The second-to-last full weekend of college hockey games prior to the holiday break led to a lot of the same results for the top Division 1 clubs in New England.
The top of Hockey East looks the same after Massachusetts, Providence, Northeastern, and Boston College all went unbeaten on the weekend, combining for a 4-0-2 mark. The Eagles and archrival Boston University sit tied four points out of first place in Hockey East after this weekend’s Battle of Commonwealth Avenue, though BC went 1-0-1 to win the season series and has three league games in hand.
Quinnipiac remains in control of the ECAC after sweeping a Princeton team that entered the weekend second in the standings. After the weekend’s results, Dartmouth and Yale are now the clubs chasing the Bobcats. Yale’s wins came on the road against Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
American International swept Atlantic Hockey rival Holy Cross to move within one point of first-place Air Force, while Sacred Heart was the only other New England club from that league to win over the weekend. The Pioneers upended Robert Morris in a one-goal game Friday in Bridgeport, Conn.
Top 10 teams
1. Massachusetts
Record: 12-1 (7-0 Hockey East) / Last week: 1
The Minutemen found themselves down 2-1 after one period and tied 3-3 early in the third Friday night against UConn, but four of the game’s final five goals were plenty for their ninth straight win, 7-4. Sophomore Mitchell Chaffee scored two goals and two assists to lead an offense that saw 10 players contribute with points. Freshman Bobby Trivigno had two goals, including a third-period penalty shot. Matt Murray improved to 9-0 for his sophomore year with 29 saves.
2. Providence
Record: 8-4-3 (5-2-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 2
Friday’s 1-1 tie with New Hampshire extended the Friars’ winless streak to three games, but a three-goal third period led the way to a 3-1 win in Durham the following night. Freshman Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.) scored his first collegiate goal to win the Saturday game with 2:32 remaining in regulation. Senior defenseman Vincent Desharnais also tallied for the first time this season on the road. Sophomore Jason O’Neill scored the lone goal of Friday. Senior Hayden Hawkey stopped 45 of the 47 shots he faced in the series.
3. Quinnipiac
Record: 13-2 (6-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 3
Another weekend, another sweep. The Bobcats made it six straight wins for the second time this season with 3-0 and 6-3 decisions in a home-and-home series with ECAC travel partner Princeton. Seniors Chase Priskie and Craig Martin scored two goals apiece in the series-clinching game after junior Andrew Shortridge pitched his second shutout of the season with 20 saves on the road. Sophomore Odeen Tufto had six points for the second straight series.
4. Northeastern
Record: 9-3-1 (5-1-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 4
The Huskies never looked back after a five-goal first period en route to Friday night’s 9-1 win over Merrimack at Matthews Arena. Junior John Picking (Wellesley, Mass.) had two goals and two assists for a career-best night, while sophomore Zach Solow scored his first collegiate hat trick to lead Northeastern to its fifth straight win. Picking and Solow each scored on the power play and shorthanded as part of a seven-goal run to finish the game.
5. Boston College
Record: 4-6-2 (4-1-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 6
The Eagles were unbeaten over the weekend against archrival Boston University, earning a 4-1 win – their first since Nov. 9 – before skating to a scoreless tie. Sophomore Logan Hutsko scored the only two goals BC needed in Friday’s win after entering the series with just one on the season. Junior Joseph Woll stopped 64 of the 65 shots he faced on the weekend, including all 26 on Saturday.
6. Boston University
Record: 4-7-2 (4-4-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 5
BU managed just a single goal in this regular season’s playing of the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue, off the stick of junior defenseman Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) in Friday’s 4-1 loss at Agganis Arena. The story of the weekend for the Terriers, though, was Jake Oettinger. The junior netminder stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced in a losing effort before pitching his first shutout of the season with 42 saves in the scoreless Saturday duel.
7. Dartmouth
Record: 4-3-1 (4-2-1 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 7
The Big Green pieced together a three-point weekend thanks to a 3-2 win over then-No. 16 Cornell and 2-2 tie with Colgate on home ice at Thompson Arena. Junior Cam Strong scored once in each game for his first two points of the season; his Friday goal at 9:29 of the third was the game-winner. Classmate Adrian Clark made 57 of 60 saves in the series to help lift Dartmouth to second in the ECAC standings. Additionally, Bob Gaudet became the winningest coach in Big Green history with the 309th win of his career on Friday.
8. Yale
Record: 5-2-2 (4-2-1 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 9
Yale swept the North Country of New York to extend its unbeaten streak to four games, posting a 5-3 win at St. Lawrence before taking down Clarkson in a 2-1 contest. No player had more than two points on the weekend as 14 different Bulldogs had a hand in the offense, while goaltenders Sam Tucker and Corbin Kaczperski each had one of the wins. Freshman Justin Pearson (Nashua, N.H.) scored his first collegiate goal to win the SLU game. Sophomore Dante Palecco had the deciding tally at Clarkson.
9. UMass Lowell
Record: 7-6-1 (3-3-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 8
The River Hawks entered their bye weekend with wins in three of their last four games during series home-and-home against UConn and RPI. Lowell returns to action for two games this coming weekend beginning Friday at BU.
10. Harvard
Record: 4-4-2 (2-3-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 10
The Crimson split its latest ECAC weekend at Bright-Landry Hockey Center, scoring three power-play goals en route to a 6-1 win over Colgate before dropping a 2-1 decision to Cornell. Lewis Zerter-Gossage had his six-game point streak snapped against the Big Red, but the senior captain scored twice on Friday. Freshman defenseman Jack Rathbone (West Roxbury, Mass.) has nine points in 10 games after an assist and a power-play goal on the weekend. Senior Michael Lackey made both starts on the weekend, stopping 52 total shots.
Players of the Week
Mitchell Chaffee
Massachusetts / Soph. / F / Rockford, Mich.
Chaffee continued his torrid first half with a career-high four points on two goals and two assists in Friday’s 7-4 Minutemen win over UConn. He leads the 12-win Minutemen with 10 goals, including four in as many games, and sits tied with defenseman Cale Makar for the team and Hockey East point leads with 18 in 13 games.
Joseph Woll
Boston College / Jr. / G / St. Louis, Mo.
Woll enjoyed a stellar weekend against archrival Boston University with 64 saves on 65 shots. He made 38 in his third win of the season on Friday before a 26-save effort for his first clean sheet of the year. Despite a 3-6-2 record, Woll has a .925 save percentage and 2.17 goals against; both of those marks rank in the top-20 nationally.
