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Roman Augustoviz spends Minnesota's winters covering college hockey, specifically the Gophers, and other University of Minnesota sports. During the summer, he writes about the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, with a dose of U sports sprinkled in. Follow him on Twitter @RomanStrib.
Posts about College hockey
WCHA teams play in 15 games over next five days
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 27, 2012 - 3:00 PM
WCHA teams had Christmas off, but now the Gophers, Bemidji State, Denver, Michigan Tech, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State Mankato, Nebraska Omaha and St. Cloud State are busy. All eight play over the next five days. The Huskies open the nonconference stretch with a game against RPI tonight.
Freshman forward Joey Benik, who was injured early, will be in the Huskies lineup for the first time. The SCSU freshmen have been scoring all the team's goals lately and Benik should add even more punch to that class. The Huskies, in first place in the WCHA, should sweep the Engineers.
Thursday's game
Rensselaer at St. Cloud State, 7:07 p.m.
Friday's games
Minnesota Duluth vs. Maine, 6:30 p.m. in Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla.
Rensselaer at St. Cloud State, 7:07 p.m.
Saturday's games
Air Force at Minnesota, 7:07 p.m. in Mariucci Classic (FSN Plus)
Boston University at Denver, 8:07 p.m. in Hall of Fame Game
Michigan Tech vs Michigan Tech in Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit, 6:05 p.m.
FerrisSt/Cornell vs Minnesota Duluth, 3 or 6:30 p.m. in Florida College Classic in Estero
Minnesota State Mankato vs Brown, 3:05 p.m. in UConn Hockey Classic in Storrs, Conn.
Nebraska Omaha at Quinnipiac, 11 a.m.
Sunday's games
Boston College at Minnesota, 7:07 p.m. in Mariucci Classic (FSN PLUS,NESN)
WestrnMI/Mich St. vs Michigan Tech, 2:35 or 6:05 p.m. in Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit
Amer Int/Connecticut vs Minnesota State Mankato, 3:05 or 6:15 p.m. in UConn Hockey Classic in Storrs, Conn.
Bemidji State vs Massachusetts, 3 p.m. in Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H.
Nebraska Omaha at Quinnipiac, 11 a.m.
Monday's game
New Hamp/Dartmoth vs. Bemidji State, 3 or 6 p.m. in Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H.
Nebraska Omaha signs five, two from Twin Cities area
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 21, 2012 - 2:44 PMDenver was the seventh WCHA team to announce its recruiting class for 2013-14 today. It's on a blog posted today.
Here is one I missed earlier this month: the University of Nebraska Omaha signed five for 2013-14, including Jake Guentzel of Woodbury and Jake Montgomery of Oakdale.
“The five players who have signed can all have an immediate impact on our lineup as we move into the National Collegiate Hockey Conference next year,” Mavericks coach Dean Blais said in a UNO news release. “We were looking for skilled forwards and steady defensemen, the kinds of players who will help us be competitive in the NCHC, and we think we've got them.”
Four of the early signees last month are forwards, one is a defenseman. Four are playing in the United States Hockey League and the other in the North American Hockey League. The list:
* Forward Jake Guentzel, 5-9, 153, ranks second in scoring for Sioux City with seven goals and 19 points in 24 games. Guentzel played for Hill-Murray last season and led the team in scoring with 67 points. The Pioneers finished runners- up in the Class 2A state tournament. He is the son of Gophers associate head coach Mike Guentzel..
* Forward Jake Montgomery, 6-1, 191, is sixth in scoring for Sioux City this season, his first with the team. He has six goals and five assists for 11 points in 22 games. Montgomery appeared in 39 games for Shattuck St. Mary's Prep last season and had 20 goals and 38 assists for 58 points and 80 penalty minutes.
* Forward Jonathan “Jono” Davis, 5-8, 155. He is from La Verne, Calif., and is playing for the Wenatchee Wild of the NAHL. In 26 games, he has 19 goals and 13 assists for 32 points to lead the team in scoring. He has six power-play goals and four short-handed goals this season. He played two seasons in the USHL for Cedar Rapids and Dubuque where he totaled 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points in 55 games.
