March 18, 2013

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #18 NICK SARACINO, PROVIDENCE (Freshman Forward; St. Louis, Mo.) Saracino scored four goals and added an assist in the three-game quarterfinal series vs. UNH at Schneider Arena. He had both of the Friars game-winning goals on the weekend. Saracino finished with 10 shots on goal in the series vs. the Wildcats. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #37 CONNOR HELLEBUYCK, UMASS LOWELL (Freshman Goaltender; Commerce, Mich.) Hellebuyck stopped 42 of 45 shots (.933 save%) on target in the series sweep of No. seed Maine in the quarterfinal round. He notched 24 saves in Friday's 4-2 victory and followed with 18 stops in Saturday's 2-1 overtime win lift UMass Lowell into the semifinal. HEA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #31 SEAN MAGUIRE, BOSTON UNIVERSITY (Freshman Goaltender; Powell River, B.C.) Maguire Posted a .958 save percentage and a 1.50 GAA to lead BU past Merrimack. He turned in a 30-save shutout in Friday's opener HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK PROVIDENCE COLLEGE FRIARS The Friars won their three-game series with New Hampshire and moved on to the TD Garden for the semifinals for the second straight season. Providence earned a pair of 3-2 victories on Friday and in the decisive Game 3 on Sunday afternoon at Schneider Arena.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Nick Saracino of Providence College ARMY ROTC THREE STARS AWARD At the conclusion of every Hockey East game, the " Army ROTC Three Stars of The Game" are selected by the members of the media. Congratulations to UNH's John Henrion and Martin Ouellete for sharing this season's Three Stars Award. Here are the final 2012-2013 season leaders. Rk. Name Cl. School Pts. 1. John Henrion Sr. UNH 20   Martin Ouellette Jr. ME 20 3. Casey DeSmith So. UNH 19   Jon Gillies Fr. PC 19   Joseph Pendenza Jr. UML 19 6. Bill Arnold Jr. BC 17   Johnny Gaudreau So. BC 17 8 Steven Whitney Sr. BC 16

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Ben Albertson (Sr., F, Williston, Vt.) Had Vermont's first goal on Friday night at Boston College

Patrick Brown, BC (Jr., F, Bloomfield Hill, Mich.) Tallied two point, including Saturday's decisive goal, in BC's two-game series win over UVM.

Michael Fallon, UML (Fr., F, Glenview, Ill.) Scored UMass Lowell's first goal and assisted on the game-winner in Saturday night's 2-1 overtime win.

Jon Gillies, PC (Fr., G, South Portland, Maine) Went 2-1-0 as PC downed UNH with a 2.34 GAA and a .924 save percentage.

Shane Luke, PC (So., F, Dauphin, Man.) Had three assists in PC's game one win over UNH, a career high total.

Wade Megan, BU (Sr., F, Canton, N.Y.) Scored the game-winning goal on Friday and added two assists on Saturday to push the Terriers to the semifinals.

Pat Mullane, BC (Sr., F, Wallingford, Conn.) Tallied three points (1g,2a) in BC's two-game win over Vermont.

Matt Nieto, BU (Jr., F, Long Beach, Calif.) Notched three points (2g,1a) and scored a goal in each win and added an assist on Friday for the Terriers.

Ahti Oksanen, BU (Fr., F, Kirkkonummi, Finland) Recorded three assists, five blocks and a team-best +3 rating in BU's quarterfinal sweep.

Tim Schaller, PC (Sr., F, Merrimack, N.H.) Had a goal and an assist in the New Hampshire quarterfinal series.

Devin Shore, Maine (Fr., F, Ajax, Ontario) Scored two goals and added an assist against UMass Lowell.

Matt White, UVM (Jr., F, McMurray, Pa.) Had two goals in the Quarterfinal series against Boston College.

Steven Whitney, BC (Sr., F, Reading, Mass.) Tallied two points (1g,1a) in team's 4-1 series-clinching win over Vermont.

Matt Willows, UNH (So., F, Congers, N.Y.) Recorded his first career hat trick in a 4-1 win at Providence in Game 2 on Saturday night.

