Weekly Honors

UNH fans are probably not surprised to see that F Paul Thompson was awarded the Athletic Republic Player of the Week honor. After a weekend sweep of Providence, Thompson came out with an assist and three goals including the game-winner on Saturday Night. Thompson notched his 99th career point (49 goals, 50 assists) and is looking forward to being the third Wildcat to make it on UNH's 100-point list during this weekend's series vs. Maine.

F Mike Collins of Merrimack takes home the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week after his first career hat trick against Vermont over the weekend. On Friday night, he made an assist and had nine shots on goal total for the weekend.

Northeastern's goaltender Chris Rawlings is this week's Pure Hockey Co-Defensive Player of the Week after stopping 65 of 67 shots (.970 save%) against UMass this weekend, stopping all 26 from the Minutemen on Friday for his fourth shutout of the season, and 39 in a draw on Saturday. He shares the honors with BU's Kieran Millan, who led the Terriers to a three-point weekend. Millan stopped 75 of 79 shots he faced in the weekend series against Maine. 

Rankings Rewind: Yale…Not in First!?

After back-to-back losses against Union and Rensselaer, Yale finally gave up the top spot in this week's USCHO poll to Boston College who are now 18-6-0 on the season. Yale is ranked third behind Denver who swept Alaska over the weekend at Magness Arena. Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota rounded out the top 5. UNH gained one spot in the rankings after completing a series sweep against Providence, placing them at number 6. Rensselaer continues their impressive play and rose one spot in the rankings to number 9 after beating Yale on Saturday night with a commanding 5-2 win. Merrimack came in at number 12, beating out Hockey East rivals BU (number 14) and Maine (number 15). Nebraska-Omaha, Princeton, and Colorado College rounded out the top 20.

BEANPOT HYPE WEEK

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for is almost upon us. Just over 168 hours (a week in layman's terms) from now, the puck will drop on Northeastern and Harvard at TD Garden and the 59th Beanpot tournament will commence.

The schedule:

Monday, February 7th:
5:00 PM - Northeastern vs. Harvard
8:00 PM - Boston University vs. Boston College

Monday, February 14th:
4:30 PM - Consolation game
7:30 PM - Championship game

This week, we'll be bolstering our usual coverage with previews of each team, thoughts from Beanpot media day and a list of players to watch on Causeway street the next two Mondays.

Who knows, if we get snowed in, we might even find something nice to say about BU.

Northeastern, UMass skate to a draw

AMHERST – Wade MacLeod scored two goals, but it wasn’t enough for Northeastern to come away with the win, as the Huskies tied UMass, 2-2, at the Mullins Center on Saturday night. 
“From a coaching perspective, it was a really interesting game because of what took place last night at Northeastern,” said UMass head coach Don Cahoon. “It was a really pivotal game for us emotionally to be able to hang in there. We would have liked a better result.”
The Huskies blanked the Minutemen, 3-0, in the first game of this home-and-home weekend series on Friday night in Boston. In Saturday night’s game, UMass (6-13-5, 5-8-5 HEA) outshot the Huskies, 41-32, but couldn’t come away with the win.
“Tonight for the first time against this team, [we] went toe to toe,” Cahoon said. “Both of these teams have proven to be strong finishing games.”
Northeastern (8-10-7, 7-7-6 HEA) jumped on the board first when Wade MacLeod’s scored 33 seconds into the opening period. The Huskies’ lead didn’t last long, as UMass’ Chase Langeraap scored 1:49 into the game, tying the game 1-1. Michael Pereira put the Minutemen on top, 2-1, with his goal 3:26 in, and that lead would hold through the end of the period.
“I thought UMass would come out and play extremely determined and desperate in the first period, and I warned our guys about that,” said Northeastern head coach Greg Cronin. “I think they got tricked by the first goal we got so early.”
MacLeod tallied again, this time with 3:01 elapsed in the second period, to tie the game at two. Neither team could put the puck in the net for the remaining 17 minutes, leading to a 2-2 tie heading into the final period.
“I thought we kind of played Northeastern hockey in the second [period], and the third period looked like a chess match,” said Cronin.
The Huskies outshot the Minutemen, 6-5, in the third period, but neither team was able to put the puck in the net, forcing overtime. UMass registered eight shots in the extra period, compared to three for Northeastern, but neither team could pot the game-winning goal.
“The overtime [featured] an aggressive, offensively minded UMass team I think who controlled the play,” Cronin said. “I told our guys we were lucky to get out of here with a point.”
Paul Dainton had 30 saves on 32 shots for UMass while Chris Rawlings recorded 39 saves on 41 shots for Northeastern. The Minutemen had eight penalties for 16 minutes and the Huskies were assessed 10 penalties for 20 minutes. Neither team had any success in the power play, with the Minutemen going 0-for-7 and the Huskies going 0-for-5.
Massachusetts faces No. 2 Boston College at Conte Forum in its next game on February 4th. Northeastern returns to action on February 4th when it hosts Hockey East rival Merrimack.
Gethin Coolbaugh is a correspondent for Something’s Bruin. He can be reached at 774-279-1995 or at gethin.coolbaugh@yahoo.com. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on Twitter.

