Men's Ice Hockey 2/20/2018 3:00:00 AM By NCHC

Bauer NCHC Players of the Week: February 12-18, 2018

WMU’s DiPietro, SCSU’s Ilvonen and Brodzinski, and UMD’s Shepard honored for week 18

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Three of the four Bauer National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Players of the Week for the week of Feb. 12-18, 2018 scored two goals last weekend, while the fourth didn’t allow a single goal all weekend. Earning Bauer NCHC Player of the Week honors for week 18 are Western Michigan sophomore forward Dawson DiPietro for Offensive Player of the Week, St. Cloud State senior blue liner Mika Ilvonen for Defenseman of the Week, SCSU freshman forward Easton Brodzinski for Rookie of the Week and Minnesota Duluth sophomore netminder Hunter Shepard for Goaltender of the Week.

These are the first career NCHC weekly awards for both DiPietro and Ilvonen, while Brodzinski picked up his second NCHC Rookie of the Week nod and Shepard claimed his fifth Goaltender of the Week honor this season, the most of any NCHC player for any NCHC weekly award this season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Dawson DiPietro, Western Michigan
Sophomore Forward
Medina, Ohio

DiPietro totaled four points against St. Cloud State last weekend, playing a key role in a tie on Friday night. In Friday’s opener he tied a career-high with three points, handing out assists on WMU’s second and fourth goals, both of which put the Broncos ahead by one, with the latter in the third period. The sophomore also scored WMU’s fifth goal to again put the Broncos in front with 2:25 left in regulation in an eventual 5-5 overtime tie. He fired four shots on goal in the tie and was +1. On Saturday, DiPietro scored WMU’s second goal midway through the second period to break a tie and put the Broncos ahead, 2-1, in an eventual 4-2 defeat. He finished the series with two goals, two assists and seven shots on goal. On the season, DiPietro now leads the Broncos with 33 points on 13 goals and a team-best 20 assists in 30 games.

Defenseman of the Week

Mika Ilvonen, St. Cloud State
Senior Defenseman
Espoo, Finland

Ilvonen had a career weekend in leading SCSU to a five-point series at Western Michigan. Entering the weekend with one goal in his career, he tallied his first career multi-goal game Friday, striking twice to triple his career goal total. He book-ended the scoring, tallying the game’s first goal only 3:28 into the game, while adding his second marker with 49 seconds left in regulation to pull SCSU even with an extra attacker goal and earn the Huskies a 5-5 overtime tie. The senior fired three shots on goal, was +2 and blocked two shots en route to earning First Star of the Game Friday. In Saturday’s series finale, Ilvonen helped limit WMU to two goals and helped kill both Bronco power plays in a 4-2 victory. The Finn finished the weekend with two goals, including a game-tying tally, two blocked shots, a +2 plus/minus and three shots on goal. On the season, Ilvonen now has three goals and four assists for seven points in 21 games.

Rookie of the Week

Easton Brodzinski, St. Cloud State
Freshman Forward
Blaine, Minn.

Brodzinski continued his strong rookie campaign with a three-point weekend at Western Michigan, keeping the Huskies in first place in the NCHC. On Friday, he tied his career high with two points, scoring on the power play to tie the game at 2-2 in the first period, while handing out the primary helper on SCSU’s next goal later in the frame to put the Huskies in front in an eventual 5-5 tie. The next night, Brodzinski scored on the power play again, breaking a scoreless deadlock early in the second stanza to put SCSU in front in an eventual 4-2 victory. He finished the series with two power play goals, an assist, six shots on goal (three each night) and two blocked shots with an even plus/minus. On the season, Brodzinski ranks fourth among NCHC freshmen with 19 points on 12 goals, which lead all NCHC rookies, and seven assists in 28 games.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Hunter Shepard, Minnesota Duluth
Sophomore Goaltender
Cohasset, Minn.

Shepard was perfect on the weekend as he didn’t allow a single goal in backstopping UMD to a sweep of Miami. On Friday, the sophomore stopped all 16 shots he faced in a 4-0 victory, including making three saves to help kill all four RedHawk power plays, as he earned Second Star of the Game. The next night, Shepard turned aside all 34 shots in a 3-0 win, including 14 in the second period when UMD was outshot 14-1, and 15 more in the third period as the Bulldogs clung to a one-goal lead until late. He made five saves on Miami’s two power plays and was named First Star of the Game Saturday. Shepard now has five shutouts on the season, which ties both the UMD and NCHC single-season records. In becoming the first Bulldog to post back-to-back shutouts in a home series, Shepard totaled 50 saves, including eight short-handed to kill all eight Miami power plays, with a pristine 1.000 save percentage. With his 0.00 goals-against average on the weekend, he lowered his season GAA to 2.15, while upping his save percentage to .921 and improving his record to 16-11-1 on the season.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Offensive Player of the Week
Mikey Eyssimont, Jr., F, SCSU – Tallied two goals in Saturday’s 4-2 win at WMU, including scoring the game-winner in the third period.

Shane Gersich, Jr., F, UND – Scored two goals in a split with Omaha, tallying one each night, including the game-winner Saturday.

Jarid Lukosevicius, Jr., F, Denver – Tallied a goal and an assist in Friday’s 5-1 win at CC when he was +2.

Defenseman of the Week
Andrew Farny, Jr., D, CC – Blocked seven shots in a split with DU, including six in Friday’s loss, while helping pitch a shutout in a win Saturday.

Colton Poolman, So., D, UND – Dished out three assists in a split at Omaha with one in Friday’s loss and two in Saturday’s win, including one on the game-winner.

Rookie of the Week
Jordan Kawaguchi, Fr., F, UND – Scored a goal and added an assist in Friday’s loss at Omaha to tie his career high of two points.

Goaltender of the Week
Tanner Jaillet, Sr., G, Denver – Went 1-1 with a .951 save percentage and a 1.02 GAA, allowing only one goal each night in a split with CC.

Cam Johnson, Sr., G, UND – In his only game, logged a 26-save shutout Saturday at Omaha.

Alex Leclerc, So., G, CC – Went 1-1 against Denver, totaling 76 saves with a .938 save percentage and a 2.50 GAA, including pitching a shutout on Saturday at DU.

Evan Weninger, Jr., G, Omaha – Went 1-1 against UND, compiling 72 saves with a .935 save percentage and a 2.51 GAA.

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