FRIDAY ROUNDUP: St. Cloud State comes from behind for 4-2 road upset of No. 9 Denver

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St. Cloud State rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 4-2 road win over No. 9 Denver (photo: Bill Prout).

Trailing 2-0 early in the second period in Magness Arena, St. Cloud State scored four unanswered goals for a 4-2 road win over No. 9 Denver.

Gavyn Thoreson’s goal at 1:06 in the third was his first career game-winner and a beauty, the end result of Barrett Hall’s brilliant cross-crease feed.

Thoreson also had the first assist on Verner Miettinen’s game-tying goal late in the second. It’s Thoreson’s second multipoint career game.

Austin Burnevik also had a goal and a helper. Barrett Hall and Max Smolinski each had two assists. Yan Shostak saved 33-of-35 for his sixth win of the season.

Quentin Miller stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced in the Denver net. Kristian Epperson led the Pioneers with a goal and an assist.

With the loss, Denver falls further behind first-place North Dakota in the NCHC standings. The Pioneers are 1-4-0 to start the second half in conference play.

No. 8 Penn State 7, No. 5 Wisconsin 2

A single hat trick is a rare enough thing, so two hat tricks – two career-first hat tricks by players on the same team – is a statement.

Dane Dowiak and Gavin McKenna scored three goals each and Joshua Fleming made 39 saves as Penn State came from behind on the road to pummel Wisconsin, 7-2.

Trailing 2-0 after one and outshot 18-6 in the opening period, the Nittany Lions scored seven unanswered, with Jackson Smith’s goal in the opening minute of the third period the only PSU not netted by Dowiak or McKenna.

Dowiak and McKenna each scored on he power play in the second to tie the game before Dowiak potted the game-winner at 12:49.

Dowiak added shorthanded goal in the third. The first of McKenna’s two third-period goals was unassisted.

Tyson Dyck and Oliver Tulk had power-play goals to give Wisconsin that early lead, and Daniel Hauser stopped 27-of-34 in net for the Badgers.

The win gives Penn State sole possession of second place in the Big Ten standings, three points behind No. 1 Michigan.

No. 3 Western Michigan 4, No. 7 Minnesota Duluth 3

The Bulldogs scored twice in the final two minutes of the game to draw close, but the Broncos held on for a 4-3 road win to help fourth-place Western Michigan keep pace a point behind Minnesota Duluth in the NCHC standings.

Hampton Slukynsky made 34 saves – 20 in the second period alone – in his 17th win of the season. Owen Michaels’ goal at 15:50 in the third held up as the game-winner.

That goal gave the Broncos a 4-1 lead, but Jayson Shaugabay scored on the Duluth power play at 18:37 and Callum Arnott hit the empty net at 19:14 to make it 4-3 before the Bulldogs ran out of time.

Zaccharya Wisdom and William Whitelaw had a goal and assist each for Western Michigan. Arnott did the same for Duluth. Adam Gajan made 17 stops on 21 shots for the Bulldogs.

No. 2 Michigan State 3, Minnesota 1

A goal in each period and Trey Augustine’s 25-save performance led Michigan State to a 3-1 win over visiting Minnesota in Munn Ice Arena.

Maxim Štrbák led the Spartans with a goal and two assists, and Gavin O’Connell netted the game-winning goal in the second period.

https://www.google.com/MSU_Hockey/status/2014869192785183133

Ryker Lee opened the scoring for Michigan State at 5:06 in the first. Štrbák put the Spartans ahead 3-0 early in the third. LJ Mooney scored the only Minnesota goal, unassisted, on the power play late in the third.

The Spartans outshot the Golden Gophers 43-26. Minnesota netminder Luca Di Pasquo made 40 saves.

No. 4 North Dakota 7, Arizona State 4

Will Zellers had two goals and an assist and Ellis Rickwood scored shorthanded and added three helpers to lead North Dakota to a 7-4 road win over Arizona State.

Dylan James scored the game-winning goal at 6:52 in the third, his career-best 14th goal of the season and his first winner of the year.

North Dakota never trailed in the game, but Arizona State’s Tucker Ness and Carmelo Crandell scored less than two minutes apart in the second to tie the game briefly.

Gibson Homer made 30 saves on 34 shots for his seventh win of the season. Connor Hasley stopped 26-of-32 for Arizona State.

