SATURDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: First Saturday of 2024-25 season sees Bemidji State sink No. 18 Minnesota Duluth in OT, top-ranked Denver knock off Alaska Anchorage, No. 7 Michigan earn split with Minnesota State, No. 12 Maine blank AIC, No. 3 BU down Holy Cross

By
-
Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth played a back-and-forth game in Duluth Saturday night (photo: Minnesota Duluth Athletics).

Bemidji State senior captain Jackson Jutting scored 3:47 into the three-on-three overtime period to send the Beavers to a 4-3 victory at No. 18 Minnesota Duluth Saturday night at AMSOIL Arena.

It was the Beavers’ first win in Duluth since Feb. 9, 2016, and also snapped a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2) against the Bulldogs.

It was a back-and-forth battle as the Beavers scored three times to take a lead over the Bulldogs, who responded all three times to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Bemidji State opened the scoring when Carter Randklev wasted little time to score just 1:41 into the season after banging home a rebounded Austin Jouppi shot.

The Beavers looked to take the 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but Jayson Shaugabay scored with just two seconds remaining in the period to tie the game for UMD.

Bemidji State had another quick start to the period when Donte Lawson put the Beavers back up on top with his first goal of the season 3:21 into the second frame after he converted a 2-on-1 with Rhys Chiddenton.

The lead didn’t last long as Shaugabay scored his second of the game just 4:29 later. However, this time the Beavers would strike before the period’s end when Jere Vaisanen drove through the Bulldogs defense and scored with 2:27 to play in the frame.

The third period was dominated by the Bulldogs as they outshot the Beavers 14-4 in the period. Goaltender Mattias Sholl had turned aside the first seven shots in the period but left the game halfway through the period due to injury. Raythan Robbins replaced him in goal and stopped the first five shots he saw before Zam Plante tied the game with 1:42 to play.

The teams went to the overtime where Robbins shined in goal, stopping all five shots he faced in the extra frame before Jutting won it.

Robbins earned his first collegiate victory in goal and turned aside 11 of 12 shots he faced while Sholl was also stellar in net, stopping 26 shots in 49 minutes.

For the Bulldogs, Zach Sandy collected 19 saves in goal.

SCOREBOARD | POLL

No. 3 Boston University 5, Holy Cross 2

Ryan Greene had two goals and an assist, Quinn Hutson and Shane Lachance three assists each and Mathieu Caron 29 saves as the Terriers defeated the Crusaders at Agganis Arena in Boston.

Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson and Alex Zetterberg also scored for BU in the win.

For Holy Cross, Jack Seymour posted a goal and an assist and Jack Stockfish the other goal. Thomas Gale finished with 32 saves in goal.

No. 4 Michigan State 4, Lake Superior State 1

Michigan State completed the weekend sweep of Lake Superior State on Saturday afternoon, earning a 5-1 win in a matinee matchup at Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

Isaac Howard had a pair of goals and an assist for Michigan State.

MSU swept the Lakers for the second consecutive season in the opening weekend.

The teams skated through a scoreless opening frame, but MSU peppered LSSU goalie Easton Hesse with 21 shots in the first 20 minutes. MSU scored on its first two shots of the second period to open up the game. Howard notched both of his scores in the second period sandwiched around a goal by linemate Daniel Russell to turn a scoreless game into a 3-0 lead before the eight-minute mark.

William Ahlrik broke up the shutout at 8:56, but the game was well in hand for MSU by that point. Joey Larson and Nicklas Andrews put goals on the board in the final 10 minutes for the final 5-1 margin.

In goal, Trey Augustine made 25 saves for the Spartans, while Hesse finished with 42 for the Lakers.

No. 14 UMass 5, Bentley 4

UMass used a four-goal second period to secure a 5-4 win on the road at Bentley Saturday night at the Bentley Arena in Waltham, Mass.

The victory for the Minutemen marks the 150th career win for head coach Greg Carvel in his UMass tenure.

“I thought Bentley came out with really good pace and it took us about half a period to get our legs going and I really liked our game from there,” said Carvel in a statement. “We go into the third with a four-goal lead and get punched late, but the thing I liked the best is we had five new players who didn’t play for us last year and they all looked, to me, like really positive additions.”

Aydar Suniev scored three for UMass and Jack Musa and Daniel Jen č ko added singles as Michael Hrabal totaled 33 saves in net for the Minutemen.

Connor Hasley had 32 stops for the Falcons, who got two goals from Nick Bochen, a goal and an assist from AJ Hodges, and a single from Ryan Mansfield.

Air Force 4, No. 20 Arizona State 3 (OT)

The Falcons earned the weekend split as Clayton Cosentino’s second goal of the game at 2:44 of overtime gave Air Force the win at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Ryan Kirwan had given ASU a 3-2 lead at 19:01 of the third period, only to have Brendan Gibbons tie it for the Falcons at 19:32 with his second tally of the contest.

Bennett Schimek and Kyle Smolen also scored for Arizona State.

Guy Blessing made 32 saves in goal for Air Force, while Luke Pavicich stopped 29 for the Sun Devils.

No. 7 Michigan 4, Minnesota State 1

Michael Hage registered a goal and an assist as Michigan earned a split with Minnesota State after a 4-1 win Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Jackson Hallum, Josh Eernisse and Tyler Duke also scored in the win as Cameron Korpi made 24 saves for the win in goal.

The win was also Michigan coach Brandon Naurato’s 50th behind the Wolverines’ bench.

Luigi Benincasa scored the Mavericks’ lone goal and Alex Tracy turned aside 14 shots between the pipes.

St. Lawrence 3, RIT 2 (OT)

Will Arquiett and Spencer Bell scored for the Saints in the first period, while Greg Lapointe scored 2:42 into overtime as St. Lawrence defeated RIT 3-2 on Saturday night at Appleton Arena in Canton, N.Y.

The win was the first in net for sophomore Mason Kucenski, who stopped 20 shots in goal for the Saints.

Dimitri Mikrogiannakis potted both tallies for RIT and Trent Burnham made 24 saves for the Tigers.

No. 12 Maine 6, AIC 0

Nolan Renwick scored twice with two assists, Nolan Makar added two goals and an assist, and Thomas Freel and Harrison Scott tallied one each as Albin Boija stopped all 17 shots he faced in Maine’s 6-0 blanking of AIC at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.

Yellow Jackets goalies Chase Clark and Adam Manji combined on a 26-save effort in goal.

No. 1 Denver 6, Alaska Anchorage 2

Sam Harris and Aidan Thompson each scored twice and Jared Wright and Jake Fisher notched one each as the defending national champs opened the season with a 6-2 win over Alaska Anchorage at the at the Avis Alaska Sports Complex.

In goal, Matt Davis made 10 saves for the Pioneers.

For the Seawolves, Joey Potter and Aiden Westin scored and Greg Orosz finished with 32 saves.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR