There were some key games played amongst league leaders with Babson beating previously unbeaten Norwich, Utica downing Wilkes and Endicott doing the same to Curry in a weekend series split. The battles on the ice have been great but there have still been COVID protocol impacts felt across the region and especially in NESCAC where a few teams have played only a couple of games. Just a few games left before the break, but this past week’s action certainly has everyone looking for more and soon. Here’s the recap:
CCC
The big series was between Curry and Endicott and both teams took care of business on their respective home ice. On Friday, Alex Ochterbeck’s goal just over a minute and a half into the first period got the Colonels off to a fast start but Derek Contessa answered for the Gulls just a couple of minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. Both Conor O’Brien and Roland Polasek were terrific in goal for their teams with Polasek making some critical saves over the final period to help Curry take the 2-1 win on Nolan Dawson’s goal in the second period. Polasek finished with 34 saves.
On Saturday, the venue switched, and the Gulls found their offense to hand Curry their first loss of the season by a 5-2 score. After Curry took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, Endicott answered in the first ten seconds of the second period on a quick goal from Andrew Kurapov. Contessa gave the Gulls a 2-1 lead that Curry’s Timmy Kent answered to start the third period. In the final eleven minutes Endicott sored three times including two shorthanded goals from Mitch Shaheen and Kurapov’s second goal of the game for the 5-2 final. The loss was Curry’s first of the season.
Independents
Rivier downed Anna Maria on Friday night by a 3-1 score. After a scoreless first period, Rivier’s Tyler Duderstadt and AMC’s Patrick Manning exchanged goals for a 1-1 tie after two periods. Milan Breczko scored on the power play to give the Raiders the lead and Jon Tavella iced the win for Rivier with an empty-net goal. Luke Newell stopped 34 of 35 shots for the win that moved Rivier to 4-5-1 on the season.
MASCAC
After a 4-0 shutout over Framingham State that featured a pair of goals from Myles Abbate and a shutout by goaltender Ben Parker, Plymouth State kicked the offense into high gear against Salem State with a 12-1 win on Saturday. JR Barone was the offensive star with four goals and two assists while Abbate picked up five assists for the Panthers who remained unbeaten in MASCAC play at 5-0-1. Jeremy Rancourt also picked up a hat trick while Simon Besner finished with a goal and four assists. The 12-goal outburst was the most for PSU since 2015.
NE-10
Following back-to-back losses in the PAL Stovepipe tournament, Southern New Hampshire captured two key NE-10 wins over the weekend to remain unbeaten in conference play at 7-0-0. On Friday night the Penmen downed St. Michael’s 3-2 rallying from a first period, two-goal deficit to win the game on a Jake Cox goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation.
On Saturday, the Penmen trailed after both the first and second periods before scoring twice in the final 20 minutes to pickup a 4-3 win over Assumption. Jake Cox was again the hero scoring the game-winner for SNHU in the final two minutes of regulation time.
NEHC
The big game was on Saturday as Babson visited the unbeaten Cadets and came away with a 6-4 win to knock Norwich from the ranks of the unbeaten. Trailing 3-1 to the Cadets, Babson tied the game in the second period on goals by Matt Wiesner and Paul Boutoussov. Noah Williams gave the lead back to the Cadets and that is when Thomas Kramer found the scoresheet. Over the final eleven minutes of regulation time, Kramer scored a natural hat trick including the game winner with just 49 seconds remaining on the clock. His empty-net goal finished the hat trick and the 6-4 win for the Beavers who close the first half with an 8-1-2 record.
Hobart stayed unbeaten in conference play with a sweep of Skidmore and Castleton over the weekend. It took Blake Coffey’s overtime goal for the Statesmen to down the Thoroughbreds 4-3 on Friday night. A three-goal first period helped Hobart to a 6-0 win on Saturday with Liam Lascelle earning the 19-save shutout.
NESCAC
The conference has its struggles with COVID protocols early in the season postponing or re-scheduling some games to keep teams on the ice. After suffering three straight non-conference losses, Wesleyan returned to NESCAC play and posted a pair of 4-3 wins over Hamilton and Amherst. On Friday, the Cardinals and Continentals played a seesaw game that took an extra minute or so of overtime to decide. Go Uemura gave the home team the win with an assist from Emmet Powell. Powell also scored two goals and had a three-point night for Wesleyan. On Saturday, A power play goal from Matt Zandi with an assist from Powell late in the third period provided the difference in a 4-3 win over Amherst.
The losses to Wesleyan offset big wins by Amherst and Hamilton over Trinity this past weekend. Both games finished with 3-2 wins by the visitors who held the Trinity offense in check. The Bantams have now lost three in a row and are 3-3-0 overall and just 1-3-0 on home ice so far this season.
SUNYAC
Geneseo remained unbeaten at 10-0-1 on the season with wins over Fredonia and Buffalo State this weekend. The Knights were led by Dan Bosio’s two goals in a 5-2 win over Fredonia on Friday. On Saturday, Bosio opened the scoring for Geneseo who needed a third period goal from Tyson Gilmour to break the 1-1 tie and earn the 2-1 win over the Bengals. Matt Petizian moved to 7-0-0 in net for the Knights making 15 saves in the win.
Brockport also picked up a pair of wins against Buffalo State and Fredonia to get back on track. Six different players scored in a 6-1 win over Buffalo State on Friday and a three-goal third period provided the difference in a 4-2 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday.
UCHC
The battle between conference unbeatens took place in Utica on Friday night with the Pioneers hosting Wilkes. After exchanging goals over the first 45 minutes of play, Utica’s Jamie Bucell scored the game-winning goal for Utica who earned a hard fought 3-2 win. Sean Dickson earned the win making 23 saves for Utica in goal.
On Saturday, the Pioneers made things a little easier on themselves with an 8-0 win over King’s. Two goals from Eric Holland along with a goal and two assists each from John Moncovich and Mic Curran led the offense in the win that moved Utica to 7-0-0 in the UCHC and 9-2-0 overall.
Three Biscuits
Thomas Kramer – Babson – scored a natural hat trick in a 6-4 win over Norwich with all three goals coming in the final period of play for the Beavers.
Jake Cox – Southern New Hampshire – scored two game winning goals for the Penmen in wins over St. Michael’s and Assumption over the weekend.
JR Barone – Plymouth State – scored four goals and added a pair of assists for six points in a 12-1 win over Salem State on Saturday.
Just one more weekend of games remains in a very eventful first-half of the season. There is a little time to enjoy the holidays before the action resumes on December 29!
