If you like goals, lots of goals, the WCHA was the place to be Friday night. Four games, 32 goals, three overtime games, two ties and each game decided by one goal or less, three sold out games. The home teams were 0-2-2.
Austin Farley with two goals led three Minnesota Duluth freshmen who recorded points in a 4-4 overtime tie at No. 6 North Dakota. Linemates Farley and Tony Cameranesi are tied for second in the league for points by rookies with eight, and Farley is tied for most goals with four. UMD has the second-most power-play goals in the league with 11. The Bulldogs are in a three-way tie for last in the league with two points.
Game stories from the News Tribune here and Grand Forks Herald here.
Post-game thoughts from Bruce Ciske here and Brad Schlossmann of the Grand Forks Herald here.
At Minneapolis, Michael Mersch had a pair of goals as Wisconsin tied No. 3 Minnesota 2-2 in overtime. Zach Budish and Erik Haula (6) scored for Minnesota. The Gophers led in shots 43-24. Minnesota had nearly four minutes of a 5-minute major power play in the third period but didn’t score. Minnesota’s Adam Wilcox and Wisconsin’s Landon Peterson were in goal. Last four games, Minnesota 1-1-2 and Wisconsin 0-2-2. Attendance 10,079. From the Wisconsin State Journal here, Minneapolis Star Tribune here and St. Paul Pioneer Press here.
At Bemidji, Minn., a three-goal deficit was overcome as Michigan Tech rallied for a 5-4 overtime victory against Bemidji State.The Beavers led 4-1 with 62 seconds left in the second period. Tech began its comeback with 19 second left in the second period, from Blake Pietila. Freshman Jujhar Khaira added a pair of third-period goals and freshman Alex Petan, also from British Columbia, scored with 2:48 left in OT. Andrew Walsh was in goal for Bemidji. Ben Kinne had a goal and an assist for the Beavers. Tech, 3-of-5 on power plays, broke a five-game losing streak. Shots were 30-30. Attendance 2,963. From the Bemidji Pioneer here and Houghton Daily Mining Gazette here.
At Colorado Springs, Colo., No. 2 Denver built a four-goal lead and then held on to defeat No. 14 Colorado College 6-5. First-place Denver led 2-0, the game was tied 2-2 and the Pioneer scored four straight (including three in 73 seconds) for a 6-2 lead, 82 seconds into the third period. Joey LaLeggia and David Makowski each had a goal and an assist for the Pioneers. The Tigers rallied with the final three goals. Rylan Schwartz and Mike Boivin each had a pair of goals for CC. Colorado College led in shots 43-33. Attendance 7,725. Denver’s winning streak is four, while CC’s four-game win streak ended. Josh Thorimbert went 30 minutes for CC before being replaced by Joe Howe in goal. As the game ended eight penalties were assessed including two majors, including a fighting penalty to Denver goalie Juho Olkinuora. Suspensions may be coming. From the Colorado Springs Gazette here and Denver Post here.
WCHA Summaries and Standings Courtesy of College Hockey Stats.net
1 Denver 12 7 6- 1- 0 .857 29- 17 9 8- 1- 0 .889 39- 20 2 Nebraska Omaha 9 6 4- 1- 1 .750 21- 15 10 6- 3- 1 .650 34- 23 3 Colorado College 8 5 4- 1- 0 .800 22- 15 11 7- 4- 0 .636 41- 33 St. Cloud State 8 6 4- 2- 0 .667 19- 13 10 6- 4- 0 .600 36- 25 Minnesota 8 7 3- 2- 2 .571 20- 18 10 6- 2- 2 .700 33- 20 6 North Dakota 6 5 2- 1- 2 .600 16- 13 9 4- 3- 2 .556 28- 21 7 Wisconsin 4 5 1- 2- 2 .400 10- 12 7 1- 4- 2 .286 13- 18 Michigan Tech 4 7 2- 5- 0 .286 19- 27 9 3- 6- 0 .333 29- 35 9 Bemidji State 3 5 1- 3- 1 .300 15- 19 7 2- 4- 1 .357 20- 21 10 Alaska Anchorage 2 4 0- 2- 2 .250 6- 13 8 2- 3- 3 .438 17- 24 Minnesota Duluth 2 5 0- 3- 2 .200 11- 17 9 2- 5- 2 .333 23- 27 Minnesota State 2 6 1- 5- 0 .167 14- 23 10 3- 5- 2 .400 27- 32
Wisconsin 2 at Minnesota 2 tie Box Minnesota Duluth 4 at North Dakota 4 tie Box Michigan Tech 5 at Bemidji State 4 OT Box Denver 6 at Colorado College 5 Box
