Talk about a week that saw it all! There was the Great Whiteout. Overtime thrillers. A sprinkling of upsets and surprises and one of the rarest of hockey happenings, a goalie-goal! Here’s the weekend wrap-up:
CCC
Curry and the University of New England played the front end of what was supposed to be a two-game series and the Colonels took full advantage of home ice on Friday night. Led by Nicholas Favaro’s goal and two assists in the first period, Curry raced out to a 4-2 lead after the first 20 minutes and cruised to a 6-2 win making them a perfect 8-0-0 at home this season.
After cruising to an easy 7-0 win over Wentworth on Friday where Zach Mazur picked up two goals and two assists, Endicott found a much more competitive Leopards squad on Saturday. Connor Beatty gave the Gulls a 1-0 lead with a power play goal late in the first period and that score stood until the third period when Wentworth’s Joey O’Leary tied the game midway through the period. Neither team could solve the great goaltending at each end and overtime was needed to decide the game. Jake McKenelley beat Conor O’Brien at 2:41 of the extra session to give Wentworth the 2-1 win and split of the weekend series.
Salve Regina extended their winning streak to seven games with a pair of wins over Western New England. On Friday, Ethan DeStafani scored a pair of goals to pace the Seahawks to a 4-1 win. On Saturday, a three goal second period broke open a 1-1 game to help Salve Regina earn a decisive 5-2 win over the Golden Bears. Mitch Walinski scored a pair of goals and added an assist for Salve Regina who moved to 9-2-0 in CCC action.
Independents
Anna Maria finally got back into game action with three contests this week that saw them go 2-1-0 to start 2022. After a 6-4 win over Johnson & Wales on Tuesday that featured two goals each from Justin Taylor and Gavin Proeh, the AmCats scored six goals again in a 6-2 win over Rivier on Friday. Proeh again led Anna Maria off to a fast start with a pair of goals in the first period that staked the home team to an early 3-0 lead. Cam Tobey added a goal and two assists in the win over the Raiders. On Saturday, the six-spot came up for Stonehill in a 6-2 loss for the AmCats. Mike Seone scored one goal and setup two more for Stonehill while goaltender Chase McKay stopped 38 of 40 shots for the win over Anna Maria.
MASCAC
The first game in conference play on Tuesday featured league leading Plymouth State traveling to Fitchburg State. The Falcons took advantage of 51 saves from goaltender Brian McGrath and a pair of goals from Oliver Cookson to post a 4-0 win, knocking the Panthers from the unbeaten ranks in the conference. On Thursday, the Falcons posted another strong win with a 6-3 decision over Salem State. In a game where the Falcons couldn’t quite shake free from the Vikings through the first 56 minutes of play, goals from Anthony Ceolin and Cole Archambeault in the final three minutes of play gave some insurance to move to 6-2-0 in MASCAC play. The Falcons completed the week’s trifecta with another 6-3 decision on Saturday over Westfield State. After Westfield’s Spencer DeRidder tied the game at 2-2 in the first minute of the third period, the Falcons would score four goals over the final ten minutes for their third win of the week which moved them to 7-2-0 in conference play.
NE-10
Conference leading Southern New Hampshire finally got back into action this week but suffered their first loss on NE-10 play on Saturday after opening 2022 with a 6-2 win over Stonehill on Friday. Four power play goals and a three-point night for Jake Cox helped the Penmen to the win in their first game back in January. On Saturday, Franklin Pierce showed they could also play the special teams game in a seesaw affair the Ravens won by a 7-5 score. Matt Amante picked up two goals and two assists for the Penmen who scored two power play and two shorthanded goals, but it didn’t match the effort of Conor Foley who scored four times for the Ravens in knocking SNHU from the unbeaten ranks in the NE-10.
NEHC
This conference continues to show why it is the deepest in the country as the battle in the standings heats up entering the final weeks of the regular season. Perhaps the hottest team out there is Skidmore who extended their winning streak to five games with impressive wins over New England College and Norwich this weekend. After Alex LaPlante gave the red-hot Pilgrims a 1-0 lead, Mike Gelatt scored the game’s next two goals to give the Thoroughbreds a lead they would never relinquish on their way to a 5-2 win. On Saturday, goaltender Tate Brandon and a big second period helped Skidmore pick up a big road win against Norwich by a 3-0 score. Freddie Macciocchi and Reid Russell scored 47 seconds apart in the middle period and Gelatt provided the final margin with a late goal to support Brandon’s 28-save shutout effort.
In the home-and-home series between nationally ranked Hobart and Elmira, the two game series was split in dramatic fashion with the visiting teams earning wins on both nights. On Friday, Blake Coffey scored for the Statesmen in the first five minutes of play and Liam Lascelle outdueled Chris Janzen in goal in a 2-0 Hobart win. Artem Buzoverya scored an empty-net goal late for the final score and Lascelle made 35 saves to earn the shutout. On Saturday back at Hobart, the Soaring Eagles got off to a fast start and held a 4-2 lead at the end of the second period. Hobart rallied to tie the game at 4-4 on goals from Mark Benemerito and Matthieu Wuth, but Shawn Kennedy scored his second of the game and earned Elmira the 5-4 win with just 14 seconds remaining in the extra session.
