February 13, 2012

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK #7 MICHAEL PEREIRA, MASSACHUSETTS (Sophomore Forward; West Haven, Conn.) Pereira tallied five points (4g,1a) on the weekend, which included his second hat trick of the season on Saturday in the loss to Providence. He also notched a goal and an assist in the 3-2 victory vs. No. 2 BU on Friday. Pereira notched eight shots on goal in two games for the Minutemen. ATHLETIC REPUBLIC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK #11 TIM SCHALLER, PROVIDENCE COLLEGE (Junior Forward; Merrimack, N.H.) Schaller had a four-point week, with one goal and one assist in each win over No. 12 Maine and UMass. He scored the game winner vs. Maine on Friday night at Schneider Arena and he finished the week with 10 shots on goal. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #13 JOHNNY GAUDREAU, BOSTON COLLEGE (Freshman Forward; Carneys Point, N.J.) Gaudreau registered six points (4g,2a) in two victories; scored twice and tallied one assist in each win against Northeastern on Monday and Vermont on Friday. He posted nine shots on goal with a +5 rating on the week for the Eagles. HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #31 DOUG CARR, UMASS-LOWELL (Sophomore Goaltender; Hanover, Mass.) Carr stopped 63-of-65 shots (.969) with a 1.01 GAA in a weekend split against No. 8 Merrimack and No. 12 Maine. Carr posted his fourth shutout his career on Friday with 31 saves against No. 8 Merrimack at the Tsongas Center and followed that up with a 32-save effort in the 2-1 loss to No. 8 Maine on Saturday. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK PROVIDENCE COLLEGE FRIARS The Friars were one of two Hockey East teams to pickup two victories on the week. PC opened the weekend with a 4-3 home win vs. No. 12 Maine at Schneider Arena and followed that up with a 5-4 road win at Massachusetts on Saturday night.

Athletic Republic Co-Players of the Week Michael Pereira and Tim Schaller 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 Kreider Jr. F BC 3. Joe Cannata Sr. G MC 4. Doug Carr So. G UML 5. Scott Wilson Fr. F UML   Wade Megan Jr. F BU 6. Joey Diamond Jr. F ME   Chris Rawlings Jr. G NU

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Spencer Abbott, Maine (Sr., F, Hamilton, Ont.) Had a goal and an assist against Providence.

Derek Arnold, UML (F, So., Foxboro, Mass.) Scored two goals, including the game-winner against #8 Merrimack in the weekend split.

Kyle Beattie, Maine (Jr., F, Avondale, Ariz.) Had a goal and an assist in Maine's 2-1 win over UMass Lowell on Saturday night.

Alex Beaudry, PC (Fr., G, Cumberland, Ont.) Totaled 58 saves in wins over #12 Maine and UMass, including 32 stops at UMass.

Matt Bergland, PC (Sr., F, Faribault, Minn.) Notched two goals and one assist in a win vs. #12 Maine. Had one assist at UMass.

Austin Block, UNH (Jr., F, Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Scored a career-high two goals in a 3-2 win over NU. He registered six shots on net in two games.

Joe Cannata, MC (Sr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Stopped 79 of 82 shots this weekend, including 40 saves in a 1-1 tie with UNH on Saturday.

Alex Chiasson, BU (Jr., F, St. Augustin, Que.) Recorded a goal and an assist in the Terriers' loss vs. UMass and added an assist in Beanpot semifinal.

Casey DeSmith, UNH (Fr., G, Rochester, N.H.) Stopped 58-of-61 shots (.950) with a 1.44 GAA in UNH's three-point weekend.

Joel Hanley, UMass (So., D, Keswick, Ont.) Posted a goal and two assists on the weekend in the win at No. 1 Boston University and loss to PC.

Shane Luke, PC (Fr., F, Dauphin, Man.) Scored one goal in each win over #12 Maine and UMass.

Matt Mangene, Maine (Jr., F, Miller Place, N.Y.) Scored two goals and added two assists in Maine's 1-1 weekend.

Colin Markison, UVM (Fr., F, Princeton, N.J.) Netted his sixth goal of the season against No. 4 Boston College on Friday night.

