Bemidji State’s Jordan George reached the 50 career goal milestone against Colorado College (Photo: Bemidji State University Athletics)

Jordan George’s goal last Friday night was not only the first of the season for the senior, it also stood as the 50th of his career … He is the 25th player in Beaver hockey history to net 50 goals and the fourth in BSU’s Division 1-era (since 1999-2000) … George is the only current NCAA Division I men’s hockey player to have scored 50 collegiate goals … The Beavers now return home to Sanford Center for the first time since Oct. 20 to host Michigan Tech Nov. 16-17 … The Beavers own a 5-2-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Huskies, which includes a perfect 4-0-0 mark when playing MTU in Bemidji.

Minnesota

The Gophers’ power-play is the third most successful in the country at .286 (12-for-42) – a stat that also a leads the WCHA … The Gophers have now tallied nine power-play goals in the last four games on 22 opportunities for a whopping 41 percent success rate but the Gophers have scored just three even-strength goals during that span … 12 of Minnesota’s 31 overall goals–or 39 percent–have come on the power play. Only Minnesota Duluth’s 53 percent (10 of 19) ranks higher … The Gophers rank second in the WCHA and eighth in the nation in scoring defense with just 18 goals against in nine games (2.00) – Denver leads the league at 1.88 goals against per game … Goaltender Adam Wilcox’s 1.58 goals-against average leads the WCHA and ranks fifth overall in the nation … the rookie’s .786 winning percentage (5-1-1 record) also is the best in the WCHA and the eighth highest percentage in the NCAA this season … Minnesota continues the season this weekend, hosting Wisconsin for a two-game WCHA series at Mariucci Arena … the Gophers are 155-86-20 all-time against the Badgers and 90-27-7 at home.

Minnesota-Duluth

The Bulldogs, who are mired in a five-game winless funk at the moment (0-4-1), will be seeking to notch their first WCHA win of the young 2012-13 season in Grand Forks … Senior right winger Mike Seidel, who has picked up at least one point in seven of UMD’s eight games to date (the exception was a 2-0 shutout loss to Wisconsin on Oct. 26), leads the Bulldogs in scoring with five goals and four assists … Four of his five goals this season have come on the power-play and those four scores are unsurpassed by any NCAA skater at the moment … Rookie center Tony Cameranesi figured in on all four UMD goals in Omaha, scoring once and adding three assists to improve his 2012-13 offensive harvest to seven points … That puts the Plymouth, Minn., product and Toronto Maple Leaf (NHL) draftee third among all WCHA newcomers in scoring … The Bulldogs are the nation’s most penalized team at the moment, averaging 19 minutes of infraction time per outing.

Minnesota State

Sophomore forward Jean-Paul Lafontaine, who has not missed a game in his two-year MSU career, upped his season totals to 3-5=8 with his two-goal, two-assist output in MSU’s two games vs. third-rated Denver last weekend … A member of the 2011-12 WCHA All-Rookie Team, Lafontaine has moved into second place on MSU’s scoring charts, he owns 16-20=36 in 48 career games and is currently riding a four-game point scoring streak (3-4=7) … Sophomore forward Matt Leitner (1-9=10), who led the Mavericks in scoring last year, stands atop MSU scoring charts this year and also leads the Mavericks in assists … In the last three consecutive weeks, Minnesota State has faced three ranked opponents in #15 St. Cloud State, #2 Minnesota and #3 Denver … The Mavericks are outshooting opponents 346-272 in 2012-13.

St. Cloud State

SCSU’s Joe Rehkamp had three assists on Saturday (Photo: St. Cloud State University Athletics)

Junior Nic Dowd and senior Drew LeBlanc ranked second among Division 1 players this season with 14 points apiece … Dowd leads the Huskies with six goals this season and he also has eight helpers in 2012-13 … LeBlanc charted two goals and one assist in the SCSU win over UND to up his season totals to five goals and nine assists … LeBlanc now has 111 career points at SCSU ranking him 17th all-time at SCSU along with former Husky standouts Fred Knipscheer and Tony Gruba … Sophomore forward Joe Rehkamp broke into the SCSU scoring column on Nov. 10 with a career game-high three assists … The Huskies are outscoring their opponents 36-25 in 2012-13, and they are also out­shooting their opponents 304-277 after the first 10 games of the year …  SCSU freshman Jonny Brodzinski got back on the scoresheet with his second goal of the 2012-13 season on Nov. 10 against UND … Brodzinski now has two goals and two assists for the Huskies in his first year at SCSU.

