Another weekend of NCAA Men's Ice Hockey has come and gone, and with it have come some major upsets that have shaken up the pecking order in the USCHO polls. As we grow one week closer to the highly-anticipated 1-2 matchup between Boston University and Boston College, the two schools have further pulled themselves away from the chasing pack. Without further ado, let's get into the review this week, as well as look forward to what the teams have coming up.
No. 1 Boston University
The Terriers traveled to Burlington this weekend for a two-game road series against Vermont, and they walked away with two wins by scores of 5-1 and 5-2.
On Friday, BU took a 2-0 lead after one period, and, after allowing the Catamounts to draw the deficit to one goal early in the second period, they took a 3-1 lead after two periods off of a goal from Macklin Celebrini, his second of the game. The Terriers scored two goals early in the third period to reach the 5-1 final score.
On Saturday, BU again took a quick lead, with their third goal coming early in the second period, before drawing with Vermont the rest of the way to reach the 5-2 final. Celebrini scored his third goal of the weekend in the third period, continuing his insane season that might end with the Hobey Baker Award. Scoring on the weekend for the Terriers were Celebrini (3), Luke Tuch, Dylan Peterson, Quinn Hutson, Lane Hutson, Jack Hughes, Devin Kaplan, and Sam Stevens.
Next weekend, the Terriers will have their highly-anticipated home-and-away with Boston College before playing Northeastern the following Tuesday. They have a game against New Hampshire the following weekend, and on the following Monday (Feb 5), they'll have another game against Boston College in the first round of the Beanpot.
No. 2 Boston College
On Friday and Sunday, the Golden Eagles played a home-and-away with Merrimack and came away with two wins, the first coming on the road by a score of 6-4 and the second at home by a score of 6-2.
In Friday's game, BC came out flat to start, falling behind 2-0 to the Warriors by the end of the first period. A three-goal second period helped the Golden Eagles take a 3-2 lead going into the third period, and BC scored the first two goals of the period to take a 5-2 lead before Merrimack scored two goals in 3:20 to close the deficit to one, and an empty-netter from the Cutter Gauthier (his third goal of the game) made the final score 6-4.
On Sunday, BC came out hot, scoring three goals in the first eight minutes to take a 3-0 lead, and Merrimack wouldn't get within two the rest of the way, with the Golden Eagles taking a 6-2 win dominantly.
The Golden Eagles received goals from Gauthier (3), Andre Gasseau (2), Will Smith (2), Jack Malone (2), Ryan Leonard, Aidan Hreschuk, and Gabe Perreault. Coming up, BC will have their home-and-away with BU next weekend before playing at UMass-Lowell on February 2 and playing BU again in the first round of the Beanpot on February 5.
No. 3 Quinnipiac
The Bobcats had an opportunity to seal their dominance in the ECAC this weekend against Colgate and No. 14 Cornell, but they fell flat and looked like half of the team they are, falling to Colgate 2-1 on Friday before losing to the Big Red 3-2 in overtime.
Neither team scored in the first period on Friday, and the first goal would come courtesy of Colgate just over 30 minutes into the game, which Quinnipiac matched five minutes later. Colgate won the game with a goal five minutes into the third period that they failed to answer.
On Saturday, Cornell scored the first goal of the game with 90 seconds left in the first period and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but Quinnipiac would answer with two goals in three minutes in the second quarter, the second of which was on a penalty shot from Alex Power, to tie the game at 2-2 entering the third period (Cornell scored a goal between the Bobcats’ two goals). Neither team would score in the third period, and Cornell would score three minutes into overtime (on their first shot of the period no less) to win the game 3-2. Scoring for the Bobcats on the weekend were Power (2) and Zach Tupker.
Looking ahead, Quinnipiac may have thrown away their final chance for a statement win against a good team before the NCAA Tournament (unless they face Cornell in the ECAC Tournament), as the only team they will face the rest of the season who is receiving votes in the USCHO poll is Clarkson, who they will play twice, and even then, the Golden Knights only received three votes this week. Quinnipiac will need to run the table to have any chance at a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, and the ECAC is in danger of being a one-bid league this year.
