Yes, it is a super Sunday and not because of the pigskin event scheduled for today that will captivate most of America. It is mid-February, and we have our first coronations for regular season titles with Hobart in the NEHC and Utica in the UCHC emerging as the top seeds in tournament play. Other conferences are going to come down to the wire with make-up games aplenty and oh, by the way, there was some terrific action on the ice across the region. Here’s this week’s wrap-up for all the action:
CCC
The University of New England took on Curry on Tuesday night and used a two-goal third period to break open a 1-1 game for a 3-1 win over the Colonels. Jared Christy and Jake Fuss each had a goal and assist for the Nor’easters in the critical conference win. After downing Suffolk, 8-2 on Friday, the Nor’easters faced their second matchup of the week with Curry and took a 3-2 road win for their fifth straight victory. Ryan Kuzmich and Daniel Winslow erased a 1-0 deficit in the first period and Jimmy Elsner extended the Nor’easter lead to 3-1 entering the third period. Timmy Kent closed the gap to one-goal in the third period for Curry but that is all the colonels could muster against Billy Girard IV who stopped 27 of 29 shots in the UNE road win.
Endicott saw all of its scoring in the second period off the sticks of Kevin Craig, Andrew Kurapov and Connor Amsley in a 3-0 win over Suffolk. Goaltender Conor O’Brien stopped all 15 shots he faced from the Rams to earn the shutout win.
Salve Regina needed great goaltending from Nicholas Latinovich and a shootout goal from Kaiden Kanerka to earn the extra point following a 2-2 overtime tie with Wentworth. On Saturday, the Seahawks wasted little time kicking the offense into high gear as they scored seven times in the opening period on the way to a 13-3 rout of Western New England. Mitch Walinski scored four goals and added an assist while Tyler Carangelo added three goals and three assists for a six-point game.
Independents
Canton picked up a pair of wins in a weekend sweep of Rivier by scores of 4-1 and 7-4. On Friday, Rivier’s Milan Breczko gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead with his power play goal, but the Kangaroos responded scoring four unanswered goals from four different players to earn the win. On Saturday, Rivier again opened the scoring before the Roos scored four in a row in the opening 20 minutes to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Brady Morrison scored twice in the opening period on his way to a hat trick that paced the offence in the win to earn the weekend sweep.
MASCAC
The league has seen a congested schedule heading into the final weeks with re-scheduled games due to COVID protocols. The new dates saw a curious home-and-home series between Fitchburg State and Massachusetts-Dartmouth on a Tuesday and Thursday night that the Falcons swept to keep them contending for the top spot with Plymouth State. On Tuesday, Hunter Fortin and Thomas Harty each scored a pair of goals to support Brian McGrath’s 29-save effort in a 5-1 road win. On Thursday, the game was a little tighter with Fortin again figuring in the outcome by scoring the overtime winner in a 4-3 Falcon win.
Two goals from Myles Abbate and a goal and an assist from JR Barone helped Plymouth State up their win streak to seven games with a 5-1 win over Worcester State on Saturday.
Westfield State picked up two important wins last week over Salem State and Framingham State. On Thursday, forward Chuck Costello (no relation) scored two goals and assisted on two more in a 5-2 win over the Vikings. On Saturday, the Owls fell behind the Rams 3-2 after two periods of play but proceeded to score four in the third period for a 6-3 win. JoJo Carbone scored a goal and added an assist while Costello added another goal and Tom Skold recorded three assists.
NE-10
St. Anselm continued their recent run of success with a weekend sweep of Franklin Pierce that moved their record to 11-10-2 overall and 8-5-2 in NE-10 play. On Friday, Jack Murphy’s power-play goal gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the second period before St. Anselm scored three goals in the final period for a 5-1 win over the Ravens. Saturday afternoon saw the Hawks take an early lead on Matt Hayes’ goal. Franklin Pierce tied the game on Trevor Lawler’s goal before Hayes would score his third of the weekend to give the Hawks a lead, they did not relinquish in a 3-2 win. Nick Howard stopped 22 of 24 shots in the win.
