The Washington Capitals college hockey prospects wanted to finish off the fall semester on a high note. With finals week just around the corner, and the calendar year ending, it was important for each of their teams to conclude 2023 with momentum as they make preparations for a grueling second half.
Here is how each of them performed for the final week of the fall semester.
Ryan Leonard, RW, 2023 1st RD, No. 1 Boston College Eagles (13-3-1, 6-2-1)
Leonard and the Eagles played in a top 10 showdown in front of a sellout crowd at Conte Forum against the Providence Friars. The Capitals’ top prospect recently had his nine-game goal scoring streak snapped against Northeastern last weekend and was looking to find his scoring touch once again in a critical matchup.
Leonard once again was a bull in a china shop and continues to make an impact on every single shift. It was a slow first period, but 4:47 into the contest, Leonard was decked from behind by Providence forward Jaroslav Chmelar. Chmelar was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct which put BC on an early man-advantage.
However, the Eagles couldn’t capitalize and headed into the first intermission scoreless. The Friars once again got themselves in penalty trouble and BC eventually made them pay. After taking a 1-0 lead thanks to Will Smith, Leonard had the secondary assist on Gabe Perreault’s power-play tally to make it 2-0 Boston College.
Elf on the shelf.
📺 @NESN
🇨🇦 TSN2
💻 https://t.co/6hEFdiCaU0 pic.twitter.com/G7NX9xVKDI— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) December 9, 2023
Providence scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead midway through the third period, but Cutter Gauthier immediately answered to tie things at three. Boston College would eventually win it 5-4. Leonard led the team with six shots on goal on 11 attempts.
Boston College heads into the break sitting at fourth in the PairWise and second in Hockey East with 19 points. It was only a one game slate this weekend but both teams will be facing off immediately following the holiday break.
David Gucciardi, LD, 2022 7th RD, No. 7 Michigan State Spartans (12-4-2, 7-1-2)
Gucciardi and the Spartans continue to be one of the hottest teams in the country. Michigan State swept the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to close out the first half of Big Ten play.
It was a back-and-forth contest in Game 1, but Michigan State eventually got out to a 3-1 lead in the third period. Notre Dame brought the game back to one, but the Spartans would eventually earn the three points by a 5-2 count. Gucciardi finished the game with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and four shots on goal on five attempts.
He was also a plus-1.
In the series finale, the Spartans dominated for the first 40 minutes. They got out to a 2-0 lead and that was all she wrote despite a late surge by Notre Dame. Gucciardi finished the game with two shots on goal on three attempts and had two shot blocks.
The Spartans currently rank seventh in the PairWise and are first in the Big Ten with 25 points, one point ahead of second place Wisconsin.
Michigan State will be participating in the Great Lakes Invitational in Michigan to close out the calendar year. Michigan State is one of four teams competing in the tournament. Ferris State, Michigan Tech and Alaska Fairbanks will be competing. The Spartans will take on Ferris State for their first game of the tournament on Dec. 28.
Chase Clark, G, 2021 6th RD, Sacred Heart Pioneers (8-7-1, 8-3-0)
Clark had a really rough weekend in Sacred Heart’s non-conference matchup against the Princeton Tigers. The Pioneers were blanked 4-0 in the series opener, and Clark was pulled from the crease for the first time all season after giving up two goals on 23 shots heading into the third period.
Clark would sit in the series-finale and the Pioneers tied with the Tigers 2-2, earning the extra PairWise point in the shootout. The shootout winner for Sacred Heart was a thing of beauty.
The Number 5 play in all of sports on a busy Saturday night? We’ll take it!
Mark Cheremeta: doin’ the thing. #WeAreSHU #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/9pXrmSKWZL
— SHU Hockey (@SHUHockey) December 10, 2023
Clark and the Pioneers sit at 40th in the PairWise and second in Atlantic Hockey with 25 points. They trail first place RIT by two points. Sacred Heart will close out 2023 with another out of conference slate with the No. 16 UNH Wildcats.
Ryan Chesley, RD, 2022 2nd RD, No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-5-4, 5-4-3)
Minnesota is slowly starting to climb the Big Ten standings, but the Gophers still have a long way to go. Chesley and his bunch took on the last placed Ohio State Buckeyes on the road.
However, this was no easy series by any means. Ohio State played a really solid game but had a really tough time in its own zone and Minnesota capitalized on the Buckeyes’ mistakes.
The Gophers got out to a great start in Game 1 thanks to Jimmy Snuggerud’s highlight-reel goal.
Jimmy bleeping Snuggerud@SportsCenter // #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/n55KdPmldt
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) December 8, 2023
Ohio State got off to a 2-1 lead, but Snuggerud tied things on the power play. Despite a late Buckeye surge, Chesley and the Gophers would take the series-opener 5-4. Chesley finished the game with one shot on goal and was a plus-1. He also led the team with six shot blocks.
