On the road for a series against Michigan Tech University (14-6-3, No. 12 Pairwise), St. Thomas University (5-14-1, No. 46 Pairwise) hoped to improve on their previous meeting against the Huskies this season when they were swept at home.

Game one was an even affair through two periods, with neither team scoring and the Huskies slightly leading in the shots category, 22-21. Michigan Tech's Parker Saretsky broke the stalemate with 11:11 remaining in the third period, scoring his fifth goal of the season. The Huskies added an empty-net goal, and goaltender Blake Pietila saved all six Tommie shots in the period for a game total of 27 saves. Pietila earned his fifth shutout of the season in the team's 2-0 win. 

The same two goaltenders earned the start in game two, but the Tommies were able to find a way to beat Blake Pietila to prevent consecutive shutouts. Freshman Levi Stauber, an alumnus of Duluth Marshall, put the Huskies ahead 1-0 only 2:41 into the game. Later in the first, the Tommies responded, with Jake Braccini scoring his fifth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1. In the second period, the Huskies reclaimed the lead on a goal from Evan Orr. The Tommies responded less than two minutes later, with Josh Eernisse tallying his team-leading 11th goal of the season.

The score remained tied 2-2 until late in the game when the Tommies' Luc Laylin scored the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner in the team's 3-2 comeback win. With the win, the Tommies earned their first victory against a top-20 team this season. 

Bemidji State (9-6-5, No. 28 Pairwise) headed to Ohio to battle Bowling Green (12-12-0, No. 26 Pairwise), a fellow CCHA team currently sits very close in the Pairwise Rankings to the Beavers.

Adam Flammang started off the scoring 7:17 into the game, with that 1-0 Bemidji lead holding into the first intermission. The Falcons tied the game at 1-1 early in the second, with Quinn Emerson scoring a controversial shorthanded goal off a potential high-sticking that stood due to inconclusive evidence.

That 1-1 score held until the 8:28 mark of the third period when the Falcons tallied their second shorthanded goal to take their first lead of the game. The Beavers answered only a minute later on a Kyle Looft power play goal, but the home team scored the go-ahead goal with 4:28 remaining, leading to an eventual 4-2 win after adding an empty net goal.

The Beavers' Mattias Sholl was strong in net, saving 33 of 36 shots faced in his sixteenth start this season. 

Game two Saturday night looked to be a low-scoring affair after a scoreless first period, but it turned out to be anything but.

The Falcons struck first only 3:15 into the second when Chase Gresock scored his seventh goal and 21st point of the season. Bowling Green then went ahead 2-0 later in the period off a fortunate bounce off a Bemidji player in front, before the Beavers responded with their own power-play goal to close the period down 2-1.

At 15:05 of the third period, Savage native Jackson Jutting scored unassisted to tie the game at 2-2. However, that would be the last goal scored by the Beavers in this one, with the Falcons' Max Coyle scoring only ninety seconds later to retake the lead and the team adding two late empty-net goals to secure the 5-2 win and series sweep.

After a 0-4-1 record in their last five games, Bemidji State will look to bounce back next weekend when they play Northern Michigan at home.

Minnesota Duluth (7-12-1, No. 36 Pairwise) traveled to Omaha for a two-game tilt against Nebraska Omaha (9-9-2, No. 21 Pairwise), an NCHC foe they split with at home back in November.

The first period of game one saw the Bulldogs take three penalties, with the Mavericks going 1-for-3 on the power play to lead 1-0 after the first period. In the second period, the Bulldogs had three power plays of their own but were unable to capitalize on any of them, with Nebraska Omaha extending their lead to 2-0 off a shorthanded goal from Matt Miller.

The Bulldogs battled back in the third, getting goals from Owen Gallatin and Dominic James to tie the game at 2-2 with 10:47 remaining. With just under seven minutes left in regulation, the Mavericks' Jake Pivonka scored the go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner, winning 3-2. In the loss, Bulldogs goalie Zach Stejskal saved 27 of 30 shots faced. 

Saturday night's rematch did not start as planned for the Bulldogs, as they found themselves down 2-0 only 5:24 into the game. With 8:24 remaining in the period, the Bulldogs clawed one back off a magnificent solo effort from Isaac Howard, scoring his second goal of the season in what has been a somewhat slow start to the freshman's collegiate career. The 2-1 score remained through to the second intermission, with the Bulldogs leading 12-9 in shots in a scoreless second period.

With only 2:32 remaining in regulation and the score still sitting at 2-1, the Mavericks' Jacob Slipic found himself on a breakaway where he buried it to put the team ahead 3-1. Only ten seconds later, the Mavericks added an empty net goal to seal the victory. The Mavericks then added insult to injury with additional late goals from Jacob Slipic and Ray Fust, both their second goals of the night, to win 6-1 and earn the sweep at home.

The Bulldogs will look to improve their conference record next weekend when they head to Grand Forks to take on the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. 

