Endicott can’t be beaten. Neither can Plymouth State. And the NESCAC is still up for grabs.
With just five weeks of hockey to play before the puck drops on the region’s first conference tournament, teams used this past weekend to improve their league position and make some on-ice statements.
Last week’s power rankings reflected the New England landscape in Division 3. This week focuses on some achievements from teams both within and outside those rankings.
Here are the top takeaways from the weekend.
More tests passed by Connor Amsley and Endicott
We knew the last three weekends of January would tell us much about Endicott, which carried a gaudy 11-1 record into an anticipated series against the University of New England.
And now? After wins of two different varieties – 6-3 on Friday with six different players scoring, and 3-0 on Saturday – the Gulls are 13-1 overall (11-0 CCC) and ready for their next weekend challenge.
Connor Amsley scored a goal both nights. His empty-netter Saturday capped a three-goal third period that also saw tallies from Matt Giroux (Bedford, N.H.) and Zach Mazur, and 32 saves from Ryan Wilson (Shelton, Conn.), who earned his third career shutout.
Not only do the Gulls own the best record of any D-3 team in the region, but they also top the USCHO.com Pairwise Rankings, which attempt to mirror the selection of at-large teams for the NCAA tournament.
RJ Tolan’s squad mixes it up with Salve Regina (7-5-1, 6-5 CCC) this coming weekend, and then it’s a set with high-flying Curry (13-2, 9-2 CCC) at the end of the month.
Trinity and Wesleyan protect home ice in key weekend
The most attractive travel partner series in the NESCAC to date saw two strong teams from Maine (Colby and Bowdoin) visit two strong teams in Connecticut (Trinity and Wesleyan) over the weekend.
When it concluded, Trinity had a pair of wins, and Wesleyan a win and a draw, allowing the Conn. schools to leapfrog their Maine colleagues in the standings with five weekends to play.
Trinity (9-5, 6-2 NESCAC) is riding a five-game win streak. Junior forward Kyle Tomaso (Newport, R.I.) continues to be the playmaker, with a team-high 10 assists. He set up Gerard Maretta for the game-winner against Colby, 3-2, and also had an assist in the 5-2 win over Bowdoin.
With three wins and two ties in the new year, Wesleyan (8-2-2, 5-1-2 NESCAC) is playing as well as anyone in the league. The Cardinals are also playing as resilient as anyone in the league.
In both games this weekend – a 5-3 win over Bowdoin and 3-3 tie with Colby – they battled back from 2-0 deficits to earn results. Senior defenseman Jake Lachance (Andover, Mass.) scored in both games, and leads his team in assists (12) and points (17).
Who’s the top challenger to Plymouth State in the MASCAC?
With nine wins in nine league games – several by lopsided margins – Plymouth State is on track for another first-place finish in the MASCAC and top seed in the tournament.
Who’s poised to challenge the Panthers? You could make a strong case for Worcester State.
The two games before Thanksgiving were miserable ones for the Lancers (8-7, 7-2 MASCAC), who gave up seven goals in back-to-back losses. One was to explosive Plymouth. Fine.
The other was to independent Anna Maria, 7-0, a team that also clipped them 10-2 early in the season in the consolation game of the Woo Cup.
Problem.
But a team that was yielding goals by the truckload early on is on a five-game win streak, the last three of those wins by shutout.
Seniors Brendan Ronan of Saugus, Mass. (7-11-18) and Mikey Wilson (7-9-16) have led the attack, while the defense has made big strides from where it was at Thanksgiving.
@MikeZhe603
mzhe@hockeyjournal.com
