Hockey East Online

	Reebok Player of the Week Viktor Stalberg of Vermont

WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- In a high-profile Top-10 matchup in league play, No. 7 Vermont and No. 4 Northeastern split their weekend series. The No. 2 Boston University Terriers gathered four points on the weekend, defeating Merrimack and No. 12 Boston College. Providence picked up its fourth win in a row on Friday night, while UMass-Lowell topped the Eagles in overtime on Friday, before falling to Massachusetts on Saturday.

In the first game of the weekend series at Matthews Arena, it was Wade MacLeod’s (Coquitlam, B.C.) late goal in the third that lifted the Huskies over Vermont 3-1. Viktor Stålberg (Gothenburg, Sweden) netted the lone Catamount goal. Back in action on Saturday, Vermont bounced back, earning a 4-2 victory. Stalberg tallied three points on the night, extending his scoring streak to a league-best and career-best 11 games. The Catamounts outshot the Huskies 40-22 in the victory.

BU headed to North Andover on Friday night for a tilt against Merrimack, which they won 4-1. Senior Jason Lawrence (Saugus, Mass.) netted a pair of power play goals in the victory, while J.C. Robitaille (Des Ruisseaux, Que.) registered the lone Warrior goal. The Terriers went on to host BC on Saturday night, defeating the Eagles 5-2. BU notched four power play goals and managed to outshoot their opponent 46-21. Rookie David Warsofsky (Marshfield, Mass.) earned three assists in the victory. Eagle netminder John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.) made an impressive 41 saves in the losing effort, while BU blueliner Colby Cohen (Villanova, Pa.) potted a goal in the second and added an assist on the night.

The Eagles hosted UMass-Lowell on Friday night at Conte Forum, falling 3-2 in overtime. As the clock wound down, the River Hawks trailed the Eagles 2-1 and pulled their goalie, allowing Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.) to tie the game with 45 seconds left. Again with only 45 ticks remaining in overtime, junior Nick Schaus (Orchard Park, N.Y.) slid the puck past Muse to lift UML over BC. The River Hawks hosted Massachusetts on Saturday at Tsongas Arena, but fell to the Minutemen 4-3. Alex Berry (Danvers, Mass.) registered a goal and an assist in a game that saw seventeen different players get on the scoring sheet. UML’s Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, Alb.) tallied two points in the losing effort.

Providence continued its dominant play of late, defeating the Minutemen 5-4, behind netminder Alex Beaudry’s (Cumberland, Ont.) 42-save performance. Senior Matt Taormina’s (Washington Township, Mich.) fourth goal of the season, netted with just under a minute left in regulation, lifted the Friars over the Minutmen. The Friars then traveled to Maine for a Sunday afternoon game, where they tied the Black Bears 2-2. Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) assisted on both Maine goals, while Nick Mazzolini’s (Anchorage, Alaska) third period goal tied the game at two apiece. Beaudry enjoyed another 40-save performance, bringing his week-long total to 121 over three games and the Friars’ unbeaten streak to five games.

Outside of league play, No. 13 New Hampshire downed Dartmouth, 6-4 on Saturday in Manchester, N.H. Six Wildcats registered multiple-point nights on their way to winning the Battle for the Riverstone Cup VIII, an annual game between intra-state foes, the Wildcats and Big Green. With the win, UNH remains unbeaten in its last seven games. In the only other non-league matchup of the weekend, Maine fell to Bentley, 3-1, in Orono on Friday night, despite outshooting the Falcons 36-24.

Spencer Abbott, Maine (So., F, Hamilton, Ont.) Had a goal and an assist for two points in Maine’s two games this week.

Matt Bergland, PC (Fr., F, Faribault, Minn.) Scored two goals, including the game winner at No. 2 BU. Also had one assist in a tie at Maine.

Justin Braun, UMass (Jr., D, Vadnais Heights, Minn.) Netted two goals on the weekend and also finished with a +3 rating.

Maury Edwards, UML (So., D, Rocky Rapids, Alb.) Had three points (2g,1a) over the weekend vs. BC and UMass.

Blake Kessel, UNH (Fr., D, Verona, Wis.) Scored the game-winner in UNH’s 6-4 win over Dartmouth. Two of his three goals have been game-winners.

Chase Langeraap, UMass (So., F, Cayuga, Ont.) Scored a goal, added two assists, and finished the weekend with a +3 rating.

Rob Madore, UVM (Fr., G, Venetia, Pa.) Stopped 46 of 50 shots in a weekend split vs. Northeastern. Madore didn’t allow an even strength goal in the series.

Steve Moses, UNH (Fr., F, Leominster, Mass.) Matched a career high with two assists including helpers in the win vs. Dartmouth.

Jerry Pollastrone, UNH (Sr., F, Revere, Mass.) Had a goal and an assist in a 6-4 win vs. the Big Green and was the game’s MVP.

Rob Ricci, MC (Jr., C, Brampton, Ont.) Notched an assist on Merrimack’s lone goal while going 15-for-20 in the faceoff circle.

