Notre Dame Defeats UNH, Hockey East Not Represented in Frozen Four For First Time In Six Years

Of the four teams in the Northeast Regional, Notre Dame traveled the farthest to get to Manchester, NH this weekend. Unlike the other three teams, they’re the only one that’ll be making another trip after this one.

After dispatching Merrimack in overtime on Saturday night, the Fighting Irish jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and held on, beating nearly-homestanding UNH 2-1 to secure a berth in the Frozen Four in two weeks in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“It’s more fun when there’s a great atmosphere - we’ve played well on the road all year, but we didn’t want to think too far ahead,” said sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson - who stopped 37 of 38 UNH attempts - “we just wanted to worry about the process and not worry about anything that we couldn’t control.”

After the Wildcats jumped on Notre Dame early, outshooting the visitors ten to two, Stephen Johns blasted a shot from the point, which made its way through a cluttered UNH defense that wound up screening UNH goaltender Matt Di Girolamo just 7:26 into the first period.

It looked like nobody would score again, but after a UNH chance by John Henrion was denied, Billy Maday got a pass on his backhand and beat Di Girolamo high on the blocker side from about five feet out with only five seconds remaining in the second period.

Di Girolamo, who was run over by Ben Ryan just seconds into the second frame, was very slow to get to his feet, but skated off the pain. The sophomore from Ambler, PA recovered to have one of his better games of the year, stopping 36 shots to keep UNH in it. Di Girolamo - who started every game of the season and postseason in net for the Wildcats, finished the season with the most saves in the nation.

“He’s proven all year from day one, people asked when we got to the tourney if he could handle the pressure in the playoffs, he was terrific again tonight.” said UNH coach Dick Umile.

Ryan was whistled for charging the goalie, but UNH’s power play wasn’t able to convert, going 0-for-3 on the night and finishing the season on an 0-for-19 slump.

The Wildcats started the third period sluggish, but finally generated some opportunities towards the middle of the period, and captain Mike Sislo finally found the back of the net at the 13:37 mark to give the UNH hope, but they weren’t able to convert when David Gerths went for hooking at 15:57 and a Mike Beck tripping penalty at 18:16 sealed their fate as they weren’t able to get the puck out of the zone to get a chance with the clock winding down.

Johnson - who controlled nearly every UNH shot he faced - credited the team in front of him for the backcheck, keeping the defense on the blue line and allowing him to see every puck. “They got sticks in passing lanes, deflected pucks and blocked them as well. All the credit goes to them; we couldn’t have won without them.”

Notre Dame will face the University of Minnesota-Duluth, which upset number-one seed Yale in the East regional to earn its berth in the Frozen Four. Michigan and North Dakota - teams which have gone a combined 24-1-1 in their last 26 games - make up the other national semifinal.

After winning the last three national championships, this will be the first year in which Hockey East isn’t represented in the Frozen Four since 2005, when Minnesota, North Dakota, Denver and Colorado College were the national semifinalists.

2011 Hockey East Playoffs: Merrimack Edges UNH To Advance To First-Ever Conference Title Game

BOSTON, MA - Merrimack College joined Hockey East in 1990. 21 years later, they’re finally going to their first conference championship.

An early error by Joe Cannata was overturned, and Elliott Sheen scored twice for the Warriors, who knocked off two-seed UNH with a 4-1 win Friday night.

A dump by Blake Kessel hit a Merrimack defenseman’s stick and hopped over Cannata’s glove and into the Merrimack net only 24 seconds in, but the Wildcats were ruled offsides on the play and the goal was overturned.

“Good thing I’m not a shortstop,” Cannata deadpanned after the game, acknowledging that he started a little slow, but that the goal being disallowed didn’t do much to help.

Some seven minutes later, Stevie Moses scored the only goal his team would tally, getting the puck in the slot and blasting it over Cannata’s shoulder.

Three minutes later, a listless attack by UNH’s Mike Sislo was thwarted by Merrimack’s Ryan Flanigan, who picked off the puck and started a two-man shorthanded break with Stephane Da Costa. After Da Costa drew two UNH defenders, he fired the puck over to Flanigan who beat Matt Di Girolamo with a snipe over his glove.

Sheen scored what would turn out to be the game-winner on a deflection of Brendan Ellis’ shot from the point at 16:15 of the first period. Ellis would assist on Mike Collins’ goal 14 minutes into the third, and Sheen capped off the scoring by potting an empty-net short-handed goal with only seven seconds remaining.

Of Merrimack’s first trip to the conference championship game, Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said that his players and administration deserve all the praise.

“When I first got here, I was worried that my assistant coaches’ names weren’t going to be announced correctly pre-game,” said Dennehy, who’s turned the program around from a perennial bottom-dweller to sudden national title contender in a matter of six years.

Merrimack will face top seed Boston College, which defeated Northeastern, 5-4, earlier Friday night.

Hockey East playoffs now have five teams in: Friday recap

The Hockey East playoff picture got a little bit clearer Friday night, with Maine securing a berth and Northeastern moving a point away from getting in after another high-scoring affair with Number One Boston College.

