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NCAAM: Minnesota Roundup (Jan. 17-18)

By Kyle McLaughlin , 01/21/25, 10:30AM CST

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Catch up on how Minnesota's Division I men's hockey programs fared over the weekend.

Bemidji State (8-12-4) vs. Northern Michigan (4-19-1)

Facing the last-place team in the conference at home, game one started scoreless, with the Beavers allowing only one shot on net in the first period. Northern Michigan's Jakub Altrichter opened the scoring 7:38 into the second and added another goal for good measure shortly after, leading to Bemidji State trailing 2-0 heading into the third.

The Beavers scored a power-play goal early into period three to make it 2-1, but the team ultimately fell 4-1. Making only seven saves on 10 shots, goaltender Mattias Sholl would look to quickly forget this one in preparation for his start in game two.

Keeping things consistent with the night prior, Saturday's rematch opened with a goalless first period, and Northern Michigan opened the scoring in period two. Leading 1-0 just over halfway through the second, the Wildcats added two additional goals only a minute apart to lead 3-0 at the second intermission.

With 11:36 remaining in the third, Bemidji State finally found the back of the net via a goal from Reilly Funk, but that 3-1 scoreline would be the final in the first time the Beavers were swept at home this season. 

Winning only two of their previous 10 games, Bemidji State will hope to get their season back on track this weekend when the Beavers are away at St. Thomas. It is a rare Saturday-Sunday series, with puck drop at 6:07 PM on 1/25 and 3:07 PM on 1/26. 


Matthias Sholl, Bemidji State

No. 3 Minnesota (19-5-2) vs. Notre Dame (8-15-1)

Game one of the series opened with likely the most dominant period the Gophers have played this season. Minnesota fell behind 1-0 early but scored five unanswered goals before the end of period one, outshooting the Fighting Irish 24-5 in the process. Jimmy Snuggerud scored the first goal before Cal Thomas made it 2-1 in his first game back in the lineup since early December.

The next three came from John Mittelstadt, Jimmy Snuggerud once more, and Mason Nevers, with Beckett Hendrickson assisting on two of the three goals. Notre Dame battled back and scored 6:35 into the second period, but goaltender Nathan Airey prevented any further scoring to end in a 5-2 Gophers win, outshooting Notre Dame by a whopping 46-15 margin.

The Gophers fell behind 1-0 for the second night in a row early in the first, but Jimmy Snuggerud responded with his third goal of the weekend to make it 1-1 at the break. The Fighting Irish retook the lead early in the second before Luke Mittelstadt scored his first goal of the season to retie it, with that goal extending his points streak to four games.

Trailing once more to start the third, a beautiful feed from Oliver Moore to Matthew Wood resulted in the Gophers tying the game for the third time, eventually heading to overtime. Minnesota lost the opening draw in overtime and never gained puck possession, with graduate student and former Mr. Hockey winner Blake Biondi beating Liam Souliere to score the overtime winner. At the close of the weekend, Jimmy Snuggerud is tied in second place for most points in the nation with his 15G-18A—33 stat line. 

Coming up for the Gophers is a huge battle against the No. 2 ranked Michigan State Spartans (19-3-2), with game one starting at 6:00 PM on Friday and game two at 5:00 PM on Saturday.


John Mittelstadt, Minnesota

Minnesota Duluth (9-12-1) at No. 18 Colorado College (11-10-1)

Entering the weekend on a high post, their strongest series of the season, game one against Colorado College was a step back for the Bulldogs. Trailing 2-0 to start the second, the Tigers added three additional goals within 5:46 of the start of period two to extend their lead to 5-0.

The fourth Colorado College goal came off the stick of Chaska's Max Burkholder, ending Klayton Knapp's night in net for UMD. With 3:16 remaining in the second, Ty Hanson scored shorthanded to finally get the Bulldogs on the board, but Colorado College countered only 14 seconds later and went on to win 7-2. 

A trio of Class-A High School hockey all-stars opened the scoring for the Bulldogs in game two, with Zam Plante making a cross-ice pass to Jayson Shaugabay, who fed Max Plante in the slot for a goal. All square at 1-1 midway through the second, Blake Bechen scored a go-ahead goal for UMD, and Jayson Shaugabay extended the lead to 3-1 later in the period. Following his tough night in net the night prior, Klayton Knapp had a perfect third period en route to the team's 4-1 victory, with Knapp making 27 saves in the win. 

Another tough test for the Bulldogs looms as the team will return home to battle No. 5 Denver (17-5-0), with puck drop at 7:07 PM on Friday and 6:07 PM on Saturday. 


