We had a lot of New England college teams in action over the weekend, with two annual tournaments -- the Ledyard Classic in Hanover, N.H., hosted by Dartmouth, and the Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vt., and hosted by the University of Vermont -- plus a gaggle of interesting non-conference games.
On the prep side, it was quiet after a slew of traditional holiday tournaments, but we did have the Belmont Hill/Nichols tournament in Belmont, Mass. Then there was the Pete Frakes Winter Classic on the high school side. So, for a relatively quiet weekend on the hockey schedule, it was fairly busy.
Here's what you need to know about some of the best players and performances from the weekend, the last of 2019:
1. Bongiovanni-Tufto-Metsa
Quinnipiac 4, Princeton 3: This game on Sunday, the second of a home-and-home series between the two teams, saw Quinnipiac rally from a 2-0 deficit early in the second period on the strength of the play of three players. Wyatt Bongiovanni, Odeen Tufto and Zach Metsa combined for three goals -- two by defenseman Metsa, the other by Bongiovanni with 1:26 left in regulation -- and four assists to fuel the win. In front of the home fans at the People's United Center, in Hamden, Conn., the trio was a catalyst behind the Bobcats' 48-shot output, including 17 shots in the third period with the game tight. Tufto went an impressive 15-8 in the face-off dot to go along with his two assists. Tufto, Bongiovanni and Metsa are 1-2-3 in team scoring, Tufto (a junior) leading the Bobcats with two goals and 15 assists for 17 points in 17 games. Quinnipiac is now a middling 9-7-1 overall, 4-3-1 in ECAC.
2. Andon Cerbone
Brunswick 6, Millbrook 5 (OT): On Saturday at the Belmont Hill/Nichols tournament, the Brunswick-Millbrook game was every bit as exciting as we anticipated it would be on Friday. Andon Cerbone and Matthew McGroarty starred for Brunswick, while Zach Bookman (Merrimack commit) led Millbrook. Cerbone was involved in most key plays, running the power play and setting up the winning goal by McGroarty (Quinnipiac commit) on a 2-on-1. Full marks have to go to Millbrook, however, for rallying back from a 5-2 deficit with three straight goals in the third to force overtime against a highly regarded team.
3. Alexander Payusov, Benjamin Freeman
UConn 2, St. Lawrence 2: A tie? Sure. In a thrilling finish, with the goalie pulled and the clock ticking down, UConn's Alexander Payusov scored with one second left in regulation to force what would ultimately be an overtime 2-2 tie with St. Lawrence on Saturday at the Ledyard Bank Classic, in Hanover, N.H. Payusov had a good night, going plus-2 and adding five shots. Payusov, a Montreal native, has had a slow start this season, after scoring 16 and 12 goals in his last two seasons, and now has four. One of the more noteworthy performances of the night was put in by Benjamin Freeman, who went an astounding 21-6 in the face-off circle.
In other tournament action, Dartmouth beat Colorado College, 5-2, and UConn, 4-3; and Colorado College beat St. Lawrence, 7-3. Saturday's game between Dartmouth and Colorado College was the first between the teams since 1954.
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
