BOSTON — Bentley defeated Northeastern, 6-3, Saturday night at Matthews Arena. Brett Hartung scored twice for the Falcons, and Branden Komm made 45 saves in the win. The victory was Bentley’s first since Nov. 24 against Mercyhurst. Meanwhile, the loss drops Northeastern to 2-6-0 in its last eight games.

What I Saw

• Northeastern’s defense missed assignments and reads that led directly to all of the Bentley goals. The Falcons’ converted on their chances efficiently, but Northeastern’s issues created the chances. Following the game, NU coach Jim Madigan said defensive play around the net was a focus area for his team. Regardless of the pairing, it’s clear NU still has some work to do. Bentley’s first goal came following a misplay behind the net and leaving Alex Grive open in the slot. Chris Rawlings wasn’t perfect on the night, but his teammates need to support him with more consistent play throughout the rink. (more…)

Durham, NH- RPI came off a loss last night against Boston University and struggled to find their stride in the early going as UNH would take an early 1-0 lead off the stick of Eric Knodel at ten minutes, 15 seconds of the period. RPI would find that stride later in the period as Curtis Leonard took a point shot and it ended up in the back of the net. The Wildcats and Engineers entered the first intermission tied at one apeice. In the second period, UNH dominated the scoring as they would take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission on goals by John Henrion and Justin Agosta

The third period would bring much of the same from the Wildcats, as Connor Hardowa would add a goal and Jeff Silengo would score an empty-net goal to make it a 5-1 game. Rensselaer would get a second goal from Curtis Leonard, but it would not be enough as UNH would escape with the 5-2 win. New Hampshire improves to 13-3-2 on the season, while Rensselaer falls to 6-9-4. (more…)

Portland, Maine- The first period was evenly played as Mercyhurst and Maine traded goals. Mercyhurst would score the first goal at three minutes, two seconds of the period on the power-play, as Nick Jones would take a point shot and Paul Chiasson would get the tip. Maine would score the second goal of the period as Steven Swavely won a faceoff right back to Joey Diamond and Diamond ripped one past the Laker goaltender, Jordan Tibbett to send the game into the first intermission knotted up at one apiece. The second period was a stalemate where neither team scored a goal to send the game into the third period tied at one.

In the third period Maine would score the only goal on the power-play as Kyle Beattie passed from the right corner to Ryan Lomberg, and Lomberg buried it to make it 2-1. Maine would hold on to that lead and defeat the Lakers, 2-1. Maine improves to 5-11-2 on the season and wins their third game in a row, while Mercyhurst falls to 8-7-1. (more…)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Yale outshot Boston College 48-22 on Friday night, but the teams ended up with a 3-3 tie. The Bulldogs held a 16-7 shot advantage in the first, but it was the Eagles who took a 1-0 lead into the break after Bill Arnold buried a rebound in front. BC added to its lead 5:31 into the second when Brendan Silk led a rush down the left wing and knocked in his own rebound. Colin Dueck cut the lead in half just 17 seconds later when he fired a shot trough traffic that found its way past Parker Milner.

The Bulldogs (7-4-3) tied the game six minutes after that when Ryan Obuchowski collected a BC (12-3-2) turnover and beat Milner from the point for his first career goal. Just 1:13 later, Andrew Miller gave Yale a 3-2 lead with a snipe from the left circle. Steven Whitney netted the equalizer with 3:27 left in the second when his one-timer deflected off a Yale defender and past Jeff Malcolm. Milner made a career-high 45 saves in the tie.

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Hanover, NH- The game was penalty filled, but in the end it turned out to be a thriller as UMass scored an early third period goal, off the stick of Branden Gracel, to take home the Ledyard Bank National Classic. UMass had a strong first period but left the period with nothing to show for it and trailing the Big Green 2-1. Connor Sheary opened the scoring at three minutes, four seconds into the first period giving UMass an early 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as Dartmouth would respond shorthanded at 9:50, a goal by Brett Patterson to tie the game at one apiece. The Big Green would pot another one 1:23 later to take the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The second period was penalty filled and UMass scored the only goal, a shorthanded marker from Eddie Olzcyzk, to send the game into the second intermission tied at two. 15 seconds into the third period Branden Gracel, the tournament MVP, scored the eventual game winner and UMass escaped with the 3-2 win. The Minutemen improve 7-9-2 on the season, while Dartmouth drops their first home game of season falling to 8-3-2. (more…)