Scott Wilson, UML (So., F, Oakville, Ont.) Scored two goals and set up another in UMass Lowell's two victories over Maine.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Brody Hoffman, VERMONT (Wilkie, Sask.) Eclipsed the 2,000 minute mark on Friday night at Boston College AND Moved into fifth all-time at Vermont in single-season saves with 942

Colin Markison, VERMONT (Princeton, N.J.) Skated in his 50th career game on Friday night

Pat Mullane, BC (WALLINGFORD, CONN.) became BC's third 40-point scorer over the weekend and has establ ished a new single-season career high, surpass ing his 39-point total from his 44-game junior season

Matt Nieto, BU (Long Beach, Calif.) Became the 79th Terrier to reach 100 career points with a goal in Satur day's win VS. MerrimacK

Steven Shamanski, PC (Carberry , MAN.) played his 100th career game in game two of the UNH serieS

Scott Wilson, UML (Oakville, Ont.) has six points (3G,3a) in his last five games

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: Boston College defeated Vermont on consecutive nights to capture its ninth straight berth in the Hockey East Tournament semifinal round at TD Garden … BC went 8-for-8 on the penalty kill in the two-game series and is 15-for-15 on the kill in the last three games (all against Vermont) … BC extended its unbeaten streak against the Catamounts to nine games (8-0-1), and won its 18th straight Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal game. The team's senior class improved to 14-0 in Hockey East Tournament play … Sophomore forward Johnny Gaudreau now has 10 points in the last four games; with 49 points in 33 games, Gaudreau leads the nation in points per game and ranks fourth in the country in goals per game (20 goals in 33 games) while senior forward Steven Whitney has 25 goals in 35 games and is second among all players in college hockey … Senior defenseman Patch Alber returned to action on Friday against Vermont for the first time since injuring his knee prior to Boston College's 5-3 victory over Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday, Dec. 29. The senior missed 20 games … senior Brooks Dyroff and sophomore Cam Spiro both scored their second career goals in leading the Eagles to a 4-2 win on Friday.

Boston University: BU has at least one win in each of the last 21 Hockey East tournaments, a streak nearly twice as long any other school in league history, as Boston College (2003-pres.) is second with 11 and UNH (1999-2008) is third with 10...The Terriers have reached the Hockey East semifinals in 11 of the last 12 seasons...BU had a streak of 21 straight successful penalty kills come to an end on Saturday...Matt Nieto became just the third Terrier since 2000 - joining Pete MacArthur and Nick Bonino - to reach 100 career points before the end of his junior year...Sean Maguire is the first BU goaltender since John Curry in 2006-07 to post back-to-back shutouts twice in a season...Maguire's shutout skein of 151:22 that came to an end on Saturday was the fifth longest in program history...Head coach Jack Parker, who announced last week that this season - his 40th at BU - would be his last, enters the semifinals with 896 career victories...BU went 5-0-0 against Merrimack this season and none of its players had a minus rating in any of the five contests...Sophomore Evan Rodrigues (Etobicoke, Ont.) was a combined plus-9 against Merrimack over the five victories.

Maine: Maine fell to UMass Lowell in the Hockey East quarterfinals… Maine's freshmen continued to be impressive on the weekend as the rookies tallied four of Maine's five points… The rookie class finished the season scoring 41.8 percent of Maine's total offense… Rookie Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) lea the team in scoring with six goals and 20 assists for 26 points… It is the first time that a freshman has led the team in scoring since Gustav Nyquist accomplished the feat during the 2008-09 season… Maine set a school record during the 2012-2013 season with eight ties… Goalie Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec) finished the season with a .917 save percentage… It ranks as the seventh best save percentage in a single season in Maine history… Ouellette also finishes the season with three assists, which ties for second most in Maine history.

UMass-Lowell: UMass Lowell advanced to the Hockey East Tournament semifinal for the first time since 2009 with the weekend's 4-2 and 2-1 victories over Maine…UMass Lowell meets Providence Friday (5:00) at the TD Garden. The River Hawks took two of three in the season series, highlighted with a 4-1 triumph on Mar. 9, which clinched the Hockey East regular season title…UMass Lowell is 43-50-11 all-time against the Friars and 3-3-0 in the last six meetings…UMass Lowell has won of nine of its last 10 games and is 20-3-1 since a Dec. 1 loss to New Hampshire…UMass Lowell is 12-6-2 all-time when it is the higher seed in a playoff game…Head coach Norm Bazin's two-year record of 48- 23-3 (.649) marks the most wins in consecutive years in the program's Division I era by a coach...Friday's 2-1 overtime victory against Maine marked the fourth time it has held an opponent to 20 shots on goal or less (in which it is 3-1) and 13th time it has limited foes to 25 shots or less (in which it is 11-2)…Since suffering a 5-1 loss at Denver in his first collegiate game, Connor Hellebuyck is 16-1-0 with a 1.27 goals against average and a .952 save rate (432 saves on 454 shots).