* Forward Austin Ortega, 5-7, 170. He is from Escondido, Calif., and plays for Indiana of the USHL. He has 18 goals and 31 points in 29 games. This is Ortega's second year in the USHL. Last year, he had 19 goals and 14 assists for 33 points in 59 games for Cedar Rapids.
* Defensemen Ian Brady, 5-11, 193. He is from Lombard, Ill., and is playing for Cedar Rapids of the USHL for a third season. He has a goal and eight assists for nine points in 19 games. In 120 career games for the Rough Riders, he has six goals and 34 assists for 40 points plus 79 penalty minutes.
Denver signs four, including D-man from Edina
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 21, 2012 - 12:08 PMDenver has announced it has signed four players for the 2013-14 season, including defenseman Matt Van Voorhis from Edina. They signed last month during the week-long early signing period.
“We are very excited and pleased about the addition of four quality student-athletes that will be joining the Pioneer hockey program in 2013-14,” Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said. “Each of the incoming players will play a role that will help our program continue to compete for conference and national championships. We are looking forward to having them bring their talents to Denver next season.”
Van Voorhis, 5-7, 168, is playing his second season for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. He has three goals and nine assists in 25 games. He was a member of the U.S. national team developmental program from 2009-2011 and helped guide Team USA to a pair of gold medals at the 2011 Under-17 Four Nations Cup and the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
The other DU recruits:
* Will Butcher of Sun Prairie, Wis.
Butcher, a 5-10, 200-pound defenseman, is in his second year playing for the U.S. national team developmental program in Ann Arbor, Mich. He has four goals and seven assists in 24 games. He was a member of the U.S. team that captured a gold medal at the IIHF men’s World Under-18 Championship. Butcher played a majority of 2011-12 with the U.S. national U17 Team and had eight goals and 23 assists in 46 games. He is listed No. 20 on the NHL’s Central Scouting’s rankings of North American players.
* Brad Hawkinson of Aurora, Colo.
Hawkinson, a 5-11, 195-pound forward, is in his second season with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL. He has five goals and two assists in 20 games. Hawkinson was a member of the Colorado Thunderbirds (U-16), along with current Denver players Quentin Shore and Josiah Didier, which became the first triple-A team from the state of Colorado to win a Tier 1 National Championship in 2010.
* Trevor Moore of Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Moore, a 5-10, 175-pound forward, is in his second season with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL. He has 11 goals and 15 assists in 26 games. He was a member of the 2012 U.S. Under-18 Select team that competed in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Moore is currently listed No. 15 on NHL’s Central Scouting’s rankings of North American players in the USHL.
St. Cloud State surges to top of WCHA
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 17, 2012 - 8:17 AMThe Huskies are only four games above .500 overall and in the WCHA, but No. 17-rated St. Cloud State University is in first place in the conference.
SCSU (11-7-0, 9-5-0 WCHA) won 3-1 over Colorado College (8-10-2, 5-6-0 WCHA) on Saturday at the National Hockey and Event Center to move past Denver, which lost to Bemidji State 5-1 the same night.
The Huskies, off until a nonconference series against RPI on Dec. 37-28 at home, have 18 points, DU and North Dakota are tied for second with 17 apiece.
One reason the Huskies are playing so well is freshman forward Kalle Kossila from Finland. He scored his team-leading 10th goal at 16 minutes, 41 seconds of the first period to give SCSU a 1-0 lead. Kossila has more goals than any other freshman in Division I hockey.
CC tied the score at 1-1 in the seventh minute of the secondf period on Joe Marciano's goal.
Ben Hanowski and Jonny Brodzinski scored goals 1:38 apart in the middle of the second period to give SCSU a 3-1 lead and that's the way the game ended.
The Huskies outshot the Tigers 30-17. SCSU has had more shot than its opponent the past six games.
Senior forward Drew LeBlanc had an assists on Brodzinski's goal to extend his scoring streak to seven games. He has 19 assists, first in the nation.
