College hockey recap (week of Oct. 24-30)
By Jonathan Cochran –
Here’s how the Michigan schools fared in NCAA D-I action this past weekend:
Michigan swept in non-conference action
Michigan failed to score Friday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse, losing to Vermont 3-0.
Hayden Lavigne got the start for the Wolverines, making a career-high 39 saves in his third game of the season.
Michigan failed to capitalize on five different power-play opportunities throughout the game.
The Catamounts opened the scoring just 22 seconds into the game with a goal from Rob Hamilton. This lead was doubled by Matt Alvaro at the midway point of the first.
Brian Bowen’s power-goal 8:21 into the third period would conclude the scoring for the game.
Stefanos Lekkas got the shutout for the Catamounts, making 21 saves.
Michigan then headed to Dartmouth on Saturday, where they fell to the Big Green 3-2.
Jack LaFontaine made 32 saves for Michigan, also in his third start of the season.
Adam Winborg put the Wolverines on the board first with a goal three minutes into the game.
Dartmouth answered at the two-minute mark of the second period with a goal Kevin Neily. Neily’s team went on to take the lead midway through the second period with a tally from Cam Strong.
Alex Kile tied the game for Michigan just under two minutes later to put the game at 2-2.
With just 49 seconds left in the game, Troy Crema stunned the Wolverines with a game-winning goal.
Devin Buffalo made 22 saves to earn the victory for the Big Green.
Ferris State trades wins with Minnesota State
The Bulldogs traveled to Minnesota State on Friday where they lost to the Mavericks 4-2.
Craig Pefley opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a goal 21 seconds into the game.
The Mavericks responded with authority, scoring four consecutive goals.
Brad McClure and Jordan Nelson both scored in the first to give Minnesota State a 2-1 lead heading into the second.
The Mavericks converted on the man advantage with a goal from Ian Scheid midway through the second period. Three minutes later, McClure got his second of the night to make it 4-1.
Mitch Maloney’s goal for the Bulldogs with just over two minutes to go in the second was not enough to spark a comeback for Ferris.
Darren Smith started and made 15 saves for the Bulldogs but was replaced by Justin Kapelmaster with five minutes left in the second period. Kapelmaster made six saves in relief.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs recorded their first official win of the season, beating the Mavericks 4-3.
Gerald Mayhew’s first of two goals on the night opened the scoring for the game near the start of the second period. The Bulldogs extended their lead to two with a goal from Andrew Dorantes minutes later. With less than 30 seconds left in the period, Maloney scored a goal on the man advantage to give FSU a 3-0 edge heading into the third.
The Mavericks had a strong final period, scoring three goals to tie the game up. Scoring came from Alec Vanko, Michael Huntebrinker, and McClure.
With just 1:01 left in the game, Mayhew netted his timely second goal of the night to win the game for the Bulldogs.
Kapelmaster’s 28 saves in his first collegiate start secured the victory for Ferris.
Michigan Tech sweeps Northern
Northern Michigan was kept scoreless in its 2-0 loss to Michigan Tech Friday night in Houghton.
Angus Redmond’s 19 saves were enough to shutout the Wildcats in his first start at the collegiate level. Atte Tolvanen made 35 stops for Northern.
Jake Lucchini opened the scoring eight minutes into the first with a power-play goal for Tech. And thanks to Tolvanen’s impressive 18 saves, Lucchini’s goal was the only of the period.
Jake Jackson scored the only other tally of the game at 16:16 of the third to secure the 2-0 win in favor of the Huskies.
The Wildcats’ offense was not much better on Saturday when NMU fell to Tech, 5-1, in front of a sellout home crowd.
The Huskies set the tone early with three goals in the first period. Dylan Steman struck first shorthanded at the 13:52 mark of the period. Tech went on to score two power-goals from Tyler Heinonen and Brent Baltus to conclude the scoring for the first period.
Tech’s special teams continued to dominate in the second period. Mitch Reinke’s power-play goal midway through the period made it 4-0. Five minutes later Michael Neville got Tech’s second shorthanded tally of the night to dig Northern into an even bigger hole.
