November 29, 2010

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #24 STEPHANE DA COSTA, MERRIMACK (Sophomore Forward; Paris, France) Da Costa picked up points on four of Merrimack's six goals over the weekend, leading the No. 18 ranked Warriors to a 5-3 victory over No. 7 Boston College with three points (1g,2a) on Friday at Lawler Arena. He also added an assist in the 2-1 road loss at No. 6 UNH on Saturday night. Da Costa finished the weekend with 12 shots on goal and a +3 plus/minus rating. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #27 ADAM PHILLIPS, UMASS (Freshman Defenseman; Farmington Hills, Mich.) Phillips led UMass with three goal in wins over Vermont and Quinnipiac. Phillips had one goal against Vermont and two goals in win over Quinnipiac. Had the game-winning goals in both contests, finished the week with a +3 rating and took just one penalty during the week. Phillips also registered a +3 rating during the week. PURE HOCKEY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #31 PAUL DAINTON, UMASS (Senior Goaltender; Iqaluit, Nunavut) Dainton made 69 saves on 72 shots in wins over Vermont and Quinnipiac for the Minutemen in two contests last week. Dainton had a career-high 44 saves in win over Vermont. He finished the week with a 1.50 GAA and a .958 save percentage. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK MASSACHUSETTS MINUTEMEN The Minutemen went 2-0 on the week, as they picked up victories against Vermont and Quinnipiac. UMass opened the weekend with a 4-1 win vs. the Catamounts on Tuesday night at the Mullins Center and followed that up with a 5-2 victory against ECAC foe Quinnipiac on Saturday in Amherst. UMass scored six of its nine goals in the week in the second period of play.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Stephane Da Costa of Merrimack

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Patch Alber, BC (So., D, Clifton, Park, N.Y.) Scored the team's third goal in a home win over Vermont and finished with a +2 rating on the weekend.

Cam Atkinson, BC (Jr., F, Greenwich, Conn.) Scored three goals in two games, including twice in a 5-3 loss at Merrimack.

Chris Barton, MC (Sr., F, Calgary, Alta.) Picked up three points, including two goals, scoring the game-winner against #7 Boston College.

Alex Beaudry, PC (Jr., G, Cumberland, Ont.) Stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 2-1 victory at Holy Cross.

Joe Cannata, MC (Jr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Stopped 49 of 54 shots over the weekend, including 24 saves in a 5-3 win over #7 BC.

Phil DeSimone, UNH (Sr., F, East Amherst, N.Y.) Handed out three assists on Tuesday vs. Brown.

Matt DiGirolamo, UNH (Jr., G, Ambler, Pa.) Stopped a career-high 41 shots, including 33 in the final two periods in the win vs. Merrimack Saturday.

Luke Eibler, NU (Fr., D, Pinckney, Mich.) Scored his first-career goal and fifth assist of the year at Vermont on Nov. 26

Ben Farrer, PC (Sr., F, Calgary, Alta.) Scored the game winner in a 2-1 victory at Holy Cross.

Brian Gibbons, BC (Sr., F, Braintree, Mass.) Registered a combined five points (1g,4a) in a 5- 3 loss at Merrimack and a 6-0 win over Vermont.

Kyle MacKinnon, PC (Sr., F, Walnut, Calif.) Had one goal and one assist in a 2-1 win at Holy Cross on Saturday.

Tyler McNeely, NU (Sr., F, Burnaby, B.C.) Netted his second game-tying goal of the season at Vermont and is second.

Garrett Noonan, BU (Fr., D, Norfolk, Mass.) Earned two assists in Saturday's draw vs. Brown at Agganis Arena.

Michael Pereira, UMass (Fr., F, West Haven, Conn.) Led UMass with four points (2g,2a) on the weekend in wins over Vermont and Quinnipiac.

Chris Rawlings, NU (So., G, North Delta, B.C.) Turned away 37 saves to anchor NU's defense in a 2-2 tie at Vermont Friday.

Mike Sislo, UNH (Sr., F, Superior, Wis.) Registered two goals and three assists over the week with a +4 rating on the weekend.

Paul Thompson, UNH (Sr., F, Derry, N.H.) Tallied a goal and two assists as UNH captured a win and a tie during the week (+4 rating).

David Warsofsky, BU (Jr., D, Marshfield, Mass.) Recorded two assists in the 4-4 tie with Brown on Saturday night.

