Hockey East Online

	CCM / RBK Player of the Week Pete MacArthur of Boston University

WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Minutemen earned the final playoff spot with a weekend sweep of Merrimack, while Boston University and Maine also swept their respective series with Providence College and UMass over the weekend.

The Minutemen won the series opener with the Warriors at the Mullins Center on Friday, 5-2 and then earned a 4-2 road victory on Saturday night at Lawler Arena to secure the last playoff berth. Freshman goaltender Paul Dainton (Genelle, B.C.) made 54 saves on the weekend with a .930 save percentage, while freshman forward James Marcou (King Park, N.Y.) recorded a team-high five points in the series, all by way of assists.

Vermont earned the third seed in the upcoming tournament with a weekend split with No. 3 New Hampshire. The Catamounts picked up a 4-3 victory on Saturday night, after the Wildcats won the series opener, 3-1, on Friday night at the Whittemore Center. UVM freshman blueliner Dan Lawson (Oak Forest, Ill.) scored two goals on Saturday, including the game-winner in the third period in the win. Sophomore forward Bobby Butler (Marlboro, Mass.) also scored two goals on Friday night in the triumph for the Wildcats. The Wildcats’ Kevin Regan (South Boston, Mass.) was crowned the league goaltending champion with a 1.83 GAA in league play.

The Terriers shut out the Friars in both games with a 6-0 win on Thursday night at Schneider Arena and a 2-0 victory on Friday night in Boston, Mass. Senior forward Pete MacArthur (Clifton Park, N.Y.) scored a natural hat trick on Thursday night, while Brett Bennett (Williamsville, N.Y.) tallied 26 saves in his 14th win of the season. On Saturday night, goalie Karson Gillespie (Mankota, Sask.) started on senior night and made 33 saves in the game, including 15 in the final period. BU closed out the regular season winning nine of its last 10 games. BU senior forward Bryan Ewing (Plymouth, Mass.) won the Hockey East scoring title with 35 points (13g,22a) in 26 league contests.

Maine won the last three games of its season, after a 4-1 win on Friday night at Alfond Arena against UMass-Lowell and a 2-1 overtime win on Saturday. Senior captain Travis Ramsey (Lakewood, Calif.) scored with 2:40 left in the extra frame to earn the games No. 1 star. Junior goalie Ben Bishop (Des Peres, Mo.) also had a strong weekend for Maine with two wins and 0.98 GAA and a .957 save percentage, which included 45 saves in the two-game set.

No. 9 Boston College split its weekend series with Northeastern, as the Huskies pulled out a 3-2 overtime win on Wade MacLeod’s (Coquitlam, B.C.) overtime goal with 1:04 remaining at Conte Forum on Friday night. On Saturday night, the Eagles got back in the win column with a 4-1 victory at Matthews Arena. BC freshman goalie John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.) recorded 35 saves in the win for his 17th of the season. Muse posted a .943 save percentage in the series over the weekend.

Ben Bishop, Maine (Jr., G, Des Peres, Mo.) Went 2-0-0 on the week with a 0.98 GAA and a .957 save percentage...Made 25 saves on Friday night and 20 saves on Saturday.

Brett Bennett, BU (So., G, Williamsville, N.Y.) Recorded his third shutout in his last six starts with a 26-save performance at Providence

Karson Gillespie, BU (Sr., G, Mankota, Sask.) Returned from injury to post a 33-save shutout in a 2-0 home victory over Providence

Nick Bonino, BU (Fr., F, Unionville, Conn.) Tallied two goals and an assist in the Terriers’ sweep over Providence.

Bobby Butler, UNH (So., F, Marlboro, Mass.) Powered the Wildcats to a 3-1 win over Vermont on Friday. Butler potted a career-high two goals and added an assist on the other goal.

Joe Cucci, MC (Fr., C, Melrose Park, Ill.) Tallied a goal and an assist in Merrimack’s 4-2 loss to UMass Saturday.

Joe Fallon, UVM (Sr., G, Bemidji, Minn.) Made 46 saves, including 10 on the penalty kill, in a weekend split at No. 3 UNH.

Matt Gilroy, BU (Jr., D, North Bellmore, N.Y.) Earned an assist in each game and spearheaded an impressive defensive effort against PC.

Mike Kostka, UMass (Sr., D, Ajax, Ont.) Notched two goals, added an assist, and finished the weekend with a +3 rating.