Maine 4 at Lowell 0
LOWELL, MA - Brian Flynn scored twice and Dan Sullivan stopped all 21 RiverHawks shots he saw to earn Maine a berth in the Hockey East playoffs. It was Maine’s second shutout of the year and first since blanking Providence 5-0 on December 4th. It was Sullivan’s first shutout of the season. Matt Mangene scored the game-winning goal at 2:15 of the second period and Jeff Dimmen scored the other goal for the Black Bears.

at Boston University 2, Providence 1
BOSTON, MA - Adam Clendening scored the game-winning goal and Kieran Millan all but shut out the Friars as BU bounced back from a tough loss in the Beanpot consolation game against Harvard to earn two points. Millan stopped 36 shots to earn his 7th win and keep BU in line for home-ice advantage in the Hockey East quarterfinals. Ian O’Connor scored his eighth goal of the season to get the Friars on the board, but it wasn’t enough.

at Merrimack 4, UMass 3 (OT)
ANDOVER, MA - The Minutemen gave up two one-goal leads in the third period and Carter Madsen scored the game-winning goal on the first shift of overtime to keep Merrimack in third place in Hockey East. Playing without leading scorer Stephane Da Costa who was out with a knee injury, Merrimack still managed to generate enough offense to get the win, although it took them just over 48 minutes to net their first goal. Adam Phillips scored twice for Massachusetts, but it wasn’t enough as Joe Cannata stopped 27 UMass shots to earn his league-leading 20th win.

at Boston College 7, Northeastern 7 (OT)
CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Wade MacLeod extended his Hockey East point streak to eleven games, scoring twice for the Huskies. But he was hardly alone, as Cam Atkinson and Beanpot MVP Chris Kreider scored twice, leading six Eagles and five Huskies who had multi-point nights. Parker Milner stopped only five of nine shots before being lifted for John Muse midway through the second period. Robbie Vrolyk scored his first collegiate goal in the tie, and Chris Rawlings stopped 30 of 37 Eagles shots to move Northeastern a point away from clinching a playoff berth.

UNH 6 at Vermont 1

BURLINGTON, VT - Phil DeSimone scored twice and UNH scored six unanswered goals after spotting Vermont a 1-0 lead to blow the Catamounts out. DeSimone’s first goal at 10:37 of the first was his 100th career point. Matt Di Girolamo stopped 21 shots to earn his 18th win of the year, tying him for second with BC’s John Muse in Hockey East. Kevin Goumas and Stevie Moses each scored and tallied two assists for UNH. 6 at Vermont 1
BURLINGTON, VT - Phil DeSimone scored twice and UNH scored six unanswered goals after spotting Vermont a 1-0 lead to blow the Catamounts out. DeSimone’s first goal at 10:37 of the first was his 100th career point. Matt Di Girolamo stopped 21 shots to earn his 18th win of the year, tying him for second with BC’s John Muse in Hockey East. Kevin Goumas and Stevie Moses each scored and tallied two assists for UNH.

The Home Stretch: Hockey East Week 20 preview

This is the time when Hockey East’s rich should get richer and the poor, poorer. There are only two series left pitting ranked teams against each other (Merrimack-Maine, BC-UNH), which can only mean that Hockey East’s elite have a chance to strengthen their grasp on home-ice advantage while the rest of the conference simply tries to keep up.

Merrimack @, vs. UMass

Coach Mark Dennehy’s squad has found a groove, bringing a physical game to the ice that is unparalleled by any team in the conference, and it’s been responsible for their winning six in a row and 12 of their last 13, besting their previous school record of 17 wins in a season with their current mark of 19 and counting. What should really scare a UMass team trying to preserve a playoff spot, though, is how they’ve done it.
The Minutemen are ranked ninth in total defense in Hockey East, and Merrimack is ranked second in scoring offense. But in games that they’ve won, the Warriors are scoring nearly five goals per game (4.84), including 5.17 during their current win streak - a stat which is bolstered by their 11-2 drubbing of UMass at Lawler Arena just a couple of weeks ago.
While the Warriors are the hottest team in the conference not named Boston College (wins in seven in a row and 14 of 15), the Minutemen are one of the most vulnerable. UMass comes into the series riding a six-game winless streak that should probably also include a four-game losing streak, were it not for Chase Langeraap’s late-game heroics against a reeling Providence team.
UMass sits one point ahead of Vermont for seventh in the conference and three ahead of Providence, but with the two teams looking up at them facing off against vulnerable opponents this weekend, it’s important that the Minutmen make a showing against Merrimack, lest they find themselves on the outside of the Hockey East playoff picture looking in.
To do it, they’ll need to solve Joe Cannata, who now sits alone in first place in the league in wins, and has been the real reason that Merrimack’s gotten to where they are this year. With no Stephane Da Costa (knee) still listed as day-to-day, they’ll also need to stop Chris Barton, Joe Cucci and Jesse Todd, who continue to elevate their games and make their teammates better. If they’re going to do it, they’ll need Paul Dainton to be huge between the pipes and will need Langeraap, Michael Pereira and T.J. Syner to get the offense going.
It’s safe to expect Merrimack to sweep this series, and to do it in convincing fashion. But it’s also that time of year when upsets become the order of the day, and if an over-confident Warrior team shows up, expect them to pay.

