UAF Wins First United Collegiate Hockey Cup

Senior captain Chase Dafoe scored 24 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime to lift top-seeded Alaska Fairbanks to a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Lindenwood in the championship game of the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup on Saturday in Missouri.

Michael Citara and Peyton Platter each recorded a goal and an assist for the victorious Nanooks (15-15-3 overall), who also got 39 saves from senior goaltender Lassi Lehti in his final appearance in a UAF uniform. Jacob Fletcher scored one goal and set up another for the host Lions (15-15-0), including the tying goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. Liam Beerman stopped 18 shots for Lindenwood, which outshot UAF, 42-22, at the Centene Community Ice Center. The Nanooks won 32 out of 58 total faceoffs.

Citara, defenseman Nathan Rickey and Lehti were all named to the UCHC All-Tournament team, while Lehti was also named MVP. Lehti also backstopped UAF to the Adirondack Winter Invitational championship in Lake Placid back in November. 

Long Island defeated Stonehill, 4-3, in the consolation game of the tournament, which featured all five NCAA Division I independent men's hockey programs. UAF, which had a first-round bye as the top seed, defeated Stonehill in a shootout on Friday to advance to the title game, while Lindenwood topped LIU on Thursday to earn its championship contest berth. Alaska Anchorage finished in fifth place after falling to Stonehill and LIU.

Minnesota Earns Inaugural PWHL Title

A second-period goal by Liz Schepers (Ohio State) stood up as the game-winner, and Minnesota won the first-ever Professional Women's Hockey League playoff title with a 3-0 victory over Boston in Game 5 of the inaugural PWHL final last night in Lowell, Mass. Minnesota won the best-of-five series, three games to two, to lift the Walter Cup.

Michela Cava (Minnesota-Duluth) made it 2-0 in the third period, and later set up Kendall Coyne-Schofield (Northeastern) for an empty-net insurance goal. Mellissa Channell (Wisconsin) finished with two assists for Minnesota, both in the final frame, while Nicole Hensley (Lindenwood) made 17 saves for the shutout. Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) recorded 41 stops in defeat for Boston.

Minnesota's Taylor Heise (Minnesota) earned the first-ever Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award after tallying five goals and eight points in the postseason.

Moves Made in NCAA Hockey Coaching Ranks

It's been a whirlwind few weeks regarding head coaches in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

Adam Nightingale, a former Spartan skater himself, has had his contract extended after Michigan State won the Big Ten regular-season title, the first such title in program history. According to msuspartans.com, Nightingale's five-year rollover contract includes a non-performance related compensation of $700,000 in the first year, with a a base salary of $600K and supplemental compensation of $100K. Beginning in year two, his supplemental compensation will increase by $25K from the previous year. MSU (22-9-3 overall, 16-6-2 B1G) will entertain Ohio State on Saturday in a Big Ten tournament semifinal contest.

Steve Wiedler has been promoted to head coach at Vermont, after serving as interim coach this season. A former Southern Maine defenseman, he has received a four-year contract (financial terms were not disclosed). A former UVM assistant, he succeeded Todd Woodcroft, who was let go last summer following a university investigation regarding inappropriate conduct. The Catamounts (13-18-3, 7-14-3 HE) play at UConn tonight in a Hockey East tournament first-round elimination game.

Lindenwood has let Rick Zombo go after two seasons as an NCAA Division I independent.  A former national champion at North Dakota, and a 13-year NHL defenseman, Zombo had mentored Lindenwood's ACHA club program since 2010-11, before the Lions entered the NCAA ranks in 2022-23. He also coached the St. Louis franchises in both the NAHL and USHL before joining Lindenwood. 

Bowling Green has parted ways with alumnus Ty Eigner after five seasons. He led the Falcons to an 84-83-11 mark in that span, with their last winning campaign coming in 2020-21. BGSU finished 13-12-1 overall (11-12-1 CCHA) this year, and was eliminated by Michigan Tech in the first round of the CCHA tournament.

