Joe Colborne and Denver swept No. 2 North Dakota

The clash of the titans in Denver did not disappoint, but the third-ranked Pioneers were able to pull off a sweep of No. 2 North Dakota behind some outstanding goaltending from junior Marc Cheverie. On Friday, he made 34 saves and pitched his nation-leading fourth shutout of the season, while freshman forward Drew Shore provided the game's only score. North Dakota scored the first two goals on Saturday, but DU would rally thanks to a phenomenal effort from sophomore forward Joe Colborne. He scored twice early in the second and then provided the primary assist on a goal by junior forward Kyle Ostrow that would prove to be the game-winner. Colborne had several other chances and finished the game having put 11 shots on goal. UND had the apparent game-tying goal waived off with 43.9 seconds left in the game, and Denver held on for victory in a game where all five goals were scored with a man advantage. Both games drew capacity crowds of greater than 6,000.

Cheverie - a 2006 draft pick of the Florida Panthers - has been undisputedly the most-impressive goaltender in college hockey this season. He stands 7-0-0 and holds healthy leads among all DI players in both goals-against average (1.19; next best is 1.45) and save percentage (.961; next is .943).

The other series between ranked teams over the weekend saw 14th-ranked Notre Dame cool off one of the hottest teams in the country, No. 6 Michigan State. On Thursday, both defenses fluorished and the result was a 1-1 draw that eventually saw the Fighting Irish prevail in the shootout. The rivals - who played in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in both 2007 and '08 - then faced off on Sunday in one of the venues that will host an NCAA regional this season, the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind. In that contest, MSU had a 28-16 advantage in shots, but Notre Dame posted a 4-1 victory that was highlighted by senior defenseman Kyle Lawson recording a pair of assists and finishing with a plus-4 rating.

Fifth-ranked Cornell had a big weekend of action and split its games against ranked squads. The Big Red scored the game's first four goals and eventually won by a 5-2 score over 19th-ranked Princeton on Friday. Senior Blake Gallagher (2-1) and junior Joe Devin (0-3) led Cornell offensively and both finished with plus-3 ratings, while senior Cam MacIntyre had both goals for the Tigers. On Saturday, No. 13 Quinnipiac took control early and survived a pair of late goals by Cornell to take a 3-2 road victory that would propel the Bobcats to a program-best national ranking of ninth this week. QU then stayed hot, scoring five times in the second period - including two markers from freshman defenseman Loren Barron - en route to a 5-1 victory against Princeton on Wednesday. It was Quinnipiac's seventh consecutive victory and gave the Tigers a four-game winless streak (0-3-1).

One team to top Princeton during that stretch was Colgate. On Saturday, the Tigers tied the game at 18:36 of the third, but junior forward Francois Brisebois netted his second goal of the game two minutes into overtime to give the Raiders a 5-4 victory. Princeton - which had won six in a row against Colgate - held a hefty 47-27 advantage in shots and got a pair of goals from Dan Bartlett. That propelled the Raiders into this week's national rankings at No. 20, but now-No. 7 Cornell scored twice in the final six minutes to earn a 4-2 win over Colgate on Tuesday night. CU, which was playing a (different) ranked team for the fourth consecutive game, took 10 more shots (30-20) than the Big Red.

Also on Tuesday, No. 10 Massachusetts trailed 18th-ranked Vermont 2-1 in the second before scoring five straight goals for a 6-2 win. Sophomore forward Casey Wellman had a hat trick, while junior forward James Marcou assisted on five of the UMass goals. On the same night, Providence upset UMass Lowell, which had moved up to No. 3 in this week's rankings, by a 4-2 score. Senior defenseman Mark Fayne led the Friars, setting up PC's first three goals and scoring its final tally to finish with a plus-2 rating.

Top-ranked Miami extended its unbeaten streak to eight in a weekend series at Western Michigan. On Friday, the RedHawks killed off all seven Western Michigan power plays, netted a pair of shorthanded goals, limited the Broncos to only 15 shots on goal and got a shutout from sophomore Cody Reichard in a 3-0 decision. The teams generated many more offensive opportunities on Saturday (73 combined shots, as opposed to 39 on Friday), but strong goaltending by both MU's Connor Knapp (29 saves) and WMU's Riley Gill (42 saves) had the game end in a 1-1 tie. Miami then took the shootout.

