The weekend in review…

EAST WRAP – Tim Costello

ECAC Northeast
Just four points separate the top five teams in the conference after a weekend that saw contender battles tighten things up at the top. Endicott avenged an early season overtime loss by knocking off Nichols on home ice by a 5-3 score behind two goals apiece from Cam Olsson and Cam Bleck. Another battle among top-four contenders saw Suffolk knock off Salve Regina by a 3-2 score. The Rams spotted the home team a first-period lead of 2-0 before rallying over the final 20 minutes with two goals to take the lead. Brandon Smolarek made 34 saves in the win that ties Suffolk with Nichols at the top of the standings.

ECAC West
Hobart took games from Nazareth to maintain their grip on the top spot in the conference. Brad Robbins scored all three goals in Friday’s 3-0 win before opening the scoring for four in a row in Saturday’s 6-2 win.

Manhattanville surged into second place with a dramatic 5-4 overtime win over Elmira on Friday night. In a game with five lead changes, the Valiants won the game with just over a second remaining on a penalty shot goal from Stephen Gaul, who was awarded the shot when Elmira’s Rob Simpson was whistled for displacing the net in the final second.

MASCAC
Plymouth State tied Framingham State on Thursday before downing Fitchburg State by a 3-1 score. Forward Andrew Wigg tallied twice an added an assist to bring his career scoring total to 100 points.

Salem State inched closer to the Panthers with a 4-2 win over Fitchburg State on Thursday before dismantling Massachusetts-Dartmouth by a 7-2 score. Cam Moniz and Andrew Bucci scored two goals each for the Vikings.

NE-10
In a game that saw a combined 112 shots on goal, Stonehill took an important conference win from Assumption by a 5-2 score. Garrett White scored two of the Skyhawks’ three first-period goals and chased Assumption’s starting goalie Nick Commesso as Stonehill cruised to the win and remained unbeaten in conference play.

NEHC
Things are tightening up at the top as Babson took a pair of wins over Castleton and Skidmore, while conference leader and travel partner Massachusetts-Boston tied Skidmore 3-3 on Friday night before defeating Castleton 5-1 to yield a point back in the standings. The Beavers now trail by just two points.

Norwich remained in the third spot with a win over New England College and a tie at St. Anselm, while the University of New England won its lone game of the weekend against travel partner Southern Maine by a 9-2 score where 14 players recorded a point for the Nor’easters.

NESCAC
Trinity continued its winning ways with a pair of close wins over Tufts and Connecticut College, while Williams split a pair of games in Maine and Hamilton won its only league matchup over Amherst putting all three teams within just two points for the top spot in the conference.

Wesleyan broke into the win column with a big road win on Friday night when they knocked off Connecticut College by a 5-2 score. James Kline picked up a pair of goals for the Cardinals in the win.

Bowdoin played things close to the vest and took four points at home with a 1-0 win over Williams followed by a 2-1 win over Middlebury. Freshman Cody Tedesco scored the game-winning goals in both games for the Polar Bears.

SUNYAC
Dillan Fox scored twice in Plattsburgh’s Friday night road win over Morrisville and Connor Gorman did him one goal better in recording a hat trick in the home win on Saturday over the Mustangs by a 4-2 score. The four points moved the Cardinals into the top spot alone in SUNYAC.

Anthony Marra scored twice and added an assist as Geneseo downed Cortland 6-1 keeping the Knights in the thick of the battle at the top, while Oswego appears to be making a late-season run following their 5-3 win at Brockport. The Lakers outshot the home team by a 51-30 margin, but needed the game winner from Shawn Hulshof in the third period to break open a 3-3 tie. Hulshof recorded a hat trick with a goal in each period in the win.

Weekend Biscuits
Bryan Green, St. Anselm – the freshman forward made his first goals of the season count in a big way for the Hawks when he scored a natural hat trick to open the scoring in a 5-1 win over Franklin Pierce last Monday night.