Beyond the Border Scorers

Ryan Walters – Nebraska Omaha (junior, forward, Rosemount, Minn.) – Walters led the Mavericks with five points (2 goals, assists) in UNO’s sweep of Minnesota-Duluth and his 11 points (3-8–11) overall now leads all Nebraska Omaha scorers this season. In addition, Walters had a +3 plus/minus rating for the series.

Archie Skalbeck – Colorado College (junior, forward, Hopkins, Minn.) – Skalbeck had two assists in each game of a CC’s sweep of Bemidji State last weekend including the primary assist both game winners. With his goal against Wisconsin on Nov. 3, Skalbeck now has had a hand in three consecutive game-winning goals for the Tigers.

Connecticut’s Sean Ambrosie (Photo: University of Connecticut Athletics)

Sean Ambrosie – Connecticut (senior, foward, Moorhead, Minn.) – Ambrosie scored the game-winning goal at the start of the third period and assisted on the game-tying goal on the power play to lead the Huskies to a 3-1 win at Merrimack on Saturday.

Josh Archibald – Nebraska Omaha (sophomore, forward, Brainerd, MInn.) – Archibald’s primary assist on Saturday’s game-winning goal was one of his three points (1-2–3) in the series for UNO. His nine points (6-3–9) overall have him tied for third on the team in scoring.

Niagara’s Isaac Kohls (Photo: Niagara University Athletics)

Isaac Kohls – Niagara (sophomore, forward, Forest Lake, Minn.) – Kohls led the offense for the Niagara men’s hockey team with a four-point weekend in a sweep of the Army Black Knights to remain undefeated in AHA play.  Kohls helped the Purple Eagles extend their unbeaten streak to seven games with a goal and three assists in two contests.

Heading to the polls …

Minnesota and St. Cloud State are the only Minnesota teams ranked this week in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll as the Gophers drop one spot to N0. 3 in swapping positions with Denver who is second only to Boston College which received all 50 first-place votes this week. St. Cloud State maintains its hold on No. 15 while  North Dakota (6), Colorado College (14) and Nebraska Omaha (18) are tho other ranked WCHA teams. Last week’s No. 20, Minnesota-Duluth, dropped out of this week’s poll.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll – November 12, 2012

The post WCHA men’s notes, rankings and recognition appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Erik Haula’s goal salvaged a tie and a three-point weekend for Minnesota at Anchorage on Saturday night. (Photo: Sam Wasson/UAA Athletics)

No. 3 Denver (7-1-0, 5-1-0 WCHA) at Minnesota State (3-5-2, 1-5-0 WCHA)

Friday: DU 4  MSU 3
Saturday: DU 3  MSU 2

The Pioneers chased MSU starting goaltender Phil Cook in building a 3-0 lead in the first 23:28 on Friday night in Mankato. But goals by Jean-Paul Lafontaine and Eriah Hayes late in the second period closed the gap to one heading into the third. The Mavericks could not bury the equalizer, however, and Daniel Doremus score the eventual game winner for Denver with 6:17 remaining in the third. Lafontaine’s second goal of the game at 18:09 with the MSU net empty restored the one-goal margin, but that is as close as the Mavericks would come

Denver’s Chris Knowlton scored twice on Saturday, including the game winner with 3:12 to play and the Pioneers left Mankato four points richer with a series sweep. For the second straight night, Minnesota State dug itself a hole and trailed 2-0 midway through the first on goals by Knowlton and Doremus. But Hayes trimmed the deficit to one at 15:07 of the opening period and Josh Nelson tied it 2:42 into the third.

