There are no newcomers to New England Hockey Journal’s Division 1 Top 10 this week, but some of the region’s challengers are getting pretty hot at the most important time of the season.
UMass remains in the No. 1 spot after surviving a slugfest at Boston University. Quinnipiac used a road sweep in ECAC play while UMass Lowell defeated a ranked Northeastern club to pull in behind the Minutemen and round out the top three.
Despite Northeastern’s loss, the Huskies and the three other Beanpot competitors all find themselves ranked in NEHJ’s 15th Top 10 of the season entering the first Monday of February. Harvard comes in fifth following a Friday victory over Dartmouth, and Boston College also enters the ‘Pot as a winner after defeating UConn.
Vermont is in the midst of a strong Hockey East streak as it improved to 3-0-1 in its last four games with a three-point weekend at Providence, while Maine and New Hampshire split their rivalry series at Whittemore Center. Also in ECAC action, Yale defeated rival Brown to move within one point of first place.
No Division 1 squad is currently riding a longer unbeaten streak than Bentley. The Falcons improved to 7-0-2 in their last nine games after sweeping Air Force to move within one point of second place in Atlantic Hockey, but American International swept Niagara to move its first-place lead to six points.
Sacred Heart posted a sweep of its own in AHC play at Robert Morris, and Holy Cross posted a three-point weekend at Army West Point to move ahead of Canisius and out of the cellar.
TOP 10
1. Massachusetts
Record: 20-5 (12-3 Hockey East) / Last week: 1
The Minutemen moved within one win of tying the single-season program record following Friday’s 7-5 decision at Boston University. Freshman Ty Farmer scored two goals in the third period to result in the final score, while sophomore John Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) finished the game with a goal after assisting on two others. Matt Murray made 11 of his 28 saves in the third period to nab his 16th win.
2. Quinnipiac
Record: 20-5-1 (9-4-1 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 3
Quinnipiac cruised to a sweep of ECAC action in New York’s North Country, posting a 4-2 win at Clarkson before a dominating, 7-2 performance at St. Lawrence. Odeen Tufto continued his stellar sophomore season with one goal in each game and four assists over the course of the weekend; he had a four-point night against the Saints to raise his season total to 35 in 26 games. TJ Friedmann recorded the game-winner with 2:29 to play on Friday, becoming the ninth Bobcat rookie to score his first collegiate goal this season. Senior defensemen Chase Priskie and Brandon Fortunato both logged four points apiece on the weekend, while junior Andrew Shortridge made a combined 39 saves to earn both wins.
3. UMass Lowell
Record: 15-8-2 (9-4-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 5
Friday’s 3-1 win at Northeastern lifted the River Hawks into third place in Hockey East and extended their unbeaten streak to eight games (7-0-1), which trails only Bentley for the longest active in the nation. Juniors Kenny Hausinger, Ryan Lohin, and freshman Reid Stefanson scored the goals at Matthews Arena, while junior defenseman Mattias Goransson assisted on all three for his second multi-point effort in six games. Junior Tyler Wall made 26 saves.
4. Providence
Record: 15-8-5 (8-6-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 2
The Friars nabbed only one point during a home series against Vermont with Saturday’s 1-1 tie and slipped into a fifth-place tie with Boston University as a result. Senior defenseman Vincent Desharnais scored both Providence goals in the two games, the first of which was a game-tying goal in the second period of Friday’s 3-1 loss. Junior Brandon Duhaime assisted on both. Senior Hayden Hawkey made 36 saves on 40 shots in the series.
5. Harvard
Record: 11-6-3 (8-5-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 6
The Crimson enters the first Beanpot Monday following a 4-1 win over ECAC travel partner Dartmouth on Friday night. Senior co-captain Lewis Zerter-Gossage scored twice to provide all the offense Michael Lackey would need en route to the 34-save victory, which was Harvard’s fourth in a row and seventh in 10 games. Sophomore Jack Donato (Scituate, Mass.) scored and added an assist, while junior Frederic Gregoire notched assists on two goals.
6. Northeastern
Record: 15-8-1 (9-6-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 4
The Huskies enter Monday’s Beanpot Tournament as the defending champion but do so after suffering a 3-1 loss to UMass Lowell, their third consecutive since a Jan. 19 overtime win over first-place UMass. In Friday’s game, senior Brandon Hawkins scored his eighth goal of the season, and sophomore Cayden Primeau made 26 saves and registered a secondary assist.
7. Boston University
Record: 10-11-3 (8-6-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 7
The Terriers kept their offensive pace up for most of Friday night but UMass scored three of the final four goals to take a 7-5 win out of Agganis Arena. Freshman Joel Farabee had one goal and two assists as junior Patrick Curry scored twice to help pace the Terrier offense. Junior Jake Oettinger made 27 saves, including 11 in each of the first two periods.
8. New Hampshire
Record: 10-9-8 (6-6-5 Hockey East) / Last week: 8
Nothing changed for the seventh-place Wildcats in the Hockey East standings after a 3-2 overtime win and 5-3 loss against rival Maine over the weekend at Whittemore Center. Senior Ara Nazarian (Boxford, Mass.) finished a three-point Friday night with the game-winning goal and had four points on the weekend after scoring another goal in Saturday’s loss. Freshman Jackson Pierson dished out four assists in the series. Sophomore Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) had a 59-save weekend, including 37 in the victory.
9. Yale
Record: 11-7-3 (9-4-1 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 9
The Bulldogs skated to a 4-3 win over rival Brown in its lone action of the week on Saturday, making it back-to-back wins and three in the last four games. Senior Joe Snively scored Yale’s second and third goals and added an assist, while junior Robbie DeMontis contributed to two of the Bulldogs’ four goals with helpers. Junior Corbin Kaczperski stopped 33 shots for his second consecutive 30-save effort.
10. Boston College
Record: 9-12-3 (9-4-3 Hockey East) / Last week: 10
Following its loss and tie against UMass Lowell over the weekend prior, BC got back on the winning track with a 5-3 win at Connecticut. Freshman Jack McBain and junior Ben Finkelstein (South Burlington, Vt.) each had a goal and two assists in the road victory. Finkelstein has all four of his BC points over the last two games. Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) had a goal and an assist. Joseph Woll made 27 saves for the eighth win of his junior campaign.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Odeen Tufto
Quinnipiac / Soph. / F / Chaska, Minn.
Tufto was immense during Quinnipiac’s weekend sweep against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, recording two goals, both on the power play, and four assists for a nation-leading six points on the week. Four of his points came in a 7-2 triumph over the latter opponent. Tufto went three consecutive games without a point before the weekend but his 33 on the season rank in a tie for third nationally.
Stefanos Lekkas
Vermont / Jr. / G / Elburn, Ill.
Lekkas made 79 saves and held a potent Providence attack to only two goals over 125 minutes of action as his Catamounts earned a win and a tie on the road. The Hockey East leader in save percentage (.929) made 46 stops to steal a point from Saturday’s series finale, including at least 13 in every period of regulation and three in overtime. He has made 40 or more saves in five games this season.
