#8 Massachusetts vs. #10 Providence (home and home)
- A Hockey East home-and-home with significant playoff ramifications is on tap this weekend as #8 UMass and #10 Providence face off Friday and Saturday. Last season, the two squads met three times as UMass earned two wins and the Friars took the third game.
- Providence, coming off a one-game weekend, fell to #12 Northeastern, 4-3, on Friday night. NCAA points-leader Jack Dugan (Rochester, N.Y.) managed to put up two goals in the contest to bring his stat line to nine goals, 34 assists, and 44 points. The Friars have not picked up consecutive wins since Dec. 7 and Dec. 28, when the Friars toppled UMass Lowell and Lake Superior, respectively.
- The Minutemen also played just a single game on Friday, a 3-0 home loss to #4 Boston College. Matt Murray (St. Albert, Alta.) recorded 24 saves for the Minutemen. UMass is winless in its last three (0-2-1) and holds a 3-5-1 mark in nine games since the calendar flipped to 2020.
Boston University vs. Merrimack, vs. #12 Northeastern
- Boston University will host the Warriors on Friday night at Agganis Arena before heading into the 2020 Beanpot Championship game on Monday against #12 Northeastern. The last time the Terriers faced Merrimack was Jan. 17, were BU grabbed a 3-2 victory in North Andover.
- Monday night's opening round of the Beanpot proved to be an instant classic as the Terriers rallied from a two-goal deficit to take a 4-3 lead in just 5:42, taking their first lead with just 1:42 to play in the contest. The Eagles netted the tying goal with 58 seconds to play and the game ended in an official 4-4 tie, the first stalemate in Beanpot history.
- The three furious Boston University goals came from David Farrance (Victor, N.Y.), Patrick Harper (New Canaan, Conn.), and Robert Mastrosimone (East Islip, N.Y.). Rookie Wilmer Skoog (Tyreso, Sweden) found the back of the net in the 73rd minute of play to advance BU to the championship game next week. The overtime goal counted only for tournament advancement purposes and the Terriers moved on to the Beanpot title game for the 31st time in the past 37 years.
- The Terriers freshman netminder Ashton Abel (Fort McMurray, Alta.) was named Stop It Goaltender of the Month for his play in the first month his tenure with Boston University. Abel led all Hockey East goaltenders with a 1.68 goals against average, a .936 save percentage and one shutout in the month of January and was undefeated in his four starts, going 3-0-1.
#12 Northeastern vs. Maine, vs. Boston University
- Before heading back to the TD Garden to battle for their third consecutive Beanpot title, the Huskies travel to Orono to line up with the Black Bears. The two have already met twice this season, as the Huskies were able to grab two conference wins on their home ice back in November, but Maine is 9-0-2 at Alfond Arena this season.
- The Huskies claimed a 3-1 victory over then-#17 Harvard Crimson in the opening round of the Beanpot on Monday.
- Zach Solow (Naples, Fla.) found the back of the net on a power-play and graduate student Brendan van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) put away the game-winner at 19:20 of the second period. Senior captain Ryan Shea (Milton, Mass.) then sealed the win with an empty net goal.
- Last weekend, Maine hosted Merrimack at Alfond Arena for a two-game series. The Black Bears were able to sweep the weekend, winning 6-2 on Friday night, and following up with a 3-2 win on Saturday to stay undefeated at home.
- Adam Dawe (Gander, New ) recorded two goals on Friday night, one of them going down as the game winner. In Saturday night's tight race, junior netminder Jeremy Swayman (Anchorage, Alaska) tallied 33 saves to earn his 14th victory of the year.
- Of Maine's remaining seven games, all in Hockey East play, six of them will be played in Orono.
#4 Boston College vs. #14 UMass Lowell, vs. #17 Harvard
- Two key match ups are on deck for the Eagles this weekend, as they first take on #14 UMass Lowell on Friday night before returning to TD Garden to face #17 Harvard in the Beanpot third-place game on Monday.
- It was just last month when BC and UML last saw each other as Boston College claimed a 3-2 victory at the Tsongas Center.
- In yet another battle of Comm. Ave last Monday, the Eagles held a lead for a nearly the entire game, but the BU Terriers took them to a double overtime period and were able to advance to the Beanpot title game in the 73rd minute of play, despite the game ending in an official 4-4 draw.
- Senior David Cotton (Parker, Texas) struck twice in the opening Beanpot round. His second goal of the night came with under a minute left to play in regulation, tying the game up at 4-4 and bringing the contest into overtime play.
#14 UMass Lowell vs. #4 Boston College, vs. Merrimack
- After the River Hawks take on #4 Boston College Friday night, they will head to Merrimack for a 7pm face off with their close rivals the Warriors. This contest will complete the three-game regular season series for these two squads. The last two match ups resulted in wins for UML, a 3-1 victory on Jan. 4 and a 6-4 triumph on Jan. 18.
- UMass Lowell enjoyed a bye weekend last week, and are 1-3-1 in its last five outings. The lone victory in that span came over Merrimack.
- Most recently, Merrimack had a two-game series in Orono, where they were defeated by the Black Bears, 6-2, on Friday night, and 3-2 on Saturday.
- Ben Brar (Abbotsford, B.C.) contributed three points over the two game spread for the Warriors. He tallied a goal and an assist on Friday, and added another assist on Saturday.
Vermont at New Hampshire
- A battle of the Cats will take place this weekend in Durham as the Wildcats of New Hampshire host the Vermont Catamounts for a two-game series that will be televised on NESNplus. The last season, these two teams met three times as UNH was able to claim two wins out of the three competitions.
- This past weekend, the Catamounts hosted Boston University on Friday night, where they fell, 4-2. They then took a trip to RPI, resulting in a 1-0 setback.
- Vermont Head Coach Kevin Sneddon is just one victory away from 300 in his career and 250 as the bench boss in Burlington.
- Although not enough to push past the Terriers, Friday night's two goals came from Derek Lodermeier (Brooklyn Center, Minn.) and Christian Evers (Waukee, Iowa). Junior goaltender Tyler Harmon (Ramsey, N.J.) then stood between the pipes on Saturday and recorded 34 saves on the night, only allowing one goal.
- In their home-and-home series with UConn last weekend, UNH fell to the Huskies, 7-4, in both Friday's and Saturday's match ups. Forward Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) recorded three goals on the weekend, one on Friday and two on Saturday.
