March 5, 2012

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #14 JOSEPH PENDENZA, UMASS LOWELL (Sophomore Forward; Wilmington, Mass.) Pendenza scored five points (2g,3a) and a plus-3 rating in a weekend sweep of Providence College. Pendenza assisted on both of the weekend's game-winning goals. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #33 KEVIN BOYLE, MASSACHUSETTS (Freshman Goaltender; Manalapan, N.J.) Boyle picked up the win on Friday night against No. 12 Merrimack allowing just one goal while making 25 saves including 13 in the second period. Boyle also helped UMass go 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. HEA CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #35 PARKER MILNER, BOSTON COLLEGE (Junior Goaltender; Pittsburgh, Pa.) Milner stopped 55-of-56 (.982 save%) shots faced in backstopping the Eagles to consecutive wins over Vermont at Conte Forum. He recorded 29 saves on Friday night and 26 stops in the regular-season title clinching win on Saturday. HEA CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #30 DAN SULLIVAN, MAINE (Sophomore Goaltender; York, Pa.) Sullivan made 32 saves in a 1-0 shutout of New Hampshire. Made 14 stops in the first period alone and 11 saves in the third frame vs. the Wildcats. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES The Eagles outscored Vermont, 9 to 1 on the weekend sweep, en route to their leaguerecord 12th Hockey East regular-season Championship in school history on Saturday night at Conte Forum.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Joseph Pendenza of UMass Lowell ARMY ROTC THREE STARS AWARD At the conclusion of each Hockey East game, the " Army ROTC Three Stars of The Game" are selected. Congratulation to BU's Kieran Millan for winning this year's award. Millan finished the season as the No. 1 star of the game three times and was named a Star of the Game on 12 occasions. Here were the 2011-2012 season leaders: Rk. Name Cl. Pos. School 1. Kieran Millan Sr. G BU 2 Joe Cannata Sr. G MC   Chris Kreider Jr. F BC   Wade Megan Jr. F BU 5. Joey Diamond Jr. F ME 6. Doug Carr So. G UML   Scott Wilson Fr. F UML

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Patch Alber, BC (Jr., D, Clifton Park, N.Y.) Tallied two assists and a team-high +6 rating in two victories over Vermont.

Barry Almeida, BC (Sr., F, Springfield, Mass.) Scored twice and tallied one assist in back-to-back league wins over Vermont.

Derek Arnold, UML (So., F, Foxboro, Mass.) Totaled four points (2g, 2a) and a plus-2 rating in the sweep of Providence.

Andy Balysky, PC (Sr., F, Randolph, N.J.) Scored once at No. 8 UMass Lowell on Saturday.

Shawn Bates, MC (So., F, Ft. Saskatchewan, Alta.) Scored a pair of goals this weekend, including the game-winner in Saturday's 5-3 win over UMass.

Chris Connolly, BU (Sr., F, Duluth, Minn.) Tallied five points (2g,3a) and a +2 rating in the weekend series with Northeastern.

Casey DeSmith, UNH (Fr., G, Rochester, N.H.) Stopped 28 shots in a 1-0 loss at Maine. He turned aside 10+saves in the second and third period.

Sahir Gill, BU (So., F, Terrace, B.C.) Recorded a goal and two assists in the Terriers' home-and-home with Northeastern.

Danny Hobbs, UMass (Sr., F, Shawville, Que.) Scored a pair of goals in the split weekend notching one on both nights.

H.T. Lenz, UVM (So., F, Vienna, Va.) Netted his seventh goal of the season on Friday night at No. 1 Boston College.

Rob Madore, UVM (Sr., G, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Made 50 saves in a weekend series against Boston College.

Kieran Millan, BU (Sr., G, Chilliwack, B.C.) Recorded 25 saves on Friday to earn a win over Northeastern in his final regular-season home start.

Josh Myers, MC (Fr., F, Colorado Springs, Col.) Notched two points in the weekend, including a power play goal in Saturday's win.

Garrett Noonan, BU (So., D, Norfolk, Mass.) Tallied three goals, an assist and +2 rating in weekend series with NU.

Brice O'Connor, Maine (So., D, Londonderry, N.H.) Scored Maine's lone goal in 1-0 victory over New Hampshire.

Vinny Saponari, NU (Jr., F, Powder Springs, Ga.) Scored his second game-winning goal in OT of the season with the walk-off tally vs. BU on Saturday.

Destry Straight, BC (Fr., F, West Vancouver, B.C.) Registered first career multiple-point performance in the regular-season title clinching win vs. UVM.

T.J. Syner, UMass (Sr., F, Springfield, Mass.) Tallied a pair of special teams goals and added an assist in UMass' split weekend vs. No. 12 Merrimack.

Garrett Vermeersch, NU (Jr., F, Macomb, Mich.) Scored goals in back-to-back games in the Boston University series

Scott Wilson, UML (Fr., F, Oakville, Ont.) Tallied three assists and a plus-3 rating in the sweep of Providence.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Barry Almeida, BC (SPRINGFIELD, MASS.) Scored his career-high 20th and 21st goals this weekend, including his 11th power-play goal; he is tied with Denver's Drew Shore atop the national leaderboard in that category.

