Monday 10: Arizona State, St. Cloud get tourney wins

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Arizona State is all smiles after winning the Desert Hockey Classic trophy with a 5-2 win over Air Force on Saturday. (Photo: Arizona State Athletics)

Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.

1) Host Arizona State three-peats at Desert Hockey Classic

Arizona State defeated Air Force, 5-2, to claim its third consecutive Desert Hockey Classic title on Saturday.

Rookie Carmelo Crandell scored twice in the third period for the Sun Devils, while Cullen Potter extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, tying a school record.

“We’ve won five straight in-season tournaments,” said ASU coach Greg Powers. “So now we have to move on and graduate to the postseason trophies and tournaments, that’s what the goal is.”

Air Force reached the championship game with an 8-2 win over Michigan Tech, which defeated Alaska Anchorage, 5-0, in the consolation game.

2) St. Cloud State claims Coachella Valley Cactus Cup

St. Cloud State won its first in-season tournament in 10 years, defeating UMass Lowell, 3-2, in the championship game of the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup on Saturday.

The Huskies built a 3-0 lead and then held on against the River Hawks. Freshman forward Noah Urness scored his second goal of the tournament midway through the second period, and that held up as the game-winner.

The tournament, held at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif., also featured Minnesota State and Yale. The No. 14 Mavericks defeated the Bulldogs, 4-3, in the consolation game.

3) Bentley moves into first place in Atlantic Hockey America

In a clash between the top two teams in the AHA standings and a rematch of last year’s championship game, Bentley took five of six points from Holy Cross, 3-3 (shootout win) and 8-3.

The Falcons and Crusaders were the class of the league in the first half, posting a combined 16-2-3 conference record going into this series.

On Friday, Bentley’s Michael Mesic scored in the third round of the shootout and goalie Lukas Swedin then denied Holy Cross’s Noah Eyre to give Bentley the extra point.

Eight different Falcons scored on Saturday in the 8-3 win, which put Bentley in sole possession of first place.

The teams will square off again for a home-and-home series Feb. 6-7.

4) Dartmouth, Princeton moving in opposite directions

After starting the season 11-0, Dartmouth has recently come back to Earth, going 1-4-1 in its last six games, including conference losses at the hands of Princeton and Quinnipiac this past weekend, 4-3 and 5-3, respectively.  

The Princeton Tigers are the new hot team in the ECAC, getting wins over Dartmouth and Harvard, including a buzzer-beating 4-3 win over the Crimson on Saturday. Kai Daniells redirected a Kai Greaves shot (yep, two Kais involved in this one) with 2.9 seconds left for the win.

The win put the Tigers in sole possession of first place in ECAC Hockey. Princeton has won five straight, and is 8-0 this season at Hobey Baker Rink, its best start on home ice ever, breaking the old record of 7-0 set 102 years ago.

5) Maine picks up win, tie in Denver

In one of the marquee matchups of the weekend, visiting and 15th-ranked Maine posted a win and tie against No. 6 Denver.

In Friday’s 5-2 win, Thomas Pichette’s two third-period goals helped put the game out of reach, and Albin Boija made 29 saves for the win.

On Saturday, Frank Djurasevic tied the game on an extra-attacker goal with 2:27 to play and the game went into the record books as a 3-3 after a scoreless overtime. With no conference points on the line, Maine won the shootout.

6) The long road trip begins for Northeastern

The Huskies traveled to West Point on Friday for their first game since saying goodbye to Matthews Arena on Dec. 13.

The two-plus season road trip didn’t get off to a good start, as the No. 12 Huskies fell to the Army Black Knights, 5-2.

Northeastern led 2-0 in the second period before the Black Knights rattled off the game’s final five goals for the win, including Adam Marshall’s goal that knotted the score at 2-2.

For the rest of this season and all of the next two, Northeastern will play as the home team in games at various rinks in the Boston area, including Harvard, Boston University, Bentley and UMass Lowell. They also have a home game scheduled for Portland, Maine. Their new facility is slated to open in 2028. 

7) Canisius’s Wickström Stumer sets school and conference saves record

Canisius sophomore goaltender Petter Wickström Stumer posted a school and Atlantic Hockey America record 72 saves On Saturday to lead Canisius to 4-3 victory over host Lindenwood to earn a non-conference split.

The Stockholm, Sweden, native made 20 stops in each of the first two periods, and a whopping 32 saves in the third to preserve the win. The Lions outshot the Golden Griffins, 75-26.

Wickström Stumer’s 72 saves tied for tenth all-time in Division I and was the most saves recorded in a game since the 2014-2015 season.

8) St. Thomas is rolling in the CCHA

St. Thomas opened the 2026 portion of its schedule with a 5-3, 8-4 sweep of Ferris State. The Tommies have won five games in a row and have only one loss since Thanksgiving (7-1-1).

On Friday, St. Thomas erased Ferris State leads of 2-0 and 3-2, scoring all five of its goals in the third period.

Saturday again saw the Bulldogs open a 2-0 lead, but the Tommies scored the next eight to put the game away. Jake Braccini led the way with a pair of power play goals.

St. Thomas trails first-place Minnesota State by a single point in the CCHA standings, but has a game in hand. The teams will tangle Saturday in Mankato.

9) Penn State players (and coach) have a whirlwind week

On Friday, five Penn State players, as well as coach Guy Gadowsky, returned from the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. The US College Select team lost to the host HC Davos, 5-3, in the championship game on Dec. 31.

All five were in the lineup in Rochester, N.Y., on Saturday, when the No. 8 Nittany Lions fell to Rochester Institute of Technology, 1-0 behind a 44 save shutout by Tigers goalie Jakub Krbecek. It was the first game for Penn State since Nov. 22.

On Sunday, the action shifted to Happy Valley, where the host Nittany Lions earned the non-conference split with a 7-3 win.

Penn State was without forward Gavin McKenna, who is playing for Team Canada in the World Juniors tournament in Minneapolis.

10) Western Michigan posts twin 4-0 shutouts against Notre Dame

The Broncos swept the Irish by identical 4-0 scores on Friday and Saturday in a home-and-home series.

Hampton Slukynsky posted his third and fourth career shoutouts, making a total of 51 saves on the weekend, including 32 on Saturday.

The defending national champions have now won five straight, allowing a total of six goals in that span.