Durham, NH – UNH had many chances in the first period but failed to capitalize throughout the period. Merrimack would score the first goal of the game six minutes, 18 seconds into the game as Clayton Jardine sent a pass to Shawn Bates all alone in the high slot and the latter fired over Casey Desmith’s glove to give Merrimack the 1-0 lead, which would hold through the first intermission. The second period would be dominated by UNH, where they would send 20 shots toward Merrimack goaltender Sam Marotta but they would be outscored 2-1 in the period. Merrimack took a 3-1 lead into the final stanza.

UNH continued to dominate the game through much of the third period sending another 20 shots toward Sam Marotta, but Marotta saved them all and was in the zone. Merrimack would add an empty-netter to up the lead to 4-1 and they would get the win in front of 5499 disappointed Wildcat fans.

Merrimack improves to 12-10-5 overall, 10-6-2 in Hockey East, while UNH falls to 16-7-2 and 11-6-1. UNH continues to sit in second place two points behind Boston College in the Hockey East standings. Merrimack jumps into third place one point back of UNH in second and one point ahead of fourth place. Despite the loss UNH actually rose in the Pairwise because RPI became a TUC. Merrimack now enters the national picture in a big way after a weekend sweep of UMass-Lowell and UNH. Read the rest of this entry »

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Coming off of last weekend’s poor showing against Maine at home, BC looked to get things back on track Friday night at home against Vermont, which is just what they did with a 4-1 win.

Vermont actually led 1-0 after the first period after scoring just 4:14 into the game off of a slap shot from Anders Franzon, which went off of Parker Milner’s glove and into the net. BC had numerous scoring opportunities in the period, but couldn’t put the puck home.

BC eventually found the back of the net with two second period goals, less than a minute apart. Senior Pat Mullane got the first at 10:30, and Quinn Smith followed just 47 seconds later to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Boston College added two goals in the third period from senior Steven Whitney and sophomore sensation Johnny Gaudreau.

Milner was impressive in the BC goal making 38 saves, on 39 shots and UVM freshman goaltender Brody Hoffman played well despite the loss finishing with 26 saves.

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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell’s 11-game unbeaten streak came to an end Friday, as Merrimack (11-10-5, 9-6-2 Hockey East) downed the River Hawks 1-0 in a defensive struggle. Justin Hussar scored the game’s lone goal with 12:20 left to play when he took a pass from Rhett Bly and beat Doug Carr (26 saves) with a wrist shot from the left circle. Sam Marotta stopped all 25 shots from Lowell (14-8-2, 8-7-2 HE) to earn his second shutout of the season.

What I saw
-Lowell went 0-for-8 on the power play, and that was clearly the story of the game. Most notably, the River Hawks had two power plays in the final 2:24 of the game, including 10 seconds of a 5-on-3. They pulled Carr before the start of the first power play, so it was really 6-on-4 for 2:24 and 6-on-3 for 10 seconds. Marotta made a few big saves, the Merrimack penalty kill came up with some key blocks, and the River Hawks struggled to get to rebounds. That was really the story of the whole game when they were on the power play. They’d get a chance or two, but they weren’t quite aggressive enough to turn it into sustained pressure. At one point in the second period, they had four power plays in an 8:32 span and failed to capitalize.

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Amherst, Mass. – Michael Pereira scored two goals and two assists to lead Massachusetts to a convincing, 5-1 win over Boston University on Friday night at the Mullins Center.

Having big nights along with Pereira were linemates Branden Gracel and Conor Sheary, finishing with a goal and assist apiece.

Gracel got UMass on the board first with a goal 17 minutes, 21 seconds into the first period from the slot following a nice feed from Pereira on the odd-man rush. Kevin Czepiel scored the Minutemen’s second goal at 18:30 of the second period after redirecting a slapshot from Mike Busillo.

UMass proceeded to pour it on with three goals in the final period of play, including a shorthanded tally by Pereira at 11:03 to make it 5-0.

Ben Rosen scored the Terriers only goal of the night at 15:38 of the third with the game well out of reach.

Goaltender Kevin Boyle finished with 19 saves in his first start since Jan. 11. BU’s Sean Maguire was just a strong, if not better, but didn’t get the same defensive support as his counterpart.

With the loss and a New Hampshire win, the Terriers fall to third in the conference standings and now sits 15th in the Pairwise. UMass remains seventh in Hockey East with the win.

What I Saw: 

• Boyle got the nod for the first time since Jan. 11 in a 5-4  loss to Providence, with fellow sophomore Steve Mastalerz starting the last four, and showed no signs of rust. The sophomore made some big saves in the first two periods, including a big one with just over four minutes remaining in the first. Evan Rodrigues had a nice breakaway opportunity and tried to beat him blocker side with the backhand, but Boyle made the save with his blocker hand then secured it with the glove. It was shortly after that big save that UMass broke the scoreless tie and seized momentum from there. Boyle was also effective by making saves with the pads and secured the puck well in order to prevent second-chance opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »

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Orono, Maine- Maine and Providence locked into a defensive battle early and stuck with it most of the contest. The Friars took a 1-0 lead 11 minutes, seven seconds into the first period on a goal by Mark Jankowski. Providence would  hold that lead through the first and second intermissions, as neither team was able to solve the opposing goaltender. Joey Diamond finally solved Jon Gillies with 7:27 left in the third period on the shorthand and he would also score a goal with three minutes to go on the power-play to send the game into overtime.

