Hanover, NH- The game was penalty filled, but in the end it turned out to be a thriller as UMass scored an early third period goal, off the stick of Branden Gracel, to take home the Ledyard Bank National Classic. UMass had a strong first period but left the period with nothing to show for it and trailing the Big Green 2-1. Connor Sheary opened the scoring at three minutes, four seconds into the first period giving UMass an early 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as Dartmouth would respond shorthanded at 9:50, a goal by Brett Patterson to tie the game at one apiece. The Big Green would pot another one 1:23 later to take the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The second period was penalty filled and UMass scored the only goal, a shorthanded marker from Eddie Olzcyzk, to send the game into the second intermission tied at two. 15 seconds into the third period Branden Gracel, the tournament MVP, scored the eventual game winner and UMass escaped with the 3-2 win. The Minutemen improve 7-9-2 on the season, while Dartmouth drops their first home game of season falling to 8-3-2. (more…)

Hanover, NH- In the consolation game of the Ledyard Bank National Classic, Bemidji State took an early 1-0 lead two minutes, 12 seconds into the game on a goal by Markus Gerbrandt. UNH would respond 13 minutes later, as Grayson Downing would get a feed from Trevor van Riemsdyk in the right circle and he stayed true to tie the game at 1. The Wildcats would score the lone goal in the second period, as Jay Camper would send the game into the third period a 2-1 game in favor of UNH.

The third period was much different than the first two, as Bemidji made it a game when Jordan George tied the contest at two nine minutes into the third period. That tie would hold and send the game into overtime where Trevor van Riemsdyk fired a shot from the high slot past Bemidji goaltender, Andrew Walsh to give UNH a much needed win. UNH improves to 12-3-2 on the season, while Bemidji State falls to 5-10-3. (more…)

Team USA advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championship with a resounding 9-3 win over Slovakia on Monday. Johnny Gaudreau and Vince Trocheck scored two goals apiece, while Jimmy Vesey contributed three assists. Alex Galchenyuk, J.T. Miller and Jake McCabe all had multipoint games as well. Slovakia tied the game at 1-1 just 14 seconds after Cole Bardreau opened the scoring, but the U.S. scored the next four goals to take control of the game. Jacob Trouba scored his fourth goal of the tournament, while Mike Reilly scored his first. John Gibson made 26 saves in the win.

What I saw
-Gaudreau and Trocheck got off the schneid in a big way. They were expected to be two of Team USA’s top scorers before the tournament, but neither of them had a single point entering Monday’s game. They each posted three points against Slovakia and looked dangerous in the offensive zone all game. Both were able to make plays down low and find open space around the net. Gaudreau and Trocheck, who aren’t on the same line 5-on-5, hooked up for two power-play goals. Trocheck picked up the second assist on a highlight-reel goal by Gaudreau, then Gaudreau made a nice pass from below the goal line to find Trocheck in the slot.

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Hanover, NH- It was a game that featured the second and third ranked teams in the Pairwise, but one team really stood out for all the wrong reasons and one for all the right reasons. Dartmouth struck first six minutes, five seconds into the first period as Nick Bligh found himself all alone in the high slot and fired it past UNH goaltender Casey Desmith. The Big Green would increase their lead to two as Ryan Bullock struck five minutes later to give Dartmouth the 2-0 lead after one stanza. Both of those goals were the first in their respective collegiate careers.

To begin the second period, UNH scored 46 seconds in to make it a game at 2-1, but Dartmouth would make it a 3-1 game off the stick of Tyler Sikura. The 3-1 score would hold until the end, where Dartmouth held on and added an empty netter to pull out the 4-1 victory over UNH in front of a sell out crowd of 4500 at Thompson Arena. UNH falls to 11-3-2 on the season, while Dartmouth improves to 8-2-2. (more…)

Hanover, NH.- It was a tale of three different periods for UMass and Bemidji State. The first period was a struggle to find the puck by both teams but Bemidji State found their groove quicker than UMass and took a 2-0 lead at the intermission, on goals by Aaron Macleod at nine minutes, 17 seconds and a power-play goal by Brance Orban at 14:47. The second period was a much different story as UMass dominated the Beavers and were able to take a 3-2 lead, on goals by Michael Pereira, Darren Rowe and Adam Phillips.

The third was a relative stalemate as the Minutemen and Beavers traded goals to make it a 4-3 final in favor of UMass. UMass improves their record to 6-9-2 on the season, while Bemidji State falls to 5-9-3 overall. Both teams will continue in the Ledyard Bank Classic on Monday evening, UMass in the championship game and Bemidji in the consolation game.

