Last weekend #1 Ferris State did what a top ranked team is supposed to do against a lesser opponent — they easily swept Bowling Green, and it wasn’t a contest at any point in the weekend.  Boston College swept Merrimack, routing them on the BC campus Friday night; BC scored the first four goals and it wasn’t until late in the second that Merrimack got on the board to end the second 4-1.  BC held them out until the closing minute of the third, when Merrimack scored again, as BC took it 4-2.  Saturday night at Merrimack was a contest, as BC scored in the first on a power play, but Merrimack made it tough for BC from that point on, and scored a goal in the second to tie it at 1-1.  Merrimack held tough in the third, but with about six minutes to go, BC got the winning goal to take it 2-1.  Is BC peaking at the right time, or what?  BC moved up a notch to #2 in the rankings, and Merrimack slipped three spots down to #12 on the weekend.  With the schedule they have left for the season, and the way they are playing, BC has a shot to end the regular season at #1.  Meanwhile, Michigan put on a stong show Friday night, scoring two in the first to go up 2-0 on Northern Michigan.  Northern Michigan came back with a strong second, keeping Michigan out of the net, and snagging one of their own to make it a 2-1 game after two.  But in the third, Michigan came on strong and scored two more goals while holding Northern Michigan scoreless, to take it 4-1.  Saturday night Northern Michigan put up a great fight, and the two teams ended the first scoreless.  Michigan scored first in the second and Northern Michigan came back about ten minutes later to tied it up with about two minutes to go.  Michigan came right back on a power play and took the lead 2-1 about a minute later.  In the third, Northern Michigan scored about a minute into the period to tie it at 2-2, and the two stalemated for the next nineteen minutes to end in regulation tied at 2-2.  In OT, Michigan scored  about a minute into the period to take it 3-2, sweeping Northern Michigan on the weekend.  Michigan moved up two spots to the #3 ranking, and Northern Michigan was knocked out of the top twenty.

The guys from Duluth got a weekend in Minnesota’s sunbelt as they travelled down to Mankato.  Friday night Mankato scored first about midway through the first, and played tough for the next twenty-three minutes, clinging on to their 1-0 lead.  But then the dam broke, as Minnesota-Duluth scored twice in the second, and again midway through the third to take a 3-1 lead.  Mankato put an extra attacker on the ice and made it interesting with half a minute to go, scoring to make it 3-2, and as they fought for the tie, UMD found the empty net with about fifteen seconds to go, making the final 4-2.  Saturday night seemed like a total replay of Friday’s game, as Mankato scored first in the first on a power play, and then UMD scored late in the first to tie it, and then again midway through the second to lead 2-1.  but Mankato had a five on three power play opportunity late in the second, and with about two minutes to go tied it at 2-2.  In the third, UMD came out strong and scored about six minutes into the period, and then again about a minute later, to make it 4-2, as it had ended the night before.  But Mankato was very effective on power plays that night, and with  about two minutes remaining, scored to make it 4-3; and like lightning, Mankato scored again, ten seconds later to tie it at 4-4, where it stood as time ran out.  In OT Mankato’s momentum continued as they held UMD to only two shots, compared to Mankato’s six, but they couldn’t convert, and the period, and game, ended in a 4-4 tie.  UMD held at #4 on the weekend.

Boston University had an oppotunity to show what they could do last weekend, as they played a road, then home game against UMass-Lowell.  Friday night on their home ice, Lowell scored first about six minutes into the first, but BU was on a mission and scored three times in the next twelve minutes to end the first up 3-1.  In the second, BU socred two more to go up 5-1 before Lowell snagged another with about a minute to go, to end the second with BU up 5-2.  In the third, the scorefest continued as the two teams traded goals, each scoring twice, to end it 7-4, BU.  Saturday night at BU, Lowell took charge, scoing first in the first.  BU came back in the second to tie it at 1-1, but Lowell took over in the second, scoring two more times to end the second up 3-1.  Lowell scored midway through the third to make it 4-1, and BU scored about four minutes later to make it 4-2, where it ended.  BU dropped three spots to the #5 ranking, and Lowell dropped one spot to the #7 ranking.  And BU has even more turmoil on its season as one of their key defensemen, Max Nicastro was arrested Sunday morning and arraigned Tuesday in a courtroom with is mother in attendance, on two counts of sexual assault; the charges are specifically for rape.  What in the world is wrong with these guys?  Is it really asking too much for these guys to keep their noses clean?

Meanwhile, Minnesota spanked Bemidji State 3-0 and 4-1, and climbed up a notch to the #6 ranking, as Union also dispatched Princeton and Quinnipiac, to hold on to the #8 ranking.  Denver split wth Wisconsin, each team winning handily, and Denver rose up a step to the #9 ranking on the weekend.  And Maine enters the top ten at #10 afer splitting with UMass-Amherst, both teams winning handily against the other.

Well, we’re nearly there, aren’t we?  With only two weekends remaining in regular season play, it’s soon going to be the conference tournaments, the NCAA regionals, and then the Frozen Four.  Have any ideas as to who is going to be in the Four this year?  This weekend there are no top ten matchups, but five of the top ten teams play ranked opponents.  #1 Ferris State will play a home/road series with #19 Western Michigan; #4 Minnesota-Duluth will host #16 Colorado College for two games; #7 UMass-Lowell will play a home/road series with #12 Merrimack; #8 Union College will play at #11 Cornell Friday night, and then at #20 Colgate Saturday night; and #9 Denver will host #14 North Dakota for two games.  Should be some fantastic games at this point of the season as teams are jockeying for conference playoff spots, and starting the final push for NCAA consideration.  Also this weekend, two teams who are probably wondering how they got there, #18 Notre Dame will host #19 Michigan State for two games, and we will be lucky enough to have contributing field reporter, Greg Schreader, in attendance, taking notes for all of us.  I think that Greg will be landing at about 5:30pm for the 7pm game.  With snow in the forecast for Northern Indiana, let’s hope he makes it.  Last time he cut a close arrival he ended up snowed in as the Metrodome collapsed under a foot and half of snowfall.  Maybe we need to hope he can get out of there.

This provides the top ten teams, records, rankings, and last weekend’s results.

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

 — Tom