Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. BC, MSU split top five showdown
The most anticipated matchup of the weekend featured a big-time top-five battle in East Lansing between No. 2 Boston College and No. 2 Michigan State. The Eagles beat the Spartans 3-0 in Friday night’s game at Munn Arena thanks to three goals in the second period–two by Will Vote and another by Oskar Jellvik. But the Spartans turned the tables on Saturday night, winning 4-3 to earn the split. MSU rallied from deficits of 2-1 and 3-2, scoring three goals in the second period to earn the program’s 600th victory at Munn, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season. Charlie Stramel scored two goals while Red Savage and Daniel Russel scored one apiece for MSU.
2. Big win for Lindenwood in Madison
Lindenwood pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the weekend and was an overtime period away from pulling off the impressive sweep, as the Lions beat Wisconsin 4-2 on Friday night in Madison. Jaeden Mercier scored twice while Alexander Lundman and Artyom Borshyov each added another goal for the Lions, who never trailed en route to earning their first-ever victory against a ranked opponent. On Saturday night, Lindenwood nearly pulled off the stunning sweep. Ethan Zielke and David Gagnon scored the first two goals for the Lions to take a 2-0 lead, but Wisconsin woke up late in the second period. Quinn Finley scored with less than a minute left in the middle frame then tied it up late in the third to send the game to overtime, where Daniel Laatch gave Wisconsin the game-winner with 18 seconds left.
3. Omaha wins IceBreaker
Omaha won twice in overtime to take the IceBreaker tournament championship in Las Vegas. The Mavericks beat UMass 3-2 on Friday behind a pair of goals from Zach Urdahl–who scored the game-winner. In Saturday night’s title game against Minnesota–a rematch of last season’s NCAA Sioux Falls Regional Semifinal game–junior goaltender Simon Latkoczy withstood a blizzard of shots from the Gophers to make a career-high 53 saves to backstop a 2-1 win. Minnesota’s Mason Nevers had given the Gophers a 1-0 first-period lead but Omaha battled back. Sam Strange scored shorthanded in the second period to tie it up before Jacob Guevin scored 54 seconds to win it for the Mavericks. UMass won the consolation title with a 5-1 victory over Air Force.
4. North Dakota drops Providence
North Dakota and Providence opened their regular seasons with the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, but it was the Fighting Hawks who came away with the 5-2 victory in Grand Forks. The Hawks, who were stunned by Augustana in their exhibition opener a week ago, looked like they meant business against the Friars. Dylan James scored two goals, Abram Wiebe had two helpers and UND goalie T.J. Semptimphelter made his North Dakota debut with a 22 save victory. Braiden Clark and Hudson Malinoski scored for Providence.
5. Quinnipiac beats Penn State
No. 8 Quinnipiac jumped out to a lead against Penn State but then held on late to avoid the upset, ultimately winning 3-2 in Hamden, Conn., for their season opener. Jeremy Wilmer and Andon Cerbone scored in the first before Wilmer added another in the second period to give the Bobcats a 3-0. It appeared the rout was on, but the Nittany Lions made it interesting in the third. Ben Schoen scored less than a minute into the frame and Danny Dzhaniyev made it 3-2 six minutes later. Penn State kept pressing but couldn’t find the game-tying goal.
6. Merrimack blanks Minnesota State, earns split
A week ago, Merrimack was without an eligible healthy goalie and needed a student manager to step in to give them a chance against Stonehill. They lost 3-2 in overtime despite a heroic effort from Spencer Marquis in net. What a difference a week makes. This time, with goaltender Max Lundgren active and able to play against CCHA powerhouse Minnesota State, the Warriors gutted out a 1-0 road win on Friday to pull off the upset. Lundgren, a freshman from Sweden, made 28 saves in his collegiate debut. Tyler Young scored the lone goal for Merrimack to help Lundgren’s shutout hold up. But a sweep was not to be, as Minnesota State’s offense clicked on Saturday for a 4-1 victory. Four different Mavericks scored (Brenden Olsen, Rhett Pitlick, Luigi Benincasa and Brian Carrabes) and Alex Tracy made 18 saves for the series split.
