College hockey season is officially underway for all of New England’s Division 1 clubs after a pair of exciting Ivy League games over the weekend in Providence, R.I., and Hanover, N.H.
The second New England Hockey Journal Top 10 of 2018-19 largely looks the same up top after unblemished weekends for area teams. Boston University and Boston College are still left searching for their first victories of the season, allowing Northeastern to move up after a weekend of wins against UMass Lowell and St. Cloud State, the latter of which was previously undefeated.
Yale and Dartmouth move into the rankings following one-goal victories to open the ECAC and Ivy League slates. Same goes for a UConn club that secured a win and a tie in its last two Hockey East contests against Maine.
Top 10 Teams
1. Providence
Record: 4-1-1 (2-0 Hockey East) | Last week: 1
The Friars continued their torrid start with a 5-0 win Friday night at Boston University, extending their six-game scoring advantage to 21-8. Junior Brandon Duhaime scored two goals and classmate Josh Wilkins dished out three assists to lead the Friars in their first road shutout of BU since 2004. Senior Hayden Hawkey needed to make just 18 saves as he pitched his 10th collegiate shutout and second already this season.
2. Quinnipiac
Record: 5-0 (0-0 ECAC Hockey) | Last week: 2
The Bobcats aced their final test before ECAC play against AIC, posting 4-1 and 9-2 wins in a home-and-home series to extend their longest season-opening winning streak since 2015. Junior Alex Whelan posted his first collegiate hat trick to lead three players with multiple goals in the series-ending rout. Senior defenseman Brandon Fortunato posted five of his six assists on the weekend in that game, the most by a QU player in a game in 18 years.
3. UMass Amherst
Record: 5-1 (2-0 Hockey East) | Last week: 3
The Minutemen swept Merrimack in a home-and-home series to open Hockey East play with a bang, earning a come-from-behind, 4-3 road win after controlling a 5-1 decision on Friday. Philip Lagunov tied the finale in the final minute of regulation before Marc Del Gaizo scored the game-winner with 1:12 left in overtime. John Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) had three assists in the overtime contest and six points on the weekend.
4. Northeastern
Record: 4-2 (1-0 Hockey East) | Last week: 6
Third periods were kind to the Huskies on both games last weekend. That's when they scored three times en route to a 4-1 win in their league opener at UMass Lowell, then junior Grant Jozefek capped a 3-2 win over then-No. 2 St. Cloud State. He had a three-point weekend, too. Wellesley, Mass., native John Picking had three assists over the two games.
5. Boston University
Record: 0-4 (0-2 Hockey East) | Last week: 4
The Terriers’ winless start stretched to four games after Friday night’s 5-0 loss to Providence at Agganis Arena. Junior Jake Oettinger made 34 saves in the contest, but his offense did not provide any support for the second consecutive game to start Hockey East play. First-year head coach Albie O'Connell needs to find some answers quickly.
6. Boston College
Record: 0-4 (0-0 Hockey East) | Last week: 5
BC’s lone action came Thursday night in the form of a 7-0 loss to St. Cloud State. The Eagle offense has been shut down in three of its first four games, but a defense that was pretty stout a year ago hasn’t helped out junior Joseph Woll (.867 save percentage). BC has allowed 18 goals thus far.
7. Yale
Record: 1-0 (1-0 ECAC Hockey) | Last week: Not ranked
The Bulldogs opened their season with a 3-2 league win at Brown on Friday night. Joe Snively started his senior year with back-to-back goals for the Bulldogs, including the fastest season-opening goal scored by an ECAC team in history just 14 seconds into the game. Junior Luke Stevens (Duxbury, Mass.) tallied the winner with 4:59 left in the second period, while junior Corbin Kaczperski made 13 of his 20 saves in the third.
8. Dartmouth
Record: 1-0 (1-0 ECAC Hockey) | Last week: Not ranked
A three-goal third period sent Dartmouth into overtime in Saturday night’s season opener with Harvard, and sophomore Quin Foreman (Needham, Mass.) needed just 18 seconds to net the winner in a 7-6 game. “The Timber Line” consisting of Foreman, Shane Sellar and Will Graber all scored goals and had multiple points in the contest. Despite the offensive outburst, junior Adrian Clark still made 37 saves, including 21 in the first frame.
9. UMass Lowell
Record: 3-3 (0-1 Hockey East) | Last week: 7
The River Hawks earned a 4-2 win in their first-ever visit to Bentley, bouncing back from Friday’s Hockey East-opening loss (4-1) to Northeastern. Senior Nick Master scored twice and added an assist in the victory for Lowell, which has split each of its first three weekends of play. Fellow senior Ryan Dmowski (East Lyme, Conn.) scored the other goal. Senior Christoffer Hernberg earned the win with 13 saves against the Falcons.
10. UConn
Record: 3-2-1 (1-1-1 Hockey East) | Last week: Not ranked
The Huskies extended their unbeaten streak to three games following a 5-2 win and 2-2 tie against Maine over the weekend in Hartford, Conn. Junior Alexander Payusov raised his league-leading goal total to seven, while senior Karl El-Mir had a pair in the Friday win. Junior Adam Huska had a 55-save weekend.
Players of the Week
John Leonard
UMass | Soph. | F | Amherst, Mass.
Leonard totaled a pair of three-point games as his team swept Merrimack to open Hockey East play. The San Jose Sharks' draft picked scored a goal and added two assists in a dominant Friday win, then assisted on three of the Minutemen’s four goals in an overtime thriller the following night.
Brandon Fortunato
Quinnipiac | Sr. | D | North Hills, N.Y.
Fortunato was a force on the back end during the Bobcats’ non-conference series with AIC, registering six assists over two games to push his season total to eight. Remarkably, the Boston University transfer had five in Saturday’s 9-2 win.