Robbie Payne’s goal on the man advantage at the start of the third period spoiled the shutout for the Huskies, but it would not be enough to spark any more offense from Northern.
Redmond made 29 saves in his second collegiate start to get his team the victory. Meanwhile, Tolvanen made 10 saves before being replaced by Mathias Israelsson.
Michigan State routs Princeton
Michigan State defeated visiting Princeton 6-2 in a display of dominance Friday night in East Lansing.
Ed Minney’s 21 saves were enough to get him his first career win in his fourth career start.
Each of the Spartan goals came from different players.
Villiam Haag was the first Spartan to strike with his goal on the man advantage 3:58 into the first period.
The real scoring would come in the second period, starting with Brennan Sanford’s first of the season just 32 seconds in.
Princeton brought the game to within one goal three minutes later with a goal from Alex Riche, but Taro Hirose scored a shorthanded tally 2:12 later to regain the two-goal lead for MSU. Carson Gatt potted the first goal of his career near the midway point of the second to push the Spartan advantage.
Riche got his second of the night at 14:22 to pull the Tigers to within two again, but State would conclude the scoring in the middle period with a goal from Logan Lambdin with seconds left on the clock.
Joe Cox’s first goal of the season came with 9:27 left to play in the third period to make it 6-2 in favor of the Spartans.
Lakers suffer first loss of season against Alaska
Lake Superior State defeated Alaska 3-2 at home on Friday, continuing their unbeaten start of the season.
Chad Staley put Alaska on the board first with a goal at 16:22 of the first period. Tristan Thompson capitalized on a power-play opportunity less than a minute later to make the score 2-0 in favor of Alaska heading into the second.
The Lakers converted on a power-play of their own at 3:51 of the second with a goal from Owen Headrick. Max Humitz tied the game with a goal just under a minute later. With 6:34 left to go in the period, Diego Cuglietta netted a shorthanded tally that would end up being the game winner for the Lakers.
Gordon Defiel made 19 saves on the night in his fifth consecutive victory.
The Lakers’ undefeated streak would end the next night however, as they lost to the Nanooks 4-3 in overtime.
Alaska once again scored two goals in the first to take an early lead.
Marcus Basara opened the scoring at 3:51 while Ross Heidt tallied a power-play goal at the midway point of the period to make it 2-0.
The Lakers responded with Gage Torrel’s goal on the man advantage at 15:07 of the first.
Mitch Hults’ goal just 38 seconds into the second period made the game tied going into the final period of play.
Alaska struck first in the third with a power-play goal from Zach Fry.
With 4:52 left in the game, the Lakers again tied it up with another goal from Hults to send it to overtime.
It took 2:09 of the overtime period for Marcus Basara to get his second goal of the night and win the game for the Nanooks.
Nick Kossoff made 22 saves for a loss in his season debut.
Western Michigan swept by Denver in away series
Western Michigan suffered its first loss of the season on Friday night, dropping a 3-1 decision to now-No. 2 Denver.
Trevor Gorsuch made a career-high 32 saves in the loss to the Pioneers.
After a scoreless first period, Denver netted goals from Dylan Gambrell and Evan Janssen to go up 2-0 heading into the third.
Griffen Molino’s power-play goal 1:31 into the final period brought the Broncos to within one. It would not be enough for Western as an impressive performance by Denver goaltender Tanner Jaillet prevented any more Bronco goals.
Western would not find revenge Saturday night as they lost to Denver again with a score of 4-2.
The Pioneers opened the scoring late in the first period with a goal on a 5-on-3 advantage from Henrik Borgstrom.
Sheldon Dries scored a tally at the beginning of the second period to tie the game up. At the midway point of the period, Matheson Iacopelli scored on the power-play to give Western their only lead of the game.
Minutes later Denver tied the game thanks to a goal from Jarid Lukosevicius, making the score 2-2 at the end of the middle period.
Gambrell’s goal at 2:29 of the third period would end up being the game winner for Denver. Matt Marcinew helped protect the win with another goal with under five minutes to play.
Gorsuch made 31 saves in the loss for the Broncos.