7. RIT splits with Mercyhurst
One conference is off to an early start. Atlantic Hockey play kicked off already this weekend, with Mercyhurst splitting the series with defending AHA regular season champion RIT in Erie, Pa. On Friday, the Lakers took a 4-2 victory behind goals from Dominik Bartecko, Barrett Brooks, Sean James and Ryan Coughlin. Coughlin’s goal, which happened 59 seconds into the third period, turned out to be the game-winner as RIT battled back from down 3-0 after goals from Gustav Blom and Dimitri Mikrogiannakis. James’ empty-netter gave Mercyhurst a cushion and helped seal the win. On Saturday, Simon Isabelle scored twice along with Philippe Jacques and Tyler Fukakusa as the Tigers were on the front end of a 4-2 scoreline. Mercyhurst scored both of its goals on the power play, including one by Mickey Burns with less than two minutes left which cut the score to 3-2; Fukakusa’s empty-netter sealed the deal for RIT.
8. Michigan gets win, tie in desert
Garrett Schifsky’s hat trick powered Michigan to a 4-1 win over Arizona State on Friday night before the Sun Devils battled back to earn a 3-3 tie on Saturday night. The Wolverines, who are now 7-0-2 all-time against ASU, managed to win Friday’s game despite being outshot 36-34 and finding themselves on the penalty kill five separate times. They dominated the special teams battle, however–two of Schifsky’s three goals were shorthanded, while Michael Hage added a goal on one of Michigan’s two power plays in the game. Logan Stein stopped 35 shots to earn the victory. In Saturday’s game, a wild third period say Michigan take a 3-1 lead with goals from Hage and Philippe Lapointe, but the Sun Devils battled back to tie it in in the final minutes of the game. Noah Beck scored on the power play to make it 3-2, then 16 seconds later Cullen Potter’s shot from behind the blue line somehow found its way past goalie Cameron Korpi to tie things up at 3-3, which ended up as the final scoreline.
9. Notre Dame sweeps North Country road trip
Notre Dame opened its season with a pair of wins in the North Country, beating St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday. Against the Saints on Friday, Cole Knuble’s two goals highlighted a 4-1 win. A pair of transfers also had big games in their Notre Dame debuts: Minnesota Duluth transfer Blake Biondi scored in the second period while former Mercyhurst netminder Owen Say made 31 saves. In Saturday’s game, a four-goal third period helped the Irish rally past Clarkson 5-2. The Golden Knights took a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by Jared Mangan and Tristan Sarsland. But Notre Dame scored five unanswered to earn the win. Knuble made it 2-1 in the second frame before the Irish exploded in the third. Michael Mastrodomenico, Hunter Nelson and Danny Nelson each scored in the first 11 minutes of the final period; Justin Janicke ended it with four minutes left when a Clarkson shot bounced off his shin and slid the length of the ice into the empty Golden Knights net. Nicholas Kempf stopped 30 shots for Notre Dame.
10. Michigan Tech starts off October right
After going 0-for-October in 2023, Michigan Tech started 2024 on a specific mission: Make sure they get off to a solid start on the season. This weekend’s results would indicate a success. The Huskies swept visiting Alaska with a pair of 2-1 victories in their nonconference series. On Friday night, Max Koskipirtti scored 15 seconds into the game for Tech, but the Huskies had trouble solving Nanooks goaltender Nicholas Grabko, who made 26 saves. Matt Koethe scored for Alaska in the second period and the 1-1 score held until overtime, when Elias Jansson scored three minutes into 3-on-3 overtime for a victory. On Saturday, the Huskies won by the same scoreline but this time no overtime was needed. Stiven Sardarian and Chase Pietila scored in the first period for Tech, as did Alaska’s Chase Dafoe, but that was all the offense in the game. Michigan Tech, after having All-American goaltender Blake Pietila in net for five years and 142 games, seems to have found a solid backstop this season in Max Vayrynen, who made 15 saves on Friday and 29 on Saturday to improve to 2-0-0.
