ADRIAN, Mich. -- In one of the more anticipated matchups on the national schedule on Friday night, Adrian and St. Scholastica battled it out to a 1-1 tie at Arrington Ice Arena in the first meeting between the schools. No. 1 Adrian trailed for most of the contest and used a third-period goal to keep their unbeaten streak alive this season (13-0-3, 7-0-2 NCHA). No. 15 St. Scholastica (9-3-4, 6-0-3 NCHA) came into the game and used timely goaltending and defense to earn the respect of the home crowd.
The Saints played very well in the first period as Adrian could not generate very many scoring chances. Brandon Nowakowski benefitted from a turnover on defense by the Bulldogs as he stayed in the zone behind the defense and got a pass from Alex Valenti. Nowakowski's ninth goal of the season was a one-on-one against Adrian netminder Scott Shackell and he put the backhand shot into the upper right corner for a 1-0 lead at the 10:55 mark.
CSS outshot the Bulldogs, 14-9, in the first period but Adrian seemed to pick up their energy and intensity in the second period. Although the Bulldogs could not score in the second, they had far better scoring chances and a 11-9 edge in shots during the middle stanza.
Adrian got its first power play chance just eight seconds into the third period as the Bulldogs won the faceoff and Josh Cousineau was tripped heading to the net in front of the Saints' defense. Derek Hills went to the box but the Bulldogs could not convert with just one shot on goal during the two minutes. The Bulldogs killed off two minor penalties in the second period in a very evenly played game on both sides.
Tyler Bruggeman and Shackell were trading big saves all night and finally Adrian got one past Bruggeman at 6:01 of the third as Kevin Balas scored his fourth of the season from Jeremy Olinyk and Austin Hervey. Olinyk raced up the far boards and put a pass right on the tape of a cutting Balas to the front of the net. Balas used a quick one-timer to beat Bruggeman above the glove.
No. 2 Wisconsin Stevens Point 3, No. 13 Wisconsin-River Falls 0
RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- One goal in each period was more than enough for No. 2 Wisconsin-Stevens Point, as the Pointers blanked No. 13 Wisconsin-River Falls 3-0 on Friday night at Hunt Arena.
The Pointers (13-1-1, 2-1-0 WIAC) got goals from Lawrence Cornellier, Nick D'Avolio and Kyle Sharkey in the game but the story of the game was the fourth-ranked UWSP penalty kill, which held the Falcons (9-4-2, 2-1-0 WIAC) to 0-for-8 on the power play. UWSP was 2-for-6 with the man advantage in the game, which saw 18 penalties called.
The Pointers remain unbeaten (3-0-1) against ranked teams this season.
UW-Stevens Point outshot UW-River Falls 27-23 in the game. Brandon Jaeger made 23 saves to record his third shutout of the season.
No. 3 Plattsburgh State 4, Middlebury 2
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- Two goals in the third period helped Plattsburgh State emerge with a 4-2 win against Middlebury in a hard-fought non-conference matchup Friday night at Kenyon Arena.
Plattsburgh State made it a two-goal game 2:35 into the third when Connor Gorman finished in front for his fifth of the year after a lengthy rush by Rich Botting on the power play. Less than a minute later Middlebury saw Connor Frick's shot stopped, but Louis Belisle brought the Panthers within one, blasting a shot in off the pads of Cadieux from the left side.
The teams each had a failed power play before Nick BonDurant kept the Panthers in the game with some big saves down the stretch in the third. He made a pair on Gorman with 3:00 left and then again on Alex Brenton less than a minute later.
Plattsburgh sealed the game with just a minute left when Alex Jensen took advantage of a turnover and scored on a breakaway with a nice backhanded move before finding an open five-hole to put his team up 4-2. The goal was the eighth of the season for Jensen.
Middlebury finished with a slim 30-29 shots advantage in the game. Mathieu Cadieux made 28 stops in the win for Plattsburgh State to improve to 13-1-2. Bondurant finished with 25 saves for the Panthers.
No. 4 St. Norbert 3, Concordia (Wis.) 2
MEQUON, Wis. -- St. Norbert found just enough offense to eke past Concordia (Wis.) by a 3-2 score in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at Ozaukee Ice Center.
St. Norbert's Noah Nelson put the Green Knights ahead with his first collegiate goal, scoring at the 14:47 mark of the first period with assists going to Cullen Bradshawk and Blake Thompson.
Mason Baptista pushed the lead to 2-0 when he scored off an assist from Thompson at 3:51 of the second period. The Falcons (8-5-3, 5-3-2) cut the deficit to 2-1 when Devin Stuermer scored at 10:45 for his tenth goal of the season.
Baptista would score again, his fifth goal of the season, off an assist from Erik Cooper at 19:22. Concordia answered promptly with a goal 15 seconds later by Buster Hebda.
Neither team would score in the third period. Concordia had 23 seconds of extra-attacker time in the final minute but couldn't net the equalizer.
St. Norbert's David Jacobson made 26 saves to improve to 10-0-1 on the season.
No. 5 Norwich 6, Saint Michael's 2
NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- Friday night turned out to be a night of milestones at Kreitzberg Arena.
Norwich broke a two-game losing streak with a 6-2 win against St. Michael's to give its legendary head coach Mike McShane his 400th career victory at the helm of the Maroon & Gold program.
Playing in his 100th career game, senior forward Chris Duszynski scored twice, including the game-winning goal to help power the Cadets' offense in the victory. Fellow senior Travis Janke had a goal and an assist, while sophomore defenseman Ryan Whitell chipped in with two assists as well.
McShane is now 400-106-29 (.749 winning percentage) in his 19 seasons at Norwich. He has compiled a career record of 644-324-66 in 33 seasons between NU, St. Lawrence and Providence.
No. 7 Babson New England College
HENNIKER, N.H. -- Junior Joe DiPietro scored the eventual game-winning goal 2:46 into the second period and sophomore goalie Jamie Murray made a career-high 35 saves lifting nationally-ranked Babson to 3-2 victory against New England College in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) action on Friday night.
With the win, Babson is now 13-3-0 overall and 7-2-0 in ECAC East play. New England College, which is receiving votes in both polls, drops to 10-5-1 overall and 6-3-0 in the league.
Junior Andrew Bonazza and sophomore Max Franklin both scored for the Beavers. Seniors Nik Tasiopoulos and Matt O'Neill, sophomore Mike Vollmin, and first-years Michael Phillips and Tim Searles each notched an assist in the win.
Sophomore Kyle Manlow scored a pair of goals for the Pilgrims while classmate Cheyne Matheson recorded two assists.
No. 10 Oswego State 3, Nazareth 0
OSWEGO, N.Y. -- Oswego State took down visiting Nazareth 3-0 on Friday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena. Oswego is now 11-2-2 on the year while the Golden Flyers fall to 2-12-1.
The win also advance the teams streak of consecutive victories to five.
The Lakers put a notch on the board in all three periods for the victory. Senior captain David Titanic tallied the first goal for Oswego, scoring just 4:48 into the contest. Titanic's assistant captain Kyle Badham and teammate Chris Carr picked up assists on the goal.
In the second period, it was Matt Galati, the team's leader in goals, who put the team ahead 2-0. Galati's goal came on the heels of passes from Alex Botten and Mike Montagna.
Montagna would not stop at assisting, however, helping himself to the team's third goal in the final period. The junior's goal came without any assistance.
Matt Zawadzki stopped 26 shots on the night on his way to earning his third shutout of the season. The freshman is now 7-0-2 on the year.
