By Ryan Stieg
After a fairly good first half of the season, I was hoping to start off the second half on a good note and I did for the most part.
I was right that Michigan Tech would finish third at the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup and I was also correct that UMass Lowell would win the tournament. Now that the non-conference tournaments have come to an end, I hope there’s more of these next year as I tend to do well picking them correctly. As far as non-tourney series go, I was also right that St. Thomas would sweep Lindenwood on the road, so like me, the Tommies are off to a solid start to 2025.
Now, with the exception of Augustana, it’s just conference games from here on out, so the games matter even more to the CCHA squads. So, with the race for home ice starting off this weekend, let’s get going with the only series involving a ranked team.
No. 12 Minnesota State at Northern Michigan
The Mavericks were off last weekend and are coming off a surprising 5-5 exhibition tie with St. Norbert in Wisconsin, so I’m sure they’ll want to make up for that against the Wildcats. Mankato leads the CCHA right now, both in points and in the weird point percentage column, and they have a great chance to build on that lead against a bad NMU team. The ‘Cats usually play the Mavericks tough, so there’s a chance MSU could stumble. However, I think the talent gap is too wide for that to happen. Mankato sweeps the series, 4-2 Friday and 5-2 Saturday.
Lake Superior State at Michigan Tech
This could be a fun one. Tech has performed well the past two weeks in non-conference tournaments, so the Huskies have a little momentum going. The Lakers, on the other hand, were just swept at home by Bowling Green, so they’re heading to Houghton wanting to redeem themselves. I think the two squads are evenly matched, so I’m picking a split. The Lakers win Friday 3-2, but Tech wins Saturday 4-1.
Bemidji State at Bowling Green
The Beavers handled Manitoba pretty easily in an exhibition last weekend, so they’re coming to Ohio fresh and confident. However, the Falcons are probably even more confident as they’re on a five-game winning streak and just swept LSSU. This is a toss-up series, so I’m playing it safe and predicting a split. BG wins Friday 4-3, but Bemidji wins Saturday 3-1.