Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Michigan State sweeps BU
The first top five matchup of the season finished in predictably bonkers fashion.
After third-ranked Michigan State beat top-ranked Boston University 4-2 on Friday night, the two teams returned Saturday for a wild overtime battle that MSU ended up winning 4-3.
The Spartans got out to an early 2-0 lead through two periods and were up 3-1 in the third before Kamil Bednarik scored shorthanded for the Terriers to make it 3-2 midway through the period. Then, Conrad Fondrk tied the game at 3-all with less than five minutes to play to force overtime.
In the extra period, however, things got crazy. Cole Eiserman thought he had scored the game-winner for BU with 1:19 left to play but the puck was knocked out of the open net on the goal line by Spartans defender Shane Vansaghi. MSU went down the ice and Matt Basgall scored the game winner.
“Tonight was about as good of a college hockey game as you’re going to see,” MSU coach Adam Nightingale said. “I thought it was a really good response out of BU, obviously they’re a really good team. We knew they were going to be a lot sharper the second night.”
2. Lions stand strong to upset No. 5 Denver
Last season, Lindenwood shocked the college hockey world early in the season with an upset of No. 9-ranked Wisconsin.
The Lions have done it again this season.
Jacob Fletcher and Adam Raesler scored a pair of late, third period goals just a minute apart, breaking a 2-2 deadlock and helping Lindenwood upset No. 5 Denver 4-3 on Friday night.
The Pioneers had scored twice in the third period on Sam Harris and Hagen Burrows goals to take a brief 2-1 lead, but Ty Hipkin sent the teams into the intermission tied before Fletcher and Raesler scored what would turn out to be the game-tying and game-winning goals, respectively.
Burrows scored again with an extra attacker with less than a minute to play to make things interesting, but the Lions (3-3-0) held on thanks to Klayton Knapp’s 30 saves.
“I’m just proud of the guys,” Lindenwood coach Keith Fisher said. “They put a lot of work and effort into this, and we’ve been trying to get them to believe in what we’re doing and to believe in each other, and that’s what they’re doing. I told them last weekend, ‘You’re a good team if you play together and believe in each other,’ and they’re starting to do that and starting to see success from that.”
The Pioneers (1-1-1) rebounded on Saturday night for a 4-0 shutout win. Harris, Clarke Caswell, Jake Fisher and Samu Salminen all scored and Quentin Miller had a 19-save shutout.
3. No. 10 Quinnipiac gets the better of No. 4 Maine
In what was something of an undercard to this weekend’s BU/MSU heavyweight bout, the other top-10 battle from the weekend ended with Quinnipiac tying Maine then beating them in regulation.
The Bobcats (3-1-1), who were upset by Alaska at last weekend’s Ice Breaker, battled back on Friday from two different three-goal deficits to earn a 4-4 tie. Maine had taken a 3-0 lead in the first period with goals from William Gerrior, Owen Fowler and Miguel Marques. Ethan Wyttenbach cut the lead to 3-1 with an early second-period power play goal but Maine’s Thomas Freel made it 4-1 midway through the period. However, Markus Vidicek got one back at the end of the second before Elliot Groenewold and Jeremy Wilmer scored in the third to complete the comeback.
On Saturday afternoon it was all Quinnipiac. Wilmer and Wyttenbach scored power play goals for the Bobcats and William Gilson and Mason Marcellus added two more to help Quinnipiac earn the 4-0 win. Matej Marinov stopped all 18 shots for Quinnipiac.
4. Hawks, Gophers split in Grand Forks
I guess you could call this the third “title bout,” of the evening with another pair of heavyweight rivals taking swings both nights.
On Friday night, even a fast start for Minnesota–who scored twice in the first period–could stave off the offensive firepower of North Dakota. After falling behind 2-1 No. 8 ranked Fighting Hawks scored the next four goals and beat the No. 13 Gophers 5-2. Dylan James and EJ Emery each scored a pair for UND while Mac Swanson added a late power play goal.
Saturday night was almost a mirror image of Friday’s game. This time, the Gophers and UND traded some early goals before Minnesota scored four unanswered and ran away with a 5-1 victory. Brody Lamb notched a goal and two assists for Minnesota and Tanner Ludtke, Max Rud, Leo Gruby and LJ Mooney also added scores.
5. Augustana makes statement with sweep of No. 15 Arizona State
Just three seasons into their hockey program and Augustana is already doing a good job showing off their depth.
Nine different players scored for the Vikings as they swept Arizona State at home to improve to 3-1.
On Friday night, the Vikings rallied from an early 2-0 hole to score four unanswered goals–including two in the third to seal the game–and win 4-2. Ben Troumbly, Owen Bohn, Leo Bulgakov and Colton Friesen scored for Augie while Josh Kotai made 26 saves.
