February 6, 2012

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #13 SPENCER ABBOTT, MAINE (Senior Forward; Hamilton, Ont.) Abbott scored seven points (2g,5a) as Maine swept a home weekend series from Alabama- Huntsville. He forced overtime with a goal at 19:14 on Friday and also had a pair of assists vs. the Chargers and followed that up on Saturday with a goal and three assists on Saturday at Alfond Arena. Abbott finished the weekend with 13 shots on goal. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #23 SCOTT WILSON, UMASS LOWELL (Freshman Forward; Oakville, Ont.) Wilson scored five points (2g,3a), posted eight shots on goal and owned a +5 plus/minus rating in a weekend sweep of Vermont at the Tsongas Center. Wilson assisted on the game-winning goal each night in the victory for the River Hawks. HEA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #29 CASEY DESMITH, NEW HAMPSHIRE (Freshman Goaltender; Rochester, N.H.) DeSmith stopped 71-of-74 shots (.959) in a weekend sweep of Providence. He stopped a career-high 37 shots and followed that up with a 34-save effort on Saturday night at Providence. He turned aside double-digit saves in all but one period over the weekend (nine in the other). HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK NEW HAMPSHIRE WILDCATS The Wildcats picked up a four-point weekend vs. the Providence Friars with a 3-1 win on Friday night at the Whittemore Center and a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday evening at Schneider Arena.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Spencer Abbott 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. Scott Wilson Fr. F UML   Wade Megan Jr. F BU 5. Joe Cannata Sr. G MC 6. Joey Diamond Jr. F ME   Chris Rawlings Jr. G NU 8. Doug Carr So. G UML   Matt Nieto So. F BU

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Nick Bruneteau, UVM (So., D, Omaha, Neb.) Had a goal and an assist on the weekend in two games vs. No. 9 UML.

Joe Cannata, MC (Sr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Made 23 saves in a 4-3 win over UMass on Friday.

Alex Chiasson, BU (Jr., F, St. Augustin, Que.) Tallied a goal and an assist in BU's 4-1 win at No. 4 Merrimack.

Chris Connolly, BU (Sr., F, Duluth, Minn.) Tallied two goals and an assist to lead the Terriers to a 4-1 road victory against No. 4 Merrimack.

Stefan Demopoulos, PC (Fr., F., La Mesa, Calif.) Scored a career-high two goals against UNH on Saturday.

Stu Higgins, Maine (Fr., F, Troy, Mich.) Scored the game-winning goal in overtime on Friday against Alabama-Huntsville.

Drew MacKenzie, UVM (Sr., D, New Canaan, Conn.) Tallied three assists in a weekend series against No. 9 UMass Lowell.

Matt Mangene, Maine (Miller Place, N.Y.) Had two goals and an assist in Maine's weekend sweep of Alabama-Huntsville.

Ross Mauermann, PC (Fr., F, Janesville, Wis.) Notched two assists against UNH on Saturday.

Kieran Millan, BU (Sr., G, Edmonton, Alta.) Stopped 28 stops in a 4-1 triumph at No. 4 Merrmack

Matt Nieto, BU (So., F, Long Beach, Calif.) Tied a career high with three assists in the Terriers' 4-1 victory at No. 4 Merrimack.

Adam Reid, NU (Fr., F, Chino Hills, Calif.) Tallied his first-career power play goal against UMass.

Kyle Reynolds, UVM (Fr., F, Sylvan Lake, Alta.) Set a new career high with a three point night (1g,2a) against UML on Saturday.

Vinny Saponari, NU (Jr., F, Powder Springs, Ga.) Netted NU's first game winner in OT on Friday vs. UMass in almost a year (2/11/11).

Sebastian Stalberg, UVM (Jr., F, Gothenburg, Sweden) Had two goals and an assist on Saturday night at No. 9 UMass Lowell.

Dan Sullivan, Maine (So., G, York, Pa.) Finished with two wins and a 1.49 GAA on the weekend (.903 save%).

Alex Tuckerman, NU (Jr., F, Orleans, Mass.) Secured a pair of assists in the win over UMass, marking consecutive multi-point outings.

Jeff Velleca, MC (Sr., F, Waterbury, Conn.) Tallied two goalsand an assist, highlighted by the game-winner with two seconds left in a 4-3 win at UMass.

Robbie Vrolyk, NU (Jr., F, Boylston, Mass.) Registered his second-career two-goal game against UMass on Friday.