Riley Wetmore, UML (So., F, Swanton, Vt.) Had three points (2g,1a) in a weekend series with Minnesota State, including a short-handed goal.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Chris Barton, MC (Calgary, Alta .) Has goals in three straight games and points in five straight

Alex Chiasson, BU (St. Augustin, Que.) Has scored at least one point in eight of the last nine games and has 12 points (5g,7a) during the stretch

Tim Corcoran, UML (MILTON, MASS.) Scored his first collegiate point, an assist vs. MSU Saturday

Joe Cucci, MC (Melrose Park, Ill.) Notched his 40th career assist Saturday at #6 UNH

Paul Dainton, UMass (Iqaluit, Nunavut ) Had a career-high 44 saves on Nov. 23 against Vermont, has made 112 saves in last three games (37.3/game)

Matt DiGirolamo, UNH (Ambler, Pa.) Stopped a career-high 41 shots on Saturday vs. Merrimack

Brooks Dyroff, BC (BOULDER, COLO.) Made his collegiate debut in BC's win vs. UVM on Nov. 28

Kyle MacKinnon, PC (Walnut, Calif.) Did not record his ninth goal until the 26th game last season, has nine goals in 14 games this season

MERRIMACK COLLEGE AT HOME Improved to 4-0-1 and 16-3-2 since the beginning of 2009

Michael Pereira, UMass (West Haven , Conn.) Has nine points (6g,3a) in the last seven straight games

Ben Rosen, BU (Syosset, N.Y.) Scored his first collegiate goal in Saturday's draw with Brown

Mike Sislo, UNH (Superior, Wis.) Has scored a point in six straight games

Paul Thompson, UNH (Derry , N.H.) Is in the midst of a six-game active scoring streak

UMass Freshmen Class Members of UMass' freshmen class combined for 7 goals and 10 assists in the Minutemen's two wins this week

UNH's top line of Phil DeSimone (East Amherst, N.Y.), Paul Thompson and Mike Sislo Have combined 35 points (10g, 25a) over the last six games

Patrick Wey, BC (PITTSBURGH, PA.) Tallied one point in each game, including his first collegiate goal in BC's 5-3 loss at Merrimack

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: Boston College went 3-for-10 in power-play chances over the weekend and has scored at least one power-play goal in six straight, combining for a 34.8 percent conversion rate during the stretch (8-for-23)…In penalty-killing situations, the team went 11-for-12 over the weekend to improve its season kill rate to 90.6 percent (77- for-85), which is good for second in the nation…Senior alternate captain Brian Gibbons has tallied multiple-point efforts in three of the last four games and has at least one point in 12-of-14 games this season…Junior forward Paul Carey (Weymouth, Mass.) has four goals and five points in the last four games…Sophomore center Pat Mullane (Wallingford, Conn.) won 15-of-22 faceoffs over the weekend (68.2 percent) and is 104-for- 179 (58.1 percent) this season…BC sophomore forward Brooks Dyroff (Boulder, Colo.) made his collegiate debut in the team's 6-0 win over Vermont on Nov. 28…BC went 1-2-0 in the three-game league series with Merrimack and 2-1-0 against Vermont…BC senior John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.) and junior Chris Venti (Needham, Mass.) combined to register a 6-0 shutout win over Vermont on Nov. 28, the team's fourth shutout of the 14-game season. Muse earned his 70th career victory.

Boston University: The Terriers have just one loss in their first 13 games after suffering seven losses in their first 10 contests last season…BU is 10-1-4 in its last 15 home contests…The Terriers are 4-0-2 in the six games this season in which they have allowed the first goal…Freshman Sahir Gill (Terrace, B.C.) is tied with Michigan's Louis Caporusso for first in the country in plus/minus at +13…BU is 6-0-12 in its last 18 overtime games and hasn't lost a game in extra time in over three years…Senior co-captain Joe Pereira (West Haven, Conn.) scored his fifth goal of the season on Saturday against Brown to match his total from his junior season…BU set season highs for shots in a period (17-1st) and in a game (42) in the tie against Brown…Junior goaltender Kieran Millan (Edmonton, Alta.) is 5-2-1 in his eight career starts against Boston College…The Terriers have had 21 players record at least one point this season…Kevin Shattenkirk, last year's captain, is on a six-game point streak with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and has tallied nine points (4g, 5a) during the stretch.

