Thursday, October 24, 2024

Men’s Notes: Muthersbaugh Gives Garnet Chargers Early Jolt

Freshman Forward Erupts with 3-Goal, 7-Point Weekend

In 2023-24, a veteran-laden Union squad received only two goals from its freshman class. Last weekend, first-year forward Ben Muthersbaugh (Gilford, N.H.) managed to eclipse that production in one night.

Muthersbaugh collected his first collegiate hat trick and dished out four assists, finishing the weekend with seven points in a non-conference sweep of Mercyhurst. For good measure, he also totaled 13 shots on goal with a plus-5 rating.

With the Garnet Chargers trailing 1-0 late in the first period of Friday’s series opener, Muthersbaugh struck for his first two NCAA goals just 11 seconds apart in the final minute of the frame. He doled out a pair of helpers in the third period to give Union a 5-2 cushion, then completed the hat trick midway through the stanza to cap a 6-2 victory.

The following night, Muthersbaugh set up a pair of power-play tallies that gave Union a 2-1 lead in an eventual 3-2 win.

When the smoke had cleared, Muthersbaugh found himself in a four-way tie atop the national scoring leaderboard with upperclassmen Noah Beck (Arizona State), Jack Devine (Denver) and Cole O’Hara (UMass). As a result, he garnered ECAC Forward and Rookie of the Week honors.

Muthersbaugh and the Garnet Chargers, off to a 4-1-0 start to the season, will open ECAC Hockey play this weekend in a home-and-home series with RPI.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

Bangor Daily News: UMaine hockey continues to find different ways to win

Boston Globe: Everybody comes out a winner as BU and Harvard skate to an exhibition tie

College Hockey News: Team of the Week: Augustana

College Hockey News: New coach, new roster, Northern Michigan builds a new culture

Duluth News Tribune: Young Bulldogs have plenty of room, time to improve

EP Rinkside: Colorado College looking to get back into NCAA Tournament

NHL.com: NCAA Notebook: Hagenses among brother combinations playing college hockey this season

St. Cloud Live: This weekend will be a homecoming for Augustana’s Garrett Raboin, Brady Ziemer

USCHO: Augustana off to hot start as Vikings’ youthful players bring ‘appreciation for the opportunity’

USCHO: Battling leukemia, Union broadcaster DuBrey upbeat as team ‘going to compete hard for him’

USCHO: Maine looks to break Matthews Arena hex this weekend against Northeastern

USCHO: Robert Morris knows ‘every game is a different challenge for a young team’

USCHO: PSU ‘not sure we have anything to prove to anybody else, but we certainly do to ourselves’

Must Hear:

CHN Insiders: Featuring Augustana head coach Garrett Raboin

College Hockey Today: A Banner Weekend

ECAC Hockey Decision Makers: Featuring RPI head coach Dave Smith

Hockey on Campus: Featuring Augustana head coach Garrett Raboin

Inside Atlantic Hockey: Featuring RIT head coach Wayne Wilson

Parting Schotts: Union coach Josh Hauge looks back at Mercyhurst games, previews RPI matchups

Pucks in Deep: Featuring Michigan State junior F Karsen Dorwart

‘Sader Stories: Featuring Tyler McGregor

The CCHA Show: Featuring Augustana’s Payton Matsui, Northern Michigan’s Tanner Latsch

The Pipeline Show: Featuring Duluth News Tribune reporter Matt Wellens

Talking Hockey Sense: NHL prospect check-ins

UND Hockey Podcast: Highly ranked opponents are coming

USCHO Weekend Review: Looking at sweeps, upsets in mostly non-conference weekend

Must Watch:

Spartans All-Access: Featuring sophomore G Trey Augustine

Rank and File:

NHL Central Scouting released its annual list of preliminary players to watch earlier this week, and three current NCAA freshmen received ‘A’ ratings as potential first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Boston College F James Hagens (Hauppauge, N.Y.), Wisconsin D Logan Hensler (Woodbury, Minn.) and Arizona State F Cullen Potter (Hortonville, Wis.) were among those receiving ‘A’ ratings, as was Boston University defense recruit Charlie Trethewey (Woodbine, Md.).

Last summer, Macklin Celebrini (Boston University) and Artyom Levshunov (Michigan State) went 1-2 to San Jose and Chicago, respectively, in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Block-toberfest:

There have been 18 shutouts pitched by goaltenders heading into this weekend’s play, doubling the nine goose eggs that had been posted at this same time last season. In fact, the 18 shutouts so far in October have already surpassed the 15 totaled in all of October 2023.

