A huge intrastate battle between two top-ranked rivals took place this weekend, with the University of Minnesota (15-5-0, No. 1 Pairwise) and St. Cloud State (14-4-0, No. 3 Pairwise) playing in a home-and-home series.

Starting a day later than normal due to the World Junior Championship, game one kicked off Saturday night at the Herb Brooks Center.

A scoreless first period saw Gopher goaltender Justen Close save all 13 shots faced, with the Huskies' Jaxon Castor saving all 10 shots faced. Midway through the second period, St. Cloud State's Aidan Spellacy broke the stalemate off a feed from Minnetonka native Joe Molenaar, putting the home team up 1-0.

That 1-0 score held through the rest of the period and into the third, with the Huskies adding two late empty-net goals from Kyler Kupka and Grant Cruikshank to seal a 3-0 victory. The Huskies played an effective defensive game, and Jaxon Castor was strong in net, brushing aside all 23 shots to earn his first career shutout. This marked the first time this season that the Gophers were held without a goal. 

Game two Sunday afternoon was another hard-fought battle between the two teams, this time playing in front of a sellout crowd at Mariucci Arena.

The Huskies typically rotate two starting goaltenders, but after his stellar performance in game one, Jaxon Castor was given the nod to start again in goal. Like the night before, Sunday's game was another low-scoring affair that saw zero goals scored by either team in the first two periods, with the Gophers leading 14-11 in shots after two.

Early in the third period and on the power play, the Gophers netted their first goal of the series, with Matthew Knies tallying his twelfth goal of the season off a tipped pass from Logan Cooley. Five minutes later, the Huskies responded, with Park Rapids native Chase Brand scoring on a 3-on-1 rush as their penalty expired.

The game ended tied at 1-1 and headed to a 3-on-3 overtime. There were opportunities by both teams in OT, but the Gophers took home the victory, with Brock Faber forcing a turnover that led to Logan Cooley corralling the puck in the neutral zone and then beating the goaltender in close to score the game-winning goal with 18 seconds remaining.

Justen Close earned the win in net for the Gophers, saving 21 of 22 shots faced, with the overtime victory marking Coach Bob Motzko's 100th win for the University of Minnesota. 

After 21 days with zero games, Minnesota State (10-9-1, No. 18 Pairwise) traveled to Marquette, MI, to take on Northern Michigan University (11-9-0, No. 42 Pairwise), a team they split with back in November.

With five minutes to go in the opening frame, the Wildcats went up 1-0 before the Mavericks responded soon after on the power play, with David Silye scoring his team-leading fourteenth goal of the season. The Mavericks No. 2 scorer Ryan Sandelin made it 2-1 six minutes into the second, scoring his ninth goal this season. The Wildcats knotted it up at 2-2 with only seconds remaining in the period, with David Keefer scoring off an excellent tic-tac-toe play. The Mavericks retook the lead 1:17 into the third period and never looked back, doubling their lead off a goal from Lake Elmo native Adam Eisele before adding an empty net goal late, claiming a 5-2 victory in game one of the series. 

Game two started similarly to the night before, with the Wildcats jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first before the Mavericks countered, heading into the second period tied at 1-1. On a two-man advantage early in the second, Northfield native Andy Carroll scored to put the Mavericks ahead 2-1. Brendan Furry then doubled Mankato's lead as the power play expired, tallying his second goal of the night and fifth of the season. With 7:51 remaining in the period, Kristof Papp scored to bring the score to 3-2. However, the Mavericks regained their two-goal lead only forty seconds later.

The Wildcats stuck with it and tallied their second power-play goal of the game, bringing the score to 4-3 entering the final period. Mankato goalie Keenan Rancier went on to save all nine shots faced in the third period, helping his team earn a 5-3 victory and a series sweep on the road.

The Mavericks will remain on the road this coming weekend as they will head south to Tempe, AZ, squaring off against Arizona State University. 

Bemidji State University (9-5-4, No. 23 Pairwise) and Minnesota Duluth (8-10-0, No. 30 Pairwise) faced off this weekend in a home-and-home series, with both teams previously playing one exhibition game over the holiday break.

Game one in Bemidji on Friday night was a defensive battle, with the game scoreless at the end of the second period, with the Bulldogs leading 17-13 in shots through two. The Beavers broke the deadlock 3:40 into the third, with Kaden Pickering tipping home an Elias Rosen shot, scoring his second goal of the season. With two minutes remaining and the goaltender pulled, the Bulldogs tied the game off a Wyatt Kaiser wrist shot, his third goal and seventh point this season.

The game then headed to a five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime that ended scoreless, finishing in a tie. Mattias Sholl saved 33 of 34 shots in net for the Beavers, with Grand Rapids grad Zach Stejskal saving 21 of 22 shots for the Bulldogs.

Game two at Amsoil Arena was more eventful than the previous night, with seven goals scored between the two teams. The Beavers jumped out to a quick lead in the first, with Jere Vaisanen scoring on the team's first shot of the game only 1:15 into the contest. With nine minutes remaining in the period, Darian Gotz tied the game at 1-1 before the Bulldogs took the lead only 45 seconds later when Kyle Bettens tallied his second goal of the season.

Still sitting at 2-1 in the second, the Bulldogs took full advantage of their first power play of the weekend, with Hermantown native Jesse Jacques scoring from all alone out front. The Bulldogs made it 4-1 with two minutes left in the period, scoring again on the power play to go 2-for-2 with a man advantage on the night.

The Beavers scored with only 15 seconds remaining in the second to make it 4-2, but that would be their last goal scored, with Zach Stejskal turning aside all shots faced in the third and the Bulldogs scoring an empty net goal to win 5-2. 

Did Not Play:

• University of St. Thomas (5-14-1, No. 47 Pairwise) – after their weekend off, the Tommies will be on the road at Michigan Tech this weekend, a team who swept them at home earlier this season, facing off on Friday, 1/13, and Saturday, 1/14.