Nick Schaus, UML (Jr., D, Buffalo, N.Y.) Scored the game-winning, overtime goal Friday night at Boston College.

Brad Thiessen, NU (Jr., G, Aldergrove, B.C.) Stopped 68 of 72 shots in the weekend split with No. 8 Vermont, including 32 in the 3-1 win Friday.

David Warsofsky (Fr., D, Marshfield, Mass.) Recorded four assists in BU two wins, including a career-high three vs. BC with a plus-2 rating on the week.

Colin Wilson, BU (So., F, Winnipeg, Man.) Recorded five assists on the week, including two each against Providence and Merrimack.

Paul Worthington (Jr., F, Langhorne, Pa.) Picked up two assists against UMass, his second multi-point game of the season.

Bobby Butler, UNH (Marlboro, Mass.) Has a point in eight-straight games (5g,7a), including a goal in each of the last four games of the Wildcats

Brian Foster, UNH (Pembroke, N.H.) He is 6-0-1 in his last eight starts with two or less goals allowed in four of those contests. In his last five league starts, Foster owns a 4-0-1 record with a 1.96 GAA and a .933 save percentage

Kevin Kapstad, UNH (Boxboro, Mass.) Has a point in nine-straight games (1g,10a)

Will Ortiz, UMASS (Framingham, Mass.) Has five points (2g, 3a) in the last four straight games

Vermont’s Power Play Units Has recorded at least one goal in seven straight games and ranks first in Hockey East (23.5%) and third in the nation (21.8%)

Casey Wellman, UMASS (Brentwood, Calif.) Has 12 points in the last 9 games (3g,9a)

Jan. 22, 2005: Junior Ben Walter notches his third hat trick of the season, powering 15th-ranked UMass Lowell to a 6-1 win over Massachusetts in Amherst. The win stretches the River Hawks’ unbeaten streak to 13 games, their longest such streak since moving to Division I 22 years before.

Jan. 23, 1993: Juniors Shane Henry and Ian Hebert both enjoy five-point nights (each with 3 goals and 2 assists), sparking UMass Lowell to an 8-5 victory over Northeastern at Matthews Arena in Boston. It is the only time in the school’s Division I history that two players have recorded hat tricks in the same game. Senior Dan O’Connell picks up his 100th career point with a goal and an assist. The victory is UML’s 400th in the program’s history.

Jan. 24, 2004: Maine and Boston University combined for 46 penalties and 268 combined penalty minutes, which is an NCAA record for combined penalty minutes in a game.

Boston College: In three career meetings at Agganis Arena, sophomore goalie John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.) has a 1-1-1 record, has registered 117 saves and a .929 save percentage; he totaled 41 saves in a 4-3 win (12-1-07), 35 in a 1-1 tie (12-5-08) and 41 on Saturday night (1-17-09)...Senior alternate captain Benn Ferriero’s (Essex, Mass.) first-period goal marked his third of the season and his first since Nov. 9 at Maine...Senior forward Kyle Kucharski’s (Saugus, Mass.) scored against UMass-Lowell on Friday, Jan. 16, which marked his third in BC’s last four games and his career-high seventh of the season; the Saugus, Mass., resident scored two goals in a 3-3 tie at Vermont last Friday (Jan. 9)...Defenseman Carl Sneep (Nisswa, Minn.) played in his 100th career game on Friday against UMass-Lowell.

Boston University: Boston University is 9-1-1 in its last 11 games...Freshman goaltender Kieran Millan (Edmonton, Alb.) ranks first in the country in winning percentage with a 12- 1-1 record (.893)...BU earned five points (2-0-1) in its league series against Boston College, its most since the 1994-95 season, when it won all three of its games against the Eagles... Sixteen different players recorded at least one point for the Terriers this past week...Sophomore Colin Wilson (Winnipeg, Man.) ranks third in the nation in assists per game at 0.95... Senior Jason Lawrence (Saugus, Mass.) is tied for second in the country in power-play goals with nine...Eight of BU’s 11 goals this past week came on the power play, including four against BC...The Terriers are a perfect 10-0-0 when they record fewer than 30 shots, but just 5-5-1 when they record more than 30 shots...BU has four of the league’s top eight scoring defensemen...The Terriers enter this weekend’s homeand- home series with New Hampshire needing just one win to match last season’s regular-season total of 17.

Maine: All three of Maine’s goals on the week came on the power play...Maine now has 23 goals on the power play, while having only allowed 12 power play goals...Maine has scored a power play goal in five straight games...Maine had 42 shots against Providence, one shy of its season-high of 43 against St. Cloud on Dec. 28...Maine has held opponents scoreless on the power play in three straight games...Chris Hahn (Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask.) scored his team-leading fourth power play goal on the season on Sunday against Providence...Maine has just three forward in Hahn, Tanner House (Cochrane, Alb.) and Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) who have played in all 22 games this season.

