Western Michigan's Trevor Gorsuch makes a save during a game against Minnesota Duluth on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018 at Lawson Ice Arena.

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Every Division I college hockey team in Michigan returned to action last weekend, and most had a strong start to 2019.

Five of the seven teams won at least one game, with four of them remaining undefeated in the new year.

Every week, MLive will rank all seven Division I teams in Michigan, provide their latest results and look ahead to their next opponents.

There were a few changes this week with the top three teams all on recent hot streaks.

There are two squads ranked in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll this week, while four teams are in the top 27 in the Pairwise rankings, a strong indicator of who will make the 16-team NCAA tournament.

Below are this week's rankings.

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Recent college hockey coverage from MLive

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Fortunate bounce sparks Michigan's offense in win at Notre Dame Stadium

Outdoor hockey game adds to Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry

Michigan scores from own zone in outdoor game vs. Notre Dame

How Joseph Cecconi's icing attempt resulted in a 160-foot goal for Michigan

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No. 7: Ferris State

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Freshman (!) and defenseman (!!!) @cooperzech is now the @WCHA_MHockey leader in conference play in points with 16, he has 20 in 22 regular season games with Ferris State after his two-goal/three-point weekend! pic.twitter.com/5LyHjqaNqW — Ferris State Hockey (@FerrisHockey) January 7, 2019

Record: 6-15-1 (3-10-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association)

Previous ranking: 7th

Last weekend's results: Split with Alabama-Huntsville, winning 6-5 in overtime Friday and losing 4-3 in overtime Saturday

Highlights: The Bulldogs are currently in ninth place in the WCHA after splitting with the eighth-place Chargers (4-18, 4-10).

Ferris freshman Jake Transit (Royal Oak) tied Friday's game at five with just over nine minutes remaining before junior Dominic Lutz (Livonia) scored 56 seconds into overtime. It was Lutz's second goal and third point of the game.

On Saturday, freshman defenseman Cooper Zech (South Lyon) scored twice in the first two periods to give Ferris a 3-1 lead, but the Chargers rallied late in the third, scoring the game-tying goal with 11 seconds remaining.

Huntsville earned the three conference points with a power-play goal at the 3:13 mark of overtime.

Zech was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week.

The Bulldogs continue to struggle keeping the puck out of their net, allowing 3.82 goals per game, which is 58th of 60 teams.

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Ferris hosts No. 8 Minnesota State (16-5-1, 11-3 WCHA) on Friday and Saturday.

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No. 6: Michigan State

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7-7... ALL TIED UP! Dennis Cesana scored the game-tying goal with 47 seconds left pic.twitter.com/wkggPKQXrz — MSU_Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 5, 2019

Record: 6-11-3 (2-6-2-2 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 5th

Last weekend's results: Finished 0-1-1 against No. 4 Ohio State, tying 7-7 Friday and losing 6-0 Saturday

Highlights: The Spartans' recent struggles continued last weekend as their winless streak reached seven games, but they also had a wild third-period comeback Friday to earn a tie.

They trailed 7-4 before senior defenseman Zach Osburn (Plymouth) cut the deficit to two with 4:35 remaining.

Junior forward Taro Hirose scored his second goal of the game on the power play less than a minute later, and freshman defenseman Dennis Cesana tied the game with 47 seconds left.

MSU also earned the extra conference point with a goal in three-on-three overtime.

Hirose also had an assist and now leads the NCAA with 31 points (nine goals, 22 assists). Sophomore forward Patrick Khodorenko had four assists, while Cesana and sophomore forward Mitch Lewandowski each had a goal and an assist.

On Saturday, the Buckeyes (12-4-4, 5-2-3-2) scored six goals on 44 shots against sophomore John Lethemon.

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The Spartans travel to No. 11 Penn State (12-6-2, 4-5-1-1) this weekend.

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No. 5: Michigan Tech

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Colin Swoyer buried his 2nd of the season from Jake Jackson and Greyson Reitmeier to tie it at 2. #mtuhky #FollowTheHuskies pic.twitter.com/zyA6D2DOMH — Michigan Tech Hockey (@mtuhky) January 6, 2019

Record: 10-10-2 (9-4-1-1 WCHA)

Previous ranking: 2nd

Last weekend's results: Swept by Minnesota State, losing 4-1 Friday and 4-2 Saturday

Highlights: The two teams entered the weekend atop of the WCHA, but MTU dropped to fourth after being swept.

Freshman forward Andrew Bellant (Linden) cut the Huskies' deficit to 2-1 at the 14:33 mark of the second period, but the Mavericks restored their two-goal cushion less than a minute later.

Second-period goals from MTU freshmen Trenton Bliss and Colin Swoyer tied Saturday's game at two, but Minnesota State's Charlie Gerard scored the game-winner with 5:36 remaining in the third.

The Huskies are now 0-3-1 in their past four games.

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MTU hosts No. 10 Bowling Green (14-4-3, 9-3-2-2) this weekend.

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No. 4: Michigan

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Highlights from today’s 4-2 victory over No. 6 Notre Dame outside at Notre Dame Stadium! #GoBlue // #WinterWhites pic.twitter.com/oV8sutkp6p — Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) January 6, 2019

Record: 7-7-6 (3-4-4-2 Big Ten)

Previous ranking: 4th

Last weekend's results: Beat No. 9 Notre Dame 4-2 Saturday

Highlights: The Wolverines earned a crucial win outside at Notre Dame Stadium to snap a nine-game winless streak.