Merrimack: Merrimack's season ended Saturday as the Warriors were eliminated by Boston University in two games in the Hockey East Quarterfinals…the Warriors qualified for the playoffs for the fourth straight season for the first time since Hockey East expanded to ten teams…The Warriors finished the season on a 1-7-1 skid. They had been in first place prior to the skid…Merrimack went 0-5 against BU this season, failing to get a point against a Hockey East team for the first time since 2009…Merrimack's senior class finished as the most successful class in school history…Just two seniors (Kyle Bigos, John Heffernan) played in the postseason, as the Warriors will return virtually the same team next year…Merrimack finished with 15 league wins, the same number they had last season, which is the second-highest finish in school history...The Warriors joined BU, BC, and UNH as the only teams to finish in the top-six in Hockey East in each of the last four years.

New Hampshire: The Wildcats ended their post-season run after falling in three games to Providence College. New Hampshire fell 3-2 in game one, topped PC 4-1 in game two and fell 3-2 in the deciding game. UNH ended the season with a record of 19-11-7. Matt Willows recorded his first-career hat trick in Saturday's 4-1 victory over the Friars. His feat was the first by a Wildcat in the playoffs since Matt Fornataro and Jerry Pollastrone did so in 2008.The three points was also a career high mark. Netminder Casey DeSmith recorded 38 saves in the effort while Jeff Silengo notched a goal in his first game back. Grayson Downing and Austin Block recorded goals in the first contest while Downing and John Henrion lit the lamp in the third game.

Providence College: The win marks the first time the Friars have won a Hockey East Quarterfinal game three at Schneider Arena since March 11, 2001 (4-3 overtime win against BU)... Providence is now 4-3 all-time in Hockey East Quarterfinal game threes, and has won a Quarterfinal game three for the second season in a row ... The last time Providence defeated UNH in a Hockey East Quarterfinal series was 1995 ... The Friars will make their 11th appearance in the Hockey East Semifinals ... Nick Saracino leads the Friars in points this postseason with four goals and an assist in three games ... Saracino has eight points (6g, 2a) in his last seven games and posted ten points (7g, 3a) in six games against UNH this season ... Providence went 4- 1-1 against UNH this season, including an undefeated regular season record (2-0-1) ...The Friars have now played seven consecutive games against opponents ranked in the top-7, posting a 4-3-0 record in those games ...The Friars are making a second consecutive appearance in the Hockey East Semifinals for the first time since 1994-95 and 1995-96 ... Providence now holds a 5-0-1 record when Mark Jankowski scores a goal and a 10-1-2 record when he notches a point ... The Friars are 16-2-4 when scoring first, 15-2-4 when scoring three or more goals and 14-0-2 when leading after two periods of play.

Vermont: Vermont's season came to a close this weekend as it was swept by Boston College 4-2 and 4-1 in the Hockey East Quarterfinals in Chestnut Hill, Mass. … UVM and BC played their fifth and sixth alltime matchups in the league playoffs … The Catamounts closed the year at 11-19-6 (8-13-6 HEA) and increased their overall and league win total by five over the 2011-12 season … Matt White scored both of Vermont's shorthanded goals this season after netting one on Friday night … Colin Markison skated in his 50th career game on Friday … Freshman goalie Brody Hoffman moved into a tie for second place with Tim Thomas '97 and Rob Madore '12 on the all-time single-season games played list at Vermont with 36 … Hoffman also moved into fifth at UVM in single-season saves with 942, finishing 19 saves behind Tim Thomas '97 who stopped 961 shots during the 1994-95 campaign ... Hoffman played 95.7 percent of UVM's minutes in the net this season to rank top-5 in the nation … Chris McCarthy had 13 points in his final 12 games of the year and led Vermont with 31 points on 13 goals and 18 assists … He finished the season ranked 15th in Hockey East in scoring and seventh in shots on goal with 125.