We’ve reached the midpoint of the season and the standings are starting to take shape. While Niagara is starting to pull away from everyone else, the rest of the standings are still jumbled. But its holiday time which means non-conference games and holiday tournaments. At the midpoint, it’s starting to look like no one is going to beat the Purple Eagles. They hold a five point lead over second place Holy Cross with a game in hand.

1. Niagara – The Purple Eagles are undefeated in their last 12 games but there could be some cracks in the armor. They’ve fallen behind 2-0 in each of the last two games. That can’t happen against better opponents. (more…)

NORTH ANDOVER – Merrimack freshman Vinny Scotti came up with the biggest goal of his young career, netting the game-winner with just over seven minutes to play as Merrimack defeated Army on Tuesday night at Lawler Arena, 4-2.

Scotti beat Army goalie Rob Tadazak with a shot after a wide shot by fellow freshman Justin Hussar found its way to his stick at the bottom of the left circle.

What I Saw

– Merrimack threw 94 shot attempts on Army sophomore goaltender Rob Tadazak. The Black Knights blocked a whopping 23 shots, with 46 making their way to Tadazak, who turned aside 42 of the 45 shots he faced (the Warriors added an empty netter). The Warriors offense shrunk the ice for large stretches, with some of the best work in the offensive zone that the Warriors have displayed all season.

– Mac Lalor, normally a defenseman, played the wing on Army’s second line. He potted a pair of goals in just 36 seconds in the third period on the power play, but both goals came from his more familiar spot on the point. Army was in the midst of a power play when Merrimack’s Kyle Bigos was whistled for holding the stick, giving Army a 5-on-3 advantage. They stuck just 10 seconds into the two-man advantage, and 36 seconds later, struck again to, at the time, tie the score at 2-2.

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This past weekend could have been a make or break weekend for Air Force and RIT. And both managed to keep hope alive that they can turn around their seasons. The Falcons earned three points against Bentley, winning 7-4 on Friday before tying 2-2 on Saturday. The Tigers, like the Falcons, swept Sacred Heart to get a huge confidence boost, scoring five times in each game. Both teams have an trouble sustaining winning streaks. They’ll need to if they want to reclaim their spots at the top of the standings. But there is still a long ways to ge before that happens. The Falcons are eight points behind first place Niagara while the Tigers are 10 points back. (more…)

Another week and the same No.1 in our Power Rankings. The standings are still tight but Niagara is starting to pull away at the top. Only four points separate second place and sixth place. Just like many thought at the beginning of the season, the race to Rochester is going to be a tight and highly contested one.

1. Niagara – Could there possibly be a chink in the Purple Eagles armor. They fell behind in both games against Sacred Heart and needed to come from behind. They face RIT tonight and travel to Bowling Green on Saturday.

2. Holy Cross – The Crusaders earned just one point and suffered their first conference loss since Nov. 3 and they won’t have a chance to make up those points until after the New Year. They face Penn State for a pair this weekend. (more…)

Another week in Atlantic Hockey is done and some things have stayed the same while other have changed. Niagara, surprise surprise, swept Sacred Heart and are now clear of second place Holy Cross by four points. The Purple Eagles are clearly the team to beat and I have a feeling it’s going to be a while until someone beats them. They ride the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at 11 games, going 9-0-2 during that time. The Purple Eagles are one of just two teams in the country not to lose a conference game yet this year. The other being Quinnipiac of the ECAC. This week saw the Purple Eagle rise to No. 18 in the USCHO rankings. (more…)

There were only six Atlantic Hockey games played last week, along with three non-conference games, but there were still some major shake ups in our power rankings. Even with the shake ups there is still one constant: Niagara. For the fifth consecutive week the Purple Eagles top the power rankings.

1. Niagara – Even with the weekend off, the Purple Eagles are without a doubt the best team in Atlantic Hockey at the moment. They’ve won six straight are 7-0-2 in their last nine games. It’s the second longest active streak behind only Boston College (10-0-0). The Purple Eagles host Sacred Heart for two games this weekend.

2.Holy Cross – The Crusaders had a 2-0 lead after the first period at Brown but couldn’t hold on as they fell 3-2. They host Robert Morris for an important two game series this weekend. (more…)

It looks like UConn has turned their season around, without head coach Bruce Marshall. The Huskies have won four of the last five games, highlighted by a sweep of Air Force. They squeaked out a pair of one goal wins, including an overtime win against the Falcons. A big part of the sweep was Garrett Bartus, who stopped 57 shots for the Huskies. The Huskies also had five different players score their five goals. (more…)

There’s not a lot of change in this week’s power rankings. Many of the teams in Atlantic Hockey are holding steady with only Niagara and Holy Cross separating themselves from the pack. The Purple Eagles are just one point up on Holy Cross but have a six point lead over Bentley.

ANd if you haven’t seen it already, check out the Atlantic Hockey Tenth Anniversary video here.

1. Niagara – If you can score on Carsen Chubak, it’ll be the highlight of your season at this point. The junior allowed just one goal this past weekend and now has a nation leading five shutouts along with a ridiculous 0.99 goals against and a .970 save percentage.

2. Holy Cross – The Crusaders have taken points in their last four games, winning three of them. At this point, they are the only real threat to Niagara at the top of the standings. The Crusaders 7-3 win over RIT was their first regular season victory over the Tigers since 2006. (more…)

This is going to sound really familiar, because it’s how this weekend recap has started the last two weeks, but can anyone beat Carsen Chubak and Niagara. In the last six games, Chubak has given up just two goals and leads the nation with an incredible .970 save percentage and 0.99 goals against. His five shutouts also lead the nation. It helps that the Purple Eagles are averaging just under four goals a game during that the stretch. The Purple Eagles are a perfect 7-0-0 in conference play and have a six point lead over third place Bentley and one point up on second place Holy Cross. (more…)

It was an up and down week for Atlantic Hockey teams. Some teams continued to succeed while others just can’t get going. As of right now the team to beat in Atlantic Hockey is Niagara. The Purple Eagles are perfect in league play and just continue to roll behind the play of Carsen Chubak.

1. Niagara – It was same old, same old for the Purple Eagles, who remained perfect in league play with a sweep of Army. The bad news: Chubak finally allowed a goal. Just one.

2. Holy Cross – The Crusaders got back to winning with 4-3 victory over Bentley, keeping them tied for first with Niagara. Now it’s time to see if the Crusaders can put a winning streak together. (more…)