UNH Cruises Past Providence College with a 5-1 Victory

The University of New Hampshire put on quite a scoring show for their fans at a sold out Whittemore Center on Saturday night as they hosted Providence College for the final time this year. UNH improved to 13-2-2 in Hockey East this season with the 5-1 win and also completed the season sweep against the Friars, who fell to 3-10-4 in Hockey East.

Action during the first period was hard to be found in the first 8 minutes. Both teams looked a little flat and scoring chances were few and far between but the momentum finally gathered after the 12:00 minute mark as each team began to find their legs and increase pressure on the opposing goaltender. After a cross-checking penalty assigned to Providence’s Tim Schaller, UNH capitalized on their first powerplay with a goal scored by sophomore forward Dalton Speelman, assisted by Paul Thompson and Phil DeSimone. Providence goaltender Alex Beaudry looked strong between the pipes during the first, stopping 10 of 11 shots and only allowing the first goal while his team was on the penalty kill.

Despite an even start to the game, UNH would run away with this one in the second period. Providence scored their only goal of the game just 59 seconds in on an excellent wristshot by senior forward Kyle MacKinnon, assisted by fellow seniors Ian O’Connor and Matt Germain. Six minutes later, the floodgates opened and UNH scored a slew of goals by Thompson, Austin Block, Greg Burke, and John Henrion. At the end of the second period, Providence lead UNH in shots on goal 24-22, but UNH had captured the 5-1 lead.

The score remained the same through the end of the game. UNH goaltender Matt DiGirolamo was once again stellar in net for the Wildcats, making 37 saves for his team.

After the game, Providence head coach Tim Army did not seem frustrated, despite his team’s loss. “I put us in the hole by taking the bench minor” he said, referring to the minor penalty called at 7:11 of the second period. He attributed the loss to bad bounces and expressed faith in his team’s ability. “I think we’ve played some really good stretches of hockey. We’re still in 8^th place and we are very motivated.”

UNH head coach Dick Umile seemed pleased with the way his team played as well. “[It was a] good win… we played better tonight than last night.”

UNH is facing rival UMaine next weekend, while Providence prepares to face Vermont.

Week 16 Power Rankings - the poor get poorer and the rich get...

Boston College (14-5-0, 28 pts)
New Hampshire (13-2-2, 28 pts)
Boston University (9-5-4, 22 pts)
Maine (8-5-3, 19 pts)
Merrimack (8-5-3, 19 pts)
Northeastern (7-7-5, 19 pts)
Massachusetts (5-8-4, 14 pts)
Providence (3-10-4, 10 pts)
Vermont (3-10-3, 9 pts)
Lowell (3-16-0, 6 pts)

1. Boston College - John Muse is proving again and again why he’s the real deal, and the Eagles continue to display the ability to score from anywhere. Their blueliners haven’t been given a tough test recently - and likely won’t until they face UNH in a season-ending home and home, unless BU shows up big in the Beanpot - but the team continues to weather any storm it faces and come out stronger on the other side. BC has won three in a row, ten of its last eleven and 12 of 14 since a fall swoon that saw them lose four out of seven. They’re poised to make yet another late-season run, and everybody in Hockey East is about to play witness.

