It was quite the weekend in the east as a new NCAA win streak record was established by Hobart, teams like Norwich, Trinity and Anna Maria displayed their game as they try to move towards the top of their conference standings and, of course, there were the requisite number of overtime and come-from-behind thrillers across the region. The end of January is upon us and teams look like they know that now is the time to ramp up the performance on the ice. Here is the wrap-up for a lot of exciting action in the east:
CNE
The league leading Curry Colonels played only once over the weekend and recorded a resounding 6-0 shutout win over Nichols to maintain their position at the top of the standings. Six different players scored goals in support of goaltender Shane Soderwall who stopped all 31 Bison attempts on goal for the shutout win.
Following a one-goal road loss in a non-conference game against Wesleyan on Tuesday, Endicott rebounded with a strong offensive showing in a 7-3 road win over Wentworth on Friday night. Primo Self led the attack with a goal and two assists while Jackson Sterrett, AJ Martinelli, Jack Costanzo, and Dominic Garozzo all chipped I with a goal and an assist each for the Gulls.
UNE kept pace with the league leaders by capturing a 4-2 win over Suffolk on Friday night at home. The Nor’easters and Rams were tied at 1-1 entering the third period before the home team broke out with three unanswered goals, including two on the power play, to ease to the win. Ryan Kuzmich paced the offense with one goal and two assists as the Nor’easters scored three times with the man advantage.
Johnson & Wales picked up an important conference win as the Wildcats erupted for five goals in the second period on Friday to capture a 5-2 road win over Western New England. Cam Martin, Sam Band and Bret Beale each scored a goal and added an assist in the win while goaltender Jake Inzirillo made 39 saves for J&W.
With just five weeks remaining in the regular season the CNE standings find Curry, Endicott, and UNE separated by just three points while teams four through six (Suffolk, J&W and Wentworth) are just two points apart heading down the stretch.
Independent
Keene State lost their first three contests coming out of the break to fierce competition in Plattsburgh, Amherst, and Curry before getting back on the winning side of hockey with a 3-0 decision over Nichols. On Saturday, the Owls extended the win streak to two with a hard-fought 2-1 win over WNEU. Peter Unger scored what proved to be the game-winner on the power play in the final minute of the second period and netminder Ben Skelton stopped 33 of 34 shots including twelve in the final period to preserve the one-goal win.
MAC
Stevenson and King’s played a two-game series where goals were very hard to come by for both teams. On Friday, Blake Benson gave the Mustangs a 2-1 lead midway through the third period, but Teodor Benno Vaage scored to tie the score at 2-2 with just 75 seconds remaining in regulation. No goals for either team in overtime led to a shootout where the Mustangs prevailed. If goals were few and far between on Friday night, then Saturday saw the drought deepen as neither team could find the back of the net until Graeme McCrory netted the game’s only marker with just 23 seconds remaining in regulation for a 1-0 win over the Monarchs. Goaltender Ford Deloss made 20 saves to earn the shutout win for Stevenson.
League leading Wilkes traveled to face Neuman in a two-game series and each team came away with important points and a win apiece. Friday night saw the Colonels jump out to a 4-0 lead with a pair of goals in each of the first two periods before the Knights fought back late in the second period and early third period. Three goals for the home team closed the gap but netminder Jack Perna held off the Knights making 29 saves in the win. On Saturday, Miles Harrington scored twice to help the Colonels rally for a 2-2 at the end of two periods of play but PJ Demitrio’s late goal and Tyler Inlow’s empty-net goal helped seal a 4-2 win for the Knights and split of the weekend series.
Arcadia returned to MAC play hosting a two-game series with Alvernia and swept the Golden Wolves for some key conference points. First period goals from Michael Hertzberg and Donnie Feldman would be all that goaltender Ryan Burgess would need in a 2-0 win. Burgess made 31 saves including 15 in the third period to pick up the shutout. On Saturday, neither team scored in the opening period before the Knights tallied three times in the second period with Connor Dennis, Drew Iannucci, and Feldman building a comfortable lead. Jude Cole sealed the 4-1 win and weekend sweep with an ENG in the third period.
Wilkes remains comfortably on top of the MAC standings with an eight-point lead over second place Stevenson. The Mustangs, Arcadia and Neumann are just three points apart while Lebanon Valley and Alvernia are tied just three points behind the Black Knights entering the final five weeks of league play.
MASCAC
Plymouth State extended their win streak and remained unbeaten in league play with wins over Worcester State and MCLA. On Thursday, the Panthers scored four times in the second period including two from Cameron Patton to ease to a 5-2 road win over the Lancers. Donte’ Diponio also scored a pair of goals while Will Redick chipped in with three assists for the Panthers. Returning home on Saturday, David Matousek, Brendan Doyle, and Colin Tracy provided all the offense senior goaltender Jameson Bourque would need in a 3-1 win over the Trailblazers. Bourque picked up the win in his first career start for PSU making 16 saves.