Mike McLaughlin, NU (Sr., F, Seaforth, Ont.) Tallied his fourth multi-point game of the season with an extra attacker goal and an assist.

Wade Megan, BU (Jr., F, Canton, N.Y.) Scored two goals, including the game-winner, in BU's 3-1 victory over Harvard in the Beanpot semifinals.

Kieran Millan, BU (Sr., G, Edmonton, Alta.) Stopped 29 of 30 shots in BU's 3-1 triumph over Harvard and recorded 34 saves in a 3-2 loss to UMass.

Parker Milner, BC (Jr., G, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Notched a .956 save percentage (43-of-45) in backstopping BC to two wins.

Pat Mullane, BC (Jr., F, Wallingford, Conn.) Recorded five assists in two games and matched a career-high with three assists in a 6-1 win at UVM.

Matt Nieto, BU (So., F, Long Beach, Calif.) Scored the first goal Beanpot in BU's 3-1 win over Harvard and had two assists vs. UMass on Friday

Dan Sullivan, Maine (So., G, York, Pa.) Finished the week 1-1 with a 2.55 GAA and a .926 save percentage.

Steven Whitney, BC (Jr., F, Reading, Mass.) Scored two shorthanded goals and tallied one assist in a 7-1 win over Northeastern in the Beanpot.

Robbie Vrolyk, NU (Jr., F, Boylston, Mass.) Scored his fourth goal in three games 30 seconds into the game at UNH on Friday night.

Riley Wetmore, UML (Jr., F, Swanton, Vt.) Recorded three points (1g,2a) and a +2 rating in the weekend split with Merrimack and Maine.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Joe Cannata , MC (Wakefield, Mass.) Become the program's all-time leader in minutes played

Casey DeSmith, UNH (Rochester, N.H.) Is 3-0-1 with a 1.46 GAA and a .956 save percentage in February

Alex Chiasson, BU (St. Augustin, Que.) Notched his 50th career assist on Friday against UMass

Ross Gaudet, BU (Burlington, Mass.) Played in his 100th collegiate game on Friday vs. UMass

Joel Hanley, UMass (Keswick, Ont.) Has 16 points (3g,13a) over the last 15 games

Matt Mangene, Maine (Miller Place, N.Y.) Has scored a goal in five straight games

UMass-Lowell River Hawks Broke its mark for the longest home winning streak (10-0-0) in Tsongas Center history on Friday night vs. Merrimack

Wade Megan, BU (Canton, N.Y.) Played in his 100th collegiate game on Monday at the Beanpot

Stevie Moses, UNH (Leominster, Mass.) Became the third Wildcat in as many seasons to have 20-plus goals in a season

Michael Pereira, UMass (West Haven , Conn.) Is the first UMass player to post two or more hat tricks in a season since 1993-94

Kyle Reynolds, UVM (Sylvan Lake, Alta .) Has seven points (3g,4a) in his last five games

Quinn Smith, BC (FAIRFIELD, CONN.) Posted his first collegiate goal at Vermont on Friday

Sebastian Stålberg , UVM (Gothenburg , Sweden ) Played in his 100th career game on Friday vs. BC

Jeff Velleca, MC (Waterbury , Conn.) Played in his 100th career game Friday at UMass-Lowell

Scott Wilson, UML (Oakville, Ont.) Is second among NCAA rookies in points per game (1.08)

Jerry York, BOSTON COLLEGE Captured his 897th and 898th career victories last week. He enters Monday's Beanpot championship two wins shy of joining Ron Mason as the only two coaches in college hockey history to reach 900 career victories

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: Boston College will be playing for its third straight Beanpot crown, its fourth in the last five years and 17th overall on Monday against Boston University…BC finished 4-for-7 on the power play in the last two games (57.1 percent) and has at least one power play goal in six straight contests during which the team is 9-for-23 with a man advantage (39.1 percent)…Steven Whitney scored two shorthanded goals against Northeastern (a BC first since Nathan Gerbe against BU on Nov. 30, 2007), marking the 9th and 10th shorthanded goals for BC this winter; the team is one shy of the nation's lead in that category. Whitney and junior Chris Kreider have each scored three shorthanded goals this season while Barry Almeida has four shorthanded points (2g,2a) in 2011- 12. Kreider scored twice and tallied one assist at Vermont (Feb. 10) and now has four goals and eight points in the last four games…Senior Barry Almeida has seven goals and nine points in the last six games...Patrick Wey tallied a team-high +7 rating last week in two games.