No. 4 Wisconsin
The Badgers had the weekend off before jumping back into the gauntlet that is the Big Ten for the rest of the season; for the rest of the year, the only team that Wisconsin will play that is not currently ranked or receiving votes in the USCHO poll is a two-game stretch at Ohio State in the middle of February. Outside of that series, their schedule for the rest of the season is as follows: at No. 14 Michigan, home against No. 9 Minnesota, home against No. 20 Notre Dame, at Ohio State, at Penn State, and home against No. 8 Michigan State (the Badgers will play each of these as two-game series against each team).
For the Badgers to even go .500 through the stretch to end the season would be an accomplishment, but if they want to have a chance at the top overall seed going into the NCAA Tournament, they would need to lose two games at most and win the Big Ten Tournament, something that is easier said than done.
No. 5 Denver
The Pioneers went to Omaha to play the 19th-ranked Mavericks in two games on Friday and Saturday, and they showed why they are a top-five team in the country, winning both games by scores of 6-3 and 6-2, respectively.
On Friday, Omaha scored the first goal seven minutes into the game, but Denver answered late in the period to tie it 1-1 after one period of play. The Pioneers scored four goals in the second period, including three goals in three minutes to take a 5-2 lead after two periods, and both teams would score a goal in the third period to reach the 6-3 final score.
Omaha would put up the opening tally again on Saturday, while Denver matched again late in the first period. The Pioneers would once again score four goals in the second period to make it a 5-2 game after two periods, and the only difference from Friday's game was that after Denver's goal in the third period, Omaha didn't score to offset it.
The Pioneers received scores from Jack Devine (3), Boston Buckberger, Aidan Thompson, McKade Webster, Massimo Rizzo, Sam Harris, Shai Buium, Connor Caponi, Zeev Buium, and Carter King.
Looking ahead, Denver has an extremely tough next two weeks, as they travel to face now-No. 5 North Dakota in Grand Forks this Friday and Saturday before hosting now-No. 12 Western Michigan the following weekend; after that, they get a week off before traveling to face Minnesota Duluth on February 16 and 17 and facing Miami at home on February 23 and 24, and they finish the season with two games on the road at now-No. 15 St. Cloud State and a home-and-away with now-No. 16 Colorado College.
No. 6 North Dakota
On Friday and Saturday, North Dakota traveled to Minnesota to take on No. 13 St. Cloud State, and the Fighting Hawks came away with a 5-3 win on Friday before losing to the Huskies on Saturday in a shootout.
In Friday's game, North Dakota took a 2-0 lead after one period, with the second goal coming with just over seven seconds left in the period, and after St. Cloud scored early in the second period, North Dakota scored with six minutes left in the period to take a 3-1 lead into the third period. In the third period, St. Cloud would draw the deficit to one goal twice, but North Dakota held on, with their fifth goal of the game coming with 92 seconds left on an empty-netter.
On Saturday, St. Cloud scored the first goal of the game 7:31 in, but North Dakota would tie it just eight seconds later, and the first period would end with a 1-1 tie. St. Cloud would score the only goal of the second period to take a 2-1 lead, but North Dakota would score two goals in the third period (which were offset by a goal from the Huskies) to make it 3-3 at the end of regulation. Neither team would score in overtime, and St. Cloud would win the shootout 2-1 after three rounds.
Goal scores on the week were Jackson Blake (3), Cameron Berg (2), Garrett Pyke, Louis Jamernik V, and Jake Livanavage. Next weekend, the Fighting Hawks will host now-No. 4 Denver on Friday and Saturday in a 4-5 matchup that is being overlooked by the BC-BU series, but afterward, they have a bit of a reprieve for a few weeks, as they play on the road against WCHC bottom-feeder Miami the following week before having a weekend off. After that, they'll have consecutive two-game series at No. 16 Colorado College, home against Minnesota Duluth, home against No. 12 Western Michigan, and on the road against Omaha to finish the season.