Anna Maria picked up two important league wins including a very exciting a dramatic 7-6 win over Fitchburg State on Thursday before ending Salem State’s six-game win streak on Saturday. Against the Falcons, the AmCats built a 6-3 lead by the end of the second period led by a pair of goals each from Matthew Gilbert and Matthew Byrne. In the third period, the Falcons fought back with three goals to tie the score at 6-6 with less than three minutes remaining. Gilbert saved the day completing his hat trick in the final minute of regulation for the dramatic 7-6 road win. On Saturday, two goals from Guillaume Coulombe and one from Derek Raposo helped the AmCats to a 3-0 lead on the way to a 5-1 win over the Vikings. Cole Johnston outdueled Will Nepveu in goal stopping 31 of 32 attempts by the home team.
After dropping a 5-3 decision against MCLA on Thursday where Eaton Moore scored one goal and added two assists for the Trailblazers in the upset win, the Corsairs rebounded with a 5-2 win over Rivier on Saturday. Three third period goals in just a six-minute span broke open a 2-2 game as Alex Walker, Brennen Pecararo, and Tyler Stewart put the Corsairs comfortably in front to seal the win.
While PSU remains atop the MASCAC standings by a wide margin, the gap between second place Anna Maria and sixth-place, Westfield State is just six points with a lot of key matchups yet to play over the next five weeks.
NE-10
St. Anselm returned to NE-10 play following an 8-2 loss against Cortland on Tuesday and the Hawks found their scoring touch totaling seventeen goals in a pair of wins over Franklin Pierce. On Friday, Hunter Brackett scored two goals and added one assist in a 7-3 win over the Ravens. Brackett was far from done as he added a hat trick on Saturday in the Hawks’ 10-2 rout over FPU. Mark Blaney added three assists while Max Burum and Conor Kelly each scored a goal and added two assists to help St. Anselm extend their lead in the standings.
Southern New Hampshire also lost a mid-week non-conference game to Cortland but rebounded with a weekend sweep of Assumption to help their position in the NE-10 standings. On Friday, Bryan McLachlan’s second period power play goal and Tyler Murray’s ENG in the third period was enough for goaltender Collin Berke who made 32 saves in a 2-0 shutout win over the Greyhounds. There was a lot more drama on Saturday as Jonathan Surrette scored his second goal of the game for Assumption with just seven seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime with a 2-2 tie. The visitors’ excitement was short lived as Ryan Kayser scored just 44 seconds into the extra session to give the Penmen a 3-2 win and weekend sweep.
Following a 4-3 win over FPU on Tuesday, Post and St. Michael’s split a weekend series in Vermont. On Friday, the Eagles surrendered Jack MacDonald’s shorthanded goal in the first period before scoring three goals in a row and holding a 3-1 lead after two periods of play. The Purple Knights scored once more as the Eagles held on for a 3-2 win with goaltender Benjamin Cunneen making 28 saves for the visitors. On Saturday, the Purple Knights rebounded with a 3-0 win as Evan Plunkett stopped 30 shots to earn the shutout.
While St. Anselm holds a five-point advantage over second place, Southern New Hampshire, Assumption and St. Michael’s, are only separated by one point with Post just four more points behind fourth place.
NEHC
Hobart established a new NCAA record win streak as the Statesmen downed Buffalo State and Fredonia over the weekend to move to 15-0-0 on the season. Ironically, the win streak started against Buffalo State back in November of 2023 and was broken in Friday’s game against the Bengals where the visitors started fast with two first period goals and cruised to a 3-0 win. Damon Beaver earned the shutout in goal, his third of the season for Hobart. On Saturday, Hobart downed Fredonia 5-0 with Bauer Morrissey and Austin Mourar each scoring a goal and adding an assist in support of Mavrick Goyer in goal who made 18 saves to help Hobart earn back-to-back shutout wins.
Norwich has picked up their game moving up to second place behind Hobart in the NEHC by extending their win streak to four games with a second sweep in a row downing VSU-Castleton, 8-3 and 3-2. On Friday, the Cadets took advantage of four unanswered goals to break a 2-2 tie with the Spartans. Cooper Bertrand scored two goals to pace the Cadet attack. On Saturday, the game was much more low scoring as goals from Johnny Johnson, Matt Harvey and Nick Cordeiro were just enough to hold off the Spartans in a 3-2 win.
Albertus Magnus took on a red-hot Babson squad in a weekend series that saw the teams playing each other for the first time. On Friday, Robert Barrasso’s late third period power play goal broke a 2-2 tie and Kyle Dann iced the contest with an unassisted ENG in a 4-2 win for the Falcons that ended the Beavers five-game win streak. On Saturday, the Falcons completed the sweep with a thrilling 5-4 overtime win. Barrasso scored the game-tying goal with less than forty seconds remaining in regulation time before Zane Kindrachuk netted his second goal of the game just two minutes into the extra session for the 5-4 win extending their win streak to a season high five games.
Southern Maine took a pair of 3-2 overtime wins over Salve Regina to earn their first conference wins of the season. On Friday night, the Huskies took advantage of a power play in overtime as Matt Sullivan netted the game-winner just over a minute after puck drop for a sudden victory. On Saturday, the script was similar with the regulation score tied at 2-2 and again it was Sullivan, this time in the final minute of overtime, providing the game winner for the Huskies.
