February 18, 2013

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #29 DEREK ARNOLD, UMASS LOWELL (Junior Forward; Foxboro, Mass.) Arnold registered five points (3g,2a) in a series sweep of UMass. Scored two goals and set up another in UMass Lowell's 6-3 victory over UMass at the Mullins Center Friday night. Followed with the eventual game-winning goal and one assist in Saturday's 3-2 victory. He finished the weekend with seven shots on goal and a +4 rating. PRO AMBITIONS CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #32 JON GILLIES, PROVIDENCE COLLEGE (Freshman Goaltender; South Portland, Maine) Gillies went 1-0-1 on the week with 61 saves (.968 save%), including a 37-save effort in a 1-0 shutout of No. 5 UNH on Wednesday night at Schneider Arena. PRO AMBITIONS CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #37 BRODY HOFFMAN, VERMONT (Freshman Goaltender; Wilkie, Sask.) Hoffman stopped 55 of the 57 shots he faced (.965 save%) on the weekend against Northeastern. He recorded 26 saves Friday and 29 Saturday in the series at Matthews Arena. HEA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #30 SAM MAROTTA, MERRIMACK (Junior Goaltender; Bridgewater, Mass.) Marotta notched 63 saves on 66 shots (.955 save%) over the weekend, including a 39-save effort in a 2-1 overtime win over No. 4 Boston College on Friday night at Lawler Arena. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK MERRIMACK COLLEGE WARRIORS The Warriors took over first place in the league standings on Friday night with a 2-1 overtime victory vs. No. 4 BC at Lawler Arena and picked up a big road point at Providence on Sunday at Schneider Arena in the 2-2 tie.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Derek Arnold of UMass Lowell 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 2012-13 season leaders to date: Rk. Name Cl. Pos. School 1. Martin Ouellette Jr. G ME 2. Casey DeSmith So. G UNH   John Henrion Sr. F UNH   Joey Diamond Sr. F ME   Sam Marotta Jr. G MC 6. Johnny Gaudreau So. F BC   Kevin Roy Fr. F NU 8. Derek Army Jr. F PC   Mike Collins Jr. F MC   Joseph Pendenza Jr. F UML

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Ben Albertson, UVM (Sr., F, Williston, Vt.) Netted the game-winner on Friday at NU for his first goal of the season.

Bill Arnold, BC (Jr., F, Needham, Mass.) Recorded four points (2g,2a) in two games on the week for the Eagles.

Dan Correale, UNH (Fr., F, Prince George, B.C.) Notched a goal and an assist in UNH's 4-4 tie with No. 4 BC.

Stefan Demopoulos, PC (So., F, La Mesa, Calif.) Scored the game-winning goal vs. No. 5 UNH on Wednesday night.

Joey Diamond, Maine (Sr., F, Long Beach, N.Y.) Scored four points (2g,2a) in the series vs. BU over the weekend.

Grayson Downing, UNH ( So., F, Abbottsford, B.C.) Had a goal and an assist with five shots on goal in UNH's 4-4 tie vs. No. 4 BC.

Jacob Fallon, UVM (So., F, Southlake, Texas) Scored sixth power play goal of the year on Friday to tie the league lead.

Christian Folin, UML (Fr., D, Gothenburg, Sweden) Scored a shorthanded goal and assisted on three others in UML's sweep of UMass.

Connor Hellebuyck, UML (Fr., G, Commerce, Mich.) Totaled 49 saves (.907 save%) in the weekend sweep of the Minutemen.

Cason Hohmann, BU (So., F, Arlington, Texas) Tallied five points (2g,3a) in three games, including a two points (1g,1a) in Saturday's OT win at Maine

Eric Knodel, UNH (Jr., D, West Chester, Pa.) Scored a goal and had three shots on goal in UNH's 4-4 tie with No. 4 BC.

Isaac MacLeod, BC (Jr., D, Nelson, B.C.) Registered an assist in three of the last four games and tallied a team-high +3 rating in BC's 1-1-1 week.

