Week 12
Week 11 Recap (#10 Michigan State University)
The Golden Grizzlies were back in action two weekends ago in their first games from the semester break. #10 Michigan State gave the Grizzlies a good test to begin the second semester of games. The Grizzlies boasted a #2 ranking in the previous ranking period and saw multiple changes to the roster over the break. The top 10 matchup previewed some of the best teams in the ACHA DIII level. The Grizzlies struggled with MSU last season in a loss and a tie during the 2023-2024 campaign.
In the Friday night contest, the Grizzlies were back in action at Buffalo Wild Wings Arena. The Grizzlies saw the first two periods go by and entered the third period down 3-2 at home. The Grizzlies would find two third-period goals early, but MSU was able to force overtime with the game-tying goal coming with three minutes to go in the third period. As fast as overtime would begin, would be as fast as it would end as the opening faceoff led to a scoring chance for the Spartans who capitalized just six seconds into overtime. In his Grizzlies return, forward Connor Crawford notched his first assist in the 2024-2025 season while Brendan Danou, Grand Dickinson, Nicolas Elizarov, and Alex Sharpe would score for the Grizzlies. In goal, Tate Potteiger lost his first game of the season while making 36 saves in the contest.
In the second game of the weekend, the Grizzlies travel to Munn Ice Arena on Michigan State’s campus for the Sunday afternoon battle. The Grizzlies would open the scoring in the first with a 2-0 lead and continue that all the way through with intermission scores of 2-0, 4-3, and winning the game 7-4. Scoring for the Grizzlies in the contest were Crawford (x3), Danou (x2), Abbo and Jules Sainte-Marie. Defending the net for the game was Evan Hays who made 32 of 36 saves in the contest.
After 11 weeks of play (record of 15-2-1-1), the team highlights are below:
Leading in Goals: Brendan Danou (24)
Leading in Assists: Brendan Danou (24)
Leading in Points: Brendan Danou (48)
Team Powerplay: 19 of 62 (30.65%)
Team Penalty Kill %: 64 of 75 (85.33%)
Leader in Wins: Tate Potteiger (8)
Leader in GAA (at least 200 minutes played): Tate Potteiger (1.95)
Leader in Save % (at least 200 minutes played): Caleb Godlewski (93.2%)
Week 12 Preview (#36 Adrian College (8-7-0-0))
The #2 ranked Golden Grizzlies continue their 2024-2025 season this coming weekend with the MCHC-East Rival Adrian College. The Bulldogs have made strides in the past few seasons and have the most competitive team they’ve had in recent memory as they were ranked #36 going into the semester break.
This is the first weekend of games for the Bulldogs in the second semester and their roster shows an improvement in goal at the semester break as the team added Ryan Rainey from the NA3HL. In other action this season, Adrian has won against like opponents Trine and CMU while also having one-goal losses to many of the top ACHA DIII teams including Michigan, LTU, CMU, and Ferris State. Coach Stirling and his staff are an above-average 6-2-2 all-time against the Bulldogs. Adrian currently sits 5th in the MCHC-East standings. In last season’s games, the Grizzlies got the best of the Bulldogs by scores of 8-1 and 9-4.
Adrian is led by forwards #16 James Schmidt (Nashville, TN), #18 Aaron Guibord (Milford, MI), and #7 Evan Bliss (Woodhaven, MI). Schmidt and Guibord lead Adrian with 13 points in the 15 games played so far this season. Returning forward Evan Bliss has 12 points in 15 games so far this season. In net for Adrian has been the tandem of Aidan Knox and Rex Goldberg who have split time throughout the season. The two have combined for the following stat lines:
- #31 Aidan Knox GP: 9, Record of 4-4-0, GAA: 2.82, Save %: 92.80
- #30 Rex Goldberg GP: 5, Record of 2-3-0, GAA: 4.47, Save %: 86.50
As many teams do during the semester break, the Bulldogs appear to have added Ryan Rainey to the roster for the second semester, and #31 Aidan Knox has graduated. The expected starter will be unknown until the weekend games. Friday night’s game is a Birmingham Ice Arena with a return trip on Sunday to Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian.
Other News and Notes:
The fourth-ranking period of the season was announced before the break via social media and the ACHA website. The Golden Grizzlies moved up one spot in the National Rankings and claimed the 2nd spot in Ranking #4. Rankings #5 will be everything played through 1/19/2025 and will include the MSU games and any other action from other teams since the second semester started. The rankings will continue throughout the season on a bi-weekly basis until the final ranking period in February. The top 16 teams with some automatic bids for league winners will make the tournament which is hosted in St. Louis this season. This is the highest the team has been ranked in the fourth-ranking period since the 2016-2017 season.
Out-of-Town Schedule for Week 12 Relevant Games (Rankings from Ranking #4)
Miami of Ohio Showcase
#15 Arizona State, #19 Purdue, #5 Notre Dame, #35 Xavier, #93 Davenport, #28 Miami, #7 Grand Valley and #42 Florida Gulf Coast
Rest of the Slate:
#14 Sacred Heart vs #11 UMass
#16 Missouri State vs #17 Dordt
#1 Hope College vs #49 Ferris State
#43 Indiana vs #4 LTU
#12 Michigan vs #41 U of M – Flint (MCHC East Games)
#37 Central Michigan vs #50 Western Michigan
#32 PennWest vs #58 IUP
MCHC – East Standings (As of 1/21/2025)
| 1 | LTU (5-0-0-0) | 10 |
| 2 | Oakland (4-0-0-0) | 8 |
| 3 | CMU (3-5-0-0) | 6 |
| 4 | Michigan (2-1-0-0) | 4 |
| 5 | Adrian (1-5-0-0) | 2 |
| 6 | U of M – Flint (0-4-0-0) | 0 |
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