On the fly
Friday, January 14
Rensselaer 1 at Cornell 5
Senior Joe Devin’s sixth goal of the year with 6:05 to play in the second period opened the Big Red floodgates, as Cornell scored four straight to break a 1-1 draw and secure the Red their first three-game winning streak of the year. Classmate Tyler Roeszler scored twice, fellow senior Mike Devin potted a goal, as did freshman Rodger Craig. Junior Mike Garman (21 saves) out-dueled RPI junior Allen York (22 stops), who was replaced with sophomore Bryce Merriam (one save) after Cornell’s fifth goal. Senior Tyler Helfrich managed the ‘Tute’s only score – on the power play early in the second period – as RPI surrendered a season-high number of goals (tied, with its 6-5 win over UConn in late November).
Union 2 at Colgate 1
Sophomore Wayne Simpson and rookie Josh Jooris put Union ahead by two, and the Dutchmen held on late to earn their first win in Hamilton since 1998. Soph Keith Kinkaid made 24 saves for lucky win No. 13, while frosh Eric Mihalik fell to 0-5-0 despite 22 stops on 24 shots. Raiders rookie Jack McNamara scored in the game’s 49th minute, but his side couldn’t find the equalizer in a program record-tying eighth consecutive loss.
St. Lawrence 4 at Michigan Tech 4 (ot)
Once senior Aaron Bogosian tied the game at one apiece, the Saints appeared to have the game in hand with 2-1 and 4-2 leads. Unfortunately, two Huskies goals late in the second period deadlocked the game for good as SLU’s winless skid hit three games (0-2-1). Sophomore Kyle Flanagan scored twice (once on the power play and once short-handed), and senior Jared Keller accounted for the other goal in support of rookie Matt Weninger (39 saves, including four in overtime).
Saturday, January 15
Brown 2 at Yale 5
The top-ranked Bulldogs blanked the potent Brown power play (0/4) while scoring twice in eight of their own advantages to tame the Bears. The game was a 2-2 thriller into the third period, until two goals 4:04 apart – by sophomore Andrew Miller and junior Brian O’Neill – busted the game open. Soph Josh Balch added the insurance empty-netter, while senior Broc Little and Clinton Bourbonais scored early for the Blue. Bruno rookie Michael Juola opened the game with his first collegiate goal, while senior Harry Zolnierczyk’s 10th of the year drew the game even at two just before the game’s midway point. Yale senior Ryan Rondeau became the nation’s last undefeated goaltender (14-0-0) with 22 saves, while Brown junior Mike Clemente was peppered with 39 shots (of which he saved 35).
St. Lawrence 6 at Michigan Tech 0
The Saints fought through two early penalty kills to take a 2-0 lead after the first period, and never looked back en route to a blowout road win. Bogosian and frosh Greg Carey each scored a pair, and were joined by juniors Peter Child and Jacob Drewiske in the goal department. Weninger stopped all 22 shots on goal for his second shutout, as SLU matched its season high for goals and set a new standard for margin of victory.
Dartmouth 5 vs. New Hampshire 4 (Verizon Wireless Arena; Manchester, N.H.)
An early 1-0 lead was the only edge UNH held all night, but that’s not to say that the win came easy for the Big Green. Dartmouth held 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 leads before junior Doug Jones’ third goal of the year with 1:11 to play finally went unanswered. Senior Scott Fleming converted on Dartmouth’s only power play of the night late in the first period to draw the game even, 1-1, and seniors Rob Smith and Joe Stejskal and sophomore Dustin Walsh accounted for the Green’s other goals. Junior James Mello made 34 saves for his eighth win of the year and Dartmouth’s third straight; the RiverStone Cup resides in Hanover once more for the first time since 2008.
Harvard 2 at Boston University 5
The Crimson’s 0/4 power play also allowed a back-breaking shorthanded goal in the game’s 34th minute, as Harvard fell for the 11th time in 12 games (1-11-0). Sophomore Marshall Everson and junior Ryan Grimshaw did what they could for the road team, but it wasn’t enough for senior Kyle Richter (32 saves) and the Crimson.
