College Hockey Update:. Welcome back!  The greatest sport is back in season!  Last weekend Denver edged up to #1 after visiting and sweeping Lake Superior State; Mankato State edged up to #2 after hosting and sweeping Arizona State; and Minnesota-Duluth dropped two spots to #3 after hosting and splitting with Massachusetts-Lowell (UMass-Lowell entered the top twenty at #18 on the results of their weekend).  Massachusetts held at #4 after hosting and beating Rensselaer Friday night (but UMass lost to Northeastern Tuesday night, after the poll came out for this week . . . . ); Boston College jumped up four pegs to #6 after hosting and beating Wisconsin Friday night, and then visiting and beating Colgate Saturday night (Wisconsin beat Merrimack Saturday night and edged down to #17 on the results of the weekend); and Notre Dame edged up to #7 after hosting and sweeping the United States Air Force Academy.

Quinnipiac edged up to #8 after sweeping American International College in a home-and-home series; Pennsylvania State jumped up four slots to #9 after hosting and sweeping Sacred Heart; and Clarkson edged up to #10 after securing a tie and a win at Michigan.  St. Cloud State dropped down four notches to #11 after settling on two ties against Bemidji State; Ohio State held at #12 after settling on a tie with Western Michigan, and then beating R.I.T. in the Ice Break Tournament in Toledo (Western Michigan held at #14 as they went on to beat Bowling Green Saturday night); and Providence dropped seven spots to #13 after losing to Holy Cross Friday night.  Northeastern held at #15 after sweeping their weekend at Union College; and North Dakota moved up two pegs to #16 after hosting and sweeping Canisius College.  Idle Cornell held at #5; idle Harvard held at #19; and an idle Boston University held at #20.

COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE FEATURED PLAYER

Last Friday night Denver had huge help from sophomore forward Emilio Pettersen, of Manglerud, Norway, who scored a goal and added an assist in his team’s 3-1 win Friday night, and tallied another assist in his team’s 4-3 win Saturday night, as Denver swept their weekend at Lake Superior State.

Friday night Lake Superior State started the scoring with a short-handed goal, midway through the first, and it remained a 1-0 game until late in the second, when Denver’s Ian Mitchell scored (assist by Emilio Pettersen) with two minutes left to tie it at one apiece.  Despite Denver out-shooting Lake Superior 9-6 in the first, and 10-5 in the second, Lake Superior hung tough in the game.  In the third Emilio Pettersen scored the game winner seven minutes into the period, giving Denver a 2-1 lead.  Lake Superior came to life and out-shot Denver 13-10, but Denver held them off, and with a minute left in the game Jaakko Heikkinen scored for Denver with a short-handed goal to make the final 3-1, Denver.  Saturday night Lake Superior again played a tough game against Denver, and finding themselves down 3-1 in the third, the Lakers scored two late period goals to tie it at three apiece.  But Denver scored with only twenty seconds left in the game for the 4-3 win, and and sweep of the weekend.

The 5’10” 180lb Pettersen is tied for fourth on his team in goals scored, with one, and is second in assists, with three.  As a freshman he tied for fifth on the team in goals scored, with six, and was first on the team in assist, with 24.  His hometown of Manglerud is a borough of Oslo, three miles to the southeast.  Pettersen was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL entry draft, with the 167th pick overall, by the Calgary Flames  The University of Denver has won the NCAA Championship eight times (tied with North Dakota for second-most, right behind Michigan’s nine), most recently three seasons back, in 2017, giving them three NCAA Titles in this century alone.  Coach David Carle, an Anchorage, Alsaka native, is in his second season, hot off an impressive 24-12-5 rooking campaign that saw the Pioneers reach Frozen Four in the NCAA Tournament.   The University of Denver, founded in 1864, enrolls 5,600 undergraduate students and 6,100 graduate students, and is located seven miles south of downtown Denver.

Coming up we’ll see four top twenty matchups with #1 Denver hosting #6 Boston College for two games Friday and Saturday; #2 Mankato hosting #16 North Dakota for two games Friday and Saturday; #3 Minnesota-Duluth hosting #17 Wisconsin for two games Friday and Saturday, and #10 Clarkson hosting #13 Providence for one game Saturday night.

This provides the top twenty teams, rankings, records, and last weekend’s results:

[table id=197 /]

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

— Tom