College hockey recap (week of Nov. 14-20)
By Jonathan Cochran –
Here’s how Michigan’s NCAA D-I schools fared this past week.
Note: Michigan State did not play this week. The Spartans resume their regular season on Friday against North Dakota.
Western secures tie and win over Air Force
The Broncos hosted Air Force at Lawson Ice Arena this weekend, settling for a 5-5 tie on Friday night.
A huge four-goal first period for WMU wasn’t enough to knock off Air Force as the Falcons clawed back to tie the game.
Griffen Molino opened the scoring for the Broncos early with a goal 1:18 into the game. Within four minutes the Falcons tied it up when Evan Giesler found the back of the net.
The Broncos got their second lead of the game when Chris Dienes got his second goal of the season at the 5:40 mark.
Air Force tied it again midway through the period as Phil Boje converted on a Falcon power play.
Western kept rolling in the first, taking back the lead with the help of Wade Allison’s even strength tally at 12:26.
Hugh McGing scored his first collegiate goal with under two minutes to go in the period to put the Broncos up 4-2.
The Falcons cut the deficit in half during a short-handed situation near the start of the second period. Jordan Himley scored the goal.
Molino notched his second goal of the night near the middle of the second stanza to regain the two-goal lead for the Broncos. But that didn’t last long; Dan Bailey scored late in the frame to make the game close heading into the third period.
It wasn’t until the 14:36 mark of the third period that Matt Pulver got the game-tying goal, sending the game to an overtime that was fruitless for both teams.
The Air Force offense was stifled on Saturday as Western came out on top 4-1.
Collin Olson was successful in his first start of the season for the Broncos, making 18 saves.
WMU struck first when Allison potted his second of the weekend. This was answered by Air Force’s Giesler around two minutes later when he also got his second of the weekend, making it 1-1.
Matheson Iacopelli netted the eventual game winner in the middle of the second period. The 2-1 lead would be all the Broncos needed.
Iacopelli found the back of the net again – to give him 12 goals in as many games on the season – for some added insurance early in the third period. An empty net goal from Scott Moldenhauer late would give the game its final score.
The Broncos outshot the Falcons 47-19 in a show of dominance.
Wildcats swept in away series with Bemidji State
Northern fell to Bemidji State on Friday night, losing 2-1.
All of the game’s scoring came from the first period.
Philip Beaulieu got Northern their only lead of the game at the 11:19 mark. Brendan Harms tied it for the Beavers less than a minute later.
The game-winning goal for Bemidji came from Gerry Fitzgerald with less than five minutes left to play in the first period.
Atte Tolvanen made 28 saves for the Wildcats.
Saturday’s contest wasn’t nearly as close as Bemidji topped Northern 5-2.
Four unanswered goals for the Beavers in the first period proved insurmountable for the Wildcats.
Phillip Marinaccio gave the Beavers a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, scoring at the 0:52 and 3:00 marks. A little over three minutes later, Gerry Fitzgerald got his second of the weekend to give the Beavers a comfortable 3-0 lead. Nate Arentz finished the scoring with a short-handed tally at the 8:30 mark, making it 4-0 before ten minutes of the game had been played.
The offense kept rolling into the second when Myles Fitzgerald scored five minutes into the period.
It wasn’t until the 14:46 mark of the third period that Northern got themselves on the board. Philip Beaulieu’s second of the weekend make it 5-1.
Casey Purpur was the only other Wildcat to score, adding a tally with less than five minutes left to play.
The effort was too little too late for the Wildcats, who ended up outshooting the Beavers 28-27.
Michigan Tech pulls away with win in tight series with Alaska Anchorage
Tech topped Alaska Anchorage in their away game on Friday night, winning 3-2.
Angus Redmond made 16 saves for the win on a night that his team outshot their opponent 31-18.
The Huskies struck first when Shane Hanna opened the scoring at the 2:43 mark. Late in the period, Joel L’Esperance extended the Husky lead and made it 2-0 heading into the second.
The Seawolves struck four minutes into the middle period when Mason Mitchell found the back of the net during a shorthanded situation.
Alaska Anchorage tied it up early in the third period with a goal from Brad Duwe, setting up a tight race to the finish.
Alex Smith netted the game-winner for Tech at the 10:14 mark of the period, and the Huskies hung on from there to get the victory.
The teams battled to a 1-1 tie on Saturday in an even closer game.
The scoring didn’t come until Gavin Gould potted a power-play goal at the 4:48 mark of the second period, giving Tech their only lead of the game.
Early in the third period, the Seawolves got the equalizer goal from Jonah Renouf on the man advantage.
Neither team scored in either overtime period, but Alaska Anchorage got the extra WCHA point with their 1-0 shootout win.
Ferris State sweeps Lake State in weekend homestand
Ferris State welcomed visiting Lake Superior State with a shutout on Friday night, winning 3-0.
Justin Kapelmaster turned away all 40 shots he faced to salvage a win for his team on a night that they were outshot by a significant margin.
Gerald Mayhew scored the lone goal of the first period 6:09 into play. The goal would end up being the game-winner.
Craig Pefley found the back of the net on the power play late in the second period to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. A late empty net goal from Mitch Maloney closed out the scoring for the game.
Ferris State completed the series sweep in wild fashion on Saturday, topping Lake State 7-5.
Each team found the back of the net three times in the first period.
Freshman Nate Kallen got the Bulldogs on the board first with his first collegiate goal. The shorthanded tally came at 3:22.
Lake State answered just over three minutes later when Luke Morgan found the back of the net. Ferris snatched the lead back eight seconds later when Chad McDonald netted a quick one to make it 2-1.
LSSU scored two goals in under a minute to take the lead themselves. Diego Cuglietta and Collin Saccoman each converted on the man advantage and made it 3-2 in favor of the Lakers.
Zac Tierney was the last to score in the rambunctious period, tying it up with under three minutes to play.
The Lakers were the first to strike in the second when Mitch Hults netted a shorthanded goal at 5:42. A power-play opportunity a minute later was not wasted by the Bulldogs; Jared VanWormer punched in a goal at 6:27.
Ferris State took a 5-4 lead at 8:57 when Corey Mackin found twine for the Bulldogs.
Mayhew’s goal at the start of the third period would end up being his second game-winner in as many games. The Lakers made it close five minutes later when Max Humitz found the back of the net and made it a 6-5 contest.
Mackin got his second of the night on an empty netter late in the period to put the Lakers away.
Michigan tops NTDP in exhibition game
Michigan hosted USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program Under-18 Team on Friday, winning 6-3 in the exhibition game.
Three freshman alumni from the NTDP scored goals for Michigan; Will Lockwood, Nick Pastujov, and James Sanchez were all able to find the back of the net against their former club.
The NTDP opened the scoring when Jacob Tortora scored a goal at the 12:12 mark of the first period.
The Wolverines responded when Lockwood netted a goal early in the second period.
Tortora got his second of the night late in the middle period to make it 2-1 in favor of the NTDP. Freshman Adam Winborg scored for Michigan just 21 seconds later to tie the game heading into the last period of play.
Pastujov scored on his former team 2:31 into the third period to give Michigan the lead. Sanchez added to this lead just over two minutes later with a tally of his own to make it 4-2.
Michigan built even more momentum when senior captain Alex Kile netted a goal to give the Wolverines a three-goal lead.
Brady Tkachuk scored for the NTDP with just under two minutes to play, but that was as close as the Under-18 Team would get.
Sanchez’s second of the night came from an empty-net opportunity and put the game out of reach for the NTDP.