Hockey fans always seem to have a soft spot for Friday the 13th for some reason…  

A few teams got lucky this weekend, while others had nightmares about slashing forwards and strangling defense.

It may be a bit late, but fear not… the College Hockey Roundup is finally here!

NCAA

Notre Dame 2, Denver 2 (OT)

Notre Dame 2, Denver 4

The defending NCAA Champion and Preseason #1 Pioneers came to town in an early season rematch of last year’s Frozen Four.  Denver got the upper hand then, downing the Irish 6-1 on their way to a national title.  Both teams would see a few key departures but add some talented freshman to strong returning lineups.  Although lacking the importance of their previous meeting, this weekend would serve as a litmus test for the Irish and their young goaltenders in particular.

Dylan St. Cyr would get the nod for the opener and proved to be more than up for the task, stopping 46 of 48 shots to pick up a point for Notre Dame with a 2-2 tie.  Jake Evans gave the Irish the lead at 14:01 in the first, only to see Denver answer a mere 15 seconds later.  Having been outshot 13-5 in the period, Jeff Jackson’s club settled down to play a more evenly matched scoreless second.  DU’s Henrik Borgstrom notched his second goal of the night to put the champs in front with just over five minutes left to play, but a renewed Irish attack would be rewarded as Andrew Oglevie would snap one past Pioneers netminder Tanner Jaillet to knot the score at 2-2.  The two teams would battle through the extra frame, yet neither would give ground.  Each club would earn a point as the non-conference game would officially go down as a tie.  In a shootout held just for kicks, Oglevie and Borgstrom would both come through again, but Denver would take home bragging rights as Kohen Olischefski would beat St. Cyr in sudden death.

Game 2 Saturday proved to be equally as entertaining.  With the phenomenal forward Borgstrom out due to illness, Denver's Troy Terry would spur his team on to an early lead.  Jake Durflinger added a tally in late in the first period to push the Denver advantage to two.  Pressing throughout the second and third frames, the Irish would finally break through as Cam Morrison tapped in a loose puck behind Jaillet to cut the lead to one.  Adding some intrigue to the contest, Jordan Gross would tie the game up a few seconds later on a ferocious slapshot, but the goal wouldn’t be discovered until an Irish challenge with less than two minutes to play.  When video replay showed Gross’ bomb go through the net, the officials would award the score and reset the game clock to 4:52 remaining.  Notre Dame’s new life lasted only 20 seconds as Liam Findlay gave Denver back the lead.  An empty net goal by Dylan Gambrell accounted for the final margin.

Notre Dame continues their home stretch against Sacred Heart on Thursday and Friday.

NAIA

Rochester 1, Indiana Tech 7

Indiana Tech 4, Rochester 3 (OT)

Indiana Tech opened their conference season with a home-and-home against the Rochester Warriors this weekend.  Looking to continue it’s modest two-game win streak, Tech came out strong in the first with goals from Stavros Soilis (2) and Jace Childs.  The second period saw more of the same, as Joe Molfetta, Zach Bennett, and Blake Cudmore would get into the action.  Ryan Attwood’s power play tally in the third would wrap up the scoring for the Warriors.

Rochester would put up more of a fight in Saturday’s rematch, pushing the Warriors to overtime before succumbing 4-3.  Bennett and Childs would break through in the second period to put Tech up 2-0 heading into the final break.  Nick Papandrea would also score for the Warriors, but Rochester would tally three times to close the gap.  Thirty-two seconding into the extra frame, Jarrett Pfeiffer completed the sweep and helped Zach Larson earn his second win of the season.

The Warriors face a true test next weekend as they travel to Ohio to face off against the Kent State Flashes.

ACHA D2

Grand Valley 2, Trine 3

Trine 4, Grand Valley 3

Having shredded their first three opponents by an unbelievable 87-6, the Thunder faced the first real test of their inaugural season against powerhouse Grand Valley State.  Sean Schirripa would score twice in the first frame to give Trine a 2-1 lead at the first intermission, but it was Spencer Johnson’s second-period score that would prove to be the game winner.  Aaron Brickman would replace Tyler Hough just before Johnson’s goal and stop 27 of 28 Grand Valley shots to secure the win. 

Perhaps not wanting things to be quite so exciting, the Thunder would score four times in the first two periods to take a substantial lead in game two.  Brendan Werstine opened the scoring in the first, followed by Niccolo Mombelli, Joe Laskero, and Braeden Pearl with tallies in the second.  Yet the Lakers showed why they won 25 games last season, finding the net three times to close the gap to a single goal.  Trine, however, would hold firm against the Lakers’ relentless pressure to close out the game and the series.

Trine takes the ice again on Saturday, Oct. 21 when Adrian College visits the ‘Thunderdome’ for a 5:00 p.m. game.

Indiana 5, Michigan State 7

Indiana 1, Michigan State 5

Having dropped five straight on the road, the Hoosiers hoped for better fortune at home against Michigan State.  The Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead, but Indiana was far from finished.  Trent Kunas and Matthew Herbst would pull the Hoosiers even at 2-2 to open the second.  Following a Michigan State goal, Austin Eng would tie things up again until Jack Jordan would give IU its first lead of the game with just under two minutes left in the period.  The Spartans would get the equalizer just 23 seconds later and regain the lead less than ten seconds into the final frame.  Everhett Grimes continued the seesaw affair with his goal at 2:04, but the Spartans would find the net twice to take game one.  Joe Stebbins would stop 30 of 36 shots in the loss.

