Sunday, December 12, 2010

Maine bounces back, defeats UMass 4-1

After a heartbreaking loss in front of the home crowd at Alfond Arena less than 48 hours ago, the University of Maine men’s hockey team bounced back to defeat the University of Massachusetts 4-1 in their first meeting of the season.

The Black Bears improve to 8-4-4 on the season and 6-3-2 in Hockey East play while the Minutemen fall to 3-7-3 and 2-4-3 in HEC.

“Tonight we thought we played pretty well,” Black Bears head coach Tim Whitehead said. “UMass was out-playing us early, we were able to weather the storm and played our best in the third. We’re pleased.”

The Black Bears tallied the first offensive attempt of the game — a strike from junior forward Gustav Nyquist — that was gloved out of the air by senior captain Paul Dainton.

The Minutemen gained possession and maintained it for sometime in UMaine’s defensive end, until play was stopped for the first power play of the game. Black Bear sophomore defender Mike Cornell upended a Minutemen player and spent the next two minutes in the penalty box for tripping. Freshman goalie Dan Sullivan and the Black Bears were able to fend off the power play, keeping the scored knotted up.

The Black Bears continued to look sloppy, unable to mount any sort of consistent offensive pressure. The Minutemen, for large stretches at a time, once again controlled the puck in the Black Bear zone.

With a little more than five minutes remaining in the first period, the pestering by the Minutemen offense proved too much, as UMass broke the tie on a one-timer by senior forward Chase Langeraap for his first goal of the season. Freshman forward Conor Sheary and junior defender Michael Marcou assisted on the go-ahead goal.

“I think it was kind of a broken play,” Sullivan said. “At the last second [Langeraap] got a pass on the back door and I wasn’t able to get there in time. It was a good shot.”

The Black Bears had an opportunity to tie things up with a man-advantage late in the period, but the power play proved fruitless for the 32nd consecutive time this season. 

The Black Bears came out with more offense in the second period, getting their best opportunity thus far on a shot by Nyquist, but was stopped by a diving Dainton to maintain the lead.

Five minutes into the second period, the Black Bears found the net. Freshman defender Adam Phillips tried to cover up on the free puck in the Minutemen zone, but it was poked away by Black Bear junior forward Brian Flynn. Flynn took a touch and fired the puck past Dainton for his seventh goal of the season.

“[Spencer Abbott] Abbs and Robby [Dee] were battling and trying to get the puck from him,” Flynn said. “I just stayed back hoping it would squirt out and it did. I just ripped it quick and I think it went five-hole.”

“Once they scored the goal we started to think a bit more about the situation and stopped skating and stopped playing,” Minutemen head coach Don Cahoon said.

The Black Bears came close to adding a second goal two minutes later, but the two-on-one between Nyquist and senior center Tanner House was pushed wide by the captain House.

Another chance opened for Nyquist and the Black Bears, but the Swede rocketed the puck over the goal entirely.

Each team had power play opportunities late in the period, but all were squandered without much threat.

The Black Bears outshot the Minutemen 11-7 in the second period.

The third period started off with a penalty early on, as Marcou was booked for interference.

The Black Bears broke the tie with their first power play goal in six games. Flynn grabbed his second of the game off assists from Nyquist and sophomore defender Nick Pryor.

“It was kind of a broken play,” Flynn said. “I know it hit the post on the short side and went it.”

“From a mental standpoint it’s always good to capitalize with a man-advantage,” Whitehead said. “In this case it was the game winner and certainly a big goal.”

After another successful penalty kill by UMaine, the Black Bears added a third, after a shot by freshman defender Brice O’Connor was deflected in by sophomore forward Adam Shemansky.

The Black Bears sealed their eighth win of the season with two minutes remaining, as Flynn rounded off the hat trick, scoring the fourth UMaine goal of the day. Senior center Dee grabbed his second assist of the day and Diamond chimed in with an assist.

Dainton played well, corralling 28 saves, but picked up his fourth loss of the season.

“It’s disappointing, it really is,” Dainton said. “We really wanted to be .500 in Hockey East going into the break and tonight we would have clinched that. But it’s a minor setback and there’s always things to improve.”

Sullivan grabbed the fifth win of his career, saving 21 shots in the process.

Both teams have an extended break, with the Minutemen traveling to Madison, WI for a two-game series against the University of Wisconsin on Dec. 30 and 31, while the Black Bears travel to Estero, FL for a showdown with Miami University and St. Cloud State. 

Friday, December 10, 2010

Number 3 UNH comes from behind to shock Number 8 Maine

The sixth-ranked University of Maine men’s hockey team couldn’t keep a two-goal lead heading into the third period against third-ranked University of New Hampshire, as the Black Bears crumbled down the stretch to lose to the Wildcats 4-3 in overtime.

Wildcat freshman center Jeff Silengo scored two goals on the night, including the game winner in the extra period.

“I’m very disappointed in the result, disappointed in our team,” UMaine head coach Tim Whitehead said. “We had a chance to make it 4-1, we had them 3-1, we had chances to finish it off, and we didn’t get it done.”