Riley Wetmore, UML (Jr., F, Swanton, Vt.) Recorded four points (1g,3a) and +4 rating in the weekend sweep of the Catamounts.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

ALEX BEAUDRY, PC (CUMBERLAND, ONT.) Became PC's leader in career saves (2,850)

Andrew Cerretani, MAINE (Pelham, N.H) Tallied his first career goal on Friday vs. UAH

Chris Connolly, BU (Duluth, Minn.) Has tallied 13 points (4g, 9a) during his current eight-game point streak

Joel Hanley, UMass (Keswick, Ont.) Hanley has 13 points (2g,11a) over the last 13 games after having just 4 points (1g,3a) in the first 13 games

Brooks Herrington (Bow, N.H.) Collected his first career point on Friday at UML

UMass Lowell River Hawks Has tied its mark for the longest home winning streak (9-0-0) in Tsongas Center history

Drew Mac Kenzie, UVM (New Canaan, Conn.) Has at least one point in 12 of his last 13 games

Merrimack Warriors on the Road 7-2-1 on the road this season in league games

Brice O'Connor, MAINE (Londonderry, N.H.) Scored his first career goal on Saturday vs. UAH

Sebastian Stålberg , UVM (Gothenburg, Sweden ) Scored his 25th career goal on Saturday night

Riley Wetmore (Swanton, Vt.) Is riding a season-high four-game point streak (1g,7a)

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: Boston College enters Monday's first round of the 60th Beanpot with a 69-49 record in 118 Beanpot games, including a 31-18 record in the first round. BC has won the Beanpot title 16 times, including two straight and three in the last four years - 2008, 2010 and 2011. The Eagles have finished second 15 times, third 22 times and fourth six times…Monday's game will mark the 41st meeting between the Eagles and Huskies in Beanpot competition. Boston College is 31- 9 against Northeastern the Beanpot, including a 29-8 record against the Huskies in the first round…The team's six seniors; Tommy Cross, Barry Almeida, Paul Carey, Tommy Atkinson, Edwin Shea and Chris Venti have a 5-1 record in the Beanpot. The Eagle senior class suffered a 6-1 first-round loss to Northeastern in the 2009 Beanpot and have won each of the last five Beanpot competitions since…The Eagles have accumulated a 40-18-1 record (.839 win percentage), including a 21-11 record in Beanpot play.

Boston University: BU, which is first in the PairWise rankings, has won 13 of its last 17 contests, eight of its last 11 and six of its last eight…The Terriers are 8-1 in their last nine road games…BU is one of only two teams (Michigan) in the country that has not allowed a shorthanded goal this season…The line of Alex Chiasson, Chris Connolly and Matt Nieto combined for eight points (3g,5a) in the win over Merrimack on Friday and the trio is tied for the team scoring lead on the season with 26 points each. Connolly leads Hockey East in assists during league play with 21…Since the turn of the new year, the Terrier defensemen have combined to tally 30 points (10g, 20a) in seven games…Sophomore Adam Clendening (Wheatfield, N.Y.) is one of only four defensemen in the country averaging a point per game…BU has recorded 16 power-play goals over the eight contests since the turn of the new year…The Terriers are in search of their 30th Beanpot title and are looking to avoid going three straight years without a Beanpot championship for the first time since 1983-85…BU has advanced to the Beanpot title game in 15 of the last 17 years.

Maine: Maine extended its winning streak to six games with a weekend sweep of Alabama-Huntsville…On Friday, Maine scored three third period goals and then won the game in overtime on a Stu Higgins goal…Maine has now lost just once in its last 12 games…Maine is 4-0-3 in overtime this season…The four overtime wins are the most since the 2000-01 season…Maine surrendered a season-low 11 shots on Friday…The Black Bears recorded their first shutout of the season on Saturday with a 5-0 win…Maine has scored at least one power play in 19 straight games…The Black Bears have 40 power play goals on the season, the same number it finished with during the 2010-2011 season...Spencer Abbott has tallied three or more points in a game 10 times this season…Twenty-two Black Bears were honored on Sunday for their academics by being named either Rising Stars for achieving a 3.0 or higher in their first semester or Scholar-Athletes…Dan Sullivan was named to Team Maine, for having the highest grade point average on the hockey team the past calendar year.

Massachusetts: After posting a 5-1-2 record from the start of Dec. to Jan. 20, UMass has now lost four straight games including a pair of one-goal games last weekend at Northeastern and against Merrimack…The Northeastern loss marked the 8th overtime game of the season for UMass (1-2-5 in those games)…UMass holds the season series against the both Vermont and Boston College and split with Northeastern (1-1-1)…Over the last six games, UMass has been strong on the penalty kill going 36-for-43 (83.7%) including a 5-5 effort vs. Providence and a 6-6 effort against Boston College…When allowing 4 or more goals this year, UMass is 0-11-1, however, when cutting that to 3-or-fewer, UMass is 9-1-3.

