By Ryan Stieg
We are entering third week of the 2025 portion of the season and I’m off to a good start. In fact, I came close to achieving my second perfect week of the year, but then Northern Michigan decided to pull a surprise.
I was right that Lake Superior State would split with Michigan Tech, and that Bemidji and Bowling Green would split as well. Everything was going well and I was feeling confident that Minnesota State would sweep the Wildcats up in Marquette. However, the Wildcats took down the mighty Mavericks in what is probably the biggest upset in college hockey this year. Mankato bounced back the next night and blew out NMU to force the split, but the damage was done. As soon as that final horn sounded, I shook my head as I was tempted to predict an upset as Northern always play the Mavericks tough, but I decided against it and the perfect week eluded me.
Life goes on though, and unlike last week, every CCHA team is in action this weekend with only Augustana not playing a conference series. At this point, points are critical every weekend, so things are getting interesting in the league. Let’s get started with a pivotal series up down in southern Minnesota.
Michigan Tech at No. 12 Minnesota State
As I mentioned earlier, the Mavs were upset Friday night by NMU and even though they redeemed themselves Saturday by stomping the Wildcats, they probably want to make a statement this weekend. Beating the Huskies would be a big one, but it won’t be easy as they’ve been playing pretty well for the past six weeks. I think it’ll be a split. Mankato wins Friday 4-2, but Tech wins Saturday 3-2.
St. Thomas at Lake Superior State
The Tommies appear to have found their groove as they’ve won four in a row to open 2025. However, all of those wins came against Lindenwood and Ferris State, two teams that have been struggling this season, so I can understand why some are unimpressed right now. Still, back-to-back sweeps are a nice achievement and getting six more points against the Lakers would be huge as UST tries to keep its home ice hopes alive. LSSU has been a little shaky lately as it’s dropped three of four, but it’s not playing badly. It’s a long trip up to Sault Ste. Marie, so I’m picking a split. The Lakers win Friday 3-2, but the Tommies win Saturday 4-1.
Northern Michigan at Bemidji State
On one side of this series, there’s the Wildcats, who were roaring from inside their cave after their upset win Friday, but then got put to sleep the next night by Mankato. NMU has had a bad season and things aren’t going to change anytime soon. However, one of the positives for the Wildcats is that they’re playing decent right now, so maybe they’re on the verge of emerging from their cave. On the other side, there’s the Beavers, who had a wild weekend in Ohio. Bemidji fell in overtime Friday, but rallied to score twice in the final three minutes to force OT and then won in a shootout Saturday. Could there be another upset? It’s a possibility, but I don’t see it. The Beavers sweep the series, winning Friday 4-1 and Saturday 5-2.
Bowling Green at Ferris State
The Falcons are flying under the radar right now, but they’ve been playing well since early December and are probably a little frustrated after letting a sweep of Bemidji slip away. The Bulldogs probably sympathize with them as they held a 3-2 lead in the third period with five minutes left Saturday, but gave up two goals in those remaining minutes and were handed a sweep by the Tommies. The odds probably favor BG here, but Ferris showed some promise last week and I think it forces a split. The Bulldogs win Friday 4-3, but the Falcons win Saturday 5-2.
Lindenwood at Augustana
This is the only non-conference series as the Vikings host the Lions. Augie was off last week after sweeping a ranked Colorado College team on the road, so it might be a little rusty this weekend. However, if you’re going to be rusty, it’s better to do it against a bad team and that’s what LU is. The Lions may have split with Stonehill last week, but they aren’t getting one against Augie. The Vikings sweep the series, winning 4-1 Friday and 6-2 Saturday.