Maine: The University of Maine men's ice hockey team had last weekend off…The Black Bears were undefeated in six straight games before dropping a pair of games to Boston College before the break…Maine will play just four games before the Christmas break, all four being Hockey East Conference games…The Black Bears return to action on Dec. 3 and 4 when it travels to Providence College for a pair of games…Maine won two of the three games against the Friars last season…Neither Providence nor Maine has scored more than three goals in each of the last six meetings between the two teams…Maine is averaging 12.9 more shots than its opponents in games this season…In fact, Maine has outshot its opponent in every game this season.

Massachusetts: UMass won back-to-back games for the first time this season winning 4-1 over Vermont and 5-2 over Quinnipiac…After starting the season 0-6-2, UMass is unbeaten in its last three games (2-0-1)…UMass defensemen were pivotal offensively scoring five of the nine goals scored…UMass was 3-for-16 (18.0%) on the power play while going 9-for-10 (90.0%) on the penalty kill…UMass is now 2-2-2 this season when scoring on the power play…UMass freshmen have now scored 16 of 31 goals this season and 22 of 46 assists…Over the next two weeks, UMass has just two games, vs. UMass Lowell on Dec. 4 and at Maine on Dec. 12…The game at UMass Lowell will feature the two youngest teams in college hockey as each squad has 13 freshmen on its roster.

UMass-Lowell: The River Hawks suffered another difficult weekend, falling to Minnesota State twice…Despite the 8-3 loss on Friday, the River Hawks were 2-for-5 on the power play, receiving goals from both Edwards and Chad Ruhwedel (San Diego, Calif.)…The man advantage tally was senior Maury Edwards' (Rocky Rapids, Alta.) 20th career power play goal. Edwards now has 25 career goals overall, meaning 80% of his scores have come on the power play. Edwards is now three shy of tying the record for power play goals by a UML defenseman (23), held by Paul Lohnes (1978-82)…On Friday, Colin Wright (Burlington, Ont.) hit the cross bar on a penalty shot in the third period. Wright's attempt marked the first penalty shot taken by a River Hawk since Brad King on Jan. 14, 2005 versus Merrimack…In the 3-2 loss on Saturday, sophomore Riley Wetmore scored both UML goals, including a short-hander. Wetmore now leads the team with 12 points on six goals and six assists, ranking T-12th in Hockey East…The River Hawks now dive back into the Hockey East schedule, hosting New Hampshire on Thursday and traveling to Massachusetts on Saturday.

Merrimack: Ranked in the USCHO Poll for the first in program history, #18 Merrimack improved to 4-0-1 at home this season with a 5-3 victory over #7 Boston College Friday afternoon in front of the third sellout at Lawler Arena this year…The Warriors captured the season-series from the Eagles for the first time since 1996-97, notching their third straight victory over the defending National Champs at home…The Warriors have won each of their completed season-series so far, defeating BC 2-1 while leading Lowell 2-0…Merrimack is 16-3-2 at home since the beginning of 2009-10, tied for second nationally for the fewest losses over that span…The Warriors are 2-2-2 against teams ranked seventh or better this season, all from Hockey East…Senior captain Chris Barton (Calgary, Alta.) tallied a goal in each game this weekend, extending his goal-scoring streak to three. Barton has notched game-winning goals in consecutive games…Stephane Da Costa snapped a five-game scoreless streak with three points in Friday's 5-3 win over BC and also assisted on the lone goal in a 2-1 loss to #6 UNH…Merrimack completes its pre-holiday schedule this weekend visiting Harvard Tuesday for the first time ever, before battling Northeastern in a home-and-home series beginning Friday at Matthews Arena.

New Hampshire: UNH's top line of Phil DeSimone, Paul Thompson and Mike Sislo have combined for 10 goals, 25 assists and 35 points over the last six games. The group is averaging 1.67 gpg and 5.83 ppg…With a 2-1 win over Merrimack, UNH is 17-0-7 in the last 24 Hockey East contests at Whittemore Center. New Hampshire's last home league loss came on Jan. 24, 2009 against BU…Paul Thompson ranks first in Hockey East in scoring with 18 points, while his linemates Phil DeSimone (17 pts) and Mike Sislo (16 pts) rank second and fifth, respectively…Matt DiGirolamo stopped a career-high 41 shots including 33 shots in the final two periods against the Warriors. In eight league starts, DiGirolamo has a 1.73 GAA and a .941 save percentage with two goals or fewer allowed in six games…Mike Sislo recorded four points with a pair of goals and a pair of assists on Tuesday night against Brown. Sislo was also the last UNH player to record four points in a game, as he did so on Feb. 20, 2010 with a goal and three assists against Northeastern.