Massachusetts-Boston surprised Babson with a 5-4 win on Friday led by Chris Peters who scored two goals including the game winner in the final minute of regulation. On Saturday, the Beacons fell 2-1 to Southern Maine in overtime as Tyler Gardiner produced the game-winning goal for the Huskies which moved them to 3-4-1 in NEHC play.
NESCAC
Colby continued their march up the standings as they extended their win streak to five games with victories over Williams and Middlebury this weekend. On Friday, the Mules broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period on a power play goal from Michael Morrissey. Andy Beran made 31 saves including 23 in the final two periods in the 2-1 win over the Ephs. On Saturday, the Panthers and Mules were scoreless after one period of play before Alex Bourhas and Griffin Grise scored for Colby in the second period. Quinn Doyle added one more goal in the third period before Middlebury’s Andrej Hromic broke Beran’s shutout bid in the final two minutes of regulation of the 3-1 Colby win. Colby is now 7-2-0 in NESCAC play.
After a 2-1 win at Hamilton on Tuesday, Conn College took on their Connecticut rivals on the weekend and extended their road win streak to three games with wins over Trinity and Wesleyan. On Friday, Sean Dynan made 39 saves and Lukas Uhler, Eric Fournier and Paul Capozzi all scored in the first 40 minutes of the 3-1 win over the Bantams. On Saturday against Wesleyan, the Camels’ Devan Newhook and Fournier provided all the scoring in the first period that Dynan would need to pickup a 2-1 win over the Cardinals.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears picked up two wins and a tie in three road games last week to move to 5-3-3 in NESCAC play. Playing on three consecutive days, Bowdoin downed Hamilton on Thursday by a 3-1 score where they rallied from a 1-0 deficit for the win. After a 2-2 tie at Middlebury on Friday where goaltender Alex Kozic was outstanding with 36 saves, Bowdoin took down Williams by a score of 3-2 with Andy Stoneman figuring in all of the Polar Bear’s scoring with two goals and one assist.
Another team extending an unbeaten streak was the Amherst Mammoths. After tying No. 15 Curry 1-1 on Tuesday in a game that featured 30 saves from goaltender Dan Dachille and the tying goal from Mitchell Shults, the Mammoths took a 2-1 NESCAC win over Hamilton on Sunday. Sean Wrenn’s shorthanded tally just 34 seconds into the third period proved to be the game winning goal as Dachille made 38 saves in the win extending Amherst’s unbeaten streak to six games.
SUNYAC
The Great Whiteout event was held on Saturday at Oswego against Plattsburgh but both teams wanted to build momentum in SUNYAC play with wins on Friday leading up to the annual event. Oswego downed Potsdam 3-0 while Plattsburgh beat a very good Cortland team on the road, 5-2 to setup the big rivalry game on Saturday. The crowd clearly had the Lakers going early as Tyler Flack and Conner Sleeth scored in the opening four minutes and the Cardinals could never catch up. Second period goals from Garrett Clegg and Conor Smart extended the lead to 4-1 as the Lakers cruised to a 5-2 win and have now won four games in a row while moving to 7-1-1 in SUNYAC play.
In what might be the performance of the weekend, Fredonia’s freshman goaltender Logan Dyck stopped 38 of 39 shots and added an unassisted empty-net goal in the Blue Devils’ 5-1 win over Buffalo State on Saturday night.
Brockport extended their win streak to four games with a pair of wins over Canton this weekend. After a 7-2 win on Friday where Andrew Harley paced the offense with a four-point night, the Golden Eagles needed more Harley magic on Saturday to complete the sweep. Harley figured in all three goals in the 3-1 win including scoring the final two goals in the third period to move Brockport to 12-5-0 on the season.
UCHC
Utica picked up a pair of 7-0 conference wins over the weekend by blanking Lebanon Valley and Arcadia by comfortable margins. On Friday, Dante Zapata scored a hat trick while Jayson Dobay added four assists in the easy win over the Flying Dutchmen. Sean Dickson earned the 14-save shutout win. On Saturday, the Pioneers scored three power play goals and Dobay picked up another three points with a goal and two assists in the second shutout of the weekend.
Wilkes won a pair of UCHC battles over the weekend starting with a 7-2 thrashing of Neumann. A five-goal second period rallied the Colonels back from a 1-0 deficit as Tyler Barrow scored twice in the win. On Saturday against Manhattanville, the Colonels started fast with four first period goals including two from Donald Flynn and cruised to a 6-3 win over the Valiants.
Three Biscuits
Brian McGrath – Fitchburg State – made 51 saves and picked up the shutout in a 4-0 win over Plymouth State on Tuesday night in MASCAC’s return to conference play. McGrath picked up three wins in five days for the Falcons.
Logan Dyck – Fredonia – the freshman netminder made 38 saves on 39 shots and added an empty-net goal for the Blue Devils in a 5-1 win over Buffalo State on Saturday.
Alex LaPlante – New England College – scored a hat trick in a 4-1 upset win over Babson on Tuesday night.
Bonus Biscuits
Conor Foley – Franklin Pierce – scored four goals in a wild 7-5 win over SNHU on Saturday. FPU’s win knocked SNHU from the unbeaten ranks in NE-10 play.
Dante Zapata – Utica – had a five-point game in the Knights’ 8-1 win over Lebanon Valley on Friday. Morgan scored a hat trick and added two assists in the win.
Schedules are filling up for make-up games and the standings are getting very congested across most of the conferences entering the final month of league play. Get ready for a great finish!!!
