January 2, 2012

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK #13 SPENCER ABBOTT, MAINE (Senior Forward; Hamilton, Ont.) Abbott scored a goal and added five assists for six points in the Florida College Classic. He was named the Shawn Walsh Memorial Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. Abbott notched a goal and two assists on Thursday and three assists on Friday. He finished the tournament with 12 shots on goal and a +3 rating. ATHLETIC REPUBLIC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK #10 DAVID VALLORANI, UMASS LOWELL (Senior Forward; Hamilton, Ont.) Vallorani scored five points (3g,2a) to go along with nine shots on goal and +4 plus/minus rating, while claiming the UConn Holiday Classic Tournament MVP award. Vallorani scored the game-winning goal both nights. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #6 COLIN MARKISON, VERMONT (Freshman Forward; Princeton, N.J.) Markison had two goals and an assist in the Catamount Cup. The goals were the first two of his Vermont career. HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #37 CHRIS RAWLINGS, NORTHEASTERN (Junior Goaltender; North Delta, B.C.) Rawlings stopped a combined 54 shots (.915 save%) to backstop the Huskies to the Mariucci Classic Tournament Title, including 31 saves on Saturday in the victory at No. 2 Minnesota. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES The Huskies went 1-0-1 on the week en route to the Mariucci Classic title, which included a 3-3 tie vs. Princeton on Friday night and a 3-2 victory on Saturday night vs. No. 2 ranked Minnesota.

Athletic Republic Co-Players of the Week Spencer Abbott and David Vallorani 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

Shawn Bates, MC (So., F, Ft. Saskatchewan, Alta.) Posted five points on the week, including career highs four points (2g,2a) against St. Lawrence.

Nick Bruneteau, UVM (So., D, Omaha, Neb.) Had three assists in two games of the Catamount Cup.

Joe Cannata, MC (Sr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Recorded his seventh career shutout with 18 saves against Holy Cross.

Doug Carr, UML (So., G, Hanover, Mass.) Stopped 49-of-54 shots (.907) and recorded a 2.26 GAA in wins over RPI and UConn.

Tommy Cross, BC (Sr., D, Simsbury, Conn.) Recorded two points (1g,1a) in the team's third-place finish at the GLI.

Joey Diamond, Maine (Jr., F, Long Beach, N.Y.) Scored two goals and added an assist in the Florida College Classic.

Brian Dumoulin, BC (Jr., D, Biddeford, Maine) Netted the decisive score in the team's 3-2 win over Michigan Tech in the consolation game of the GLI.

Brendan Ellis, MC (So., D, Kelowna, B.C.) Tallied three assists against St. Lawrence and was a team-best +5 at the Ledyard National Bank Classic.

Brian Flynn, Maine (Sr., F, Lynnfield, Mass.) Scored three goals and added two assists to lead Maine to the FCC Championship.

Branden Gracel, UMass (So., F, Calgary, Alta.) Tallied three assists on the weekend with two in the win over Cornell and one in the loss to Maine.

Steven Guzzo, UMass (Fr., F, Oakville, Ont.) Scored the game-winning goal in the win over No. 13 Cornell and added an assist in the loss to Maine.

Ross Mauermann, PC (Fr., F, Janesville, Wis.) Scored a short-handed goal against Brown on Sunday.

Braden Pimm, NU (So., F, Fort St. John, B.C.) Scored two goals vs. Princeton, assisted vs. Minnesota and was named the Mariucci Classic Tournament MVP.

Steve Quailer, NU (Jr., F, Arvada, Colo.) Had an assist against Princeton and a goal against Minnesota.

Kyle Reynolds, UVM (Fr., F, Sylvan Lake, Alta.) Scored his second game-winning goal of the season on Friday.

Vinny Saponari, NU (Jr., F, Powder Spring, Ga.) Registered goals in consecutive games for the first time at Northeastern.

Conor Sheary, UMass (So., F, Melrose, Mass.) Netted a pair of goals and a pair of assists as UMass had a split weekend at the FCC.

Sebastian Stalberg, UVM (Jr., F, Gothenburg, Sweden) Collected four assists in the Catamount Cup, including two in each game.

Dan Sullivan, Maine (So., G, York, Pa.) Posted two wins in the Florida College Classic (1.51 GAA and a .921 save%).

Jesse Todd, MC (Sr., F, Calgary, Alta.) Tallied a goal and two assists against St. Lawrence.

