From the WCHA ….

MADISON, Wis. – Minnesota State, Mankato gained the most ground in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as the Mavericks recorded back-to-back victories against visiting Michigan Tech to add four points to their season total and move within two points of fourth place. The Mavericks followed up a 5-2 victory over the Huskies on Friday night with a 3-2 verdict on Saturday evening, elevating them to seventh place but within just two of the upper division.
    In the two other league series being contested Nov. 27-28, visiting Alaska Anchorage and St. Cloud State came up with big road victories over the two WCHA front-runners on Saturday night to gain weekend splits, with the Seawolves upending host Colorado College, 3-2 (ot) and the Huskies skating past host Denver, 3-2.
    As a result of weekend play, just four points now separate the top six clubs in the WCHA standings. Colorado College (10-3-1, 7-2-1 WCHA) and Denver (9-4-1, 7-2-1 WCHA) remain tied for first with 15 points each, idle Minnesota Duluth (9-4-1, 6-3-1 WCHA) is third with 13 points, and North Dakota (8-4-2, 5-4-1 WCHA), St. Cloud State (6-6-2, 5-4-1 WCHA) and Wisconsin (8-5-1, 5-4-1 WCHA) share the fifth spot with 11 points apiece. Minnesota State (6-7-1, 4-7-1 WCHA) is seventh with nine points, Alaska Anchorage (6-10-0, 4-8-0 WCHA) is eighth with eight points, Minnesota (5-8-1, 3-6-1 WCHA) is ninth with seven, and Michigan Tech (3-9-0, 2-8-0 WCHA) is 10th with four points.
    Outside the conference over the holiday weekend, North Dakota won 4-1 over CCHA-member Ohio State on Friday in the Subway Holiday Classic in Grand Forks and then posted a 5-5 (ot) tie against Miami on Saturday evening, while in the annual College Hockey Showcase, Wisconsin won 7-3 at Michigan State on Friday before falling 3-2 at Michigan on Saturday and Minnesota fell 6-0 at Michigan on Friday before coming back with a 2-1 triumph at Michigan State on Saturday. Through games of Nov. 29, WCHA-member teams now own a collective non-conference mark of 22-12-1 (.639) so far in 2009-10.
    Looking ahead to the first weekend of December (4-5), there will be a full slate of five head-to-head WCHA series as Colorado College and Denver play home-and-home, Michigan Tech travels to Wisconsin, North Dakota visits Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota and Minnesota State play home-and-home, and Alaska Anchorage hosts St. Cloud State.
    At Verizon Wireless Center in Mankato on Saturday, host Minnesota State completed a WCHA sweep of Michigan Tech with a 3-2 victory before 3,448 as left winger Kael Mouillierat scored a pair of goals, including the winner at 3:16 of the second period. The visiting Huskies, trailing 3-0 in the third, received goals from Anthony Schooley at 16:26 and Drew Dobson at 19:47 with an extra attacker.
    At the World Arena in Colorado Springs on Nov. 28, visiting Alaska Anchorage received two goals and an assist from right winger Sean Wiles and the game-winner at 1:00 of overtime from center Daniel Naslund to spring a 3-2 WCHA upset on host Colorado College before 7,121. Also for UAA, winger Mickey Spencer and defenseman Trevor Hunt both had two assists while Jon Olthuis had 26 saves in nets. For the Tigers, winger Stephen Schultz and defenseman Nate Proesser each had a goal and an assist.
    At Magness Arena on Saturday evening, visiting St. Cloud State upended Denver, 3-2, to gain a split of their series as winger Tony Mosey scored a pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner at 11:55 of the third period, and winger Ryan Lasch added a goal and an assist. For the Pioneers, Tyler Ruegsegger notched a pair of third period goals to close the gap to one with 2:30 remaining. In nets, Dan Dunn had 26 stops for SCSU while Marc Cheverie had 24 for DU.
    At Ralph Engelstad Arena on Saturday night, host North Dakota and Miami battled to a 5-5 overtime tie before 11,425 in the Subway Holiday Classic. The host Sioux, behind a pair of second period goals from winger Danny Kristo (2g, 1a), overcame a 2-1 deficit to take a 5-3 advantage into the third period. Also for UND, defenseman Ben Blood and forward Jason Gregoire each had a goal and an assist.
    And in the annual College Hockey Showcase on Nov. 28, visiting Minnesota used goals from forwards Jordan Schroeder in the second period and Mike Carman in the third and had 37 saves from Kent Patterson to defeat host Michigan State, 2-1, before 4,751 at Munn Arena while Wisconsin fell 3-2 at Michigan before 6,702 at Yost Ice Arena. Scoring for the UW were centers Blake Geoffrion and Derek Stepan.

This Week in the WCHA

Results of Friday, November 27: *Wisconsin 7 at Michigan State 3 (nc); * Minnesota 0 at Michigan 6 (nc); Alaska Anchorage 0 at Colorado College 5 (WCHA); St. Cloud State 3 at Denver 5 (WCHA); Michigan Tech 2 at Minnesota State 5 (WCHA); #Ohio State 1 at North Dakota 4 (nc). *College Hockey Showcase; #Subway Holiday Classic (Grand Forks, ND)
Results of Saturday, November 28: *Minnesota 2 at Michigan State 1 (nc); Alaska Anchorage 3 at Colorado College 2 ot (WCHA); St. Cloud State 3 at Denver 2 (WCHA); Michigan Tech 2 at Minnesota State 3 (WCHA); *Wisconsin 2 at Michigan 3 (nc); #Miami 5 at North Dakota 5 ot (nc). *College Hockey Showcase; #Subway Holiday Classic (Grand Forks, ND)

Next Week in the WCHA

Games for Friday, December 4
St. Cloud State at Alaska Anchorage (WCHA), 7:07 pm AT
Michigan Tech at Wisconsin (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT
North Dakota at Minnesota Duluth (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT
Minnesota State at Minnesota (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT
Denver at Colorado College (WCHA), 7:37 pm MT
Games for Saturday, December 5
St. Cloud State at Alaska Anchorage (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT
Colorado College at Denver (WCHA), 7:07 pm MT
Michigan Tech at Wisconsin (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT
North Dakota at Minnesota Duluth (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT
Minnesota at Minnesota State (WCHA), 7:07 pm CT