A couple of 10-goal games, a tie and two games decided by one-goal combined to make for a tightening WCHA race Saturday night. Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth remain 1-2, three points apart, and then six teams are separated by four points with four weekends to go.

Alaska Anchorage’s 3-2 win over UMD was a direct hit to UMD’s standing in the PairWise Rankings, knocking the Bulldogs from No. 1 to No. 5 in the computer here.

Recaps from Sullivan Arena from the News Tribune here and the Anchorage Daily News here.

At Mankato, Minn., Michigan Tech scored six first-period goals on the way to a 7-3 win over Minnesota State-Mankato to get a series split before 3,348 fans. Brett Olson and Ryan Furne each had two goals in the first for MTU. For his career, senior center Olson now has 90 points in 116 games (41-49). Mankato goalie Phil Cook went 13:39 (5 goals allowed on 10 shots) and was replaced by Austin Lee. Mankato led in shots 38-30. Stories from the Mankato Free Press here and here.

At Colorado Springs, Colo., two second-period goals rallied No. 11 Colorado College to a 2-2 overtime tie with No. 13 Denver to reclaim the Gold Pan before 7,733 fans. Nate Dewhurst and Drew Shore gave Denver a 2-0 lead after one period, and Jade Schwartz and Jeff Collett tied it for CC. The Tigers led in shots 35-31. Josh Thorimbert started and was injured and replaced by Joe Howe in goal for CC, Juho Olkinuora was Denver’s goalie. Stories from the Colorado Springs Gazette here and Denver Post here.

At Omaha, Bemidji State continued its mastery over Nebraska-Omaha in a 6-4 victory in front of 6,878. BSU is 5-0-1 the last six games in Omaha and 6-1-3 the last 10 in the series. Jordan George and Ben Kinne each had a goal and assist for the Beavers. Terry Broadhurst 16 had two goals for the Red Mavs. Omaha led in shots 40-27. There were a combined four goals during a six-minute span in the third period. Dan Bakala had 36 saves for BSU. Stories from the Bemidji Pioneer here and Omaha World-Herald here.

At Madison, Wis., St. Cloud State scored twice in the third period to rally for a 2-1 victory in front of 13,815, the largest Kohl Center crowd of the season. Frank Simonelli gave Wisconsin a 1-0 lead in the second. Nic Dowd tied it at 57 seconds of the third and Jarrod Rabey scored with 5:03 to play to complete the comeback and earn a road sweep. St. Cloud State’s Mike Lee got the win with 41 saves. Wisconsin led in shots 42-23. Stories from the St. Cloud Times here and Wisconsin State Journal here.

WCHA Standings Courtesy of CollegeHockeyStats.net

 1 Minnesota         30  20 15- 5- 0 .750  66- 38   29 19- 9- 1 .672 108- 59
 2 Minnesota Duluth  27  20 12- 5- 3 .675  76- 50   28 18- 6- 4 .714 105- 69
 3 Colorado College  25  20 12- 7- 1 .625  73- 59   26 15- 9- 2 .615  88- 70
 4 Denver            24  20 10- 6- 4 .600  68- 59   28 15- 9- 4 .607  97- 76
 5 Michigan Tech     22  20 10- 8- 2 .550  72- 61   28 13-13- 2 .500  89- 83
   Nebraska Omaha    22  20  9- 7- 4 .550  62- 63   28 12-11- 5 .518  84- 83
   North Dakota      22  20 11- 9- 0 .550  56- 54   27 15-10- 2 .593  82- 75
 8 St. Cloud State   21  22  9-10- 3 .477  64- 59   30 12-14- 4 .467  90- 84
 9 Bemidji State     17  20  7-10- 3 .425  52- 66   28 13-12- 3 .518  77- 78
10 Wisconsin         16  22  7-13- 2 .364  58- 71   28 12-14- 2 .464  83- 84
11 Minnesota State   13  22  6-15- 1 .295  60- 84   30 10-19- 1 .350  84-104
12 Alaska Anchorage   9  22  4-17- 1 .205  46- 89   26  7-17- 2 .308  63- 98