Cardinal/Panther Classic

Utica vs. No. 5 Middlebury
Elizabeth Wulf scored two second-period power-play goals en route to Middlebury’s 5-1 win

No. 3 Adrian vs. No. 1 Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh scored three times in the first period and that was more than enough for the top-ranked team, as they cruised to a 5-0 win. Melissa Sheeran scored twice for the Cardinals.

No. 1 Plattsburgh vs. No. 5 Middlebury
Plattsburgh jumped out to a 2-0 lead and was able to withstand a late charge from the hosts to earn a 2-1 win. Melissa Sheeran and Kayla Meneghin each had a goal and an assist.

No. 3 Adrian vs. Utica
Adrian had a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, but Utica forced them to a 4-3 win. Each team scored a five-on-three power-play goal. Kelly O’Sullivan had Adrian’s first two goals.

No. 7 Oswego at Williams
There were seven goals in the third period on Saturday as Oswego blew the game open en route to a 7-2 win. With a 2-0 lead heading into the last period, Oswego was led by three third-period goals from Alexa Aramburu. Williams was outshooting Oswego 20-15 before the third-period outburst. It was a stark contrast to Sunday, where it was a single Aramburu goal that gave Oswego the 1-0 win.

Chatham at Johnson & Wales
On Saturday, Chatham outshot Johnson & Wales 39-22, but it was a single goal late in the game from Johnson and Wales’ Casey Chodkowski that was the winner. On Sunday, Chatham struck first and it was two second-period goals from Kasandra Peterson, including a short-handed goal, that would prove to be the game-winner, that led them to a 4-2 win.

University of New England at Salem State
Salem State earned its first win of the season, taking down University of New England 3-2. UNE outshot Salem State 46-20, but Kerryann Goode scored twice in the Vikings’ three-goal second period to secure the win.

Denver wins ugly
Denver won both its games this weekend, but coach Jim Montgomery couldn’t have been happy about the way the Pioneers did so, especially Saturday against Wisconsin. Against both Air Force Friday and Wisconsin Saturday, the Pioneers had difficulty holding onto the lead in the third period, and need an OT goal from Jarid Lukosevicius to win. It was Denver’s third straight OT game.

Denver’s penalty kill also struggled. Friday, up 2-1 going into the third, Air Force struck just 39 seconds into the period. Denver answered 13 seconds later, but gave up a tying power-play goal by Erik Baskin at 5:04. Air Force also scored a power-play goal in the first period. Saturday against Wisconsin, Denver entered the third up 5-2, gave up a goal early, scored a five-on-three power-play goal to make it 6-3 and then took a five-minute penalty and gave up two power-play goals. Denver’s penalty kill gave up five power-play goals on the weekend.

Coach Jim Montgomery admitted his team looked tired Saturday, perhaps after all the extra time played.

“It sure looked like it in the last 30 minutes,” said Montgomery of his team’s fatigue level. “We made mistakes with the puck, we didn’t go through bodies in the third period, which got them some momentum and got them the power play. I think Tanner (Jaillet) was a little tired too, because that didn’t look like Tanner in the third period. That’s why you need good depth.”

North Dakota back to winless ways
Starting Halloween weekend, North Dakota, which entered that weekend against Minnesota-Duluth ranked number one, went three straight weekends without a win, going 0-4-2. After sweeping St. Cloud on the road in impressive fashion, it seemed the Fighting Hawks were back in form, but this weekend against Michigan State, the Fighting Hawks went winless again.

And unlike the previous winless streak, when the Hawks were playing teams ranked in the top 10, Michigan State was unranked and had a 2-6-1 record.

Special teams was an issue in both games. Friday in a 4-3 loss, the Spartans scored four-on-four and also got two power-play goals, including the game-winner from Joe Cox at 2:35 of the third period. Saturday in a 2-2 tie, the Spartans got the first goal short-handed, partly off a play by Cox, who carried the puck up the left-side boards and got a shot off, then picked up the rebound, deked two Hawks players, and passed to Thomas Ebbing in the slot.

North Dakota’s offense also had trouble finishing, as they outshot the Spartans in both games, 33-21 Friday and 34-19 Saturday.

North Dakota knows what it takes to win, as shown last year by winning the national championship, and while a lot of talent from that team is gone, much still remains, including top scorer Brock Boeser and goaltender Cam Johnson. The team knows it needs to find consistency.

“We saw how well we played in St. Cloud, we saw how well we can dominate,” sophomore defenseman Christian Wolanin said. “But what does it mean if we don’t do it every night? Anybody can be good on certain occasions, but to put it together for a full season? We saw what we did last year.”