Scott Wilson, UML (Fr., F, Oakville, Ont.) Tallied three points (2g,1a) and a +2 rating. Named a member of the UConn All-Tournament Team.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Nick Bruneteau, UVM (OMAHA, NEB.) Has five points in his last four games

Brian Flynn , MAINE (LYNNFIELD, MASS.) Tallied his 60th career goal on Friday night against UMass

Ryan Hegarty, MAINE (Arlington, Mass.) Played in his 100th career game on Friday against UMass

Drew MacKenzie, UVM (New Canaan, Conn.) Picked up 50th career point with a goal last Friday

Michael Marcou, UMass (Kings Park, N.Y.) Will play in his 100th career game on Thursday at Providence

Colin Markison, UVM (PRINCETON, N.J.) Scored his first career goal on Thursday vs. Lake Superior

Scott Pavelski , UNH (PLOVER, WIS.) Handed out his first collegiate assist on Friday vs. Brown

STEVE QUAILER, NU (ARVADA, COLO.) Is riding a nine-game point streak with 14 points (6g,8a) in that time

Conor Sheary , UMass (Melrose, Mass.) Now ranks 5th in Hockey East in points and 6th in assists, after his four-point weekend

Vinny Saponari, NU (Powder Springs, Ga.) Played in his 100th career game vs. Minnesota on Saturday

Kyle Singleton (Beaverton , ORE.) Netted his first collegiate goal against St. Lawrence

Sebastian Stalberg, UVM (Gothenburg, Sweden) Has five multi-point games in his last seven contests (3g,8a)

T.J. Syner, UMass (Springfield, Mass.) Has at least one point in 16 of 18 games this season. He enters the week with a six-game active point streak

David Vallorani, UML (Hamilton , Ont.) Scored his 100th career point on Thursday against RPI. Has scored 11 points (6g,5a) during his season-high six game scoring streak

Head Coach Tim Whitehead, Maine Won his 300th career game on Friday night against UMass

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: BC made its fourth appearance in the Great Lakes Invitational over the weekend and its first since winning the GLI title in 2003. The team finished third, matching results from previous appearances in 1973 and 2000, and is now 5-3 in eight GLI games. BC is now 4-2 overall in Joe Louis Arena and 6-2 in eight games in Detroit (the 2010 Eagles won two game at Ford Field in April to capture the NCAA Championship). BC's trip to Hockeytown for the 2011 GLI marked its first since capturing the national title…Junior defenseman Patrick Wey returned to the Eagles lineup after missing 12 games because injury; he attempted five shots in two games…The Eagles were without the services of sophomore center Bill Arnold who was competing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships…BC is 4-3-0 in seven games against non-league opponents this season.

Boston University: The Terriers made their first-ever visit to Notre Dame and the contest was the first college hockey broadcast on VERSUS and the last live event of any kind on the network, which becomes the NBC Sports Network today...Junior Wade Megan scored the Terriers' nation-leading eighth shorthanded goal of the season...BU is now 3-2-1 all time against the Fighting Irish with all three wins coming in the championship game of in-season tournaments...The Terriers have posted a winning record in all three months thus far (Oct.-Dec.) and closed out 2011 with seven wins in their final nine games of the year...BU has had 20 different players record a point this season and 15 have tallied a goal... The Terriers continue to lead the nation in penalty minutes per game at 21.0...During the holiday break, the Terriers added forward/defenseman Jake Moscatel (Lexington, Mass.) to their roster.

Maine: Maine, which has now won five of its last six games, won its fifth Florida College Classic Title with a 5-2 win over UMass on Friday in Estero, Fla… Maine also won the Florida College Classic Title in 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2009…Maine finished the weekend 5-for-14 on the power play, while holding its opponents scoreless in 12 chances…The Black Bears have tallied a power play goal in nine straight games…Maine tied its season-high with six goals in the win over Clarkson on Thursday night… The five-goal margin of victory was the largest for the Black Bears this season…Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) has scored three goals in four Florida College Classic games in his career. Anthoine has six goals on the season with five on the power play and one shorthanded…With five points on the weekend, Flynn is now tied for 25th place on Maine's all-time scoring list with 134 career points.

Massachusetts: The win over #13 Cornell put UMass at 3-2-1 against ranked teams this year (including a win over then-No. 1 BC)…UMass and Providence will meet on Thursday for the first time since Oct. 15 at Schneider Arena, a 6-4 win for the Friars…Frozen Fenway 2012 will see UMass take on Vermont in the second league meeting between the two teams this season as well on Saturday; UVM won the first meeting 2-1 in Burlington…When allowing 4 or more goals this year, UMass is 0-7-1, however, when cutting that to three-or-fewer, UMass is 6-1-3…Holding a lead or being tied after 2 periods has also been a good omen for UMass this year as the Minutemen are 6-1-3 (0-7-1 when trailing)…In the Cornell win, UMass posted 30+ shots for the third straight game improving to 5-2-4 when hitting that mark…Against Maine, UMass was 0-for-5 on the power play dropping to 0-4-2 when failing to score with the extra-man advantage…Following the Vermont game, UMass will have a three-game homestand where the Minutemen were 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.

UMass-Lowell: The River Hawks defeated RPI (7-2) and UConn (4-3 OT) to win the UConn Holiday Classic. UMass Lowell is the first Hockey East team to win the 19th annual mid-season tournament and only the second to reach the Championship game (Massachusetts – 2009). The weekend marked the first time UMass Lowell has won an in-season tournament since 2007-08 when the club captured the Florida College Classic. In Thursday's victory over the Engineers, senior David Vallorani scored the game-winning shorthanded goal to record his 100th career point. Vallorani is the 40th player in UMass Lowell history to join the century club and the 20th since the program was elevated to Division I...The River Hawks knocked off Connecticut in overtime on Friday, avenging an overtime loss to the Huskies on Oct. 18—the team's only two overtime games this season. Doug Carr was the first Hockey East goalie to reach double-digit wins this year and ranks first in the league with an 11-2-0 record (.846). UMass Lowell now owns the nation's fourth ranked offense, averaging 3.65 goals per game.