Max Burkholder, Colorado College

No. 12 Minnesota State (16-6-2) vs. Michigan Tech (13-9-2)

After sweeping Michigan Tech on the road back in November, Minnesota State opened this weekend's series with a dominant first period, leading 3-0 and outshooting the Huskies 14-4 after the first. Michigan Tech clawed one back 5:56 into the second, but a Jakob Stender goal regained Minnesota State's three-goal advantage heading into the third. Minnesota State's lead was cut to 4-2 with 4:24 left in regulation, but Kaden Bohlsen responded with a goal of his own only 40 seconds later, leading to a 5-2 Mavericks victory. 

A seven-goal game one was followed by a goaltender battle in game two, with the game scoreless through the first two periods and the shots even at 20-18 Minnesota State. The Mavericks went on to outshoot the Huskies 11-3 in the final frame, but Michigan Tech goaltender Ryan Manzella remained perfect, and the game headed to overtime. A late five-minute major against Minnesota State in regulation carried into overtime, where Isaac Gordon cleaned up a puck in front to win it for the Huskies.

With the series split, the Mavericks hold their first-place position in the conference rankings and will next face the Ferris State Bulldogs (7-15-2), with puck drop at 6:07 PM on 1/24 and 5:07 PM on 1/25. 


Jakob Stender, Minnesota State

No. 15 St. Cloud State (11-11-0) vs. No. 13 Arizona State (13-8-1)

Featuring two very closely ranked teams, Cullen Potter kicked off the scoring in the first period of game one, but a power play tally from St. Cloud State's Adam Ingram made it all square heading into the middle frame. Andover native Gavyn Thoreson brought it to 2-1 early in the second before Mason Salquist put St. Cloud State ahead 3-1 minutes later, but it all went downhill from that point forward. In a span of 3:32 in the back half of the period, Arizona State scored three unanswered to take a 4-3 lead into the third period.

A Sun Devils power play goal 4:57 into the third made it 5-3, and a late empty netter ended in a 6-3 final, with Arizona State scoring five unanswered goals en route to the victory. 

In the rematch, St. Cloud State outshot Arizona State 12-4 in the first period but trailed 1-0 after one. The Huskies Tyson Gross scored his seventh of the season to tie it in the second, but he was called for a five-minute major penalty early in the third, which resulted in three Arizona State goals in quick succession, bringing the score to 4-1.

Down 4-2 with 3:03 left in regulation and their goaltender pulled, Daimon Gardner scored short side to get the Huskies within one, but the Sun Devils clinched a 5-3 win with an empty net goal. 

After getting swept two consecutive weekends, the Huskies will look to right the ship on the road against Omaha (12-10-0), a team St. Cloud State split with back in early December. Both games this weekend will kick off at 7:00 PM. 


Gavyn Thoreson, St. Cloud State

St. Thomas (9-10-5) at Lake Superior State (9-13-2)

After getting swept at home by the Lakers in their first matchup this season, St. Thomas opened the weekend with a big overtime win. Leading 2-0 after the first period thanks to a power play goal from Caige Sterzer and a shorthanded goal from Liam Malmquist, the Lakers stormed back with two goals of their own in the middle frame to make it 2-2 heading into the third.

Lake Superior State capitalized on a goaltender error to bring it to 3-2 early in the third, but Jake Braccini came in clutch for the second game in a row and tied it 3-3 with 1:44 left on the clock. St. Michael's Luc Laylin strung together a couple of nifty moves to score the overtime winner, bringing the Tommies' win streak to five. 

It took St. Thomas only 34 short seconds to open the scoring in game two, with Cooper Gay lighting the lamp early before Liam Malmquist found himself all alone in front to double the Tommies' lead later in the first. Leading 2-1 midway through the second, a five-minute major led to Cooper Gay notching his second of the game to make it 3-1, but the Lakers scored shorthanded shortly thereafter.

With 7:26 remaining in the game, Benilde-St. Margaret's alum Nate Schweitzer scored his second goal of the season for the Lakers to make it all square, and the game eventually headed to overtime. Neither team claimed the overtime winner, and the game ended in a tie, with St. Thomas going on to win the shootout. Senior Liam Malmquist stayed hot by factoring in on all three St. Thomas goals, and he has now recorded 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in the previous six games. 

The Tommies will return home to play Bemidji State this Saturday and Sunday, with the last 10 games between these two opponents heavily favoring the Beavers, who have gone 7-1-2. 


Cooper Gay, St. Thomas

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