Billy Girard IV has stopped a lot of pucks during a stellar career at the University of New England, but never more this season than he did in the final of the Northfield Savings Bank Tournament on New Year’s Eve.
Thanks to a 36-save effort in a win over Norwich, Girard has now saved more shots than any goalie in UNE history.
Many of the region’s Division 3 teams returned to the ice over New Year’s weekend, with some significant results.
Here is a look at our top takeaways.
MVP Girard is now UNE’s all-time leader
Girard matched his season high of 36 saves as the surging Nor’easters topped host Norwich, 2-1, in a battle between ranked teams on Sunday.
Dominic Murphy picked a great time to score his first collegiate goal, netting the game-winner with a little more than five minutes to play in regulation.
Girard, a South Kent product who backstopped UNE to Frozen Fours in each of the last two seasons, has now made 1,659 career saves, breaking the program record of 1,648 set by Colby Drost, who played from 2012-15.
Girard (2.07 goals-against average, .926 save percentage) was named tournament MVP. He was joined on the All-Tournament team by Murphy (Worcester, Mass.) and senior captain Logan DiScanio, who scored twice in Saturday’s 2-1 semifinal win over Wesleyan.
UNE (9-2-2) extended its unbeaten streak to nine games with Tuesday's 4-1 non-conference win over Williams. It was the 200th career victory for coach Kevin Swallow.
Amherst hands Endicott first home loss
Amherst accomplished something no other team had done on Sunday, beating Endicott on its own ice.
And the team didn't stop there.
A strong first period set the Mammoths (7-3) up for the 4-2 victory at Raymond J. Bourque Arena. Tyler Bourque (North Scituate, R.I.), Ryan Tucker, Connor Guest and Max Thiessen all scored goals as their team led wire-to-wire.
Not to rest on that significant road win, the Mammoths traveled to face another strong Commonwealth Coast Conference team on Tuesday — Curry — and won, 4-3, when Matt Toporowski scored midway through sudden-death overtime.
Like they did in the Endicott win, Guest, Tucker and Bourque supplied goals in this latest victory.
Amherst is cruising, with four straight wins heading this weekend's games against Bowdoin and Colby. If Trinity remains the team to beat in the NESCAC, the Mammoths have punched their way to the top of the list of challengers.
NESCAC teams roar into 2024
Setting aside Williams’ loss at UNE, Tuesday was a strong start to the new year for teams in the NESCAC.
The league’s teams went 5-1-1 in their seven collective non-conference games. Bowdoin used its dominance at the faceoff dot to beat Southern Maine, 5-2, with Patrick Callahan, Jack Studley (Billerica, Mass.), Michael Dinges (Haverhill, Mass.) and Luke Wheeler combining to win 55-of-75.
Colby (7-2 over St. Anselm), Trinity (6-0 over King’s) and Middlebury (4-1 over New England College) also took wins.
And don’t overlook Conn. College, which went into Bourque Arena and played Endicott to a 4-4 draw. Devan Newhook’s wrister from the point off a draw win by John Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) squared the game with 2 ½ minutes left in regulation.
Looking ahead
The coming weekend is highlighted by a tilt between NEHC rivals Babson (7-5-2) and Norwich (7-4-1) in Northfield, Vt., on Saturday (4 p.m.). The teams checked in at No. 7 and No. 3, respectively, in New England Hockey Journal’s latest regional power rankings.
UMass Boston (4-7-2) will try to snap a three-game winless streak when it hosts Worcester State (3-8) in the Codfish Bowl on Friday (1 p.m.). Conn. College (3-5-1) and Suffolk (2-10-1) will play in the 4 p.m. semifinal, with the winners meeting for the title on Saturday.
The NESCAC weekend slate is highlighted by travel partners Colby (3-3-2) and Bowdoin (6-2-1) heading west to play Hamilton (8-2) and Amherst on back-to-back days.
@MikeZhe603
mzhe@hockeyjournal.com