Merrimack: Merrimack went 1-0-1 at the Ledyard National Bank Classic, tying St. Lawrence 6-6 before losing in a nine-round shootout and defeating Holy Cross 3-0 to take third place…The 6-6 tie was Merrimack's first 6-6 game since February 13, 2000 against Lowell… Shawn Bates, who was named to the all-tournament team, finished the weekend with five points after setting career-highs with two goals, two assists and four points against the Saints…St. Lawrence scored five times in the second period, becoming the first team to score five in a period against Merrimack since Mark Dennehy's second-ever game as Merrimack's head coach (October 16, 2005 against Michigan)…Brendan Ellis picked up three assists against SLU and leads all Merrimack defenders with 13 points, ranking tied for fifth in the league in scoring among defenders…Merrimack concluded non-conference play with a 4-1-2 record. They are 10-1-3 in their last 14 non-conference games and 23-7-5 in their last 35…Josh Myers (Colorado Springs, Colo) made his highly-anticipated debut after finally being cleared by the NCAA and registered eight shots in two games…Merrimack's defense remains first in the country in GAA (1.88/game).

New Hampshire: UNH is 4-9-0 since 2000 in games coming out of the break. However, the Wildcats have won just once in the last nine games out of the break...UNH held a 42-25 shot edge in a loss over Brown, including a 19-7 shot advantage in the third period... New Hampshire rallied from 3-0 to make it 3-2, but could get no closer in a 5-2 loss to the Bears. The Wildcats, idle since Dec. 8, lost its fourth consecutive game - and third in a row at home. The loss ended an eightgame unbeaten streak over Brown (0-7-1) and was the Bears first win at New Hampshire since Jan. 22, 1930 a 12-game span (11-0-1)... UNH starting goalie Matt Di Girolamo made 15 saves and exited the game after two periods with the 'Cats trailing 3-1. Casey DeSmith played the third period and stopped five of six shots he faced. DeSmith has stopped 37-of-40 shots (.925) over the past two games.

Northeastern: Northeastern skates into the New Year as Mariucci Classic Tournament champions after a 3-2 triumph over No. 2 Minnesota on New Years Eve at Mariucci Arena. The Huskies preserved their undefeated mark on New Year's Eve and moved to 4-0-0 on that day and extended their unbeaten to eight games (7-0-1); the second-best streak in the country. Northeastern moves to 4-1-1 in the Mariucci Classic and has now knocked off the No. 2 team in the country, on the road, on three separate occasions (Notre Dame, Dec. 2 & 3 and Minnesota, Dec 31). Northeastern's eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) is the third longest in program history. It is the program's longest stretch since NU went 8-0-1 in 1985-86. The Northeastern benchmark is 12 games as the 1980-81 squad won the first 12 games of the season...Steve Quailer keeps on rolling and extended his point streak to nine games, accounting for six goals and eight assists (6-8-14) amidst his torrent pace. It is the longest career point streak of any current Husky. Quailer's line, including Pimm and Cody Ferriero accounted for a goal and an assist against Minnesota, pushing their production to 17 goals and 15 assists (17-15-32) in the last 10 games with a plus/minus rating of +33.

Providence College: Sunday's game was Providence's first contest in 25 days…The Friars suffered their first Mayor's Cup loss since November 26, 2006 against Brown University…It also marked the fifth ever New Year's Day game for the Providence hockey program and the second consecutive…The Friars' six short-handed goals this season are the most since the 2007-08 team had nine short-handed goals…The Friars are fourth in the nation in short-handed goals and freshman Ross Mauermann as well as junior Tim Schaller rank tied for fourth in the nation with two short-handed goals each…Providence finished December with a 2-1 record, marking the first winning December since the 2007-08 squad had a 4-1-0 mark.

Vermont: UVM is now 11-4-1 in the Catamount Cup under head coach Kevin Sneddon…Vermont defeated its second ranked team of the season on Friday with its 4-2 win over 11th-ranked Ferris State; The Catamounts upset No. 8 Minnesota on Oct. 23...UVM scored four goals against Ferris State, which came in as the fourth-ranked defensive team in the country allowing just 2.0 goals per game…10 different Vermont players recorded a point in the victory, and 20 different players have scored at least one point this season…The Cats scored a season-high three power play goals against the Bulldogs, which were ranked 11th in the nation on the penalty kill…UVM finished the Catamount Cup 4-11 with the man advantage and now stands at 17% on the season…Sebastian Stalberg and Nick Bruneteau were both named to the All-Tournament Team at the Catamount Cup…The Catamounts remain the least penalized team in Hockey East with just 11.4 penalty minutes per game.