The Washington Capitals’ college prospects once again had another successful week. Though some had bye weeks and are battling injuries, the ones that played came up big in critical situations. This season has gone by quickly and there has been so much excitement as the first half of the season ends. 

 Here is how all six student-athletes performed in week seven of the NCAA season.

Ryan Leonard, F, 2023 1st RD, No. 2 Boston College Eagles (9-2-1, 4-1-1)

 Unfortunately, Leonard had his four-game goal streak snapped, but is currently riding a six-game point streak. The eighth overall pick had two assists in the Eagles’ sweep over the UConn Huskies.

In Game 1, Leonard thought he had scored the opening tally on the power play, but it was eventually awarded to Andre Gasseau on the deflection. 

All 9️⃣ does is score.

💻 https://t.co/N5Plv2Ajf3 pic.twitter.com/ePQY73YCT4

— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) November 18, 2023

Boston College would get out to a 3-1 lead, but the Huskies would battle back to score three unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead. However, Cutter Gauthier forced overtime and eventually got the game winner giving the Eagles a 5-4 overtime win in the series opener.

 Leonard had three shots on goal but took a minor penalty and was a minus-1.

Game 2 was a back-and-forth contest, but Boston College goaltender Jacob Fowler was the difference. He stopped all 31 UConn shots, and the Eagles would go on to win 3-0 to earn the sweep. Leonard had the primary assist on Oskar Jellvik’s empty net goal.

Leonard had two minor penalties but was a plus-2 and had three shot attempts.

Boston College will have two non-conference matchups on the road. The Eagles will travel to South Bend to battle against the No. 18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Nov. 24 and then will face off against the Harvard Crimson on Nov. 26.

The Eagles are currently third in Hockey East. 

David Gucciardi, LD, 2022 7th RD, No. 7 Michigan State Spartans (10-3-1, 5-0-1)

Gucciardi continues to battle with an injury he sustained back on Oct. 27 against Boston College. The Spartans had a very impressive weekend, sweeping the then-ranked No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers.

The Spartans took Game 1 4-2 and then completed the sweep with a 3-2 victory. 

Michigan State has now won five out of its last six contests and is first in the Big Ten with 16 points. The Green and White will travel to Mariucci to face off against the No. 6 Minnesota Golden Gophers for a top 10 showdown.  

Chase Clark, G, 2021 6th RD, Sacred Heart Pioneers (5-5-1, 5-2-1)

Sacred Heart had a bye week and will be back in action on Nov. 24-25 against the Robert Morris Colonials. Clark and the Pioneers have won four out of their last five games after starting the season 1-4. The sophomore netminder is 5-5-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.

Ryan Chesley, RD, 2022 2nd RD, No. 6 Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-4-2, 2-3-1)

Minnesota has been struggling with consistency during the first half of the season. This past weekend was no different as they split with the No. 18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

In Game 1, Chesley was a minus-1 and had two shots on goal. The goal that he allowed was about two minutes after Minnesota took the lead. He was caught in a two-on-one situation and was a little soft on his gap control.

🚨 Start to finish, it was a great night to be Irish 🚨#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/tr1nGgPk6B

— Notre Dame Hockey (@NDHockey) November 18, 2023

The Irish took the series opener 4-2.

However, Chesley and the Gophers rebounded in the series finale. The sophomore blueliner finally got his first goal of the season in the second period. After evading Irish forward Cole Knuble, who did not have his stick, Chesley ripped a short-side snapshot over the glove side of Notre Dame goaltender Ryan Bischel.

ooooooooooo

weeeeeeeee pic.twitter.com/V2AXhvkzSf

— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) November 19, 2023

That turned out to be the game-winning tally as Minnesota would defeat Notre Dame and earn the split 4-1. Chesley also had three shots on goal on five shot attempts. He currently leads the Gophers with a plus/minus rating of +8.

The Gophers are currently sixth in the Big Ten and will take on the No. 7 Michigan State Spartans for a top 10 showdown on Nov. 24 and Nov. 26. 

Brent Johnson, RD, 2021 3rd RD, Ohio State Buckeyes (3-5-3, 0-5-1)

After a much-needed bye week, the Buckeyes will look to end their three-game skid when they take on the Princeton Tigers for their third non-conference matchup.

Johnson currently has four points (three goals, one assist) in 11 games with the Buckeyes. His three goals are second on the team. 

Ohio State currently sits dead last in the Big Ten and have yet to pick up a regulation win in conference play. 

Joaquim Lemay, LD, 2021 4th RD, Omaha Mavericks (6-3-1, 2-2-0)

Lemay continues to have a strong sophomore campaign. The sophomore blueliner is currently on a four-game point streak with five points (two goals, three assists) over that timespan.

He was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week for week six of the season after a three point weekend against the LIU Sharks. 

The Mavericks had a very interesting weekend against the then-ranked No. 3 Denver Pioneers. In Game 1, Omaha got off to an early 1-0 lead and Lemay had the primary assist on Ray Fust’s opening tally. But it was all Denver after that, and the Pioneers would go on to take the series opener 8-4.

Along with his assist, Lemay had three shot attempts and one shot on goal.

Game 2 was where the fun happened. The first period was scoreless, but before the second period began, it was announced that the game was suspended due to ice conditions. The two teams would reconvene Sunday afternoon to resume play.

After that mishap, the Mavericks got the scoring parade started with a 2-0 lead. But Denver would not go away quietly. The Pioneers battled back to tie the game at two. 

Omaha took a 3-2 lead with about three minutes to go in the second. Then with three seconds to go in the middle stanza, Lemay found a rebound and buried it giving the Mavericks a 4-2 lead.

Beatin the Buzzer😏#OmahaHKY pic.twitter.com/LuVtbPFF9j

— Omaha Hockey (@OmahaHKY) November 19, 2023

That would turn out to be the game winner as the Mavericks would upset Denver 4-3 earning a huge three points.

Lemay and the Mavericks will be back in action on Nov. 24-25 for a home-and-home slate against the Augustana Vikings.

Other College Hockey Storylines

• No. 19 Penn State splits with No. 14 Michigan (6-5L, 5-3W)
• Bemidji State splits with Minnesota State (5-1L, 7-6W)
• No. 12 UNH sweeps Northeastern (4-2W, 4-0W)
• No. 5 Boston University sweeps No. 10 Maine (3-2W, 5-4W)
• Army splits with Canisius (6-4L, 2-1W)
• No. 11 UMass sweeps No. 9 Providence (3-2W, 2-1OTW)
• Ferris State splits with Michigan Tech (3-2OTW, 3-2L)
• Northern Michigan sweeps Alaska-Fairbanks (3-1W, 3-1W)
• No. 13 Arizona State sweeps Alaska Anchorage (4-3W, 3-0W)
• No. 17 St. Cloud sweeps Minnesota-Duluth (2-1W, 6-5W)
• No. 1 North Dakota sweeps Miami (OH) (6-4W,5-1W)
• No. 3 Quinnipiac beats No. 16 Cornell (8-4W) and Colgate (7-4W)
• UMass-Lowell beats Merrimack (3-2OTW)
• No. 15 Western Michigan sweeps Colorado College (3-1W, 4-0W)
• Lake Superior State splits with Bowling Green (5-3L, 4-3OTW)

https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-mens-poll/

 By Jacob Cheris