2. UNH - Even with BC in points but holding two games in hand, it’s now or never time for the Wildcats. A two-game home set with Maine next weekend will be the series that pushes Dick Umile’s squad over the hump or into the pack while BC and BU ready for the Beanpot. Matt DiGirolamo continues to be strong in net, but has admitted to being tired at times. Umile will ride him as far as he can go, but the ‘Cats are going to need to get secondary scoring like they did against Providence Saturday night to keep pace.

3. Merrimack - A resurgent Joe Cannata turned away 39 of 41 Vermont shots he saw on the weekend, proving that last week’s 5-goal bust against Lowell was just that. Joe Cucci, Mike Collins and Chris Barton have come on strong in the second half as complementary players to Stephane da Costa, but the Warriors aren’t on the same level as UNH or BC...yet.

4. Boston University - Consistency had plagued BU through much of its November and December struggles, but it seems like Jack Parker may have started pressing the right buttons again. With only Lowell standing between them and the Beanpot, the Terriers should be two points richer come the first Monday in February and should be feeling good. Of course, every time they’ve started to feel good this year, Boston College has been right there to shoot them down.

5. Northeastern - Blame the schedule-maker if you don’t like them this high, but the Huskies did what they needed to on their six-game homestand, taking points in four games against decidedly weaker competition and not giving up points to Maine. Greg Cronin’s bunch is playing with a boatload of confidence right now, Chris Rawlings is better in net than he’s ever been, and a Friday night matchup with Merrimack at Matthews suddenly has a lot of meaning for both teams.

6. Maine - Going 0-1-1 against BU at home, on one of the toughest rinks to play in the conference, no less, didn’t help the Black Bears. Neither have their healthy problems. Neither, it seems, has their wild inconsistency in their own zone. Next weekend’s visit to Durham and the Whittemore Center will prove huge in determining postseason seeding - for both teams - but it’ll be the Mainers who have to come out and play like their season’s on the line.

7. UMass - Just not enough offense to keep up with a defensively talented Northeastern squad this past weekend. Moral victories are great, but taking only one point away from that weekend really hurts the Minutemen. Of their last ten games, they play an unranked team -  Providence - only once.

8. Providence - A resigned Tim Army said after a 5-1 Saturday loss at New Hampshire - his team’s third loss to the Wildcats in eight days - said that he was happy with the way his team had played the past month, despite only getting one point in eight games. Here’s hoping he’s just as happy with an early March vacation.

9. Vermont - Rob Madore continues to be an enigma in net - great on Fridays, abysmal on Saturdays. Unfortunately for the Cats, Hockey East’s poor keep getting poorer, as only four of their last ten games come against unranked teams.

10. Lowell - With the three teams ahead of them sporting bruising February schedules, it might stand to reason that the RiverHawks could actually contend for the eighth seed, but Lowell’s played more games than any team in Hockey East, and the gauntlet is laid out before them with BU, Northeastern and two games against Maine ahead before things start to get easy.

Hockey East Saturday Recap

@ New Hampshire 5, Providence 1
DURHAM, NH - Paul Thompson scored the game-winning goal and inched closer to his 100th career point as UNH started slow but wore down Providence as the game went on. Matt DiGirolamo stopped 38 shots en route to winning his league-leading 15th game of the season. In their first time playing together in nine weeks, Dalton Speelman, John Henrion and Austin Block added goals for the Wildcats. Kyle MacKinnon had the lone goal for the Friars.

@Merrimack 7, Vermont 1
ANDOVER, MA - A week after he let in six goals to UMass, Rob Madore’s struggles in the second game of back-to-backs continued as he allowed three goals in the first 13:35 of the first period before Josh Burrows got the Cats on the board. Mike Collins had a hat trick, Chris Barton scored twice and Joe Cucci assisted on four of the Warriors’ goals. Joe Cannata continued his strong play between the pipes, stopping 14 shots before being lifted to record his league-leading 15th win.

Boston College 5, at Lowell 1
LOWELL, MA - The defending world champions picked up right where they left off last week against the RiverHawks, beating Lowell cleanly a week after letting them get ahead early before battling back. John Muse stopped 28 shots to earn his league-leading 15th win. Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes each scored twice for BC; Atkinson improved his team-best goals total to 19. Matt Ferreira was responsible for Lowell’s only tally.

