AMHERST, Mass. – Massachusetts scored three goals in the second period and never looked back, holding on for the 4-0 win over Providence Friday at the Mullins Center. Michael Pereira scored his first goal of the season and also had an assist for his first multi-point game since recording a hat trick against the Friars Feb. 11 last season. Troy Power had his second straight multi-point game with a goal and an assist.

Sophomore Kevin Boyle made 17 saves and recorded his first career shutout for the Minutemen. Jon Gillies made 28 saves on 32 shots and suffered his fourth loss of the season.

What I Saw

• It appears UMass has finally gotten that monkey off its back. The Minutemen have made a bad habit of blowing leads, especially in the third period, all season long. But Friday night UMass kept its foot on the gas in third period and found a way to not only hold on, but build on its lead with a backbreaker 17 minutes, 46 seconds into the third period off an unassisted goal by Power to give UMass the 4-0 cushion late in the game. The Minutemen outshot Providence 32-17 for the game, but put up its greatest shot differential in that third period (12-5), something they have rarely been capable of doing all season.  (more…)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Matt O’Connor improved to 5-0-0 and Wade Megan tallied a goal and two assists as Boston University beat Merrimack 3-1 on Friday. After a scoreless first, BU (5-2-0, 4-1-0 Hockey East) took a 1-0 lead 1:22 into the second. Cason Hohmann made a beautiful pass from the left corner to set up Ahti Oksanen for a rocket of a one-timer from the top of the right circle. Megan added to the lead seven minutes later when he raced down the left wing and beat Sam Marotta (22 saves) five-hole for his fifth goal of the season.

Merrimack (4-4-1, 3-2-1 HE) cut the lead in half 14 seconds into the third when John Heffernan beat O’Connor (34 saves) short-side. The Warriors kept the pressure on, but couldn’t get another past O’Connor. Evan Rodrigues sealed the victory with 7:14 remaining when he deposited a rebound past a down-and-out Marotta. (more…)

Cambridge, Mass. — Union got off to a quick start against Harvard taking a quick 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, on goals by Charlie Vasaturo and a power-play tally by Greg Coburn. The Dutchmen never looked back as they would go on to defeat the Crimson going away 6-2. Union improves to 6-1-1 on the season and 3-0-0 in ECAC, while Harvard falls to 2-2-0, 1-2-0.

For Union all eyes will turn on the status of their star goalie, Troy Grosenick, who went down early in the second period.  This marks the second weekend in a row that a star has gone down for Union, as defenseman Mat Bodie went down last week and will miss at least a month. The response by Union was fantastic and they went on to outscore Harvard 4-1 after the injury. Harvard was unable to put any sustained pressure on Colin Stevens until late in the third period. (more…)

Early in the season, there have been a few teams that have stood out and some that are just struggling. Boston College is again at the top of the standings, but has played the most games as well. Maine has been the biggest surprise on the season and their struggles have continued.

The marquee matchup of the weekend is another non-conference tilt, as Boston College hosts Notre Dame on Friday night. But not to be out-done there is also this small matchup in Boston on Sunday, which pits Boston University and Boston College. Both of those matchups will be fantastic ones but they aren’t the only ones that have interesting story-lines. Enjoy the hockey folks (more…)

This week’s rankings feature a new No. 1 and a bunch of movement among the bottom seven teams. Let’s get right to it.

1. Denver (5-1-0, 3-1-0 WCHA) — Last week: 2
The Pioneers suffered their first loss Friday, falling 3-0 to St. Cloud, but they bounced back with a 6-1 win Saturday. Normally a split wouldn’t be enough to move into first, but Minnesota’s split was worse than Denver’s, and those two were neck-and-neck before the weekend. Chris Knowlton had a hat trick Saturday, while Nick Shore continued his strong start with two points. Denver is first in the WCHA in both offense and defense.

2. Minnesota (5-2-0, 2-2-0 WCHA) — Last week: 1
The Gophers fall out of the top spot after splitting with Minnesota State. They won 3-2 on Friday before losing 5-3 on Saturday. Saturday marked Adam Wilcox’s first loss and first game in which he’s allowed more than two goals. Erik Haula had four points on the weekend, while Nate Schmidt had three. The Gophers went 4-for-11 on the power play and are now second in the league at 22.6 percent on the season. (more…)

There’s not much movement at the top this week, but there’s plenty of jostling for spots five through nine, with the team at the top of that group making a push to crack the top four.

1. Boston College (6-1-0, 6-1-0 HE) — Last week: 1
The Eagles extended their winning streak to six by beating Maine 4-2 on Friday and UMass 3-2 on Sunday. Bill Arnold, Michael Matheson and Patrick Wey all had three-point weekends, while Patrick Brown scored with under four minutes to go to give BC the win Sunday. The Eagles went 4-for-8 on the power play and are now operating at 40.0 percent on the season, good for tops in the nation.

