December 12, 2011

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #31 KIERAN MILLAN, BOSTON UNIVERSITY (Senior Goaltender; Edmonton, Alta.) Millan stopped 58 of the 60 shots he faced (.967) in leading the Terriers to road wins over Maine and New Hampshire. He recorded 28 saves in the 2-1 win vs. UNH on Thursday at the Whittemore Center and followed that up with a 30-save effort on Saturday vs. Maine at Alfond Arena. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #33 KEVIN BOYLE, MASSACHUSETTS (Freshman Goaltender; Manalapan, N.J.) Boyle stopped 26-of-27 shots including 11-of-11 in the third period to backstop UMass to a 3-1 win over No. 17 Yale on Wednesday. Boyle also helped the penalty kill unit go 5-for-6 in the game for the Minutemen. HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #37 CHRIS RAWLINGS, NORTHEASTERN (Junior Goaltender; North Delta, B.C.) Rawlings stopped 38 shots on Saturday night in a 3-2 Huskies' win vs. UMass-Lowell at Matthews Arena for his sixth-straight victory. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS The Terriers scored seven goals on the weekend in two road victories at New Hampshire and at Maine. BU went 10-for-11 (91%) on the penalty kill this weekend, including a perfect 5-for-5 in the 2-1 win vs. UNH on Thursday in Durham.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Kieran Millan 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. Here are the 2011-2012 season leaders to date: Rk. Name Cl. Pos. School 1. Kieran Millan Sr. G BU 2. Chris Rawlings Jr. G NU   Spencer Abbott Sr. F ME   Bill Arnold So. F BC   Chris Kreider Jr. F BC 6. Matt Ferreira Sr. F UML

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Barry Almeida, BC (Sr., F, Springfield, Mass.) Scored twice in the team's 4-1 home win over Providence and once in a 3-2 loss at UMass-Lowell.

Mark Anthoine, Maine (Lewiston, Maine, So., F.) scored Maine's lone goal against Boston University.

Derek Army, PC (So., F, North Kingstown, R.I.) Scored once against No. 3 Boston College on Tuesday night.

Brian Billett, BC (Fr., G, Brunswick, Maine) Stopped 41-of-44 shots faced in the team's 4-1 home win over Providence and its 3-2 loss at UML.

Stephen Buco, UML (Fr., F, North Providence, R.I.) Tallied two assists last weekend. He assisted on Friday night's game-winner against No. 3 BC.

Joe Cannata, MC (Sr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Stopped 66 of 69 shots this week, for a 1.44 GAA and a .957 save percentage.

Doug Carr, UML (So., G, Hanover, Mass.) Stopped 52-of-56 shots (.929) and recorded a 2.02 GAA in a win over No. 3 BC and loss at NU.

Adam Clendening, BU (So., D, Wheatfield, N.Y.) Recorded a career-high three assists in 5-1 victory at Maine on Saturday.

Chris Connolly, BU (Sr., F, Duluth, Minn.) Totaled three assists in the Terriers' wins at UNH and Maine.

Peter DeAngelo, UMass (So., F, Milford, Mass.) Scored his second goal of the season in the win over No. 17 Yale.

Casey DeSmith, UNH (Fr., G, Rochester, N.H.) Stopped 32 of 34 shots in his first collegiate start on Thursday night against Boston University.

Brendan Ellis, MC (So., D, Kelowna, B.C.) Had points on five of Merrimack's six goals this week, getting a career-high four assists against Vermont.

Sahir Gill, BU (So., F, Terrace, B.C.) Scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 5-1 victory at Maine on Saturday.

Branden Gracel, UMass (So., F, Calgary, Alberta.) Scored the game-winning goal against No. 17 Yale with an unassisted coast-to-coast rush.

Justin Mansfield, MC (Fr., F, Arlington, Mass.) Picked up his first career multi-goal game, scoring two goals, including the game-winner vs. Vermont.

Alexx Privitera, BU (Fr., D, Old Tappan, N.J.) Scored his first collegiate goal in Saturday's win at Maine and earned an assist in Thursday's victory at UNH.

Adam Reid, NU (Fr., F, Chino Hills, Calif.) Scored a goal against UMass Lowell in the 3-2 win on Dec. 10.

Kyle Reynolds, UVM (Fr., F, Sylvan Lake, Alta.) Tallied a power play goal against Merrimack on Wednesday night.

Sebastian Stalberg, UVM (Jr., F, Gothenburg, Sweden) Had a goal and an assist in Wednesday night's game against Merrimack.

Corey Trivino, BU (Sr., F, Toronto, Ont.) Tallied three goals on the week to lead BU to wins at New Hampshire and Maine

David Vallorani, UML (Sr., F, Hamilton, Ont.) Scored three points (1g,2a), including the game's first goal in the 3-2 win over #3 BC on Friday.