Northeastern: Northeastern stretched its unbeaten streak to three games after rallying back from a 2-0 deficit on the road at Vermont to gain a hard-fought point in the Hockey East standings. Rookie Luke Eibler had an offensive breakout from the blue line as the first-year defenseman netted his first-career goal and was also credited for the assist on Tyler McNeely's game-tying goal. It was the first time the Pinckney, Mich. native attained a multi-point game in his young career. Senior Wade MacLeod matched a career-best, scoring a point in his sixth-straight outing on Friday night. MacLeod last assembled a six-point streak on one other occasion, from Jan. 2 through Jan. 19, 2010. The Coquitlam. B.C. native has tallied nine points (3-6-9) within the six-game stretch. Sophomore Chris Rawlings continues to act as the Huskies' defensive linchpin, turning away 37 shots in another extraordinary effort manning the pipes. Friday's effort marks the 24th time Rawlings has made 30 saves or more. Tyler McNeely's game-tying goal just 26 seconds into the third period at Vermont help the captain clinch a career-high five-game point streak. Within that span, McNeely has accounted for eight points (3-5-8).

Providence College: Providence College is 3-1 in its last four road games…The Friars also improved to 3-2 in non-conference games this season…The Friars, who are unbeaten at home this season (3-0-2), will play three of their next four games at Schneider Arena, including two games against Maine on December 3-4…Providence has won three consecutive games against Holy Cross…Senior Ben Farrer (Calgary, Alberta), who recorded 10 points (1g,9a) in his first three seasons at Providence, has a career-high three goals and eight points this season…The PC first line of senior Kyle MacKinnon (Walnut, Calif.), Ian O'Connor (Londonderry, N.H.) and Farrer have accounted for 15 of the team's 35 goals this season. MacKinnon has eight points (4g,4a) in the last four games…The Friars have held opponents to two goals or less on seven different occasions…The Friars finished the month of November with a 4-1-2 (.714) record, the best winning percentage in November since the 1997-98 squad had a 7-2-1 record (.750).

Vermont: Vermont went 0-2-1 on the week despite out shooting its opponent 108-76. The Catamounts earned one point in a 2-2 tie against Northeastern at Gutterson Fieldhouse Friday. Vermont is not in action again until it travels to No. 6 New Hampshire Sunday, Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. at the Whittemore Center…The Wildcats are one of two Hockey East teams Vermont (1-6-4, 1-5,3 HEA) has not yet played this season…The Catamounts went 2-2-1 last season against UNH, including a pair of 1-0 victories in the Hockey East Quarterfinal…Jack Downing is now tied for second in the nation in short handed goals per game (11 GP, 2 SH) after a third period tally at Massachusetts Nov. 23…Wahsontiio Stacey is ranked third in Hockey East in power play goals (11 GP, 3 PP).

COMMISSIONER'S CORNER

It was great to see the number of afternoon games scheduled over the holiday weekend, games that made it easier for families to attend with young children. I made an effort to attend the Boston College at Merrimack game on Friday afternoon but arrived late due to a previous commitment. When I made it through a crowded lobby, thinking it must have been between periods, I walked into the arena only to discover there were 15 minutes left in the second period and the building was jam packed. I stood three deep behind the near goal and watched a banged-out Lawler Arena come alive with each big Warrior play. And there were many of them in a 5-3 win over the defending NCAA champions.

Hats off to Merrimack AD Glenn Hofmann and head coach Mark Dennehy, the latter a recipient of a contract extension through 2016. The arena is well into an attractive renovation (to be completed after the holiday) and the energy in the building is as high as I have ever felt it. MC came very close to a weekend sweep of BC and UNH and with Friday's win, the Warriors won the season series from the Eagles, 2-1. With two ties against BU, Merrimack has a chance to win the season series against the Terriers as well. The rubber match is at Agganis Arena on January 16. This is great news in North Andover and in Hockey East in general.