“We’ve done this a couple times this season,” Wildcat head coach Dick Umile said. “They knew they could it and I told them to stay with it. I’m really pleased with the way the guys stayed with it. It was a great college hockey game — two good teams, great atmosphere.”

Alfond Arena was taking all it could handle, with a sold-out crowd of 5,445 on hand to watch the boarder war.

The first period began with UNH controlling the opening faceoff and the offensive play for the first three minutes. Twenty seconds into the contest, senior forward Mike Sislo got the first shot off, deflected by Black Bear freshman goalie Martin Ouellette.

The Black Bears recorded the first penalty four minutes into the game, when sophomore forward Joey Diamond got booked for charging. Diamond leads the Black Bears in penalty minutes this season.

The man-advantage proved costly for UMaine, as Wildcat leading scorer, senior forward Phil Thompson scored the first goal of the game. Senior center Phil DeSimone and junior defender Blake Kessel assisted the goal.

It didn’t take long for the Black Bears to respond and inject some life into the packed Alfond Arena, as senior center Robby Dee scored his sixth goal of the season to tie things up. Dee gained possession of the puck in the neutral zone, weaved his way through the Wildcat defense and flicked the shot past junior goalie Matt DiGirolamo’s left shoulder.

The back-and-forth play continued for each squad, as Ouellette and DiGirolamo took turns keeping the score tied up. First Ouellette stopped freshman forward Nick Sorkin on a breakaway, then DiGirolamo barely slowed down a five-hole attempt by junior defender Ryan Hegarty. DiGirolamo followed that up by swiping junior forward Bobby Flynn’s shot out of the air.

The Black Bears got hit with another penalty with three minutes remaining in the period, but were able to fend off the potent UNH attack.

The second period saw the opposite of the first, with the Black Bears taking control early on. It took just over one minute for UMaine to break the tie, as a shot by senior defender Josh Van Dyk was deflected by Gustav Nyquist directly to junior forward Brian Flynn’s stick, who slapped it in for the go-ahead goal.

“I just came off the bench and the puck came right out,” Flynn said. “I had some time and held onto it and ripped it.”

Four minutes passed until the Black Bears found the net again — this time the assistant captain Nyquist squeaked through on a breakaway before beating DiGirolamo over his right shoulder for the third UMaine goal of the game.

Ouellette continued to shine on the big stage, diving across the crease to stop an open goal a quarter into the period.

The Black Bears’ penalty kill was put to the test seven minutes in, when freshman forward Mark Anthoine was sent off for a questionable hitting from behind penalty and a game misconduct, excusing him from the game and pitting the Black Bears a man down for five minutes.

UMaine was able to hold off the formidable Wildcat power play, keeping a two-goal cushion into the third period.

The Black Bears played more conservatively with their two-goal cushion in the third period, with Ouellette making it easier by deflecting Wildcat attempt after attempt.

Midway through the third period, the Wildcats came within one with Silengo’s first goal of the season.

UNH continued to apply the pressure throughout the period. The Black Bears were able to regain control of play when DeSimone entered the penalty box with a holding call. Another penalty with four minutes remaining on Sislo gave the Black Bears more time to kill, as the third period came towards a close.

The Wildcats went empty net with over a minute to go, and with 18 seconds remaining in regulation, tied things up as sophomore forward Dalton Speelman scored the third UNH goal of the game.

The extra stanza lasted just a minute and a half, as Silengo struck again, this time to win it, 4-3.

“I followed up the play, I saw John [Henrion] was going to the net,” Silengo said, “I just anticipated a shot by him and rebound came right to me.”

The two goals were the first two of his collegiate career, and just his second and third points.

“I didn’t know a goal would come today,” Silengo said. “It’s a great environment to play in and I’m just fortunate enough that I got some nice passes from my teammates and I was able to finish.”

“I told the team just wait for our opportunity, play good defense and wait for that turnover,” Umile said.

“It’s a tough loss. Losing when you’re up 3-1 going into the third at home is inexcusable,” Flynn said. “You have to move on. We have a game Sunday. We’ll see how we feel when we wake up but this is a tough one to let go.” 

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thompson Leads his Team Past Vermont in 5-1 Victory