Sophomore Ryan Faragher stopped 16 shots for the victory; CC goalie Josh Thorimbert had 27 saves.
COMEBACK WIN FIRST NIGHT
The Huskies won 5-3 over Colorado College on Friday after trailing 2-1 at the end of the opening period.
Freshman forward David Morley had two goals in the rally and and Kossila the game-winner in the third period.
Faragher had 22 saves, Joe Howe of CC 24.
SCSU BY THE NUMBERS
* The Huskies have won three games in a row and five of their last seven. ... They are in the middle of a 10-game homestead. Their next six are at home. Their next WCHA series, against Denver on Jan. 18-19, caps the homestand.
* In overall games, SCSU is third among WCHA teams in scoring, averaging 3.44 goals per game, and fifth in defense, gving up 2.50. ... They are averaging only 10.1 penalty minutes a game, fewest in the conference.
* The Huskies' special teams are in the middle of the conference. SCSU's power play is seventh, at 18.5 percent, its penalty kill is fifth, at 83.9 percent. ... They have scored 24 goals in the third period -- tied for second in the league -- and given up just 13.
* Drew Leblanc (5-19-24) is tied for second in WCHA scoring in all games, whil teammate Nic Dowd (9-14-23) is tied for fourth. Four of Dowd's goal have been game-winners.
* Faragher is ninth in goals-against average at 2.38 and eighth in save percentage at .911.
Badgers flatten Alabama-Huntsville; WCHA picks without the Gophers
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: December 14, 2012 - 2:39 PMThe Gophers are off for a couple of weeks. But most WCHA teams are playing this weekend.
Wisconsin got off to a good start on Thursday, beating vagabond Alabama-Huntsville 5-0 for the Badgers' first win at the Kohl Center this season. Hard to believe.
The Badgers are playing a day earlier than other teams because the Kohl Center is being used for graduation ceremonies on Sunday morning and Saturday night is used for set-up purposes. Academics getting in the way of athletics, what a unique concept.
US is 3-7-5 overall now (2-5-5- in the WCHA).
“I think that’s the first night we’ve been able to use our sound system to the fullest,” Badgers forward Sean Little, referring to the team's new locker room.
“[We] finally [got to] celebrate a win at home,” Little said, according to a UW news release.
Freshmen forward Nic Kerdiles, a hot prospect who was suspended the first 10 games by the NCAA for amateur rules violatoins, scoring his first college goal four minutes into the game.
“I’m happy to finally get the monkey off my back, as I would call it, and finally get that goal,” Kerdiles said. “At the end of the day, I’m just excited for the way our team played tonight.”
The Badgers tied their season-high in shots on goal with 37, set a season-high for goals in a game and set a school record for fewest shots allowed in a game with nine.
The caveat there has to be that the opponent was the Chargers. An independent team that was given the death sentence last season -- several top players left -- before getting a reprieve. UAH is 3-13-1, one of the worst teams in the country. Sacred Heart (0-14-2) might be the only team worse.
UAH plays 20 of its 22 Division I opponents on the road or at neutral sites.
Kerdiles got his second goal of the season in the third period.
Junior Michael Mersch also had two goals. Little, a freshman, also got the other goal, his first of the season.
Mersch has 11 goals this season.
“We were talking about it a little bit before the game to get the fans the ice cream,” Mersch said. “A lot of guys contributed tonight, and that’s pretty big for us.”
Fans at a five-goal get free ice cream; the Gophers have a similar promotion with Culver's and yogurt.
BIG WCHA WEEKEND
Ten of the 12 WCHA teams play conference games this weekend. So the Gophers' stay all alone at second place in the conference standings won't last long.
Two teams are just one point behind them, two are two points back and one is three. If results break a certain way, the Gophers (6-3-3, 15 points) could fall to a tie for fourth place with three other teams, or they could drop as low as a tie for fifth with one team.