In another CCHA series, Northern Michigan put together a sweep of 12th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha. The Wildcats - which earned a win and a tie on the road agaisnt Notre Dame the previous weekend - got a pair of goals on Friday from sophomore forward Justin Florek en route to a 5-1 win. In the finale, the game was tied 3-3 in the third before NMU netted three straight to close out the scoring. Junior forward Mark Olver had two goals and an assist and was a plus-3.

No. 10 Alaska looked to be on its way to being swept, as well. The Nanooks lost 4-3 at Lake Superior on Friday and were down 2-0 heading into the final period the next night, but senior center Dion Knelsen scored twice in the third and junior defenseman Bryant Molle did so with 49 seconds left in OT to salvage a 3-2 win. Two other ranked teams also had to settle for splits over the weekend in conference action. No. 15 Wisconsin lost by a 4-1 score to St. Cloud State on Friday, but rebounded for a win by the same score the next evening. No. 16 Michigan lost 4-2 to Bowling Green before prevailing 4-1 in the series finale.

Adam Shemansky scored twice in Maine's upset of No. 10 Vermont

The marquee series of the weekend did not disappoint, as the teams favored to finish atop Hockey East this season - No. 4 Boston University and No. 9 UMass Lowell - both battled to road victories against each other. On Friday, BU sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky scored twice (including once on the penalty kill) and had a plus-3 rating to lead the Terriers, and junior blueliner Colby Cohen - who scored the overtime game-winner in last season's NCAA title game - came through with an OT goal to give BU a 5-4 win in front of 5,496 fans. The River Hawks struck back the next night in a 3-2 decision in Boston. Senior forward Paul Worthington had two assists for UML.

The Ivy League schools finally began their 2009-10 campaigns over this weekend - meaning that all 58 Division I teams have now played regular-season games. Two of the Ivies hooked up in a big early matchup on Saturday, and seventh-ranked Yale scored four times in the third to rally from a 2-1 deficit for a 5-2 victory on the road against No. 11 Princeton. Junior forward Denny Kearney had three assists and junior defenseman Mike Matczak finished with a plus-4 rating to lead the Bulldogs.

Top-ranked Miami continued to roll with a road sweep against Northern Michigan. The RedHawks scored the game's first four goals - including two tallies in 41 seconds by junior forward Justin Vaive - and held on for a 4-3 triumph on Friday. Sophomore goaltender Cody Reichard, now 5-0-1 on the season, then made 24 saves the following night to lead MU to a 2-1 win.

No. 2 Denver had to settle for three points in its home series with Minnesota State. The Pioneers got two goals and an assist from junior forward Jesse Martin in a 4-3 win on Friday. The next night, freshman forward Tyler Pitlick had a pair of goals for the Mavericks, and DU needed a late tally from junior forward Kyle Ostrow to earn a 4-4 draw. Both games drew crowds of greater than 5,300 fans.

The biggest upset of the weekend occurred on Friday in Orono, as Maine - which came into the game with a 1-5-0 record - posted a 4-1 home victory against 10th-ranked Vermont. The Black Bears scored three times on the power play - including two goals from freshman forward Adam Shemansky - and also got 31 saves from sophomore Scott Darling. The Catamounts took all three meetings with Maine last season.

Three ranked teams - No. 13 Boston College, 17th-ranked Massachusetts and No. 18 Quinnipiac - earned multiple-goal victories on Friday, but then were knocked off in the second game of the series. BC doubled Merrimack's shot toal (36-18) on Friday in a 4-3 win in its home opener, but the Warriors would strike back on home ice in a 5-3 decision. It ended a 20-game winless streak (0-16-4) against the Eagles for Merrimack - which beat BC for the first time since Feb. 15, 2003, and stands 5-0 at home this season. Merrimack junior forward Chris Barton scored his seventh goal of the season on Saturday - which puts him in a tie (with Justin Fontaine of Minnesota Duluth and Michigan State's Corey Tropp) for tops among DI players.

UMass got goals from five different players in a 5-3 road victory over Providence on Friday that gave the Minutemen their first 4-0-0 start in six years. But sophomore goaltender Alex Beaudry stole the series finale for the Friars, making a career-high 47 saves in PC's 2-1 win that saw UMass hold a 48-28 shot edge. It was the second win over a ranked team already this season for the Friars, who split a series at Notre Dame last month.

