There are statement wins of which we saw a few this weekend from Plattsburgh, Norwich, and Plymouth State and then there are the bigger statement sweeps as executed by Hobart, Curry, Utica, and Trinity. The upset bug continued with a big win from Nichols and a milestone win for coach Dean Fuller at Fitchburg State who earned win #600. Hard to believe there are just a few weeks remaining in the regular season but the action on the ice is showing how teams are gearing up to play their best hockey when it means the most this time of year. Here is the recap for the action in the East:
CCC
Curry has demonstrated they are certainly among the contenders in the CCC with their recent 7-game win streak that included this weekend’s sweep of a two-game series with the University of New England. On the road Friday, the Colonels started fast with a pair of first period goals from Grady Friedman and Gage Dill for a 2-0 lead. The teams swapped goals in the second period and UNE’s power play goal from Juraj Elias in the third period cut the deficit to one goal but that is all Curry netminder Shane Soderwall would surrender in a 3-2 win for the visitors. Back home on Saturday afternoon, both teams took the first period to get their legs going and the visitors from UNE took advantage of two power play goals to take a 2-0 lead before Eelis Laaksonen made the score 2-1 at the end of the second period. The Colonels did all the scoring in the third period with three unanswered goals for a 4-2 win. Laaksonen assisted on two of the three markers in the final period while Soderwall stopped 27 of 29 shots to earn the win and sweep of the Nor’easters that pushed Curry to the top of the league standings.
Tied with Curry for first place, Endicott also took advantage of a weekend sweep over Suffolk to stay atop the CCC standings with Curry. On Friday night, goals from Cam Speck, Jackson Sterrett and Ben Jenkinson backed by 24 saves from goaltender Atticus Keely who earned the shutout in a 3-0 win over the Rams. On the road Saturday, the Gulls jumped to a 3-0 first period lead with power play goals by Michael Casey and Andrew Kurapov along with an even-strength goal by Ryan Willett and cruised to a 4-1 win. Suffolk’s Devin Lowe broke up Ryan Wilson’s bid for a shutout as he stopped 30 of 31 shots in the win.
Salve Regina and Nichols played a thrilling series where both games needed bonus hockey to determine a winner. On Friday night, the Bison trailed 2-1 after forty minutes of play but tied the score on Kaiden Scott’s power play goal in the third period. Neither team could score before the end of regulation and in overtime, Nathan Carl sent the home fans home happy with a goal for a 3-2 upset win over the Seahawks. On Saturday, the script was flipped as the visiting Bison held a 2-1 lead after two periods of play only to see Jonathan Hammel tie the score in the third period for Salve Regina. In overtime, Johnny Mulera wasted no time in scoring at the 29 second mark to give the Seahawks a 3-2 win and split of the weekend series that leaves them just one point behind Curry and Endicott in the standings.
Wentworth took advantage of a four-goal second period to erase a 1-0 deficit on the way to a 6-2 win over Western new England on Friday. Nikolas Sombrowski scored a pair of goals and Mitch McGinn scored a goal and added three assists for the Leopards. On Saturday, Wentworth took the sweep with a 2-1 overtime win over the Golden Bears. George Weiner scored the decisive goal to help the Leopards pick up their fourth win in CCC action.
Independents
Following a 2-1 overtime loss to Wesleyan on Tuesday night, Albertus Magnus played Rivier on Saturday and skated off with a 6-3 win over the Raiders. Five unanswered goals by the Falcons erased a 3-1 deficit with six different players scoring goals to support Logan Bateman who made 28 saves to earn the win.
Following a 5-3 loss to Oswego on Friday night where three power play goals were the difference for the Lakers, Anna Maria closed out their tour of SUNYAC opponents with a game at Cortland on Saturday. After the Red Dragons took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, their power play quickly struck in the second period for two goals as part of a four-goal period that helped the home team ease past the AmCats, 7-2.
MASCAC
After dropping a 5-1 decision to Framingham State at home on Thursday night, Fitchburg State earned their coach, Dean Fuller his 600th career win (all at FSU) with a 5-2 decision over Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Goals by Cade Herrera gave the Trailblazers a 2-0 lead early in the second period before the Falcons got their offense going with five straight tallies. Samuel Rennick, Oliver Cookson, and Toivo Kramer all scored within thirty seconds, midway through the period for a 3-2 lead that the Falcons extended with Trenton Skagg’s goal and Kristopher Zapata’s empty-net goal in the third period to seal the win.
Plymouth State remained unbeaten in MASCAC play with a pair of wins over Salem State and Worcester State. On Thursday, Patrick O’Connell and Ethan Stuckless broke a 1-1 tie and the Panthers fought off a scrappy Vikings’ squad with a 4-3 win. Things were far more comfortable on the road against the Lancers on Saturday where Stuckless, Will Redick and Cam Patton each scored a pair of goals in a 7-0 rout. Goaltender Brandon Shantz stopped all 24 shots he faced to earn the shutout win for PSU.
