Thursday, October 23, 2025

Men’s Notes: UMD’s Prolific Trio Dogging Opponents

St. Thomas Set to Open College Hockey’s Newest Venue

They’re one of the two highest-scoring lines in all of NCAA Division I men’s college hockey. They’re responsible for more than half of their team’s goals, points and power-play goals. They’ve taken exactly one-third of their team’s shots on goal.

And they’re only sophomores.

Minnesota Duluth’s precociously lethal forward trio Jayson Shaugabay (Warroad, Minn.) and brothers Max and Zam Plante (Hermantown, Minn.) have already combined for 34 points through six games, spurring the Bulldogs to a 5-1-0 start.

Oh, yeah – they’re also a combined plus-24.

Only Penn State boasts a higher-scoring trio of skaters in Charlie Cerrato (So., Fallston, Md.), Matt DiMarsico (Jr., Wexford, Pa.) and JJ Wiebusch (So., River Falls, Wis.), who have racked up 38 points in the same number of games. And just like that threesome, Shaugabay, Plante and Plante have skated together on the same forward line in all six contests to date.

Last weekend, they scored eight goals and combined for 19 points in a home-and-home, non-conference sweep of in-state rival Bemidji State. Max scored the game-winning goal shorthanded on Friday, Shaugabay provided the game-winner on Saturday, and Zam won a team-leading 23 faceoffs.

“We just played really well this weekend, I don’t know what it was,” Shaugabay told the Duluth News Tribune on Saturday. “I think that’s the standard we want to hold for our line, because we know we can do that every weekend. We work really well together and those two (Plante brothers) are obviously very elite.”

They’ll get a crack at another in-state rival this weekend when the Bulldogs travel to Minneapolis to face 12th-ranked Minnesota.

Top 1-2-3 Scoring Trios of Teammates
38 points, Penn State – Charlie Cerrato (15), JJ Wiebusch (12), Matt DiMarsico (11)
34 points, Minnesota Duluth – Jayson Shaugabay (12), Max Plante (12), Zam Plante (10)
29 points, Michigan – Michael Hage (11), Will Horcoff (9), Ben Robertson (9)
23 points, Canisius – Grant Porter (10), Walter Zacher (8), Rhys Chiddenton (5)
22 points, Miami – Matteo Giampa (8), Kocha Delic (7), Ilia Morozov (7)

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Make Yourselves at Home:

St. Thomas will play its first-ever game at the brand-new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena on Friday against No. 14/15 Providence.

It will be the 17th new arena to open in NCAA Division I men’s hockey since 2010.

The state-of-the-art facility marks the program’s return to campus and features a 4,000-seat main rink, a second ice sheet, dedicated practice areas, sports performance and nutrition spaces, locker rooms and coaching offices.

Hey, Porter:

Canisius junior F Grant Porter (Weston, Mass.) has hit the scoresheet in each of the Golden Griffins’ first seven games this season, giving him the nation’s longest point streak. Porter, who had four points in last weekend’s sweep at Colgate, has racked up four goals and six assists so far while logging a plus-5 rating.

Last season in 33 games, Porter recorded 10 goals and 15 points to establish career bests in both categories.

Fifty is Nifty:

Michigan junior F T.J. Hughes (Hamilton, Ontario) scored his 50th collegiate goal in Saturday’s win over Robert Morris, making him the first active NCAA Division I men’s player to reach that milestone:

Career NCAA Goal Leaders (active)
50 – T.J. Hughes, Michigan
47 – Josh Zary, Ferris State
40 – Aiden Fink, Penn State
39 – Sam Harris, Denver
38 – Jay Ahearn, UMass Lowell
38 – Davis Burnside, Ohio State
38 – Lucas Wahlin, St. Thomas

Hughes has reached the scoresheet in five of his first six games this season, collecting three goals and five assists.