Michael Matheson, BC (Fr., D, Pointe-Claire, Que.) Registered three points and lead all BC players with a +3 rating in team's 1-1-1 week.

Chris McCarthy, UVM (Jr., F, Collegeville, Pa.) Had two goals, including the game-winner, in a 3-1 win over Northeastern on Saturday night.

Wade Megan (Sr., F, Canton, N.Y.) Totaled four points (2g,2a) on the week including his third shorthanded goal of the season

Matt Nieto (Jr., F, Long Beach, Calif.) Scored the winner with 3.8 seconds in overtime on Saturday at Maine for his fourth point (2g, 2a) of the week

Danny O'Regan (Fr., F, Needham, Mass.) Recorded two power-play goals and assisted on the overtime winner in BU's 5-4 victory at Maine on Saturday

Vinny Scotti, MC (Fr., F, Vineland, N.J.) Picked up his first career two-goal game, tallying a power-play and shorthanded goal in a 2-2 with Providence.

Devin Shore, Maine (Fr., F, Ajax, Ont.) Scored a goal and added four assists in Maine's weekend series against Boston University.

Steven Swavely, Maine (Fr., F, Reading, Pa.) Scored three goals and added an assist to finish the weekend with four points.

Riley Wetmore, UML (Sr., F, Swanton, Vt.) Recorded four points (2g,2a), including the 100th point of his career in a sweep over Massachusetts.

Steven Whitney, BC (Sr., F, Reading, Mass.) Tallied five points (2g,3a) in BC's 1-1-1 week

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Derek Arnold, UML (Foxboro, Mass.) has 6-2-8 in his last seven games

Joey Diamond, MAINE (LONG BEACH, N.Y.) has 12 points (8g,4a) in his last eight games. He is one point shy of 100 career points

Grayson Downing, UNH (Abbottsford, B.C.) has 11 points (4G,7a) over the past six games

Christian Folin, UML (Gothenburg, Sweden) has 3-10-12 in his last 12 games

Jon Gillies, PC (SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE) set a PC record with his fourth shutout VS. UNH

Branden Gracel, UMASS (CALGARY, ALTA.) Has a five -game po int strea k with eight po ints (3g,5a)

Connor Hellebuyck, UML (Commerce, Mich.) HAS WON EIGHT STRAIGHT STARTS DATING BACK TO NOv. 24

Brody Hoffman, MC (Wilkie, Sask.) IS 3-0-0 IN HIS LAST THREE STARTS (0.67 GAA, .974 SAVE%)

SAM MAROTTA, MC (BRIDGEWATER, MASS.) IS 4-0-1 IS HIS LAST FIVE STARTS (1.16 GAA, .963 SAVE%)

Merrimack's penalty kill Has GONE 27-for-27 AT HOME IN 2013

Garrett Noonan, BU (Norfolk, Mass.) played in HIS 100th career game on Monday

Michael Pereira, UMASS (WEST HAVEN, CONN.) Has a five-game point strea k with nine points (5g,4a)

Conor Riley, MAINE (MASSENA, N.Y.) recorded his first assist on Saturday vs. BU

Ben Rosen, BU (Syosset, N.Y.) SKATED IN HIS 100th career game on Monday

Riley Wetmore, UML (Swanton, Vt.) registered HIS 100th CAREER point FRIDAY AT UMASS

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: Senior Steven Whitney scored twice and tallied five points in Boston College's 1-1-1 week and now has 34 points, including a career-high 19 goals, in 28 games. He is five points from matching his career high of 39 points during his 44-game junior campaign. Whitney, who leads the nation with 12 goals and 20 points in third period and overtime, has scored nine goals in the team's last nine games…Sophomore Quinn Smith has all eight of his points, including five goals, in the last eight games...BC's Beanpot win marked the Eagles' 18th Beanpot title and seventh under head coach Jerry York. Additionally, the championship victory marked the first time a Boston College class has won four titles in their four years. Patch Alber, Brooks Dyroff, Parker Milner, Pat Mullane, Patrick Wey, Steven Whitney and manager Tom Maguire concluded a perfect 8-0 in Beanpot play. Milner won the Eberly Award for having the best save percentage in the tournament (.907). Milner is now eighth all-time in career save percentage in the Beanpot (.930).

