March 12, 2012

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #9 ALEX CHIASSON, BOSTON UNIVERSITY (Junior Forward; St. Augustin, Que.) Chiasson tallied six points (2g,4a) and +3 plus/minus rating in the Terriers' quarterfinal series against UNH. Scored double-overtime clincher in Game Three and added three assists for a career-high four points. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #14 ROSS MAUERMANN, PROVIDENCE (Freshman Forward; Janesville, Wis.) Mauermann scored the game winner in game three vs. UMass Lowell. Also had an assist in a game one win at the Tsongas Center. Finished the weekend with seven shots on goal and a +3 rating for the Friars. HEA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #31 KIERAN MILLAN, BOSTON UNIVERSITY (Senior Goaltender; Edmonton, Alta.) Millan recorded 150 saves (.943 save percentage) for the Terriers over the three quarterfinal games, including a tournament-best 68-save performance in the decisive third game on Sunday afternoon at Agganis Arena. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK PROVIDENCE COLLEGE FRIARS The Friars knocked off UMass-Lowell in three games and return to the Hockey East semifinals for the first time since 2001. Providence is the first No. 7 seed in the history of the tournment to advance to semifinal play.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Alex Chiasson of Boston University ARMY ROTC THREE STARS AWARD At the conclusion of each Hockey East game, the " Army ROTC Three Stars of The Game" are selected. Congratulation to BU's Kieran Millan for winning this year's award. Millan finished the season as the No. 1 star of the game three times and was named a Star of the Game on 12 occasions. Here were the 2011-2012 season leaders: Rk. Name Cl. Pos. School 1. Kieran Millan Sr. G BU 2 Joe Cannata Sr. G MC   Chris Kreider Jr. F BC   Wade Megan Jr. F BU 5. Joey Diamond Jr. F ME 6. Doug Carr So. G UML   Scott Wilson Fr. F UML

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Spencer Abbott, Maine (Sr., F, Hamilton, Ont.) Had a goal and two assists in Maine's weekend series against Merrimack.

Alex Beaudry, PC (Sr., F, Cumberland, Ont.) Stopped 95 of 101 shots (.941 save%) in the quarterfinals, including 29 stops in a game three shutout win.

Rhett Bly, MC (So. F, Regina, Sask.) Notched his first career two-goal game in a 5-2 win over Maine in game two.

Joe Cannata, MC (Sr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Allowed just two goals in each game of the quarterfinal series, stopping a season-high 41 shots in game one.

Doug Carr, UML (So., G, Hanover, Mass.) Stopped 105-of-112 shots (.938) in the trio of games vs. PC. Carr made at least 34 saves each night.

Chris Connolly, BU (Sr., F, Duluth, Minn.) Tallied four points (1g, 3a) and a team-best plus-5 rating in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

Joey Diamond, Maine (Jr., F, Long Beach, N.Y.) Had a goal and two assists in Maine's weekend series against Merrimack.

Grayson Downing, UNH (Fr., F, Abbottsford, B.C.) Scored in double OT to lift UNH to a win in game one of the best-of-three quarterfinal series at BU.

Matt Ferreira, UML (Sr., F, Brampton, Ont.) Scored two goals, including a power play tally, in the River Hawks quarterfinal series with PC.

Johnny Gaudreau, BC (Fr., F, Carneys Point, N.J.) Registered a team-high three assists and a +3 rating in two victories over Massachusetts.

Sahir Gill, BU (So., F, Terrace, B.C.) Recorded a career-best three points (1g, 2a) in Saturday's 4-2 victory over UNH in Game Two.

Garrett Noonan, BU (So., D, Norfolk, Mass.) Scored two goals and an assist in the decisive third game of BU's quarterfinal triumph over UNH.

Brice O'Connor, Maine(So., D, Londonderry, N.H.) Had a goal and an assist in Maine's weekend series with Merrimack.

Zack Kamrass, UML (Fr., D, Atlanta, Ga.) Scored four points (1g,3a) including his first collegiate goal, the overtime game-winner Saturday vs. PC.

Parker Milner, BC (Jr., G, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Stopped 58-of-61 shots (.951 save%) faced in backstopping Boston College to two wins over UMass.

Pat Mullane, BC (Jr., F, Wallingford, Conn.) Scored one goal in each of two wins over UMass; tallied a team-high +3 rating.

