February 27, 2012

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #39 JOEY DIAMOND, MAINE (Junior Forward; Long Beach, N.Y.) Diamond had six points (2g,4a) in the weekend series split at Northeastern two goals and four assists in Maine's weekend split at Northeastern. He assisted on both Maine goals on Friday and followed that up two goals and two assists in the 7-1 win on Saturday night. PRO AMBITIONS CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #39 STEVE MASTALERZ, MASSACHUSETTS (Freshman Goaltender; North Andover, Mass) Mastalerz stopped 26 of 28 shots (.929 save%) in UMass' 4-2 win over New Hampshire on Saturday night in his only start of the weekend for the Minutemen. Mastalerz made nine saves in both the first and third periods and helped UMass go 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. PRO AMBITIONS CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #6 TREVOR VAN RIEMSDYK, UNH (Freshman Defenseman, Middletown, N.J.) van Riemsdyk scored a career-high two goals in UNH's 4-3 win over Massachusetts on Friday night. The freshman blueliner had six shots on net and was a +3 for the weekend. HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #35 PARKER MILNER, BOSTON COLLEGE (Junior Goaltender; Pittsburgh, Pa.) Milner stopped all 54 shots faced in just under 110 minutes of action in the weekend sweep against Providence, extending his shutout streak to 140:18 for the Eagles. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK MERRIMACK COLLEGE WARRIORS The Warriors took three points in a home-and-home series with No. 7 UMass-Lowell over the weekend with a 5-2 victory on Friday night at Lawler Arena and followed that up with a 2-2 road tie on Saturday night at the Tsongas Center.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Joey Diamond of Maine ARMY ROTC THREE STARS AWARD At the conclusion of each Hockey East game, the " Army ROTC Three Stars of The Game" are selected. Here are the 2011-2012 season leaders to date: Rk. Name Cl. Pos. School 1. Kieran Millan Sr. G BU 2. Chris Kreider Jr. F BC 3. Joe Cannata Sr. G MC 4. Joey Diamond Jr. F ME   Wade Megan Jr. F BU 6. Doug Carr So. G UML   Scott Wilson Fr. F UML 8. Chris Rawlings Jr. G NU

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Spencer Abbott, Maine (Sr., F, Hamilton, Ont.) Had three goals and an assist in Maine's weekend series at Northeastern.

Barry Almeida, BC (Sr., F, Springfield, Mass.) Tallied team-highs with five points, assists (4) and plus-minus (+5) in two wins over Providence.

Kyle Bigos, MC (Jr., D, Upland, Calif.) Tallied a goal and two assists in the weekend series with Lowell.

Joe Cannata, MC (Sr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Stopped 43 of 47 shots, allowing only one even strength goal in the weekend series vs. UMass-Lowell.

Mike Collins, MC (So., F, Boston, Mass.) Scored a pair of power play goals in a 2-2 tie at Lowell.

Justin Daniels, NU (Jr., F, Suffern, N.Y.) Tallied his first three-point night of the season and second of his career on Friday vs. Maine (1-2-3)

Casey DeSmith, UNH (Fr., G, Rochester, N.H.) Stopped 76 shots in the split at UMass, including a career-high 48 shots on Friday in a 4-3 win.

Sean Escobedo, BU (Jr., D, Bayside, N.Y.) Scored his first two goals of the year in Friday's win at Vermont and added an assist in Saturday's OT victory.

Matt Ferreira, UML (Sr., F, Brampton, Ont.) Scored a goal and an assist in a weekend series with Merrimack College.

Johnny Gaudreau, BC (Fr., F, Carneys Point, N.J.) Registered 3 points (2g,1a) in two wins over Providence.

Sahir Gill, BU (So., F, Terrace, B.C.) Recorded a goal, two assists and a +2 rating in the weekend series at Vermont.

Kevin Goumas, UNH (So., F, Long Beach, N.Y.) Registered five points (1g,4a) in the weekend split at UMass.

Joel Hanley, UMass (So., D, Keswick, Ont.) Scored pair of goals over the weekend in the split with UNH.

