Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Minnesota State goes five hole
Five is a lucky number for the Mavericks.
Minnesota State scored five goals for the third straight game on Saturday to clinch its fifth straight MacNaughton Cup as regular season champions. And the Mavericks look likely to remain atop this week’s DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll after sweeping Bemidji State last weekend.
In Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Beavers, the Mavericks top line of Julian Napravnik, Brendan Furry and Cade Borchardt combined to score four goals while also adding five assists.
This is Minnesota State’s first regular season title in the reformed CCHA – the previous four came as members of the now-defunct WCHA. The Mavericks enter the regular-season finale against Michigan Tech on a nine-game winning streak.
2. Golden Gophers rally
The Mavericks weren’t the only Minnesota team to have a good weekend.
On Saturday, the Golden Gophers rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Penn State to win 6-4 and complete a weekend sweep of the Nittany Lions. It was the third consecutive weekend sweep for Minnesota. Sophomore forward and second-leading scorer Ben Meyers had three assists for the Golden Gophers in his first game back from the Olympics.
“We just had a bad start, and then we played like we can play the last two periods. We needed a couple goals to get our juice going,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said.
3. Crimson clinches Ivy League title
Harvard added a pair of Olympians back into the lineup last weekend – just in time to clinch the Ivy League title.
Forwards Nick Abruzzese and Sean Farrell made their return to the Crimson in Friday’s 4-3 win over Princeton after playing for Team USA in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Crimson celebrated the program’s senior night on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Quinnipiac. Senior Casey Dornbach had the lone goal of the game, while junior goalie Mitchell Gibson made 39 saves for the win that clinched the Ivy League title for Harvard.
4. Four in a row for AIC
The Yellow Jackets scored four unanswered goals to beat Mercyhurst 5-1 Friday and clinch the program’s fourth straight Atlantic Hockey title.
Elijiah Barriga scored three of the goals, helping AIC become the first team in Atlantic Hockey history to win four straight regular-season league titles. The Yellow Jackets are the fifth team in Division I men’s hockey history to win four regular season league titles in a row.
“I never ever want to take for granted how hard this journey is,” AIC Eric Lang said. “We have guys in this locker room that winning trumps everything. That’s all they care about. All individuality is on the back burner. It’s all about us and we and it’s the most precious thing in sports: set a goal and go out and accomplish it.”
5. North Dakota posts big road sweep
North Dakota swept Minnesota Duluth for the first time since the 2015-16 season, and in the process passing Denver for first place in the NCHC standings entering the final weekend of the regular season. The Fighting Hawks relied on their depth last weekend; seven different players scored for UND.
North Dakota holds a one-point lead over the second place Pioneers. The Fighting Hawks control their own destiny in the program’s search for a league-record third straight Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions.
6. Four’s a crowd
With two weeks left in the regular season, there are four teams within two points of each other at the top of the Hockey East standings.
UMass Lowell and Massachusetts are tied for first with 40 points, although Massachusetts has two games in hand over the River Hawks. UConn and Merrimack are right behind with 38 points each, with the Huskies having a game in hand over Merrimack.
The Huskies and Minutemen split a home-and-home series last weekend. Those two, along with Merrimack, will have a chance to pass UMass Lowell this coming weekend, as the River Hawks play non-conference opponent Long Island on Friday in their lone game of the weekend.
7. Lucky seven for Hughes and Michigan
Freshman defenseman Luke Hughes helped Michigan to a sweep of Ohio State at Yost Arena last weekend. Hughes had two goals in Friday’s 5-3 win over the Buckeyes and then added another goal Saturday in a 3-0 Michigan win. It was the seventh straight win for the Wolverines.
The fourth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft has now scored in five consecutive games. His seven goals in that stretch give him 16 this season, a school record for a freshman defenseman.
8. Notre Dame sweeps
Notre Dame improved to 10-4 on the road this season with a sweep of Michigan State last weekend in the Big 10.
The Fighting Irish beat the last-place Spartans 2-1 Friday and 4-2 on Saturday.
“We played playoff hockey this weekend,” Notre Dame defenseman Spencer Stastney said. “It was a real gritty weekend, low scoring games so we were getting pucks deep, not making mistakes and getting ready for playoffs.”
9. Bobcats notch another shutout
Quinnipiac added another notch to its NCAA Division I men’s record for shutouts in a season Friday against Dartmouth. Graduate transfer Dylan St. Cyr made 12 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, while fellow transfer student Oliver Chau had two goals.
On Saturday, St. Cyr’s counterpart Yaniv Perets had another impressive outing, stopping 26-of-27 shots against Harvard. But this time, it was the Quinnipiac offense that was shutout, as the Crimson edged out a 1-0 victory.
10. Terriers take Beanpot
While it technically wasn’t last weekend, Boston University won the school’s 31st Beanpot title with a 1-0 win over Northeastern on Monday.
Dylan Peterson scored the game’s lone goal with 2:46 left to play in regulation. This year’s Beanpot was the first time the tournament had played with the new NCAA overtime rules. Had Peterson not scored, the game would have gone to a five-minute, three-on-three overtime, and then a shootout.
It was the first time the Terriers had won the Beanpot since 2015. The win snapped a streak of three straight titles by Northeastern. BU is back in action for the first time since beating the Huskies when they travel to Boston College on Friday.