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MINNEAPOLIS – On a day that saw Jerry York break the all-time record for college hockey wins, the second game of the Mariucci Classic saw a family affair. Air Force (5-8-3, 4-4-2 AHA) head coach Frank Serratore faced his son, Minnesota junior forward Tom, and it was the Gophers (12-3-3, 6-3-3 WCHA) who came away with a 4-0 win.

It was a team effort for the Gophers on Saturday night. Four different Minnesota players scored, led by two points from Erik Haula (1G-1A) and Nick Bjugstad (2A), and freshman goalie Adam Wilcox made 18 saves for his third shutout of the season. Haula started off the scoring when he banked a shot off of Jason Fabian’s skate 6:58 into the game. That was followed in the second period by Ryan Reilly’s first goal as a Gopher when he roofed in a Christian Isackson pass over Air Force goalie Jason Torf. After a breakaway attempt by Stephen Carew was stopped by Wilcox, third period goals by Minnesota’s Kyle Rau and Nate Condon put the game out of hand for the Falcons.

Minnesota next faces Boston College Sunday at 7 p.m. CT while Air Force goes up against Alabama-Huntsville at 4 p.m in the final day of the Mariucci Classic.

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For the second straight game, Team USA struggled to finish around the net and wound up with a 2-1 loss, this time to archrival Canada. Canada took a 1-0 lead 7:13 into the game when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found some open space off a faceoff and beat John Gibson from the high slot. The Canadians added to the lead seven minutes later when Brett Ritchie wrapped around the net before finding Ryan Strome alone in front.

The U.S. cut the lead in half with 8:58 left in the game when Alex Galchenyuk fed Jacob Trouba for Trouba’s third goal of the tournament. The Americans stymied their own comeback by taking four penalties in the next five minutes, but they killed all of them and managed to earn a power play of their own with 1:37 to go. They generated several good looks, but couldn’t net the equalizer.

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HAMDEN, Conn. — Two teams that pride themselves on defense ended up in a shootout Saturday, as Quinnipiac beat Nebraska-Omaha 5-4. Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored two goals for the Bobcats, including what proved to be the game-winner 3:47 into the third. Just three minutes after UNO’s Ryan Walters tied the game at 4-4, Matthew Peca led a 4-on-2 and found Samuels-Thomas in the high slot for the goal. Quinnipiac extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games with the win.

Samuels-Thomas and Peca also opened the scoring, as each scored within the game’s first four minutes to give the Bobcats (13-3-2) a 2-0 lead that they would hold until the end of the first. Matt White cut the lead in half early in the second before Ben Arnt restored Quinnipiac’s two-goal lead. The Mavericks (11-7-1) came back to tie the game at 3-3, though, as Johnnie Searfoss and Brian O’Rourke both found the back of the net. It looked like the game would go into the third deadlocked, but a UNO turnover behind the net allowed Kellen Jones to feed Kevin Bui in front to give the Bobcats a 4-3 lead with 1:06 left in the second.

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Despite putting 42 shots on net, Team USA fell to Russia, 2-1, in its second game of the World Junior Championship. Vladimir Tkachyov scored what proved to be the game-winner 4:10 into the third when he banged home a rebound right in front. Valeri Nichushkin set up the goal with a great rush down the right wing to get by Seth Jones and get the puck to the net. Andrei Makarov made 41 saves for the Russians, while John Gibson turned aside 28 shots for the Americans.

The U.S. had a strong first couple shifts, but it was Russia that opened the scoring when Albert Yarullin unloaded a one-timer that ricocheted off a couple bodies and past Gibson for a power-play goal. The U.S. tied it with 6:42 remaining in the second when Jacob Trouba scored a power-play goal of his own, ripping a one-timer through traffic from center point for his second goal in as many games.

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American fans couldn’t have asked for a better start to the World Junior Championship, as Team USA steamrolled Germany 8-0 to open group play. It took the U.S. just 19 seconds to get on the board. Alex Galchenyuk chipped a puck to Riley Barber in the neutral zone, Barber sent Sean Kuraly in alone, and Kuraly finished with a backhander through Marvin Cupper’s five-hole. The U.S. made it 2-0 eight minutes later when Blake Pietila picked a defender’s pocket and fed Jacob Trouba for a point shot through traffic.

The Galchenyuk-Kuraly-Barber line struck again 1:24 after that when Galchenyuk circled off the boards and beat Cupper with a beautiful shot into the top right corner. That line did it again 14 seconds into the second period when Galchenyuk forced a turnover and found Barber alone in front. From there, the rout was on. Shayne Gostisbehere made it 5-0 with a one-timer on the power play, and Ryan Hartman pushed it to 6-0 when he buried a Pietila rebound. J.T. Miller scored the seventh goal off a turnover and Seth Jones scored the eighth with a nice shot from the high slot. John Gibson made 19 saves and Jon Gillies made seven in the combined shutout.

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