Wade MacLeod, NU (Fr., Forward, Coquitlam, B.C.) Scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as Northeastern beat Boston College 3-2 on Friday night at Conte Forum.

James Marcou, UMass (Fr., F, Kings Park, N.Y.) Tallied a team-high five assists in two wins over Merrimack. On Saturday night, he tied his season-high with three.

John Muse, BC (Fr., G, East Falmouth, Mass.) Registered a 1.94 GAA (.943 save%) in BC’s two games vs. NU, he stopped 31 shots on Friday made 35 saves in the win on Saturday.

Kevin Regan, UNH (Sr., G, South Boston, Mass.) Turned away 19 shots on Friday night in a win over Vermont and stopped 20 shots on Saturday night against the Catamounts.

Bret Tyler, Maine (Sr., D, Maynard, Mass.) Scored a pair of goals in Maine’s 4-1 win over UMass Lowell on Friday night.

Boston College: Freshman goalie John Muse leads the nation in minutes played, having played every minute of all 36 BC games this season. Muse has tallied a 2.38 GAA and a .913 save percentage. He has registered 30 or more saves 10 times. With 915 saves this season, Muse ranks eighth on BC’s single-season saves list, surpassing David Littman who tallied 912 saves during both the 1987-88 and 1988-89 campaigns…BC has played 12 overtime games this season, establishing a new single-season record…Senior forward Pat Gannon (Arlington, Mass.) tallied two assists against the Huskies on Friday. Gannon has totaled a career-high 16 points (4g,12a)…Freshman forward Brian Gibbons (Braintree, Mass.) registered two points (1g,1a) in BC’s 4-1 victory at Northeastern on Saturday, marking his seventh multiple-point performance of the season…Junior Nathan Gerbe (Oxford, Mich.) registered two points (1g,1a) Saturday at NU, marking his 13th multiple-point effort this season. Gerbe has scored 60 career goals and is tied with Ken Hodge (1984-87) and Jim Mullen (1963-66) for 32nd on BC’s all-time list.

Boston University: BU went 12-3-2 in its 17 league games after the holiday break with two of the losses coming against regular-season champion New Hampshire...Having won their last six home games, an Agganis Arena record, the Terriers will look for seven in a row for the first time since stringing 10 consecutive wins together spanning two seasons in 1997 (Feb. 28-Nov. 29)...BU secured home ice in the league quarterfinals for the fourth straight year...Pete MacArthur reached the 40-point plateau for the first time in his career following Thursday’s hat trick, and classmate Bryan Ewing is right behind with 39 points. BU has not had multiple 40-point scorers since 1999-00, when three Terriers reached the mark (Tommi Degerman, 43; Chris Heron, 43; Carl Corazzini, 42)...Ewing and MacArthur finished 1-2 in the league in scoring during conference play.

Maine: The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team finishes the season winning five of its last six games...Maine’s Ben Bishop played in and was the goalie of record in all 34 games this season...His 1972:09 minutes ranks fourth on Maine’s single season minutes played list... Maine was 9-3-1 when scoring first this season, but only 4-15-2 when it opponents scored first...Two of the wins came this weekend against UMass Lowell as the River Hawks scored first in both games...Billy Ryan (Milton, Mass.) finishes his career with 92 career points, while defenseman Bret Tyler (Maynard, Mass.) was right behind him with 89 career points...Thirteen of Maine’s 18 losses were by two goals or less this season...Maine’s will lose eight seniors to graduation this year.

Massachusetts: UMass improves to 44-2-1 in the last 47 games where the Minutemen score four-or-more goals in a game…UMass is now 14-3-2 when scoring 3-or-more goals in a game this season…Friday night’s five-goal explosion was the seventh time UMass has done so this season…The Minutemen have now scored 14 goals in the last three games (all wins), the most goals scored in any three-game stretch this season…UMass is 8-for-39 (.205) on the power play in the last seven games and have at least one power play goal in six of the last eight games…Massachusetts has won three straight games which is the second such stretch this season.

UMass-Lowell: Despite being swept in a weekend series for the second time in the last three weeks the River Hawks finish the 2007-08 regular season with 15 wins, seven more than their 2006-07 total…UML’s winless streak at Maine is now 14 games (0-13-1)…The River Hawks scored first in both games over the weekend, but lost both contests. They are 11-8-1 when scoring first this season…Lowell falls to 0-11-1 when scoring two goals or less…Kory Falite (Billerica, Mass.) had a goal and an assist at Maine and has a four game point streak (2g, 4a)…The River Hawks went 1-2-0 against Boston University, their 2008 Hockey East playoff first round opponent.

