BOSTON — Harvard overcame a 5-2 third period deficit and scored with 48 seconds remaining in overtime to defeat Boston University, 6-5, at Agganis Arena on Wednesday night. The win halts a six-game winless streak for Harvard; most of which came during a tumultuous month that saw four players leave the university due to their role in an academic dishonesty scandal.

Conor Morrison picked up his first goal of the season on a breakaway to win the game for the Crimson. Goals from Marshall Everson, Luke Greiner and Colin Blackwell led the third-period surge for Harvard. BU held leads of 3-0 and 5-2, but the Terriers failed to hold or build on these leads.

The game marked the first meeting of the O’Regan brothers. Both BU freshman Danny (two goals and an assist) and Harvard sophomore Tommy (a goal and two assists) picked up three points on the night. The crosstown rivals may meet again this season. However, both will need to win their opening Beanpot games. Harvard takes on Boston College, while BU plays Northeastern on the first Monday in February.

What I Saw

• Boston University defensemen played their worst game of the season as a group. Not a single BU blue liner played well in his own zone on the night, leaving freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor in some tough spots. Lax play on breakouts or zone entries led to frequent turnovers and odd-man rushes for Harvard. Following the game, BU coach Jack Parker pointed to his defensemen as an especially sore spot in the game. Throughout the season, BU has come to rely on its defenders given their consistent play and contributions on both ends of the ice. Wednesday, the group looked disinterested at times, neglecting its responsibilities to join rushes and leaving Crimson forwards open below the circles as a result. Read the rest of this entry »

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A lot has happened in the two weeks since the last “3 Things” was written; enough so where it feels like I could cover 8 things and not do the conference justice. Since the holiday break the WCHA went through some doom and gloom.  St. Cloud State lost to RPI, Minnesota-Duluth fell to Maine and Nebraska-Omaha saw themselves swept by Quinnipiac. With so few non-conference games, their importance in the PairWise grow and each loss takes its toll.

But following the doom and gloom, the WCHA also went through some prosperity. Minnesota State, Michigan Tech and Minnesota won holiday tournament titles alongside sweeps by Denver and North Dakota over Cornell and Holy Cross, respectively. The Gophers joined the Pioneers, who earlier defeated Boston University 6-0, in routing Boston schools when they blew out a Johnny Gaudreau-less Boston College 8-1.

With that win comes a statement, as goaltender Adam Wilcox said, “when [teams] look at it and see ‘Gophers 8-1′ it puts our name on the board.” It’s hard to argue with that.

The top-ranked Gophers had another chance to make a non-conference statement when they faced #2 Notre Dame last night in a rare Tuesday night college hockey game. On a national stage, Minnesota defeated the Fighting Irish 4-1 to finish their non-conference schedule an undefeated 8-0; a remarkable feat given other teams’ issues outside of the conference.

More importantly, their positive non-conference experience helps the Gophers – currently 6th in league play – as they put their focus on the second half of the season. With 2 games in hand over 4 of the 5 teams ahead of them and only 4 points out of first, the gap between first and sixth cannot be smaller.

After the break, first-year players dominate the discussion. From Pheonix Copely and Stephon Williams to Anthony Stolarz and Nicolas Kerdiles, all 3 things cover WCHA freshmen. Read the rest of this entry »

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Conference play is back in full swing this weekend, so let’s see how everyone’s shaping up as the stretch run begins. I didn’t have time to write up a post last week (apologies if that ruined your week), but I did tweet out my rankings. So the “Last week” actually does refer to last week and not pre-break.

1. New Hampshire (13-3-2, 8-2-1 HE) — Last week: 1
After a tough Ledyard Bank Classic that saw them lose to Dartmouth and squeak by Bemidji State in overtime, the Wildcats bounced back with a 5-2 win over Rensselaer on Saturday. Kevin Goumas had his 10-game point streak snapped against Dartmouth, but still leads Hockey East with 18 assists and 26 points. Fourth-liners Dan Correale and Jay Camper each had two points against RPI.

2. Boston College (12-3-2, 9-2-1 HE) — Last week: 2
Coming off an 8-1 beatdown at the hands of Minnesota, the Eagles got outshot 48-22 by Yale on Friday but managed to force a 3-3 tie. BC is now 2-2-2 in its last six, with one of those wins coming against lowly Alabama-Huntsville. Johnny Gaudreau’s return from World Juniors will help the offense, but the bigger questions right now are on defense, where the Eagles are trying to make up for the loss of Patch Alber.