In front of a feisty, sold out crowd at the Whittemore Center in Durham, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats played host to fellow hockey east team, the University of Vermont.  UVM appeared to struggle with a confused defense through the first 2 minutes as a result of a miscommunication between players, and both teams looked stale to start the game, but UVM picked up the pressure and started to find their game towards the end of the period with 8 scoring chances to UNH’s 5. While UNH won several face-offs, they failed to make contact with players at the point.  A slow ice surface also lead to multiple icing calls against UNH. The silver lining for the wildcats occurred when Dalton Speelman had an incredible hit against a UVM forward in the attacking zone, leveling both players and leaving them a little shaken.
The scoring opened up in the second period when UNH went on the powerplay as a result of  Vermont’s H.T. Lenz’s elbowing penalty.  Brett Kostolansky scored for the wildcats while Paul Thompson tallied the assist on the top-shelf play.  Vermont was quick to even the score when they returned to full strength on a goal by Tobias Nilsson-Roos assisted by Josh Burrows and Brett Leonard. UNH goaltender Matt DiGirolamo  lost sight of the puck during the play as UNH’s forwards seemed to hesitate to jump into the defensive play.
After several minutes of frustrated play, UNH was finally able to start connecting on offensive passes, and their top line was once again successful in beating UVM goaltender Rob Madore.  UNH’s second goal was scored by Thompson. Phil DeSimone received the primary assist, while captain Mike Sislo recorded the secondary assist.  With just seconds left in the second period, UNH was able to increase their lead on a goal by defenseman Blake Kessel, assisted by Sislo and Kostolansky.  Shots on goal at the end of the second period were almost even, with UVM leading UNH 17-16 as the score favored the wildcats 3-1.
The third period saw some riveting action. Vermont looked to be getting desperate as they started throwing massive open ice hits, and one hit against the boards that resulted in Drew Mackenzie receiving a five minute penalty and being ejected from the game, leaving UVM down a man for 5 minutes.  Thompson scored a goal during the powerplay, assisted by DeSimone and then scored again, unassisted to give UNH the 5-1 lead, and ultimately the final score.  New Hampshire’s top line were responsible for all 15 points received in the game and Thompson’s hat trick was rewarded with hats sprinkling the ice after being thrown by some very happy fans.  UNH pulled DiGirolamo in the final 2 minutes of the period and allowed for junior goaltender Tyler Scott to make his collegiate debut.



Sunday, December 5, 2010

BC Complete Sweep with 5-2 Win

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - The fans of the Boston College Eagles summed up their feelings towards their cross city rivals with a loud “just like last night” chant with under a minute to go.  

In front of a sold out crowd, the home town team did not disappoint their fans as they completed the home and home sweep over arch rivals Boston University with convincing 5-2 win.  BU’s coach Jack Parker put it best when describing The Eagles, “speed and confidence”.  There was no lack of either tonight.

Both teams came out with a lot of jump to start the game, trading hits and scoring chances.  The Terriers got on the board early with a goal by freshman Matt Nieto.  

It didn’t take long for BC to strike back as Cam Atkinson netted his 14th of the season after a giveaway by the BU defenders.  His linemates Brian Gibbons and Joe Whitney, who assisted on the goal, caused havoc for BU with their passing around the net to set up an easy tap in for Atkinson.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 2 goal lead to start the second period with goals from sophomore defenceman Brain Dumoulin and forward Steven Whitney.  Dumoulin’s big blast from the point had eyes for the back of the net as the puck narrowly missed the traffic in front and Whitey’s first of two on the evening was a shooters goal over the shoulder of BU goalie Kieran Millan.  

While BU managed to get close with a goal from a scrum in front of the net, Chris Kreider sunk any hope of a comeback with a short-handed goal breakaway goal.  

“There was a little bit of mis-communication and they were a little bit flat footed.  I kind of got lucky and got a head of steam.”

The highlight of the night came with Whitney’s second goal.  After jumping on to the ice after another strong penalty kill, Whitney took a pass from Jimmy Hayes and was off to the races.  The sophomore fooled Millan with a deke and scored on his backhand to the roar of the BC faithful.

“”The goalie was far out and I went for the deke on the backhand” said Whitney after the game.

Coach Jerry York was happy this team tonight.  “For the first two periods, we were outstanding.  We really had some jump.”

Attitude is a big factor to BC’s recent success according to Kreider.  “Everyone is so positive on the bench and in the locker room.  At times we might have been cheating the game a little bit as our coaches say.  Playing a little too soft instead of playing like men.  We sat down and talked about it.  We have a lot of leaders other than our captains stepping up to the forefront.”

Coach York believes that his team is getting better but they need to stay focused, not just thinking about April.  “You can’t just wait for Beanpots, HockeyEast tournaments and NCAA.  I think your attitude, like Chris said, is a big part.  Enjoy each practice and April will come soon enough.”

Boston College will go on their winter break and won’t be back on the ice until Decemeber 30th taking part in the Ledyard National Bank Classic in Hanover, NH.  

Zac’s 3 Stars

1st Star - Boston College - F Steven Whitey
A 2 goal night for the young forward.  6 shots on net and finished a +2.  His second goal would have easily make highlight of the night.

2nd Star - Boston College - F Chris Kreider
Kreider helped seal the deal for the Eagles with a short-handed goal and ended the night with 8 shots on net, the most out of any player on either team.  

3rd Star - Boston College - G John Muse
Once again, Muse came up big when he had to.  A few key saves down the stretch kept BU out of the game.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

BU falls to cross-town rival BC, 9-5, in a wild, penalty-ridden affair

By Brian Roach

BOSTON -- In front of a sell-out crowd of 6,150 at Agganis Arena Friday night, the No. 2/3-ranked Boston University men’s ice hockey team (7-2-5, 5-2-4 HE) laid its first “stinker” of the season, head coach Jack Parker said. Unfortunately for the Terriers, that “stinker” happened to come against cross-town rival Boston College (10-5-0, 8-4-0 HE) in the 251st installment of the “Battle of Comm. Ave.”