Brad Robbins, Hobart – the Statesmen forward made it easy as 1-2-3 in scoring a goal in each period as the only goals of the game for a natural hat trick in Hobart’s 3-0 win over Nazareth. Robbins made it four goals in a row when he opened the scoring on Saturday night’s rematch, also won by Hobart 6-2.

Andrew Wigg, Plymouth State – the senior forward figured in all three Panther goals in a 3-1 win over Fitchburg State that saw Wigg attain 100 points for his career in 93 games played.

WEST WRAP – Brian Lester

MIAC

Augsburg and Concordia (Minn.) went into their weekend series tied for second place in the MIAC standings and they played like two teams jockeying for position at the top of the standings.
Saturday’s game was wild to say the least. The Cobbers trailed 3-0, but scored three goals in a span of 135 seconds to forge the tie. Jordie Bancroft fueled the rally with a pair of goals. Adam Wiertzema scored the game-tying goal. Eli May, Eric Brenk and Nate Flynn all scored for the Auggies, who are now 10-6-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the MIAC. Concordia is 7-8 overall and 5-2-1 in the conference. The Auggies are atop the conference with 19 points and the Cobbers are third with 17 points. Augsburg edged the Cobbers 4-3 Friday and the two teams skated to a 3-3 tie Saturday. The Auggies snapped a two-game losing streak Friday with the win and handed Concordia only its second conference loss of the year. Trevor Stewart scored twice in Friday’s win. Jon Grebosky scored his team-leading ninth goal of the year for the Cobbers. It was his fifth goal in the last six games … St. John’s wrapped up a sweep of Bethel Saturday with a 7-1 win. The Johnnies scored seven unanswered goals to secure the victory and catapult themselves into a tie for second with St. Thomas in the MIAC standings. Both teams have 18 points. The Johnnies have scored seven more more goals in their last three games and have punched in 20 goals in their last three games against the Royals. Mitch Fritz and Neal Smith each scored two goals to pace St. John’s, which is 8-9-2 overall and 6-4 in the MIAC. Smith his pushed his season goal total to eight. Saxton Soley racked up 19 saves for his sixth win. The Johnnies won 7-3 Friday as the fourth line combined for nine points. St. John’s trailed 2-0 early before striking back with fourth goals. Sam Valerius paced the Johnnies with two goals. Travis Payne scored his seventh goal in the last three games for the Royals, who are now 2-12-2 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

NCHA

In the biggest showdown of the weekend, top-ranked St. Norbert and second-ranked Adrian duked it out on the ice. The two teams came away with a split as the Bulldogs grinded out a 5-4 win Friday before the Green Knights salvaged a split with a 2-1 win. Chris Leone scored the game-winner late in the third period to give Adrian the win on Friday. The Bulldogs extended the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at any level of college hockey to 16 games. Trevor Boyd and Brett Pinkerton scored to stake the Bulldogs to a 2-0 lead but Michael Hill struck twice off the power play to tie the game. Riley Christensen gave St. Norbert a 3-2 lead before Byran Yim tied the game. Adrian led 4-3 after a goal by Jeremy Olinyk but St. Norbert tied it again on a goal by Erik Cooper. The game was rugged throughout as the two teams combined for 11 infractions. Saturday’s game was just as tight, only goals were tougher to come by. Ross Pavek scored the game winner for the Green Knights, ending Adrian’s impressive unbeaten streak at 16. Michael Hill also scored for the Green Knights. Daniel Lisi scored the lone goal for the Bulldogs. The two teas combined for 11 penalties and Adrian held a 32-15 advantage in shots. Adrian is now 15-2-1 overall and 11-2-1 in the conference. St. Norbert is 14-2-1 overall and 10-2 in the conference. T.J. Black made 31 saves for the Green Knights. Tyler Parks tallied 13 saves for Adrian … Marian capped off a sweep of Lake Forest over the weekend with an 8-3 win. The Sabres, ranked No. 15 in the nation, have swept the last three series they have played and are riding a six-game win streak at the moment. Jake Howie and Warren Carter both scored two goals apiece to pave the way. Howe also dished out three assists on a night when he came through with his third multi-goal game of the season. Mike Gudmanson racked up 19 saves as he earned his third win of the season. He is 3-3. The Sabres are 11-5-3 overall and 9-4-1 in the NCHA. Lake Forest is 6-11 overall and 4-10 in the conference. Marian scored five goals in the first two periods to earn a 5-2 win over the Foresters Friday. Curtis Lewington scored his first career goal in the win. Carter tallied his fourth goal of the season and Derek Thorogood dished out four assists. Mike Baldwin made 14 saves for his eighth win. Ian Pichel and Justin Pelock scored for Lake Forest.

