The number of unbeaten teams continues to fall and it took a Herculean effort in the final minute of play and overtime for Hobart to stay that way on Friday against a determined Buffalo State squad. The University of New England and Norwich both suffered their first losses and overall, the level of play was fantastic. Here is some of the great action from this past weekend:
CCC
UNE and Curry played a home and home series this weekend with the visitors emerging victorious in each contest. On Friday, the teams were very evenly matched leading to a 1-1 regulation tie that would ultimately be decided in overtime by Anthony Sciucco to give the Nor’easters the come from behind win on the road. On Saturday Curry returned the favor as Timmy Kent, Nick Favaro and Leevi Selanne gave the visitors a 3-1 lead in the third period. Sciucco closed the gap with just under four minutes remaining, but the Nor’easters could not beat Reid Cooper and Curry took an exciting 3-2 win to knock UNE from the ranks of the unbeatens.
Nichols and Suffolk faced-off for two games this weekend and each team took a win on the road to break the ice in conference play. On Friday, six different goal scorers chipped in for the Rams in a 6-3 win that saw all of Nichols goals scored while playing shorthanded. On Saturday, the Bison emerged with a 4-3 win behind third period goals from Dylan McMahon and Quinn McCarthy that erased a 3-2 deficit.
Independents
Rivier played host to SUNY – Canton this weekend and consistent with a recurrent theme this weekend, the two teams split the two-game series. On Friday, Avery Arnold scored a pair of goals for the Raiders but Evan Pringle’s goal for the Kangaroos late in the third period tied the game at 3-3 and sent the game to overtime. The home fans left happy when Rivier’s Nicolas Paolucci scored in the final minute of overtime to give the Raiders a 4-3 win. On Saturday, the Roos rallied back with a solid 3-0 win with Pringle breaking the ice with the only goal that goaltender Kelson Hooper would need to earn his first win of the season with a 34-save shutout.
On Sunday, Albertus Magnus and Anna Maria completed the Independent schedule with a thrilling 5-4 decision for the Falcons. Ryan Colwell scored two goals, including one just 20 seconds into the game, and also added an assist as the visitors held on for the win behind 23 saves from goaltender Logan Bateman.
MASCAC
Massachusetts-Dartmouth played a Thursday thriller with Framingham State with the Corsairs emerging with a 6-5 win. Senior Sky Silverstein led the offense with a five-point game including four goals and an assist and a first period natural hat trick in the contest that saw several lead changes and comebacks. Justin Weinbrenner provided the game winner with just over two minutes remaining in regulation.
Fitchburg State showed off their offensive firepower in a 7-2 win over Salem State as forward Rece Bergeman scored a hat trick for the Falcons in the comfortable win over the Vikings on Thursday night. On Saturday, the Falcons had to settle for a 3-3 overtime tie with Framingham State. The Rams saw netminder Blake Carlson make 49 saves and Patrick Colgan scored the tying goal in the final 35 seconds of regulation.
Westfield State raced out to an early 3-0 lead against Plymouth State on Thursday but the Panthers regrouped and scored six unanswered goals for a 6-3 MASCAC win. Ryan O’Halloran scored a pir of goals for the Owls while Carson Lanceleve scored twice, including the game winner, for PSU. On Saturday, the Panthers played host to UMD and needed a third period rally to secure a 3-2 win over the Corsairs. Myles Abbate tied the game at 2-2 in the final seven minutes but Ethan Stuckless proved to be the hero netting the game-winner with just six seconds remaining in regulation.
NE-10
Assumption traveled to St. Anselm for a two-game series and found their offensive game in the third period to erase a 3-2 Hawks lead with five unanswered goals. Christopher Stalmok and Dara Conneely each scored twice in the 7-4 win for the Greyhounds. On Saturday, the Hawks earned a split with a 5-2 win led by Tommy Schwartz and his two goals.
After dropping Friday’s game against Southern New Hampshire by a score of 4-3, Post rebounded on Saturday with a 4-3 win that overcame three power play goals for the Penmen including two from freshman Ryan Pomposelli. Niko Grollman scored twice for the Eagles and Benjamin Cuneen made 47 saves to earn the NE-10 win.