Massachusetts-Dartmouth took advantage of two MASCAC wins to move into second place in the standings. On Thursday, the Corsairs won a seesaw affair with Westfield State, 3-2. Tyler Stewarts third period goal proved to be the game-winner in a tight contest. On Saturday, the offense was in high gear as UMD used a hat trick from Michael Mania and two goals each from Collin Patterson and Alex Walker to cruise to a 9-2 win over Framingham State.
NE-10
First place Assumption took a commanding lead in the standings with three wins for the week. On Wednesday in a make-up game with Post, the Greyhounds used three power play goals to hold off the Eagles in a 5-4 win. The Greyhounds hosted Franklin Pierce in a weekend series and needed a third period comeback on Friday to down the Ravens 4-3. Trailing 3-1 entering the third, Ronny Paragallo, William Roberts and Jonathan Surrette scored to rally the Greyhounds to the victory. Paragallo finished the night with a pair of goals and an assist. On Saturday, more third period magic was needed to break a 2-2 tie with FPU. Jake Lavoie, Shane Sullivan, and William Roberts all scored in the final period to help Assumption toa 5-2 win and weekend sweep of the Ravens.
Post and St. Anselm split a pair of games over the weekend. On Friday, Post rallied from a 2-1 deficit with Nathan McDevitt scoring early in the third period to tie the score at 2-2 before Jack Engdahl scored in the final five seconds of overtime for a 3-2 win. On Saturday, the Hawks rebounded to earn the split with a 5-3 win that saw the visitors rally from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits. Luke Mix and Hunter Brackett each scored a goal and added an assist for St. Anselm.
NEHC
Hobart and Elmira played a home-and-home series in what was expected to be a dynamic matchup between two of the top teams in D-III. The Statesmen put all that aside in a pair of dominating wins over the Soaring Eagles by 7-2 and 5-0 scores. On Friday, the visitors scored early for a 2-1 lead after the first period and then blew the game open with a five-goal second period. Seven different players scored for Hobart and Chris Duclair picked up three assists in the runaway win. Back home in The Cooler on Saturday, the Statesmen continued to display their depth and balance with five different goal scorers and forward Shane Shell recording a goal and two assists in a 5-0 win. Goaltender Mavrick Goyer earned his sixth shutout of the season stopping 15 shots.
Norwich picked up a pair of much needed wins to move into a tie with Skidmore for second place in the NEHC standings. After ceding Vermont State-Castleton a 1-0 lead on Matteo Turrin’s first period goal, the Cadets scored the next seven, including a pair of goals from Patrick Delvecchio. On Saturday, in what was expected to be a defensive battle, the Cadets made Owen Sclisizzi’s second period goal stand up as the game-winner in a 1-0 victory. Goaltenders Sami Malu and Bryce Walcarius combined for 26 saves to post the shutout over the Thoroughbreds.
Babson picked up a pair of wins over Massachusetts-Boston ns Johnson & Wales to stay tied with Elmira in fourth place in the conference. On Friday, after Thomas Kramer and Conor Foley traded goals in the opening period, Colby Bailey’s power play tally proved to be decisive in a 2-1 win over the Beacons. Mason Rosado stopped 30 of 31 shots in the win. On Saturday, in another close contest, the Beavers jumped to a 2-0m lead on goals from Cam Joslin and Ian Driscoll but needed a last second empty-net tally from Wyatt George to hold off the Wildcats, 3-1.
NESCAC
Trinity went on the road and claimed a pair of comfortable victories over Hamilton and Amherst to pad their lead in the NESCAC standings. On Friday, a goal, and a pair of assists from Connor Sedlak helped the Bantams to a 6-1 win over the Continentals. On Saturday, a goal and an assist from Richard Boysen and a pair of assists by Spencer Korona helped pace the Bantams to a 5-1 win over the Mammoth.
Bowdoin moved into second place in the standings with a decisive win over long-time rival Colby on Saturday, 5-1. Two goals from Gabe Shipper and three assists by Luke Wheeler paced the Polar Bear attack while goaltender Alex Kozic stopped 28 of 29 shots to earn the win.
After being shutout by Williams on Friday, 2-0, Tufts faced a recently resurgent Middlebury team that was on a4-game unbeaten streak. The Panthers struck first on a goal by Jin Lee to lead 1-0 after two periods of play but the Jumbos found some third period scoring from Harrison Bazianos and Clark Bolin just 39 seconds apart for a 2-1 lead. Goaltender Peyton Durand stopped 24 shots to help the Jumbos stay among the conference leaders.
