For a conference trying to re-build its image as one of the best in the country, having a team ranked No. 1 in the polls is a huge step in the right direction. The WCHA’s Michigan Tech now occupies that spot after pushing its record to 10-0-0 with a sweep at Bemidji State this weekend. With 10-straight wins to start the season, the Huskies are now off to the best start in the program’s 94-year history.

The sweep of the Beavers wasn’t Michigan Tech’s most dominant performances of the season, but good teams find ways to win and the Huskies did that. They face their stiffest test of the season this weekend in welcoming reigning WCHA playoff champion Minnesota State to Houghton.

In the latest edition of the USCHO.com poll, following bye weeks, the Mavericks remained at No. 9 and Northern Michigan moved up a spot to No. 17. After splitting with Ohio State, Bowling Green also jumped a spot to No. 18. Ferris State (53) is the only WCHA team receiving votes in the poll.

Rapid Recap: In conference play, Michigan Tech grinded out a pair of wins in Bemidji to remain the NCAA’s lone unbeaten team, Ferris State’s offense exploded in a sweep of Alaska Anchorage, and Alabama-Huntsville and Lake Superior State split – pushing the Chargers’ record in their last four games to 2-1-1. Elsewhere, Bowling Green and Ohio State split a non-conference home-and-home series, with each winning at the other’s barn. The WCHA is now 22-17-4 (.558) in non-conference play this season.

(After the jump: My Three Stars of the Weekend in the WCHA and thoughts on what went down)

WCHA Three Stars of the Weekend (Nov. 13-15)

1.) Gerald Mayhew, Ferris State sophomore forward.

Mayhew was a big part of Ferris State’s offensive outburst, tallying three goals and five points to lead the Bulldogs’ sweep of Alaska Anchorage.

2.) Tanner Kero, Michigan Tech senior forward

His four points (1+3) helped the Huskies remain unbeaten with a sweep of Bemidji State and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the national polls.

3.) Carmine Guerriero, Alabama-Huntsville sophomore goaltender

Turned away 56-of-59 shots on the weekend, including 33-of-34 on Friday, in the Chargers’ home split with Lake Superior State. His strong play has led Huntsville to two wins in its last four games.

Three Thoughts:

Breakthrough or one-off for Ferris State?

The struggling Ferris State offense broke through in a big way, pouring in 14 goals in two games against Alaska Anchorage. The Bulldogs had scored just 11 goals in their prior nine games this season.

Ferris State had to be encouraged not just by the number of goals, but how they were scored. The Bulldogs’ offensive success last season came thanks to a group of “no name” forwards who effectively spread the scoring around. They were hoping to repeat that this year, but it didn’t come to fruition until last weekend. Ferris’s 14 goals came from nine different players and, in total, 17 Bulldogs registered at least one point. Alaska Anchorage was by no means a complete pushover on defense coming in either, ranking in the middle of the WCHA in goals allowed per game at 2.30.

Ferris State’s luck was bound to turn. It came into last weekend shooting a ridiculously low 3.99 percent on 276 shots on goal. That number was bound to improve over the course of the season, and while the nearly 18 percent (14-for-79) the Bulldogs shot against UAA is completely unsustainable, it’s obviously a step in the right direction. Ferris State shot 10.73 percent in ranking second in the WCHA in scoring offense last season. If it can begin to come close to that number again, the Bulldogs can turn their season around.

The stellar play of its defense and senior goaltender C.J. Motte has helped Ferris State tread water this season. Combine that with an offense like the one we saw against the Seawolves and the Bulldogs have a chance yet to resurrect their title aspirations. They’ll just have to prove that their breakthrough wasn’t a unique occurrence.

Alabama-Huntsville improving

While it is a long way from contender status, this year has shown signs that Alabama-Huntsville is slowly turning the corner to respectability. Following its split with Lake Superior State, UAH is now 2-1-1 in its last four games and the 5-2 win over the Lakers on Saturday was the Chargers’ first home conference win as a member of the WCHA.

The signs of improvement are small, but there, for the Chargers. They have two wins in their first 12 games, equaling its 38 game total from a year ago. In those 12 games, Alabama-Huntsville has scored 22 goals (1.8 per game) and allowed 36 (3.00 per game). Not necessarily numbers worth bragging about, but ones that are heads and tails above where UAH was through 12 contest last year, when it scored only 11 times (0.92 per game) and conceded a whopping 57 times (4.75 per game).

One player who has shined is sophomore goaltender Carmine Guerriero. The Montreal, Quebec, native has kept the Chargers in a lot of games this season and ranks No. 4 in the WCHA in save percentage (.938) and sixth in goals against average (2.27). He was great against the Lakers, turning away 56-of-59 shots, including 33-of-34 in a hard-fought 1-0 loss on Friday. The team had been rotating Guerriero and sophomore Matt Larose between the pipes before giving Guerriero both starts against LSSU. He’s done nothing to show he shouldn’t be the guy for Huntsville moving forward.

Thanks to Alaska’s postseason ban, there is a WCHA playoff spot up for grabs for the Chargers this season and, if their current play keeps up, they appear capable of taking advantage.

Showdown with Minnesota State looming for Michigan Tech

Michigan Tech and Minnesota State are the No. 1 and No. 2 in the WCHA standings and No. 1 and No. 2 in the early Pairwise rankings. They meet this weekend in Houghton.

It will be the biggest test yet for the undefeated, No. 1-ranked Huskies, who are coming off a pretty stern test at the hands of Bemidji State. The Beavers gave Tech all it could handle, outshooting MTU, 71-45, on the weekend. But, as I noted earlier, good teams find a way to win even when they don’t have their best stuff. The Huskies did that in Bemidji. Michigan Tech proved to be resilient, overcoming 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in Saturday’s 4-2 win.

The Huskies will face a well-rested Minnesota State team coming off a bye week. Last time out, the Mavericks also swept Bemidji State, scoring 11 goals, while allowing six, in the process.

The two teams have proven to be the class of the WCHA this season. This will be the conference’s marquee match-up this weekend, and one it hopes will catch the attention of people nationally.

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014 - 8:30 am | Blogs, Commentary, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings, Regular Season, WCHA