BOSTON COLLEGE PENALTY KILL Held the Catamounts scoreless on all eight power-play opportunities over the weekend and enter the postseason 20-for-20 on the penalty kill over the last six games

Marc Boulanger, UML (Olds, Alta .) Recorded his first collegiate win on Saturday vs. Providence

Doug Carr, UML (Hanover, Mass.) Became the eighth UML goaltender to record a 20-win season in program history

Casey DeSmith, UNH (Rochester, N.H.) is 5-3-1 with a 2.09 GAA and a .936 save percentage since February

Lance Herrington, UVM (Bow, N.H.) Skated in his 50th career game on Saturday

Parker Milner, BC (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Has a 1.16 GAA and a .954 save percentage in the last 11 games

T.J. Syner, UMass (Springfield, Mass.) With 96 career points, Syner is closing in on 100 for his tenure at UMass. He currently ranks 11th all-time at UMass for points and would be just the 10th player to hit the century mark. His 59 assists ranks 12th all-time at UMass.

Scott Wilson, UML (Oakville, Ont.) Is first among NCAA rookies in points per game (1.09)

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: BC captured its second straight Hockey East regular-season title, its sixth under the direction of head coach Jerry York and its record 12th in program history. With two victories over Vermont, Boston College captured its 10th and 11th straight victories...The team is outscoring its opponents 48-13 during this stretch, is converting 30.0 percent of its power-play chances (12-for-40) and is killing power plays at an 88.9 percent clip (40-for-45). Senior forward Barry Almeida (7g,8a) and freshman forward Johnny Gaudreau (8g,7a) have each tallied a teamhigh 15 points during this stretch…The team's senior class improved to 102-42-10 in the last four seasons at The Heights. Almeida and junior forward Chris Kreider each scored their 20th goals of the season over the weekend while sophomore Bill Arnold (32 points) and junior Pat Mullen (31) joined Kreider (37), Almeida (36), Gaudreau (32) and Whitney (32) represent BC's six 30-point scorers…Patch Alber has 13 points and has surpassed his combined total for his first two seasons.

Boston University: Boston University had its road win streak in Hockey East play end at 10 games, which was the longest since Maine's 1992-93 squad went a perfect 12-0 on the road in league play...The Terriers are 10-9-1 this season when allowing the first goal...Senior Chris Connolly has 86 career assists, the most by a Terrier since Chris Drury tallied 101 during his career from 1994-98...The Terriers will be hosting the Hockey East quarterfinals for the eighth straight year and have been paired up with a different opponent in the quarterfinals in each of the past nine seasons...Sophomore Garrett Noonan ranks second on the team with 14 goals, which ranks second nationally amongst defenseman and is tied for the fourth-highest single-season goal total by a BU blueliner...Freshman Alexx Privitera (Old Tappan, N.J.) led all Hockey East defensemen in scoring during league play with 12 points (4g, 8a)...The Terriers' senior class, which was following its last regular-season home game on Friday, has led the team to 93 victories over the past four seasons..

Maine: Maine defeated New Hampshire 1-0 on Saturday night in its lone game of the week…The win was the 20th of the season for the Black Bears… It is the first time that the Black Bears have won 20 or more games since the 2006–07 season when it finished with 23… Brice O'Connor scored Maine's lone goal on Saturday… t was the second goal of his career and his first career game-winner…Dan Sullivan made 32 saves in the game against to record his second shutout of the season and the fifth of his career…Maine will face Merrimack in a rematch of the 2010-2011 Hockey East quarterfinals…Before and after the game on Saturday Maine honored its outstanding senior class of: Brian Flynn, Theo Andersson, Spencer Abbott, Will O'Neill, Josh Seeley and Ryan Hegarty.

Massachusetts: UMass will face Boston College in the Hockey East Quarterfinals for the third straight season beginning Friday at Conte Forum…This is the 10th consecutive season UMass has qualified for the Hockey East playoffs and the 15th season overall since joining the league in 1994-95...UMass is 9-24 overall in Tournament games…UMass won the regular-season series against Boston College 2-1-0…UMass finished the regular-season 6-8 over the last 14 games with nine of those contests against teams ranked in the top-12 nationally – two of those wins came on the road…UMass is now 7-7-1 against ranked teams which includes a pair of wins against teams ranked No. 1 in the country...UMass has gone 14-for-15 on the penalty kill over the last five games… UMass has a power play goal in eight of the last 10 games going 9-for-44 (20.5%) with the extra man … When allowing 4 or more goals this year, UMass is 0-15-1, however, when cutting that to 3-orfewer, UMass is 13-1-3.