Hamilton stayed in the fourth-place spot as the Continentals rebounded from their loss to Trinity with a 5-2 win over Wesleyan on Saturday. Wesleyan’s Owen Sweet scored with one-tenth of a second remaining in the second period to make the game 3-2 for Hamilton entering the final period of play. Devon deVries gave the Continentals some breathing room with his goal early in the period and Noah Leibl iced the contest with an empty-net goal. Jack Grant made 33 saves in the Continental goal for the win.
SUNYAC
The battle for the top spot was on the line Friday night as Plattsburgh visited Geneseo. Bennet Stockdale scored twice to give the Cardinals an early lead, but the Knights answered with goals from Cooper Fensterstock and Alex Dameski to send the game to the final period tied at 2-2. In the third period, Ty D’Addario, Paul Bryer, Trey Thomas, and Ryan Butler (ENG) helped PSU to a big 6-2 road win over Geneseo. On Saturday, Plattsburgh outshot Brockport by a 43-28 margin but could only get Bryer’s first period shot past netminder Dylan Wiemer. Josh Grund scored late in the third period to tie score at 1-1 and the teams settled for the overtime tie.
Geneseo rebounded from their loss to Plattsburgh with a 6-1 win over Potsdam on Saturday. The Knights scored three power play goals and scored three goals in each of the first and third periods to capture the important SUNYAC win. Zach Purcell scored a pair of goals while Luke Panchisin added three assists.
Oswego downed Anna Maria College on Friday night, 5-3, before resuming SUNYAC play with a 4-1 win over Morrisville on Saturday. Goals by Connor Gatto and Brock Kulicki in the third period broke open a close contest with the Mustangs and helped Oswego move into a tie with Geneseo for the conference lead with Plattsburgh just one point in arrears and a game in hand.
UCHC
Utica continued to cruise atop the UCHC standings following their weekend sweep of Nazareth. On Friday, a hat trick and an assist from forward Shane Murphy helped pace the offense to a 7-0 win over the Golden Flyers. Bryan Landsberger picked up the shutout making 26 saves for Utica. On Saturday, Murphy was again found all over the ice and the scoresheet as he helped the Pioneers build an early 4-0 lead and cruise to a 4-2 win. Murphy scored a goal and added two assists to keep the Pioneers unbeaten in UCHC play.
Stevenson had dual opportunity in their weekend series with Arcadia as a weekend sweep would keep them in second place in the UCHC standings while also securing their second consecutive MAC championship. On Friday night, the Mustangs scored the first seven goals of the contest, including two from Blake Benson on the way to a 7-2 road win over the Knights. On home ice on Saturday, Stevenson won the MAC title with a 5-1 win over Arcadia that featured a Liam McCanney hat trick. Goaltender Ty Outen picked up his 15th win of the season for Stevenson making 23 saves.
After dropping a pair of non-conference games last weekend to Canton, Wilkes was looking to rebound in conference play against a spirited Lebanon Valley squad. On Friday night, the Colonels took a 2-0 lead only to see the Flying Dutchman answer with three goals in the second period for a one-goal advantage heading into the final period of play. Cam Lowe and Jimmy O’Kane scored in the third period to help Wilkes escape with a 4-3 win. On Saturday, O’Kane and Danny Nau gave Wilkes a 2-0 lead but LVC again rallied to tie the score at 2-2 with both goals coming from Dylan Miller. Billy Berry and O’Kane’s second of the game gave the visitors a two-goal lead before Blake Testo’s goal with just one second left would prove to be too little too late in a second game divided by one-goal, 4-3.
Three Biscuits
DJ Dixon – Wesleyan – opened the scoring and closed the scoring with the overtime winning goal in the Cardinals’ 2-1 win over Albertus Magnus on Tuesday night.
Garrett Bovonoski – Morrisville – stopped 41 of 42 shots in the Mustangs 2-1 come-from-behind upset win over Cortland on Wednesday night.
Michael Mania – Massachusetts-Dartmouth – scored a hat trick to lead the Corsairs to a 9-2 win over Framingham State on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuits
Shane Murphy – Utica – scored a hat trick in Friday’s 7-0 win over Nazareth on Friday and finished the weekend with four goals and three assists.
Mavrick Goyer – Hobart – recorded his sixth shutout of the season making 15 saves in Hobart’s 5-0 win over Elmira on Saturday.
Jack Engdahl – Post – scored the overtime winning goal with less than five seconds remaining in the extra session to give Post a 3-2 win over St. Anselm on Friday.
There are teams that are displaying their high-level game on the big stage as Hobart, Utica, Norwich, Plymouth State, Stevenson, Endicott, Trinity, and Curry did this weekend while other teams are trying to build momentum in the few remaining weeks of the regular season. The calendar is already turning to February so now is the time to be consistently good to make a run for a conference title and who knows what else down the road.
