CCM / RBK Hockey Player of the Week Danny O'Brien of UMass Lowell

The balance of power shifted somewhat last week as five Hockey East teams posted impressive two-game sweeps while the other five had little to show for their efforts.

UMass Lowell picked up back-to-back wins (both in league play) for just the second time this year, overpowering state rival Massachusetts Friday, 6-2, and following that with a dramatic 4-3 comeback win in overtime at Providence on Sunday. Senior Danny O'Brien dominated the set, scoring a goal and two assists vs. UMass and the OT goal to complete his first career hat trick vs. the Friars. PC got two goals from defenseman James Pemberton while Chase Watson set up all three scores, but it was not enough to get a point against UML goaltender Peter Vetri, who stopped 38 of 41 shots in the victory.

Boston University made a big leap forward by sweeping Maine in a two-game series at Agganis Arena, 3-2 and 5-4. There were contributions from everywhere, but the line of Brian Ewing, Peter MacArthur and Kenny Roche was the most productive, combining for five goals and 10 points total. Greg Moore was responsible for three of Maine's six goals on the weekend.

Boston College solidified its grip on first place by posting back-to-back wins over Merrimack to run its record to 10-1-1 in the last 12. But the last-place Warriors made both games interesting, with just a 19-18 shot disadvantage in Friday's narrow 2-1 loss and a 37-shot barrage in Saturday's rematch. Cory Schneider was perfect in the game, however, collecting his third shutout of the season.

Vermont's Joe Fallon was unbeatable in both games vs. Northeastern, posting his fourth and fifth shutouts of the season and 10th and 11th of his career. Both represent new records for Vermont. Fallon needed to make just 33 saves over the two contests to run his current shutout streak to 134:41.

UNH evened up its non-conference record at 4-4-1 with wins over Yale and Dartmouth, thanks largely to the workhorse efforts of goaltenders Jeff Pietrasiak (45 saves in 4-1 win at Yale) and Kevin Regan (43 saves in 5-4 win over Dartmouth). Defenseman Brian Yandle quarterbacked the offense, with two goals vs. Yale and two power play assists vs. Dartmouth.

CCM / RBK HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE WEEK

DANNY O’BRIEN – UMass Lowell
Senior Forward; South Boston, MA
Contributed three points in each of two important league wins, including his first career hat trick capped by an overtime goal in Sunday’s 4-3 win at Providence.

BRANDON YIP – Boston University
Freshman Forward; Maple Ridge, BC
Set up three of BU’s eight goals in a two-game sweep of Maine, including two third-period scores in Friday’s 3-2 comeback victory.

Joe Fallon, Vermont
So. G; Bemidji, MN
Notched back-to-back shutouts once again, totalling 33 saves in a sweep of Northeastern.

Cory Schneider, Boston College
So. G; Marblehead, MA
Stopped 54 of 55 shots in a sweep of Merrimack, including all 37 in Saturday’s shutout.

Brian Boyle, BC (Jr. F; Hingham, MA) - Scored two goals to lead a convincing 5-0 win at Merrimack Saturday.

John Curry, BU (Jr. G; Shorewood, MN) - Stopped 29 of 31 shots faced in a gritty 3-2 win vs. Maine Friday.

Derek Damon, Maine (Sr. F; Bangor, ME) - Had a goal and two assists in a narrow 5-4 loss at BU Saturday.

Mike Lundin, Maine (Jr. D; Apple Valley, MN) - Blueliner set up three of Maine's six goals in a two-game set at BU.

Peter MacArthur, BU (So. F; Clifton Park, NY) - Had two points in each game of a weekend sweep of Maine.

Greg Moore, Maine (Sr. F; Lisbon, ME) - Scored three of Maine's six goals in a weekend series at BU.

James Pemberton, PC (Sr. D; Cumberland, RI) - Blueliner scored two of PC's three goals Sunday vs. Lowell.

Jeff Pietrasiak, UNH (Sr. G; Shrewsbury, MA) - Registered a career high 45 saves in an impressive 4-1 win at Yale.

Kevin Regan, UNH (So. G; South Boston, MA) - Had to stop 43 shots in a 5-4 win over Dartmouth Saturday.

