Checking in with the conference leaders in action from January 17-18, 2025 - CHS 1-19-25

It’s the #CollegeHockey Scoreboard Show for January 17-18, 2025. In case you’re wondering, another busy weekend for me on the mic - this time back with the frozen - and I DO MEAN FROZEN - landscape here in Minnesota. Game time temperature on Saturday was ZERO. So here’s the quick hits on what went down on Friday and Saturday. No breakdowns, no analysis, it’s JUST. THE. SCORES. On the Men’s sideIn the Big Ten, #10 Michigan edged #1 Michigan State 3-2 in overtime on Friday, but Michigan State bounced back with a 4-1 win on Saturday.  #3 Minnesota defeated Notre Dame 5-2 on Friday, but Notre Dame rebounded with a 4-3 overtime win Saturday. Michigan State leads the Big Ten with 32 points, one ahead of second-place Minnesota. Ohio State is eight points back of second with 23. In the NCHC, #4 Western Michigan topped #14 North Dakota at The Ralph in both games, 3-2 in overtime and 5-1. #13 Arizona State earned two wins over #15 St. Cloud State, 6-3 and 5-3. Colorado College split with Minnesota-Duluth, winning 7-2 before falling 4-1. Newcomer Arizona State leads with 25 points, one point ahead of second-place Western Michigan. The Broncos have played two less conference games. Omaha’s a point behind Western with 23. In Hockey East, #2 Boston College shut out #6 Providence 3-0 on Friday and completed the sweep with a 4-1 win on Saturday.  #17 UConn beat #5 Maine 4-2 Friday, but the teams tied 3-3 on Saturday, with Maine winning the shootout. #11 Boston University defeated #19 New Hampshire twice, 6-3 and 2-1 in overtime. BU, BC, Maine and UConn are all within four points of one another. BU, BC and Maine have played 13 conference games, while UConn’s played 15. BU leads with 28 points. BC and Maine are tied at 26. In the ECAC, #16 Quinnipiac beat Colgate 6-3 Friday, but Cornell tied Quinnipiac 2-2 Saturday, winning the shootout. Brown defeated #20 Clarkson 4-2 after a 3-2 overtime win against St. Lawrence. Dartmouth topped Union 4-0 Friday and RPI 5-3 Saturday, while Harvard split its weekend, falling 5-2 to RPI and topping Union 4-1.Quinnipiac leads with 28 points, six ahead of second-place Dartmouth, which has two games in hand. Clarkson has three in hand and sits seven points back with Union, but Union’s only got one in hand. Might have to get you a proverb book or something.  In the CCHA, Michigan Tech and #12 Minnesota State split with Tech winning 1-0 in overtime after a 5-2 loss Friday. Bowling Green and Ferris State also split with close victories for both. Northern Michigan’s won three of its last four after starting out 1-18-1 in the first 20 games of the Dave Shyiak era.  The Wildcats swept Bemidji State 4-1 and 3-1, while St. Thomas edged Lake Superior State with an overtime win on Friday and a tie and shootout win on Saturday.  Since Augustana has basically half a conference schedule, the CCHA is using points percentage this year to determine its standings and right now, Minnesota State is standing just below 73 percent, ahead of second-place Augustana which is at the 66666 repeating. In Atlantic Hockey, Sacred Heart swept American International, 5-2 and 6-3. Army West Point defeated Air Force twice, 3-2 and 4-3. Holy Cross won both games against Bentley, 3-2 in overtime and 5-1. Mercyhurst and Niagara split their series, with Mercyhurst winning 5-1 before falling 6-3. Sacred Heart is out in front with 41 points, seven ahead of second-place Bentley, which has two games in hand. In non-conference action, Penn State swept Canisius with wins of 4-0 and 3-2. Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska tied 3-3 Saturday, with UAA taking the shootout in the Governor’s Cup. Alaska Test Represent, Anchorage version. Wisconsin earned a 6-3 win over LIU Friday, followed by a 2-2 tie and a shootout win Saturday.In women’s action: #1 Wisconsin dominated St. Thomas with a 6-1 win before an even more commanding 11-1 victory. #2 Ohio State defeated #4 Minnesota-Duluth twice, 3-1 and 2-1, while #3 Minnesota earned back-to-back wins over Minnesota State, 8-3 and 5-2. Wisconsin’s light years ahead of the field, leading the WCHA with 55 points. Minnesota and Ohio State are tied with 39 points, but Minnesota has two games in hand. Minnesota-Duluth is fourth in the conference, fourth in the nation and fifth in the pairwise.In the ECAC, #5 Colgate beat #10 Quinnipiac 4-2 and later shut out #13 Princeton 4-0. #6 Cornell posted a pair of strong victories, defeating #13 Princeton 6-1 and #10 Quinnipiac 4-1. Yale upset #7 Clarkson 2-1, while Brown edged out #8 St. Lawrence 4-3 and later topped #7 Clarkson 3-2 in overtime. #8 St. Lawrence bounced back with a 1-0 shutout over Yale. Colgate and Cornell are tied atop the ECAC with 33 points each, St. Lawrence is a half-point behind in third. All three teams are in the top eight in the pairwise. In the Atlantic Hockey America, #9 Penn State edged Syracuse 1-0 in overtime and followed with a 4-0 win. Mercyhurst earned two wins over Lindenwood, 3-1 and 5-2. RIT shut out Robert Morris 2-0, but Robert Morris rebounded with a thrilling 5-4 overtime win. Penn State’s firmly in command with 33 points, nine points ahead of second-place Mercyhurst.In Hockey East, #12 Boston College blanked Vermont 3-0. Maine and #15 UConn tied 2-2, with Maine winning the shootout, while #15 UConn returned to take a 3-0 win on Saturday. Providence defeated #15 Northeastern twice, 5-1 and 3-2. New Hampshire upset #14 Boston U. 2-0. Boston College and UConn sit atop of Hockey East with 37 points, with Boston U. one point behind but with a game-in-hand. Northeastern is fourth, four points behind BU. Boston College sits ninth in the pairwise, while the rest of Hockey East is currently outside of the cutline.In the NEWHA, LIU beat Assumption twice, 3-1 and 2-1. St. Anselm beat St. Michael’s 3-1 before losing 2-1 on Saturday. Stonehill tied Sacred Heart 3-3, winning in the shootout, and then shut them out 3-0. LIU and Sacred Heart are tied atop the NEWHA with 36 points. Franklin Pierce is third with 33 points. NEWHA will be a one-bid league this year again. Since Mike McMahon handles the men’s pairwise breakdowns in his newsletter on Mondays, I won’t go that route, but since there isn’t a regular feature on that for the women, here’s my attempt.Current cutline is 10 as Penn State out of Atlantic Hockey America sits seventh. To borrow Mike McMahon’s methodology, the WCHA would have four of the 11 teams - Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth, assuming one of the four there is the conference tournament winner. Give the AQ’s to Penn State out of Atlantic Hockey and Boston College out of Hockey East, despite that race being wide open. The ECAC has four - Cornell, Colgate, St. Lawrence and Quinnipiac. The 11th spot would go to the NEWHA winner. I’m Jason Bryant @jasonmbryant on the socials and leave a rating, review or some feedback on the show at collegehockeyscoreboardpod.com The Sota Pod is dedicated to covering anything & EVERYTHING when it comes to hockey or craft beer in the great state of Minnesota. The Sota Pod (Apple Podcasts): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sota-pod/id1495602444YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thesotapod