Minnesota State-Mankato, North Dakota and Wisconsin stayed on hot streaks Friday night with victories as WCHA teams opened the second half of 2012-13, and the United States beat defending champion Sweden 3-1 Saturday morning to claim the World Junior Championships title in Ufa, Russia.

Minnesota Duluth has an off week and holds down seventh place in the WCHA. The Bulldogs are home Jan. 11-12 versus Michigan Tech.

At Omaha, four second-period goals sent No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha on the way to an 8-4 win over Colorado College. Ryan Walters had a goal and three assists, and Tanner Lane and Josh Archibald each had two goals for Omaha. CC’s Mike Boivin had a hat trick. Shots were 30-30. Josh Thorimbert went 27 minutes in goal for CC. The Tigers are 0-5-1 the last six games and 1-8-2 the last 11. Attendance 6,112. From the Omaha World Herald here and Colorado Springs Gazette here.

In Grand Forks, N.D., Corban Knight had two goals and two assists as No. 7 North Dakota stopped No. 20 Holy Cross 5-2. North Dakota had three PP goals and led in shots 41-15. North Dakota is 5-0-1 the last six games. Holy Cross is 10-5-2. North Dakota led 5-0 after two periods. Danny Kristo had a goal and an assist. Attendance 10,741. From the Grand Forks Herald here.

At. St. Cloud, Minn., three goals in the second and third periods propelled Northern Michigan to a 6-2 win over No. 15 St. Cloud State. Reed Seckel had two goals and Erik Higby three assists Northern Michigan, which entered the game on a 2-7-2 streak. MMU led 26-23 in shots. Attendance 4,552. Rasmus Reijola (0-2) was in goal for the Huskies. From the St. Cloud Times here and Marquette Mining Journal here.

At Mankato, Minn., Chase Grant scored wit 2:34 left on overtime as No. 14 Minnesota State-Mankato edged Providence College 4-3. The Purple Mavs are 10-1 the last 11 games. The game was tied at 1, 2 and 3. Mankato led in shots 35-32. Stephon Williams (10-4-1) got the win. Mankato was 2-4 on PPs. Attendance 3,316. From the Mankato Free Press here and the Providence Journal here.

At Bemidji, Minn., four second-period goals sparked No. 10 Western Michigan to a 6-0 victory over Bemidji State. Dane Walters had a goal and an assist for Western Michigan. Andrew Walsh was in goal for the Beavers. Western Michigan led in shots 27-15. Attendance 2,622. From the Bemidji Pioneer here and Kalamazoo Gazette here.

At Denver, Quentin Shore had two goals and Nick Shore one as No. 11 Denver smacked No. 12 Cornell University 5-1. Denver was 3-5 on PPs. Cornell led in shots 38-25. Juho Olkinuora (5-1-3) earned the win. Attendance 5,160. There were 12 minor penalties assessed (6 per side) with 2:56 to play. From the Denver Post here.

At Alaska, Anchorage, Wisconsin scored three third-period goals to pull away for a 5-3 win over Alaska Anchorage. The Badgers are 4-0-3 the last seven games. Mark Zengerle had an empty-net goal with 31 seconds to play. Anchorage has lost five straight and is 1-9-3 the last 13. Anchorage led in shots 29-27. Attendance 2,268. From the Anchorage Daily News here and Wisconsin State Journal here.

And the IIHF has a recap of the United States title win here and video highlights here and Chris Peters from the United States of Hockey here and from USA Hockey here.

WCHA Standings and Summaries Courtesy of College Hockey Stats.net

 1 St. Cloud State   18  14  9- 5- 0 .643  45- 33   21 12- 9- 0 .571  69- 56
 2 North Dakota      17  12  7- 2- 3 .708  44- 30   19 11- 5- 3 .658  65- 46
   Nebraska Omaha    17  13  8- 4- 1 .654  49- 38   21 12- 8- 1 .595  78- 56
   Denver            17  14  7- 4- 3 .607  44- 37   20 11- 6- 3 .625  70- 49
 5 Minnesota State   16  14  8- 6- 0 .571  44- 37   21 13- 6- 2 .667  67- 51
 6 Minnesota         15  12  6- 3- 3 .625  36- 30   19 13- 3- 3 .763  69- 35
 7 Minnesota Duluth  13  14  5- 6- 3 .464  40- 40   20  7-10- 3 .425  54- 57
 8 Colorado College  11  13  5- 7- 1 .423  45- 51   21  8-11- 2 .429  73- 79
   Wisconsin         11  13  3- 5- 5 .423  28- 32   17  5- 7- 5 .441  40- 39
   Bemidji State     11  14  4- 7- 3 .393  34- 43   19  5-11- 3 .342  44- 58
11 Michigan Tech      9  14  3- 8- 3 .321  34- 53   19  6-10- 3 .395  53- 63
12 Alaska Anchorage   5  13  1- 9- 3 .192  24- 43   17  3-10- 4 .294  35- 54

  Colorado College   4 at Nebraska Omaha     8       Box   
  Holy Cross         2 at North Dakota       5       Box   
  Northern Michigan  6 at St. Cloud State    2       Box   
  Providence         3 at Minnesota State    4, OT   Box   
  Western Michigan   6 at Bemidji State      0       Box   
  Cornell            1 at Denver             5       Box   
  Wisconsin          5 at Alaska Anchorage   3       Box