Conference-leading Southern New Hampshire split a weekend series with Assumption. The Greyhounds took the opener on Friday, skating away to a 5-2 win. Five different players scored for Assumption in the first two periods to build a 5-0 lead that the Penmen could not overcome in the final period. On Saturday, it was the Penmen who raced out to a 3-0 lead only to see Assumption battle back to within a goal early in the third period. Ryan Coady’s power play goal midway through the final period was the eventual game winner as SNHU held on for a 4-3 win that moves them to 12-3-0 in the NE-10 with just three games remaining.
NEHC
The final week of the regular season was not without drama as teams tried to move up in the top six while the opening round teams were looking to find their upset brand of hockey for the upcoming playoffs.
Hobart sealed the regular season title with a pair of road wins over New England College and Norwich. On Friday, the Statesmen fell behind 4-1 in the first period but came out aggressively in the second period where they scored five times. Austin Mourar, Aaron Maguyon and Jonah Alexander each scored two goals as Hobart finished off an 8-5 win. On Saturday against Norwich, the game was much more playoff style hockey as goaltenders Liam Lascelle and Drennen Atherton kept the opposition at bay. Mourar and Shane Snell provided the offense while Lascelle’s 23 saves earned him the 2-0 shutout win.
NEHC newcomers Elmira took the second spot in the standings (based winning %) with a win in the season finale over NEC. After tying Norwich 1-1 on Friday, the Soaring Eagles jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first period and extended the advantage to 4-1 on goals from Adam Eby and Ryan Reifler on the way to a 4-2 win. The win was head coach Aaron Saul’s 200th at Elmira.
Massachusetts-Boston earned the No. 3 spot with a pair of ties to finish out the regular season. A 2-2 tie against Castleton on Friday was trumped by Skidmore tying the score on a goal from Mike Gelatt with just 0.02 seconds remaining in regulation for another 2-2 overtime tie.
With all teams eligible for the playoffs, Wednesday, 2/16 will see the first found games featuring No. 7 New England College hosting No. 10 Johnson & Wales and No. 8 Southern Maine hosting No. 9 Castleton. The winners move on to the quarterfinals on Saturday, 2/19.
NESCAC
In yet another league that is extremely close, it was Trinity who were the big movers this weekend picking up wins over Bowdoin and league leading Colby. Against Bowdoin, Lucas Michaud, John Campomenosi and Riley Prattson staked the Bantams to an early 3-0 lead. Prattson and Michaud would each add a second tally in the 5-3 win over the Polar Bears. On Saturday, Trinity took advantage of scoring first and great goaltending from Patrick Pugliese in a 2-1 win that vaulted them into the No. 2 position in the NESCAC standings. Alexander Mozian scored in the first period and Campomenosi added an insurance marker in the second period as Pugliese made 13 of his 29 saves in the final period.
The Continentals played three games in three days garnering eight of a possible nine points with one overtime win over Tufts and regulation wins over Connecticut College and Tufts again on Sunday. On Friday against the Jumbos, Hamilton surrendered two third period goals to the home team for a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation. Nick Rutigliano secured the win exactly one minute into overtime. On Saturday against the Camels, Matt Gellerman scored a hat trick in a 5-2 win for the Continentals. The crazy three games in 72 hours ended with a home win over Tufts by a 6-1 score. A five-goal second period secured the lead and win that leapfrogged the Continentals into the No.4 position in the standings entering the final week of play.
After a 2-2 tie with Colby on Friday that saw Wesleyan rally from a 2-0 deficit to earn the overtime tie, the Cardinals lost ground with a 4-1 loss to Bowdoin. Chris Brown scored three goals for the Polar Bears who snapped a four game winless streak while ending the Cardinals’ unbeaten streak at six games.
In one of the more curious results of the weekend, Middlebury downed Williams on the road by a 4-1 score. The loss was the Ephs ninth on home ice this season where they have won only three times. Jin Lee was the offensive star for the Panthers scoring three goals while goaltender Jake Horoho made 35 saves for only the second conference win of the season for Middlebury.
SUNYAC
The race for the top spot and playoffs was thrown a curve ball late in the week when Geneseo was unable to play its scheduled games with Fredonia and Buffalo State due to COVID protocols. While the remaining game action has been re-scheduled over the upcoming week plus, the final qualifications for playoff eligibility were filled by Cortland, Brockport and Fredonia with final positions to be determined with the remaining action.