WIAC

Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Wisconsin-Eau Claire battled in a top 10 showdown Friday and the Blugolds used an overtime goal to pull off the win at home. Patrick Moore scored the game winner for eighth-ranked Eau Claire. It was one three goals for Moore. Jake Hopfner and Bryan Sinz also scored for Eau Claire, which improved to 12-5-2 overall and to 2-2 in the WIAC. Adam Knochenmus, the team’s leading goal scoring threat, racked up four assists as the Blugolds snapped a two-game losing streak. Knochenmus has tallied 16 goals and 12 assists on the year. The fourth-ranked Pointers erased a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead on goals by Jono Davis, Kyle Sharkey and Trace Strahle. Sharkey scored twice in the game … Stevens Point bounced back Saturday with a thrilling 4-3 win over No. 13 Wisconsin-River Falls. Alex Kromm punched in the game-winner with 14 seconds as the Pointers erased a two-goal deficit. The win ended the Falcons’ 11-game unbeaten streak. Stephan Beauvais scored the other goal during the comeback. Logan Lemirande also scored for Stevens Point, which improved to 13-4-1 overall and 2-2 in the WIAC. Mike Dietrich, Danny Hamburg and Taylor Burden all scored for the Falcons, who are 11-4-3 and 3-1 in the conference. Stevens Point has won seven of its last eight games. The loss was the first for River Falls since Nov. 21 when it fell 2-1 to the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

The women’s Division III schedule was chock-full this past weekend, and with less than a month left in the regular season, every game matters at this point.

Still, even with the action from this weekend, don’t expect Monday’s USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll to change much, save for a possible tweak in spots 8-10.

All of the country’s 10 ranked teams were in action, including top-ranked Plattsburgh on the road at Oswego.

The Cardinals blanked the Lakers in two straight, 7-0 and 5-0. In the opener Saturday night, Melissa Sheeran scored two goals and Camille Leonard earned the 14-save shutout. Sunday afternoon, Sheeran and Melissa Ames notched two goals apiece and Leonard pitched an 11-save shutout to gain her NCAA-best 11th shutout in just 16 games.

No. 2 Elmira swept Chatham by identical 4-1 scores Friday and Saturday. Olivia Nystrom had two goals and an assist in the first game, while Kelcey Crawford made 13 saves. Saturday, Meghan Fonfara posted two goals and a helper and Maddie Evangelous popped two goals. Kyle Nelson finished with nine saves.

Third-ranked Adrian again won the battle of Michigan with Finlandia, taking an 11-0 win Friday and then a 15-2 victory on Saturday. On Friday, Kristin Lewicki and Michelle Jones posted hat tricks, Brooke Lupi two goals and an assist, Kaylyn Schroka a goal and three assists, and Logan Taylor four assists. Jade Walsh stopped all nine shots as the Bulldogs outshot the Lions 81-9. The Saturday rout saw Adrian outshoot Finlandia 75-18, as Brooke Gibson made 16 saves for the win in net. Sarah Shureb had a hat trick, Schroka three goals plus a helper, Audrey Noles and Lexie Tzafaroglou two goals each, Lupi and Lewicki a goal and three assists each, and Kristi Zink four assists.