Massachusetts: UMass is 10-2-0 when scoring three or more goals this year and 0-8-2 when scoring fewer than three goals…when UMass scores the first goal of the game, the Minutemen are 9-4-1 and 1-6-1 when scored on first – UMass has scored first in the last three games…UMass has outscored Hockey East opponents 13-to-7 in the first period of league games…for the first time this season, UMass did not allow a single power play in a game against Providence…UMass is 1-for-16 on the power play in the last four games…UMass now has four short-handed goals this season…UMass put up a season-high 46 shots against Providence.

UMass-Lowell: The River Hawks went 1-1-0 over the weekend, earning an overtime win at Boston College and losing to Massachusetts at home Saturday…Friday’s OT win at BC was UML’s first overtime game of the season…The River Hawks have scored a power play goal in five straight games and have a man-advantage goal in 16 of 21 games this season; they rank third in Hockey East at 20.2%…Sophomore defenseman Maury Edwards has a three-game point streak (3g, 2a) including two multi-point games during the streak…The River Hawks went 7-for-7 on the penalty kill over the weekend and have killed 15 of the last 16 power plays against.

Merrimack: J.C. Robitaille (Des Ruisseaux, Que.) scored his first goal since November 21 with a third-period power-play tally Friday against Boston University…The 16 penalties taken by the Warriors were their most since they took 16 against Maine on November 3, 2006…The 51 penalty minutes were their most since 53 against UNH on February 10, 2007…Merrimack is winless in its last five home games…Rob Ricci (Brampton, Ont.) won 15 of the 20 faceoffs he took on Friday…Ricci has 10 points (5g,5a) in his last nine games…The Warriors are outscoring their opponents 16-14 in the third period and outshooting the opposition 192-171 (+21) in the first period…After combining for 97 penalty minutes including 50 in the third period on Friday, the Warriors and Terriers will take the ice against each other again on January 30 at Lawler Arena.

New Hampshire: UNH’s six goals were scored by six different players. The last time the Wildcats had six different scorers in a game was in a 7-4 win at North Dakota on Dec. 29, 2007... Overall, the ‘Cats had 10 players with at least a point and six with multi-point efforts...The Wildcats extend their season-best unbeaten streak to seven (6-0-1), it’s the fourth longest active streak in the country and the program’s longest since a 12-game streak from Jan. 25 to March 7, 2008...Kevin Kapstad and Bobby Butler built on active scoring streaks. Kapstad had an assist on Saturday and now owns an nine-game streak (1g,10a), while Butler’s streak is eight games including four-straight games with a goal (5g, 7a)...The Wildcats extend their streak of scoring at least one goal to 75 games, while UNH has scored two or more goals in 16 straight.

Northeastern: The Huskies have won six of their last eight games heading into their home-and-home series with Providence. NU won the first meeting of the season series with PC, 4-0, on Oct. 17 at Schneider Arena...Brad Thiessen’s .940 save percentage in fourth best in the nation among Division I goalies and his 15 wins on the season are tied for second in the country. He has allowed two goals or less in six of his last eight starts for the Huskies.

Providence College: The Friars are in the midst of their first five-game unbeaten streak for the first time since the 2005- 06 season…During the five-game unbeaten streak, freshman goalie Alex Beaudry has played in four games and has posted a 3-0-1 record and a 2.45 goals against average…The win at No. 2 BU on Tuesday was the highest ranked opponent that PC has beaten since December 29, 2007 (No. 5 Michigan State)…In the 5-4 win at UMass on Friday, the Friar sophomore class accounted for three goals and five assists…Four of PC’s six wins this season have come on the road…Senior Matt Taormina (Washington Township, Mich.), who has 61 career points, climbed to 18th all-time in PC’s scoring list among defensemen with one goal and one assist in a win at UMass on Friday… The Friars extended their unbeaten streak at Maine to three games, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1982-83…Freshman Matt Bergland became the first PC freshman to reach the 20-point mark since Cody Wild recorded 21 points during the 2005-06 season.

Vermont: The Catamounts are 7-3-1 on the road and 6-4-2 against ranked teams this season…Vermont has played 12 of its 21 games this season against ranked opponents, with 11 of those contests coming against top-9 teams...Junior Viktor Stålberg (Gothenburg, Sweden) leads Hockey East in scoring with 18 points (10g, 8a) in 14 league games. His 10 goals and five power-play goals are both tied for the league lead. Stålberg has recorded at least one point in a career best 11 straight games and 14 of 15 overall…Sophomore defenseman Josh Burrows (Prairie Grove, Ill.) has a team best plus-12 rating…UVM is 8- 4-3 against Northeastern since joining Hockey East…Vermont hosts a two-game series against Massachusetts this weekend. The Catamounts won this year’s first meeting 3-2 in overtime in come-from-behind fashion at the Mullins Center. Stålberg scored the tying goal with 56 seconds left in regulation and senior Peter Lenes (Shelburne, Vt.) notched the game winner with 23 seconds remaining in overtime.