SATURDAY COLLEGE HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Dexheimer’s OT winner gives No. 7 Wisconsin sweep of No. 1 MSU

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Ben Dexheimer’s OT game-winner gave No. 7 Wisconsin a two-game road sweep of No. 1 Michigan State, 2-1 (Photo: Wisconsin Athletics)

 

Ben Dexheimer scored 2:36 into overtime to lift Wisconsin to a 2–1 win over Michigan State on Saturday at Munn Ice Arena, giving the No. 7 Badgers a road victory and completing the two-game weekend sweep of the nation’s No. 1 team.

After a scoreless first period, Wisconsin broke through midway through the second when Blake Montgomery buried a power-play goal at 10:06, set up by Vasily Zelenov. The Badgers nursed that 1–0 lead deep into the third before Michigan State finally answered on a late power play with the extra attacker, as Porter Martone tied the game with 40 seconds remaining in regulation off feeds from Charlie Stramel and Ryker Lee.

In overtime, Dexheimer jumped into the rush and finished off a feed from Christian Fitzgerald and Zelenov for the sudden-death winner. Wisconsin went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Michigan State finished 1-for-2. Goaltender Eli Pulver stopped 32 of 33 shots for the Badgers, outdueling Trey Augustine, who made 26 saves on 28 shots as the Spartans held a 33–28 edge in shots and a 45–33 advantage on faceoffs.

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No. 18 Boston University 4, No. 12 Northeastern 3 (F/OT)

Boston University edged Northeastern 4–3 in overtime on Saturday night, with defenseman Cole Hutson scoring the winner to lift the Terriers at Matthews Arena. The win moved BU to 6-7-1 overall and 4-4-0 in Hockey East, while the Huskies slipped to 8-4-0 and 4-3-0 in league play.

BU jumped out to a 2–0 first-period lead on a power-play goal from Jack Harvey at 4:09 and an even-strength strike from Hutson at 13:33. Northeastern cut the deficit to 2–1 when Jacob Mathieu scored on the power play with 2.7 seconds left in the opening frame, but the Terriers restored a two-goal cushion early in the second as Jonathan Morello buried a shorthanded marker at 2:07. The Huskies climbed back in the third behind Dylan Hryckowian, who scored at 12:44 to make it 3–2 and then tied the game with 1:01 remaining in regulation. Hutson ended it at 4:07 of overtime, finishing a feed from Gavin McCarthy for his second of the night.

Boston University outshot Northeastern 47–24 and went 1-for-4 on the power play while holding the Huskies to 1-for-4 with the man advantage. Mikhail Yegorov made 21 saves in the win.

No. 5 Penn State 2, Minnesota 1

Penn State rallied from an early deficit and scored late in regulation to earn a 2–1 road win over Minnesota on Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci to salvage a weekend split with the Gophers.

Minnesota struck first at 10:37 of the opening period when Tanner Ludtke buried his first of the season off a feed from LJ Mooney and Brody Lamb to give the Gophers a 1–0 lead after one. Penn State answered midway through the second, as Charlie Cerrato tied it at 5:28, finishing a setup from Gavin McKenna and Matt DiMarsico to send the teams to the third deadlocked 1–1.

The game stayed tight deep into the final frame before the Nittany Lions found the winner. With just 1:06 remaining in regulation, Jackson Smith snapped home his first of the year at 18:54, converting a pass from JJ Wiebusch with McKenna picking up his second assist of the night. Penn State held off Minnesota’s final push in the closing seconds to skate away with the one-goal victory.

Arizona State 3, No. 3 Denver 2 (F/OT)

Arizona State built an early cushion and then needed overtime to finish the job, edging Denver 3–2 on Cullen Potter’s extra-session winner. The Sun Devils jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period before the Pioneers rallied to force OT.

ASU opened the scoring at 6:34 of the first when Carmelo Crandell struck off feeds from Kyle Smolen and Benjamin Kevan. The Sun Devils doubled their lead late in the frame on the power play, as Jack Beck made it 2–0 at 17:10, with Smolen and Cruz Lucius picking up the assists. Denver got back into it at 14:49 of the second, when Sam Harris finished a setup from Samu Salminen and Garrett Brown to cut the deficit to 2–1.

Harris tied the game single-handedly in the third, scoring unassisted at 12:32 to force overtime. In the extra session, Arizona State regained control as Potter buried the game-winner at 4:40, converting a setup from Smolen and Beck. Smolen finished with three assists and Beck with a goal and a helper as the Sun Devils closed out the 3–2 overtime victory.

Colorado College 2, No. 3 Minnesota Duluth 1 (F/OT)

Colorado College rallied from a goal down to edge Minnesota Duluth 2–1 in overtime on Saturday in NCHC play. The Tigers trailed for more than a period before clawing back to force the extra session and then finished the comeback less than a minute into OT.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring at 11:22 of the second period when Scout Truman beat goaltender Kaiden Mbereko off a setup from Kyle Gaffney and Blake Bechen to make it 1–0. Colorado College finally broke through early in the third, as Gavin Lindberg tied the game 1–1 with an unassisted marker at 2:54.

In overtime, CC needed just 50 seconds to complete the turnaround. Wilson Bjorck buried the game-winner at 0:50, converting a feed from Owen Beckner, with goaltender Mbereko earning the secondary assist on the play. The Tigers’ quick-strike OT goal capped a come-from-behind 2–1 victory

No. 10 Maine 3, No. 15 Boston College 0

Maine responded to Friday’s 7–3 loss with a 3–0 shutout of Boston College on Saturday night at Conte Forum, earning a Hockey East weekend split. The Black Bears improved to 8-5-1 overall and 5-3-0 in league play, while the Eagles dropped to 7-5-1 and 5-3-0. Goaltender Mathis Rousseau, who started in place of Maine’s Albin Boija, backstopped the win with a 21-save performance.

Maine set the tone early when Miguel Marques scored unassisted just 1:32 into the first period. The Black Bears doubled the lead midway through the frame on a momentum-turning shorthanded goal from Josh Nadeau at 11:10, with Charlie Russell drawing the lone assist. After a scoreless second, Marques struck again at 8:53 of the third, finishing a feed from Sully Scholle and Thomas Freel to put the game out of reach.

Boston College outshot Maine 21–16 but could not solve Rousseau, who turned aside all 12 Eagle attempts in the third period to preserve the shutout. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Maine controlled the faceoff circle with a 37–20 edge, led by Jaden Lipinski’s 13–5 night on draws.