UMass-Lowell: The River Hawks swept a home-and-home weekend with Providence College to finish in a tie with Boston U. for second place in Hockey East. It marks the fourth time in program history UMass Lowell has finished a season in second place and it remains its highest finish. By virtue of the tie-breaker, the River Hawks will take a two-seed in the Hockey East Tournament and will host Providence once again next weekend in the Quarterfinals at the Tsongas Center. Doug Carr is the River Hawks' third Division I goalie to reach the 20-win plateau, joining Fillion and Dwayne Roloson. Norm Bazin has now tied the NCAA Division I record for largest turnaround by a first-year head coach (Ric Schafer, Notre Dame, 1987-88), guiding the River Hawks to 17 more victories than last season. UMass Lowell has also moved into a three-way tie for third all-time in the largest turnaround by a program in Division I history. Derek Arnold now has 17 goals this season, the most since Kory Falite scored 18 in 2009-10. Arnold has a chance to become UMass Lowell's first 20-goal scorer since Ben Walter tallied 26 in 2004-05.

Merrimack: Merrimack finished in fifth place in Hockey East following a weekend split with UMass…the Warriors will travel to Maine for the Hockey East Quarterfinals, in a rematch of last year's quarterfinals which Merrimack won 2-0 at Lawler Arena…Merrimack won the season series over Maine 2-0-1 this year, while winning at Alfond Arena for the first time in 24 games 2-1 to open the season…The 17 wins in the regular season mark the second most in Merrimack's Division I school history after last year's 25-win total…Merrimack will need to win the Hockey East Quarterfinals at Maine to have a shot at its second-straight and second-ever NCAA Tournament…the win over UMass gave Merrimack the season series over the Minutemen and was the sixth-straight win over UMass at Lawler…Merrimack finished 4-3-2 in season series against Hockey East teams…The 2012 senior class is the winningest class in Merrimack's Division I history and was a part of last year's record-setting 25-win team that reached its first-ever HEA Championship and NCAA Tournament.

New Hampshire: The Wildcats dropped its only game of the weekend 1-0 at rival Maine…Casey DeSmith is 5-3-1 with a 2.09 GAA and a .936 save percentage since February…UNH was shutout for the first time since a 4-0 loss on Oct. 14, 2011…New Hampshire held on to the sixth-seeded in the league standing by virtue of a pair of Providence losses… UNH advanced to the Hockey East tournament for a league-best 24-straight seasons…The Wildcats have drawn third-seeded Boston University in the best-of-three quarterfinal round at Agganis Arena… It is the first time New Hampshire has traveled for the quarterfinal round since 1995-96 a span of 16 seasons…BU swept the regular season series. The Terriers are 4-2-1 all-time vs. the Wildcats in the Hockey East playoffs. BU and UNH have only met once previously in the quarterfinals back in 1986, a series in which the Terriers were victorious…New Hampshire and BU has not met in the 2012 calendar year, where UNH has eight of its 14 wins.

Northeastern: Northeastern missed the playoffs after a loss to Boston University on Friday night and a Massachusetts victory against Merrimack. Junior Vinny Saponari had a successful weekend against his own squad, assisting on Ludwig Karlsson's power play tally in his firs trip back to Agganis Arena as a Husky. He the scored the overtime game-winner in the season finale at Matthews Arena 2:35 into overtime. Northeastern's 5-4 overtime win over BU counts for just the third victory in extra time in 215 meetings all-time. The last time NU came away with an OT victory over the Terriers was at home on Jan. 16, 1998. The Huskies snapped a mark of 0-2-7 against the Terriers in overtime. Garrett Vermeersch scored a goal in both games, including his fourth goal in six games. Rookie Ludwig Karlsson became Northeastern's first Husky to 10 goals before Braden Pimm and Vermeersch joined him on Saturday. Karlsson finished first in points (10-16-26) on the season, while Steve Quailer matched his freshman year total of 25 (8-17-25) for second and Vermeersch's career-best 24 points (10-14-24) were third this season.

Providence College: Providence clinched its first Hockey East playoff spot since 2008 and will play second seed UMass Lowell in the post season for the first time since 1997…The Friars will be seeking their first Hockey East playoff win since 2005 when they defeated Boston University in the first game of the best-of-three quarterfinal series…The Friars finished the regular season with 10 Hockey East wins, six more than last season…The Providence freshman class has accounted for 37% of the team's goals this season, led by Ross Mauermann who has nine goals and a team best 23 points…Senior Alex Beaudry became the first Friar to reach the 3,000-save mark and now has 3,033 career stops…Providence has 11 players who have set career marks in one or several offensive categories this season…The Friars finished their home schedule with nine wins, the most since the 2005-06 team had 10.

Vermont: Rob Madore made 181 saves in his last six starts in a Vermont jersey; He ranks second all-time at UVM in saves (3,352), third in games played (127), fifth in goals against average (2.91), and sixth in wins (41)…Brett Leonard finished his Catamount career one game away from 100...Seven of Vermont's final nine games this season came against top-10 opponents and five of those were against top-5 teams…16 of the Catamounts' final 22 goals of the season were scored by underclassmen...Vermont was facing the top-ranked team in the nation for the third straight season this weekend at Boston College … The Eagles entered the weekend having out-shot their previous nine opponents by an average of 7.3 shots per game, but Vermont out-shot BC 30-27 on Friday and 16-10 in the third period.