Week 14 Review (Michigan State)
The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies continued their second half of the season this past weekend against in-state rival Michigan State. Michigan State is currently ranked 28th in the country and has been a tough opponent for the Grizzlies over the past few seasons. Coach Stirling and his staff were 6-4-2-1 going into the weekend, which saw Friday night at Buffalo Wild Wings Arena and a Sunday return to Munn Ice Arena on Michigan State’s campus.
In the first game of the series, the Golden Grizzlies jumped out to a 3-1 first-period lead and saw the Spartans slowly find their way back into the game. With a 5-4 lead going into the third, the team would see a goal late from returning defenseman Nathan Rumptz to help seal the 6-5 victory. Scoring in the game for the Grizzlies were Rumptz (x2), Cam Laufer, Ethan Stabnick, Jack Abbo, and Tommy Davis. In goal, Caleb Godlewski made 26 saves in the contest and collected his eighth win of the season. Oakland outshot the Spartans 56-31 in the Friday victory.
After a day off on Saturday, the team returned to Munn Ice Arena for a Sunday afternoon matchup. Oakland would skate to a 0-0 tie after the first period and would then look to take over as two players led the goal-scoring department for the Golden Grizzlies. Laufer and Abbo would combine for four goals in the contest, while the Grizzlies would win the second game of the series by a final score of 4-1. In goal, Max Pierce would make 22 of 23 saves while picking up his 11th win of the season. The Grizzlies would outshoot the Spartans again with shots totaling 65-23 in the contest.
Week 15 Preview (#26 Adrian College)
The Golden Grizzlies’ season continues this upcoming weekend as the team takes on MCHC-East opponent #26 Adrian College. Adrian comes into the weekend competing in a tough series against the University of Michigan, with losing scores of 4-1 and 2-1, respectively. As noted by the rankings and other figures, the Bulldogs enter the weekend with one of their most competitive teams in recent seasons, with a record of 10-7-1. The teams will play at Birmingham on Friday night and then will return to Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian for another Sunday afternoon contest. Going into the series, coach Stirling and his staff are 8-2-2 against Adrian all-time, including a 10-2 and 8-1 victory last season. Adrian is led by head coach Rodney Stewart.
Looking at Adrian: The Bulldogs are made up of many local student athletes and consist of many players in the southern part of the state. Leading the way for the Bulldogs are forwards #18 Maximilian Schadel, who has 26 points in 19 games played so far, and #27 Solyom Andras, who has 20 points. The Bulldogs currently sit in 5th in the MCHC – East standings while ranking 4th in penalty minutes with 283 over the course of their 19 games. In goal for the Bulldogs is returning goalie #31Ryan Rainey. The two-goalie tandem is rounded out with #1 Peyton Lenger.
Below are their numbers through the early portion of the season for all the goalies:
- #31 Ryan Rainey (GP:11, 4-5-1, GAA: 2.26, SV%: 93.2%)
- #1 Peyton Lenger (GP: 8, 6-2-0, GAA: 2.75, SV%: 90.9%)
Other News and Notes
The sixth ranking period of the season will be announced on 2/6/2026 via social media and the ACHA website. The Golden Grizzlies currently sit at #4 in the country after the sweep of Ferris State. The sixth ranking period will include all games played through 2/1/2026, which will be all results, including the Michigan and Michigan State series. 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.
Leaders
Leading in Goals: Shane Arbour (21)
Leading in Assists: Tommy Davis (32)
Leading in Points: Tommy Davis (46)
Goaltending GAA Leader: Max Pierce (1.11)
Goaltending Save Percentage Leader: Max Pierce (96.0%)
Team Power Play Percentage: 20 of 82 (24.39%)
Team Penalty Kill Percentage: 50 of 59 (84.75%)
Men’s Division 3 Out of Town Schedule for Week 15 Relevant Games (Rankings from Ranking #5)
#2 Air Force vs #19 Colorado School of Mines
#25 Purdue vs #22 FGCU
#8 South Carolina vs #1 Middle Tennessee State
#11 GVSU vs #28 MSU
#12 Tampa vs #5 South Florida
#23Fordham vs #32 Farmingdale State
MCHC – East Standings (As of 2/2/2026)
| T1 | Northwood | 6-2-0-0 | 12 |
| T1 | Michigan | 5-2-2-0 | 12 |
| 3 | Oakland | 4-0-2-0 | 10 |
| 4 | LTU | 4-4-1-0 | 9 |
| 5 | Adrian | 2-4-1-1 | 6 |
| 6 | CMU | 0-8-0-0 | 0 |
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