Around Big Ten (Hockey): Week 4
Big Ten hockey is heating up with conference play, so let’s check in on each team’s most recent performance.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions faced off against the St. Thomas Tommies over the weekend and were expected to have no road bumps.
There weren’t any road bumps in the first game as Penn State took the 6-2 win. Game two was a little different as Penn State didn’t play their best hockey. St. Thomas took advantage of the struggling Nittany Lions forcing overtime with a 2-2 score after the third period.
Connor McMenamin already tallied a goal earlier in the game and took it upon himself to net the game-winner after a great save and assists by Noah Grannan. Penn State swept the series and moved up to No. 16 in the USCHO rankings with a 6-0-0 record.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes took care of Bentley with a sweep and improved to 6-1-1.
A 9-2 and 3-1 win were enough to get it done against the Falcons with Jakub Dobes having a really good series.
Dobes carries a 1.80 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. He looks to improve even more off of last season where he had a 2.26 goals against average and .934 save percentage.
Ohio State moves up five spots to No. 11 in this week’s rankings.
Michigan
The Wolverines swept Lake Superior State but fell in the rankings going from No. 5 to No. 6.
Adam Fantilli leads the entire NCAA with 15 points, scoring 2.5 points per game.
He’s only a freshman and is one of the prime candidates for the Hobey Baker Award, the award given to the league’s most valuable player. Fantilli won Big Ten’s First Star of the Week as he scored a hat trick over the weekend.
Michigan State
The Spartans had no problem taking care of the Long Island University Sharks over the week, winning 3-1 and then 8-4.
Forward Jagger Joshua scored his first hat trick as well and tallied four points earning himself Third Star accolades.
Minnesota
The No. 1 ranked Golden Gophers split their weekend series against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in a top-ten matchup.
Minnesota pulled off a dramatic 3-2 overtime win in the first game with a goal from Matthew Knies.
In the second game, the now-ranked No. 6 Fighting Hawks got their revenge and flipped the script, winning 5-4 in overtime.
Notre Dame
No. 12 Fighting Irish went back and forth with Western Michigan splitting their series with a 2-0 win and a 4-0 loss.
Notre Dame sits at 3-2-1 and looks to prove that they’re still a powerhouse in the Big Ten. The Fighting Irish will get a shot to climb the standings even more with their matchup against Michigan State this weekend.
Wisconsin
The Badgers got the upset and the sweep against the No. 10 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. The sweep moved the Bulldogs all the way down to No. 19 in the rankings.
Wisconsin Badgers goaltender Jared Moe won Second Star of the Week, stopping 73-of-75 shots fired his way. The senior put up a 35-save shutout in game two, helping the Badgers with the sweep.
Wisconsin will see another test again as they welcome the Nittany Lions this weekend.
Anthony Desher is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acd5698@psu.edu.