While Hobart has a comfortable seven-point lead in the standings, Norwich (in second place) and Albertus Magnus (in sixth place) are separated by just six points with some interesting matchups on tap including the Cadets facing Hobart this weekend.
NESCAC
Hamilton continued their torrid play on the road as the Continentals downed Tufts and Connecticut College to remain five points clear of Trinity in the NESCAC standings. On Friday, six different goal scorers helped Hamilton to race to an early lead in a 6-1 rout of the Jumbos. Jackson Krock finished with a goal and two assists for the Continentals in the win. Against the Camels on Saturday, the scoring was less prolific as Liam Varmecky, Jacob Ierfino and Nick Kent provided all the goals in a 3-1 victory. Aksel Reid stopped 24 shots to pick up the win.
Trinity continued their torrid play with a pair of home-ice wins over Bowdoin and Colby to extend their win streak to four games. On Friday, three third period goals helped break open a tight 2-1 advantage for the Bantams with Spencer Korona scoring one goal and adding an assist in the win over the Polar Bears. In a key matchup with Colby, Richard Boysen scored a pair of unassisted goals in the third period to help the Bantams to a 5-3 win over the Mules. Chase McInnis also added a goal and an assist for the Bantams who moved into second place, five points behind the Continentals.
Middlebury split a pair of non-conference games with long-time rivals. On Tuesday, five-points from Jackson Morehouse helped the Panthers to a 7-0 rout of in-state rival St. Michael’s. On Friday, the scoring was limited to a single goal as Dmitiri Tzaferis tied the game late in the third period at 1-1 before Aaron Catron won the game for the Cardinals in overtime.
Williams took a pair of non-conference wins with decisions over MCLA and Plattsburgh. After downing the Trailblazers, 3-1 in the battle of Western Massachusetts on Wednesday, the Ephs raced to a 4-2 first period lead before seeing the Cardinals rally to reduce the deficit to a single goal on three different occasions before falling short in a 5-4 Williams win. Cal Sandquist earned the win in goal making 26 saves.
While Hamilton and Trinity have some separation at the top of the NESCAC standings, third place Colby is only five points ahead on ninth-place, Tufts.
SUNYAC
Oswego returned to SUNYAC action with a mid-week game against Canton and skated away with a 10-2 win over the Kangaroos. Travis Baker scored a hat trick for the Lakers while Matt McQuade added a pair of goals in the runaway win. On Saturday, a non-conference charity game with Cortland saw the offense continue to click as Oswego broke open a 4-3 contest with four goals in the third period for an 8-3 win over the Red Dragons. Ryan Burke led the attack scoring two goals and adding four assists in the win.
In a more unique game, Potsdam and Canton skated to a 0-0 overtime tie on Saturday. Canton’s Nate Hopkins (29 saves) and Potsdam’s John Werber (32 saves) were outstanding in goal for their respective teams as neither team could score at even-strength or on their two power play chances each.
The SUNYAC may have the most competitive race to watch as the separation between first place Buffalo State and seventh-place Potsdam is just six points.
UCHC
Geneseo played a home-and-home series with Nazareth and Friday night’s contest was a thriller. The Knights built an early 3-1 lead only to see the Golden Flyers rally to tie the score at 3-3 on a pair of goals from Logan Tobias in the second period. Neither team could score in the third period but Dakota Zarudny with an assist from Peter Morgan found the back of the net in the opening minute of overtime for a 4-3 Knights win. Back on home ice on Saturday, Geneseo found their scoring touch as Zach Purcell led the charge with two goals and an assist in a 7-2 win and weekend sweep.
Utica faced long-time rival Manhattanville in a weekend series and on Friday, the Pioneers raced to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win over the Valiants with Anthony Cafarelli, Johnny Mulera and Eric Vitale providing the goals. On Saturday, newcomer Ryan Piros made Mulera’s second period power play goal stand up as the game-winner in a 1-0 shutout win for Utica. Piros stopped all 31 shots he faced in earning his first shutout with the Pioneers.
Geneseo and Utica remain just one point apart in the standings while just one point separates third place Chatham from fifth place Manhattanville.
Three Biscuits
Jackson Morehouse – Middlebury – scored a natural hat trick and added a pair of assists for a five-point game in the Panthers’ 7-0 win over St. Michael’s on Tuesday.
Matthew Gilbert – Anna Maria – scored his third goal of the contest in the final minute of regulation to give the AmCats a 7-6 win over Fitchburg State on Thursday in a game where the Falcons rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the score at 6-6 in the third period.
Matt Sullivan – Southern Maine – scored overtime winning goals for the Huskies in back-to-back 3-2 overtime wins over Salve Regina this past weekend.
The final weekend in January is upon us and with just five weeks remaining on the schedule, the games just mean more coming down the stretch. Last week showed how both a good and bad weekend can move you in the standings so the races should be fun to watch over the next few weeks.