No. 7 Michigan State
Michigan State had a home-and-away against No. 15 Michigan this weekend, and in each game, the away team won. On Friday, the Wolverines trounced Michigan State 7-1, but on Saturday, the Spartans avenged their Friday night loss by defeating the Wolverines 7-5.
On Friday, the Spartans didn't show up until the third period, but by the time they scored their first goal, Michigan already had six. Michigan State was outclassed in every way possible in the 7-1 loss, and they even allowed Michigan to go 4-for-9 on the power play.
On Saturday, the Spartans fought through a tough first period to keep the score tied 1-1, but at the start of the second period, Michigan scored three goals in seven minutes to take a 4-1 lead, and it looked like a repeat of Friday's game was incoming. After that, however, Michigan State scored four goals in seven minutes to take a 5-4 lead into the final period, and they would score two more goals in the third period to take a 7-4 lead before Michigan scored an extra attacker goal with just over two minutes left to reach the final score.
Scoring for the Spartans on the weekend were Nicolas Muller (3), Artyom Levshunov, Isaac Howard, Gavin O'Connell, Jeremy Davidson, and Joey Larson.
Looking ahead, Michigan State, who is now ranked eighth in the country, has a gauntlet coming up; next weekend, they have two games at home against No. 9 Minnesota, and after that, they have two games at No. 20 Notre Dame and another home-and-away against now-No. 14 Michigan (Michigan State's home game will actually be played in Detroit). After a week off, they will finish the season with a home set against Ohio State before traveling to Madison to play two games at No. 3 Wisconsin.
No. 8 Maine
The Black Bears hosted UMass-Lowell for two games on Friday and Saturday and came away with two wins by scores of 5-3 and 7-2, respectively.
In Friday's game, the River Hawks scored the first goal, which was answered by Maine later in the first period to make the game 1-1 after the first period. Neither team would score in the second period, but Maine would score three goals in seven minutes in the third period to take a 4-1 lead that UMass-Lowell wouldn't be able to recover from, despite adding two goals in the final 92 seconds (Maine would score an empty-netter to offset one of the goals and reach the 5-3 final score).
On Saturday, both teams would once again score in the first period and take a 1-1 score into the first intermission, but unlike Friday, Maine would score four goals in the second period to take a 5-2 lead into the third period. In the third period, Harrison Scott scored his third goal of the game, while Sully Scholle would add on a goal late to reach the 7-2 final.
Maine received goals from Scott (4), Donavan Villeneuve-Houle (3), David Breazeale, Josh Nadeau, Ben Poisson, Brandon Holt, and Scholle.
Maine is currently in the middle of an easier stretch, as they won't have any games this weekend. The following weekend, meanwhile, they draw Northeastern and No. 11 UMass before hosting No. 10 Providence for two games the following weekend. After that, they will have two games at No. 17 New Hampshire, two home games against Northeastern, two games at Vermont, and two home games against UMass again to finish the season.
No. 9 Providence
The Friars hosted Alaska Anchorage for two games on the weekend, and they went 1-1, winning 2-0 on Friday before falling 4-0 in an upset on Saturday. On Friday, Providence scored their goals in three minutes in the second period in the 2-0 win, and they outshot Alaska Anchorage 34-15 in the game.
On Saturday, neither team scored in the first period, and the Seawolves finally broke the scoring halfway through the second period, after that, they would score two more goals over the next five minutes to take a 3-0 lead after two periods. Alaska Anchorage would score another goal with four minutes remaining in the third period to seal the 4-0 win despite being outshot 26-21. Scoring for Providence in Friday's game were Bennett Schimek and Nick Poisson.