@UMass 2, Northeastern 2
AMHERST, MA - Wade MacLeod scored twice to extend his Hockey East points streak to eight consecutive games, but Paul Dainton kept the rest of the Huskies off the board and the Minutemen escaped with a much-needed point. Chase Langeraap and Michael Pereira scored for UMass, which got 20 shots on net in the first period alone. Chris Rawlings stopped 37 of the shots he faced. Northeastern is now on a four-game conference points streak, its longest such streak of the year.

@Maine 1, Boston University 1
ORONO, ME - Will O’Brien scored just 21 seconds in, but Kieran Millan held the Black Bears off the board the rest of the game, and Joe Pereira’s goal at the seven-minute mark of the first period was the only other tally. Martin Oullette stopped 18 Terrier shots on goal and Millan stopped 40 shots to preserve the draw.

Hockey East Friday Recap

Boston University 4 at Maine 3
ORONO, ME - Before getting disqualified with only seconds to go in the game, David Warsofsky scored the game-winning goal to give the Terriers their first winning streak in nearly three months. Kieran Millan stopped 31 shots in the victory. Gustav Nyquist’s point streak was snapped at 13 games as he was held pointless for the first time since October. Spencer Abbott scored twice for the Black Bears, and Alex Chiasson had a goal and an assist for the Terriers.

at Northeastern 3, UMass 0
BOSTON, MA - Chris Rawlings posted his third shutout in four games, stopping 26 shots to lead the Huskies to a crucial two points. Tyler McNeely, Braden Pimm and Rob Dongara scored for Northeastern, which has allowed three goals in its last four games.

UNH 5 at Providence 2
PROVIDENCE, RI - Mike Sislo had a goal and two assists to reach the hundred-point plateau for his career and his linemates each tallied three points as well en route to the Wildcats’ second defeat of the Friars in a week. Nick Sorkin scored the game-winner for New Hampshire, which crept back into a tie for first place with Boston College with two games in hand. Matt DiGirolamo stopped 33 shots to earn his 14th win of the season.

at Merrimack 2, Vermont 1
ANDOVER, MA - Joe Cannata rebounded from a season-worst outing against Lowell, stopping all but one of the 27 shots he faced as the Warriors got back into Hockey East’s top four with Maine losing. Chris Barton and Jesse Todd scored less than three minutes apart in the first for Merrimack and Cannata held on the rest of the way to earn his 14th game on the year.

Hockey East Week 15 preview

Northeastern vs., @ UMass
With a season series win over Lowell already in the books, the Huskies will look to wrap up a victory over the Minutemen in a crucial home-and-home series before Beanpot season arrives. Northeastern, which played well enough to beat Maine but just dumb enough to tie them on Saturday at Matthews Arena, wraps up a season-long six-game homestand Friday before traveling to the Mullins Center for Saturday’s tilt.
The Huskies sit comfortably ahead of UMass in the Hockey East standings, up three points on the Minutemen, but UMass has two games in hand, which makes this series that much more important. A sweep by Northeastern - which trails fifth-place Merrimack by one point and fourth-place Maine by three - keeps them in the mix for a home playoff series in the Hockey East quarterfinals, while two wins by UMass will have them firmly in the mix and the Huskies clawing for a playoff spot of any kind.
Chris Rawlings (6-8-5, 2.27, .928 sv%) should get both starts for the Huskies, while Paul Dainton (6-7-2, 2.63, .919 sv%) is likely to see the ice in both games for UMass. Wade McLeod (11-11=22) has had the hot hand lately for Northeastern, and he and Tyler McNeely (7-10=17) will be looked to to spark Northeastern’s charge, while Michael Pereira (9-10=19) will need to lead the Minutemen. The series will be won or lost on the blue lines, though - the rise of Northeastern’s defense has more than made up for their at-times anemic offensive, and it will need to be strong again to secure four points this weekend.