Here's a look at the WCHA series this weekend:
Minnesota State (9-5-2, 7-5-0) at Nebraska Omaha (10-5-1, 6-3-1): The Mavericks have won six conference games in a row. Freshman Stephon Williams has been in goal in all those games and in that stretch has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage. Junior forward Eriah Hayes ia on an eight-game points streak. MSU has killed 27 of 29 opponents' power plays in the past eight games and is outscoring opponents 21-12 in the third period. ... UNO split at St. Cloud State last weekend, winning 6-5 in the first game, losing 2-1 in the second. The red Mavericks are 7-0-1 on the first night of series. Junior forward Ryan Walters has eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points, one shy of his total last season. The junior class is the highest scoring in the nation with 89 points and 33 goals. Picks: Split
Colorado College (8-8-2, 5-4-1) at St. Cloud State (9-7-0, 7-5-0): After playing nine of 11 games at home, the Tigers are on the road for nine of their next 11 starting with this trip. Senior forward Rylan Schwartz (10-14-24) is tied for the WCHA scoring lead. CC is coming off a loss and a tie with the Gophers. They trailed the U 4-1 going into the third period Saturday, but rallied for a 4-4 overtime tie. Captain William Rapuzzi has scored in nine consecutive games for the Tigers. In those games, he has six goals and 16 points. ... The Huskies split with UNO last weekend. They have two of the WCHA's top scorers in Drew LeBlanc (5-16-21) and Nic Dowd (8-12-20), a senior and junior, respectively, but Huskies freshmen have scored 11 of the team's 12 goals the past four games. Kalle Kossila, a freshman from Finland, has eight goals. SCSU is 10th in the nation in scoring, averaging 3.38 goals per game; CC is second, 3.61 per game. Picks: Split.
Denver (9-5-2, 7-3-2) at Bemidji State (4-8-2, 3-7-2): The Pioneers were cruising along until they hit a bump. They are winless in their last six games. Last weekend they tied North Dakota 2-2 and then lost to UND 6-3 on Saturday at the Ralph. DU is 10-1 against BSU all-time. Denver is sixth in the nation in scoring at 3.56 goals per game, but has fallen to a tie for 24th in defense, giving up 2.62 goals per game. DU is 3-1-1 on the road. The Pioneers' line chart has 10 forwards and six defensemen. DU's blue-line corpts had 52 points, an NCAA best. ... The Beavers split at UMD last weekend, winning the second game 2-1 behind goalie Andrew Walsh's 33 saves. That win ended a three-game losing streak and gave coach Tom Serratore his 199th career victory. Jordan George (5-6-11) leads the team in scoring. BSU is being outscored 15-7 in the third period of conference games. Pick: DU wins and ties
North Dakota (8-5-3, 5-2-3) at Michigan Tech (4-8-3, 3-6-3): UND is 12-0-2 in its last 14 games against Michigan Tech. Last weekend at the Ralph, the team formerly known as the Fighting Sioux got a 2-2 tie and a 6-3 win. Senior forward Corban Knight has an 11-game poitnts streak during which he has three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. ... The Huskies are coming off 1-1 and 3-3 ties with Wisconsin. They remain pretty banged up. Last weekend five players were out with injuries and four remain questionable for this weekend. Tech is 0-7-2 when the opponent scores first. Defenseman Steven Seigo has four goals in the past seven games. Picks: UND wins and ties
Minnesota Duluth (5-8-3, 3-6-3) at Alaska Anchorage (3-7-4, 1-6-3): UMD is 15-13-6 against UAA in Alaska. Mike Seidel has 10 goals, six on the power play, and eight assists for a team-high 18 points. The freshmen have 43 points, tied for fourth in the nation. UMD has scored 19 power-play goals, only Union with 20 has scored more. The Bulldogs are 0-6-2 on the second night of series. ... The Seawolves were swept by Minnesota State last weekend, losing 3-1 and 3-0 even though goalie Chris Kamal had a season-high 37 saves the first game and 32 the second. The Seawolves have given up one or more power-play goals in each of their last seven games. Pick: Split
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