Merrimack: Rob Ricci (Brampton, Ont.), Matt Jones (Kentwood, Mich.) and J.C. Robitaille (Des Ruisseaux, Que.) combined to score 38 goals this season, one more than the entire Warrior team scored in 2006-07... Merrimack finished with a .500 record (7-7-2) at home, finishing at .500 for the first time since 2002-03. The Warriors won just six games at home in 2005-06 and 2006-07 combined...The Warriors allowed 93 goals this season, 82 in Hockey East, marking the fewest goals they’ve allowed in a season in both categories since joining Hockey East in 1988...Weekend sweeps over Bemidji State, Maine and Providence highlighted Merrimack’s season...This season’s team will remain virtually intact next year as Derek Pallardy (Chesterfield, Mo.) is the lone senior. Merrimack had just two juniors (Grant Farrell (Calgary, Alb.) and Pat Watson (Waltham, Mass.) in uniform for most of the season.

New Hampshire: Bobby Butler had a career-high to goals and added an assist to account for all three goals in the 3-1 win...Thomas Fortney netted his first goal of the season to open the game on Saturday...Vermont’s 4- 3 win on Saturday snapped UNH’s season-best 12-game unbeaten streak... The loss of the Wildcats first in league play in 16 games dating back to a loss at Massachusetts on Dec. 8, 2007...The Minutemen will come to town next weekend for a best-of- three Hockey East quarterfinal series...UMass and UNH aren’t strangers when it comes to the Hockey East playoffs as the two have had some memorable battles...Last year, Butler netted the game-winner in UNH’s 3-2 double-overtime win in the semifinals, while the Minutemen captured a 5-2 win at the FleetCenter in 2004.

Northeastern: Northeastern’s sixth-place finish in Hockey East is its highest since 2004-05. The last time NU finished higher was 2001-02 (fifth)...Four of Northeastern’s last seven games against Boston College have gone to overtime and Northeastern holds a 3-0-1 edge in those contests. Northeastern is 3-1-3 in overtime this season and 6-2-7 in its last 15 overtime games dating back to its 3-3 tie with Boston College on Nov. 17, 2006...With two wins over BC in three games this season, Northeastern won the season series against Boston College for the first time since 1994-95. It’s only the sixth season since NU first played BC in 1932-33 that Northeastern won the season series. It is the first time Northeastern has ever beaten BC on its home ice twice in the same season...Wade MacLeod had his third two-point game in a row on Friday night with two goals. He had five goals and an assist over three games...three Huskies have scored overtime goals this season: MacLeod, Chris Donovan (Fairfax Station, Va.) and Jimmy Russo (So. Weymouth, Mass.).

Providence College: The Friars will face Boston College for the third time ever in the Hockey East Quarterfinals and the first time since 1998…The Friars have posted a 2-0-1 record against the Eagles this seasons with both wins coming at Kelley Rink in February…Senior Jon Rheault (Deering, N.H.), who played in his 140th career game on Friday, moved into a tie for 22nd all-time at PC in career games played…Sophomore goalie Ryan Simpson (Bow, N.H.) made his first appearance in goal for PC since November 2006 when he suffered an injury.

Vermont: The Catamounts are 10-4-2 in their last 16 games…Vermont’s No. 3 seed for the Hockey East Tournament is its best since joining the league three years ago…The Catamounts were seeded sixth the last two seasons…Vermont ended New Hampshire’s 12-game unbeaten streak on Saturday with a 4-3 victory…It was the first win for the Catamounts at the Whittemore Center since Oct. 19, 1996…The loss was the first in Hockey East play for UNH since Dec. 8…The Catamounts have just four wins in 37 road games all-time against UNH…UVM is unbeaten in 37 straight games when scoring at least four goals…Freshman Chris Atkinson (Sparta, N.J.) had a career-high two assists in Saturday’s win over UNH…Third-seeded Vermont meets sixth-seeded Northeastern in a best-of-three Hockey East Quarterfinal series at Gutterson Fieldhouse beginning on Friday at 7:05pm…The Catamounts went 1-1-1 against NU in the regular season series.