SATURDAY ROUNDUP: Ohio St., Merrimack pull off upsets

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Ohio State will play in the B1G championship game vs. Michigan after an overtime upset vs. Michigan State on Saturday. (Photo: Ohio State Athletics)

Felix Caron’s overtime goal lifted Ohio State to a stunning 3-2 win at Michigan State Saturday, sending the Buckeyes to the B1G tournament final.

The No. 5 seed Buckeyes will take on No. 2 seed and No. 1 ranked Michigan in the championship game Saturday at 8 p.m. in Ann Arbor, Mich. Ohio State will be making its fourth appearance, and second in a row, in the B1G tourney final.

Jake Karabela set up Felix Caron for the overtime winner at 2:36. Riley Thompson and Karabela also scored. Buckeye goalie Kristoffer Eberly ended the game with 36 saves, as Michigan State held the lead in shots, 38-31.

The win was the 12th overtime contest for the Buckeyes this season and the fourth in their last five games.

Michigan 5, Penn State 2

Penalty kill was the key for Michigan, which advanced to the B1G championship game with a 5-2 win over Penn State on Saturday night in the conference tournament semifinals.

Jack Ivankovic made his second collegiate playoff start and stopped 27 of 29 shots while the Wolverines killed off six Penn State penalties.

The Wolverines will host rival Ohio State on Saturday at 8 p.m. (EDT) while Penn State will await its NCAA tournament seeding.

Michigan opened the scoring when Kienan Draper poked in a rebound of a Garrett Schifsky shot. In the second period, Nick Moldenhauer intercepted a puck in the defensive zone and carried it up ice before slipping a pass to Schifsky, who finished from the slot to give the Wolverines a 2-1 lead.

Cole McKinney, Michael Hage and T.J. Hughes also scored for Michigan, which finished with a 39-29 advantage in shots on goal.

CCHA Tournament

St. Thomas 2, Augustana 1

St. Thomas scanned its QR code to the Mason Cup final for the second season in a row after a 2-1 win on home ice over Augustana in the CCHA semifinals on Saturday night.

Lucas Wahlin won an offensive zone face off directly back to Alex Gaffney who ripped a shot from outside the right circle for the game winner at 10:53 of the third period. The goal was Gaffney’s 40th point of the season as he became the third St. Thomas skater in D-I program history to surpass the 40-point mark.

With the win, St. Thomas will visit Minnesota State in the CCHA championship game next weekend (TBA).

Carsen Musser stopped 24 of 25 shots for his 11th win of the season. The teams went scoreless for 45-plus minutes before Lucas Van Vliet broke the deadlock at 5:23 of the third period. Augustana answered back 57 seconds later on a goal by Owen Baumgartner.

Minnesota State 7, Michigan Tech 2

A three-goal first period was all Minnesota State needed for a return trip to the CCHA final.
The final was a 7-2 win over Michigan Tech, sending the Mavericks to next week’s tournament championship game at home vs. St. Thomas

Reid Morich and Tristan Lemyre each scored twice, while Ean Somoza, Luigi Benincasa and Fin Williams also scored. Alex Tracy made 23 saves in net.

AHA Tournament

Robert Morris 5, Sacred Heart 2, T1-1

Tanner Klimpke and Cameron Garvey each scored twice to lead Robert Morris to a 5-2 win at Sacred Heart in Atlantic Hockey America tournament action on Saturday night.

The win ties the best-of-three series and forces a decisive Game 3 Sunday night (5 p.m. EDT) for a chance to advance to the league championship Game.

Robert Morris outshot Sacred Heart 27-23. Julian Beaumont also scored for the Colonials, while Charlie Schenkel had 21 saves.

“We weathered the storm in the first period and settled into our game and had a big second period, Robert Morris coach Kerek Schooley said. “Garvey scored a big goal for us in the third and then we managed the play after that. I thought we did everything we needed to do, and then when we didn’t, Charlie was there.”

Bentley 4, Holy Cross 0

Bentley is headed back to the Atlantic Hockey championship game after a 4-0 win over Holy Cross to sweep its semifinal series.

Owen Goodbrand scored twice, while Ryan Upson and Michael Mesic also scored.

Goalie Lukas Swedin made 23 saves for his 13th win and second shutout of the season.

ECAC Tournament

Clarkson 4, Quinnipiac 3

Two shorthanded goals on one third-period power play were the catalyst for Clarkson to rally for a major upset in the ECAC Hockey tournament, 4-3 over Quinnipiac to sweep the playoff quarterfinal series on the road.

The Golden Knights’ sweep sends the team back to Lake Placid for the ECAC semifinals for the second straight season, where they’ll face the winner of the Cornell-Harvard series.

