Five of New England’s Division 1 college hockey teams finished the second weekend of 2019 in sweeping fashion.
Leading the way, three of the four Hockey East clubs to win two games on the weekend did so in league play. UMass and Northeastern were two of those clubs, and both teams enter their week of home-and-home series as Hockey East’s top teams. Boston College hosts Maine with the chance to tie the Minutemen for first place on Wednesday night, though the Eagles had their unbeaten run in league play squashed last Saturday at New Hampshire.
Boston University ran its total unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1, now the region’s longest active run) after tying Harvard and beating league foes UNH and Providence, while UMass Lowell posted a non-conference sweep at Colgate. Merrimack also won twice during the week, downing Michigan for the first time in history before returning to home and league play with UConn.
Bentley was the last New England team to sweep the weekend, beating Robert Morris twice in Pittsburgh to move into the No. 8 slot in Atlantic Hockey. The Falcons’ league rival, Holy Cross, earned a three-point weekend against Niagara at Hart Center. In ECAC play, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Quinnipiac all went 1-1.
TOP 10
1. Massachusetts
Record: 17-3 (9-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 2
UMass matched its win total from all of last season and maintained its one-point lead over Northeastern at the top of the Hockey East standings with a 4-1, 5-1 sweep of Vermont at the Mullins Center. Sophomore defenseman Cale Makar scored twice and added two assists to pace the Minutemen in the Saturday win, while sophomores Jake Gaudet and John Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) each finished the weekend with three points. Matt Murray made 41 saves on the weekend and allowed only one goal in each game.
2. Quinnipiac
Record: 16-5-1 (7-4-1 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 3
The Bobcats opened their weekend at home with a 5-1 win over Dartmouth before the following night’s 2-1 loss to Harvard. Freshman Ethan de Jong scored a goal in each game to help the Quinnipiac offense; his Saturday goal was the lone of 47 shots to beat Harvard’s Michael Lackey. Senior Craig Martin tallied and also registered two assists in Friday’s win, including one helper on freshman Peter DiLiberatore’s third goal in five games from the blue line. Sophomore Andrew Shortridge started both games, registering 49 saves.
3. Northeastern
Record: 14-4-1 (8-2-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 4
The Huskies completed their first Hockey East sweep at Maine since 2008 and improved to 9-1 away from home this season with 3-2 and 4-0 wins over the weekend at Alfond Arena. Sophomore Cayden Primeau made 52 saves in the series, logging his third shutout of the season with 33 saves in the Saturday game. Senior Brandon Hawkins scored once on Friday and twice on Saturday, while senior Liam Pecararo (Canton, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Madden also posted three-point weekends.
4. Providence
Record: 12-6-4 (6-4-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 1
Providence has suffered its four Hockey East losses over just two weekends after dropping both ends of its split series to Boston College and Boston University. On Saturday, senior Scott Conway scored twice before the visiting Terriers earned a 4-3 win on the strength of a two-goal third period. Junior Josh Wilkins and freshman Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.) scored in Friday’s first period, but host Boston College earned a 4-2 win. Senior Hayden Hawkey made 41 saves on 48 shots during the weekend.
5. Boston University
Record: 8-8-3 (7-5-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 8
The Terriers improved to 4-0-1 over their last five games after this weekend’s 5-2 win over New Hampshire and come-from-behind, 4-3 triumph at Providence. Freshman Joel Farabee contributed to the scoring in both weekend games after netting the tying goal in last Tuesday’s 2-2 tie with Harvard; he had a goal and two assists against UNH. Sophomore Shane Bowers scored twice at Providence before senior Bobo Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) registered his third assist of the game on sophomore Logan Cockerill’s winner. Junior Jake Oettinger was in net for all three games, capping the weekend with 33 saves against the Friars.
6. Yale
Record: 8-5-3 (6-2-1 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 5
The Bulldogs played a pair of non-conference games this week, losing a 4-3 overtime contest last Monday at Maine before a 3-1 home win at Sacred Heart on Saturday. Senior Andrew Gaus scored a goal in each game, matching juniors Mitchell Smith and Chandler Lindstrand with two points on the week. Against Sacred Heart, freshman Justin Pearson (Nashua, N.H.) scored the game-winning goal and junior Corbin Kaczperski stopped 29 shots.
7. UMass Lowell
Record: 11-8-1 (5-4-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 6
Non-conference play for the River Hawks concluded with 3-0 and 4-1 victories at Colgate. Senior Christoffer Hernberg opened the two-win weekend with 25 saves en route to the team’s fourth shutout of the season. Junior Ryan Lohin led the offense with two goals and two assists in the series, while sophomore Connor Sodergren (Tewksbury, Mass.) had two of the three goals in Friday’s win as well as an assist the following night; he now sits second on the team in scoring this season.
8. Harvard
Record: 7-5-3 (4-4-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 7
This past ECAC weekend was a tale of two close games for the Crimson with a 2-1 win at Quinnipiac following a 4-2 setback to Princeton. Friday’s losing result snapped a four-game unbeaten streak, an 11-game streak all-time against the Tigers, and marked only the second time Harvard has allowed more than two goals in the last 12 games. Junior Adam Fox and freshman Jack Drury each logged three points during the week, with the latter extending his point streak to four with the game-winner against Quinnipiac. Senior Michael Lackey made a career-high 46 saves in Saturday’s game.
9. Boston College
Record: 7-10-2 (7-2-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 9
The Eagles returned to Hockey East play for the first time in 2019 with Friday’s 4-2 home win over Providence before a 6-4 loss at New Hampshire the following night snapped their nine-game unbeaten streak in league play. Juniors Julius and Jesper Mattila connected for the game-winning goal 1:28 into the third period against the Friars before senior Christopher Brown opened a three-point weekend with an empty-net goal. Joseph Woll made 28 saves to earn his 40th win in BC’s net. At UNH, Brown and freshman Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) each had a 1-1-2 line and senior JD Dudek (Auburn, N.H.) scored his second goal in four games.
10. New Hampshire
Record: 7-8-6 (3-5-3 Hockey East) / Last week: 10
UNH split its weekend in Hockey East action, emerging from the see-saw battle against Boston College with a 6-4 win after dropping a 5-2 decision down at Boston University. Junior Liam Blackburn scored three goals on the weekend to extend his point streak to 11 consecutive games; two were in the loss at BU. Senior Chris Miller (Windham, N.H.) and freshman Angus Crookshank each had a goal and two assists over two games, while sophomore Patrick Grasso scored twice against the Eagles. Sophomore Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) was in net all weekend, totaling 45 saves.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Joel Farabee
Boston University / Fr. / F / Cicero, N.Y.
Farabee had a hand in the scoring in all three of BU’s games last week just after helping the U.S. to a silver medal at the World Junior Championship and is now in the midst of his second four-goal point streak of the season. The rookie scored a goal Tuesday at Harvard and had an assist at Providence, but his goal and two assists in Friday’s home win over UNH made for his second three-point effort of the season.
Cayden Primeau
Northeastern / Soph. / G / Voorhees, N.J.
Primeau played for his collegiate team for the first time since World Juniors and delivered a pair of wins for Northeastern’s weekend sweep at Maine since 2008. After stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced in the series opener, the second-year netminder pitched a 33-save shutout. Primeau now ranks in a tie for third all-time at Northeastern with seven clean sheets.
