Last week, the WCHA went a combined 6-11-3 in non-confernece play, with many WCHA teams on the road. This week, with many WCHA teams playing at home, the trend reversed. The WCHA was 11-7-2, including a 8-4-1 mark at home (and two of those losses were by Bemidji State against third-ranked Minnesota, and can’t seem to beat the Gophers anywhere).
On Tuesday, Ferris State won at Mercyhurst 3-2, and Bowling Green rallied from 3-0 down at home to beat Ohio State 4-3.
Here’s what happened around the WCHA this weekend (all series were Friday and Saturday unless otherwise noted). UAH was idle. Next week, conference action begins with the Chargers hosting Bemidji State and Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan playing a home-and-home.
Connecticut at #18 Minnesota State
Minnesota State 2, Connecticut 1: The WCHA favorites got goals from Teddy Blueger amd Dylan Margonari to win a close affair in their home opener. MSU’s Stephon Williams stopped 16 of 17 shots.
Minnesota State 6, Connecticut 1: Six different Mavericks scored in the romp. Casey Nelson, Jordan Nelson, and Bryce Gervais each had a goal and an assist. MSU outshot Uconn 48-17.
No. 3 Minnesota at Bemidji State
Minnesota 6, Bemidji State 3: Large crowd with the Gophers in town for BSU’s home opener, but Minnesota continued its mastery of the Beavers. Sam Warning had a goal and two assists.
Minnesota 5, Bemidji State 1: As in Friday’s game, Bemidji took an early 1-0 lead. But also like Friday, the Gophers caught up and pulled away. Warning scored two more goals as Minnesota is now 16-1-1 all time against the Beavers.
Michigan Tech at No. 4 Notre Dame
Notre Dame 3, Michigan Tech 2: Goals by C.J. Eick and Ryan Furne rallied the Huskies from a 2-0 deficit, but T.J. Tynan scored with 7:01 left as the Fighting Irish avoided the upset in South Bend. Phoenix Copley made 40 saves for MTU.
Notre Dame 7, Michigan Tech 3 (Sunday): Three Irish goals — two on the power play — in a 1:46 span broke a 2-2 tie and doomed Tech in the second period.
Alaska Goal Rush (Fairbanks)
Western Michigan 6, Alaska-Anchorage 2: The Broncos scored twice in each period to hand the Seawolves their first loss. Matt Bailey had both goals for UAA.
Alaska 3, No. 12 Denver 2 (OT): Garrick Perry’s goal with 26 seconds left in overtime gave the Nanooks an upset win at home against the Pioneers. Alaska rallied from a 2-0 deficit.
Alaska-Anchorage 3, No. 12 Denver 2 (OT): The Pios lose another lead and are again stung in overtime, this time by Matt Bailey with 1:15 left.
Alaska 3, Western Michigan 3 (OT): The third overtime game in the Alaska Goal Rush was a back-and-forth affair. Tyler Morley’s goal tied the game for the Nanooks with 1:09 to go, just 32 seconds after the Broncos took a 3-2 lead.
Lake Superior State at No. 16 Union
Lake Superior State 6, Union 5 (OT): Stephen Perfetto’s goal at 1:16 of overtime gave the Lakers a wild road win over the Dutchmen. Perfetto had three assists for a 4-point night.
Lake Superior State 3, Union 2: Union had a 48-17 shots advantage, but Kevin Kapalka’s 46 saves helped the Lakers remain the WCHA’s lone undefeated team.
Colgate at Bowling Green
Bowling Green 1, Colgate 1 (OT): Bryce Williamson scored for the Falcons in the first period, but that was the only time they solved Colgate’s Eric Mihalik, who made 38 saves.
Bowling Green 7, Colgate 0: Ben Murphy and Brent Tate each scored twice as BSGU fired 50 shots on goal against the Raiders. Dan DeSalvo had three assists, the Bryce Williamson had a goal and two assists.
St. Lawrence at Ferris State
St. Lawrence 3, Ferris State 2: The Saints scored three straight goals, including the game winner with 6:24 left, to spoil the Bulldogs’ home opener.
Ferris State 5, St. Lawrence 3: FSU rebounded with five unanswered goals over the second and third periods to erase a 2-0 deficit and gain the series split. The Bulldogs had three power-play goals and C.J. Motte made 31 saves.
Nebraska-Omaha at Northern Michigan
Nebraska-Omaha 2, Northern Michigan 1: Brock Montpetit spoiled NMU’s home opener with the game-winning goal with just under three minutes remaining. Stephan Vigier scored for the Wildcats.
Northern Michigan 6, Nebraska-Omaha 3: NMU scored four times on the power play to rebound and split the series.
| WCHA Standings | Conference | Overall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Pts | W | L | T | |
| Lake Superior State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Alaska-Anchorage | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Bowling Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Ferris State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Minnesota State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Northern Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Michigan Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Bemidji State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Alabama-Huntsville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
All times Central.
* WCHA game.
Friday, October 25
*Bemidji State at UAH, 7:07 p.m.
*Michigan Tech at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
Mercyhurst at Alaska, 10:07 p.m.
Saturday, October 26
*Bemidji State at UAH, 7:07 p.m.
*Northern Michigan at Michigan Tech, 6:07 p.m.
Mercyhurst at Alaska, 10:07 p.m.