These next two weekends, the Friars will have two home-and-aways, first against UMass-Lowell and then against UConn; the following two weekends will be difficult for the Friars, as they will play on the road for two games against No. 6 Maine before having a home-and-away against No. 1 Boston University. After that, the remainder of the season will be somewhat easier, a game at UMass-Lowell, a home-and-away with Merrimack, and two home games to finish the season against No. 1 BU (again) and Northeastern.
No. 10 Minnesota
The Golden Gophers hosted Ohio State for two games this weekend and they won both by three goals, with a 5-2 tally on Friday and a 6-3 final score on Saturday. In Friday's Game, Minnesota scored three goals in the first period, but Ohio State would answer with a goal of their own to make it 3-1 after two periods. Rhett Pitlick scored twice in the first seven minutes of the third period to seal a hat trick, and the Buckeyes would score once with nine minutes left to reach the 5-2 final.
On Saturday, neither team scored in the first period, but Minnesota scored three times in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the third period. In the third period, the Golden Gophers scored two goals early to take a 5-1 lead, but Ohio State managed to draw it back to a 5-3 game late before Minnesota ended it with an empty-netter with just over 30 seconds to go.
Minnesota received scores from Pitlick (4), Connor Kurth, Jimmy Snuggerud, Garrett Pinoniemi, Bryce Brodzinski, Aaron Huglen, Jaxon Nelson, and Brody Lamb.
Minnesota has quite the schedule for the rest of the season, as every team they will play from here on in is either currently ranked or receiving votes in the USCHO poll. The Golden Gophers will finish the season with consecutive two-game series at No. 8 Michigan State, at No. 3 Wisconsin, home against Penn State, at No. 20 Notre Dame, and they finish the season at home against No. 14 Michigan (Minnesota will have a week off between the Notre Dame and Michigan series).
No. 11 Western Michigan
The Broncos hosted Minnesota Duluth for two games this weekend, and they came away with a win and a loss that might prove crucial (for seeding purposes) when the NCHC Tournament and NCAA Tournament begin. A loss against a mediocre team like the Bulldogs has stopped teams from getting into the NCAA Tournament before, and at this point, with how loaded the NCHC is, every win for the teams chasing North Dakota and Denver will be important.
On Friday, both teams scored in the first period to make it a 1-1 tie entering the first intermission, and in the second period, Minnesota Duluth would score late to make it a 2-1 game entering the third period. In the third period, the teams combined for six goals, with Minnesota Duluth scoring four, to reach the 6-3 final in favor of the Bulldogs in an upset.
On Saturday, Minnesota Duluth scored two goals in the first period to take a 2-0 lead, and it looked like another upset might be brewing. Western Michigan would come back and score two goals in the second period to tie the game entering the third, and they would score three goals, including two empty-netters, in the final 3:30 of play to take a 5-2 win.
Scoring over the weekend for Western Michigan were Carter Berger (2), Zak Galambos, Matteo Constantini, Chad Hillebrand, Sam Colangelo, Dylan Wendt, and Luke Grainger.
The Broncos have a gauntlet coming up on their schedule, as they play two games at home against No. 16 Colorado College this weekend, at No. 4 Denver on February 2 and 3, and at Omaha the following weekend. After a week off, Western Michigan will finish their season with two games at No. 15 St. Cloud State, at No. 5 North Dakota, and then at home against Miami.
No. 12 UMass
The Minutemen only played one game this weekend, and they came away with a 2-1 road win over Northeastern on Saturday. In Saturday's game, UMass scored the first goal with four minutes remaining in the first period to take a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission. After Northeastern tied the game with a goal late in the second period, UMass scored the game-winner with 3:21 left in the third period. Scoring for UMass on Saturday were Ryan Lautenbach and Nick Van Tassell.
UMass has been on a bit of an easy stretch as of late, and they have this upcoming weekend off before getting into a tough ending stretch. The Minutemen will play at Merrimack on February 2 before hosting No. 6 Maine on February 3, with the rest of their schedule consisting of consecutive home-and-aways against UConn, No. 2 Boston College, No. 17 New Hampshire, and UMass-Lowell, before having two games at Maine again to finish off the season.
