Rink and Run blog: Saturday in the WCHA

Home teams ruled in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Friday night, well for the most part. Alaska Anchorage, Minnesota State-Mankato, North Dakota and Bemidji State all claimed victories in the friendly confines. Denver and Colorado College won on the road.

That left No. 1-ranked Minnesota Duluth and Denver tied for first place with 17 points. No. 7 North Dakota is one point back with 16, and No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha has 13.

Outside the league, No. 2 Boston University lost at home to No. 8 Boston College 9-5 and No. 3 Yale won at home 4-2 over No. 16 Rensselaer Polytechnic.

College Hockey News has some recaps of key games including Denver’s 5-4 overtime win over Minnesota Duluth at the DECC here.

At Bemidji, Minn., Bemidji State shut down No. 4 Omaha 3-0. It was the best win so far at BSU’s new Sanford Center and a second straight 3-0 victory in the building. The Beavers scored one goal in each period from Jake Areshenko, Ian Lowe and Emil Billberg. The shutout went to Dan Bakala (25). Each team had 25 shots. Omaha is 1-2-1 the last four games. The Omaha World-Herald has a story here and the Bemidji Pioneer has a story here.

At Mankato, Minn., Mankato defeated No. 17 Minnesota 3-2. Ben Youds, Michael Dorr and Adam Mueller gave Mankato a 3-1 lead early in the second period. Nick Bjugstad and Nick Larson scored for the Gophers. There was no third-period scoring. Goalies were Phil Cook for Mankato and Alex Kangas for Minnesota. Mankato has won three straight. Minnesota led in shots 35-24. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has a story here and the Mankato Free Press has a story here.

At Anchorage, Wis., Anchorage got a goal with 8 seconds to play to beat No. 15 Wisconsin 2-1. Wisconsin’s Jordy Murray (11) and Anchorage’s Craig Parkinson exchanged second-period goals, then with 8 seconds left in the game, Tommy Grant scored to give the Seawolves their fifth win of the season — all by one goal. Anchorage led in shots 31-22. The Anchorage Daily News has a story here.

At Houghton, Mich., Colorado College came up with four third-period goals to put Michigan Tech away 7-3. The Huskies have lost seven straight. Rylan Schwartz and Andrew Hamburg each had two goals and freshman Jaden Schwartz added four assists, and Tyler Johnson of Cloquet had a goal. CC led in shots 47-34. The Colorado Springs Gazette has a story here.

At Grand Forks, N.D., No. 7 North Dakota rallied to beat St. Cloud State 3-1. Hermantown’s Drew LeBlanc (6) gave St. Cloud State a 1-0 lead after one period and Matt Frattin (14) tied it for the Fighting Sioux after two. Two Brad Malone goals in the third made the difference. Aaron Dell was in goal for North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux led in shots 34-22. St. Cloud State is 1-4-1 the last six games. The St. Cloud Times has a story here and the Grand Forks Herald has a story here.

WCHA Standings Courtesy of College Hockey Stats.com

 1 Denver            17  11  8- 2- 1 .773  39- 28   17 11- 4- 2 .706  56- 45
   Minnesota Duluth  17  11  8- 2- 1 .773  40- 28   15 11- 2- 2 .800  61- 40
 3 North Dakota      16  11  8- 3- 0 .727  34- 24   17 10- 5- 2 .647  55- 46
 4 Nebraska-Omaha    13   9  6- 2- 1 .722  32- 22   13  9- 3- 1 .731  50- 33
 5 Minnesota         11  11  5- 5- 1 .500  38- 37   15  8- 6- 1 .567  53- 50
 6 Alaska Anchorage   9  11  4- 6- 1 .409  23- 34   15  5- 8- 2 .400  37- 49
 7 Colorado College   8   9  4- 5- 0 .444  32- 31   15  7- 7- 1 .500  48- 48
   Minnesota State    8  11  3- 6- 2 .364  26- 40   15  5- 6- 4 .467  43- 51
   Wisconsin          8  11  3- 6- 2 .364  32- 28   17  7- 7- 3 .500  61- 39
10 St. Cloud State    7   9  3- 5- 1 .389  25- 26   15  5- 8- 2 .400  41- 46
   Bemidji State      7  11  3- 7- 1 .318  27- 34   13  4- 8- 1 .346  30- 38
12 Michigan Tech      3   9  1- 7- 1 .167  26- 42   12  3- 7- 2 .333  40- 51

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