Boston University: The Terriers are trying to avoid going three straight years with a Beanpot title since 1983-85...Kieran Millan became the first BU goaltender to earn seven starts in the Beanpot...BU's senior class is an even 7-7-1 in its 15 meetings with BC...Since 1990, BU is 63-22-4 (.730) in games with an attendance of 10,000 or more...BU and Michigan are the only two teams in the country which have yet to allow a shorthanded goal this season...Since the turn of the new year, junior Alex Chiasson has tallied a point in nine of 10 contests with a total of 15 points (6g,9a) and has committed just one penalty after earning a teamhigh 45 penalty minutes in the 2011 portion of the season...Sophomore Garrett Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) is tied for second in Hockey East with a +16 rating...The Terriers have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their last 10 games...Senior Chris Connolly (Duluth, Minn.) has 81 career assists and since 2000, the only Terriers to have higher assist totals are Chris Higgins (84) and Pete MacArthur (83)...BU is 8-1 in its nine road games since falling at UMass Lowell, 7-1, on Oct. 5.

Maine: Maine split a pair of games on the weekend falling to Providence, before rebounding to defeat #7 UMass Lowell 2-1 on Saturday night…Seven of Maine's last 10 games have been played against teams in the top seven in the nation…Maine is 5-1-1 in those games…Matt Mangene, who has goals in five straight games, had a hand in four of Maine's five goals on the weekend. He scored his team-leading fourth game-winning goal on Saturday night at UMass Lowell…Maine saw its streak of 19 games scoring at least one power play goal come to an end on Friday night when it finished 0-for-3 with the man advantage…The Black Bears scored the game-winning goal on the power play on Saturday night and finished the game 1-for-2 with the man advantage…Maine has not allowed a power play goal in four straight games, killing off 15 straight opponent power plays…Maine was whistled for just two penalties for four minutes in each game over the weekend…Maine won for the first time on Saturday night when scoring two goals or less this season.

Massachusetts: For the first time in program history, UMass picked up a win against a No. 1 ranked team on the road when it defeated Boston University 3-2 – it also marked UMass' first true road win of the season…Also for the first time in program history, UMass defeated a team ranked No. 1 in the country twice in one season – UMass defeated No. 1 Boston College on Nov. 5 before beating No. 1 Boston University on Feb. 10…UMass is 2-1-0 this year against a No. 1 ranked team this season … UMass holds the season series against the both Vermont and Boston College and split with Northeastern (1-1-1) and Boston University (1-1-1)…Over the last eight games, UMass has been strong on the penalty kill going 41-for-51 (80.4%) including a 5-5 effort vs. Providence and a 6-6 effort against Boston College…UMass has a power play goal in four straight games going 5-for-20 (25.0%) with the extra man…When allowing 4 or more goals this year, UMass is 0-12-1, however, when cutting that to 3-or-fewer, UMass is 10-1-3.

UMass-Lowell: The seventh-ranked River Hawks split a weekend set with #8 Merrimack and #12 Maine at the Tsongas Center. For the first time in program history, after 20 league games UMass Lowell moved into sole possession of first place in Hockey East. Friday night marked the first time in their shared Division I history that the River Hawks and Merrimack met as nationally ranked opponents. Since the USCHO poll debut in 1997-98, UMass Lowell is now 2-0-0 when facing a nationally ranked Merrimack team, with the previous victory coming at Lawler Arena on Jan. 21, 2011 (W, 6-4). The River Hawks followed with a narrow loss against Maine on Saturday. When Maine and UMass Lowell meet as ranked teams according to the USCHO poll, the River Hawks are now 0-8-0 all-time.

