By Ryan Stieg
Last week was the start of a new month, but unfortunately, things continued to stay the same when it came to my CCHA predictions.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve come painfully close to achieving the elusive perfect week with my picks and going into last weekend, I was confident that I’d finally pull it off. Well as it turned out, I ended up having a decent week, but not anywhere close to perfection.
I was right that Bowling Green and Michigan Tech would split, and that Minnesota State and Lake Superior State would do the same. Technically, the Mavericks got a win and a tie against the Lakers, so my special rule came into play, and I picked up two victories. However, I whiffed on both Augustana-Northern Michigan and St. Thomas-Ferris State. The latter was particularly painful as an awful second period Friday caused the Tommies to split with the Bulldogs instead of sweeping them.
As a result, my quest for perfection continues and this week might be my best chance to do it as I only have three series to predict since the Tommies are having a home and home weekend with Minnesota State. So, here’s my picks for Week 10 in the CCHA and I’ll start off with a rivalry series that I’m very familiar with.
Northern Michigan vs. Michigan Tech (at Houghton Fri., at Marquette Sat.)
These two teams hate each other and now, those flames of hatred get fanned again. Tech is in second place in the CCHA standings and seems on the cusp of putting it all together after an inconsistent first half. NMU has also been battling some inconsistency and struggled last week against Augie at home. During my time in the U.P., the Huskies were the victors most of the time, but now that I’ve left, it’s been a little more balanced. So, I’m picking a split. Tech wins Friday 4-2, but the Wildcats win Saturday 3-1.
Lake Superior State at Bemidji State
I’ve been trying to figure out the Lakers for a while now and after watching them in person, my conclusion is that they’re better than last year’s team, but still a step behind the rest of the league. LSSU’s looked really good at times, but other times, the Lakers are showing their youth. Bemidji, on the other hand, was off last week and seems to be going through this weird trend of looking pretty good on Friday and awful on Saturdays. I think the weekend off will help recharge the Beavers, but they’ll still split the series. The Beavers win Friday 4-3, but the Lakers rebound Saturday 3-2.
Ferris State at Bowling Green
After all the preseason drama and the terrible start, I think the Falcons are on the verge of taking off. BG has split its last three series and from what I’ve seen, it’s looked pretty good overall. Now, the Falcons take on Ferris who is currently in last place. The Bulldogs split with the first place Tommies last week, but that was mostly due to UST making mistakes Friday night than Ferris outplaying them. The Tommies then bounced back and thumped Ferris 7-1 the next night. So, I’m not sold on the Bulldogs, and I think BG gets its first sweep. The Falcons win Friday 5-3 and Saturday 4-1.