The standings are set after this week of Central Collegiate Hockey Association play, at least until the turn of the new year when conference play resumes Jan 3 and 4. Ferris State and St. Thomas could not affect their standing position as they had a bye week, both teams sitting at 12 games played along with four other teams. Bowling Green and Lake Superior have ten games played, and Augustana has eight.
Lakers fall from top spot, MSU sweeps in 1st place effort
When the season is looked back upon after the conclusion of conference play, this will be a massive weekend for the top standings. Lake Superior came into the weekend leading the CCHA in points percentage, with Minnesota State just behind and needing only one win to take the top spot.
The Mavericks did not come simply for the three points needed to stunt the Lakers; they came for and took five of six available points and vaulted into the first spot, leaving LSS down in fourth.
The weekend, like most for Minnesota State, revolved around the defense. Now four-time CCHA Goaltender of the Week, Alex Tracy, allowed just three goals to LSS on the weekend, which, amazingly, worsened his goals allowed per game up to 1.389, second in the nation. He still maintains his “best goalie in the nation” status with the sub 1.5 goals allowed per game as well as a .945 save percentage, the best of any goalie with 200+ saves recorded in the NCAA.
Lake Superior has the best offense in the CCHA, 2.94 goals (1st), 5.11 assists(1st), and 8.06 points per game(1st), with a .110 shot percentage(1st) and .237 powerplay(2nd) after the MSU series. The Mavericks held LSS to only three goals, only one on eight powerplay attempts, and nine points total in two games for a team averaging around that in one throughout the season.
Aside from Tracy’s greatness and 37 blocks for MSU across two games, their most since October 19, the offense was present and sizable. In the 2-1 win in the first game, Luc Wilson scored the only two goals, with one assist apiece by his linemates. In the 3-2 OT win, Rhett Pitlick led in scoring with the first goal and two assists, one coming on the game-winner to Josh Groll, who additionally had the game-tying goal in the first period.
The next conference weekend for the Lakers will come on January 3, 2025, against Bowling Green, while Minnesota State will play a non-conference match against Manitoba on December 30 and a conference series against the last-place Northern Michigan Wildcats in Marquette, Michigan, on Jan. 10.
Wildcat struggles continue, drop both to Bowling Green
The Falcons snapped a six-game regulation winless streak with their six points over Northern Michigan, the most points taken by any team this weekend. NMU’s losing streak was extended to six games, the only tie of the season in the middle of a 15-game winless streak.
The three goals scored in the second game of the series by Northern Michigan were tied for the most goals scored through the season. However, their shutout in the first game was the fifth time they had been held out of the net. Their three goals on the weekend are tied for the most since Oct. 18 against Alaska Anchorage when they scored five.
Bowling Green was able to remedy some of their scoring struggles, their six goals the most scored by Falcons since the first of November. Quinn Emerson was the main catalyst for Falcon, scoring in the 2-0 first game with a hand on both, while in the 4-3 second game, Brody Waters had his seventh and eighth goals of the season as well as the game-winner for BG.
Senior net-minder Christian Stoever had his second and third starts of the season, earning his first two wins. He added 48 saves and only three goals allowed to his 43 saves and two goals allowed in the first game, bringing him to only 1.8 goals allowed per game, an impressive .948 save percentage.
Season starter Cole Moore did not play in the series, but this was not due to injury or performance-based reasons. When Moore is back and available to play, he and Stoever will be a strong net duo for Bowling Green.
Northern Michigan next squares off against Michigan State in a non-conference Great Lakes Invitational the weekend of December 29. Their next conference game is against Minnesota State at home on Jan. 10.
Bowling Green will play a non-conference game against Rochester Institute of Technology on Dec. 29 before their CCHA series against Lake Superior State starting on Jan. 3.
Huskies take four points in high-scoring series versus Beavers
Two skaters from Michigan Tech were honored in the weekly awards for their performances against Bemidji State. Junior left-winger Stiven Sardarian earned his second Forward of the Week award for a six-point road trip in Bemidji, Minnesota. His 1 goal and five assists on Saturday helped the Huskies to their 9-5 win and three CCHA points. However, Logan Morell may have been an even better player for MTU, scoring both goals in the 2-2 tie and two goals and an assist in the 9-5 victory, earning a Rookie of the Week award.
Bemidji State also took a weekly award through Mitch Wolfe’s Defenseman of the Week award for his CCHA blue liner-leading goal and assist with a +1 rating. His goal was the game-tying in the third period of the first game, sending the teams to overtime and setting up a shootout win and two points for the Beavers.
Bemidji State plays a weekend non-conference series against Minnesota Duluth and Manitoba on Jan. 2 and 3. The Huskies will play in the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 29 against Western Michigan and then a lone game against Massachusetts Lowell on Jan. 3 in the Cactus Cup.
Augustana wins and ties Alaska Anchorage in the Last Frontier
Despite taking a win and tie, it wasn’t a great weekend for the Vikings as Augustana is ranked 30 in the nation using the RPI system, while Alaska Anchorage is only 56, a low-end independent team that has not been too competitive this season.
Alaska Anchorage was able to force overtime and a shootout from Augustana in the first game, with all scoring coming in the second period. The second game was very similar, a 2-2 tie through regulation, but finished with an overtime goal from Payton Matsui.
Four regulation goals are the least the Vikings have scored in two-game sets this season, tied with their series against Alaska Fairbanks on March 1, 2024. In fact, four regulation goals are tied for the least scored in the two-season tenure of Augustana at the D1 level, and it came against one of the bottom teams in the NCAA.
Augustana plays their next CCHA games against Bowling Green in Ohio on the fourth weekend of January, with series against Colorado College and Lindenwood in the first and third weekends of the new year.
CCHA Standings (team-points percentage/points-games played)
- Minnesota State- .806/29-12
- Augustana- .667/16-8
- Michigan Tech- .639/23-12
- Lake Superior State- .600/18-10
- Bowling Green- .567/17-10
- Bemidji State- .500/18-12
- Ferris State- .417/15-12
- St. Thomas- .333/12-12
- Northern Michigan- .056/2-12