“I thought one team played very, very well tonight, and it wasn’t us unfortunately,” Parker said during his post-game comments. “I was really impressed with [the Eagles], I was really disappointed, and actually surprised, in our club…We haven’t had a ‘stinker’ all year, it’s just too bad we had a stinker in front of a big crowd in front or our big rival.”


Things didn't go quite the way Terrier Nation had hoped on Friday night at Agganis Arena, as BU fell to long-time rival BC in this season's first head-to-head match-up (Photo by Brian Roach).


It didn’t take long for the No. 8-ranked Eagles to get on the board. On the first power play opportunity of the night, BC’s junior right-winger Jimmy Hayes tipped, and re-directed, a shot from sophomore defenseman Brian Dumoulin past Terriers netminder Kieran Millan (10 saves). BU’s junior goaltender was beaten again only 23 seconds later by a wrister from junior left-winger Paul Carey.

Millan settled down a bit in net, making a beautiful save on a short-handed opportunity from BC, but the Eagles would strike once more in the waning minutes of the opening stanza – this time with 2:15 remaining. Junior forward Cam Atkinson – who leads BC with 13 goals scored – slapped a feed from Joe Whitney top-shelf, glove-side, to beat Millan and put BU in a 3-0 hole.

Parker replaced Millan with junior Grant Rollheiser (18 saves) to start the second period, but the switch did little (if anything) to change the momentum of the game. Just 2:29 into the contest’s second frame, Atkinson capitalized on another Terrier penalty when he slapped a shot from the left side that found its way past Rollheiser. Trailing 4-0 nearly midway through the second period, freshman left-winger Matt Nieto tried to give the Terriers some life – beating senior BC netminder John Muse (18 saves) on a two-on-one to cut the Eagles' lead to 4-1.

But, as was the case all night, the Eagles responded and deflated the hopes of Terrier Nation shortly thereafter. Less than five minutes after Nieto's third marker of the season, BC junior forward Barry Almeida lifted a short-handed shot over Rollheiser that found the back of the net with 12:58 gone by in the period. And, less than three minutes after that score, BC added its third power play tally of the night on Phillip Samuelsson’s laser from the right point (the goal was Samuelsson’s first of the season). The power play goal extended the BC lead to 6-1, and, after two full periods, BU found itself outshot 27-11.

In the contest’s final frame – one that was marked by an inordinate amount of stoppages of play and penalties (13 in total) – the Terriers finally showed some signs of life, outscoring the Eagles 4-3; but, by that point, it was too late (“the game was over,” Parker said). With just 1:03 gone by in the period, the Terriers finally broke through on the power play when senior co-captain Joe Pereira slapped a rebound past Muse (although they scored 3 power play goals, the Terriers continued to struggle with the man advantage, going just 3-of-15 on the night). The Terriers also got points from junior assistant captain David Warsofsky, sophomore defenseman Max Nicastro and junior winger Andrew Glass.

Unfortunately, BU also yielded three more goals – including Brian Gibbons’ penalty shot tally – thereby extinguishing any hopes for a possible Terrier comeback. Put simply, Parker said in his post-game remarks, the Terriers got out-played in every facet of the game by a team many picked to finish No. 1 in the nation.

“Pick a position,” Parker said when asked about the nine goals allowed. “We didn’t have a great night in the goal, that’s for sure, but we didn’t – that was helped along by how poorly we played in front of the net,” he added, noting that he couldn’t name a single BU player who had a “good night.”

The Terriers will lace up their skates again tonight (Saturday, December 4th) to take on the Eagles at Conte Forum. Puck drop will be at 7:30, and the contest will be aired on the CBS College Sports Network.

“I told [the guys] to forget tonight, it was a stinker,” Parker said after the game. “It isn’t what happened to us tonight, it’s how we react to what happened to us tonight – that’s the only thing that’s important to us right now.”

NOTES –

BU and BC combined for 29 penalties in the contest…The home loss was the Terriers’ first of the season…After Friday night’s loss, the all-time season series now stands at 125-109-17 in favor of BU…The Eagles are now 6-2-1 at Agganis Arena…The Terriers are now ninth in HE with the man-advantage (10-for-78 – a 12.8% success rate)...The loss was Grant Rollheiser's first of the season (3-1-0).

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Harvard Defeated 3-1 by Merrimack for their 6th Loss in a Row

BOSTON, MA - Harvard was looking to put their 5 game losing streak behind them with a strong effort tonight against Merrimack College but poor execution and missed opportunities lead to a 3-1 loss at Bright Hockey Center.  

Entering tonight’s contest, the Crimson are 2-6-0 on the season and Merrimack has a 5-3-4 record.  

The first period provided little action from both sides.  While Merrimack out-shot the Crimson 14 to 6, most of their chances were from well outside the scoring area.  Harvard was able to get a couple of decent chances on goalie Joe Cannata but couldn’t capitalize.  Harvard was very physical in the early going on the puck carrier and taking the body to every Merrimack player.

Merrimack opened the scoring at 15:34 of the second period on a powerplay with a goal by Brandon Brodhag after the puck was batted down in the crease.  The goal was assisted by Mike Collins and Karl Stollery.  