Dan Sullivan, Maine (So., York, Pa.) Went 2-1-0 on the weekend with a 2.01 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

Alex Velischek, PC (Jr., D, Kinnelon, N.J.) Had one assist in every game of the Hockey East quarterfinal series versus UMass Lowell.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Norm Bazin, UMASS-LOWELL Set the Division I hockey record for largest turnaround by a firstyear coach, guiding UML to 18 more wins than last season

ALEX BEAUDRY, PC (CUMBERLAND, ONT.) Tied a PC single season record with his third shutout. Also tied a PC record for career games played by a goalie (116)

Joe Cannata , MC (Wakefield, MASS.) Became the program's all-time in saves during game two

Chris Connolly , BU (Duluth, Minn.) Played in his 150th career game on Saturday vs. UNH

Casey DeSmith, UNH (ROCHESTER, N.H.) Stopped a career-high 50 saves on Sunday against BU

Brian Flynn , MAINE (Lynnfield, Mass.) Played in his 150th career game on Sunday vs. Merrimack

Matt Mangene, MAINE (Miller Place, N.Y.) Saw action in his 100th career game on Friday night against Merrimack

KIERAN MILLAN, BU (Edmonton, Alta .) Broke the Hockey East Tournament record with 68 saves on Sunday afternoon vs. UNH

Parker Milner, BC (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Has won each of the last 13 games and owns a 1.21 GAA and a .954 save percentage during this stretch

Brice O'Connor, MAINE (Londonderry , N.H.) Has points in four of his last five games

Providence College Friars Are the First No. 7 seed to make it to the league semifinals

Karl Stollery , MC (Camrose, Alta .) Became the program's all-time leader in games played with 145

Riley Wetmore, UML (Swanton, Vt.) Tallied his 50th career assist on Friday vs. Providence

Scott Wilson, UML (Oakville, Ont.) Has scored the most points (37) by a UML freshman since Greg Bullock (59) in 1993-94

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: BC's victories over Massachusetts marked BC's 12th and 13th straight wins, equaling the longest win streak in the Jerry York era (1994-present). BC previously won 13 games in succession from Feb. 15, 2007 to April 5, 2007…Massachusetts took an early 1-0 lead on Connor Sheary's goal at 2:54 of the opening period, marking the first time in 687:56 dating back to Jan. 27, 2012 (spanning 13 games) that Boston College has trailed an opponent…The Eagles have now won 10 straight Hockey East tournament gamesThis was the eighth straight sweep of an opponent in the quarterfinal round, including the past three over the Minutemen…Sophomore Bill Arnold's assist on the Carey tally was his 15th of the year and gives him 30 points on the season…Parker Milner recorded his first career point with an assist on Brian Dumoulin's game-winning goal in Saturday's 3-2 win…BC is 8-1 against the Minutemen in the league tournament and has won the last 12 games between the teams at Kelley Rink dating back to Nov. 17, 2007…BC improved to 48-11-1 in the Hockey East Tournament under coach Jerry York and 29-7 in the quarterfinals…UMass's power-play goal against BC on Saturday marked the first PPG allowed in eight games dating back to Feb. 17.

Boston University: Boston University advanced to the Hockey East semifinals for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, as its league record of nine straight trips to the Garden was snapped last year...Sunday's quarterfinal clincher was the longest game in Agganis Arena history at 86:42, eclipsing the record of 82:00 set just two days earlier in the series opener on Friday...The Terriers had their quarterfinal series go the full three games for the sixth consecutive season...Junior Alex Chiasson's 44 points this season are the most by a BU right winger since Jay Pandolfo put up 67 during the 1995-96 campaign...Sophomore Garrett Noonan now has 16 goals this season, which is the most by a Terrier defenseman since Vic Stanfield tallied 16 in the 1973-74 season...Senior Kieran Millan enters the week needing just seven saves to tie the record for saves in a Hockey East tournament, as UNH's Kevin Regan totaled 157 during the 2007 tournament...Senior Chris Connolly has nine points (3g, 6a) over his last five games...Since the turn of the new year, the Terrier defensemen have combined to tally 69 points (23g, 46a) in 21 games... BU boasts four of the top 21 players in the national rankings for assists per game...The Terriers have recorded 11 come-from-behind victories in each of the past two seasons...BU has gone 108 straight games without being shut out, which is the longest such streak in the country.

Maine: Maine advances to the Hockey East semifinals after defeating Merrimack in the best-of-three series…Brice O'Connor (Londonderry, N.H.) scored the game-winning goal on Sunday against the Warriors…He scored the lone goal last week as Maine secured home ice with a 1-0 win over New Hampshire in the regular season finale…Two of his three goals on the season have been game-winners…Maine and Merrimack combined for 50 penalties for 184 minutes in Saturday night's game…. There were 87 penalties for 269 minutes in the three-game series… Maine's 24 penalties on Saturday against Merrimack tied a school record for penalties in a game…The Black Bears also had 24 penalties on Jan. 24, 2004 against Boston University…Maine's line of Spencer Abbott, Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Joey Diamond have scored 60 goals and added 89 assists for 149 points this season. Abbott led the first round of Hobey Baker fan voting with 24,587 votes…Dan Sullivan (York, Pa.) ranks tied for fifth on Maine's single season wins list with 21. His 806 saves this season rank tied for seventh among single season leaders…Maine has six players who have played in 100 or more career games…Maine faces Boston University in the Hockey East semifinals…Maine is 4-0-0 this season in games played on neutral ice.

