Week 11
Semester Recap
The Golden Grizzlies completed the first-semester last month and were proud to come away with two wins against MCHC – East opponent U of M – Flint in the final weekend of the 2024 calendar year. The Grizzlies finished the semester ranked 2nd in the country only behind MCHC foe Hope College in the National Tournament picture.
The Grizzlies saw the first semester end with a record 14-2-1, the best semester the program has had since the 2015-2016 season. The program also would see the first Golden Grizzly to lead the country in points since the 2015-2016 season in forward Brendan Danou. Danou has put together quite the season so far with 44 points in 17 games with help from linemates Jack Abbo and Shane Arbour. In goal for the Grizzlies, Tate Potteiger leads the way with a 1.63 GAA and has been the backstop for the team who only allowed 28 goals in the first semester. This is also the best the program has seen since the 2015-2016 season. In their first season with the program, newcomers Grant Dickinson, Ben Johnson, and Grant Stocker made an impact for the Grizzlies.
Week 11 Preview (#10 Michigan State University)
The #2 ranked Golden Grizzlies continue their 2024-2025 season this coming weekend with the first weekend of the second semester with a pair of games against #10 Michigan State University (11-6-1). Michigan State has consistently been a top-15 team in the country, providing a good test for the Grizzlies. Last season saw the Grizzlies lose the home game by a score of 6-1 and tie the Spartans on the second night with a score of 2-2.
On the last weekend of the first semester, MSU played divisional opponent Davenport and won those contests while playing U of M – Flint prior to winning those as well. In other action this season, the Spartans are 6-2 against opponents on the Grizzlies schedule. Those two losses are against #1 Hope College in league action. Coach Stirling and his staff are 5-4-2 against MSU all-time. Friday’s game is at Buffalo Wild Wings Arena while the Grizzlies will wait until Sunday to return the trip to Munn Ice Arena.
MSU is led by forwards #9 Jack Ceccacci (17 GP, 25 Points) and #12 Garrick Smith (17 GP, 22 Points). The tandem has accounted for over 22% of the teams’ goals this season. In net for the Spartans has been goaltender #29 Ryan Smith who has played in 12 of the team’s 18 games so far this season. His stat line is below:
- #29 Ryan Smith GP: 12, Record of 6-4-1-1, GAA: 3.04, Save %: 90.14
Other News and Notes:
The 4th ranking period of the season was announced at the end of the semester 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. 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 4th ranking period since the 2016-2017 season.
Player Transactions:
As with most semesters around the ACHA, there were plenty of moves for the Golden Grizzlies during the holiday break. Please see below for transactions that occurred during the break:
Additions:
#71 Brody Plant (F)
#91 Connor Crawford (F)
Subtractions:
#40 Dylan McMullen
#16 Logan Eland
#18 Patrick Axworthy
#72 Griffin Nikolic
#74 Dominic Alter
#88 Dominic Ruiz
Out of Town Schedule for Week 11 Relevant Games (Rankings from Ranking #4)
Northwestern Showcase:
#37 Central Michigan
#69 Northwestern
#43 Indiana
Other Weekend Series’:
#62 Illinois State vs #39 Wisconsin
#6 Calvin vs #4 LTU
#1 Hope vs #93 Davenport
#24 Saint Vincent vs #42 FGCU
#9 Colorado School of Mines vs #51 University of Nebraska Omaha
MCHC – East Standings (As of 1/7/2025)
| 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 |
Please visit our website https://oaklandhockeyd3.acha.hockeytech.com for more information about game times, stats, and more.