NCHA Men
Final standings and first-round playoff matchups:
#1 St. Norbert hosts #8 Lawrence
#2 Adrian hosts #7 MSOE
#3 St. Scholastica hosts #6 Concordia Wisconsin
#4 Lake Forest hosts #5 Marian
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#1 St. Norbert 7, Northland 0
*St. Norbert College clinched its 14th Northern Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship in the last 18 seasons with a 7-0 win over Northland College in the regular-season finale at Cornerstone Community Center. The Green Knights (21-3-1, 16-2 NCHA) earned the No. 1 seeding for the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs, and will host Lawrence University in a two-game quarterfinal series at 7 p.m. next Friday and Saturday. Northland ended its season 4-21, 4-14. Brandon Hoogenboom posted his first collegiate hat trick in the win.
#2 Adrian 6, Lake Forest 5 OT
*The NCHA Harris Cup playoffs have yet to start but Saturday's contest between Adrian College and Lake Forest College had a certain playoff feel, as the Bulldogs pulled off a 6-5 overtime win over the Foresters in the regular season finale for both teams. The Bulldogs looked to be on cruise control after playing great hockey over the first 35 minutes of the game while building a 4-0 lead. Then all of a sudden, the wheels seemed to fall off for the Bulldogs late in the second period as Lake Forest scored three times in the final 4:46 to cut the lead to 4-3 entering the third period. It was 4-4 just 2:38 in and LF took the 5-4 lead at the 7:57 mark on a goal by Iam Pichel. Josh Ranalli then found the equalizer midway through the period and Kevin Balas completed his hat trick when he netted the game-winner at the 2:51 mark of OT.
RV St. Scholastica 3, Marian 1
*The St. Scholastica men's hockey team defeated the Marian University (Wis.) 3-1 on Saturday and clinched the third seed and home ice for the Harris Cup Playoffs quarterfinals next weekend. Both Marian and St. Scholastica came in tied for fourth. With Lake Forest College (Ill.) falling to Adrian College (Mich.) earlier in the day, it meant a CSS tie or win would give them the third seed, but a loss would drop them to fifth. It was also Senior Day at Mars Lakeview Arena as the Saints honored eight seniors. Trailing 1-0, CSS tied the game in the first period. After a scoreless second, Dave Williams netted the eventual game-winner at the 10:12 mark and Paul Marcoux threw in an empty-netter to wrap it up late.
Concordia Wisconsin 6, MSOE 5
*When MSOE capped off a three-goal comeback with 7:06 remaining in the third period to tie the game at 5-5, it looked as if Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Hockey was going to remain winless all-time against the Raiders. The Falcons remained resilient and scored just 23 seconds later, skating to a thrilling 6-5 win over MSOE Saturday night at the Ozaukee Ice Center. Sophomore Chris Hughes (Dundee, Mich.) took a pass from freshman Brett Penner (Medstead, Saskatchewan) and scored on the breakaway for the game-winner, exciting the packed Ozaukee Ice Center. Freshman Riley Storzuk (Wynyard, Saskatchewan) also assisted on the Hughes goal, his third assist of the game.
Lawrence 4, Finlandia 2
*Blake Roubos’ hat trick led Lawrence University to a 4-2 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association victory over Finlandia University on Saturday at the Appleton Family Ice Center. The win also clinched a berth in the NCHA playoffs for the Vikings (6-17-2, 5-12-1 NCHA). Lawrence will travel to No. 1-ranked St. Norbert College for a two-game quarterfinal series next Friday and Saturday. Roubos, a freshman forward, picked up the first hat trick of his career and the first one for a Lawrence player since Marc Howe did it against Northland College on Nov. 21, 2009.
NCHA Women
RV Lake Forest 6, RV Adrian 3
*In a battle between two of the three highest-scoring women's hockey teams in the nation, the Foresters defeated Adrian College 6-3 at home Saturday night. Sophomore forward Logan Taylor assisted on three of Lake Forest's six goals. Forester senior goaltender Stacey Dierking made 22 saves on the night and raised her record on the season to 5-2-2. She also became just the second goalie in program history with 30 career victories. Michelle Greeneway (2-1-3) and Emily Wybo (2-0-2) each scored twice.
RV St. Scholastica x, Finlandia x
*The St. Scholastica women's hockey team clinched at least a bye into the NCHA Slaats Cup semifinals after defeating Finlandia University (Mich.) 4-0 Saturday night at Mars Lakeview Arena. The Saints will either be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the playoffs, which start in two weeks. The only team that can catch and pass CSS is Lake Forest College (Ill.), who defeated Adrian tonight 6-3. The Saints are two points ahead of the Foresters, but Lake Forest has two conference games remaining, while the Saints just have one. CSS does hold the tiebreaker over Lake Forest and can clinch the regular season title with a win at St. Norbert College next Saturday in the regular season finale. Nikki Logergren, Taylor Guzzo, Cara McMannis and Michelle Fischer all scored goals and Sheridan Friesen made five saves for the shutout.
Concordia Wisconsin 5, Marian 2
*All it took was a return to the Ozaukee Ice Center. The Concordia University Wisconsin Women's Hockey made the most of just it second home series since January 4, capping off a weekend sweep of Marian University with a 5-2 win Saturday in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association play. Home ice has been important to the Falcons this season as they are 6-5-1 in those contests. The Saturday win also was Senior Day as the Falcons honored its lone senior, forward Maxine Blohowiak (Green Bay, Wis.)
Chris Zills - NCHAhockey.org