Hanover, NH- In the consolation game of the Ledyard Bank National Classic, Bemidji State took an early 1-0 lead two minutes, 12 seconds into the game on a goal by Markus Gerbrandt. UNH would respond 13 minutes later, as Grayson Downing would get a feed from Trevor van Riemsdyk in the right circle and he stayed true to tie the game at 1. The Wildcats would score the lone goal in the second period, as Jay Camper would send the game into the third period a 2-1 game in favor of UNH.

The third period was much different than the first two, as Bemidji made it a game when Jordan George tied the contest at two nine minutes into the third period. That tie would hold and send the game into overtime where Trevor van Riemsdyk fired a shot from the high slot past Bemidji goaltender, Andrew Walsh to give UNH a much needed win. UNH improves to 12-3-2 on the season, while Bemidji State falls to 5-10-3. (more…)

Hanover, NH- It was a game that featured the second and third ranked teams in the Pairwise, but one team really stood out for all the wrong reasons and one for all the right reasons. Dartmouth struck first six minutes, five seconds into the first period as Nick Bligh found himself all alone in the high slot and fired it past UNH goaltender Casey Desmith. The Big Green would increase their lead to two as Ryan Bullock struck five minutes later to give Dartmouth the 2-0 lead after one stanza. Both of those goals were the first in their respective collegiate careers.

To begin the second period, UNH scored 46 seconds in to make it a game at 2-1, but Dartmouth would make it a 3-1 game off the stick of Tyler Sikura. The 3-1 score would hold until the end, where Dartmouth held on and added an empty netter to pull out the 4-1 victory over UNH in front of a sell out crowd of 4500 at Thompson Arena. UNH falls to 11-3-2 on the season, while Dartmouth improves to 8-2-2. (more…)

Hanover, NH.- It was a tale of three different periods for UMass and Bemidji State. The first period was a struggle to find the puck by both teams but Bemidji State found their groove quicker than UMass and took a 2-0 lead at the intermission, on goals by Aaron Macleod at nine minutes, 17 seconds and a power-play goal by Brance Orban at 14:47. The second period was a much different story as UMass dominated the Beavers and were able to take a 3-2 lead, on goals by Michael Pereira, Darren Rowe and Adam Phillips.

The third was a relative stalemate as the Minutemen and Beavers traded goals to make it a 4-3 final in favor of UMass. UMass improves their record to 6-9-2 on the season, while Bemidji State falls to 5-9-3 overall. Both teams will continue in the Ledyard Bank Classic on Monday evening, UMass in the championship game and Bemidji in the consolation game.

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Given that only two teams play again before Christmas, this will be the last power rankings until after the holiday tournaments. The toughest call was at the top, where UNH and BC are about as close as you can get. Elsewhere, one of the biggest questions of the second half will be whether or not Lowell can finally get it together and make a run at home ice and NCAAs. The River Hawks move up this week, but they still have a lot of work to do.

1. New Hampshire (11-2-2, 8-2-1 HE) — Last week: 1
The Wildcats barely hang onto the top spot despite losing to BU 3-2 on Thursday. Had BC won on Friday, UNH would’ve dropped back to second, but that didn’t happen. The Wildcats go into break leading Hockey East in offense (3.60 goals per game), defense (1.80 goals allowed per game) and special teams net (+11). Kevin Goumas, who scored a goal against BU, leads the league in points with 24, while Casey DeSmith ranks first in save percentage at .939.

2. Boston College (11-2-1, 9-2-1 HE) — Last week: 2
The Eagles were 10.5 seconds away from reclaiming the top spot and giving Jerry York his record-breaking win, but they were forced to settle for a 3-3 tie against Providence. Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist and goes into break ranking first in the league in goals (11) and second in points (23). Michael Matheson scored the other two goals and now ranks second among freshman defensemen with 10 points. Pat Mullane had two assists and is now third in points with 19.

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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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