Danny Hobbs, UMass (Sr., F, Shawville, Que.) Scored a goal and added two assists in UMass' split weekend.

Rob Madore, UVM (Sr., G, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Made 63 saves in a weekend series against Boston University.

Wade Megan, BU (Jr., F, Canton, N.Y.) Scored a goal in each win at Vermont, including a tally late in regulation on Saturday to send the game into OT.

Alexx Privitera, BU (Fr., D, Old Tappan, N.J.) Scored the overtime winner in BU's 3-2 victory at Vermont on Saturday with a +3 over the weekend.

Adam Reid, NU (Fr., F, Chino Hills, Calif.) Scored his second-career game-winning goal with 18:46 left in the third period on Friday vs. Maine.

Grant Rollheiser, BU (Sr., G, Chilliwack, B.C.) Stopped all 18 shots he faced on Friday to earn his first shutout of the year in a 5-0 win at Vermont.

Conor Sheary, UMass (So., F, Melrose, Mass.) Scored a pair of goals and added an assist in UMass' split weekend against New Hampshire.

Sebastian Stalberg, UVM (Jr., F, Gothenburg, Sweden) Tallied a goal on Saturday vs. No. 5 BU and was a +2 on the night.

Dan Sullivan, Maine (So., York, Pa.) Went 1-1-0 on the weekend with a 2.10 GAA (.918 save%) with 45 saves vs. Northeastern.

Jeff Velleca, MC (Sr., F, Waterbury, Conn.) Tied career highs with two goals and four points, including the game-winner in a 5-2 win vs. UML Friday.

Steven Whitney, BC (Jr., F, Reading, Mass.) Tallied career-highs in points (4), assists (3) and plus-minus (+5) in consecutive wins over Providence.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Spencer Abbott, MAINE (Hamilton , Ont.) Tallied his 50th career goal on Friday night at Northeastern

Jay Camper, UNH (ROCKY RIVER, OHIO) Handed out his first collegiate assist on Friday night

Alex Chiasson, BU (St. Augustin, Que.) Played in his 100th career game on Friday at Vermont

Casey DeSmith, UNH (ROCHESTER, N.H.) Stopped a career-high 48 shots on Friday against UMass

Matt Ferreira, UML (Brampton, Ont.) Scored the 25th goal of his career on Friday at Merrimack

Kevin Goumas, UNH (LONG BEACH, N.Y.) Has seven points (2g, 5a) in the last four games

Rob Madore, UVM (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Has made 131 saves in his last four games

Stevie Moses, UNH (Leominster, Mass.) With 97 points in hand is trying to become the 71st player in school history to record 100 career points

Michael Pereira, UMass (West Haven , Conn.) Has 8 goals and 3 assists in his last 10 games, which includes an active six game scoring streak

Alex Tuckerman, NU (ORLEANS, MASS.) Skated in his 100th career game on Feb. 24 vs. Maine

Matt Willows, UNH (CONGERS, N.Y.) Collected his first collegiate point on Friday night at UMass

Dan Sullivan, MAINE (York, Pa.) Saw action in his 50th career game in goal Saturday at NU

Dick Umile, New Hampshire With 498 wins is closing in on 500 career wins. Umile would become one of just six active coaches with 500 career wins and one of 14 coaches all-time to pass that historic milestone

Parker Milner, BC (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Is 9-0 with a 1.30 GAA and a .948 save percentage

Johnny Gaudreau, BC (CARNEYS POINT, N.J.) Has a team-high 14 points (8g,6a) and a team-high +11 rating during BC's 9-game win streak

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: BC beat Providence 3-0 and 7-0, registering consecutive shutouts for the first time since the 2006 NCAA Northeast Regional when Cory Schneider backstopped Boston College to 5-0 victories over Miami (March 24) and Boston University (March 25) en route to berth in Milwaukee's Frozen Four. BC has now won the last 11 meetings between the teams and is unbeaten in the last 15 (13-0-2). It recorded consecutive shutouts of Providence for the first time since 2000, when Tim Kelleher (Jan. 23) and Scott Clemmensen (Feb. 11) each blanked PC…The team scored five goals in the first period of Saturday's 7-0 home win, marking the first time the team scored five times in a period since an 8-6 home win over New Hampshire on Nov. 15, 2008…BC's six seniors; Tommy Cross, Barry Almeida, Paul Carey, Tommy Atkinson, Edwin Shea and Chris Venti, secured its 99th and 100th victories and now has a 100-42-10 record in four seasons at The Heights.

