HOCKEY EAST HEADLINES

No. 1 Boston College swept No. 8 Boston University, 6-2 and 2-0, in the 296th and 297th meeting of the historic rivals. Ryan Leonard scored four goals, including a hat trick on Friday night, while Jacob Fowler made 61 saves and extended his streak of not allowing a five-on-five goal to six games as he became the first goalie to be named player of the week since 2023.

UConn claimed its first-ever CT Ice crown, using two goals from Ryan Tattle to down No. 15 Quinnipiac in the semifinals before Filip Sitar’s first career goal lifted the Huskies to a 1-0 win over Sacred Heart. Tattle netted the game-winning goal with just .5 seconds on the clock on Friday and UConn now sits fourth in the PairWise.

No. 12 UMass Lowell took five of six points from No. 7 Providence, powered by a game-winning goal with 10 seconds remaining from Pierson Brandon on Saturday and a 27-save shutout from Beni Halasz.

New Hampshire grabbed four of six points from Vermont as Robert Cronin posted two goals and one assist for three points for the Wildcats. Vermont’s Simon Jellus scored an all-world goal in overtime on Friday to secure two points for the ‘Cats and the Top 5 play on SportsCenter.

Hockey East currently has seven teams in the top 15 of the PairWise rankings, including two No. 1 seeds in Boston College (1) and UConn (4).

HOCKEY EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Jacob Fowler - Boston College

Jacob Fowler (So., G; Melbourne, Fla.) combined to make 61 saves across two wins against No. 8 Boston University this weekend, including a 30-save shutout on Saturday, his sixth of the season. Fowler conceded just two goals on the weekend and has not allowed a five-on-five goal in his last six starts.

PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Teddy Stiga - Boston College

Teddy Stiga (Fr., F; Sudbury, Mass.) found the back of the net in each of the two wins over No. 8 Boston University last weekend, including scoring the game-winning, power-play goal in a 2-0 win on Saturday at home. He now has a point in seven straight games (5g, 4a) and a goal in five of his last six outings.

HOCKEY EAST DEFENDER OF THE WEEK

Pierson Brandon - UMass Lowell

Pierson Brandon (Gr., D; Irvington, N.Y.) scored a goal in each game of the team’s 1-0-1 weekend against No.7 Providence. His goal on Friday night was the team’s first and ignited a two-goal comeback to force overtime, eventually winning the shootout. On Saturday, he scored the game-winning goal with 10.1 seconds remaining to lift the River Hawks over the Friars, 1-0. He also collected four blocked shots and a plus-two rating this weekend

STOP IT CO-GOALTENDERS OF THE WEEK

Beni Halasz - UMass Lowell
Tyler Muszelik - UConn

Beni Halasz (Jr., G; Budapest, Hungary) started both games of a 1-0-1 weekend against No. 7 Providence. He made 27 stops on 30 shots and added three denials in the shootout to give UML the extra league point before stopping all 24 shots he faced in a 1-0 road win at Providence the next day. He posted a 1.14 goals against average and a .944 save percentage.

Tyler Muszelik (Jr., G; Long Valley, N.J.) made 58 total saves while allowing just one goal across two games to win UConn’s first CT Ice championship.

HOCKEY EAST TOP PERFORMERS

Ryan Leonard, BC (So., F; Amherst, Mass.) Posted four goals and one assist in a weekend sweep over rival No. 8 Boston University. Leonard scored a hat trick and the game-winning goal in Friday’s road win before finishing with one goal and the game-winning assist on Saturday against the Terriers. His 19 goals on the year is now second in the NCAA.

Eamon Powell, BC (Gr., D; Marcellus, N.Y.) Recorded an assist in both games against Boston University, finishing with a plus-three rating on the weekend along with five blocked shots.

Mikhail Yegorov, BU (Fr., G; St. Petersburg, Russia) Stopped 23 of 24 shots in his NCAA debut at No. 1 Boston College, allowing just one power-play goal in a 2-0 defeat. He made several timely stops to keep the Terriers in the game.

Ryan Tattle, UConn (Jr., F; Port Moody, B.C.) Netted both UConn goals, including the game-winning goal with .5 seconds remaining in regulation, to lift UConn over No. 15 Quinnipiac, 2-1, in the CT Ice semifinals.

Filip Sitar, UConn (Fr., F; Ljunljana, Slovenia) Scored his first career goal, the lone goal of UConn’s 1-0 win over Sacred Heart to deliver the Huskies’ their first-ever CT Ice crown.

Dans Locmelis, UMass (So., F; Jelgava, Latvia) Helped UMass to a weekend sweep over Alaska, which extended the team’s winning streak to three straight, by putting up four points (2g, 2a) with a pair of multi-point games. He won 56.7% of his faceoffs, going 17-for-30. He kicked off a third-period rally on Friday, scoring the first of three third-period goals to help UMass come from behind to beat the Nanooks, 4-2, and also registered an assist in the contest. He had a goal and an assist again in Saturday’s 7-3 victory with his goal coming on the power play.

Lee Parks, UML (Fr., F; Ottawa, Ont.) Scored a game-tying goal in the second period Friday’s 3-3 tie with No. 7 Providence. In game two, he tallied four shots on goal to finish the weekend with six and a plus-one rating.

Seamus Powell, MC (So., D; Marcellus, N.Y.) Had an assist on Merrimack’s lone goal against Brown on Tuesday and scored and assisted on the game-winning goal against Northeastern on Saturday night. Seamus is currently on a five-game point streak and has 10 points in his last nine.

Caden Cranston, MC (Fr., F; Rochester, N.Y.) Had an assist on Merrimack’s lone goal against Brown on Tuesday and picked up an assist and scored the game-winning goal against Northeastern on Saturday for a three point week.

Max Lundgren, MC (So., G; Angelholm, Sweden) Made a career-high 43 saves in a 4-3 win against Northeastern on Saturday.

Robert Cronin, UNH (Sr., F; Plymouth, Mass.) Posted two goals and one assist for three points as the Wildcats took four out of six points against Vermont. He had one assist in a 3-2 overtime loss on Friday, while he tallied two goals on Saturday in the 5-2 win. It was his second two-goal game of the season. Cronin has a career-best 10 goals and 20 points this season.

Alex Gagne, UNH (Sr., D; Bedford, N.H.) Recorded three assists on the week as UNH took four of six points against Vermont. He had one assist in the 3-2 overtime loss on Friday and posted two assists on Saturday in the 5-2 win. He also tied for the team-lead with five blocks and was a plus-one.