St. Norbert has now gone back-to-back as the NCHA champions.
The Green Knights completed the repeat Saturday night with a 7-4 win over rival Adrian to claim the Harris Cup.
Ranked fourth in the USCHO.com poll, St. Norbert trailed early but scored four goals in the second to take control. The Green Knights eventually led 5-1 in the third but the ninth-ranked Bulldogs didn’t go down without a fight and closed the gap to 5-3 with under four minutes to play.
Carter Hottmann was one of several players who turned a big game for the Green Knights, scoring twice and dishing out an assist, while Hunter Garvey came through with 18 saves.
Liam Fraser, Curtis Hammond and Byron Hartley all tallied a goal and assist. Blake Ulve and Logan Dombrowsky dished out two assists apiece.
The Green Knights are unbeaten in their last 10 games, having not lost a game since Jan. 25. Their streak actually started with a sweep of Adrian and the Green Knights are 3-0 against the Bulldogs this season.
They are now 23-5-1 on the year and NCAA tourney bound after clinching the automatic bid. The win over the Bulldogs avenges their 5-3 national quarterfinal loss to Adrian a year ago.
For Adrian, the Bulldogs can now only hope for an at-large bid. Patrick Saini paced Adrian with two goals and an assist. Bradley Somers also came through with a pair of goals. Ben Loreto dished out two assists and Dershahn Stewart tallied 19 saves. Adrian is 18-10-1.
Gusties are back on top
For the first time in more than a decade, Gustavus is the MIAC tournament champion.
The Gusties got the job done with a 2-1 win over reigning champ St. Olaf Saturday to punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament.
The title is the sixth overall for Gustavus and the first since 2012, and the Gusties had to overcome an early deficit to hoist the Ed Saugestad Cup.
Trailing 1-0 after a goal by the Oles’ Tyler Green, the Gusties evened the score at 1-1 thanks to a goal by Riku Brown.
Brown would prove to be the hero of the night as he also scored the game winner, finding the back of the net two minutes into the third.
Colin Androlewicz racked up 26 saves, stepping up late when the Oles went with an extra attacker, to help the Gusties earn their seventh NCAA tourney trip in program history.
Gustavus also won the regular season title and is 16-9-2 on the year. The Gusties have won two in a row.
St. Olaf ends the year at 14-10-3 and had a two-game winning streak halted by the loss to the Gusties.
Blugolds are champions of the WIAC
UW-Eau Claire will play in the NCAA tournament bound for the first time since 2013 after securing the auto bid to the postseason with a 2-0 win over UW-River Falls on Saturday.
The Commissioner’s Cup is the fifth in program history for the Blugolds and their first since 2022. They are tied with UW-Stevens Point for the most championships in league history.
Eau Claire got the only goal it would need in the first period as Kyler Grundy scored for a 1-0 advantage. Trenten Heyde’s empty netter with 14 seconds to go finished off the scoring.
But the win certainly wouldn’t have been possible without the play of Max Gutjahr in goal. He came through with a season-high 39 saves and earned his sixth shutout of the year. He’s the first goalie to record a shutout in the final since 2014. He made 17 of his saves in the second period.
Eau Claire improves to 14-15-1 and is 5-1 in its last six games as its late season surge couldn’t have come at a better time. The Blugolds actually made the NCAA tourney in 2020 but didn’t get a chance to play because of the pandemic.
River Falls was aiming for its first championship since 2015 and ends the year with a 17-12-1 record. The Falcons held a 39-24 edge in shots.