A trio of netminders – all sophomores – have already logged a pair of shutouts this month: Boston College’s Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.), Augustana’s Josh Kotai (Abbotsford, British Columbia) and St. Cloud State’s Isak Posch (Umeå, Sweden).

Merrimack has already had two different goalies log shutouts, and both did so in their respective NCAA debuts. Max Lundgren (Fr., Angelholm, Sweden) stopped all 27 shots he faced in a 1-0 win at Minnesota State on Oct. 11, and teammate Ryan Keyes (Fr., Fairbanks, Alaska) made 19 stops in a scoreless tie with New Hampshire last Friday.

According to College Hockey News reporter Mike McMahon, it’s the first time in at least 22 years a team has had multiple freshmen earn a shutout in their respective debuts.

Century Club:

Ohio State graduate F Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (East Greenwich, R.I.), Clarkson senior F Ayrton Martino (Toronto) and Providence graduate F Nick Poisson (Vancouver, British Columbia) all enter the weekend closing in on 100 career points.

Fontaine sits at 98 career points, while Martino and Poisson are right behind with 97 and 96 points, respectively.

Those three are looking to join an exclusive group of active NCAA Division I men’s players in the 100-point club, which currently includes Arizona State’s Lukas Sillinger (125 points), Denver’s Jack Devine (115), North Dakota’s Carter Wilkie (112) and Maine’s Lynden Breen (102).

Fit to Print:

“It was so inspiring to see guys lay their body on the line for our overall goal of trying to win that game. If we have that buy-in every single night, I said it in the locker room, I don’t know who can beat us when we play like that.”

— Minnesota State junior G Alex Tracy after his teammates blocked an NCAA season-high 34 shots in Saturday’s 3-0 shutout of No. 5 North Dakota (source: MSUMavericks.com).

NHL Note of the Week:

Heading into Thursday night’s slate, several NCAA alumni led the National Hockey League in major statistical categories, including Colorado D Cale Makar (UMass, 2017-19), who tops the entire NHL in points (14) and assists (12):

Category	Leader, Team (alma mater)	Total
Points	Cale Makar, Colorado (UMass)	14
Assists	Cale Makar, Colorado (UMass)	12
Plus/Minus	Cole Koepke, Boston (Minnesota Duluth)	+10
Power-Play Goals	Ross Colton, Colorado (Vermont)	3 (tied)
	Shayne Gostisbehere, Carolina (Union)	3 (tied)
Goals by Defenseman	Shayne Gostisbehere, Carolina (Union)	4
Goals by Rookie	Seamus Casey, New Jersey (Michigan)	3 (tied)
Wins	Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg (UMass Lowell)	5
Save Pct.	Alex Lyon, Detroit (Yale)	.955

NHL Note of the Week II:

Tampa Bay F Jake Guentzel (Omaha, 2013-16) needs just two more points to reach 500 for his NHL career. In his first year with the Lightning, the former Penguins stalwart has two goals and seven points in his first six games.

Only five players from the 2013 NHL Draft class have scored more career points than Guentzel, who was a three-year collegiate star at Omaha.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

St. Lawrence has already tallied an NCAA-leading eight power-play goals (in 23 opportunities), already putting the Saints one-third of the way to the 24 PPG they scored all of last season … Michigan Tech is inducting former Huskies John Scott (2002-06) and Shawn Harrison (1986-90) … into the Michigan Tech Sports Hall of Fame this weekend … Denver raised its 2024 NCAA championship banner last Saturday in front of a Magness Arena-record crowd of 7,051 on Saturday. DU drew 13,888 to the two-same series against Northeastern, also a Magness Arena record … Augustana’s sweep at No. 12 Omaha was the first road sweep in Vikings program history … Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik (Wisconsin, 1986-90) picked up his 199th and 200th NCAA victories in the Buckeyes’ sweep at Wisconsin last weekend.

Longest Active Point Streaks:

5 games, F Kenny Connors (UMass)
- 0-7—7, began Oct. 5 at Bentley
5 games, F Cole O’Hara (UMass)
- 3-6—9, began Oct. 5 at Bentley
5 games, D Jack Budd (Canisius)
- 1-5—6, began Oct. 5 at Clarkson

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Luke Mobley (Augustana)
- 4-0—4, began Oct. 11 vs. LIU
4 games, F Max Montes (Ohio State)
- 5-0—5, began Oct. 11 vs. AIC

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!