The goal seemed to energize Merrimack as from that point on they were on the attack for the rest of the period.  The Crimson could not get the puck out of their end and if it wasn’t for Senior goalie Kyle Richter, the score would have been much worse.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thompson’s Late Goal Lifts UNH over Merrimack



The Whittemore Center in Durham was bustling at the start of the game between UNH and


divisional rival Merrimack College. UNH was looking to improve on their dismal game against


Brown University and Merrimack came in riding the tails of another victory over Boston College.




Merrimack certainly looked like they had something to prove during the first period when they


came out skating strong. It wasn’t long before UNH seemed to wake up and maintain puck


While the score remained 0-0 through the first period, there were some spectacular defensive


plays by both teams, including a massive open ice hit by UNH defenseman Blake Kessel.


Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata made an incredible save during a UNH powerplay, robbing


speedy senior Phil DeSimone on a breakaway opportunity. The best chance for UNH came


during the final seconds of the first period with a solid minute of maintained pressure in front of


the Merrimack net, but they were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. The score remained 0-


0 through the end of the first period.




The game remained scoreless through the second period with both teams continuing their


excellent defensive play. Neither team seemed to be able to form a cohesive attack against


the other. Merrimack’s captain Adam Ross was solid in front of his own net while Brett


Kostolansky was equally as effective in front of UNH goaltender Matt DiGirolamo. Shots on


goal at the end of the period were 27-18 in favor of Merrimack, but DiGirolamo was stellar in


net to keep UNH in the game.




Merrimack opened up the scoring in the third period with a powerplay goal by Chris Barton


assisted by Stephane Da Costa. UNH responded with a goal by defenseman Damon Kipp,


assisted by Paul Thompson and DeSimone. The second UNH goal was scored by Thompson


and assisted by senior captain Mike Sislo and DeSimone. Both teams seemed determined to end


the game on a physical note, as the period was also littered with a slew of penalties that resulted


in an extended time of 4 on 4 play that both teams were able to successfully kill off.


The three stars of the night were awarded to Merrimack forward Barton, UNH goaltender


DiGirolamo and UNH's Thompson.

Merrimack wins season series, upends BC 5-3

Merrimack capitalized on powerplays late in the game to hold onto a 5-3 win over Boston
College infront of a sold out crowd at Lawler Arena in North Andover, Ma. The Warriors
improved to 4-2-3 in Hockey East as a result of Friday's win.

BC started the scoring early in the first period after converting on a hitting from behind
penalty seeing Cam Atkinson with his ninth goal of the season. Merrimack added a pair
of goals less than a minute apart which was led by a Stephane DaCosta breakout pass to
Jesse Todd after the Warriors had successfully killed off a roughing penalty. BC added a
goal late in the period after some traffic infront of the net leaving Merrimack Goaltender
Joe Cannata shaken up. Cannata was able to continue for the remainder of the game.

Physical play took over the game in the second period as play was fairly even.
Merrimack’s Ryan Flanigan snuck past the BC defense at the 13 minutes mark of the
period to beat John Muse for the period's only goal.

Merrimack’s Chris Barton knocked in a rebound early in the third in hopes of putting the
game out of the Eagles’ reach but a powerplay goal buried by BC’s Patrick Wey off of a
Cannata rebound brought BC within one goal halfway through the third.

Boston College was mounting a comeback and controlled play through the latter part of
the third but were bit by penalties after a Brian Gibbons major for charging.
DaCosta netted an empty net goal on the subsequent powerplay to secure the win for the
Warriors.

Emotions spilled over in the final seconds of the game as 16 minutes of penalties were
handed out adding fire to the entertaining season series between the two teams.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Brown Leaves UNH Feeling Blue Before Thanksgiving Break


It was a slow start for UNH at an unusually quiet Whittemore Center on Tuesday night.  Non-conference foe Brown University came out skating strong with great puck possession.  The first scoring opportunity came during a UNH powerplay after a hooking penalty was called on Brown’s junior forward Jared Smith.  A usually solid UNH powerplay unit could not score on Brown’s goaltender Mike Clemente. 

After a few close saves by goaltender Matt DiGirolamo, UNH finally outmuscled Brown on a breakaway after taking advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone.  With just 2:24 left in the first period, UNH senior captain Mike Sislo scored on an assist by Paul Thompson.    

The second period saw a slew of Brown goals starting just a minute into the period when sophomore forward Chris Zaires scored, assisted by senior Harry Zolnierczyk. Less than a minute later, Brown scored again on an unassisted breakaway shot by Bobby Farnham. After several shots on net, UNH was finally able to put the puck past Clemente on a goal by defenseman Brett Kostolansky assisted by Phil DeSimone.  
Brown was simply relentless with their presence in front of the net in the final minutes of the period and Jeremy Russell able to score on DiGirolamo while assisted by Jack MacLellan. 