Kenny Roche, BU (Jr. F; South Boston, MA) - Led BU's sweep of Maine with three goals and one assist.

Jason Tejchma, UML (Jr. F; Muskegon, MI) - Led a 6-2 win vs. Massachusetts Friday, scoring twice and adding one assist.

Peter Vetri, UML (So. G; Windham, NH) - Stopped 66 of 71 shots over two league wins, including 38 of 41 in a 4-3 OT win at Providence.

Chase Watson, PC (Jr. F; Media, PA) - Set up all three Friar goals Sunday vs. UMass Lowell.

Brian Yandle, UNH (Sr. D; Milton, MA) - Had two points in each of two wins, scoring two goals at Yale and setting up two vs. Dartmouth.

Dan Bertram, BC (So. F; Calgary, AB) - Has tallied at least one point in each of his last six games.

Joe Fallon, UVM (So. G; Bemidji, MN) - Has posted a 0.66 GAA and a .970 save percentage in his last seven games, a span which has included four shutouts.

Benn Ferriero, BC (Fr. F; Essex, MA) - Rookie had a goal in each game this weekend and now has a fourgame goal-scoring streak.

The UNH Line of Jerry Pollastrone, Brian Pouliot and Trevor Smith - Each player on the new unit had a goal and two assists over two games last week. Smith boasts a six-game point streak.

Boston College - Boasts an 10-1-1 record and a 46- 20 goal differential over the past 12 games.

Boston College: Cory Schneider now has allowed just one goal in three career games vs. Merrimack, all wins. He boasts a 0.33 GAA and a .986 save percentage all-time vs. the Warriors.

Boston University: BU is on a season-best three game winning streak and has won five of its last six games ... BU's season series sweep vs. Maine was its first since the 1997- 98 season ... John Laliberte's power-play goal versus Maine on Friday ended a streak of 30 straight successful penalty kills by Maine. Maine has allowed just seven power play goals this season, and BU has two of them. The Terriers have also scored five of the 12 goals that Maine's Matt Lundin (the nation's leading goaltender) has allowed this season.

University of Maine: Greg Moore has scored goals in three straight games, and his 15 on the season ranks secondmost among Hockey East players ... Maine was tied after the first period in both games this weekend, but lost both. The Black Bears are 6-6-0 overall when tied after the first period, but 3-0 when down after the first period.

University of Massachusetts: Cory Quirk and Chris Capraro extended their respective point streaks to four games each Friday at Lowell.

UMass Lowell: Sunday's contest at Providence was the first time this season that UML went into overtime ...The River Hawks are 3-13 on Fridays and Saturdays this season, but are 5-0 on other days ... Sophomore Paul D'Agostino scored his first collegiate point with an assist in Friday's win.

Merrimack College: Bryan Schmidt scored Merrimack's first short-handed goal of the season Friday vs. BC, tying Mike Boyce's Warrior record for career goals by a defenseman (32).

University of New Hampshire: Jacob Micflikier was named the RiverStone Cup MVP with his goal to defeat Dartmouth, 5-4 on Saturday night with just 14.9 seconds remaining in regulation ... Wednesday's win at Yale was the 1000th win in school history ... The two wins last week enabled UNH to even its non-conference record at 4-4-1 this season.

Northeastern University: This weekend marked the first time in school history that NU has been shut out in both games of a weekend series. They have been blanked six times this season, tying the school record ... Goalie Doug Jewer has played in each of the last five games for Northeastern, including four starts, and has a 2.64 GAA and a .916 save-percentage in those games.

Providence College: After going unbeaten (7-0-1) in its first eight home games, the Friars have now lost two straight at home ... Sophomore Jon Rheault's career high seven-game point streak came to end Sunday ... The Friar defensemen have accounted for 14 goals this season, double their total from last year.

University of Vermont: Vermont has posted four consecutive shutouts at home, going 245 consecutive minutes at the Gutterson Fieldhouse without allowing a goal ... Joe Fallon has six shutouts this season and 11 in his career, both new Vermont records ... Vermont is second in the country in scoring defense (1.55 GAPG) and on the penalty kill (91 percent).