Two new teams join New England Hockey Journal’s Division 1 Top 10 this week as Atlantic Hockey and ECAC programs get set to play their final weekend of the regular season.
Two weeks still remain in Hockey East, but UMass earned another win to maintain a firm grip on first place in that league race. In addition, Maine, Northeastern, and Boston University all completed sweeps during the past weekend, while UMass Lowell bounced back for three points after being swept against Providence.
Splits were the favorite result for the region’s ECAC clubs as Quinnipiac, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown are all coming off 1-1 weekends. Yale still remains three points behind the second-place Bobcats and Crimson after being shut out in both of its weekend games. Brown moved within two points of the Bulldogs as it improved to 5-2-2 over a nine-game span.
American International takes a four-point Atlantic Hockey lead into the final weekend of the regular season after Bentley and Holy Cross split their home-and-home series. Sacred Heart, which is fifth in the standings, continued its 7-1-1 run with a win and tie against Army.
For the final time in February, here is NEHJ’s Division 1 Top 10:
TOP 10
1. Massachusetts
Record: 24-7 (16-5 Hockey East) / Last week: 1
The Minutemen split their two most recent contests with Thursday’s 3-0 win over Connecticut and 3-2 loss at Providence two nights later. Sophomore Matt Murray made 21 saves on Thursday en route to his 19th win this season and fifth collegiate shutout, matching Minuteman program records. Sophomore defenseman Cale Makar scored in the loss to Providence after dishing out an assist on John Leonard’s (Amherst, Mass.) game-winning goal against UConn. Four other players scored goals over the two games.
2. Providence
Record: 19-9-5 (12-7-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 2
Saturday night’s 3-2 win over UMass was the Friars’ lone action of the week. Senior Scott Conway scored the game-winning goal with 2:56 left in regulation to lead an offense that had nine different players record points. Senior Hayden Hawkey nabbed his and the team’s third consecutive win with a 34-save effort.
3. Quinnipiac
Record: 23-7-2 (12-6-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 3
The Bobcats opened the weekend with a 7-2 win over St. Lawrence before dropping a 5-3 contest to Clarkson, which returned to the North Country with three points. Senior Chase Priskie had three goals and one assist over the weekend, including a pair of goals against the Golden Knights. Freshman Wyatt Bongiovanni logged that same line with his first collegiate hat trick in Friday’s win. Junior Brogan Rafferty had four assists in the series, while Andrew Shortridge started both games in goal.
4. Northeastern
Record: 21-9-1 (13-7-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 5
The Huskies swept their second consecutive Hockey East series with 6-3 and 6-0 wins at New Hampshire. Senior Liam Pecararo (Canton, Mass.) notched his first multi-goal game of the season with a hat trick and an assist on Friday before logging three assists in Saturday’s 23-save shutout for sophomore Cayden Primeau. Junior defenseman Jeremy Davies posted a six-point weekend, including two goals and two assists on Saturday. Senior Brandon Hawkins, a Bowling Green transfer, logged his 100th career point and Lincoln Griffin scored twice in the series finale.
5. UMass Lowell
Record: 18-10-3 (12-6-3 Hockey East) / Last week: 4
After Providence swept the prior weekend’s home-and-home series, UMass Lowell returned to a second-place tie in the Hockey East standings following a 6-3 win and 3-3 tie against Merrimack. Freshmen Chase Blackmun (2-2-4) and Reid Stefanson (1-3-4) both posted four points on the weekend, while sophomore Charlie Levesque, like Blackmun, had a pair of goals. Junior Tyler Wall needed to make only 16 saves in Friday’s home win.
6. Harvard
Record: 16-8-3 (12-6-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 6
The Crimson improved to 12-4 in its last 16 ECAC contests after a 4-2 win over Brown and 3-0 shutout of Yale over the weekend at Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Senior Lewis Zerter-Gossage and sophomore Reilly Walsh (Andover, Mass.) each scored twice over the weekend. Zerter-Gossage leads the team with 16 goals. Junior Adam Fox dished out three of his four assists in Saturday’s win over the rival Bulldogs, while classmate Cameron Gornet started both games in net and made a career-high 35 saves on Saturday.
7. Maine
Record: 14-14-4 (10-8-4 Hockey East) / Last week: Not ranked
A five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) has helped the Black Bears surge up the rankings and jump into a fifth-place tie in Hockey East with Boston University. They earned a pair of 2-1 wins over Boston College this past weekend, the latter in overtime. Junior Mitchell Fossier posted two goals and an assist in the series, including Saturday’s game-winning goal in overtime. Sophomore Eduards Tralmaks (1-1-2) and junior Chase Pearson (0-2-2) had two-point weekends with the former scoring Friday’s winner. Jeremy Swayman made 67 saves on 69 shots to earn both wins in net.
8. Boston University
Record: 13-15-3 (11-8-2 Hockey East) / Last week: 7
BU completed a sweep in interesting fashion at Vermont, posting 1-0 (OT) and 2-1 wins to make it three straight in Hockey East play. With UVM needing a Friday win to remain in the playoff race, goaltender Stefanos Lekkas was pulled during the extra session and defenseman Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) scored an empty-netter to seal the game. Jake Oettinger made 29 saves in net. BU got back-to-back goals from junior Patrick Harper (New Canaan, Conn.) and freshman Joel Farabee to earn the Saturday win, including the latter in the final minute.
9. Yale
Record: 13-11-3 (11-8-1 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 9
The Bulldogs were held without a goal all weekend as they slipped to fifth in the ECAC race after a 2-0 loss at Dartmouth and 3-0 loss at Harvard. Junior Corbin Kaczperski made 24 saves against the Big Green. Senior Sam Tucker (Wilton, Conn.) kept Yale in the Harvard game with a season-high 43, allowing two of the Crimson’s goals on power plays.
10. Brown
Record: 11-11-5 (8-7-5 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: Not ranked
Brown enters the NEHJ ranks following a weekend split against New England rivals Harvard and Dartmouth. The Bears earned a 2-0 win in the latter game with junior Luke Kania making 30 saves for the sixth time this season en route to his first shutout. Senior Tommy Marchin scored the game-winning goal and assisted in the win over the Big Green. Junior defenseman Zach Giuttari (Warwick, R.I.) scored in Friday’s 4-2 loss at Harvard before assisting on Marchin’s goal in the victory.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Liam Pecararo
Northeastern / Sr. / Canton, Mass.
Pecararo was the top scorer in all of Division 1 men’s hockey over the weekend, scoring three goals and adding four assists as the Huskies cruised to a two-game sweep against New Hampshire in Hockey East play. The Maine transfer netted his first collegiate hat trick and added one helper in Friday’s 6-3 win with one of his goals coming on the power play.
Jeremy Swayman
Maine / Soph. / Anchorage, Alaska
The Boston Bruins prospect helped Maine to its second and third consecutive wins in this past weekend’s home sweep of Boston College. Swayman allowed only one goal in each game, respectively making 31 and 36 saves. He has a .953 save percentage during the Black Bears’ current five-game unbeaten streak.