No. 13 St. Cloud State
The Huskies hosted No. 6 North Dakota for two games on Friday and Saturday, and they came away with a 5-3 loss on Friday and a shootout win after a 3-3 tie on Saturday. On Friday, St. Cloud allowed the Fighting Hawks to take a 2-0 lead after the first period, and despite scoring three goals over the last two periods, they lost handily 5-3.
On Saturday, the Huskies scored the first goal of the game seven minutes in, but North Dakota answered and tied it just eight seconds later. St. Cloud would score a goal in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the third, and after North Dakota scored early, the Huskies put up one more goal with things ending in a 3-3 tie. In the shootout, Veeti Miettinen and Adam Ingram scored to take a 2-1 win in three rounds.
Not including shootout goals, the Huskies received goals from Miettinen (2), Mason Salquist, Zach Okabe, Kyler Kupka, and Grant Ahcan. St. Cloud has a tough schedule for the rest of the season, as they host Omaha for two games this weekend before playing two games at No. 16 Colorado College, and two games at Miami. After that, the Huskies will get a week off before hosting No. 12 Western Michigan and No. 4 Denver on consecutive weekends and finishing the season at Minnesota Duluth.
No. 14 Cornell
The Big Red hosted Princeton and No. 3 Quinnipiac this weekend, and they came away with two wins that might help make the ECAC a two-bid league, even if it is at the expense of Quinnipiac's hopes for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In Friday's game against Princeton, Cornell took the lead with a goal early in the first period, but a goal from Princeton tied it up in the middle of the second period. Jonathan Castagna scored two goals 31 seconds apart from each other to help the Big Red take a 3-1 lead into the third period. In the third period, Cornell would score two more goals in the first 14 minutes, including another goal from Castagna that finished off a hat trick, and after a Princeton goal to draw the deficit to 5-2, Cornell hit on an empty-netter with just under two minutes left to cap off the 6-2 win.
On Saturday, Cornell took a 1-0 lead over Quinnipiac near the end of the first period, and after a shorthanded goal from the Bobcats to tie it, Cornell would score on the same power play to take a 2-1 lead halfway through the second period. Quinnipiac would tie the game on a penalty shot a few minutes later to tie the game again, this time at 2-2, and after neither team scored again in regulation, Cornell scored three minutes into overtime to take the 3-2 win.
Scoring for Cornell in the two games were Castagna (3), Nick Desantis (2), Dalton Bancroft (2), Jack O'Leary, and Ondrej Psenicka. The game against Quinnipiac was Cornell's last big test of the season, and they might be able to run the table the rest of the way. The rest of the season, Cornell has games at Harvard, at Dartmouth, home against St. Lawrence, home against Clarkson, at RPI, at Union, home against Brown, home against Yale, at Clarkson, at St. Lawrence, home against Union, and home against RPI.
No. 15 Michigan
The Wolverines had a home-and-away against No. 7 Michigan State this weekend, and they destroyed the Spartans 7-1 on Friday (in East Lansing) before falling at home 7-5 on Saturday.
On Friday, Michigan started hot, scoring three goals in the first period and the first six goals of the game, before allowing Michigan State to break the shutout with seven minutes remaining and scoring on a power play with under two minutes to go; Michigan outshot the Spartans 35-23 in the contest. Saturday was mostly a repeat of Friday, as the Wolverines took a 4-1 lead halfway through the second period, but after that, Michigan State scored six unanswered, including an empty-netter, to take a 7-4 lead before Michigan scored with just over two minutes left to reach the 7-5 final.
Scoring for the Wolverines on the weekend were Rutger McGroarty (3), Dylan Duke (3), T.J. Hughes (3), Kienan Draper, Nick Moldenhauer, and Seamus Casey. Going ahead, Michigan has a brutal schedule coming up, with two games at home against No. 3 Wisconsin this weekend before two games at Ohio State, a home-and-away with now-No. 8 Michigan State, two games at Penn State, two games at home against No. 20 Notre Dame, and two games at No. 9 Minnesota to finish the season.