Maine @ Lowell

No “good” team in Hockey East has experienced as much adversity as the Black Bears have this year. They’ve lost countless man-games to injury, have lost countless games they should have won or at least tied, and haven’t been able to generate enough consistency as a unit to play anything resembling good defense. They’ve only won one of their last seven games, but for a team in desperate need of a win streak, they couldn’t have a better matchup on their hands.
Excepting a fluky 6-4 victory over Merrimack at Lawler Arena a few weeks back, Lowell has been everything they were expected to be - young, raw, with lots of talent but nothing to make it work together. There’s no denying that they’ve made strides lately, taking leads against Boston College and Northeastern in two of their last four games.
It’s an interesting matchup because Maine needs points to keep itself in contention for home ice, but Lowell’s in prime position to play spoiler. If the RiverHawks get physical, they could throw Tim Whitehead’s squad off of their game and take some points away from the weekend. But if Maine starts skating, neither Marc Boulanger - who’s saved 30 or more shots in each of his last six games - nor Doug Carr are likely to have a chance to stop them.
Don’t expect a sweep in this series - Lowell will be too hungry to make a statement as this year winds down and Maine will be tired from traveling on Friday - but don’t expect the RiverHawks to win it, either. Two points this weekend puts Maine in the playoffs. They’ll get there, but it may not be easy.


Northeastern @, vs. BC

A lot of people may be surprised by Northeastern sitting comfortably in sixth place currently, especially after Greg Cronin’s young squad struggled so mightily early in the year. But a look at their schedule the rest of the way out explains a lot: at Boston College, vs. Boston College, at UNH, vs. UNH, vs. BU, at BU.
This series was already interesting before the Huskies and Eagles turned TD Garden into a sold-out practice rink on Monday in the Beanpot championship, each side netting six goals before Jimmy Hayes put away the game-winner in overtime. Now, it’s just downright exciting.
The Beanpot title game should prove to be an anomaly as the conference’s two best defenses settle in on more familiar turf this weekend. What will be interesting to see is how Cronin and Jerry York coach this series, particularly from a goaltending perspective; Cronin has ridden Chris Rawlings all season long, but York’s shown a willingness to use Parker Milner to relieve John Muse, especially in back-to-backs against physical teams. It’s not that Milner (3-2-0, 2.16  GAA, .921 sv % in six games) hasn’t been good, but he certainly hasn’t been Muse.
Whether or not Northeastern can re-capture the energy they showed in the Beanpot final will determine how they fare this weekend. They’ll need to move as well as they did on Monday to keep up with BC’s skating game, but if they can’t, Rawlings will be up to a huge task trying to ward off the Eagles. There’s little doubt that they’d be happy with a split on the weekend, but after Monday night, it’s hard to believe the Huskies will be content with breaking even. With three points this weekend, Northeastern clinches a playoff spot. Could it happen? Sure. But it’s likely they’ll have to wait another week.

Providence @, vs. BU

We know two things about this series: first, Providence - which hasn’t won a conference game since November 5th - still doesn’t have what it takes. Second, BU - which finished fourth in the Beanpot for the first time in 31 years - is a shell of the 6-0-4 team that landed at number one back in early November.
We don’t know much else. The Terriers have become a team prone to taking shifts, periods and entire weekends off - although prior to the Beanpot they looked a much improved team over their November and December counterparts. The Friars have become a team that just doesn’t have enough to keep up with their opponents in any zone.
Providence is fighting for a playoff spot. BU’s fighting to keep home ice. Neither team’s played with urgency of late. Actually, I’m getting tired just writing this preview. Thank goodness this isn’t the NESN game this week.

UNH @ Vermont

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, UNH was the best team in Hockey East. It matters little that that time was last week and the galaxy was one where teams didn’t have to play Merrimack. What does matter is that Dick Umile likely spent the past week raising hell in practice and that a Vermont team clinging to its Hockey East playoff life is going to be in for the fight of its life over two days at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Vermont has been the stingiest of Hockey East’s bottom-four teams, getting points in three of its last four games and winning four of its last ten, and if UNH has any designs on taking another opponent lightly as they did Merrimack, they’re in a lot of trouble. Rob Madore hasn’t been great, but he’s been good enough to keep the Cats in a lot of games, but the UVM offense has been slow to ignite, scoring more than two goals only three times in its last 11 games - although two of those have been seven-goal efforts.
Meanwhile, Phil Desimone is still one point shy of 100 for his career, Paul Thompson has a Hobey Baker campaign to keep up, and the rest of UNH’s forwards have benefitted from extended time together and have developed some serious chemistry that could foil the Vermont defense. This series will come down to Madore and Matt Di Girolamo in net for the Wildcats - whoever plays better, wins. And isn’t that the way it should be at this time of year?