33 into the third period stood as the winner. Celsete Robert kicked out 31 shots for the win in net.

Castleton began the weekend with a 4-1 win against Plymouth State on Friday. Aimee Briand tallied two goals and an assist for the Spartans and Taylor Steadman chipped in a goal and an assist.

All in all, look for the poll to stay the same Monday, save for a possible Norwich-Castleton flip.

So we are already halfway through January and the conference competition is heating up with many leaders are being challenged by teams looking to make their presence known.

Nonconference games, while not worth points in the standings, are important in building a resume for national consideration, but more importantly, building a level of consistency that will help any team compete for conference glory over the final weeks of the season.

Upsets abounded again this week and the biscuit winners really earned their recognition.

Here is the East recap:

ECAC Northeast
Four different goal scorers and 25 saves from Kevin Aldridge moved Endicott closer to league leader Nichols, who dropped their first game in conference play to Suffolk by a 5-2 score. Justin Selep scored two goals, including one shorthanded, to back senior Brandon Smolarek’s 32 saves in moving Suffolk into a tie at the top on points, while the Bison have a game in hand on the Rams.

Becker’s Nicholas McKee scored the game winning goal just 33 seconds after Kyle Lebrun had tied the game for Wentworth early in the third period. Tyler Stepke made the lead stand up with 14 third period saves.

ECAC West
Hobart and Elmira joined ECAC Northeast schools Salve Regina and Curry in the first Vineyard Classic played on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Hobart took the title by downing Curry in the opening round by a score of 4-2 before downing Salve Regina in the championship game by a 2-1 score. The Seahawks earned the place in the final by downing Elmira 3-1. Special teams and goaltending owned the first two periods of the final before Vincent Russo’s goal with just under three minutes in regulation provided the winner for the Statesmen by a 2-1 score.

In a nonconference game that saw a total of 86 shots on goal, Mike Davis set up linemate Jory Mullin before he scored his second of the game for Neumann with just over two minutes remaining in regulation to earn a hard fought 5-5 tie with Geneseo.

MASCAC
Plymouth State earned a 4-2 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Thursday, but stumbled on Saturday to a Salem State team that is hot on their trail for the top spot in the conference standings. The Vikings outshot PSU by a 41-28 margin and broke open a tie game with three unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes for the win.

Westfield State dropped four important points with a 10-4 loss to visiting Fitchburg State before losing to UMD on Saturday by a 4-2 score. Cameron Snyder finished with six points for the Falcons as they scored nine times in the first two periods of play against the Owls. Linemates John Celli and Nat Rojas chipped in with five and four points, respectively, as the big line combined for four goals and 15 points.

NE-10
In one of the wilder games of the weekend, Morrisville won a 7-6 overtime battle with Southern New Hampshire that saw the home team rally from 5-0 and 6-2 deficits in the third period to force overtime where Danny Liscio scored the winner for the Mustangs. Darren Young was the offensive star with four goals in the game, which also were his first four goals on the season.

NEHC
As is often the case, the travel partner games between Babson and Massachusetts-Boston usually find the visitor taking the win on each of the two nights. This year was no different as Babson handed the Beacons their first loss in conference play with a 3-2 win at the Clark Center on Friday night. Saturday saw the Beacons return the favor with a 4-1 win led by two goals from Colin Larkin.

UNE had another four-point weekend, including an overtime upset of Norwich at Kreitzberg Arena by a score of 4-3. The Nor’easters rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force the extra session where Trevor Fleurent won it with under a minute remaining in overtime. UNE followed the big win up with a 4-1 over St. Michael’s, while Norwich had to go to overtime for a second game in a row where they eked out a 1-0 win over Southern Maine.

Another crazy game on the weekend saw Skidmore’s Anthony Bird score the game tying goal with the extra attacker on the ice and just half a second left on the clock in a 6-6 tie with New England College.

NESCAC
Trinity took an important four points in conference play by downing Colby 4-3 and Bowdoin 3-1. Ethan Holdaway and Ryan Cole potted two goals each on the weekend for the Bantams.

Amherst broke back into the win column with a 4-2 win over Tufts where four different players scored goals for the Lord Jeffs.

Wesleyan picked up a pair of points with yet another pair of ties, giving them a total of seven ties on the season. The Cardinals rallied from two goals down to tie Bowdoin 3-3 behind three points from James Kline and scored an extra-attacker goal on Saturday with just 46 seconds remaining to tie Colby 2-2.

SUNYAC
Third-ranked Plattsburgh made a road trip through NESCAC for a pair of nonconference games against Middlebury and Williams. Friday saw the Cardinals’ Michael Radisa score twice to break open a scoreless tie in a 3-0 win. On Saturday, Plattsburgh outshoot Williams by a 45-10 margin, including 19-1 in the first period, but they could not get enough past the Ephs’ Michael Pinios, who made 43 saves and got some help from David Italiano, who scored twice for the home team, including the game winner less than one minute into overtime.

Weekend Biscuits
Michael Pinios, Williams – the Ephs’ goaltender stood up to an offensive barrage from Plattsburgh by making 43 saves, including 18 in the first period where his team was outshot 19-1 to keep them in the game. Williams rallied for a 3-2 overtime win.