Boston University: The Terriers' 5-4 overtime win at Maine on Saturday marked the first time all season that they were victorious when allowing more than two goals...Senior Ryan Santana (Yorba Linda, Calif.) had the first two multi-point games of his career last week, earning two assists against Harvard and then assisting on both power-play goals in Saturday's triumph at Maine...In the Terriers' 12 games since the turn of the new year, nine of them have been decided by a single goal or resulted in a tie...BU is 7-2-1 in its last 10 Hockey East road games and 8-1-3 in its last 12 visits to Alfond Arena...Wade Megan is tied for first in the nation in shorthanded goals with three...BU's power play has converted on 10 of its last 44 chances (22.7%) to rebound from a 4- for-49 (8.2%) drought that spanned 10 games...Both of BU's freshman goaltenders - Matt O'Connor (Toronto, Ont.) and Sean Maguire (Powell River, B.C.) - have seven victories this season...The Terriers have not allowed a 5-on-5 goal in their last 146:43.

Maine: Maine dropped a heartbreaker to Boston University on Saturday night as the Terriers scored with 3.8 seconds left in overtime to win the game…The Black Bears have gone to overtime in four of their last five games…Maine forced overtime with a goal at 19:21 of the third period by Steven Swavely…The Black Bears had trailed 4-1 in the third period, before scoring three straight goals to tie the game…Maine entered the weekend a perfect 6-0-0 when scoring three or more goals in a game… Maine lost and tied this weekend, yet scored three and four goals respectively… Maine currently has six ties, one shy of tying the school record for ties in a season...Maine scored a season-high three power play goals on Friday night against BU…Three of Maine's top five scorers are freshmen and the rookies are have contributed 40.1% of Maine's total offense on the season.

Massachusetts: All three UMass goals were scored by the special teams units in Friday's setback to UMass Lowell, two power play goals and a shorthanded tally…The Minutemen are now tied for second in the nation with seven shorthanded goals on the year, matching the highest total for the program since 2003-04...UMass is tied for third in the nation with 1.30 goals per-game in non-5x5 situations…The Michael Pereria- Branden Gracel-Conor Sheary line had nine of UMass' 13 points on the weekend and four out of five goals, including all six points in Saturday's setback at UMass Lowell…In Saturday's loss to the River Hawks, the Minutemen saw their streak of 15 successful penalty kills come to an end…In the second half (games since Dec. 27), Branden Gracel is averaging 1.45 points per-game, good for fifth-most in the nation and second in Hockey East…Nine of junior Michael Pereira's 22 points on the year have come over the past five games.

UMass-Lowell: UMass Lowell earned a sweep over Massachusetts for the second straight year with a 6-3 win in Amherst and a 3-2 victory in Lowell over the weekend…Freshman Connor Hellebuyck returned after a month's absence to earn his seventh and eighth straight victories this season with UMass Lowell's 6-3 and 3-2 win over Massachusetts. Hellebuyck has maintained a .950 save rate and a 1.32 save percentage in his last 10 appearances…Junior F Derek Arnold has registered six goals and two assists in his last seven games…UMass Lowell's freshmen have accounted for 17 goals and 30 assists in UMass Lowell's last 15 games, led by freshman Ryan McGrath (5-11-16) and freshman Christian Folin (3-12-15).

