February 4, 2013

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK #39 JOEY DIAMOND, MAINE (Senior Forward; Long Beach, N.Y.) Diamond recorded five points (4g,1a) in Maine's three-point weekend. He scored two goals on Friday in a 2-2 tie vs. Providence and followed that up with two more goals and an assist in Maine's 4-3 victory over UMass Lowell on Sunday, including the game-winning overtime goal. Finished the weekend with eight shots on goal. ATHLETIC REPUBLIC CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK #7 MICHAEL PEREIRA, MASSACHUSETTS (Junior Forward; West Haven, Conn.) Pereira tied a career high with four points (2g,2a) to lead UMass to a 5-1 victory over No. 9 Boston University on Friday night at the Mullins Center, including his first career shorthanded goal. He amassed four shots on goal with a +5 rating on the night for the Minutemen. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #18 JUSTIN HUSSAR, MERRIMACK (Freshman Forward; Lancaster, N.Y.) Hussar scored the lone goal, leading Merrimack to a 1-0 win over UMass Lowell Friday at Lawler Arena. He totaled seven shots on goal in two victories for the Warriors. HEA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #30 SAM MAROTTA, MERRIMACK (Junior Goaltender; Bridgewater, Mass.) Marotta stopped 76 of 77 shots (.987) in a four-point weekend for the Warriors. Notched his second shutout of the season Friday in a 1-0 win with 25 saves, before recording a careerhigh 51 saves, most at Merrimack since 2008, leading the Warriors to a 4-1 road victory at No. 4 New Hampshire. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK MERRIMACK COLLEGE WARRIORS The Warriors earned a four-point weekend with a pair of victories vs. No. 12 UMass-Lowell and No. 4 New Hampshire to take over sole posession of third place in the league standings.

Athletic Republic Co-Players of the Week Joey Diamond and Michael Pereira 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 2012-13 season leaders to date: Rk. Name Cl. Pos. School 1. Martin Ouellette Jr. G ME 2. Casey DeSmith So. G UNH   John Henrion Sr. F UNH 4. Joey Diamond Sr. F ME   Johnny Gaudreau So. F BC   Sam Marotta Jr. G MC   Kevin Roy Fr. F NU 8. Mike Collins Jr. F MC   Joseph Pendenza Jr. F UML

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Derek Army, PC (Jr., F, North Kingstown, R.I.) Had PC's second goal, four shots on Friday night to help the Friars to the tie.

Shawn Bates, MC (Jr., F, Ft. Saskatchewan, Alta.) Tied a career-high with two goals, scoring the game-winner in a 4-1 win at No. 4 UNH.

Dan Correale, UNH (Fr., F, Prince George, B.C.) Assisted on UNH's first goal in a 3-1 win over Northeastern on Friday night.

Casey DeSmith, UNH (So., G, Rochester, N.H.) Stopped a season-high 47 shots in Friday's 3-1 win at Northeastern.

Jacob Fallon, UVM (So., F, Southlake, Texas) Picked his 10th assist of the season on Friday at Boston College.

Anders Franzon, UVM (Sr., D, Plattsburgh, N.Y.) Netted his first goal of the season early in the first period of Friday's game at No. 5 Boston College.

Jon Gillies, PC (Fr., G, South Portland, Maine) Made five of his 28 saves (.933 save%) in overtime to help PC to the tie at Maine.

Kevin Goumas, UNH (Jr., F, Long Beach, N.Y.) Registered a pair of assists in UNH's 3-1 win at Northeastern

Branden Gracel, UMass (Jr., F, Calgary, Alta.) Chipped in three points (1g,2a) in UMass' 5-1 win over No. 9 Boston University.

Mark Jankowski, PC (Fr., F, Dundas, Ont.) Scored PC's first goal at Maine on Friday night.

Zack Kamrass, UML (So., D, Atlanta, Ga.) Assisted on two goals in UMass Lowell's 4-3 overtime loss at Maine.

Ryan McGrath (Fr., F, O'Fallon, Mo.) Scored one goal and assisted on another in UMass Lowell's 4-3 overtime loss Sunday at Maine.

Parker Milner, BC (Sr., G, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Recorded 38 saves in the team's 4-1 home win over Vermont

Martin Ouellette (Jr., G, St.-Hippolyte, Que.) Went 1-0-1 on the week with 66 saves (.930 save%). Made 31 saves on Friday and posted 35 Sunday.

Ben Rosen, BU (Sr., F, Syosset, N.Y.) Scored the first shorthanded goal of his career on Friday at UMass.

Jake Rutt, Maine (So., D, Scarborough, Maine) Had a goal and an assist in Maine's 4-3 win in overtime against UMass Lowell on Sunday.

Devin Shore (Fr., F, Ajax, Ont.) Had a pair of assists on the week for the Black Bears.

Quinn Smith, BC (So., F, Fairfield, Conn.) Scored once, the gamewinner, in team's 4-1 home win over Vermont.

K.J. Tiefenwerth, UMass (Fr., F, Bellmore, N.Y.) Assisted on the game winner vs. No. 9 Boston University.