Rensselaer 2 at Colgate 1 (ot)
The Raiders lost in true gut-punch fashion, as RPI senior Chase Polacek beat Mihalik (18 saves) on an overtime penalty shot to boost the Engineers and crush Colgate. The result of junior defenseman Kevin McNamara’s desperation hook, Polacek’s goal ensured two points for RPI despite matching its total for fewest goals in a weekend (three, matched by the season-opening weekend at Colorado College) all year. Senior Joel Malchuk opened the scoring with the Engineers’ other goal and York stopped 29 of 30; senior Francois Brisebois earned the Raiders’ lone goal as Colgate set a new program low with its program-record ninth loss in a row and 16th loss in 17 games (1-16-0).
Union 5 at Cornell 1
The Dutchmen peppered Cornell rookie Andy Iles (35 saves) and Garman (one save) with 42 shots, while holding the Big Red to only 17 SOG of its own in extending their season-long win streak to four games. Joe Devin scored the game’s first goal only 76 seconds into the action, but it proved to be the only sniff Cornell would get against Kinkaid (16 saves) and Union. Simpson scored again for the visitors, as did rookie Daniel Carr (twice), classmate Kevin Sullivan, and senior Brock Matheson (his first of the year). Union scored twice on four power-play opportunities as well, and beat Cornell at Lynah Rink for the first time in three years.
Sunday, January 16
Yale 2 at Brown 3
Zolnierczyk scored on a breakaway with only 46 seconds left in regulation to lift Bruno to its first-ever win over a No. 1 team. Yale took 1-0 and 2-1 leads as play progressed, but frosh Garnet Hathaway’s third goal of the year tied the game in the 54th minute before Zolnerczyk brought it home for the nearly 1,500 in attendance at Meehan Arena. O’Neill and senior Denny Kearney each scored on the power play for Yale, and Rondeau’s reign as the nation’s only unbeaten goalie was shockingly brief despite 22 saves. Jack Maclellan scored Brown’s first goal 27 seconds into the second period to tie the game, 1-1, and Clemente stopped 27 of 29 in Brown’s stunning first home win of the year (1-3-2).
Quinnipiac 7 at Canisius 3
Quinnipiac jumped on the Griffins with four goals in the first period, and six Bobcats went on to score in the rout. Freshman Cory Hibbeler scored his first collegiate goal, classmates Connor and Kellen Jones each lit the lamp as well, as did sophomores Jeremy Langlois, Zach Davies, and junior Scott Zurevinski in QU’s fourth win in six games (4-1-1). Soph Eric Hartzell saved 16 of 18 before being replaced by senior Pat McGann (one save). The ‘Cats’ seven goals set a new season high for the team, as did the four-goal margin of victory.
Monday, January 17
Quinnipiac 2 at Canisius 2 (ot)
Despite out-shooting the Griffins 44-21, the Bobcats needed sophomore Zach Currie’s 57th-minute score to knot the game and earn the road draw. Currie’s goal was his first of the season, and followed Langlois’ 11th of the year in support of Hartzell (19 saves). Despite the lopsided tie, QU improved to 4-1-2 since the holiday break and 7-4-1 in non-conference play.
In retrospect…
Prediction precision: Me: 9-1-2 this week, 91-45-15 (.652) overall.
Benjamin Davis: 8-2-2
Peter Jasinski: 7-3-2
We still have the Harvard at Northeastern game to go on Wednesday, and Mr. Davis and I picked opposing sides. Will I finally defeat my nemesis, or will he crush my outstanding week with a last-second equalizer?
Or does anyone else even care?
Guest guessers: 69-45-12 (.595)
Head to head: Sullivan 6, Guests 4*. (I have six now, because I beat Mr. Jasinski. Wee!)
Keep up with me on Twitter, if you like. Rumor has it USCHO will be finding a place to list all of its beloved staffers’ Twitter feeds on the site, so I’ve got that going for me.