Omaha remains strong on the road
Omaha has had the benefit of playing much of the first half of the season at home. However, that hasn’t translated to success, as the Mavericks have struggled in Baxter Arena, going just 2-5-1. For some reason however, the Mavericks have done well on the road, where they are without a loss. That trend continued this weekend, as they tied and beat Northern Michigan, raising their road record to 5-0-1.

Friday, the Mavericks struck first, scoring at 10 minutes of the first period, only to give up two goals in the next 1:17. However, Tyler Vessel’s power-play goal at 9:56 of the second tied the game, and Kris Oldham made 19 saves over the last two periods to preserve the tie.

Saturday, Evan Weninger made 31 saves as the Mavericks shutout Northern Michigan, 2-0. Omaha’s two goals came over a 14-second span in the second period, one from Jake Randolph and one from Justin Parizek.

Perhaps coach Dean Blais has reason to be happy, as Omaha closes the first half with road series against Wisconsin and St. Cloud State.

Cornell at No. 1 Wisconsin
The Badgers needed more than 50 minutes to find the net Friday night, but managed three goals in those final minutes to win 3-0. On Saturday, Wisconsin scored a minute into the game and Cornell came back to tie them twice in the first period, but the Badgers pulled away in the second to sweep the weekend with a 5-2 win. Annie Pankowski scored three times on the weekend, giving her six goals in the past four games.

Bemidji State at No. 2 Minnesota
Minnesota scored three times in the final frame on Saturday en route to a 4-0 win. On Sunday, Kelly Pannek scored twice in the first to lead the Gophers to a 4-1 win. Dani Cameranesi had four goals on the weekend.

No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth at Harvard
Harvard struck first on Friday, but Minnesota-Duluth scored the next four goals, including two in the third period from Katherine McGovern to secure the win. On Saturday, the Bulldogs outshot Harvard 41-16, but the Crimson had a 1-0 lead in the final two minutes of the game. Ashliegh Brykaliuk scored with just 1:17 to go and Sidney Morin secured the win in overtime. Lara Stalder finished the weekend with five assists.

No. 5 Clarkson vs. Robert Morris (Windjammer Classic)
Clarkson had a 3-1 lead with a minute to go in the second period, but Robert Morris’ Brittany Howard netted a power play goal a second before the buzzer to close the gap and Kristen Welsh scored with :31 to go in the third period to force OT. The tie was not broken, but Clarkson moved ahead in the tournament with a shoot-out win.

Merrimack at No. 8 Quinnipiac (Nutmeg Classic)
Quinnipiac outshot Merrimack 44-12, but needed a shootout win to advance in the tournament. Kenzie Lancaster scored for the Bobcats while Paige Voight netted the goal for Merrimack.

No. 6 Boston College at No. 10 Northeastern
A barrage of third-period scoring decided this one. Northeastern had a 2-1 lead six minutes into the final frame thanks to a short-handed goal by McKenna Brand and a goal from Paige Savage. Boston College responded with a short-hander of their own from Kristyn Cappizzano and goals from Toni Ann Miano and Kali Flanagan to secure the 4-2 win.

Syracuse at No. 7 North Dakota
On Friday, Syracuse blocked 28 shots and scored once in each period to upset North Dakota 3-0. Heather Schwarz had two goals and an assist for the Orange. On Saturday, the Fighting Hawks returned the favor with a 3-0 win of their own. Ryleigh Houston, Emma Nuutinen, and Jordan Hampton scored for the Fighting Hawks.

The rest of the top 10
Connecticut 2, at No. 8 Quinnipiac 3
No. 5 Clarkson 3, at Vermont 1

Thanksgiving and hockey went hand-in-hand over the weekend as Concordia made the trip east to play the Great Northern PrimeLink Shootout in New York and fashioned a 1-1 record, including a win over nationally ranked Plattsburgh State on Friday night.

The Cobbers scored twice in each of the first two periods to nail down a 4-3 victory, improving to 3-0 in games played in the prestigious East Coast tournament.

Jon Grebosky and Dalton Mills both scored in the opening period, with Grebosky scoring his first goal of the season. The goal for Mills was his fifth. Jordan Krebsbach’s first goal of the season tied the score at 3-3 and Garrett Hendrickson tallied the game-winner. Grebsbach’s goal came off the power play and marked the fifth consecutive game in which the Cobbers have scored a power-play goal. Jeremy Johnson tallied one assist in the win and now has a team-best seven on the season.

