SATURDAY ROUNDUP: No. 2 Denver explodes for split at No. 16 ASU; No. 10 Quinnipiac wins Battle of Whitney Ave., 5-2; St. Cloud completes sweep of No. 12 WMU; Gotkin, Leaman reach coaching milestones

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No. 10 Quinnipiac defeated local rival Yale, 5-2, to capture the annual Heroes’ Hat in the Battle of Whitney Ave. (Photo: Quinnipiac athletics/Rob Rasmussen)

The Heroes’ Hat, presented annually to the winner of the series between defending national championship Quinnipiac and Yale will stay in Hamden, Conn., after the Bobcats stayed unbeaten in ECAC play with a 5-2 win over their arch rivals.

Five different players registered goals for Quinnipiac while Collin Graf earned three assists in the victory.

The Heroes’ Hat was established after the attacks on the World Trade Center in September  of 2011. It remembers the late Joseph Mascali, a father of three Quinnipiac alums, who lost his life on 9/11.

Quinnipiac has captured or retained the Heroes’ Hat in each season dating back to 2012.

No. 2 Denver 8, No. 16 Arizona State 4

Arizona State’s Mullett Arena has been a difficult destination for any team that ventures to Tempe. No. 2 Denver found that out on Friday, falling to the host Sun Devils, 6-5 in overtime, on Friday.

Things looked even worse for the Pioneers in Saturday’s rematch, falling behind 3-0 by the early minutes of the second period.

But Denver exploded for eight of the game’s final nine goals, including two goals by Jack Devine and a goal and three assists from Carter King as Denver rallied for a 8-4 victory to earn the weekend split.

It was a four-goal explosion in a span of 7:54 of the second that included goals by McKade Webster, Miko Matikka and Devine’s pair. Jared Wright expanded the lead to 5-3 in the third before Matthew Kopperud brought Arizona State to within one with 10:26 remaining.

Denver, though, found the empty net twice and then added a third late tally to provide a final score not indicative of how close the game was played.

St. Cloud State 3, No. 12 Western Michigan 0

St. Cloud State completed a road sweep of No. 12 Western Michigan, extending its win streak to four games after beginning the year 2-4-0.

Dominic Basse stopped all 23 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season. Veeti Miettinen scored on the power play in the first and Grant Achan and Joe Molenaar added tallies in the middle frame. For Miettinen it was the his sixth straight game with a goal.

St. Cloud State has allowed two goals or less in five of its last six games, all victories.

No. 11 Michigan State 5, No. 17 Notre Dame 3

The host Spartans salvaged a four-point weekend in Big Ten play, following Friday’s tie where Notre Dame took the extra point in a shootout, with a 5-3 win Saturday afternoon.

Gavin O’Connell scored his second goal of the game with 15:48 remaining to break a 3-3 tie for Michigan State. Artyom Levshunov iced the game with an empty-net goal with 39 seconds left.

The two clubs traded leads all night with the Spartans holding leads of 1-0 and 3-2 before O’Connell broke the deadlock.

Trey Augustine made 34 saves to earn the victory for the hosts.

Mercyhurst 2, No. 20 RIT 0

Behind a 51-save shutout by goaltender Simon Bucheler, Mercyhurst upset No. 20 RIT to earn a weekend split and give coach Rick Gotkin his 600th collegiate coaching victory.

Gotkin is only the 16th men’s coach to reach that milestone and currently ranks second among active Division I coaches behind Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold.

The Lakers mustered just 12 shots in the game but made the most of them. Boris Skalos scored at 12:15 of the first period before Keanen Stewart added a power play tally with 12:30 remaining.

Bucheler stopped 15 shots in both the first and third periods and added 21 stops in the middle frame.

No. 5 Providence 5, Northeastern 2

Providence scored twice in the first and put the game away with a three-goal third period as the Friars completes a weekend sweep of Northeastern, 5-2.

With the win, coach Nate Leaman earns with No. 249 and passes Hockey Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello as Providence’s winningest men’s hockey coach of all time.

Tanner Adams scored two goals for the Friars and added and assist, while Jaroslav Chmelar added a goal and as assist.

Providence improves to 8-1-2 overall and 4-0-2 in Hockey East. It is the best start to a season since the 2015-16 campaign when the Friars began 12-0-3.

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