St. Thomas entered the weekend at No. 4 and took both ends of the home-and-home series with St. Catherine with 2-1 scores each game. In Friday’s win, Mackenzie Torpy made 20 saves and Allison Borgstrom and Leah Schwartzman scored. Saturday’s victory had Kaylee Druk and Megan Juricko scoring and Torpy making 24 saves to stay unbeaten on the year at 13-0-1.

No. 5 Lake Forest swept Concordia (Wis.) at home. Michelle Greeneway scored two goals and added an assist and Kayla Griffith recorded a goal and two assists in Friday’s 5-2 win that also saw Allie Carter stop 14 shots in goal. In the finale, Concordia scored the game’s first and last goals, but Lake Forest scored the four in between to take the 4-2 win. Olivia Spellmire scored twice and Greeneway scored again to add to her nation-best 26 goals. Jacqueline Audet stopped 12 shots for her second win of the season.

Sixth-ranked Amherst took four points from Colby, winning 4-1 Friday and 3-1 Saturday. Four different players scored for the Lord Jeffs and Bailey Plaman stopped 22 shots Friday, while Alex Toupal had a goal and an assist and Sabrina Dobbins fashioned a 24-save outing in Saturday’s win.

Middlebury will stay No. 7 after winning both from Bowdoin, 2-0 Friday on Maddie Winslow’s two goals (and Jessica Young’s two assists) and Julie Neuburger’s 13-save shutout. The finale saw Young score two, Winslow pick up a goal and an assist, Janka Hlinka two assists, and Marisa Dreher make 12 saves in goal.

At No. 8, Wisconsin-River Falls split with Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Falcons won 4-3 Friday as Chloe Kinsel snapped a 3-3 tie at 19:32 of the third period after Ali Biagini tied the game for UWSP at 18:53. Saturday, Cara Lemirande’s goal 12:09 into the second stood as the winner as the Pointers took a 2-1 win. Sydney Conley made 30 saves in goal for Stevens Point.

Castleton may not occupy No. 9 any longer, especially after an 8-0 drubbing against St. Anselm on Friday. Alex Starzyk scored four goals for St. Anselm, while Ashley Moran scored two goals and Sara McNamara and Alison Butler had a goal and an assist. Martha Findley added three assists and Hannah Synnott stopped all 14 shots fired her way. Saturday, the Spartans had to go to overtime with Massachusetts-Boston, but came away with a 2-1 win on Aimee Briand’s winner 34 seconds into extra time. Jess Cameron made 36 saves in the win.

No. 10 Norwich shut out St. Michael’s 5-0 Friday and Nichols 6-0 on Saturday. Madison Gallagher scored twice Friday and Laurie King picked up the goose egg in net with 11 saves. Celeste Robert made all eight saves Saturday and Bryn Labbe went for four goals and an assist for the Cadets. Rachel Bellio and Adelle Murphy each had a goal and an assist to boot.

In a unique stat, all the games last weekend that went to overtime came away with winners. Besides Briand scoring for Castleton, other heroes were Melissa Boudreau for University of New England Friday (beat Nichols 2-1), St. Norbert’s Jillian Kosteck Friday (beat St. Scholastica 3-2), and Brede Postier for Hamline (beat St. Mary’s 2-1 Saturday).

26 and counting
No. 1 Boston College added three more wins to its perfect season. To start its week, Meghan Grieves scored twice on assists by Tori Sullivan, and Katie Burt turned away 29 shots to record a 2-0 shutout of Harvard.

The Eagles returned home to sweep Vermont, 6-2 and 6-1. In the opener, Dana Trivigno had a goal and three assists, while Alex Carpenter scored twice. Carpenter potted two more with a helper on Saturday. She now has 250 career points, good for seventh in the NCAA era.

Tight margins in the CHA
The lower-ranked team gained at least a split in all three series played in the CHA. The six teams combined to score just 18 goals in the six games on the weekend, and half the games went to overtime.