The overtime was uneventful until the waning seconds where Noel Acciari would come in on a breakaway, but Maine goaltender, Dan Ouellette would make the huge save to preserve the tie. Providence goes to 10-10-5 overall, 8-6-4 in Hockey East, while Maine moves into a tie for ninth in the standings at 7-14-5, and 3-9-5 in Hockey East. The Black Bears now sit a single point out of a playoff spot and Providence sits in a tie for fourth place. Read the rest of this entry »

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BOSTON — New Hampshire defeated Northeastern, 3-1, at Matthews Arena on Friday night. John Henrion’s goal at 1 minute, 46 seconds of the third period gave UNH a two-goal lead that they held onto. Second-period goals from Grayson Downing and Eric Knodel staked the Wildcats to a 2-0 lead before Vinny Saponari cut it to 2-1.

UNH winger Kevin Goumas added a pair of assists for the Wildcats. Sophomore goaltender Casey DeSmith made 47 saves in the win for the Wildcats. Read the rest of this entry »

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Some great features this week from our CCHA staff worth checking out — from Caleb Saunders, a look at Bowling Green’s up-and-coming program, and from Taylor Lewis, a look at how Western Michigan’s Kenney Morrison is stepping up on the Broncos’ blue line. Next week, we’ll have features on Ferris State’s C.J. Motte and Alaska’s John Keeney (the CCHA Rookie of the Month).

A pair of great weekend series on tap for the CCHA this weekend, with each featuring teams in the top 5 of the league standings — Miami hosts Alaska, and Ferris State hosts Western Michigan. Meanwhile, can Notre Dame get back on track as it visits Ohio State? Plenty of story lines as the CCHA enters its final stretch. We’ll recap the weekend early next week.

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The season is starting to wind down but things are as close as ever in Atlantic Hockey. Just six points separate second place from tenth place. One bad weekend and you could go from a first round bye to playing on the road in the first round of the playoffs. Every point is crucial at this point.

1. Niagara – It’s hard to pick against the Purple Eagles these days. Their only blemishes in Atlantic Hockey play were a loss at Holy Cross and a tie at RIT. They haven’t lost an Atlantic Hockey game at home this season.

2. Air Force – The Falcons have found their grove since the calendars turned to 2013, going 5-1-1. They currently ride a four game winning streak and a six game unbeaten streak. This stretch has vaulted the Falcons all the way up to second place.

3. Holy Cross – The Crusaders look like they’ve lost their way. They went 3-5 in January and scored more than two goals just once on those eight games. But they’re still in third place but have lots of company around them vying for the first round bye. Read the rest of this entry »

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While Quinnipiac was idle, the gap between them and the rest of the league in many experts minds only grew. On Saturday night, second place Yale lost to a very talented Colgate team 4-1 at home. This weekend will bring the much anticipated in-state battle of Yale and Quinnipiac, the matchup most ECAC fans have been waiting for.It should be one of the top games in the country as it will pit the first (Quinnipiac) and the fifth rated (Yale) pairwise teams in the country. Regardless of the result, the atmosphere will be a playoff type environment that is very important for both squads going forward.

Quinnipiac remains six points ahead of the Bulldogs in the standings, despite not playing a conference game in the last 18 days. Behind the Bobcats is a mess of worldly proportions as 10 teams are within eight points of eachother. The pairwise rankings don’t look good for the ECAC as Quinnipiac and Yale are the only two teams that are comfortably in, and Dartmouth sits in position 15 on the bubble. But if there is a silver lining to them, Union and Colgate are just on the outside looking in, in positions 18 and 19. Getting one or both of those teams in and keeping Dartmouth on the inside would be the best case scenario for the conference. This weekend, as every weekend is down the stretch, will have a huge impact on the Pairwise.

1. Quinnipiac (18-3-3, 11-0-1) – Last Week 1

Is there any doubt these days? The Q has not lost a game since Election Day, November 6 2012, a span of 17 games without a defeat. Once again Quinnipiac was idle last weekend, as they have played just once in the past three weeks. Are they the top team in the country? This will be the test that may prove it. Read the rest of this entry »

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Looking at the Pairwise, it’s hard to figure out if this is a strong year for the WCHA or a down year. They have seven teams in the top 23 in the Pairwise, but just one in the top eight. Their 44-31-5 inter-conference record is the best in the country, but their 28-31-3 record against the other “Big Four” conferences is the worst among that group.

Looking ahead, we have a great race for the MacNaughton Cup, with St. Cloud State, Minnesota and Nebraska-Omaha gaining a little bit of separation from the rest of the pack. We also have a bunch of teams on the Pairwise bubble. Denver is 13th, Minnesota State 16th, UNO 21st and Wisconsin 23rd.

1. Minnesota (18-4-4, 10-4-4 WCHA) — Last week: 1
The Gophers stay in first after splitting with Minnesota State. They had their 10-game unbeaten streak snapped in Friday’s 2-1 loss, but they bounced back to win 4-1 the next night. Adam Wilcox stopped 57 of 60 shots on the weekend, while Nate Schmidt scored a pair of goals. Erik Haula and Zach Budish each had a goal and an assist on Saturday. The Gophers lead the WCHA in offense, defense, power play and penalty kill.

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