2. New Hampshire (5-1-1, 3-1-1 HE) — Last week: 2
The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season when they fell to UMass 2-1 in overtime Friday, but they rebounded with a 4-0 win at Maine on Sunday. Casey DeSmith stopped all 42 shots he faced Sunday to earn his second shutout in three games, and he now leads Hockey East with a .947 save percentage. Greg Burke and Austin Block each scored a pair of goals on the weekend. (more…)

While it’s still early in the season, its starting, albeit slowly, to become clear who has a chance to win the Atlantic Hockey title this year. Air Force and RIT, perennial favorites, have had trouble with consistency this year and have yet to win consecutive games, while Niagara hasn’t lost in five straight games and is perfect in conference play.

1. Niagara – For the second straight week the Purple Eagles sit atop the Power Rankings thanks to back-to-back shutouts of UConn by Carsen Chubak. After that performance Chubak has definitely cemented himself as the No. 1 in net. Chubak leads the nation with a .962 save percentage and is tied for first in goals against (1.23). His three shutouts also lead the nation. (more…)

It is tough to judge so early in the season who is a pretender and who is a contender but we are starting to see some trends as to who might be at the top come season’s end. Dartmouth was one of two teams to secure a four point weekend on the weekend and thus they are rewarded with the biggest jump in the rankings. Union was the other team that left the weekend with a crucial four points in conference play. Last weekend was the first with conference games and it will be interesting to see if the trends stay the same or change, as the season continues because it is still early, we must remember this.

1. Cornell (3-0-1, 1-0-1)- Last Week 1

Cornell had a successful weekend against Colgate, winning on the road Friday and tying at Lynah on Saturday. They will retain the top spot for the third week in a row.

2. Union (5-1-1, 2-0-0)- Last Week 3

It took a few weeks of play, but Union was up to the level many thought they would be at early in the season. On the weekend they outscored the RPI 11-5 and just flat out looked like the better team. Union has a huge tilt against Harvard on Friday night on the road. (more…)

Up

Zach Raubenheimer, Forward, Nebraska-Omaha

Raubenheimer was the difference on both nights – he had a pair of goals in both Friday and Saturday night’s games – for the Mavericks in their weekend sweep against Michigan Tech. With that weekend outburst, he exceeded his goal total from both is freshman and sophomore years, and he’s now matched his career output (five goals coming into the season) in just eight contests so far.

Connor Gaarder, Forward, North Dakota

The sophomore forward went off on Friday night against Boston University, sparking North Dakota to a 4-2 nonconference triumph with his first career hat trick. Gaarder now has five points in five outings this year, and it looks like he’s well on his way to a breakout campaign.

Joe Howe, Goalie, Colorado College

Howe has had a rough go of it over the past year, battling competition and other factors to find consistent playing time. His first start of the year wasn’t great, but he looked like the Joe Howe of old in a 33-save shutout on Saturday night – the most saves he’s made in a shutout since a 35-save effort in a 1-0 win in Mankato on Oct. 23, 2010.

Down

Andrew MacWilliam, Defenseman, North Dakota

MacWilliam is a hard-hitting, rock-solid blue-liner, but he didn’t have the best weekend against Boston University. MacWilliam was booted after a “hit to the head” midway through Friday’s game, then was on the ice for two of BU’s three third-period goals – and was a minus-3 total – in Saturday’s loss.

Seth Helgeson, Defenseman, Minnesota

If the Gophers want to live up to expectations, Helgeson has to be the shutdown guy at the blue line. This weekend, he wasn’t. Although he had an assist, he was on the ice for five Minnesota State goals (two power-play markers, three even strength goal), which simply isn’t good enough.

The end of Daylight Savings time this past weekend brought with it a few surprises as college hockey reaches its second month of the season. Zahn Raubenheimer scored twice in back-to-back games to help lead Nebraska-Omaha to a series sweep over Michigan Tech while the other Mavericks, Minnesota State, gave Mike Hastings his first WCHA win Saturday. Colorado College, meanwhile, went into Madison and swept the reeling Badgers.

However, last weekend’s two biggest series appropriately ended up in splits.  After Ryan Faragher shut out a potent Denver offense, the Pioneers came roaring back Saturday to put up a six-spot on St. Cloud State. Up in Grand Forks, North Dakota hosted Boston University in (what unfortunately seems to be a rare meaningful) non-conference play and UND came within a period of keeping the Terriers winless in eight tries at the Ralph. Both were predictable where one team showed off each night but is there anything wrong with that?

After the break:  North Dakota and St. Cloud State’s comeback players, Wisconsin’s injury curse and Minnesota’s goodwill from the preseason is gone (more…)