The rematch would prove to be less dramatic, as the Spartans would open a 4-0 lead through two periods before Nikolas Kropp would get the Hoosiers on the board in the third.  MSU’s Jason Petras would be a thorn in goaltender Cam McNamara’s side all afternoon, racking up two goals and two assists, including a helper on the Spartans’ fourth and final score of the day.  Michigan State would outshoot the Hoosiers 39-34.

Indiana hosts the Dayton Flyers on Friday before returning to the road for the second half of the home & home.

ICHC

E. Kentucky 4, Purdue 7

E. Kentucky 1, Purdue 9

Purdue looked to make some noise in the ICHC this season, opening their conference campaign at Eastern Kentucky.  The Boilermakers found Lexington much to their liking, sweeping the series 7-4 and 9-1.  Nathan Smith would score his first of three Friday night less than one minute into the game, and the two teams traded goals over the next two plus periods.  Ryan Gustafson recorded a goal and an assist in the first to help the Colonels keep pace, while tallies from Dylan Sturgell and Timothy Muhsman would put EKU in front in the second.  Combined with a goal from Marcus Oleson, Smith would keep the Boilermakers in the game, tying the score on two separate occasions.  Matthew McNeal’s strike at 6:20 in the third would put Purdue back on top, and late goals from James Hickey and John Vanvliet would ice the game for the Boilermakers.

Game two was all Purdue from the opening face-off.  Just as he did last night, Smith would find the back of the Colonels’ net within the first minute.  Before the second period was a minute old, he would complete his hat trick.  He would add two assists to match John Vanvliet for five points on the night.  The Boilermakers would strike eight times before EKU would get on the board in the second.  Michael Poe would score the lone goal for the Colonels.

Purdue hosts the first half of the upcoming weekend series with Indiana Tech, while Eastern Kentucky is idle until October 27th when they travel to Newark to take on Denison.

ACHA D3
Trine 3, C. Michigan 6

C. Michigan 5, Trine 2

Ever since their 22-2 shellacking of Western Michigan, the D3 Thunder have struggled to match the success of their D2 counterparts.  Hoping to relive their “Michigan directional school” magic, Trine squared off for a home & home against Central Michigan.  The Chippewas proved to be a much more formidable adversary though, taking both halves of the weekend series.  CMU took the early lead on the first of James Gleason’s hat trick, but the Thunder would respond with three straight to take a two-goal lead into the locker room.  The ice tilted heavily in Central Michigan’s favor the rest of the way, tying the game eight minutes into the third and slamming the door with three late scores.  Justin Savage would give up four goals on 43 shots in the defeat.

The Thunder would fare no better in the rematch. Much like the night before, Trine would put up a fight early only to fade in the second half.  Olli Jansson would get the Thunder on the board first, only to see CMU knot things up just before the horn.  Jordan Smith pushed Trine in front again with his goal at the 7:31 mark of the second period.  The Chippewas struck back with a vengeance, netting three in the middle frame and an insurance goal in the third to put the Thunder away for good.

Trine is idle until October 27, when the take the short trip to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Alpena 7, Indianapolis 3

Alpena 3, Indianapolis 6

After falling a goal short in their first-ever contest to Bradley, only to have to forfeit game two due to an officials conflict, the Greyhounds embarked on their inaugural road trip to face the Alpena CC Lumberjacks.  Friday the 13th proved to be a nightmare for Indy goaltender Weston Akard, as he would surrender seven goals on 42 shots in the opener.  Eric McKee and Liam Partlan would keep the Hounds close through the first two periods, but Alpena’s Hunter Frazier finished off his hat trick and opened the flood gates in the third.

Fed up with ‘close but not enough’, the Hounds opened game two with a flurry of shots on the ‘Jacks net.  Tyler Gregory put UIndy on the board first but it was Joe Mann who would be The Man, scoring two in the first and wrapping up the hat trick in the second.  Partlan and Tyler Schepens also contributed to the final margin, with Akard stopping 29 of 32 shots to preserve the first win in program history.

Friday, October 20 will be a real dog fight, as the Greyhounds take on the Butler Bulldogs at the Pop Weaver Pavilion.

Indiana Tech 8, Davenport 2

Davenport 2, Indiana Tech 11

The Warriors opened MCHC-West play this weekend, playing host to division rival Davenport in the first half of a home & home.  Nick Janiszewski found the back of the net in all three periods to pace Indiana Tech as the Warriors bombarded the Panthers’ netminder with 56 shots on the night.  Nick Waggoner and Anthony Passarelli each added a goal and an assist in the 8-2 pasting.

A change in scenery would do little to change the outcome of game two.  The Panthers fell behind early as Connor Barney’s two goals staked the Warriors to an early lead.  A slew of penalties made it difficult for Davenport to gain any sort of momentum, as Tech would capitalize on five of 11 power play chances.  The shot differential was even more drastic, with the Warriors leveling 58 shots on the Panthers net to a paltry 16 shots by Davenport.

Indiana Tech takes on in-state rival Purdue on October 20/21.  Game one is at the Fuel Tank in Fishers and game two in Fort Wayne.