Providence vs., @ No. 7 UNH
Following Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss at the Whit in which they gave up an early 3-0 advantage to UNH, Tim Army’s only postgame comment was the repeated use of the phrase “disgusted.” And understandably; it hasn’t been a good second half of the season for a Providence team that...traditionally doesn’t have good second halves of the season.
When asked if he could take anything from that loss and use it to help prepare his team for two return matches with the Wildcats this weekend, he gave no indication that he could. And if that’s the case, it’s going to be a long weekend for the Friars, who’ve gotten deteriorating goaltending from Alex Beaudry (6-9-5, 3.13, .904 sv%) and who continue to rely almost solely on Kyle MacKinnon (12-6=18) and Ian O’Connor (6-11=17) for offense.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, come into the weekend series looking - for the first time since October - up at a team in the Hockey East standings, after BC took four points last weekend and UNH couldn’t finish off BU at home. Yes, they have three games in hand on the Eagles, but Dick Umile’s squad continues to lack the killer instinct necessary to finish off their opposition. A home-and-home with a floundering Providence squad should help them to find it. Expect Matt DiGirolamo (13-5-4, 2.38, .920 sv%) to again get both starts, and look for the vaunted UNH top line - held completely silent against BU - to have a big bounceback weekend.

Vermont @ No. 14 Merrimack
Prior to a completely unexpected 6-4 loss to Lowell last weekend, Merrimack’s home ice had been, for all intents and purposes, the toughest place to play in Hockey East. The Cats are no Lowell - both in that they’re a more experienced team and in that they’re fighting for a playoff spot - and if UVM is able to exploit whatever weaknesses the RiverHawks found in Merrimack, it could be a long weekend in Andover.
The biggest chink in the Warrior armor last weekend? Joe Cannata (13-5-4, 2.15, .920 sv%), who let in a season-high five goals, and who isn’t too likely to do it again anytime soon. Expect the Warriors to come out angry, and don’t expect the Cats to be prepared. Rob Madore (5-13-4, 3.01, .901 sv%) has been streaky at best, and Merrimack has too much offensive firepower for UVM to handle. Stephane Da Costa (12-18=30) hasn’t had a signature offensive game in a while, and he may be poised to do just that against a defensively shaky Catamounts club that only has two skaters with double-digit points on the year.

No. 16 BU @ No. 12 Maine
After getting beaten by Merrimack and Boston College by identical 3-2 scores last week, the Terriers came back and stole two points at UNH, thereby extending the if-they-don’t-win-this-one-their-season-is-over talk for at least another week.
Well, it’s a week later now and BU’s heading to vaunted Alfond Arena for a two-game set with a team that’s only a point behind them for third place in Hockey East and is just about as unpredictable as the Terriers themselves. Face it, suggesting that either one of these two teams might do something  this weekend means they’ll go ahead and do the exact opposite.
That said, Alfond’s a very tough place to play, and it’s not the place where BU’s laissez-faire attitude will earn them points. Yet, the Black Bears are still beat up, still don’t play much defense and still have shoddy goaltending on their best day. If BU wants to make a statement before they likely fall to BC a fourth time this season in the Beanpot, this is the place to do it. They’ll need a big effort from Kieran Millan (8-5-6, 2.85, .913 sv%) to do it, because Maine can still score in bunches, especially if Tanner House (10-8=18) chips in like he did against Northeastern last Saturday. Shawn Sirman (3-0-3, 2.38, .912 sv%) should get the first look in net, and he may see both games for Maine if he plays well enough.

No. 2 BC @ Lowell (Saturday)
The RiverHawks got out to a 1-0 lead against BC at Conte Forum last weekend, and led at 2-1 as well before the Eagles realized who they were playing and took over. This one-game set is interesting because Lowell should still be feeling pretty good about a win at Merrimack last weekend and a strong effort against BC the following night. It’s BC’s game to lose, really - and if you think that Jerry York wants his squad to have a blemish like that on their radar heading into February, you’re dead wrong.
Expect the Eagles to come out flying and dominate this game from beginning to end, but if they slip up and let a young Lowell squad into it, they could be in for a very long evening. John Muse (14-4-0, 2.15, .931 sv%) hasn’t been spectacular lately, but the team in front of him has been good enough to win and shouldn’t struggle against Lowell. If the Eagles continue to get scoring from their D - and that’s been a big part of their success the last eight weeks - you should be able to turn this one off by the first intermission. You know, if somebody were dumb enough to televise it in the first place.

Weekly Honors

UMass-Lowell's Patrick Cey was awarded the Athletic republic Player of the Week award for scoring two goals for the River Hawks, one against BC, and the other being the game winner against Merrimack that ended Lowell's record 13-game losing streak. Cey rounded the weekend out with three points (2g, 1a) against Merrimack and BC.