No. 16 Arizona State
The Sun Devils hosted Augustana for two games this weekend, and they came away with a win and a loss, as they were upset by the Vikings 5-4 on Friday evening before winning 3-2 on Saturday.
In Friday's game, Arizona State started hot, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes, but the Vikings would score two goals late in the period to tie it 2-2 after one period of play. In the second period, both teams scored once, and both teams scored early in the third period to make it 4-4, but Augustana knocked in the game-winner with just over 30 seconds left and held on to win 5-4.
On Saturday, the Vikings scored in the third minute and took a 1-0 lead after one period of play, but Arizona State scored two goals in the first four minutes of the second period to take a 2-0 lead. In the third period, Augustana scored early to tie it 2-2, and Arizona State scored three minutes later and held on to win 3-2.
The Sun Devils received scores from Tim Lovell (2), Matthew Kopperud, Ryan Alexander, Benji Eckerle, Charlie Schoen, and Brian Chambers.
The Sun Devils are now ranked 18th in the country after their loss to Augustana, and at this point, to make the NCAA Tournament, they need to win out and hope for some chaos to happen in front of them. Arizona State has a week off this week, and then they will have consecutive two-game home stands against Lindenwood and Alaska Fairbanks, and after another week off, they will finish the season on the road against Alaska Fairbanks, at home against LIU, and then on the road against Alaska Anchorage.
No. 17 New Hampshire
The Wildcats had a home-and-away on Friday and Sunday against UConn, and both home teams lost, with New Hampshire winning 5-0 on Friday and UConn winning 2-1 on Sunday.
On Friday, New Hampshire opened up with a goal late in the first period to take a 1-0 lead. Neither team would score in the second period, and the Wildcats would blow the game open in the third period, as they scored three goals in 67 seconds to take a 4-0 lead, and they would add another goal on a power play late to reach the 5-0 final. New Hampshire goalie Jakob Hellsten played beautifully between the pipes, stopping 20 shots from the Huskies in the shutout.
On Sunday, neither team would score in the first period, and UConn would score the first goal of the game early in the second period. UConn would score again late in the second period to take a 2-0 lead, and New Hampshire would finally get on the board with six minutes left to reach the 2-1 final. Scoring for New Hampshire last weekend were Ryan Conmy, Nikolai Jenson, Marty Lavins, Liam Devlin, Cam Gendron, and Kristaps Skrastins.
The rest of the season will be difficult for the Wildcats, as this weekend is the last reprieve they get until early March. This weekend, New Hampshire has two games on the road at Vermont, and after that, they have two home games against No. 1 Boston University and Merrimack, two road games at No. 2 Boston College and Merrimack, two home games against No. 6 Maine in the Border War, a home-and-away with No. 11 UMass, a home-and-away with BC, and then a home-and-away against UMass-Lowell to finish off the season on March 8 and 9.
No. 18 Colorado College
The Tigers hosted NCHC bottom-feeders Miami for two games this weekend and came away with two wins, even though the two games were closer than they probably should have been. On Friday, Colorado College won 2-1, and on Saturday, they won 4-2.
In Friday’s game, Miami struck first, scoring near the end of the first period to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Neither team would score in the second period, and Colorado College would finally score their first goal of the game 21 seconds into the third period before netting the game-winner with 96 seconds left to score the come-from-behind win.
On Saturday, Miami would score the first goal again, but this time, the Tigers would score two goals of their own in the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. In the second period, Colorado College would score again to take a 3-1 lead, and after another Tigers goal in the middle of the third period, Miami would score a shorthanded goal with under three minutes left to reach the final score.
On the weekend, the Tigers received goals from Noah Laba (2), Tommy Middleton, Max Burkholder, Jack Millar, and Zaccharya Wisdom.