Boston University: The Terriers came up empty on both of their chances with the man advantage on Saturday, ending their streak of consecutive games with a power-play goal at 14...After going 199 periods of play between the first and second goals of his career, junior Sean Escobedo waited less than 10 minutes to score again thanks to his two-goal second period on Friday at Vermont...Since suffering a 7-1 loss at UMass Lowell on Nov. 5 in the team's most lopsided defeat in over 12 years, the Terriers are a perfect 10-0 on the road in Hockey East play...BU earned its first weekend sweep of Vermont since the Catamounts joined Hockey East in 2005...Friday's 5-0 win marked the Terriers' regular-season shutout of Vermont since Feb. 1, 1974...BU has four shutouts this season, three by Kieran Millan (Edmonton, Alta.) after totaling just two the previous two seasons combined...The Terriers secured home ice in the Hockey East quarterfinals for the eighth straight season...BU boasts three of the top seven point scorers in Hockey East play...When it hosts Northeastern this Friday, BU will attempt to avoid its first five-game home losing streak since moving to campus in 1971.

Maine: Maine split a pair of games at Northeastern on the weekend… The Black Bears scored seven goals on Saturday night in a 7-1 victory…It is the third time this season that the Black Bears have scored seven goals in a game…The Black Bears scored three goals in the span of 5:38 in the first period…Maine's Spencer Abbott, Brian Flynn and Joey Diamond all rank in the top-10 in the nation in points per game. Diamond has 22 goals on the season, the most for a Maine player since Greg Moore tallied 28 during the 2005-06 season…Twenty of Diamond's goals have come in Hockey East play…Maine is leading the nation in power play percentage, scoring at a 28.2 percent clip…Maine sophomore forward Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) has 10 power play goals on the season which is tied for the national lead.

Massachusetts: UMass is 5-7 over the last 12 games with seven of those contests against teams ranked in the top-11 nationally – two of those wins came on the road…UMass will close out the regular-season with a home-and-home series against Merrimack which begins Friday at the Mullins Center where the Minutemen are 8-4-3…UMass is now 6-6-1 against ranked teams which includes a pair of wins against teams ranked No. 1 in the country…UMass holds the season series against the both Vermont and Boston College and split with Northeastern (1-1-1), Boston University (1-1-1), and Maine (1-1-1)…Over the last 12 games, UMass has been strong on the penalty kill going 50-for-61 (82.0%) including a 5-5 effort vs. Providence and a 6-6 effort against Boston College…UMass has a power play goal in six of the last eight games going 7-for-33 (21.2%) with the extra man…UMass' 51 shots in the loss to New Hampshire were its most in a game since posting 55 against Union on Nov. 25, 2007.

UMass-Lowell: The seventh-ranked River Hawks picked up just one point in a home-and-home series with rival Merrimack College. UMass Lowell became the last team in Division I hockey to record a tie with Saturday's 2-2 result in the Tsongas Center. The River Hawks are now 0-8-1 when scoring two or fewer goals and 8-0-1 when David Vallorani scores a goal. Since the USCHO.com poll debuted in 1997-98, UMass Lowell is 2-1-1 against the Warriors in games which both teams are nationally ranked. The River Hawks' Matt Ferreira scored a goal, the 25th of his career, and an assist in the weekend set. Rookie forwards Scott Wilson and Boston College's Johnny Gaudreau have each scored 12 goals in league play, the most by a freshman since Nick Bonino in 2007-08. UMass Lowell remains in third place in Hockey East and needs just one point in the final weekend of play to secure home ice in the quarterfinal round of the conference playoffs.