Game 2 was a much different story. Ohio State got off to a quick 1-0 lead, but the Gophers responded midway through the middle frame thanks to Aaron Huglen’s breakaway tally. Chesley had the primary assist on the goal because of a great heads-up play.
71 ➡️ 7 ➡️ BULLSEYE 🎯 pic.twitter.com/DX3WtQCj2N
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) December 10, 2023
Minnesota would tie with the Buckeyes and fall in the shootout. Chesley finished Game 2 with one shot attempt and had three blocked shots.
The Gophers head into the break sitting third in the Big Ten with 17 points. They also rank 13th in the PairWise. Their next matchup will come on Jan. 7-8 when they host the No. 20 Colorado College Tigers.
Brent Johnson, RD, 2021 3rd RD, Ohio State Buckeyes (5-8-4, 0-8-2)
It continues to be a rough season for Johnson and the Buckeyes as they have yet to earn a Big Ten win. Despite having an overall solid weekend, playing two close games with the No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Buckeyes probably deserved to win the series-opener. They heavily outshot the Gophers 38-25 and 12-4 in the third period alone. However, they had a tough time managing the puck in their own zone and the mistakes led to goals.
In the third period, Johnson had the secondary assist on Damien Carfangna’s goal to make it 5-4 Gophers with five minutes to play in regulation.
Damien Carfagna’s third-period goal to make it a one-goal game. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Bum3q9vOP6
— Ohio State Men’s Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) December 9, 2023
Johnson continues to look strong on his skates and is playing with a lot of confidence with the puck. He was a plus-2 in Game 1 and had four shot attempts.
Game 2 was once again a close contest. Ohio State got out to a 1-0 lead but failed to hold it thanks to more mistakes. Johnson was on the ice for Aaron Huglen’s goal which tied the game at one. The junior blueliner finished the game with three shots on goal on four attempts.
Ohio State got the extra Big Ten point in a shootout but still has a long way to go. The Buckeyes only have four conference points and trail sixth-placed Penn State by seven points. The Buckeyes will take on the Mercyhurst Lakers on Dec. 30 for a quick non-conference matchup.
Joaquim Lemay, LD, 2021 4th RD, Omaha Mavericks (9-5-2, 3-4-1)
Lemay had a quiet weekend in the Mavericks’ series against the No. 14 St. Cloud Huskies. He did not register a point in either game and had a plus/minus rating of -2 in Omaha’s 4-1 loss in Game 1. Defense has been an issue for the sophomore blueliner, but he generated some offense with three shots on goal.
In Game 2, Lemay once again struggled with a minus-2 rating. On St. Cloud’s tying goal, which knotted things up at two, Lemay turned the puck over and couldn’t reach Huskies forward Kyler Kupka in time.
Power forward @Kupper_10 finishes the breakaway! 👊#GoHuskies | #HuskyHockey 🏒 pic.twitter.com/4gCAtpK4vz
— St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey (@SCSUHuskies_MH) December 10, 2023
The Mavericks got the extra point in a shootout and tied with the Huskies 2-2. Lemay had five shot attempts and one shot on goal. Omaha still sits at the middle of the pack in a weak NCHC conference. It is in sixth place with nine points and is currently near the bubble coming in at 23rd in the PairWise.
The Mavericks will take on the UMass-Lowell River Hawks to begin 2024 on Jan. 5.
Other College Hockey Storylines
- Colorado College sweeps No. 1 (now ranked No. 4) North Dakota (3-2OTW, 3-2OTW)
- Dartmouth ties with No. 13 Arizona State (4-4, 1-1)
- Yale defeats Merrimack 5-2 and defeats LIU 5-3
- St. Thomas splits with Minnesota State (3-1L, 2-1W)
- No. 5 Denver splits with No. 12 Western Michigan (7-3L, 6-5OTW)
- No. 6 Wisconsin sweeps No. 19 Penn State (6-3W, 4-1W)
- Mercyhurst splits with Army (4-3L, 4-3W)
- No. 16 UNH defeats RPI 1-0
- Robert Morris sweeps Niagara (4-1W, 3-1W)
- Northern Michigan splits with Michigan Tech (4-2L, 3-1W)
- Quinnipiac defeats LIU 4-2
- UMass sweeps Alaska Anchorage (11-2W, 3-2W)
- Holy Cross defeats UMass Lowell 4-2
- AIC splits with No. 18 RIT (3-2OTW, 5-2L)
https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-mens-poll/
Here is also a link to the PairWise rankings. It will be mentioned very frequently throughout this piece.
https://www.collegehockeynews.com/ratings/ncaapwcr.php
By Jacob Cheris