It’s the 11th conference win for the Fighting Hawks, who are now eight poins ahead of second-place Denver in the NCHC standings.

No. 12 Cornell 2, No. 10 Dartmouth 1 (OT)

When Jake Kraft scored shorthanded at 16:55 in the second, he pulled Cornell even with Dartmouth at one apiece. Thirty-four seconds into overtime, Kraft scored again to give the Big Red the 2-1 win.

Cornell outshot Dartmouth 31-16, including the first period after which they trailed 1-0 on Cam MacDonald’s goal at 8:49.

Emmett Croteau had 29 saves for the Big Green. Alexis Cournoyer stopped 15 in his 10th win of the season.

No. 11 Providence 4, No. 18 Boston University 3

Cole Eiserman scored twice for Boston University – including a third-period game-tying goal – but Aleksi Kivioja put Providence ahead with less than four minutes left in regulation to give the Friars a 4-3 win over the visiting Terriers.

Power-play goals by Logan Sawyer and Hudson Malinoski gave Providence a 2-0 lead after one. Eiserman’s goal at 3:14 in the second made it 2-1 after two, and Tynan Lawrence scored 34 seconds into the third to tie the game for the Terriers.

The final three scores of the game came in the second half of the third period. Kale McCallum put Providence ahead 3-2 at 11:40 with Eiserman answering for BU at 12:49 before Kivioja netted the game-winner.

Jack Parsons had 15 saves in the win. Mikhail Yegorov stopped 36-of-40 for Boston University.

The win ties Providence with Connecticut at the top of the Hockey East standings. The Friars and Terriers meet in HEA play again Saturday. Connecticut plays in the nonconference Connecticut Ice tournament this weekend.

No. 15 Boston College 5, New Hampshire 2

Dean Letourneau had two goals and a helper on Jake Sondreal’s game-winning goal in Boston College’s 5-2 win over visiting New Hampshire.

Sondreal’s winning tally broke a 2-2 tie near the midway mark of the second period.

Cy LeClerc led New Hampshire with a goal and an assist. Kyle Chauvette made 27 saves in net for the Wildcats.

Luka Cloutier stopped 23-of-25 in his 12th win of the season.

No. 16 St. Thomas 7, Lake Superior State 4

Charlie Schoen scored twice in the third period to help St. Thomas come from behind against Lake Superior State, 7-4, in Taffy Abel Arena.

The Lakers led 3-1 after the first and 4-3 after two when Lucas Van Vliet scored 13 seconds into the third to tie the game. Schoen’s goals at 7:30 and 10:36 gave the Tommies a 6-4 lead and Nathan Pilling added an empty-netter at 18:47.

Jake Braccini also had two goals for St. Thomas. Schoen had an assist for a three-point night. Lucas Van Vliet had a goal and two assists for the Tommies.

Carsen Musser played the first 8:33 in the St. Thomas net, allowing the first three Lake Superior goals. Aaron Trotter finished the game, stopping 19-of-20 shots.

Rorke Applebee made 34 saves on 40 shots for Lake Superior State. Branden Piku led all Lakers in scoring with a goal and two assists.

The win keeps the Tommies at the top of the CCHA standings, two points ahead of second place Michigan Tech.

No. 17 Maine 2, UMass Lowell 0

Brock James and Charlie Russell each scored a goal and Albin Boija stopped all 25 shots he faced as Maine blanked UMass Lowell, 2-0, in the Tsongas Center.

James scored the game-winner at 7:40, his first career goal.

Russell scored at 9:14 in the second.

In net for UMass Lowell, Austin Elliott had 27 saves on 29 shots.

No. 19 Michigan Tech at Northern Michigan

Michigan Tech scored seven goals unanswered goals in the first two periods – three on the power play – en route to an 8-2 road win over Northern Michigan.

Teydon Trembecky’s goal at 7:51 in the first to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead after one was the game-winner.

Trembecky had two goals and an assist on the night. Max Koskipirtti also had three points on three assists. Noah Reinhart and Stiven Sardarian each had two goals and two assists to lead Michigan Tech in scoring.

In his 17th win of the season, Owen Bartoszkiewicz made 30 saves on 32 shots.

Oliver Auyeung-Ashton earned the loss for Northern Michigan, surrendering three goals on seven shots in the first eight minutes of the game. William Gramme finished the game with 17 saves.