College Hockey Update:  Last weekend featured a matchup of two top ten teams that knocked one out of the top ten, and another matchup of a top ten team with a team that jumped into the top ten on the results of that matchup; first, Minnesota-Duluth held onto the #1 ranking after they swept St. Cloud State on St. Cloud’s home ice, knocking St. Cloud down five spots to #13.  Elsewhere, North Dakota dropped three pegs to #6 after they were tied and beaten by Minnesota; Minnesota jumped up five slots to #8 on the weekend.

Boston College moved up two rungs to #3 after sweeping Maine, and Boston University held at #4 after managing a tie and a win against Northeastern.  UMass-Lowell moved up two notches to #5 after sweeping Vermont, Quinnipiac edged down to #7 after they beat Clarkson and lost to St. Lawrence, and Harvard moved up a couple of spots and entered the top ten at #10.  An idle Denver held at #2, and an idle Notre Dame held at #9.

In last friday night’s matchup of Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State, St. Cloud scored first, and after a UMD goal, scored to more to take a 3-1 lead, and nearly took that two goal lead to the locker room, but UMD scored with only twenty-five seconds left in the first.  The second went scoreless and UMD entered the third with their two goal lead but UMD stormed to three more goals in the third to take a 5-3 win.  And what happened last Saturday night?  Would you believe that we had our contributing field reporter John McLean at the game?

John McLean writes:

In a repeat of Friday night, #1 UMD came from behind, scoring three third period goals to to beat host St. Cloud State 5-3 Saturday night at the Herb Brooks National Ice Center in St. Cloud.  An interesting factor between these two teams is that both are playing with freshman goalies (both of last year’s starters signed entry-level contracts).  Regardless of where a goalie previously played, being the starter as a first year player in the NCHC is very challenging.

St. Cloud started out fast with Robby Jackson, of Alameda, CA, scoring 53 seconds into the game, from the top of the left circle, catching Hunter Miska a bit off guard.  UMD answered shortly thereafter with 18 year old Joey Anerson scoring a bar down goal off a very nice two-on-one.  The Huskies were well positioned with a 3-1 lead with 90 seconds to go in the second, when UMD captain Dominic Tonianto found himself in front of freshman goalie Zach Driscoll, and was able to deflect a goal in, and cut St. Cloud’s lead in half.  That was the turning point of the game.  (note:  Dominic’s father is a former legendary Bulldog from the glorious Brett Hull days, by way of Bemidji, MN.)

After tying the game 7:33 into the third, local product Neal Boink made a Bobby Orrish end-to-end-rush, beating all five Huskies on the ice, and then Zach Driscoll, Ieaving the puck in the crease for Carson Soucy to tap in. To put St Cloud’s youth in perspective, the Huskies had six freshman on the ice when the winning goal was scored.  It was a very competitive and fast paced game between two of the current top programs in the country.  There were seven NHL scouts at the Green Mill in St Cloud in anticipation of seeing Joey Anderson and the three freshman Poehling brothers (SCSU’s third line, cousins of Ryan Suter and nephews of former UMD captain Stan Palmer).

Thanks John!

So far this season Denver freshman forward Henrik Borgstrom, of Helsinki, Finland, leads the team in goals scored, with four, and is tied for first on the team in assists, with five.  The 6′ 3″ 176lb Borgstrom leads Denver this weekend as they travel to play a pair at #6 North Dakota.  Denver is 6-2-0 and is ranked #2.

In addition to #2 Denver and #6 North Dakota, the weekend will feature another top-ten matchup Saturday night when #7 Quinnipiac hosts #10 Harvard for one game.

This provides the top ten teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=134 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom