Hockey East Online

	Reebok Player of the Week Dean Strong of Vermont

WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- In a full weekend of league play, No. 10 Vermont earned three points against No. 9 Boston College in Burlington, while No. 4 Northeastern swept Merrimack in a home and home series. Providence earned its first league win of the year with a 4-2 victory over UMass-Lowell. No. 13 UNH took three points from Massachusetts in another home and home series and No. 2 Boston University up-ended Maine on Saturday at Agganis Arena.

Vermont came from behind on Friday and Saturday to earn three points on the weekend, tying BC Friday, 3-3 and beating the Eagles 4-2 Saturday. In Friday night’s marquee matchup at Gutterson Fieldhouse, Kyle Kucharski (Saugus, Mass.) netted a pair of goals for the Eagles, opening scoring in the first and putting BC ahead 3-2 with a little over six minutes left in regulation. UVM’s Brian Roloff (West Seneca, N.Y.) went on to tie the game with one second left on the clock, before the teams ended in a stalemate after overtime. On Saturday, BC went ahead 2-0 before the Catamounts tallied four unanswered goals. Corey Carlson (Two Harbors, Minn.) scored the gamewinner for the Catamounts with over seven minutes remaining in the game and Viktor Stalberg (Gothenburg, Sweden) added an insurance empty-netter, keeping alive his career-best nine-game scoring streak. UVM captain Dean Strong’s (Mississauga, Ont.) four assists on the weekend lifted him to his 100th career point, earning him Reebok Player of the Week honors.

BU hosted Maine Saturday night, earning a convincing 4-1 victory over the Black Bears. Chris Higgins (Lynnfield, Mass.) scored the game-winner with less than a second remaining on the clock in the first period. Rookie Chris Connolly (Duluth, Minn.) notched a career-high two goals in the victory. Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) scored the lone Maine goal. The win marked the Terriers’ fifth in a row and they are riding an eight-game unbeaten streak. BU returns to action Tuesday night for a mid-week game against Providence.

Northeastern swept its weekend series with Merrimack, downing the Warriors 2-1 both Friday and Saturday nights. Ryan Ginand (Milford, Mass.) broke a 1-1 knot in the final stanza Friday night at Matthews Arena, while Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week Brad Thiessen (Aldergrove, B.C.) stopped 31 shots on the night. Joe Cucci (Melrose Park, Ill.) scored the lone Warrior goal. Back in action on Saturday in North Andover, Merrimack’s Andrew Braithwaite (Kingston, Ont.) stopped 31 shots, while his NU counterpart, Thiessen, made another 30 saves, bringing his weekend save percentage to .968. Rob Rassey (Shelby Township, Mich.) had a hand in both Husky goals, assisting on the first and potting the game-winner in the second.

UNH earned three points on the weekend, tying UMass on Friday in Amherst and earning an overtime victory Saturday at the Whittemore Center. Mike Sislo (Superior, Wis.) netted a short-handed goal to break a 1-1 tie in the second before UMass’ Cory Quirk (Brockton, Mass.) tied it back up with four seconds remaining in regulation. Brian Foster (Pembroke, N.H.) amassed 31 saves on the night. The Wildcats made the most of the extra frame on Saturday night in Durham, as Bobby Butler (Marlborough, Mass.) scored at 1:36 in overtime to lift UNH over the Minutemen. UMass netminder Dan Meyers (Voorhees, N.J.) made an impressive 41 saves in the loss, for a weekend total of 70, while Foster stopped an additional 35, bringing his weekend total to 66. The Wildcats are now unbeaten in their last six games (5-0-1).

The Friars picked up their first league win of the season in a 3-2 victory over UMass-Lowell in Providence on Saturday. John Cavanagh (Warwick, R.I.) netted two goals for the Friars, including the game-winner in the third. UML’s Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, Alb.) scored and added an assist in the losing effort. PC netminder Alex Beaudry (Cumberland, Ont.) stopped 19 in his first collegiate start, earning him Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week honors.

Bobby Butler, UNH (Jr., F, Marlboro, Mass.) Scored a pair of goals on the weekend, including the game-winning goal in OT on Saturday night vs. UMass.

John Cavanagh, PC (Jr., Warwick, R.I.) Scored a career-high two goals, including the game winner to lead Providence to a 4-2 win over UMass Lowell.

Chris Connolly, BU (Fr., F, Duluth, Minn.) Turned in the first two-goal game of his career to lead BU to a 4-1 home victory over Maine on Saturday.

Maury Edwards, UML (So., F, Rocky Rapids, Alb.) Had a goal and an assist for his third multi-point game of the season.

Chris Higgins, BU (Sr., F, Lynnfield, Mass.) Scored the game-winning goal in 4-1 win over Maine with tally in final second of first period.

Kevin Kapstad, UNH (Sr., D, Boxboro, Mass.) Recorded assists in each of the Wildcats games this weekend.

Peter Lenes, UVM (Sr., F, Shelburne, Vt.) Scored two goals and an assist as UVM earned three points against BC on the weekend.

Dan Meyers, UMass (Jr., G, Voorhees, N.J.) Made 70 saves vs. UNH this weekend. He made a career-high 41 saves on Saturday night at UNH.

Rob Madore, UVM (Fr., G, Venetia, Pa.) Stopped 40 of 45 shots on the weekend picking up a win and a tie against No. 9 BC.

Kieran Millan, BU (Fr., G, Edmonton, Alb.) Stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced in the Terriers’ 4-1 win against Maine to improve his record to 10-1-1.

Mike Potacco, UML (Sr., F, Kinnelon, N.J.) Scored his fifth goal of the season and tied for a team-high with three shots on goal Saturday at PC.

Steve Quailer, NU (Fr., F, Arvada, Colo.) Converted NU’s first penalty shot goal in several years in Northeastern’s 2-1 win over Merrimack on Friday.

Mike Sislo, UNH (So., F, Superior, Wis.) Had goals in each game this weekend including a short-handed goal in the Wildcats’ tie with UMass on Friday.

Viktor Stålberg, UVM (Jr., F, Gothenburg, Sweden) Had two goals and had nine shots in a win and a tie against Boston College on the weekend.

Jesse Todd, MC (Fr., F, Camrose, Alb.) Assisted on both of Merrimack’s goals over the weekend against Northeastern.

Casey Wellman, UMass (Fr., F, Brentwood, Calif.) Netted three assists in a tie and a loss with No. 13 New Hampshire.

Alex Beaudry, PC (Cumberland, Ont.) Made his collegiate debut on Saturday and recorded his first win by making 19 saves vs. UMass-Lowell

Kevin Kapstad, UNH (BOXBORO, MASS.) Has an eight-game scoring streak dating back to Nov. 22 with 10 points during that span (1g,9a)

Bobby Butler, UNH (Marlboro, Mass.) Has scored a goal in three-straight games with two of those gamewinners. Butler has 10 points (4g,6a) in a current seven-game scoring streak

Mike Sislo, UNH (Superior, Wis.) Has seven goals in the last three games, including two short-handed tallies

Viktor Stålberg, UVM (Gothenburg, Sweden) Has a career best nine-game scoring streak and he has recorded at least one point in 12 of the last 13 games

Dean Strong, UVM (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded his 100th career point with an assist on Vermont’s gamewinning goal in a 4-2 victory against Boston College on Saturday. Strong became the 41st Catamount to reach the 100-point mark

UMASS’ LINE OF SYNER, WELLMAN, ORTIZ In the last four games, UMass’ line of T.J. Syner (Springfield, Mass.), Casey Wellman (Brentwood, Calif.), Will Ortiz (Framingham, Mass.) has amassed 13 points (6g,7a) and a +15 rating, which accounts for 49% of UMass’ scoring during that time

Jan. 12, 2002: A SRO crowd of 6,796, the largest to ever see a college hockey game in Lowell, turns out at the Tsongas Arena and watches UMass-Lowell beat No. 10 BC, 8-4.

Jan. 14, 2002: The UMass-Lowell hockey team, off to a 16-3-1 start, is ranked third in the country in the U.S. College Hockey Online and USA Today polls. It is the highest ranking in the school’s history.

Jan. 16, 1987: Junior Jon Morris records three points (2g, 1a) and reaches 100 career points in a game against Maine at the Tully Forum.

Jan. 17-18, 1986: BU won three overtime games in the course of five days, posting a 5-4 win at Northeastern on Jan. 14 before recording a home sweep against Northern Michigan by scores of 5-4 and 8-7.

Boston College: Senior forward Kyle Kucharski (Saugus, Mass.) scored twice the team’s 3-3 tie Friday, marking the first multiple-point performance of his collegiate career…Senior forward Andrew Orpik assisted on both Kucharski goals in the team’s 3-3 tie on Friday, marking his sixth and seventh assists of the season, matching then snapping his single-season career high registered during both his sophomore (2006-07) and junior (2007-08) campaigns…Junior Matt Price tallied his second multiple-assist effort of the season and the third of his career in Friday’s 3-3 tie…BC is 35-for-38 (92.1%) in penaltykilling situations in the last eight games. Vermont’s power-play goal with one second left in regulation in the team’s 3-3 tie on Friday snapped a string of 21 straight penalty kills dating back to a 5-1 win over Harvard (Nov. 28)...BC has been outshot in each of the last four games and are 0-2-2 during this stretch. The team is averaging 1.80 goals per game and 21.5 shots per game during this winless streak.

Boston University: BU has scored at least one goal in 15 straight periods...The Terriers had their penalty-kill streak come to an end at 28 in their 4-1 win over Maine, but the penalty kill unit has still been successful 39 of the last 41 times...BU has allowed two goals or less in every contest of its current eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1)...The Terriers have scored first in 15 games this season, including 10 of their last 11...BU has outscored its opponents in the third period this season by a 25-11 margin...The Terriers have allowed one goal or less in eight games this season, matching their total from the entire 2007-08 campaign...BU’s senior class is now 9-0-1 against Maine...The Terriers will return to action on Friday when they travel to face Merrimack having won their last 13 contests against the Warriors.

Maine: Maine’s defensemen were held off the scoresheet for the first time against BU since not registering a point at Providence on Nov. 15...It is just the fourth time all season that a Maine defenseman did not figure in the scoring... Maine tied its season low as it was whistled for just three penalties on Saturday night at Boston University...Maine has just five players who have seen action in all 20 games this season... Nine of Maine’s 14 returning players this season have either set to tied career highs in points scored...Maine has 20 power play goals on the season, one more than it finished with all of last season...Maine will play its final non-conference game of the season when it hosts Bentley on Friday night.

Massachusetts: UMass is 9-1-0 when scoring three or more goals this year and 0-8-2 when scoring fewer than three goals…In the 99 games of the all-time series with New Hampshire, this was the first time the two teams played in three straight overtime games…UMass has been outscored 15-to- 12 in the last five games…UMass has played in five overtime games this season going 1-2-2…UMass pulled Meyers from goal to score the game-tying goal on Friday which was the third goal this season UMass has scored in four times with a pulled goalie…UMass has scored 20 goals in each period this season and 1 in overtime periods…UMass is 8-2-0 when leading after two periods this year and 0-7-1 when trailing after two…when UMass scores the first goal of the game, the Minutemen are 8-3-1 and 1-6-1 when scored on first.

UMass-Lowell: After scoring 46 goals in their first 13 games (3.54), the River Hawks have netted just eight goals during their six-game losing streak (1.33) … All 11 of UML’s losses have come by two goals or less; 2-11-0 in games decided by two goals or less…Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, Alb.) had a goal and an assist Saturday night in Providence, his third multi-point game of the season…The River Hawks have a power play goal in three straight games and are 3-for- 11 (27.3%) in that span…UMass-Lowell visits Boston College Friday night (7:30 p.m., NESN) and host Massachusetts Saturday night.

Merrimack: Jesse Todd has a three-game point streak (1g, 2a)…Chris Barton (Calgary, Alb.), who leads the Warriors with 14 points, has points in five of his last six games…Eight of Merrimack’s 11 losses this season have been by one goal…Steve Qualier’s penalty shot against the Warriors on Friday was the first penalty shot in a Merrimack game since Warrior goaltender Jim Healey stopped a penalty shot against Maine back in the 2005-06 season…Rob Ricci (Brampton, Ont.) posted nine shots on goal over the weekend. He has 31 shots in his last seven games…Merrimack is outshooting its opponents 185-158 in the first period…The Warriors conclude a stretch of three straight games against top five teams nationally Friday against #2 Boston University at Lawler Arena.

New Hampshire: UNH is unbeaten in its last six games (5-0-1), the last time the Wildcats were unbeaten through six games was during a stretch in which they went 9-0-2 from Jan. 25 to March 1, 2008...UNH owns the longest streak in the nation without being shutout at 74 games. The last time the Wildcats were blanked was a 3-0 loss at UMass on Jan. 20, 2007. Overall, UNH has only been shutout once in since the start of the 2006-07 season a span of 96 games...Saturday night’s win in overtime was the first overime win for the ‘Cats since a Nov. 17, 2007 at Providence...With the series win over UMass, UNH is unbeaten in its last 12 Hockey East season series (10-0-2). The last time the Wildcats lost a HE series was when it dropped the opening season of 2007-08 to Northeastern with a 4-1 loss on Nov. 16, 2007.

Northeastern: Northeastern is off to its best start ever through 20 games at 14-4-2, posting a .750 winning percentage that ranks fifth, nationally. Northeastern’s 10-2-1 Hockey East start is its best ever, by far...Ryan Ginand (Milford, Mass.) posted his career-high 11th goal of the season on Friday night. He leads NU with an 11-5-16 scoring line...Goalie Brad Thiessen played in his 90th career game on Saturday, tying him for third in career games played by a goalie with Mike Veisor (1992-96). He also ranks third all-time in wins (41) and saves (2562) and is NU’s all-time leader in shutouts (eight), goals against average (2.41) and save percentage (.922)...NU has held opponents scoreless on power plays in 11 games and to a goal or less in 18 of 20 games. NU’s 90.5 percent penalty kill is best in Hockey East and ranks fourth in the nation.

Providence College: The Friars picked up their first Hockey East win of the season with a 4-2 triumph over UMass Lowell on Saturday…Junior co-captain John Cavanagh scored a career-high two goals, including the game winner to lead the Friars…John Cavanagh’s seven goals this season are one more than he had in his first two seasons at Providence…John Cavanagh’s cousin, David Cavanagh, assisted on both of John’s goals…Freshman Matt Bergland (Faribault, Minn.) extended his point streak to four games (2g,3a) as he picked up an assist against UMass Lowell…Of the 39 goals scored by the Friars this season, 18 have come in the third period, including 11 in the last seven games…The Friars have won consecutive games for the first time this season…PC will now play three games in five days all on the road…Senior Nick Mazzolini (Anchorage, Alaska) played for the first time since November 7 because of injury…Half of Pierce Norton’s (South Boston, Mass.) 26 career goals have come on the man advantage, including four this season.

Vermont: The Catamounts are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games… Vermont is unbeaten in 45 straight contests when scoring at least four goals and is 11-2-2 this season when recording at least three goals…The Catamounts are 5-3-2 against ranked opponents this season and according to the USCHO.com RPI they have played the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country... Vermont ranks No. 3 in the latest PairWise Ratings…Frank “Mac” McIntosh was honored before Saturday’s 4-2 win against Boston College for his 31 years of service as a volunteer general manager with the Catamounts. Head coach Kevin Sneddon gave McIntosh the game puck following the win...UVM went 1-1-1 against BC in the regular season series…Vermont visits Northeastern for a pair of games this weekend…The Huskies won this season’s first meeting 5-3 on Nov. 14…Vermont is 7-3-3 against Northeastern since joining Hockey East.