Shawn O’Donnell and Matthew Mayich scored 38 seconds apart on Quinnipiac’s third-period power play to tie the game 3-3. At 14:21 of the final frame, Erik Bargholtz scored to give Clarkson the lead.

Justin Cote also scored for Clarkson, while Shane Soderwall had 32 saves. Quinnipiac had a 36-18 advantage in shots.

Cornell 4, Harvard 0

Jake Kraft scored twice and goaltender Alexis Cournoyer stopped all 16 shots he faced to record his first shutout, lifting Cornell to a dominant 4-0 win over Harvard before a sold-out crowd of 4,267 at Lynah Rink on Saturday night in the ECAC Hockey tournament quarterfinals.

The win forces a decisive Game 3 on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Ryan Walsh, Charlie Major and Caton Ryan each recorded two assists for Cornell. Nick DeSantis and Hoyt Stanley also scored for Cornell.

Cornell improved to 86-72-14 all-time against Harvard and is 7-1-1 in its last eight meetings against the Crimson. In postseason play against Harvard at Lynah Rink, the Big Red improved to 10-1-1.

Dartmouth 4, Colgate 0

Dartmouth made quick work of Colgate on Saturday night, earning a 4-1 win for the second night in a row to sweep its ECAC Hockey tournament semifinal and advance to the semifinal in Lake Placid, N.Y., next weekend, where Princeton awaits.

Four different players scored for the Big Green — Jack Silverberg, Nathan Morin, Hank Cleaves and Cam MacDonald. In net, Emmet Croteau had 23 saves.

Princeton 5, Union 2

A Kai Daniells hat trick helped lead Princeton to Lake Placid.

For the second straight night, Princeton was a 5-2 winner over Unioin to sweep the quarterfinal best-of-three ECAC hockey tournament series. The Tigers will now face Dartmouth next weekend in the semifinals.

Jaxson Ezman and Jake Manfre also scored for Princeton, while Arthur Smith had 32 saves in net. David Jacobs had a four-assist game.

The win capped a 14-2-1 season on home ice to set a new Princeton record for home wins in the 103 year history of Hobey Baker Rink.

NCHC Tournament

Minnesota Duluth 5, North Dakota 1

Minnesota Duluth quickly silenced a crowd of 9,902 at Ralph Engelstad Arena on Saturday night, cruising to a 5-1 win over North Dakota in the NCHC semifinals.

Up next for North Dakota is the NCHC final at Denver on Saturday.

Callum Arnott and Max Plante scored for Duluth to stake the Bulldogs to a 2-0 lead just 7:16 into the game.

After a Jayson Shaugabay goal gave Duluth a 3-0 lead after two stops, Harper Bentz and Kyle Gaffney scored for the Bulldogs to blow the game wide open. Adam Gajan had 33 saves in net.

Denver 2, Western Michigan 1 (OT)

Samu Salminen scored at 5:48 of overtime to lift Denver to a 2-1 win over defending NCAA champion Western Michigan on Saturday night in NCHC semifinal action before a crowd of 6,327 at Magness Arena.

Denver will host Minnesota Duluth on Saturday for the NCHC tourney championship.

The teams skated to a 0-0 deadlock after two periods before Bobby Cowan gave Western Michigan a 1-0 lead at 13:19 of the final frame of regulation. Boston Buckberger tied the game at 16:09 with a power-play goal.

For Denver, Johnny Hicks was in goal and he made 38 saves.

Hockey East Tournament

Merrimack 3, Providence 2 (OT)

Trevor Hoskin scored at 3:50 of overtime to lift Merrimack to a stunning 3-2 win at top-seed Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals on Saturday night.

The win sends Merrimack to the TD Garden for a semifinal matchup vs. UMass on Friday night.

Nathan King and Noland Flamand also scored for Merrimack while Max Lundgren had 34 saves.

Connecticut 5, Boston University 3

UConn took down Boston University by a final of 5-3 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Toscano Family Ice Forum in Hockey East quarterfinal action on Saturday.

The Huskies received goals from Jake Percival, Jake Richard, Ethan Whitcomb, Anthony Allain-Samake and Joey Muldowney. Tyler Muszelik had 29 saves in net.

With the win, the Huskies advance to the Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden in Boston where they’ll face Boston College on Friday night.

Massachusetts 4, Northeastern 1

Massachusetts never trailed in its Hockey East quarterfinal on Saturday, beating Northeastern 4-1.
The Minutemen will face Merrimack on Friday night at TD Garden in Boston.

“Outstanding job by our our team tonight,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “I thought the first period was really even, but as the game wore on, I really liked our game. I thought it was an advantage that we did not play Wednesday and they had to.”

Goaltender Michael Hrabal finished the afternoon with 30 saves while Larry Keenan, Jack Musa, Cam O’Neill and Václav Nestrašil were UMass’s goal scorers.