Penn State was the only team to gain ground in the league, taking three of four points from Robert Morris. Bella Sutton was the hero for the Nittany Lions on Friday, scoring at 3:41 of OT to give her team a 3-2 win. Sarah Quaranta had assisted on third-period tallies by Mikaela Lowater at 12:54 and Bittany Howard at 14:40 to bring the Colonials back from a two-goal deficit. Hannah Bramm built the PSU lead, converting assists from Amy Petersen in each of the first two stanzas. Celine Whitlinger earned the win with 33 saves. RMU’s Rikki Meilleur forced overtime again on Saturday with her unassisted goal with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. The game ended in a 2-2 tie, and Hannah Ehresmann finished with 40 saves for Penn State, while Jessica Dodds made 27 stops for the Colonials. Petersen had given the Nittany Lions a third-period lead, after Bramm and Ashley Vesci traded goals in the first frame.

Goals were scarce at Lindenwood. On Friday, it wasn’t until the game’s final minute that Mercyhurst’s Sarah Robello broke through on a power play. Jaclyn Arbour added an empty-netter with nine seconds left, giving Sarah McDonnell, who stopped 25 shots, a 2-0 shutout win. Shara Jasper scored the Lions’ only goal of the weekend 4:44 into Saturday’s game, but that proved to be enough for a 1-0 win, thanks to 35 saves by Nicole Hensley.

Syracuse was unable to gain ground on the Lakers, however, because the Orange had problems of their own versus RIT. Carly Payerl’s second goal of the day a minute into overtime gave the Tigers a 2-1 victory on Friday. Jess Paton had the primary assist, as she did on Payerl’s earlier goal that tied the game after Nicole Ferrara had given Syracuse a lead. Jetta Rackleff made 41 saves to garner the win. The Orange bounced back with a 3-0 win, getting goals from Dakota Derrer, Heather Schwarz, and Alysha Burriss, and 14 saves from Jenn Gilligan.

Favorites prevail in the WCHA
Underdogs had their moments in the WCHA, but not enough of them, as the favored teams took 23 of the 24 points awarded.

No. 1 Wisconsin again had difficulty with No. 8 North Dakota, but this time, the Badgers were able to overcome the adversity and swept in front of two sellout crowds. Erika Sowchuk scored Saturday’s only goal 3:34 into the contest, assisted by Rachel Jones and Jenny Ryan. Ann-Renée Desbiens took over from there, stopping all 29 shots that the Fighting Hawks mustered. Shelby Amsley-Benzie made 31 saves to keep UND close. Wisconsin triumphed, 3-1, on Sunday, when Emily Clark scored the winning goal on a power play with 72 seconds left. Annie Pankowski added an empty-net goal and assisted on the other two tallies for the Badgers. Clark had two helpers as well. Sarah Nurse gave Wisconsin the first lead of the game, before Becca Kohler responded with UND’s only tally of the weekend. Amsley-Benzie finished with 31 saves for the second day, while Desbiens stopped 27 shots to earn her 22nd win of the season.

No. 3 Minnesota’s 7-0 victory at St. Cloud State on Friday gave Brad Frost his 279th win for the Gophers, moving him ahead of Laura Halldorson for most in program history. Sarah Potomak had two goals and three assists, while Dani Cameranesi had a four-point game, and Hannah Brandt, Kelly Pannek, and Kelsey Cline all finished with three points. Amanda Leveille saved all 18 shots to get the shutout. The Gophers power play converted on three of five opportunities on Saturday as they finished off the sweep, 4-2. Milica McMillen, Cara Piazza, Taylor Williamson, and Cameranesi hit the net for Minnesota, while Lauren Hespenheide and Suvi Ollikainen got the Huskies on the board. Brandt finished the weekend with 267 career points, moving her into fourth place on the NCAA list.

No. 7 Bemidji State swept at Minnesota-Duluth, 3-2 and 2-0. Lara Stalder scored Friday’s first and last goals for the Bulldogs, but Kristin Huber equaled that with a pair of power-play tallies for the Beavers, who went ahead to stay on freshman defenseman Melissa Hunt’s first goal of her career. Ivana Bilic of BSU and UMD’s Ashleigh Brykaliuk contributed a pair of helpers. Brittni Mowat got the shutout on Saturday by making 27 stops, supported by goals from Kaitlyn Tougas and Madison Hutchinson. Maddie Rooney saved 26 shots for the Bulldogs.