Looking ahead, Colorado College has a gauntlet to finish off the season, and out of their last 12 games, all but two are against teams that are currently ranked or receiving votes. To make the NCAA Tournament, they will likely need to win at least eight and go on a run in the NCHC Tournament. This weekend, the Tigers will travel to play two games at No. 12 Western Michigan, and the following week, they will have two games at home against No. 15 St. Cloud State. After a week off, they will finish the season with two games at home against No. 5 North Dakota, two games at Omaha, a home against Minnesota Duluth, and a home-and-away against No. 4 Denver.
No. 19 Omaha
This weekend, the Mavericks hosted No. 5 Denver for two games, and the Pioneers showed why they are a top-five team in the country. On Friday, Omaha lost 6-3, and on Saturday, Omaha lost 6-2.
On Friday, Omaha scored the first goal of the game off of a penalty shot by Zach Urdahl, but Denver would answer to make it a 1-1 game after the first period, and from that point on, the game went Denver's way. The Pioneers would score early in the second to take a 2-1 lead, and after Omaha tied the game later in the period, Denver would score four straight goals to take a 6-2 lead before Omaha scored the final goal with nine minutes remaining.
On Saturday, Omaha once again scored the opening, while Denver would tie it late in the first period to make it 1-1. The goal at the end of the first period was the start of a five-goal unanswered run for the Pioneers that would only end after Omaha scored with 86 seconds left in the second period; Denver would score once again in the third period to seal the 6-2 win. Scoring for the Mavericks on the weekend were Urdahl, Ty Mueller, Jesse Lansdell, Tanner Ludtke, and Jack Randl.
The Mavericks fell out of the top 20 after the two losses (though they still received the most votes out of any team not in the top 20), and the rest of their season is about as easy as they can get in the loaded NCHC, as they will play Miami and Minnesota Duluth, the conference's two worst teams, and they won't play Denver, who is arguably the conference’s best team. Going forward, Omaha has two game sets on the road at No. 15 St. Cloud State, at home against Minnesota Duluth, at No. 12 Western Michigan; after a week off, they return to action at home against No. 16 Colorado College, at Miami, and then they finish the season at home against No. 5 North Dakota.
No. 20 RIT
The Atlantic Hockey second-placed Tigers traveled to play Robert Morris in two games on Friday and Saturday, and came away with two wins by scores of 6-3 and 7-1, respectively.
In Friday's game, RIT took a 1-0 lead after the first period, and after the Tigers scored two goals early in the second period and took a 3-0 lead, Robert Morris finally started scoring, as they scored two goals late in the period to make it a 3-2 game, but RIT would answer with a goal in the final minute of the period to make it a 4-2 game after two periods. In the third period, Robert Morris scored halfway through to make it a 4-3 game, but Carter Wilkie would net two goals for the Tigers in the final nine minutes to reach the 6-3 final.
On Saturday, the Tigers took a 2-0 lead after one period, and they built on that lead in the second period, scoring three goals to a single goal from the Colonials to take a 5-1 lead after two periods. In the third period, RIT would score two more goals, including a goal from Cody Laskosky, his third of the game.
Scoring on the weekend for RIT were Wilkie (3), Laskosky (3), Gianfranco Cassaro (2), Xavier Lapointe, Tyler Fukakusa, Gustav Blom, Adam Jeffery, and Elijah Gonsalves.
For the rest of the season, RIT only plays one team (Air Force) with a record over .500, and even then, Air Force is only one game over .500 as of the time of writing. The Tigers have five two-game sets the rest of the season, with a home stand against Bentley this weekend, a home-and-away with Niagara, a set of road games at Mercyhurst, a set of home games against Air Force, and a home-and-away with Canisius to finish off the season. For the Tigers to have any chance at a bid in the NCAA Tournament, they will likely need to win the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, but they are the only chance the league has at getting an at-large bid.
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