On Saturday, Augustana won 5-2 behind goals by Jacob Jastrzebski, Hayden Hennen, Hunter Bischoff, Cole Burtch and Owen Baumgartner.
6. Mavericks prove to be stubborn houseguests with pair of ties at Wisconsin
It’s the tale as old as time–a coach moves to a bigger, richer program then takes a bunch of his players with him. Then he invited his old team to his new home just to show off and rub it in their faces.
OK, that’s not exactly what happened with Mike Hastings and Minnesota State, but I think Mavericks hockey fans can live with the end result from this weekend.
MSU and third-year coach Luke Strand travelled to Wisconsin for their first-ever meeting with former head coach Mike Hastings, and came away with a respectable showing–a 1-1 tie on Friday followed by a 2-2 tie on Saturday.
Luigi Benincasa scored MSU’s lone goal in the second period Friday but the Badgers equalized when Oliver Tulk tipped former Maverick Simon Tassy’s goal in past goaltender Alex Tracy.
On Saturday MSU got off to a quick start with first period goals by Benincasa and Charlie Lurie but Quinn Finley and Tassy scored in the second to knot things up and the score remind that way until the end.
The Mavericks are now 1-1-2 and will host RPI this weekend while Wisconsin, now 2-0-2, hosts Alaska.
7. Michigan machine keeps rolling
Last week’s Monday 10 noted that Michigan had scored 26 goals through four games.
Well, we can keep adding to that tally. The Wolverines scored 14 goals on the weekend in a sweep of Robert Morris, beating them 4-2 and 10-2 in Ann Arbor.
Friday’s game was actually a hard-fought one, with Robert Morris taking the lead over the Wolverines twice in the first two periods and going into the third tied. However, Adam Valentini scored the second of his two tallies midway through the third and TJ Hughes added an empty-netter to seal the game. Michael Felsing and Luca Primerano both scored for the Colonials.
Things weren’t quite as even on Saturday. Nine different Wolverines finished with multiple points and Jayden Perron and Josh Eernisse had two goals and an assist each. Hughes also scored the 50th goal of his collegiate career.
It should come as no surprise that Michigan’s 6.67 goals per game through their first six contests leads the country currently. The closest team is Miami with 19 goals in four games, and Penn State with 27 through six.
The Wolverines, off to their first 6-0 start since 1979, have a home-and-home with defending national champs and instate rivals Western Michigan this Thursday and Friday.
8. Ohio State, UConn split the spoils
Another sneakily good top-20 matchup this weekend featured a pair of close games in Connecticut.
No. 12 UConn took the first matchup 3-2 thanks to a pair of second-period goals by Kevin Fitzgerald and Tristan Fraser. Fraser’s goal turned out to be the game-winner when Ohio State’s Riley Thompson scored on the power play midway through the period. Tyler Muszelik made 32 saves to earn the victory.
The 16th-ranked Buckeyes got their revenge the next night, winning 4-2. Ohio State had a 2-1 lead going into the third period but UConn’s Ryan Tattle tied it up with 5:42 left. That tie didn’t hold, though. Seventeen seconds later, Riley Thompson scored what ended up being the game-winner. James Hong added the empty netter for the Buckeyes to seal the split.
9. Penn State survives scare to sweep Sharks
Long Island gave No. 6 Penn State all the trouble it could handle on Friday before the Nittany Lions rallied for a 5-4 overtime victory. The Sharks led 3-1 at one point in the second period thanks to goals from Garret Valk, Nick Bernardo and JR Perdion.
But PSU chipped away. Matt DiMarsico scored twice in the second period and Jackson Smith added another to knot the game at 3-3 going into the third. And DiMarsico scored again in the third, earning his second hat-trick of the season and giving the Nittany Lions the brief 4-3 lead.
The Sharks didn’t quit. Bernardo scored his second goal of the game minutes later to tie it up, and goaltender Duris Daniel helped LIU hang on to force overtime before Aiden Fink ended it midway through the 3-on-3.
Penn State dominated Saturday’s game, winning 3-0 behind a 28-save shutout from Joshua Fleming.
10. Union continues hot start with sweep
Union continued its unbeaten streak with a pair of wins over a scrappy Niagara team, winning 3-2 and 6-0.
Friday’s game saw Union rally from a 2-1 deficit with a pair of third-period goals to give the Garnet Chargers their first win inside of their new M&T Bank Center. Tyler Dunbar, Brandon Buhr and Connor Smith each scored a goal to give Union a 3-2 victory.
On Saturday Dunbar scored two goals as did Parker Lindauer (who also added a pair of assists) en route to a 6-0 shutout victory. Carter Korpi and Ben Muthersbaugh also added goals while Cameron Korpi made 24 saves for Union, now 4-0-1.
The Chargers are off this week before facing their archrivals RPI on Halloween weekend.