Steven Whitney, BC (Sr., F, Reading, Mass.) Scored one goal to match his single-season career high in team's 4-1 home win over Vermont

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

MARK Anthoine, MAINE (Lewiston, Maine) played in his 100th career game on SundaY

Mark Dennehy, MERRIMACK Notched his 100th career win at MERRIMACK Friday VS. UML

Michael Fallon, UML ( Glenview, Ill.) scored his first career goal at Maine SUNDAY

Brody Hoffman, UVM (Wilkie, Sask.) Made his 25th consecutive start on Friday

UMASS' LINE OF Michael Pereira, Branden Gracel, Conor Sheary (MELROSE, MASS.) totaled eight of the Minutemen's 14 points against BU and has 31 points in nine games when pa ired together

UMass Lowell Freshmen have accounted for 39 points (16g, 23a) in the last 13 games

Merrimack's penalty kill Has not allowed a goal at home in 2013, going 21-for-21.

Matt Nieto, BU (Long Beach, Calif.) Played in his 100th career game Friday at UMass

Vinny Saponari, NU (POWDER SPRINGS, GA.) extended his point streak to five games and has accounted for seven points (2g,5a)

Alex Velischek, PC (Kinnelon, N.J.) played in his 100th career game FRIDAY AT MAINE

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: With 16 goals, including a nation's best 11 thirdperiod scores, in 24 games this season, senior alternate captain Steven Whitney has tied his single-season career high that he established during his 39-point, 44-game junior season. Whitney ranks second among all players in the country in goals per game (0.67). Sophomore forward Johnny Gaudreau, who scored once the team's 4-1 win over Vermont and has 13 goals in 21 games this winter, checks in ranked fourth in the country in the same category...Friday's win marked the Eagles' fifth straight over Vermont. It marked the seventh time this season that Milner has made 30 or more saves...Freshman defenseman Michael Matheson returned to the lineup Friday against the Catamounts after missed the last two games because of injury…The Eagles received goal-scoring contributions from three forward lines in its 4-1 home win over the Catamounts…Boston College faces off against Harvard in the first round of the Beanpot on Monday night, marking the first Beanpot meeting between the teams since 2010.

Boston University: The Terrier freshmen lead the team in scoring by class with 58 points on 20 goals and 38 assists...Three BU freshmen have been named Hockey East Rookie of the Month this season (Matt Grzelcyk, Matt O'Connor, Danny O'Regan)...Ben Rosen became the 22nd BU player over the past four seasons to record a shorthanded goal... In the 5-1 loss at UMass on Friday, the Terriers narrowly avoided being shut out in a Hockey East contest for the first time since a 1-0 loss at Northeastern on Nov. 6, 2009...BU's seniors are trying to avoid being the first Terrier class since 1965 to graduate without a Beanpot title...In Monday's Beanpot semifinal, Northeastern will be trying to win its third straight meeting with the Terriers, something that hasn't been done since the Huskies won eight straight from March 10, 1987, to January 17, 1989...Since 1990, Boston University is 64-25-4 (.710) in games with an attendance of 10,000 or more...Four BU freshmen from the greater Boston are set to make their Beanpot debuts on Monday.

Maine: Maine defeated UMass Lowell in overtime on Sunday afternoon on a goal by Joey Diamond. Diamond had four goals and an assist for five points in Maine's 1-0-1 weekend. He currently has 95 career points, including 55 career goals. Diamond now has six goals in his last five games….The Black Bears are 7-6-5 in their last 18 games…It marked exactly one year since Maine won its last game in overtime at home, a 4-3 win over Alabama-Huntsville on Feb. 3, 2012…Freshman forward Devin Shore has a career-high four-game point streak…Maine goalie Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec) made a career-high 35 saves in Maine's 4-3 win over UMass Lowell on Sunday…Maine is a perfect 6-0-0 on the season when scoring three or more goals…Diamond has scored goals in six straight games against Vermont.

Massachusetts: The Minutemen's win over No. 9 Boston University was their fourth of the season over a ranked opponent...UMass logged its fifth shorthanded goal of the season vs. the Terriers and is now tied for fifth in the nation in shorthanded goals...The attendance for UMass' game vs. Boston University, 7,267, was the 15th-largest crowd in Mullins center history and was the fourth home crowd of 7,000+ for the Minutemen this season...The Minutemen's PK was a perfect 6 for 6 against BU and has killed off 30 of 33 (90.9%) penalties since beginning the second half at the Dartmouth Tournament.

UMass-Lowell: UMass Lowell had its 11-game unbeaten streak halted with Friday night's 1-0 loss at Merrimack and suffered its fourth one-goal loss of the season with Sunday's 4-3 overtime heartbreak at Maine. The game marked the third time in four games the River Hawks have skated to overtime…All three of the UMass Lowell-Maine games were decided by one goal this season: UMass Lowell prevailed 2-1 on Nov. 9 while Maine avenged the loss, 4-3, on Nov. 10…UMass Lowell's freshmen have accounted for 16 goals and 23 assists in the last 13 games…The River Hawks are 3-3-1 when playing on Super Bowl Sunday.