After the final whistle of the second period, Sislo and Zolnierczyk received matching penalties for some pushing and shoving that the referee interpreted as unsportsmanlike conduct.  The period started with some intense 4 on 4 action as both teams looked fired up and ready to put pucks on net.  DiGirolamo went into a full split to stop an attempt by Brown after UNH’s defense faltered in the netural zone.  UNH was finally able to score on the powerplay with a hard, unassisted wristshot by Sislo.  Brown returned the favor with a goal by Zolnierczyk, but with 2:30 left in the third period, UNH pulled DiGirolamo for the extra attacker and scored two unanswered goals by Blake Kessel and Mike Borisenok.
The score remained the same through the overtime period.  While UNH had a commanding lead of shots on goal (41-27) the team seemed relieved to skate to a draw after such a flat start to the game. 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

York re-signs with BC

Boston College is bringing back the NCAA's winningest active coach for a run at immortality.

Jerry York, winner of 858 games and four national titles (Bowling Green 1984; Boston College 2001, 2008, 2010) signed a five year extension with the Eagles, which will keep him in Chestnut Hill through 2015. It will give him a real opportunity to tackle Ron Mason's all-time NCAA D-I record of 924 wins.

If York stays true to his 22 win per year average, he'll best Mason in the 2013-14 season.

York has led BC to seven Hockey East titles, nine Frozen Four berths and three national titles in his sixteen years at the helm of his alma mater.

Rankings Rewind

Although Boston College (8-4-0) hopped up three spots and Maine (6-3-3) dropped seven when USCHO released its most recent D-I rankings, the biggest story of the week was Merrimack.

The Warriors came in at 18th nationally, the first time in the program's 22-year history in D-I that they're ranked (they were, incidentally, not ranked in the USA Today poll, and come in at 17 in the Pairwise rankings).

While Boston University (7-1-4, Number 2) didn't gain anything in the polls after splitting with UNH (6-2-3), the Wildcats did move up a notch to number six.

BU also ranks highest in Hockey East in the Pairwise rankings, at six. UNH is seventh and Boston College eighth, with Maine tied for thirteen with Minnesota.

For the complete USCHO rankings, click here. Pairwise rankings, complements of College Hockey News, are here. For a comparison between the rankings, read Mike McMahon's Eagle-Tribune blog here. Additional thanks to Mike for helping determine when Merrimack's first D-I season was.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Hockey East Week 7 Awards

In perhaps the most thoughtless selection process of the season, Boston College was awarded Hockey East's Team of the Week award. The Eagles, who had been 3-4-0 in their previous seven games, swept a two-game set with third-ranked Maine at Conte Forum, outscoring Hockey East's best scoring team 8-1 over the two games.

They did it on the strength of stellar work by senior goaltender John Muse, who got the Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week mention for the second time this season and the first time since the opening weekend of the year.

Meanwhile, across town, Northeastern freshman Rob Dongara was awarded the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week award for his effort in a three-point weekend for the Huskies, including an assist on Wade MacLeod's game-winner Saturday night at Matthews Arena.

Northeastern and BC weren't the only teams to have strong weekends, though. Merrimack took four points from Umass-Lowell in a sweep of their weekend series, and junior Jesse Todd was awarded for his efforts by being named Athletic Republic Co-Player of the Week. Todd, whose first collegiate hat trick on Friday night boosted the Warriors to a 4-3 win over Lowell, shared the honors with UNH's Paul Thompson. Thompson totaled five points on the weekend, scoring two of the Wildcats' goals on Friday in helping UNH topple BU - the Terriers' first defeat of the season - and added a goal and an assist on Saturday when BU exacted revenge back at Agganis Arena.

BC Drops Maine 4-1

CHESTNUT HILL, MA – The second of two meetings between the Eagles and the Black bears on Sunday afternoon saw the Eagles pick up where they left off and pick up their 8th win of the season with a score of 4-1.

A cautious first period for both teams, as it appeared neither team had their legs to start to the contest.  There wasn’t the same aggressiveness as we saw on Friday night.

Much like Friday night, special teams continue to haunt Maine as Boston College capitalized on the powerplay with a goal from left-winger Paul Carey, his 12th of the season.  Carry, parked in front of the net, tapped home a rebound off a shot form the point by Cam Atkinson.  Also assisting on the goal was Brian Gibbons.

Maine found their legs for the second half of the first period, as they were able to generate several scoring chances, some a point blank range.  Much like the last game, BC goalie John Muse held his ground and kept Maine off the board.

John Muse was one again square to the puck on every shot and gave nothing to the shooter.

Hockey East week 7 power rankings

Lest anyone forget that there are teams in Hockey East not located in Durham, Orono or on Commonwealth Avenue, Merrimack and Northeastern were big winners in-conference on a weekend that created more questions than it answered.

1) Boston University Terriers (5-1-4, 7-1-4 overall)

Tough to move the Terriers from their last week’s spot since they did finally lose a game, but equally as tough not to move them up as they expanded their lead in the standings. Yes, they beat UNH convincingly at home, but they wouldn’t have done it had the Wildcats not committed three own-zone turnovers that led to goals in the second period of Saturday night’s game.