Merrimack: Despite scoring just one goal in two games, Merrimack earned one point on the weekend after tying UNH 1-1 at Lawler Arena Saturday…Jeff Velleca scored in Saturday's tie and has scored each of Merrimack's last three goals…Merrimack sits in fourth place in Hockey East, tied with Maine, but owns the season series and has a game in hand on the Black Bears. The Warriors are one point behind BU and BC for second and two points behind Lowell for first…Merrimack improved to 4-1-3 when its goaltender stops 40 or more shots over the last three seasons after Joe Cannata had 40 stops on Saturday…Cannata become the program's all-time leader in minutes played passing Jim Hrivnak…The Warriors are now 3-1-6 in overtime this year and 7-1-10 in their last 18…They are 6-1-2 in the second game of back-to-backs, 7-0-3 when leading after one period and 7-2-3 on Saturday's…Merrimack finished 1-1-1 against UNH this season…Merrimack opens a critical series with Boston College, with Friday's game at Conte Forum and Saturday at Lawler. The teams played to a 2-2 tie in Chestnut Hill in January. The senior class has won at every Hockey East arena except for BC in their career.

New Hampshire: UNH picked up three points in Hockey East this weekend with a win over Northeastern on Friday night (3-2) and a 1-1 deadlock with Merrimack on Saturday night...UNH moved from sixth to seventh place in the standings, but have a four-point lead over Northeastern and Massachusetts in the league standings...Casey DeSmith has 30-plus saves in five of the last six games and has allowed two goals or fewer eight times in the last dozen games...Grayson Downing scored UNH's lone goal on Saturday, he is second on the team in goals behind Stevie Moses with nine... Moses became the third Wildcat in as many seasons to have 20-goals in a season joining Paul Thompson (28) and Bobby Butler (29). Moses, with 94 points, is trying to become the 71st player in school history to join the century club. Last season, Thompson, Mike Sislo and Phil DeSimone all passed 100 career points... Also chasing a milestone is head coach Dick Umile, with 496 career wins, he is looking to become one of six active coaches with 500 wins and one of 14 Division I coaches ll time to win 500.

Northeastern: Northeastern lost to UNH, 3-2, on Friday night after Robbie Vrolyk tied Braden Pimm for the fastest goal scored to start a game, just 30 seconds into the contest. With the loss, the Huskies slipped to 32-31-3 in games played between the Beanpot. Robbie Vrolyk has now scored four goals in his last three games. The Boylston, Mass. native has registered seven points this season (4-3-7). His goal at UNH counted for his 20th-career point at Northeastern (11-9-20). Mike McLaughlin gained his fourth multi-point game of the season with an extra-attacker goal and an assist at UNH. The senior captain scored Northeastern's first extra-attacker goal since the outing against Boston University on Jan. 13...Northeastern is unblemished when scoring four or more goals with an 8-0-0 record. All 13 times Northeastern has lost this season, the Huskies have scored less than four goals. Also, when Northeastern allows less than four goals, NU has gone 11-5-3.

Providence College: The Friars earned consecutive wins for the first time in the new year after defeating #12 Maine and UMass over the weekend…Providence's 12 wins this season are the most since the 2007-08 team had 14 victories…In addition, the 10 Hockey East wins are more than the last two years combined (9)…The Friars' win over #12 Maine on Friday was their first over the Black Bears since January 16, 2010…It also marked Providence's fifth win over a ranked team this season…The Friars have scored 78 goals this season, three more than all of last season…Providence also has 24 power-play goals, the most since the 2007-08 team had 25…After not winning a Hockey East game since October 31, 2009, Providence has three league road wins this season…The Friars' nine home victories this season are the most since the 2005-06 squad had 10…Freshmen Ross Mauermann and Shane Luke are on three-game point streaks.

Vermont: Kyle Reynolds now has 13 points in his last 12 games and ranks fourth in Hockey East scoring among freshmen…Vermont's top line has posted nine points in the last two games…Nick Bruneteau's four-game point streak came to an end on Friday night against No. 4 Boston College…Sebastian Stalberg played in his 100th career game on Friday, joining defenseman Drew MacKenzie (127 GP) and goalie Rob Madore (121 GP) as the only active Catamounts who have played in 100 career contests…The Cats have scored at least one power play goal in 12 of their last 14 games and are 15-for-69 (21.7%) over the last 12 contests…11 of the last 14 Vermont goals have been scored by underclassmen, and four of the team's top six overall scorers are underclassmen… Vermont entered the night 5-1-2 in its last eight meetings with Boston College on home ice, a span that dates back to 2005.