Lastly, David Borges is retiring from Stonehill College after 10 seasons at the helm. A UMass Lowell graduate, he compiled a 102-141-24 record overall with the Skyhawks, including the past two seasons as a Division I independent. He also led Stonehill to two Northeast-10 regular-season titles and one league tournament championship in his tenure.

ASU, Lindenwood Record Milestone Victories

It was a tale of two firsts on Friday night in men's college ice hockey.

First, independent Arizona State University christened its brand-new, on-campus, 5,000-seat Mullet Arena with a 2-0 victory over visiting Colgate. Josh Doan, son of retired longtime NHL player Shane Doan, scored the first-ever goal in the new facility, which will also house the NHL's Arizona Coyotes over the next few years. Northeastern transfer TJ Semptimphelter earned the shutout on 30 saves for the host Sun Devils, who played their first seven NCAA Division I seasons out of the 747-seat Oceanside Arena.

That same evening in St. Charles, Mo., some 1,450 miles east, fellow independent Lindenwood University earned its first-ever win as an NCAA Division I program with a 7-6 triumph over visiting Air Force. Ryan Finnegan notched the game-winning goal late in regulation, while Trent Burnham made 39 stops for the Lions, like ASU a former ACHA Division I club power.

Canada Wins 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship

Brianne Jenner (Cornell) scored two goals less than two minutes apart in the second period, and Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) made 20 saves in all, including several in-close in the final minute of play, to lift Canada to a 2-1 victory over the United States on Sunday in the gold medal game of the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship in Denmark.

Abby Roque (Wisconsin) tallied the only goal on the afternoon for Team USA in the final period to cut the deficit to one, which was as close as the the U.S. would get. Nicole Hensley (Lindenwood) stopped 17 shots in net for the Americans, who lost for the first time in the tournament. The U.S. had defeated Canada, 5-2, in round-robin play back on Aug. 30.

It is the first time in 18 years that Canada has won back-to-back Women's World Championships. The win also marked the third gold medal won by the Canadians in just over a year's time, with two World Championships and one Olympic title, all backstopped by Desbiens.

Lindenwood Joining NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey

Lindenwood University will join the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey ranks come this fall, according to an announcement made today by the university based in St. Charles, Mo.

The Lions, who recently won the ACHA Division I national club championship for the fourth time since 2009, will continue to skate out of the 2,500-seat Centene Community Ice Center (CCIC) in Maryland Heights, Mo. Lindenwood has been coached by former NHL defenseman Rick Zombo (North Dakota) since 2012.

Lindenwood iced a women's team beginning in 2011-12, which has competed in the College Hockey America conference since 2012-13. Along with Syracuse, Lindenwood was the only NCAA institution with a Division I women's hockey team that lacked a corresponding men's counterpart.

The Lions become the first NCAA Division I men's hockey program to start up since Long Island University did so in 2020-21. Lindenwood is expected to compete as an independent program, for at least its first season of NCAA competition. Arizona State, which moved from the ACHA to NCAA Division I in 2015, was the last independent to make the NCAA Division I men's tournament, when the Sun Devils qualified in 2019.

Canada Claims 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship

 

Alex Carpenter (Boston College) scored both goals for the United States, but Marie-Philip Poulin (Boston University) notched the game-winner in overtime to lift Canada to a 3-2 victory in the gold medal game of the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship on Tuesday night in Calgary.

Brian Jenner (Cornell) and Jamie Lee Rattray (Clarkson) scored in the second period for Canada to tie the contest, after the U.S. had taken a 2-0 lead in the first 13 minutes of play. Jenner also assisted on Canada's other two goals, while Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) made 23 saves in net for the Canadians. Nicole Hensley (Lindenwood) had 29 stops for the Americans.

It was the first Women's World Championship gold medal for Canada since 2012, its first on home soil since 2007, and its 11th such title overall. The U.S., which had won the last five Women's World Championships, has claimed nine titles since the event began in 1990. The 2018 competition was not held due to the Olympic Winter Games that year, while last year's tournament was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finland won the bronze medal this year with a 3-1 win over Switzerland in the third-place game.

Marie-Philip Poulin