Jeff Velleca, MC (Sr., F, Waterbury, Conn.) Notched his first career multi-goal game, tallying two goals and two assists in the win vs. Vermont.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

DEREK ARMY, PC (NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.) Is on a five-game point streak

Brett Bruneteau (Omaha, Neb.) Has six points in his last five games

Greg Burke, UNH (Lee, N.H.) Has goals in three of the last four games

Chris Connolly , BU (Duluth, Minn.) Became the 78th Terriers to reach 100 career points with an assist on Thursday's game-winner at UNH

Anders Franzon, UVM (Plattsburgh , N.Y.) Has tallied four assists in his last four games

Rob Madore (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Trails Joe Fallon '08 by just two saves for second place on the all-time saves list at UVM.

Kieran Millan, BU (Edmonton, Alta .) Broke BU's career saves record on Saturday at Maine (3,057)

Alexx Privitera, BU (Old Tappan , N.J.) Tallied his first collegiate goal in Saturday's win at Maine

T.J. Syner, UMass (Springfield, Mass.) Has at least one point in 14 of 16 games this season after scoring a goal in the win over No. 17 Yale

Sebastian Stalberg , UVM (Gothenburg , Sweden ) Has three multi-point games in his last four contests (3g,3a)

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: BC concluded its second league season series – BC went 2-1-0 against UMass-Lowell this season and went 1-2-0 against Boston University…BC has played exactly half of its regular-season schedule. It is 12-6-0 through 18 of its 36 games this season. It was 11-5-0 at Christmas break during last winter's 30-win season…Freshman goaltender Brian Billett, who made his collegiate debut in a 3-2 win at Yale on Nov. 26, started four of the team's last five games. The Brunswick, Mass., native is 3-1-0 with a 1.76 GAA and a .941 save percentage…Senior forward Barry Almeida has scored five goals in the last five games and has 10 goals this season, eclipsing his sophomore and junior campaign goal output for a career high through 18 games. Almeida, Chris Kreider (12 goals) and Bill Arnold (11 goals) are BC's double digit goal scorers…Sophomore Bill Arnold has one goal in four straight games and has 11 goals in 18 games this season, surpassing his 10-goal output during his freshman season…BC has won the last nine meetings against Providence and is unbeaten in the last 13 (11-0-2).

Boston University: The Terriers have won seven of their last eight games and enter the semester break with 10 wins for the first time since the 2008-09 NCAA championship season…BU is a combined 6-1-0 against Boston College, New Hampshire and Maine this season and a perfect 4-0-0 in road games versus those teams…The Terriers are now 7-1-2 in their last 10 visits to Maine's Alfond Arena and 16-3-4 overall against the Black Bears since the beginning of the 2005-06 season…Senior Corey Trivino has 10 goals in his last 10 games and has a league-best 12 goals in Hockey East play…BU continues to lead the nation in shorthanded goals this season with seven…Senior goaltender Kieran Millan broke the school record of 3,055 career saves held by Sean Fields '04 and now has 3,057 in his stellar career…Millan has eight career wins against Maine, the most of any goaltender in BU history…BU takes a three-week break from its schedule before returning to action on New Year's Eve at Notre Dame in a game that will be the first-ever college hockey broadcast on VERSUS.

Maine: Maine saw its three-game winning streak and four game unbeaten streak snapped when it fell to Boston University 5-1 on Saturday night… It was just Maine's fourth game of the season that was decided by more than two goals...The Black Bears are 2-2 in those games…Mark Anthoine scored Maine's lone goal of the game…It was the fourth goal of the season for Anthoine and all four have come on the power play…He is tied with Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) for the team lead in power play goals. Diamond saw his career-high seven game scoring streak snapped on Saturday night when he failed to tally a point…Nick Pryor (Woodbury. Minn.) has scored five points in his last four games…The Black Bears have scored a power play goal in seven straight games… Maine now has an 18 day break before returning to action at the 2011 Florida College Classic.

Massachusetts: UMass is unbeaten in the Mullins Center for the first half of the season at 5-0-3 – just the third time in the program's Modern Era (1993-94, 2007-08) that UMass did not lose a home game to start the season…The win over #17 Yale put UMass at 2-2-1 against ranked teams this year (including a win over then-No. 1 Boston College)…UMass will return to action on Dec. 29-30 when it heads to the Florida Everblades Classic to face Cornell and Clarkson/Maine …When allowing 4 or more goals this year, UMass is 0-6-1, however, when cutting that to 3-or-fewer, UMass is 5-1-3)…Holding a lead or being tied after 2 periods has also been a good omen for UMass this year as the Minutemen are 5-1-3 (0- 6-1 when trailing)…For the second straight game following the Yale win, UMass posted 30+ shots in a game improving to 4-2-4 when hitting that mark…Of UMass 16 games this season, only three have been decided by more than two goals (4 ties, 2 by one goal, 7 by 2 goals).