No. 6 North Dakota (4-3-1, 2-1-1 WCHA) at No. 15 St. Cloud State (6-4-0, 4-2-0 WCHA)

Friday: UND 3  SCSU 0
Saturday: SCSU 5  UND 2

North Dakota goaltender Clarke Saunders made 32 saves to shut out St. Cloud State 3-0 on Friday night in St. Cloud. UND’s Brendan O’Donnell scored the only goal his team would need just 48 seconds into the contest while Carter Rowney and Mark MacMillan added goals in the second and third periods, respectively.

Drew LeBlanc scored twice to lead the Huskies over North Dakota on Saturday to split the series. (Photo: WCHA.com)

After falling behind North Dakota in the opening period for the second straight night, the Huskies bounced back this time for a resounding 5-2 win on Saturday night. Drew LeBlanc scored twice, including the game winner, and added an assist while SCSU goalie Ryan Faragher made 22 saves for the win. UND’s Drake Caggiula got UND on the board first at 11:18 of the first but Jonny Brodzinski answered with his second goal of the season just 1:01 later. LeBlanc scored twice in the first 12:23 of the second period, the first courtesy of one of Joe Rehkamp‘s three assists on the night, to give the Huskies the lead for good.

Bemidji State (2-3-1, 1-2-1 WCHA) at No. 19 Colorado College (7-3-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) at 

Friday: CC 3  BSU 2
Sunday: CC 6  BSU 3

Rylan Schwartz‘s goal at 16:19 of the second period, one of his two on the night, proved to be the difference in Colorado College’s one-goal win over Bemidji State on Friday night in Colorado Springs. The teams traded goals in a 2-2 first period as the Beavers erased two CC leads on goals by Jordan George and Danny Mattson, the first goals of the season for each. Archie Skalbeck assisted on both of Schwartz’s goals.

Behind two goals and two assists by William Rapuzzi, the Tigers completed a series sweep of BSU on Saturday. Both of Rapuzzi’s goals–including the game winner at 5:17–came in a third period which began with CC clinging to a 3-2 lead. Markus Gerbrandt scored to pull the Beavers within two at 18:32, but that’s as close as BSU would get. Cory Ward and Aaron McLeod also scored for Bemidji State while CC’s Skalbeck (two assists) and Schwartz (three assists) capped off big weekends on Saturday.

No. 2 Minnesota (6-2-1, 3-2-1 WCHA) at Alaska-Anchorage (2-3-3, 0-2-2 WCHA)

Friday: UM 4  UAA 0
Saturday: UM 2  UAA 2

Kyle Rau scored twice while Nick Bjugstad and Ben Marshall each scored a goal for Minnesota on Friday night in Anchorage. Minnesota continued its trend of reliance on the power play for its offense as the Gophers scored four times with the man advantage and Adam Wilcox stopped 14 Seawolves’ shots to post the shutout.

Erik Haula scored Minnesota’s only even-strength goal of the series at 13:31 of the third period on Saturday allowing the Gophers to escape Anchorage with a tie and three of four points on the weekend. The Gophers and Seawolves traded first-period goals and they remained knotted at 1-1 at the second intermission. But Alex Gellert gave UAA its only lead of the series at 5:38 of the third setting the stage for Haula’s big goal.

Minnesota-Duluth (2-5-1, 0-3-1 WCHA) at Nebraska Omaha (6-3-1, 4-1-1 WCHA)

Saturday: UNO 3  UMD 2
Sunday: UNO 6  UMD 3

Mike Seidel and Tony Cameranisi each scored late in the first period to pull the Bulldogs even with UNO at 2-2 after an early two-goal deficit. But the scoring dried up from there until Michael Young‘s goal at 12:12 of the third period lifted the Mavericks over UMD on Saturday night in Omaha. Josh Archibald and Ryan Walters also scored for UNO while Wade Bergman had two assists for the Bulldogs.

Dominic Zombo scored twice and Walters added a goal and an assist as the Mavericks completed a sweep of Minnesota-Duluth on Sunday afternoon. UNO goaltender John Faulkner made 31 saves in raising his record to 6-0-1 overall. Seidel and Joe Basaraba scored first period goals for the Bulldogs as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie after one period as they had the night before. But the Mavericks scored twice in the final 1:14 of the second period, including Zombo’s second of the game with 9.1 seconds left which would hold up as the game winner.

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