Massachusetts: UMass dropped two one-goal games to #1 Boston College in the Hockey East Quarterfinals…UMass finished the year 7-9-1 against ranked teams which includes a pair of wins against teams ranked No. 1 in the country…In game one of the Hockey East Quarterfinal series against Boston College, UMass held BC to 18 shots on goal, the fewest by any opponent in 2011-12 and a season-low for Boston College… UMass did not commit a penalty in game one, the first time since Feb. 26, 2010 that the Minutemen had gone an entire contest without taking a penalty…UMass finished the season at 13-18-15, 9-14-4 in HEA, 9-4-3 at home, 2-13-2 on the road and 2-1-2 at neutral sites.

UMass-Lowell: Seventh ranked UMass Lowell fell in three games to Providence College in the Hockey East Quarterfinals in the Tsongas Center. The River Hawks lone victory came on Friday night at 11:29 into overtime, the longest game in Tsongas Center history (71:29). Zack Kamrass played the hero, scoring his first collegiate goal to win the game. Kamrass became just the second player in UMass Lowell's Division I history to score his first career goal in overtime, matching Paul Ames' heroics as a freshman against Babson in 1984. The River Hawks are now 27-41-3 all-time in the Hockey East playoffs...For the weekend, Kamrass led the River Hawks with four points (1g,3a). Goaltender Doug Carr was outstanding, stopping 105-of-112 (.938) shots and making at least 34 saves in each game. On Friday night, Norm Bazin set the NCAA Division I record for largest turnaround by a first-year head coach by guiding UMass Lowell to 18 more victories than last season. The River Hawks now await their fate with the upcoming NCAA Tournament selection show on Mar. 18.

Merrimack: Merrimack's season likely came to an end this weekend after losing to Maine in a three-game quarterfinal series…the Warriors need a Maine semifinal win, and losses by Cornell and Western Michigan in their semifinals and consolation games to get a chance at making the NCAA Tournament…Over 200 Merrimack students, roughly 10% of the College's enrollment, were in attendance in Orono, as Merrimack sent four fan buses north, with head football coach John Perry leading the cheers…Sunday's loss was likely the final game for Merrimack's eight seniors…As a class, the seniors were the most successful Division I class in school history…Joe Cannata will graduate as the program's all-time leader in wins, games played, saves, GAA and save percentage, while Karl Stollery is the program's all-time leader in games played with 145…In Saturday's win, Rhett Bly (Regina, SK) notched his first career two-goal game, while Simon Demers (St. Etienne de Lauzon, Que.) had his first point since October 23, 2009…Merrimack suffered its first loss when leading after one period in game one…The Warriors were looking to become the first team ever to win three times in one season at Alfond, they did win at Alfond twice for the first time in school history…The Merrimack Sports Network televised all three games, marking the first time Merrimack broadcasted its playoff games ever. Merrimack All-Access debuted before game one as well.

New Hampshire: UNH closed out the 2011-12 season with a 15- 19-3 mark...The Wildcats suffered a 2-1 series loss to sixth-ranked Boston University in the best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinals...New Hampshire peppered BU's Kieran Millan 157 shots (52.33 spg) over the three game series forcing the senior standout to make career-high save performance on Friday and Sunday...Sunday's 70-shot output was the most in UNH's documented statistical history...On Friday night, freshman Grayson Downing was the hero potting an unassisted goal in double-overtime to propel the Wildcats to a 3-2 win and early 1-0 series leads. The Terriers bounced back with a 4-2 win on Saturday and a 5-4 double overtime win of their own on Sunday...Friday's win was Coach Umile's 499th win all-time. He will go for 500 at the start of the 2011-12 season. He is looking to become one of 14 coaches all-time and the sixth active coach in Division I with 500 wins...On Sunday, UNH got out to a 4-1 lead and could not hold off a late charge from Boston U...Casey DeSmith stopped a career-high 50 shots, becoming the first UNH netminder to have 50 saves in a game since March 14, 2010 when Brian Foster stopped 50 in an overtime loss to Vermont... Casey Thrush scored a career-high two goals in Sunday's loss to the Terriers...Stevie Moses finished his storied career with 97 points just missing out on the century club.

Providence College: Providence defeated UMass Lowell in the decisive game of the Hockey East Quarterfinals and became the first No. 7 seed to make it to the Hockey East Semifinals in the 28-year history of the league ... The Friars will be making their 11th appearance in the Hockey East Semifinals and their first since 2001...Sunday's game three win at UMass Lowell marked the first time that the Friars won a decisive game on the road...Providence is now 3-3 all-time in game threes...Alex Beaudry and the Friars have three shutouts this season, including two 1-0 shutouts against UMass Lowell...Sunday's shutout also marked the first on the road for PC since December 1, 2007...In addition, it was PC's first playoff shutout since 1992. Beaudry's three shutouts has tied a single season PC record. He also is now tied for first in career games played by a goalie at Providence College with 116 games…Junior Alex Velischek had one assist in each game of the series versus UML…Derek Army and Matt Bergland each scored twice in a game one victory on Thursday and became the first Friars since 2005 to score two goals in a league playoff game…Providence has 14 victories for the first time since the 2007-08 season.