Merrimack: Now 6-1-1 in the last seven games, Merrimack stormed into third place in Hockey East, defeated two ranked teams, ending No. 12 Lowell's two-month, 11-game unbeaten streak 1-0 Friday and No. 4 UNH 4-1 Saturday…Sam Marotta led the way in goal stopping 76 of 77 shots and is now first in Hockey East in save percentage and second in goals-against average. Marotta became the first Warrior goaltender to stop 50 or more shots since Andrew Braithwaite in 2008…Merrimack also reentered the Pairwise conversation and is 26th overall…Merrimack captured the season-series over UNH, while winning in Durham for the third straight year…Merrimack is 4-1 in season-series and has season-series over UNH, Northeastern, Vermont and Maine and has only lost a series to Boston University…For the first time all season, Merrimack used the same lineup in consecutive games…Head coach Mark Dennehy notched his 100th career win at Merrimack in Friday's 1-0 win at Lowell…The 1-0 win was the Warriors' first 1-0 triumph since Joe Cannata's first-career start in 2008 against Army.

New Hampshire: UNH earned a split in a pair of Hockey East games this weekend…The Wildcats captured a 3-1 win on Friday night at Northeastern and dropped Saturday night's home game with Merrimack College 4-1…On Friday night, Casey DeSmith stopped a season-high 47 shots at Northeastern…The Wildcats had gone 150:29 without a goal at Matthews Arena before Grayson Downing and Eric Knodel scored just 44 seconds apart to give UNH all the offense it would need…John Henrion added a power play goal marking the team's third power play goal in a two-game span…Kevin Goumas got back on track with a pair of assists in the win on Friday. The junior forward has points in 19 of 25 games with nine multi-point efforts…New Hampshire had a season-high 52 shots on net, but could only get one past Merrimack netminder Sam Marotta on Saturday night in a 4-1 loss…The Wildcats won the season series with Northeastern 2-0-1, while the Warriors captured the series 2-1-0…UNH surpassed its 2011-12 win total with its 16th win on Friday night… Additionally, the 'Cats 11th Hockey East win matches its 2011-12 win total…New Hampshire's newly formed top line of Dan Correale, Austin Block and Grayson Downing have scored four goals in three games.

Northeastern: Northeastern plays in the 61st annual Beanpot Tournament, taking on No. 11 Boston University in the first semifinal on Monday, Feb. 4, before meeting up with either No. 5 Boston College or Harvard the following week on Feb. 11. The Huskies' first-round matchup against the archrival Terriers is the first encounter between the two squads in the Beanpot since the 2010 semifinals. NU has played five games in the tournament since then, going 2-1 against Harvard and 0-2 against BC. The 2013 edition of Boston's mid-winter classic marks the 25th anniversary since Northeastern last raised the Beanpot trophy. The Terriers have clearly held the upper hand in the Beanpot series, holding a 31-7 advantage, including winning the last 15 fixtures. Feb. 4, 2013, marks the 20th Beanpot semifinal meeting between Northeastern and BU....Northeastern has defeated all three Beanpot participants during the regular season before the actual start of the Beanpot Tournament. This has occurred just three times in school history. NU accomplished that feat under Jim Bell during the 1964-65 season followed by Bruce Crowder's 1997-98 club. In 1965, Northeastern placed third and in 1998, the Huskies finished fourth.

Providence College: In Providence's 2-2 tie at Maine on Friday night, senior defenseman Alex Velischek became the third Friar this season to reach the 100-games played plateau (joining Myles Harvey and Tim Schaller) and Velischek joined his father – former Friar great Randy Velischek who played in 138 games – to become the first father-son duo to each play 100-career games for the Friars…Providence took the season series with Maine (2-0-1) for the first time since the 2007-08 season…Since Hockey East formed, the 2012-13 campaign marks just the second time Providence has finished a regular season undefeated versus Maine (also went 2-0-1 in 2002-03)…The Friars have played eight overtime games this season (1-2-5) and 16 of Nate Leaman's first 63 games behind the Friar bench have gone to overtime…Providence is now 8-0-1 when leading after two periods and 7-1-2 when leading after the first this season…The tie snapped a five-game losing streak at Alfond Arena for the Friars…Providence is now 4-0-0 when Mark Jankowski scores a goal.

Vermont: Vermont played its first true road game since Dec. 20, 2012 on Friday night against fifth-ranked Boston College at Conte Forum…The Catamounts' penalty kill has killed off 17 of the last 19 power plays it has faced…UVM posted a 3-3 performance on Friday and has killed off 10 power plays in a row…Boston College entered the weekend with the top-ranked power play in Hockey East at 21.5%... Brody Hoffman made his 25th consecutive start and is the only rookie goalie in the nation to start every game this season. Hoffman leads the league with 1460 minutes played and 674 total saves…Anders Franzon netted his first goal of the season and the fourth of his career in the first period for UVM's only goal…Jacob Fallon picked his 10th assist of the season and is now one point behind Chris McCarthy for the team lead in scoring with 17 points…Nick Bruneteau skated in his 95th career game.