Concordia had its weekend end with a 3-0 loss to Norwich on Saturday and is now 4-4 on the season. It’s only the first time this season the Cobbers haven’t scored in a game.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point is now winless in two games against NCHA powerhouses. A weekend after falling to St. Norbert, the defending national champions lost 6-3 to Adrian.

Wis.-Stevens Point fell to 6-2-1 and Adrian improved to 6-1. Vincent Paquette paved the way for the Bulldogs, scoring a goal and two assists as he finished with a career-high three points. Connor Armour and Kyle Brothers both tallied a goal and an assist and Kevin Entmaa won his fifth game of the year in goal, tallying 21 saves in the victory.

Lawrence Cornellier paced the Pointers with a pair of goals. Max Milosek suffered his first loss. He is 3-1-1 on the season.

Adrian jumped in front 4-0 in the game and dominated the rest of the way to secure the win. The Bulldogs have scored first in every game they have played this season. The game was a rematch of the 2016 NCAA quarterfinal showdown between the Pointers and Bulldogs. Wis.-Stevens Point won that game 5-2 at Adrian.

Concordia (Wis.) swept the Thanksgiving Cup series with Bethel over the weekend, winning 6-4 and 4-0. The sweep propels the Falcons to their fourth Thanksgiving Cup crown.

Six different players scored a goal in Friday’s win. The Falcons jumped in front 2-0 on goals by Mac Ferner and David Haaf before Bethel tied the game on goals by Marvin Dallas and Andrew Bjorklund. The goal by Dallas was the first of two that he scored in the game. Jim Pearson gave the Falcons the lead for good at 3-2 in the first period and a goal by Nick Erb made the score 4-2 after one period of play. Jack Romanuik earned his fifth win of the year for the Falcons, racking up 28 saves. He is now the career leader in wins at the school with 12.

On Saturday, Concordia scored three times in the third to secure the 4-0 win. Pearson scored two of those goals and Erb had the other in the third as the Falcons improved to 6-3-1. Chase Hollander earned his first win of the season. The transfer from Wisconsin-Stout now has seven wins in his career, winning six times in three seasons at Wis.-Stout. The shutout was the fourth all-time in the history of Concordia hockey.

The Falcons were solid on the power play, stopping all five of the Royals’ chances. The Falcons and Royals started playing the Thanksgiving Cup during the 2013-14 season and Concordia is 7-0-1 all-time in it.

Marian went on the road Saturday and rallied for a 5-4 win over St. John’s in a nonconference game. The Sabres trailed 3-0 after one period and were behind 3-2 after two periods of action. The score was tied at 4-4 late in the third before Cole McCaig punched in a goal to lift the Sabres to the victory. Marian won despite being outshot 35-29 and giving up two power-play goals. Derek Perl, Scott Minthrop, Braden Crone, and Brodie Jamieson all scored to give the Sabres a 4-2 lead before Brady Heppner tied the game at 4-4.

Mike Baldwin nailed down the win for the Sabres, racking up 31 saves and pushing the Sabres’ win streak to two games. Marian has scored five or more goals in those two games and it’s the first time this season it has won back-to-back games.

St. Olaf won for only the second time this season with a 4-1 victory over Lawrence Saturday. The Oles got a pair of goals from Drew Otto. Otto also tallied an assist while Steven Sherman came through with two assists. JT Paine and Caleb Callaway both scored as well. The Oles skated out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back as they snapped a three-game losing streak. They scored twice off the power play and killed off the Vikings’ three power-play chances.

The game marks the fourth time this season St. Olaf has scored at least four goals. They are 2-2 in those games. Eric Hancock earned the win as he tallied 25 saves. The win is his first of the season.

Wisconsin-Superior got back on track Saturday with an 8-1 win over Finlandia. The Yellow Jackets snapped a five-game losing streak with the dominating victory at home. Viktor Sahllhag led the way for the Yellow Jackets, dishing out five assists. He also scored a goal. Anton Svensson finished with two goals and an assist. Matt Audette tallied four assists and Danile Litchke racked up two goals and an assist.

Chuck Marcoe scored the lone goal for the Lions. It was his first of the year.

Bryce Fink earned the win in goal for Wis.-Superior, racking up 17 saves. It’s his first win of the season for the Yellow Jackets, who held the Lions to an 0-for-6 showing on the power play. The win by Wis.-Superior marks the third time this season the Yellow Jackets have scored eight or more goals in a game. It’s the second time this year they have held an opponent to one goal.