January 4, 2013

Vermont hosts Merrimack in the only league game this weekend on Saturday

Yale at No. 3 Boston College (Fri. at Conte Forum)

- The Eagles power play is second in the nation at 26.5%, converting 18 of 68 chances with a man advantage.

- Senior Parker Milner (Pittsburgh, Pa.) has started all 16 games for BC this season, posting a 12-3-1 record and he has allowed two goals or fewer in eight starts. He has also amassed 25+ saves 12 times this season.

Rensselaer at No. 9 Boston University (Fri. at Agganis Arena)

- The Terriers and Engineers head into Friday's contest having played each other 65 times since first meeting on March 14, 1953, in the consolation game of the NCAA tournament, and BU holds a 33-29-3 (.531) advantage, although the Engineers have gone 3-1-1 in the last five meetings.

Mercyhurst at Maine - Two-Game Series (Fri. at CCCC, Sat. at Alfond Arena)

- Maine's penalty killing has been a strength as of late. Maine has killed off 20 of 21 opponent power plays. In the last five games, the lone power play goal that the Black Bears have allowed was on Dec. 8 against Boston University.

UMass-Lowell at Clarkson - Two-Game Series (Fri., Sat. at Cheel Arena)

- Clarkson leads the all-time series against UMass Lowell, 11-8-0, but UMass Lowell has won the last four meetings, dating back to 2001.

Providence at No. 14 Minnesota State - Two-Game Series (Fri., Sat. at the Verizon Wireless Center)

- The Friars carry a 4-0-0 all-time record versus Minnesota State into the weekend series, they meet for the first time since since Oct. 17-18, 2003. PC is 2-2-1 in non-conference play so far this season.

- Senior Tim Schaller (Merrimack, N.H.) carries a four-game point scoring streak (2-4-6) into the Minnesota State series.

Merrimack at Vermont (Sat. at Gutterson Fieldhouse on CBSSN)

- The Warriors took three points in the two-game series between the two teams in late October by scores of 6-3 and 2-2 at Lawler Arena.

- Vermont's top line of Kyle Reynolds, Jacob Fallon, and Chris McCarthy collected seven points during the Catamount Cup victories last weekend. The trio leads the team in scoring with a total of 36 points this season (13 G, 23 A). Reynolds and McCarthy are each riding four-game point streaks, while Fallon has five points in that span.

Rensselaer at No. 4 New Hampshire (Sat. at the Whittemore Center)

- Junior forward Kevin Goumas (Long Beach, N.Y.) ranks fourth in the nation with 1.47 points per game for the Wildcats. His 25 points leads all league players in overall point scoring. He has at least one point in 14 of 17 games this year.

Bentley at Northeastern (Sat. at Matthews Arena)

- Chris Rawlings ranks third all-time in career saves and needs just 31 more stops to eclipse Brad Thiessen's mark of 3,166 to move into second place. Bruce Racine (1984-88) is the school's leader with 3,557.

- Northeastern owns a perfect 6-0-0 record when leading after two periods of play.