HOCKEY EAST HEADLINES

Merrimack swept a home-and-home series over #15 Providence, 2-0 and 3-2. Rookie goaltender Troy Kobryn (Hillsborough, N.J.) turned in the best weekend of his collegiate career stopping 71 of 73 shots. He earned his first college shutout Friday evening when he turned aside all 30 shots he saw in a 2-0 road win that included an empty-net goal for the Warriors. He then made 41 saves on 43 shots, including 22 in the third period, to backbone his team to a 3-2 win on Saturday.

UConn swept Boston University for the first time in program history thanks to seven points (2g, 5a) from Hockey East Player of the Week Benjamin Freeman (Falmouth, Maine). On Friday night, the senior scored with 56 seconds left in the third to tie the game at 3-3 and then created the play that led to a 4-3 overtime victory. Alexander Payusov (Montreal, Que.) scored both game-winning goals for the Huskies and netted four tallies on the weekend, including a hat trick in Saturday's 6-1 road win over the Terriers.

#6 Boston College strengthened its hold on first place in the Army ROTC Hockey East Standings with a decisive sweep of #10 Northeastern, 3-2 and 10-1. It marked the first time the Eagles have scored at least 10 goals since netting 11 in a home win over Army on Nov. 10, 2013. The Eagles can secure the top seed in the Hockey East Tournament with four more points in their remaining four contests. Thursday marked the 20th time that Jerry York has claimed 20 or more wins in 25 seasons at Boston College.

#8 Massachusetts and #14 UMass Lowell split a weekend series. The River Hawks took game one, 3-2, thanks to a goal from junior forward Chris Schutz (Keller, Texas) with just 27 seconds remaining in regulation. The next night, the Minutemen's John Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) broke a 3-3 tie with less than five minutes to go in regulation and added an empty-net goal to complete his second hat trick in the past three games and deliver a 5-3 victory. Leonard now has seven goals and nine points in his last four games. UMass Lowell's Tyler Wall (Leamington, Ont.) stopped 83 of 89 shots, including a career-high 45 saves on Saturday.

Maine took three of four points from Vermont in a two-game home stand to vault into third place in the Army ROTC Hockey East Standings. Senior Mitchell Fossier (Alpharetta, Ga.) tallied four points (1g, 4a) in Friday's 6-1 win, moving past Paul Kariya on Maine's all-time point list. Fossier now has 127 career points on 37 goals and 90 assists. Jeremy Swayman (Anchorage, Alaska) finished the weekend 1-0-1 with 53 saves and only one goal allowed. During Maine's Friday night victory, Swayman saved 23 of 24 shots. The junior then posted a shutout Saturday night with an even 30 saves in a 0-0 draw.

HOCKEY EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Benjamin Freeman - UConn

Benjamin Freeman (Falmouth, Maine) had a seven-point weekend to lead the Huskies to a league sweep over Boston University, the program's first over the Terriers. Freeman scored twice and had five assists on the weekend and also was a force on the face-off dot, winning 31 draws (31-13/.705). On Friday night, the senior scored with 56 seconds left in the third to tie the game up at 3-3 then created a turnover int he BU zone and fed classmate Alexander Payusov for the game-winner in overtime. On Saturday, he scored a power- play goal and dished three assists for a career-high four point night as the Huskies wrapped the sweep with a 6-1 win on the road.

PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Alex Newhook - Boston College

Alex Newhook (St. John's, New.) led Boston College with four points (1g, 3a) in a sweep of #10 Northeastern. The rookie extended his point streak to eight games (8g, 9a) with a three-point night (1g, 2a) on Friday, including the game-winning goal, and finished the series as a plusfour with 63% of faceoffs won. He leads all league rookies with 17 goals and 36 points on the year.

HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Troy Kobryn - Merrimack

Rookie netminder Troy Kobryn (Hillsborough, N.J.) turned in the best weekend of his collegiate career stopping 71 of 73 shots he faced. Kobryn earned his first college shutout Friday evening when he turned aside all 30 shots he saw in a 2-0 win at #15 Providence that included an empty-net goal for the Warriors. He got the nod the following evening as well and made 41 saves on 43 shots to lead the way in a 3-2 win. In Saturday's victory, he turned aside all 22 shots he faced in the third along period to help the Warriors complete the unbeaten weekend.

HOCKEY EAST TOP PERFORMERS

Julius Mattila, BC (Sr., F; Tampere, Finland) Posted a two-goal game, including the game-winner, in a 3-2 road victory over #10 Northeastern on Thursday night and chipped in with an assist in a 10-1 win over the Huskies on Saturday.

Spencer Knight, BC (Fr., G; Darien, Conn.) Stopped 45 of the 48 shots he faced for a 1.63 goals against and a .938 save percentage in a home-and-home sweep of #10 Northeastern. Collected the 19th and 20th wins of his freshman campaign and extended his personal winning streak to five games.

Matt Boldy, BC (Millis, Mass.) helped #6 Boston College to a weekend sweep of #10 Northeastern. Boldy had two goals and an assist on Friday night in 10-1 win over the Huskies at Conte Forum.

Alexander Payusov, UConn (Sr., F; Montreal, Que.) Scored both game-winning goals for the Huskies in the program's first-ever sweep of Boston University. He netted four goals on the weekend, including a hat trick in Saturday's 6-1 road win over the Terriers.

Carter Turnbull, UConn (So., F; Nanaimo, B.C.) Racked up five points (1g, 4a) for UConn in a home-and-home sweep of Boston University, including setting up the game-winning goal in Saturday's 6-1 win at Agganis Arena in Boston.

Mitchell Fossier, Maine (Sr., F; Alpharetta, Ga.) Tallied four points against Vermont on Friday night as the senior scored a goal and assisted on three others. Fossier's second point of the night moved him past Paul Kariya on Maine's all-time point list and he now has 127 career points on 37 goals and 90 assists.

Jeremy Swayman, Maine (Jr., G; Anchorage, Alaska) Finished the weekend 1-0-1 with 53 saves and only one goal allowed. During Maine's Friday night victory, Swayman saved 23 of 24 shots. The junior then posted a shutout Saturday night with an even 30 saves in a 0-0 draw.

John Leonard, UMass (Jr., F; Amherst, Mass.) Netted four goals on the weekend in a split with #14 UMass Lowell. He scored his 50th career goal on Friday, and is the first Minuteman to reach the milestone as a junior having played his entire career in Hockey East. In Saturday's 5-3, victory, carried UMass to the win, breaking a 3-3 tie with less than five minutes to go in regulation and adding another highlight reel goal on the empty netter to complete his second hat trick in the past three games. Leonard now has seven goals and nine points in his last four games.

Tyler Wall, UML (Sr., G; Leamington, Ont.) Stopped 83 of 89 shots (.933 save%) in the weekend split with #8 UMass. Notched a career-high 45 saves in a 5-3 loss at UMass on Saturday and recorded 38 saves in the 3-2 home win on Friday night at the Tsongas Center.

Declan Carlile, MC (Fr., D; Hartland, Mich.) The rookie blue liner had a trio of points for the Warriors in a sweep over #15 Providence. He netted an empty net goal to seal a 2-0 shutout win for Merrimack Friday night on the road and then scored a goal and added an assist to complete his three-point weekend as Merrimack came back twice to top the Friars, 3-2.