Ohio State kept Minnesota State winless in the league on the season. The teams skated to a 3-3 draw on Friday, with OSU winning the shootout. Julia McKinnon and Claudia Kepler scored twice with two assists in the Buckeyes’ 8-3 Saturday win. OSU’s Katie Matheny also had a pair of goals, as did Emily Antony, who finished with three goals in the series for the Mavericks.

How the rest of the top 10 fared
No. 4 Quinnipiac skated away from Boston University, 6-1. Taylar Cianfarano led the attack with two goals and an assist, and Kristen Tamberg had one goal in her three points.

No. 6 Northeastern took both ends of a home-and-home series over Connecticut, 4-0 and 7-3. Brittany Bugalski made 15 saves to claim the shutout in the opener. Jordan Krause had three assists and McKenna Brand scored and added an assist. On Saturday, Kendall Coyne scored twice with two helpers, defenseman Lauren Kelly had two goals and an assist, and Brand tallied once with two assists.

No. 5 Clarkson got a short-handed goal from Olivia Howe and an unassisted tally by Rhyen McGill, but had to settle for a 2-2 tie at Cornell when Jess Brown scored a third-period goal. Hanna Bunton had opened the scoring for the Big Red, who got 34 saves from Paula Voorheis. Shea Tiley made 25 saves for the Golden Knights.

Clarkson came from behind to down No. 10 Colgate on Saturday, 3-2, handing Raiders’ netminder Julia Vandyk her first loss in 13 decisions. Geneviève Bannon scored the final two goals for the Golden Knights after McGill had started the rally.

Colgate started the weekend with a tie of its own, 1-1, versus St. Lawrence, gained when Breanne Wilson-Bennett converted on a power play midway through the third period. Grace Harrison saved the other 16 shots from the Raiders, who got 23 stops from Vandyk, marred only by a first-period goal for SLU’s Kennedy Marchment.

Other action
St. Lawrence finished with a three-point weekend when it defeated Cornell, 5-1. Marchment and Hannah Miller scored in the first period, and Jenna Marks grew the lead to three with a short-handed tally. Anna Zorn got the Big Red on the board, but the Saints pulled away on empty-net goals by Justine Reyes and Amanda Boulier. Harrison made 19 saves to get the win.

Harvard’s Emerance Maschmeyer made 23 saves to shut out Dartmouth, 2-0. Karly Heffernan and Lexie Laing provided the goals.

Katie Rooney’s hat trick with an assist highlighted Rensselaer’s 6-2 win over Brown.

Melissa Black’s 39 saves weren’t enough to keep Union from falling to Yale, 2-1. Jamie Haddad and Courtney Pensavalle scored for the Bulldogs after Kathryn Tomaselli had given the Dutchwomen an early lead.

Brown’s Erin Conway scored an extra-attacker goal to tie Union, 2-2, and deny the Dutchwomen their first victory yet again. Lizzy Otten had put Union on the brink of victory with a shorthanded goal, after Tomaselli and Sam Donovan had traded goals.

Katelyn Rae scored twice with an assist and Samantha Ridgewell made 26 saves to get her fourth win when Merrimack downed Brown, 4-1.

Boston University swept a home-and-home series from Providence, 5-1 and 4-2. Rebecca Leslie scored twice and added an assist in the opener. Blair Parent struck twice to give the Friars a two-goal lead on Sunday, but the Terriers rallied behind second-period goals from Maddie Elia, Rebecca Russo, Mary Grace Kelley, and Victoria Bach.

New Hampshire swept Maine, 5-1 and 3-0. Jonna Curtis had a goal and a three-point game on Saturday. Kyra Smith turned in a 32-save shutout on Sunday, supported by a goal and an assist from Carlee Toews.