By Ryan Stieg
Well, how was your weekend? Mine could have been better.
For the first time ever, I was in real danger of having a winless week. Northern Michigan and Ferris State surprised me by getting wins and St. Thomas ended up splitting its series. Everything came down to the Bemidji State-Augustana series on Saturday night, and that’s when things got interesting.
If you don’t know what happened in Sioux Falls that night, the ice conditions weren’t good enough to play on, so the game ended up being postponed until Sunday afternoon. If it had gotten postponed to a later date, I wouldn’t have been in any danger as cancelled games don’t affect my results. But then Sunday came, and it came down to a shootout. I needed the Beavers to prevail and earn a split to save me for an embarrassing week. Luckily for me, they got the job done.
However, since I only picked one series correctly, I didn’t get to eat cotton candy and reminisce about my time living in Illinois. Sigh, maybe next season. This week’s prize is hot cocoa as Saturday is National Cocoa Day, which is tastier and easier to make than Sunday’s prize, National Bouillabaisse Day.
This is also the last weekend with CCHA conference games until after the holiday break, so I want to go out on a good note before Christmas. Will I be sipping cocoa Sunday afternoon? Let’s find out. Here’s my picks for Week 11 and I’ll start with a series in South Dakota.
No. 14 Minnesota State at Augustana
After an interesting weekend with the Beavers, Augie now hosts the CCHA-leading Mavericks. Mankato has been the most consistent team in the league this year, but it flopped badly Saturday night against Ferris and was handed its first loss since Nov. 1. Still, one bad game doesn’t mean the Mavs have lost their groove. To get points this weekend, the Vikings are going to need to be at their best. I think they do just enough to earn their fourth straight series split. The Mavericks win Friday 3-2, but Augie wins Saturday 4-3.
Michigan Tech at Ferris State
It may not be the main event fo the CCHA weekend, but it’s an interesting matchup. Tech was off last weekend, but it’s had a solid season so far, and the Huskies are the more talented team. However, the Bulldogs pulled a surprise last week by splitting with the Mavericks in Mankato, and Ferris is usually good for a couple of big upsets each year. Remember the Bulldogs’ win over defending national champion Western Michigan back in October? It won’t be an upset of that caliber, but I think Ferris forces a split with Tech. The Bulldogs win Friday 4-3, but the Huskies win Saturday 3-2.
St. Thomas at Northern Michigan
It was a tale of two nights for the Tommies last week. UST got off to a terrible start Friday against Lake Superior State and lost a game it should’ve won. However, the Tommies regrouped and played at the level they normally play at on Saturday and forced a split with the Lakers. Carsen Musser had a good night in net Saturday to get CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors, while forward Nathan Pilling earned Rookie of the Week.
Meanwhile in the Upper Peninsula, the Wildcats finally got their first victory of the season after 16 straight losses. NMU looked good all weekend against Bowling Green and senior Caiden Gault got Forward of the Week for his strong weekend. Can the Wildcats close out their first half with some more points? It’s tempting to pick NMU to split, but I don’t think the Tommies will take the ‘Cats lightly, and they’ll close their first half with two wins. The Tommies sweep the series, winning 5-3 Friday and 6-3 Saturday.
December 19-20
Omaha at Augustana
There’s only one CCHA team in action the following weekend, so I’ll just add Augie’s series to the end of my picks. It’s been an up and down year for the Mavericks aka the Red Cows, but I think the teams are evenly matched. So, I think both teams will get a win this weekend. The Vikings win Friday 4-3, but the Mavericks win Saturday 5-2.