The holidays are finally fully behind everyone, so there are no excuses for not having “any jump” to start out any game played now in conference or out. There were some games with a lot of scoring this past weekend as coaches looking for those breakout games or “puck-luck” seemed to find goals in abundance and even in unlikely circumstances, like playing a man down.
Here is the wrap-up for this past weekend in which there were goals aplenty or in some cases, not enough.
CCC
Chris Sattler’s third-period hat trick led the Wentworth Leopards to an easy 9-0 win over Post on Friday night, but it took much more for the back-to-back wins earned with a 4-3 decision over Framingham State. Jake McDonough, who scored three times in the two games, led a four-goal outburst from CJ Grinnell, Jake Flynn, and Adam Lane as Wentworth remained unbeaten in 2017 (2-0-1) and won consecutive games for the first time this season.
ECAC West
Hobart returned to the ice for the first time in over a month against nationally ranked Salve Regina and the University of New England in two nonconference games. After downing the Seahawks by a 4-1 score on Friday night, the Statesmen received goals from five different players and points from 10 players total in a 5-1 win.
MASCAC
Massachusetts-Dartmouth once again proved that quality can win out over quality in a 6-4 conference win over Westfield State. Three special-teams goals, including two short-handed goals by Jonathan Ruiz and Mike Kelly, were the difference for the Corsairs who again received some strong goaltending from Drew Michals, who picked up 39 saves in the win.
Plymouth State earned a 5-1 win over Mass.-Dartmouth earlier in the week before their Saturday showdown at Salem State, where the Vikings fought to a 1-1 tie. Brandon Platt’s second period penalty shot goal evened the score that held up through the third period and overtime session. Jason Pucciarelli made 19 saves in the third period and overtime to preserve the tie for Salem State.
NE-10
Assumption took a see-saw battle from Southern New Hampshire on Saturday by a 4-3 score behind a pair of goals from Mike Sorenti and the game-winner off the stick of Tommy Mahoney on a power play midway through the third period that stood up in the win. The game was tight, with three deadlocks and four lead changes, with both teams combining for 87 shots on goal.
In a game that took an overtime session to settle, Stonehill took a 3-2 win over Franklin Pierce on a goal by Cameron Wright just over one minute into the extra session. Conor Jewett’s goal for Stonehill with just over three minutes in regulation knotted the game at two before Wright’s OT winner.
NEHC
In the “home-and-home series” between Babson and Massachusetts-Boston, the Babson “home” game was played at Frozen Fenway, where the visitors responded to the Beavers’ opening goal with five unanswered goals of their own and cruised to the 5-1 win. Babson returned the favor at the Beacons’ arena on Saturday, as Charlie Ackerman scored twice and assisted on Tommy Munichiello’s game-winning goal in the second period to earn a 4-2 win and weekend split.
Norwich picked up a pair of wins in quite opposite fashions. Friday saw a 9-1 blowout of Daniel Webster, while Saturday saw a defensive struggle against Southern Maine, where the Cadets eked out a 2-1 win on Paul Russell’s third-period goal.
NESCAC
The last of the unbeatens has fallen, as Hamilton saw their streak come to an end at the hands of the Tufts Jumbos on Saturday night. Tufts held the Continentals to a 1-for-7 night on the power play and added insult to injury with a pair of short-handed goals by Clay Berger and Tyler Scroggins in a 3-1 win that saw Mason Pulde out-duel Evan Buitenhuis by making 39 saves, including 17 in the third period alone.
Wesleyan rallied from a one-goal deficit in the third period with three unanswered goals in a five-minute span in beating Bowdoin on Friday night by a 5-3 score. On Saturday, the Cardinals skated to a 4-4 tie with Colby, as they and the Mules both had three-point weekends. Goals by Hunter Vannier and Tyler Kobryn twice answered Colby leads less than a minute after the Mules’ goals to earn the tie.
Friday night’s Colby win over Trinity saw three short-handed goals and one power-play goal account for all of the scoring in the Mules 3-1 win. Jack Burton opened the scoring for Colby with a power-play goal before Nick O’Connor and Kevin Doherty scored short-handed in the second and third periods respectively to upset the Bantams.
SUNYAC
The Plattsburgh Cardinals hosted a pair of NESCAC foes this weekend and recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since the end of November/early December by downing Middlebury 5-2 and Williams 3-1. Nick Belger’s goal with just over a minute remaining in regulation gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead on the Ephs and Ayrton Valente sealed the deal with an empty-net goal with just over 30 seconds remaining. The Cardinals offense was in high gear for the weekend, outshooting both opponents by a combined 85-40 in the two wins.
Three Biscuits
Jackson Leef, Westfield State: The Owls forward scored a goal in each period to complete a hat trick in leading Westfield State to a 4-1 conference win over Fitchburg State on Thursday night.
Vili-Jesper Koivula, Canton: Koivula had a hand in all four Kangaroos (yes a SUNY school is named the Kangaroos) goals in a 4-0 win over Potsdam. Koivula scored twice in the opening period before assisting on Joey Vocino’s goal in the second period and Josh Sova’s marker in the third period. Koivula added a goal and an assist for a six-point weekend in Saturday’s 6-5 overtime loss to Potsdam
Jacob Caffrey, Stevenson: The goalie stopped all 34 shots taken by Brockport to earn a shutout and a 1-0 win for Stevenson in nonconference action. The home team outshot Stevenson by a 34-16 margin and Caffrey made Christian Ripley’s second-period goal stand up for the game-winner.
There were some teams showing their full potential this week, as some of the offensive numbers indicate. Moreover, the conference battles are heating up as teams look to make their move in league play.