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Last week Dartmouth was sitting pretty in these rankings after a win against UNH but have not won since and have lost three games in a row. Quinnipiac proved their ranking at the top with another four point weekend, with wins against Dartmouth and Harvard. Quinnipiac now sits nine points clear of their closest competition in the standings, while the next 11 teams are separated by just seven points. Without further ado we will see where all the teams rank.

1. Quinnipiac (16-3-2, 10-0-0) – Last Week 1

At this point there is no question who the top dog in ECAC is. Last weekend the Bobcats defeated Dartmouth 2-1 on Friday night, while pummeling Harvard 6-2 on Saturday. They are on a 14 game unbeaten streak and are unblemished in ECAC play. A nine point lead is monumental at this point of the season, but it seems as though nine points will be all they need. The question at this point is who will stop their hot streak. Along with being at the top of the ECAC standings, the Bobcats currently sit in second place in the ever important Pairwise Rankings Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s time to get back into the swing of things. After the holiday break saw some teams play in tournaments while others had a break, it’s time to get the season going again. While there were not many conference games during this stretch, Atlantic Hockey teams certainly made their presence felt around the country. For starters,Niagara (17) continues to be ranked in the USCHO rankings. Atlantic Hockey teams are also in the Pairwise with Niagara (16) and Robert Morris (17).

Atlantic Hockey teams beat Maine, Clarkson, Penn State, Miami, Yale, St. Lawrence, and Northeastern over the break. Atlantic Hockey’s .383 inter-conference win percentage this season is the highest it’s ever been. Atlantic Hockey is currently 25-44-12 in out of conference games with just two more nonconference games to go. Read the rest of this entry »

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The first half of the season was fun. These last two weeks stuffed with holiday tournaments and non-conference matchups produced some memorable results. But, now, as January grows older, the season shifts and schedules slant to conference play. This weekend, the only non-conference games are a pair of exhibition series for Division I’s independent schools.

In Hockey East, two home-and-home series will prove vital to the final league standings and eventual playoff seeding. Boston College and New Hampshire play their first game of the season in Chestnut Hill on Friday night before heading to Durham for the back end. Meanwhile, Massachusetts and Providence finish their series for the year, starting at the Mullins Center Friday night.

League games are always important. Every point claimed this weekend will impact league play, as well as Pairwise positioning. However, these two series are particularly interesting. BC and UNH have been among Hockey East’s — and the nation’s — best this year. The four points available will help either side in the race for a top seed. Additionally, wins will solidify as either team in the race for more favorable NCAA Tournament positioning. With a regional in Manchester, N.H., we already know where the Wildcats will play. A strong performance this weekend could make their road to Pittsburgh slightly less bumpy, however.

For UMass and Providence, currently separated by three points, strong games are critical in the race for the final home ice spot in the Hockey East tournament. Moreover, both clubs have outside shots at earning at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Losses could damn either cause. Nate Leaman and John Micheletto will have their clubs focused solely on taking points, and it’s sure to be an impactful weekend in the race for home ice.

BC’s defense needs to grow up fast

A 3-3 tie with Yale last Friday is hardly a bad result for Boston College. Despite the expectations of the Eagles’ faithful, the draw won’t harm BC’s NCAA tournament resume too much. The 65 minutes of hockey, however, showed one issue BC needs to address moving into the second half. Patch Alber’s injury prior to the first game of the Mariucci Classic made a thin part of BC’s lineup even more barren. The defenseman is likely out until late March with a torn meniscus. It’s a troubling situation for Alber, a senior who worked tirelessly to become a regular on the blue line at Conte Forum. Read the rest of this entry »

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Six goals. Six different players. Quinnipiac trounced ECAC rival Harvard Saturday night in Hamden, Conn., 6-2, gaining its 10th ECAC win in the process and pushing its unbeaten streak to 14 games. All around phenomenal game for Quinnipiac, recording six goals for the second time this year, while Harvard struggled on the power play and between the pipes. Without doubt, the Crimson are a much different team when Jimmy Vesey isn’t on the ice.

What I Saw

Quinnipiac got its offensive performance started early, scoring twice on their initial four shots. At 1:51 in the first period, Bryce Van Brabant skated to the left side of the point before drilling a slap shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Raphael Girard. Less than six minutes later, Ben Arnt and Travis St. Denis skated into a 2-on-1. Arnt connected with St. Denis, who then one-timed a shot past Girard for the 2-0 advantage. Later in the first, Harvard got on the board when Luke Greiner hit the twine on a snipe from the far side circle to cut Quinnipiac’s lead in half.

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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