Century Club:

Penn State junior F Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) is closing in on becoming the third active player in the country to reach the 100-point milestone for his NCAA career:

Career NCAA Points Leaders (active)
130 – T.J. Hughes, Michigan
116 – Jeremy Wilmer, Quinnipiac
96 – Aiden Fink, Penn State
95 – Lucas Wahlin, St. Thomas
91 – Andre Gasseau, Boston College

Fink, a second-team West All-America selection in 2024-25, has two goals and seven assists through his first six games this season.

Welcome, Matt:

Last weekend marked milestone victories for a pair of first-year coaches who are stewarding their alma maters from behind the bench.

On Friday, Notre Dame defeated St. Lawrence on home ice to deliver Brock Sheahan (Notre Dame ’08) his first victory as a head coach. Junior F Evan Werner (Flower Mound, Texas) keyed the win with a four-point night.

The following night, former RIT captain Matt Thomas (’98) earned his first win at the helm of his alma mater when the Tigers defeated Clarkson 6-2. The game was played in front of a crowd of 10,556 at Blue Cross Arena, home of the AHL’s Rochester Americans.

Fit to Print:

“It’s special. The whole week you just have that feeling of the energy of the city, and you’re walking around campus, and students are getting fired up for a big series like this. You really feel it the whole week. Coming into the game today, you really feel how special this is.”

— North Dakota sophomore D E.J. Emery (Compton, Calif.) on last weekend’s rivalry series against Minnesota (source: Grand Forks Herald).

NHL Note of the Week:

Ten current or committed players were designated as A-rated skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s list of preliminary players to watch list that was released on Monday.

Penn State freshman F Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) and North Dakota freshman D Keaton Verhoeff (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) both received the A-grade, as did eight committed NCAA recruits. McKenna is projected to be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft, while Verhoeff is expected to join McKenna inside the top five.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Michigan Tech will honor its 1975 NCAA championship team during Saturday’s game against Ferris State. That squad went 32-10-0 under legendary coach John MacInnes, whose name adorns the Huskies’ home arena … Alaska F Chase Dafoe (Gr., Beverly, Mass.) and Colgate F Ryan Sullivan (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) both won an NCAA season-high 20 faceoffs in their teams’ respective wins on Saturday. Dafoe went 20-8 in a 5-1 victory over Michigan Tech, while Sullivan was 20-7 in a 5-3 win over Canisius … Lindenwood’s 4-3 win over Denver last Friday was the second win over a ranked opponent in program history and the first for the Lions on home ice … All four of St. Cloud State’s goals in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Vermont came on the power play. The Huskies went 4-for-5 with the man advantage and are clicking at 39.1 percent for the season, good for third-best in the country.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

6 games, Michigan (began Oct. 3 vs. Mercyhurst)
4 games, Miami (began Oct. 3 vs. Ferris State)
4 games, Union (began Oct. 10 at Mercyhurst)
3 games, 4 teams tied

Longest Active Point Streaks:

7 games, F Grant Porter (Canisius)
- 4-6—10, began Oct. 3 vs. Clarkson
6 games, F Charlie Cerrato (Penn State)
- 4-11—15, began Oct. 3 at Arizona State)
6 games, F Aiden Fink (Penn State)
- 2-7—9, began Oct. 3 at Arizona State)
6 games, F Ethan Wyttenbach (Quinnipiac)
- 4-3—7, began Oct. 3 at Boston College

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Walter Zacher (Canisius)
- 5-1—6, began Oct. 11
3 games, F Kocha Delic (Miami)
- 4-2—6, began Oct. 4 vs. Ferris State
3 games, F Lucas Wahlin (St. Thomas)
- 3-0—3, began Oct. 4 at St. Cloud State
3 games, F William Whitelaw (Western Michigan)
- 4-1—5, began Oct. 10 at Ferris State
3 games, F Jeremy Wilmer (Quinnipiac)
- 3-1—4, began Oct. 17

Conference Websites

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!