St. Cloud State (15-5-0, No. 5 Pairwise) squared off against Colorado College (9-10-1, No. 29 Pairwise) at home, a team that they swept on the road back in November with a cumulative 8-1 score over the two games.

In an opening period that saw Kaidan Mbereko make 20 saves for the Tigers, the Huskies eventually found the back of the net with 2:26 remaining off a tip from Grant Cruikshank. Back-to-back Huskie penalties in the second led to a 5-on-3 advantage that allowed the Tigers to capitalize, scoring first from Tyler Coffey before Hunter McKown scored a minute later to make it 2-1.

That 2-1 score held until early in the third when Tyler Coffey added his second goal of the night to go up 3-1. The Tigers added an empty net insurance goal to make it 4-1 before the Huskies closed out the game with a late goal from Joe Molenaar, leading to a 4-2 loss. 

Game two on Saturday saw a similar start to the night prior, with the Huskies scoring first and leading 1-0 into the first intermission. Alberta native Zach Okabe netted the opener, scoring his 13th goal and 23rd point of the season.

The second period was a quiet one that went scoreless, with both teams putting five shots on net. A nice give-and-go play between Grant Cruikshank and Kyler Kupka led to a 2-0 lead halfway through the third period. Just 2:25 later the Huskies made it 3-0 when Grant Cruikshank added a goal of his own, scoring his team-leading 15th goal of the season. With just under four minutes remaining the Tigers pulled their goaltender, which led to an empty net goal and an eventual 4-0 final score.

Junior goaltender Dominic Basse saved all 27 shots faced en route to his third shutout in only 10 starts in net this season.

The University of Minnesota (16-6-0, No. 1 Pairwise) traveled to South Bend, IN, for a two-game series against Notre Dame (10-10-2, No. 18 Pairwise), with the Gophers looking to duplicate their previous meeting this season when they swept the Fighting Irish at home.

A backdoor feed to sophomore forward Justin Janicke started off the scoring, with the Fighting Irish going ahead 1-0 with 4:42 remaining in the first. Precisely one minute later the Gophers responded when Mason Nevers buried a high-looping puck that dropped right in front of the crease. At almost the halfway point of the second period, it was time for Justin's older brother, Trevor Janicke, to light the lamp and put the Fighting Irish back ahead by one goal.

That 2-1 score was close to being final when with the goaltender pulled and only 24 seconds remaining in regulation, a Jackson LaCombe one-timer found the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2. The Gophers controlled play in the 3-on-3 overtime and saw a Jimmy Snuggerud shot ring off the crossbar. Still, neither team scored, with Notre Dame winning the shootout to claim the extra point in the Big 10 standings.  

In the rematch on Saturday, the game went more according to plan for the No. 1 ranked Gophers. In a first period that saw five-minute major penalties for both teams where neither team capitalized, the Gophers broke the deadlock off a Ryan Johnson goal late in the period to lead 1-0 after one.

Starting the second on a 5-on-3 power play, the Gophers' Logan Cooley utilized great patience to score and extend the lead to 2-0. Three minutes later, the Gophers found themselves shorthanded. Matthew Knies took the puck end to end, beating two defenders and the goaltender on a terrific solo effort.

From that point forward, the Fighting Irish had many great chances, but Justen Close turned them all aside, earning a 38-save shutout en route to the team's 3-0 victory. That marks Close's fourth shutout this season and improves his record in net to 14-6-1. 

Minnesota State (12-9-1, No. 14 Pairwise) played Arizona State University (11-12-0, No. 34 Pairwise) this weekend in Tempe, AZ, their first games against non-conference opponents in over two months.

The Mavericks had three power plays in the first period but could not convert on any of them, with the Sun Devils' Christopher Grando scoring with only seconds remaining in the period to put his team ahead 1-0. Less than a minute into the second the Mavericks tied the game at 1-1 off a goal from Josh Groll.

The game remained tied until late in the third period when Brendan Furry scored the go-ahead goal, his sixth goal of the season, to put the Mavericks up 2-1. A late empty-net goal cemented the win by a score of 3-1. The Mavericks outshot the Sun Devils 37-31, with goaltender Keenan Rancier earning the win in net. 

In the second game, the Mavericks scored early and did not look back, with Cade Borchardt finding the back of the net only 1:10 into the game. Keenan Rancier was again in net for the Mavericks, and he turned aside all 16 shots faced in the first, helping his team hold their 1-0 lead into the second. Only 25 seconds into the middle frame, the Mavericks made it 2-0 before Ryan Sandelin scored five minutes later to bring the score to 3-0.

With 38 seconds remaining in the second, sophomore Zach Krajnik scored his first goal of the season to make it 4-0 and officially put the game out of reach. Mankato's Akito Hirose added a fifth goal midway through the third period to close out the team's 5-0 victory, with Keenan Rancier saving 26 shots in his first career collegiate shutout.

After winning four straight games, the Mavericks will look to continue this strong run of form next weekend against Lake Superior State.