Merrimack: For the first time this late in a season, Merrimack sits atop Hockey East with six games to play…The Warriors improved to 7-1-2 in their last ten games after defeating Boston College 2-1 in overtime at Lawler Arena before rallying to tie Providence 2-2 Sunday at Schneider Arena…Merrimack also clinched a Hockey East playoff berth for the fourth straight season. The class of 2013 is the first Merrimack lass to make the playoff in all four seasons since Hockey East expanded from eight teams…The tie over Providence resulted in a season-series tie with the Friars (1-1-1 overall). Merrimack is 4-1-1 in season series and leads series with UML and UMass. They have beaten every Hockey East team except BU…By virtue of Connor Toomey's overtime winner against Boston College, the Warriors handed the Eagles just their fifth loss after February 1 in their last four seasons. BC's senior class is just 1-4 at Lawler…Merrimack is 4-0-1 in February and has won five straight games at Lawler Arena…Sam Marotta, who made his ninth and tenth straight starts over the weekend, continues to lead Hockey East overall in GAA (2.01) and save percentage (.931).

New Hampshire: The Wildcats just finished a stretch where they played nine of 10 against Merrimack (1st place in Hockey East), Providence (4th place) and Boston College (2nd place)…New Hampshire will play the final six games of the regular season against the seventh (Vermont), eighth (Massachusetts) and ninth place (Maine) teams in Hockey East…UNH is in the middle of a stretch where they are playing just two games at home in February, the 'Cats will conclude this span with a pair of games at Vermont this weekend…In Wednesday night's 1-0 loss at Providence, UNH outshot the Friars 37-34…Trevor van Riemsdyk had a team-high five shots on net, while Kevin Goumas and Austin Block had four each…UNH skated to a 4-4 tie with fourth-ranked Boston College on Sunday afternoon…Top liners Grayson Downing and Dan Correale each registered a goal and an assist each…Eric Knodel and Matt Willows also scored for UNH. Willows scored his second career goal, both goals coming against Boston College…After dropping the season series with BC three-straight years, UNH played to a split with the Eagles this season going 1-1-1…Trevor van Riemsdyk assisted on UNH's first goal. The 'Cats are 10-0-3 when he has a point.

Northeastern: Northeastern has now scored a power play goal in its last three games. That marks the second time that has occurred this season. The first time the Huskies scored in three-straight games this season was from Nov. 2 to Nov. 10, 2012. Kevin Roy had his career-best six-game point streak (7g-3a-10) put to rest on Saturday night, but he still leads all freshmen in college hockey with 33 total points (17-16-33). Roy is now tied for 10th all-time in the Northeastern freshmen scoring annals, tying Jordon Shields (14-19-33 – 1992-93). Jake Hoefler skated in his fifth-career game and first contest for Northeastern since playing at Boston University on March 5, 2011. It was his first game played at Matthews Arena since the New Hampshire outing on Feb. 26, 2011.

Providence College: At home, the Friars posted a Wednesday night win over New Hampshire, 1-0, and followed up with a 2-2 tie versus Merrimack on Sunday afternoon to run their unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1)…With a 2-0-1 record versus the Wildcats this season, the Friars won the regular-season series for the first time since 1995- 96 (when they went 2-1-0)...It is PC's first three-game unbeaten streak against UNH since their final meeting in the 2002-03 season (Feb. 9) and their first two meetings in 2003-04 (Nov. 14 and Jan. 9)…Jon Gillies' fourth shutout of the season set a record for the Friars, as he becomes the first ever Friar goaltender (any class year) to register four shutouts in one season…The Friars are now 7-1-4 when leading after one period this season and 10-2-4 when scoring first…Derek Army set a career high with his 12th goal of the season vs. Merrimack and he became the fourth Friar to play in his 100th game this season.

Vermont: Vermont earned 2-1 and 3-1 wins at Northeastern at Matthews Arena this weekend for its first sweep of a Hockey East regular season road series since February of 2009 at Maine…The Catamounts swept the season series with the Huskies 3-0-0 as the three games were decided by a total of four goals…UVM has now won three straight games and four of its last five overall…Ben Albertson netted his first goal of the season on Friday for the eventual game-winner…Vermont out-shot the Huskies 23-14 on Friday and 25-18 on Saturday in the final 40 minutes…On Saturday, Kyle Mountain faced his older brother and NU goalie Bryan Mountain for the first time in Hockey East action… Vermont's penalty kill has killed off 30 of the last 34 power plays it has faced, a clip of 88.2%.