UMass-Lowell: The #18 River Hawks picked up a split weekend, knocking off third-ranked Boston College on Friday, 3-2, and falling at Northeastern on Saturday, 3-2. The win against the Eagles was UMass Lowell's first over a team ranked in the top-3 nationally since Feb. 19, 2005 (#1 Boston College, 4-1). The River Hawks played in front of a crowd of 5,988 on Friday, improving their season average attendance to 5,087—13th highest in the NCAA. For the weekend, senior David Vallorani scored three points (1g, 2a), including a highlight reel tally on Friday night to help defeat Boston College. With 98 career points, Vallorani is on the doorstep of becoming the 40th player in program history to join the 100 point club and just the 20th since UMass Lowell moved to Division I. Derek Arnold's power play goal on Saturday moved him into a tie for eighth in the nation in power play goals (5). Goaltender Doug Carr has stayed hot, ranking fifth in the NCAA in save percentage (.934) and sixth in goals against average (1.82).

Merrimack: First in the country in winning percentage, Merrimack posted a three-point week, defeating Vermont 5-2 before tying #12/11 Colgate 1-1 on Saturday…The Warriors, who have played the fewest games in Hockey East, enter the holiday break in third in the league…Joe Cannata, who stopped 66 of 69 shots this week, leads Hockey East goaltenders in save percentage and goals-against. Cannata ranks third and fourth nationally in those categories…The line of Jeff Velleca, Carter Madsen, and Justin Mansfield led the way in the win over Vermont combining for eight points and a +10 rating…It marked the first time in school history that Merrimack swept the season series from the Catamounts…Merrimack's defense, which has allowed more than two goals just once this season, ranks tied for first in the country…The tie over Colgate improved Merrimack's non-conference record to 10-0-1 in its last 11 games. Merrimack is 12-0 in its last 12 home non-conference games.

New Hampshire: UNH closed out play in the first half of the season with a 2-1 loss to Boston University... The Wildcats took an early 1-0 lead, but a pair of second period goals were the difference. In his first collegiate start, Casey DeSmith stopped 32 of 34 Terrier shots. DeSmith made double-digit saves in both the first (11) and second (14) periods, and he stopped all seven shots in the final frame. Greg Burke scored UNH's lone goal, he has goals in three of the last four games... The streaky Wildcats ended the first half by dropping five of its last six. UNH opened the season with four-straight loses before a seven-game unbeaten streak, which preceded the latest 1-5 stretch... New Hampshire enters the break 6-9-2 overall and are eight in the Hockey East standings... UNH will have 22 days off for exams and the holidays and will return to action on Dec. 30 (7 p.m.) when it hosts non-conference foe Brown.

Northeastern: After the Dec. 10 victory against UMass Lowell, the Northeastern hockey team owns the country's longest winning streak in the country, claiming its last six contests by a combined score of 27-9. The last time Northeastern won six-consecutive games was under Bruce Crowder during the 1997-98 season when the Huskies rattled off six in a row from Dec. 6, 1997 to Jan. 3, 1998. During the six-game spell, the Huskies have knocked off four ranked opponents during their current winning streak. Northeastern is broaching history as the Huskies have strung together their fourth sixth-game winning streak in program history. The Huskies have only put together one seven-game winning spell. Northeastern's longest winning streak in program history is 12 games. NU started the 1980-81 season winning its first 12 contests from Nov. 25, 1980 to Jan. 20, 1981. Northeastern has won five-consecutive games against UMass Lowell. The streak stands as the longest against any other foe from Hockey East. Steve Quailer has scored 12 points in his last seven outings, accounting for five goals and seven assists. The top line of Steve Quailer, Braden Pimm and Cody Ferriero has been on fire in the last eight games. The trio has registered 14 goals and 13 assists (27 points) with a combined plus/minus of +26.

Providence College: Providence's No. 20 ranking in the USCHO. com poll last week marked the first time since 2008 that the Friars have been ranked … The Friars completed a stretch where they played three teams in the top-three in five days…Tuesday's loss to No. 3 Boston College was the Friars' first setback against a top-10 opponent...The Friars are now 3-1 against teams in the top 10 this season…Senior Alex Beaudry moved into sixth all-time at Providence College with 95 career games played as a goaltender…Junior Myles Harvey, who had three points in his first two seasons (49 games) at PC, already has 11 points (5g,6a) through 16 games this season…The Friars have six players with 10 points or more and 21 players with at least one point…Providence will not play again until January 1, 2012 in the 26th Annual Mayor's Cup against Brown University.

Vermont: Connor Brickley has scored a goal in four of his last five games and leads the team with eight tallies on the year...Five of Sebastian Stalberg's goals this season have come against top-10 opponents... The Catamounts have taken only 24 penalties in their last seven outings and are the least penalized team in Hockey East at just 12.0 penalty minutes per game...Vermont has scored four of the 11 power play goals that Merrimack has allowed this season...The Catamounts play their next four games at home, including an exhibition game against the Russian Red Stars on December 27. They host the annual Catamount Cup on Dec. 29 and 30 to face Lake Superior State and Ferris State... Two of Vermont's final three opponents of 2011 are currently ranked among the top-20 teams in the country...UVM has outshot seven of its last eight opponents overall.