“We assisted on four of their goals,” said UNH coach Dick Umile of the Saturday night loss. “They finished, so give them credit for that, but we just handed them the puck.” Still, the return of defenseman David Warsofsky to the offense helps, and continued contributions from their freshman class (three of whom tallied Saturday night) definitely help their cause.

What doesn’t help their cause? Losing captain Chris Connolly for 4-6 weeks with a broken finger. Allowing 40-plus shots in back-to-back nights. And a prevailing sense of complacency that’s begun to show up. While the Terriers are racking up come-from-behind wins, it’s uncertain whether that’s helping a freshman class that’s so critical to BU’s success. Usually, playing from behind with a young team doesn’t translate to success when the calendar turns to March.

They move up in part due to Maine’s weak performance on Friday and due also in part to the fact that a majority of the games - the most important ones, in particular - in the conference aren’t played on the Whittemore Center’s olympic-size rink that they struggled so mightily on.

2) University of New Hampshire Wildcats (4-1-2, 6-2-3 overall)

The Wildcats could easily have been number one had they continued their strong play on Saturday. And they did...for about 21 minutes.

If BU’s the deepest team in Hockey East, UNH might be the most complete team in the conference, and they certainly have the best goaltender, but coach Umile’s reluctance to put anyone else in net may be starting to wear on Matt DiGirolamo, who admitting after Saturday’s loss to the Terriers that while he’s honored to be the number one guy all the time, it is a big challenge.

3) Boston College Eagles (6-3-0, 8-4-0 overall)

Coming into the weekend, BC had done nothing but struggle over its past three weeks, and the news wasn’t getting better. Kevin Hayes remained in street clothes and Tommy Cross was going to miss at least another four weeks after injuring his left knee shortly after his right knee sprain healed.

But now? John Muse is looking like a Hobey Baker candidate again; the top lines are scoring and the blue-liners are shutting down the best scoring team in the conference. We’ll see just how good BC is in a couple weeks when they face off with BU, but their stock rose quite a bit in the last 72 hours.

Still, they lost on home ice to UNH. And in what winds up being a fairly short season, home losses to other great teams are going to keep you from reaching the top.

4) University of Maine Black Bears (4-2-1, 6-3-3 overall)

They went in to Chestnut Hill Friday night on a tear, scoring at will and doing just enough defensively to stay ahead of their opposition. The offense-first approach that coach Tim Whitehead espouses caught up to them at Conte Forum, however, as the Bears went down 4-0 and 4-1 in consecutive games.

Against lesser teams, Maine may be a top-five team, but they need to improve defensively and get better goaltending from their tandem of Dan Sullivan and Shawn Sirman if they want to make some serious noise in Hockey East.

5) Merrimack College Warriors (3-2-3, 4-2-4 overall)

A very impressive two weekends for Merrimack, who tied then-number one BU twice and beat Lowell twice this past weekend. They’re doing it with strong goaltending from junior Joe Cannata, but are also getting points up front.

Still, there are two very evident chasms in Hockey East; Merrimack’s the victim of the first, as they’re a long ways from catching up to their competition in Boston, New Hampshire and Maine.

6) Providence College Friars (3-3-3, 5-3-3 overall)

Providence and Northeastern each took three points from each other this season, but it’s worth noting that, excepting a 2-1 loss at BU in early October, Providence hasn’t exactly faced Hockey East’s best and brightest - Merrimack’s the only other above-.500 team they’ve skated against, winning 2-0 at home.

When they have played the bottom-feeders, they haven’t necessarily performed well against the other squads (sure, they’re 1-0-1 against UMass, but have lost to Lowell and Northeastern and tied UVM).

We’ll get a better picture of Providence when they face Maine in a two-game series in two weeks, but until then, they sit in the middle based solely on their total points and nothing more.

7) Northeastern University Huskies (2-4-2, 2-7-3 overall)

Tough to tell just what this Northeastern’s team’s going to be. When they play together, they have a lot of potential, but they don’t seem to buy into the team-first philosophy.

But when they do, they have nights like Saturday - a 5-0 victory over Providence - when Chris Rawlings is impenetrable and the power play - loaded with young, explosive talent - goes 3-for-5 and look every bit like the team that uprooted the established BU/BC ruling class two years ago.

Much like BC, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the Huskies. But they improved their standing greatly by going 1-0-1 last weekend, and if they can keep the momentum going, they just may be a force to be reckoned with before things are said and done in March.

8) University of Vermont Catamounts (1-3-2, 1-4-3 overall)

Vermont, who remained idle last weekend, falls two spots, proving that sometimes, it’s better to play anyone than it is to take a weekend off.

9) University of Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks (2-8-0, 2-8-2 overall)

Then again, in the case of Lowell, sometimes it doesn’t matter whether you play or not, you still don’t go anywhere. If UMass wasn’t still 0-for the season, the River Hawks would be playing doormat this weekend.

10) University of Massachusetts Minutemen (0-3-3, 0-6-3 overall)

UMass has a chance to get their first W of the season at home Tuesday against an offensively inept UVM squad. But they’ll need more than defense to do it when Hockey East’s two worst teams face off for the first time this season. Until they’re able to score that win, however, they’re going to keep warming the Power Rankings bench.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Huskies Get First Home Win In Rout

Behind five different goal scorers, Northeastern got it’s first home win of the season, defeating Providence 5-0 at Matthews Arena Saturday night.