Anthony Bitetto of Northeastern was named Pro Ambitious Rookie of the Week. For the first time this year, Bitetto had a goal and an assist in one game against Maine this past Saturday, which was also his fourth-career multi-point game. Overall, Bitetto rounded out an assist and two goals.

Goaltender Paul Dainton of UMass-Amherst was awarded the Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week after stopping 52 of 54 shots (.963 save%) at Vermont over the weekend. On Friday, Dainton let in two goals that ultimately led to a loss, but came back with a vengeance on Saturday when he made 26 saves in his second career shutout victory against Vermont.

Rankings Rewind: Latest USCHO Poll

This week's USCHO poll didn't have many surprises. Yale (17-2-0) maintained its number one spot with 46 first place votes after back-to-back wins at home against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. BC came in at the number 2 spot after a hard fought win against number 16 BU on Friday night and an easy win over UMass-Lowell on Saturday. Denver, North Dakota, and Minnesota-Duluth rounded out the top 5.

UNH maintained its seventh place ranking after a tough weekend against both Providence College and BU, coming away with only 2 out of a possible 4 points. With so many teams maintaining their previous rankings, the biggest jump of the week belongs to number 10 Rensselaer, who rose from number 14 in last week's poll after wins against both Harvard and number 18 Dartmouth this past weekend.

Maine dropped two spots in the poll to number 12 after posting a 3-3 tie with Northeastern on Saturday night and Merrimack filled the number 14 spot left vacant by Rensselaer.

Hockey East Week 15 Power Rankings

1 - BC (13-5-0, 26 pts)
2 - UNH (11-2-2, 24 pts)
3 - BU (8-5-4, 20 pts)
4 - Maine (8-4-3, 19 pts)
5 - Merrimack (7-5-3, 17 pts)
6 - Northeastern (6-7-4, 16 pts)
7 - UMass (5-7-3, 13 pts)
8 - Providence (3-8-4, 10 pts)
9 - Vermont (3-9-3, 9 pts)
10 - Lowell (3-15-0, 6 pts)

Boston College - Another ho-hum four-point weekend for the Eagles, who’ve started to grow accustomed to such things. They’re getting scoring from all four lines and the defense, which moves the puck better than any other team in Hockey East, and the goaltending tandem of John Muse and Parker Milner is yet to really disappoint. With only two games between now and the Beanpot - and neither against tough competition - don’t expect the Eagles to stumble from their perch anytime soon.

UNH - A come-from-behind win over visiting Providence and a come-from-ahead loss against BU don’t make for a very good weekend, but there isn’t enough competition in the league to bump UNH from the top two. That final-weekend home-and-home with BC is suddenly looking very, very interesting.

Merrimack - One bad outing against Lowell caused the Warriors to fall three spots in the Hockey East rankings, but Joe Cannata won’t allow five goals very often, and Merrimack won’t be hard-pressed to score against many teams, either.

BU - Another loss to BC followed by a come-from-behind win at the Whit, where the Terriers traditionally struggle, could mean big things for a BU team still searching for its pulse - it isn’t coming from the captains and it isn’t coming from Jack Parker, either - and until it finds a regular one, there’s no way this team plays deep into March.

Maine - Tough to figure out a team that beats the number three team in the country and then has to come from behind just to tie a team that they’re better on paper than. But the Black Bears are banged up pretty badly, and seem to know when to rise to the occasion. That could serve them well in six weeks, but only if they don’t wait for the occasion to come to them.

Northeastern - The Huskies have benefited from an extended January homestand, but they’ve done what they need to do on it - get points. Their freshman anchors on defense continue to improve, their top two lines remain strong and Chris Rawlings has gotten better as the season has gone on. Their Achilles heel? Taking multiple stupid penalties at the same time - even the best teams will struggle to kill over a minute of 5-on-3 against Maine. When they stay out of the box, they can skate with anyone. If they do, look out.

Massachusetts - Like any team in the bottom four, the Minutemen’s biggest problem is consistency. But a 6-0 throttling of Vermont should help their confidence and give them some energy to use in practice this week - with a home-and-home with Northeastern ahead, UMass could insert itself into the conversation or completely remove itself from it.