Senior captain Joseph Cecconi, junior Will Lockwood and freshman Nolan Moyle each scored in the first 10 minutes to give Michigan a 3-0 lead, and sophomore Dakota Raabe added an empty-netter with 12 seconds remaining after the Irish (12-6-1, 5-4) cut the lead to one at the 17:12 mark of the third.

The Wolverines also were without their top two scorers in defenseman Quinn Hughes and forward Josh Norris, who both are expected back Tuesday.

Michigan continues to put a ton of pucks on goal, entering Saturday's game second in the NCAA averaging 37.5 shots per game.

It fired 42 shots on net Saturday, including one from 160 feet away that squeaked by Notre Dame goalie Cale Morris.

The Wolverines, who are No. 24 in the Pairwise, will need a strong second half of the season to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.

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Michigan hosts Merrimack (5-15-1) on Tuesday before resuming Big Ten play Friday and Saturday at Ohio State.

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No. 3: Northern Michigan

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🏒 @NMUHockey 🏒

FINAL | Wildcats 4, Nanooks 2

Three third period power play goals in less than three minutes by Philip Beaulieu secures a series sweep and NMU's fourth-consecutive victory!#NMUwildcats #ShareNMU pic.twitter.com/ngQGT7sFHY — NMU Athletics (@NMU_Wildcats) January 6, 2019

Record: 11-10 (10-4 WCHA)

Previous ranking: 6th

Last week's results: Swept Alaska, winning 4-0 Friday and 4-2 Saturday

Highlights: The Wildcats have won five of their past six to climb into third in the WCHA.

They have outscored opponents 20-11 during that stretch and are above .500 for the first time this season.

Joseph Nardi, Grant Loven, Ty Readman and Troy Loggins all scored Friday, while Atte Tolvanen made 20 saves for his fourth shutout of the season.

Alaska (4-14-2, 4-9-1-1) struck first Saturday, but the Wildcats answered with three straight power-play goals from junior defenseman Philip Beaulieu.

The Nanooks pulled back to within one at the 14:46 mark, but Denver Pierce scored an empty-netter with 8 seconds remaining.

Tolvanen stopped 32 of 34 shots.

Beaulieu now leads the Wildcats with 14 points (four goals, 14 assists).

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NMU travels to Alaska-Anchorage (2-17-1, 1-12-1) on Friday and Saturday.

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No. 2: Lake Superior State

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What is this thing people call ‘Monday Blues’...? 1️⃣8️⃣‼️



Still plenty of work to do but this isn’t too bad if we must say so for ourselves #BelieveInBluehttps://t.co/hiPtM3LT6B pic.twitter.com/t0DtG6Uf9z — Lake State Hockey (@HockeyLSSU) January 7, 2019

Record: 13-6-1 (8-5-1 WCHA)

Previous ranking: 3rd

Last weekend's results: Swept Alaska-Anchorage, winning 4-1 Friday and 4-2 Saturday

Highlights: What a turnaround season it's been for the Lakers.

They have won six in a row and already have three more victories than they did all of last season.

LSSU had five players score Friday, with Will Riedell, Gage Torrel and Pete Veillette staking the team out to a 3-0 lead.

Junior forward Bryan Basilico and senior forward Diego Cuglietta added goals in the third period, while Nick Kossoff made 29 saves to improve to 10-2-1.

Cuglietta and Basilico both opened the scoring Saturday, while Brendan McKay added an insurance goal late in the second period after Anchorage scored.

Marek Mitens earned the win in net, making 30 saves.

The Lakers are 12th in the country with 3.28 goals per game. They moved back into the USCO.com rankings this week, checking in at No. 18.

They are 19th in the Pairwise.

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LSSU hosts Alabama-Huntsville this weekend.

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No. 1: Western Michigan

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The 2019 @IceVegasInv MVP Trevor Gorsuch! pic.twitter.com/MfGmMePzdu — WMU Hockey (@WMUHockey) January 6, 2019

Record: 11-6-1 (4-3-1-1 National Collegiate Hockey Conference)

Previous ranking: 1st

Last weekend's results: Beat UConn 5-1 Friday and Air Force 4-1 Saturday

Highlights: The Broncos won the Ice Vegas Invitational in convincing fashion.

Cam Lee, Josh Passolt, Austin Rueschhoff all scored in the first 24 minutes Friday to give the team a 3-0 lead, and Luke Bafia and Ethen Frank added goals in the third period.

On Saturday, Frank scored twice, while Bafia netted his second goal of the season. Frank is now third on the team in goals (eight) and fourth in points (15).

Senior Trevor Gorsuch made 22 saves Friday and 24 saves Saturday to improve to 9-2-1. He is ninth in the NCAA with a 1.95 goals-against average and fifth with a .932 save percentage.

The Broncos have seven players with 11 or more points, a major reason why they rank ninth in the nation at 3.63 goals per game.

WMU will head back into conference play unbeaten in its past seven games. It moved up three spots to No. 14 in the USCHO.com rankings and is No. 13 in the Pairwise.

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The Broncos host Miami (Ohio) (9-7-4, 3-3-2-1) on Friday and Saturday.

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College hockey links

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USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

Big Ten standings

NCHC standings

WCHA standings

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