UMass-Lowell: The ninth-ranked River Hawks swept a weekend series with Vermont, including a 6-4 victory live on Saturday night. The victories marked UMass Lowell's fifth season series win against a Hockey East opponent in six chances (Maine, UMass, UNH, NU and UVM). The River Hawks are now 9-1-0 in the Tsongas Center, including a nine game winning streak. The winning streak ties the program's longest ever in the Tsongas Center, set from Nov. 27, 2004 to Feb. 5, 2005. Freshman Scott Wilson now leads all NCAA freshmen in points per game with 1.08 and leads all Hockey East freshmen in total points with 26 (13g, 13a). Goaltender Doug Carr (Hanover, Mass.) improved his nation leading record to 17-4-0, while ranking fourth in GAA (1.88) and sixth in save percentage (.932). The River Hawks are now tied for third in the NCAA in scoring in offense (3.56) and ninth in defense (2.32).

Merrimack: Merrimack split its weekend, losing to BU 4-1 Friday before defeating UMass Saturday 4-3…Jeff Velleca (Waterbury, Conn.) tied a career high with two goals in Saturday's win, netting the gamewinner with two seconds left in the third period…Put together for the first time ever, the senior line of Ryan Flanigan-Jesse Todd-Jeff Velleca led the way with three goals and seven points in the win…Merrimack remains with one game-in-hand on BU, BC and Maine…Merrimack is 7-1-2 on the road this season in Hockey East, with a point at all but one campus they have played on. After losing only five games in regulation in the last two seasons, Merrimack has four home defeats this season…The Warriors lost for just the second time when they outshoot their opponents. Both losses have been to BU.

New Hampshire: UNH captured a critical weekend sweep of a home-and-home series with Providence...The Wildcats jumped from ninth to sixth in the Hockey East standing with the four points...UNH extended its unbeaten streak against the Friars to 17 games (15-0-2), including 10-straight wins. Additionally, UNH is 16-0-1 in the last 17 games against PC at Whittemore Center...Stevie Moses is sitting at 93 points after a goal Friday night. He is looking to become the 71st Wildcat to join the century club... The wins were the 494th and 495th wins for Head Coach Dick Umile. He is looking to become just the 14th Division I coach to win 500 games all time... New Hampshire scored three power play goals on the weekend and held Providence off the board in four power play opportunities.

Northeastern: Northeastern defeated Massachusetts for the first time in four tries thanks to the overtime heroics of junior Vinny Saponari. Northeastern won its first overtime game since Jamie Oleksiak dialed up the game winner with six seconds left at UMass Lowell on Feb. 11, 2011. It was Northeastern's first overtime win at Matthews Arena Alex Tuckerman sent UMass packing in the quarterfinal round of the 2009 Hockey East playoffs. Tuckerman won game three with the tally in overtime. Saponari's walk-off tally marked his first game-winning goal at Northeastern and the fifth of his collegiate career. It was Saponari's first goal since the Minnesota game (Dec. 31, 2012)...Alex Tuckerman and Mike McLaughlin have also chipped in with back-to-back multi-point outings. Both forwards recorded two assists in the victory over UMass on Friday night. Rookie Adam Reid tallied his fourth goal of the season. Friday's goal was the first of the power play variety. With the Huskies' win, Northeastern is now 24-33-3 in games before the Beanpot Tournament. Seven of those games have come against UMass. The Huskies are 5-2-0 in those contests.

Providence College: Senior goalie Alex Beaudry became Providence's all-time leader in career saves on Saturday. Beaudry now has 2,850 stops surpassing Nolan Schaefer, who had the record (2,848 saves) since 2003…In addition, Beaudry is now third all-time at PC among goalies with 105 games played…Providence's freshman class has accounted for 25 of the team's 69 goals this season (36%) and 70 of the team's 188 points (37%)…Ross Mauermann, who leads the team in scoring with 20 points (8g,12a), is looking to become the first Friar freshman to lead the team in scoring since Matt Bergland in 2008-09…Freshman Stefan Demopoulos has at least one point in three of the last four games, including a career-high two goals on Saturday…Eight different Friars have reached career highs in several offensive categories, including Tim Schaller who has a career-best 11 goals and Myles Harvey who has 13 points. Schaller scored in his first game back on Friday after missing nearly a month of action.

Vermont: Kyle Reynolds set a new career high by posting a three point night on Saturday with a goal and two assists; Reynolds ranks third in Hockey East among rookie scorers with 21 points…Sebastian Stalberg tallied his ninth multi-point game of the season on Saturday, surpassing his total of eight from last year…Nick Bruneteau extended his point streak to four games with a third period assist on Saturday night…Drew MacKenzie posted a three assist weekend and is tied for fourth in scoring among league defensemen…The Catamounts have scored at least one power play goal in 11 of their last 13 games and are 14-for-64 over the last 11 contests…10 of the last 13 Vermont goals have been scored by underclassmen…With his next win, senior Rob Madore will pass Tom McNamara '77 and Sylvain Turcotte '81 for sole possession of sixth place on the all-time wins list at UVM…Five of the Cats' final seven games are against top-5 ranked teams.