NEHC
Hobart played a pair of non-conference games against SUNYAC foes and was on upset alert on Friday against a determined Buffalo State team. Trailing 3-2 in the third period, Zach Tyson rallied the Statesmen to a 3-3 tie with his goal in the final minute of regulation. Luke Aquaro won it for Hobart with power play goal in overtime to help the Statesmen escape with a 4-3 win. On Saturday, Aquaro opened and closed the scoring for Hobart in a convincing 5-0 win over Cortland to move to 6-0-0 on the season.
Norwich played their opening home games this weekend and may have been looking past in-state rival Castleton on Friday in anticipation of facing a hot Skidmore squad. The Spartans took advantage of 30 saves from Brandon Collett and two goals from Zach Boulet to upset the Cadets by a 4-3 score. On Saturday, the Cadets rebounded against a red-hot Skidmore squad with a 4-1 win. Clark Kerner and Johnny Johnson gave Norwich an early 2-0 lead and Paul Schmid scored the final two Cadet goals to secure the home-ice win.
Babson returned home and started fast in a 5-2 win over Massachusetts-Boston on Friday night. Freshman Egan Schmitt and Thomas Kramer each chipped in with a goal and an assist while Nolan Hildebrand stopped 27 Beacon shots to earn the win. On Saturday, senior Andrew Holland was the offensive star scoring his first collegiate hat trick in a 6-3 win over Johnson & Wales. All of Holland’s goals came on special teams with two shorthanded tallies and a power play goal for the Beavers.
SUNYAC
It may just be a three-team race in the SUNYAC this season as Plattsburgh has emerged as an early contender. On Friday night, the Cardinals knocked off Brockport in resounding fashion by a 9-2 score. Eight unanswered goals to open the game, including two apiece from Ryan Hogg and Bennett Stockdale, helped Plattsburgh cruise to the big SUNYAC win on home ice. On Saturday, Geneseo, fresh off a 7-1 win over Potsdam that featured a hat trick from Domenic Garozzo and four power play goals, traveled to face Plattsburgh. The Cardinals took an early lead on a goal from Cory Doney but Geneseo rallied for a 2-1 lead in the third period on goals from Matthew Doran and Peter Morgan. Plattsburgh wouldn’t quit and with just 25 seconds remaining in regulation time, Luk Jirousek scored to tie the game at 2-2 and send the crowd into a frenzy. Overtime couldn’t decide a winner and the two teams settled for an exciting tie.
Oswego also played a thrilling game on Friday night against Cortland and emerged with a 5-4 road win. Tommy Cahill scored two goals for the Lakers who built a 5-2 lead after two periods of play and held on to a one-goal victory as the Red Dragons rallied with two third period goals but couldn’t find the equalizer against netminder Cal Schell who made 23 saves in the win.
UCHC
Utica opened their home ice schedule with a pair of games against Chatham and were less than hospitable hosts in a pair of wins over the Cougars. On Friday, it took third period goals from Cameron Patton and Regen Cavanaugh to break open a 3-2 game for a 5-2 final. On Saturday, the Pioneers took advantage of two more goals from Patton in a four-goal second period on the way to a 6-3 win and weekend sweep moving Utica to 4-2-0 overall.
One of the great performances of the weekend was the goaltending of Ty Franchi for Lebanon Valley whose 50-save effort helped the Flying Dutchmen knock off Elmira 2-0 on Saturday night. Franchi made second period goals from Cade Freer and Brad Viola stand up for LVC’s first win of the season.
Stevenson took advantage of a pair of goals from Austin Master to earn a 4-3 win over Alvernia on Friday night on home ice. On Saturday, Alex Rivet scored a hat trick and the Mustangs kicked the offense into high gear with a 10-1 win to take the weekend series against the Golden Wolves and level their season record at 3-3-0.
Three Biscuits
Sky Silverstein – Massachusetts-Dartmouth – the Corsairs forward recorded five points including four goals and a first period natural hat trick in a 6-5 win over Framingham State on Thursday night.
Andrew Holland – Babson – scored his first collegiate hat trick in the Beavers 6-3 win over Johnson & Wales. Holland scored once on the power play and added a pair of shorthanded tallies.
Ty Franchi – Lebanon Valley – stopped all 50 shots he faced in the 2-0 upset win over Elmira for the Flying Dutchmen.
Week three saw still more attrition from the ranks of the unbeaten and battles in conference play heat up across each of the conferences. Some battles for the top of the standings are already heating up very early in the season but fans everywhere wouldn’t want it any other way.