Quinnipiac dominated Robert Morris on Friday, as freshman goaltender Eric Hartzell led the Bobcats to a 5-0 victory. It would be a different story for the Colonials the next night, though, as Robert Morris got a school-record four goals from junior forward Nathan Longpre - as well as a program-record 58 saves from freshman goaltender Eric Levine in an 8-5 upset win. Quinnipiac outshot RMU 105-53 in the series, but could manage just a split.

Eighth-ranked Notre Dame and No. 12 Nebraska-Omaha both had to settle for a win and a tie in CCHA series. The Irish topped Ohio State 3-1 on Friday before tying 2-2 the next night. The Mavericks tied Bowling Green, 3-3, on Friday and won 3-1 over the Falcons the next night.

No. 14 Bemidji State came home with a road sweep to remain unbeaten (5-0-1), but it wasn't easy. The Beavers took a pair of 2-1 overtime decisions against Alabama-Huntsville. Junior forward Matt Read had three of BSU's four goals.

Brad Eidsness shut out Minnesota on Friday

The second weekend gave us a few more clues about which will turn out to be the elite teams in college hockey this season. One squad that has that look early on is fourth-ranked North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux opened WCHA play on Friday by dominating No. 9 Minnesota by a 4-0 score. UND outshot the Gophers 43-22, and sophomore goaltender Brad Eidsness registered North Dakota's first shutout of Minnesota in 10 years. On Saturday, both North Dakota senior defenseman Chay Genoway and Minnesota junior forward Mike Hoeffel scored a pair of markers, but it was UND junior defenseman Jake Marto who made the difference, as he netted the game-tying goal in the third and then blocked a would-be rebound goal with just over a minute remaining as the teams skated to a 3-3 draw. The Sioux again held a sizable advantage in shots (34-19). Both games drew sellout crowds of over 11,800.

It was 11th-ranked Vermont that made a statement in the only other matchup of ranked teams, as the Catamounts earned a 4-1 victory over No. 12 Boston College on Sunday in the Hockey East opener for both teams in front of a sellout crowd of 4,003. UVM killed off all eight BC power plays and had three players register multiple points, as Rob Madore made 22 saves.

The top teams again were vulnerable, as only two of the six top-10 teams that were in action (No. 1 Miami and No. 4 North Dakota) escaped the weekend unbeaten - and they both had to settle for a tie in one of their games. Defending NCAA champion and second-ranked Boston University opened its season on Friday, but was upset by a 3-2 score at UMass in front of a crowd of 8,123. The Minutemen scored the games' first two goals before BU freshman forward Alex Chiasson netted a pair to knot the score. But senior forward Will Ortiz - who had a plus-3 rating - scored the game-winner early in the third. The Terriers held a 41-26 edge in shots, but UMass junior goaltender Paul Dainton made 39 saves.

Both No. 3 Denver and seventh-ranked Notre Dame split their series. Marc Cheverie stopped 36 shots on Friday to lead DU to a 2-0 shutout at Ohio State, but the Buckeyes - who were ranked in the preseason - would turn the tables on Saturday, as sophomore Cal Heeter made 39 saves in a 4-0 win for OSU. For the second week in a row, the Fighting Irish were upset on a late goal in the series opener. This time it was freshman center Aaron Jamnick who scored with 3:46 remaining to give Providence a 3-2 win. But freshman goaltender Mike Johnson stopped 29 saves to blank the Friars in his first collegiate start the next night in a 2-0 Irish victory in front of a sellout crowd of 2,857. Notre Dame will take on the last two NCAA champions this week, including a showdown at BU on Tuesday night on ESPNU in what will pit the top two seeds from last year's NCAA tournament against each other.

Colorado College was impressive in its first conference series, gaining three points at No. 13 Wisconsin. On Friday, the Tigers gave up the first two scores of the game, but rallied for a 3-2 triumph in front of a crowd of 11,751, despite getting outshot 41-26. On Saturday, both goaltenders - Scott Gudmandson (31 saves) for Wisconsin and CC's Joe Howe (26 saves) - were sharp and the teams played to a 1-1 tie. A crowd of 13,126 took in the draw.

Top-ranked Miami also got a win and a tie over the weekend, but its series against New Hampshire featured much more offense. Junior forward Carter Camper scored twice to lead the RedHawks to a 6-3 victory on Friday, before MU had to rally for a 5-5 draw the next night. UNH sophomore defenseman Blake Kessel had two goals and an assist in that contest.

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 3 Boston University, 7 p.m. - TV: ESPNU | Live Stats