Merrimack: Merrimack snapped its four-game winless streak with a three-point weekend vs. No. 7 UMass Lowell, earning a tie in the season series…The three points put Merrimack one point behind Maine for fourth and two behind Lowell for third. Merrimack has a game-in-hand and the tiebreaker on Maine. Its magic number to gain home ice in the quarterfinals for the second straight season is three (combined Merrimack points earned with missed Maine points)…Merrimack has the fewest losses (9) among all Hockey East teams and the most ties (7)…Hobey Baker nominee Joe Cannata allowed only one even strength goal in the weekend, while Merrimack scored three power play goals, snapping a six-game skid on the man advantage…Merrimack is 3-3-2 in season series, with one (UMass) to go…The Warriors improved to 16-2-4 when they score two or more goals…Merrimack scored three times in the first period in Friday's win, marking the first time they did that since they were the #1 team in the country (11/23 vs. UAH)…Lawler Arena was sold out for the 13th time this year in 15 games and for the 19th time in 21 games on Friday.

New Hampshire: With a win over Massachusetts on Friday night, the Wildcats secured a playoff berth for a league-best 24th-straight season... Currently in sixth place in the league standings, UNH can finish as high as sixth and as low as seventh with one game remaining in the regular season... In Friday night's 4-3 win, Casey DeSmith turned aside a career-high 48 shots. DeSmith's previous best was a 37-save performance against Providence on Feb. 3. He becomes the first Wildcat with 45+ saves since Brian Foster turned away 47-Wisconsin shots on Oct. 30, 2009 at Kohl Center...Head Coach Dick Umile with 498 wins is closing in on 500 career wins. Umile would become one of just six active coaches with 500 career wins and one of 14 coaches all-time to pass that historic milestone. Additionally, he would become just the eighth coach in Division I history to win 500 games at one program... Stevie Moses with 97 points in hand is trying to become the 71st player in school history to record 100 career points...UNH enjoyed favorable February with a 5-2-1 mark in the month.

Northeastern: Northeastern split with No. 11 Maine this past weekend at Matthews Arena. The Huskies curbed a five-game winless streak in the 4-2 triumph. Northeastern picked up its first win over the Black Bears in six tries with the last win coming at home on Nov. 14, 2009 (5-2). Freshman Adam Reid scored his second-career game-winning goal on Friday night, marking his first since the Vermont game on Jan. 27. Junior Justin Daniels tallied his first three-point night of the season and second of his career on Friday. The first three-point night occurred against New Hampshire on Feb. 26, 2010. It was the Suffern, N.Y. native's first multi-point game since the season opener on Oct. 7. His goal was the first since the 9-2 win at Notre Dame on Dec. 2. Anthony Bitetto and Joseph Manno each registered multi-point games on Friday. Bitetto posted his third multi-point game of the season (0-2-2) and eighth of his career.

Providence College: With either one victory or one tie against UMass Lowell this weekend, Providence can clinch its first Hockey East playoff spot since 2008…Senior Alex Beaudry is 10 saves away from becoming the first Friar goalie to record 3,000 career stops. Beaudry also has moved into second all-time at the College in career games played by a goalie with 111 games…The Friars finished February with a 2-4-2 record, their best February since the 2007-08 season…Providence will complete the regular season by playing its 14th and 15th ranked opponent…The Friars have posted a 5-7-1 mark against ranked teams…Providence has won three Hockey East series this season, one more than last season…The Friars will look to win their fourth league series against UMass Lowell this weekend as they captured the first meeting in January…In Friday's game, Providence also will seek to win its 10th home game, a feat that has not been accomplished since the 2005-06 season.

Vermont: Eight of the last 12 games between Vermont and Boston University have been decided by a goal or less … BU's power play entered the weekend ranked top-5 nationally and had been clicking at nearly 36% in the second half of the season, and the Catamount penalty kill held the unit to a 1-for-11 showing…15 of the last 21 Vermont goals have been scored by underclassmen, who are accounting for six of the team's top nine scorers this year…The Cats have played in four overtime games since New Year's after going to the extra session just once in the first half of the season…UVM's senior class has won 53 games in its four years and has been to two NCAA Tournaments and the 2009 Frozen Four…The quintet has combined to skate in 488 career games.