Cortland skated to a 3-3 tie with Brockport on Friday as the Golden Eagles rallied from a three-goal deficit to earn the tie on Anthony Hora’s goal with just 14 seconds remaining in regulation time. On Saturday, the Red Dragons bounced back with a comeback victory of their own over Morrisville. Trailing 2-1, Johnny Facchini tied the game in the second period. No goals were scored in the remainder of regulation before Nick Grupp scored in overtime for the 3-2 win.
Having lost three games in a row, Fredonia punched their ticket into the playoffs with a 4-0 win over Brockport on Saturday night. The Blue Devils got on the board first on a goal from Matt Letmanski but opened the game up with three goals in the second period including Letmanski’s second of the night. Logan Dyck stopped all 28 shots he faced earning the shutout win.
UCHC
The Utica Pioneers have clinched the regular season title for the fifth consecutive season following a win over King’s and a shootout win (overtime tie) with Wilkes on Saturday. Regen Cavanaugh scored a hat trick for Utica in the convincing 7-1 win over the Lions on Friday night. Facing the No. 9 ranked Colonels on Saturday, Utica found themselves in a playoff-style battle where goaltender Bryan Landesberger and Wilkes’ Nico Pidro limited their opponents to just one goal in regulation time. Overtime couldn’t decide a winner but goals from Dante Zapata and Brandon Osmundson took the shootout for the Pioneers, 2-0.
Stevenson continued their winning ways and extended their win streak to seven games with victories over Lebanon Valley and Arcadia. On Friday night, the Mustangs’ Frank Vitucci posted a goal and an assist in the first period and Ryan Kenny made 25 saves on 26 shots for the 4-1 win over the Flying Dutchmen. On Saturday, Vitucci again led the offense with two goals while Ryan Patrick added a goal and two assists in the 6-3 win over the Knights.
Chatham needed an explosive third period to down Arcadia on Friday night. After falling behind 2-0 to the Knights, the Cougars scored five times over the final 17 minutes of regulation to earn a 5-2 win. Evan Mitchell and Matt Mood each scored two goals in the win. On Saturday, Zack Conner’s second goal of the game in overtime gave the Cougars a 3-2 win over Lebanon Valley.
Five teams have qualified for the conference tournament with teams four through seven separated by just four points in the standings entering the final week of the regular season.
Three Biscuits
Mitch Walinski – Salve Regina – scored four goals in the Seahawks runaway win over Western New England on Saturday. Walinski also added an assist in the 12-2 romp.
Ryan Black – Babson – figured into all of the scoring for the Beavers in a 4-1 win over Southern Maine on Friday. Black scored one goal and assisted on three others for Babson.
Chuck Costello – Westfield State – posted a four-point game in the Owls’ 5-2 win over Salem State on Thursday night. Costello scored two goals and added two assists to lead the offense.
Bonus Biscuits
Artem Mateichenko – Manhattanville – posted a three-point game for the Valiants in their 4-3 OT win over Neumann on Friday night. After picking up two assists in regulation Mateichenko scored the overtime winner with just 10 seconds remaining in the extra session.
Tate Brandon – Skidmore – extended the Thoroughbreds single season shutout record to five with a 17-save effort in a 6-0 win over Johnson & Wales on Friday.
Eelis Laaksonen – Curry – produced a natural hat trick and added an assist in the Colonels’ 4-1 win over Nichols on Friday.
Brady Morrison – Canton – scored a hat trick for the Kangaroos that included the eventual game winner in a 7-4 win over Rivier on Saturday.
Chris Brown – Bowdoin – scored a hat trick in the Polar Bears’ 4-1 win over Wesleyan on Saturday. Brown also scored a goal in Friday’s loss against Trinity.
Logan Dyck – Fredonia – recorded a 28-save shutout of Brockport on Saturday night helping Fredonia to a 4-0 win.
The playoffs start on Wednesday for the NEHC, and other conferences are continuing their battles to the very end of the regular season looking to sure-up seeding or home-ice position before the playoffs begin. What a great time to be a college hockey fan!!