Cameron Snyder, Fitchburg State – the forward led his line with two goals and four assists for six points in the Falcons 10-4 win over Westfield State on Thursday night. Snyder’s line finished the game with a 4-11-15 line in the boxscore.

Darren Young, Morrisville – the forward broke into the goal scoring column in a big way netting his first four goals on the season in a 7-6 win for the Mustangs over Southern New Hampshire.

WEST WRAP – Brian Lester

MIAC

In one of the biggest games of the weekend, St. Thomas knocked off nationally ranked Eau Claire 2-0 to make a statement in the non-conference showdown. It marked the first time all season the seventh-ranked Blugolds have been kept off the scoreboard. Joe Morris stopped all 36 of the shots he faced en route to the win. The Tommies capitalized on a pair of power play goals to earn the victory. Willie Faust scored one in the first period and Joakim Broberg scored one in the second. St. Thomas improved to 9-6-2 on the year while Eau Claire fell to 11-4-2 … St. John’s earned a split in its weekend series with St. Olaf, winning 7-2 Saturday. The Johnnies fell 4-2 to the Oles Friday. St. John’s scored five third-period goals en route to the win in the series finale. Daniel Tripicchio dished out a career-best three assists. Kevin Becker and Huba Sekesi each came through with a goal and an assist. The goal was the sixth of the year for Sekesi. Saxton Soley made 19 saves and is now 4-9-2 on the year. The win was the 42nd of his career. He ranks third all-time in school history in wins. In the 4-2 loss Friday, Nick Marsh scored twice for the Oles. Ole Stetsaas also scored twice for St. Olaf. Connor Kelly and Sean Lang both scored for the Johnnies … Bethel came through with a 6-2 win over Wisconsin-Superior Saturday to end its five-game winless streak. The Royals raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Travis Payne fueled the early attack as he scored three first-period goals en route to the hat trick. It caps off a big week where he scored a total of six goals, with five coming in the first period of play. Jesse Garcia made 33 saves for the Royals to earn his second win of the year. The win for Bethel was its second of the season as it improves to 2-10-2.

NCHA

Adrian continued its dominance of the NCHA as it swept Lake Forest over the weekend. The Bulldogs topped the Foresters 5-1 Friday and finished off the sweep with an 8-3 win. Mathew Thompson came through with a hat trick Saturday, scoring two of his three goals during a five-goal second period. The second-ranked Bulldogs own the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at any level of college hockey, getting through their last 15 games without a loss. They are 14-1-1 overall and 10-1-1 in the NCHA. Thompson also dished out an assist in the win. Dillon Kelley made his second career start in goal for the Bulldogs and racked up 25 saves. It’s a new career-high for the sophomore goaltender. Thompson scored a goal and dished out two assists in Friday’s victory. Tyler Parks won his fourth game in goal, making a season-best 32 saves. The stage is now set for a showdown with top-ranked St. Norbert this coming weekend. Both games will be played in Wisconsin … The Milwaukee School of Engineering salvaged a split in its weekend series with St. Scholastica, winning 3-2 Saturday. An empty-net goal by Clint Garris in the third period served as the game-winner for the Raiders, who are now 10-5- overall and 5-5 in the conference. Nick LaRue and Omar Mullan also scored goals for the Raiders. The Saints came through with a 2-0 win over the Raiders in the opening game of the series. Tyler Bruggeman got the shutout as he racked up 20 saves. It was his eighth win of the year. Keegan Bruce and Derek Sutliffe both scored goals for the Saints, who improved to 9-3-1 overall and 7-2 in the conference … Top-ranked St. Norbert blasted Finlandia 7-1 and 8-0 to complete a weekend sweep in NCHA action. Pijus Rulevicius scored twice for the Green Knights Saturday, pushing his goal total to nine for the season. Nick LeSage also scored a pair of goals Saturday. St. Norbert is 13-1-1 overall and 9-1 in the conference. The Green Knights are unbeaten in their last 13 games. They have won five consecutive games.

WIAC

Wisconsin-River Falls skated to a 3-0 win over Gustavus Adolphus Saturday in a nonconference game. The Falcons improved to 11-4-3 on the year. Joe Drapluk, Christian George and Kyle Gattelaro all scored goals for River Falls. George tallied an assist on the goal by Gattelaro. Tanner Milliron was again impressive as he made 18 saves to nail down the shutout win. He is now 9-4-3 on the season. He has come up with two shutout wins in the last three games. The Falcons are unbeaten in their last seven games … Wisconsin-Stevens Point cruised to a convincing 4-1 win over Augsburg. The win was the sixth in the row for the reigning national runner-up. Tanner Karty scored twice in the victory. He has three goals in all this season. Jacob Barber and Jono Davis also scored for the Pointers, who finish 8-0 against the MIAC this season. Max Milosek earned the win in goal by making 25 saves. It was his ninth victory of the year … Wisconsin-Stout pushed its win streak to three games Saturday with a 6-3 win over St. Mary’s. The Blue Devils scored five or more goals for the third consecutive game. Jake Useldinger struck for two goals in the victory. He now has eight on the year. The Blue Devils improved to 9-4-3 on the year. They opened the weekend with a 5-3 win over St. Thomas. Gavin Smith scored his first collegiate goal in the victory. Useldinger also scored in the win.