Providence - Tim Army’s “disgusted.” No word yet on whether it’s with his team or the way his team’s schedule is playing out. A home-and-home with UNH next week doesn’t figure to help things, either.

Vermont - Win a close one, lose in a blowout. The Cats go as Rob Madore does, and lately, that’s been wildly inconsistent. If they want any chance in March, they’re going to need Madore to start showing up more often.

Lowell - Not much to say for a team that’s lost 14 of 15, but a big road win at Merrimack should go a long way to help this team down the road - and, moreover, finally gives their PR staff something to put on the 2010-11 highlights video.

BU Edges UNH in 2-1 Win

For 27 games, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats were undefeated against all opponents at the Whittemore Center in Durham…until tonight. The Boston University Terriers came to UNH hungry for a win and hoping to bounce back from their loss against Boston College on Friday night. Conversely, UNH was hoping to repeat their successful effort and play, which allowed them a gritty win against Providence College in Overtime on Friday night as well.

What happened was something that many expected to happen: a low scoring, fast paced and well played hockey game. It was scoreless through the first period, but the second period saw UNH sophomore forward Greg Burke’s first goal of the season on an assist by Mike Borisenok. The Terriers would even the score just minutes later after BU defenseman Adam Clendening fired a shot off the post that was quickly corralled and shot into the open net by Charlie Coyle.

Ross Gaudet rounded out the scoring for BU in the final minutes of the second period, netting his goal, unassisted, through UNH goaltender Matt DiGirolamo’s five hole. UNH seemed to score a goal of their own when the puck seemed to have clearly crossed the BU goal line after a swarm of players from both teams crowded the net, but after a long conference between the referees, and the audible frustration of some disgruntled waiting fans, the goal was waved off.

The score would remain 2-1 through the end of the game.

Despite a valiant effort from both teams, the difference maker in this one was appropriately awarded the first star. BU goaltender Kieran Millan allowed just one goal on 39 shots and effectively managed UNH’s offensive onslaught throughout the final minutes of the third period. BU also did a very effective job at keeping UNH’s top line of Paul Thompson, Phil DeSimone and Mike Sislo at bay, stopping every scoring chance and quieting UNH’s usually loud offensive players.

UNH head coach Dick Umile made a general comment after the game about the effort of his team. “It’s disappointing losing that game because I thought it was the best we’ve played since we’ve been back [during the] second half. It was a back and forth game and we had our chances.” Unfortunately for the Wildcats, those chances weren’t quite enough.

Hockey East Saturday Recap

UMass 6 at Vermont 0
BURLINGTON, VT - TJ Syner assisted on Danny Hobbs’ goal to start off the scoring, then put two of his own past Rob Madore, who let in five goals before being lifted with five minutes left in the second period and the Cats down 5-0. Michael Pereira and Keven Czepiel also tallied for the Minutemen, who have won three of their last four games.
Paul Dainton stopped all 26 shots he saw to secure the victory for UMass.

at No. 3 Boston College 5, Lowell 3
CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Jimmy Hayes scored first and last for BC and Joe Whitney’s game-winner with four minutes remaining helped Boston College fight off a feisty Lowell squad that had leads at 1-0 and 2-1 early at Conte Forum. Brian Dumoulin assisted on three of BC’s four goals and the Eagles converted three power play chances to earn the win and climb to the top of the Hockey East standings with 26 points. Parker Milner saved 19 of 22 shots to earn the win.

No. 15 BU 2, at No. 7 UNH 1
DURHAM, NH - Greg Burke opened the scoring in the second period to give the Wildcats a lead, but BU responded with goals by Charlie Coyle and Ross Gaudet to take a lead and hold on the rest of the way. UNH’s usual stellar third period was nowhere to be found as Kieran Millan turned away 37 shots to earn BU its first conference win in three tries, and first win against a ranked team in its last seven such games.

at Northeastern 3, No. 10 Maine 3
BOSTON, MA - Wade MacLeod scored with 2:30 remaining to pull Northeastern even and the Huskies killed a hooking penalty to Steve Silva to skate to a tie with the Black Bears, who scored two power play goals in just under a minute in the second period to claw back from a 2-0 deficit. Tanner House scored twice for Maine, which has lost once in its last six games.