The Huskies came out and established their presence early on and they were rewarded when senior assistant captain Wade MacLeod scored his fifth goal of the season to put his team up 1-0.

Ian O’Connor took a slashing penalty late in the opening period that carried over into the second the NU capitalized 31 seconds into the frame as Steve Silva put home a loose rebound in the crease.

In the third period, the Huskies got goals from three freshman in Anthony Bitteto, Braeden Pimm, and Jamie Oleksiak. The game quickly turned into a rout and Northeastern cruised for the final 10 minutes.

12 different members of the team registered points and Chris Rawlings got his fourth career shutout, making 29 saves.

“It’s about time I’ll tell you that much,” said Bitetto who discussed his first home win after the game.

MacLeod, who scored his 100th point in Friday night’s tie, said that he thinks the team is headed in the right direction.

“Yeah I think just the last couple weeks we’ve been working on the offensive zone, cutting back and I think we’re generating a lot of speed down low and it’s tough to match us when all four lines are going,” MacLeod said.

The Huskies next game will be the day after Thanksgiving in Burlington against the Vermont Catamounts. The Friars will have an out of conference battle at Holy Cross next Saturday.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Boston College Blank Maine 4-0

CHESTNUT HILL, MA – The boisterous crowd at Conte Forum did not leave disappointed as the No. 9 Boston College Eagles rolled over No. 3 University of Maine 4-0.  This was the first of a two meetings in three days, both to be played at Boston College.   

Four different scorers found the back of the net for the Eagles tonight and special teams played a big role in the win.

The game started out a bit rough with a 5 minute major for boarding against Maine Sophomore Joey Diamond.  The parade to the penalty box didn’t stop there as both Boston College and Maine traded penalties for most of the period.

More sloppy play lead to a breakaway for Maine’s Gustav Nyquist but he was hauled down leading to the most exciting play in hockey, a penalty shot.  Goalie John Muse maintained his composure and wasn’t fooled by Nyquist’s deke attempt to keep the game scoreless.  To Nyquist’s credit, the puck flipped a little on him right before finishing his move.

Maine’s undisciplined play in the period help the Eagles open the scoring at 14:46 with a goal by Junior Paul Carey.  Carry, parked in front of the net, buried the puck after some nice passing by the Eagles powerplay unit.  Brian Gibbons and Joe Whitney assisted on the goal.

Boston College quickly followed with short-handed goal by Gibbons after some poor communication between the Maine defender and goalie Dan Sullivan.  Sullivan attempted to send the puck around the net but Gibbons picked it off and fired it into the open net.

A scary moment at the start of the second as Maine’s Assistant Captain Jeff Dimmer got knocked into the boards.  He left the ice with some help and could not put any weight on his right leg.  He did not return to the game.

The Eagles found the back of the net for the third time at 7:34 of the second when Tommy Atkinson snuck a low shot under Dan Sullivan.  This was Atkinson’s first goal of the season and also his first goal of his collegiate career.

Maine’s best chance of the night to finally get on the board came with a long 5 on 3 man advantage.  The Black Bears couldn’t solve John Muse or the aggressive penalty kill of BC.  Maine kept shooting from the point and looked unsure about who should pull the trigger.   

The third period saw Boston College chase Maine’s goalie from the net with another goal on the powerplay.  Center Pat Mullane fired a bullet from the top of the faceoff circle to the top right corner through some traffic.  Sullivan didn’t have a chance.

Backup goalie Shawn Sirman came in relief and made all 6 shots he faced.

John Muse stopped all 32 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season and improving his record to 6 wins and 2 loses.

As the final buzzer sounded, emotions boiled over as players on both teams got into a scrum.  Penalties for both teams were handed out.  Muse, when asked about if there would be any carry over on Sunday, simply relied “No.  Sunday is a new game.”

After the game, Maine’s coach Tim Whitehead summed up his team’s effort.  “Special teams cost us tonight.  The 5 on 3 not capitalizing there.”

Whitehead saw the penalty shot as a missed opportunity for his club. “It was big.  You never know if it’s going to be important but if scored there that gives us momentum.”

Whitehead would not state who would be starting on Sunday.

Boston College Coach Jerry York really enjoyed the emotion out of the crowd for tonight’s game. “I thought the crowd was a real factor today.  We had a lot of support.”

As for the team, Coach York felt that the team was much more solid for 60 minutes compared to the past few games.  

Zac’s Three Stars

1st Star – Boston College – G John Muse
John wasn’t flashy but he stopped everything he faced.  He was calm on the penalty shot early in the game and made a couple of spectacular saves to keep Maine off the board.

2nd Star – Boston College – F Brian Gibbons
With a goal and an assist, Gibbons help lead the offense for the Eagles and finished with a +1.  His short-handed goal snuck Maine in the first.

3rd Star – Boston College – D Brian Dumoulin
2 assists for the big defenseman tonight.  Played in all situations and was one of the reasons why Maine couldn’t generate much offense.