Non-conference action along with big matchups in conference play dominated the weekend. The ranked teams continued to cruise with Geneseo, Endicott, Elmira, Norwich and Endicott all enjoying winning weekend play. Elsewhere Colby pulled off a pair of wins in NESCAC and Curry pulled off a sweep of games with Wentworth. Here’s the weekend wrap-up:
CCC
After a non-conference win over Tufts on Tuesday, Endicott returned to CCC play with a two-game series against Nichols and came away with two wins. On Friday, Connor Beatty and Campbell Balk gave the Gulls a 2-0 lead but Austan Bellefeuille trimmed the lead for the Bison who stayed close until a pair of late empty-net goals provided the final margin in a 4-1 Gull win. Conor O’Brien stopped 33 of 34 shots in the win. On Saturday, the game was again close. After a scoreless first period, Endicott scored three times in the second period off the sticks of Ethan Bastien, Noah Strawn and Derek Contessa in a two and a half minute span and O’Brien made the offense stand up making 35 saves in a 3-2 win.
Curry returned to conference play with a weekend series against Wentworth and kept pace with Endicott with a pair of wins. On Friday, the host Leopards took an early lead, but the Colonels responded to take a 2-1 lead with less than four minutes left in regulation time. With just under a minute remaining, Kevin Obssuth tied the game for Wentworth sending it to overtime. Just over a minute into extra time, Mark Zhukov scored on the power play for a 3-2 Curry win. On Saturday, the teams exchanged first period goals before Mike Pellegrini and Eelis Laaksonen scored in the middle stanza to give Curry a 3-1 lead that goaltender Reid Cooper would make stand up for the final score. Cooper stopped 24 of 25 shots in the win that takes the Colonels to 8-2-1 in conference play.
Independents
While Anna Maria is still waiting to paly a scheduled game in 2022, Canton found a re-scheduled pair of games with Potsdam on the mid-week schedule and won both to bring their record to 6-6-1 on the season.
On Tuesday, the Kangaroos and Bears were tied at 1-1 after the first period. Canton’s Jake Mayette, Sam Martin and Brendan Morrow scored three unanswered goals over the final two periods of play for a 4-1 win. On Wednesday, the Kangaroos were the road team and used the same formula to drive a 7-2 win over Potsdam. Even at 1-1 after the first 20 minutes, Canton scored six unanswered goals from six different players to take a commanding lead. Lucas Roy led the offensive barrage picking up three assists in the win.
MASCAC
Due to a widespread issue with COVID protocols, the MASCAC teams scheduled for play last week all had their games postponed with several teams seeing postponements extending into the week of January 17.
NE-10
After dropping their seventh game in a row to Assumption on Tuesday, St. Anselm played Post in a two-game set on the weekend looking to find their winning ways in the conference. On Friday, Andrew Andary produced a hat trick in the first two periods and the Hawks cruised to a 5-1 win over the Eagles. On Saturday, St. Anselm kept the positive momentum going as Andary scored twice more for the Hawks in a 4-0 shutout win. Nick Howard earned the shutout making 32 saves. The Hawks improved to 3-4-1 in conference play.
NEHC
After a difficult weekend against Hobart and Elmira, Norwich rebounded with a pair of wins over Johnson & Wales and Massachusetts-Boston. On Friday, the Cadets dispatched the Wildcats by a 6-2 score. After trading two goals each in the first period, the Cadets scored the final four goals of the contest to earn the win. Brady Gaudette scored a hat trick and Clark Kerner picked up four assists to help Norwich back to the win column. On Saturday against the Beacons, Brett Ouderkirk gave the Cadets a first period lead before UMB’s Michael Krupinski tied the contest in the second period. In the third period, Patrick Delvecchio scored midway through the final stanza and Drennen Atherton made 38 of 39 saves for the win and weekend sweep in NEHC play.
With Southern Maine out of action this weekend, Babson found themselves with a revised calendar against league leaders, Hobart and Elmira. On Saturday, the Soaring Eagles got going early in the second period on goals by Bailey Krawczyk, Chance Gorman and Nick Grinvolds in the first ten minutes of action after a scoreless first period. The third period saw the teams trade goals with Elmira’s Nicholas Domitrovic scoring twice in the 5-3 win. On Sunday, Babson earned a split of the weekend with a 5-3 win over Hobart. In a seesaw game that saw all the scoring in the first two periods, the Beavers’ George Wyatt and Paul Boutoussov scored to break a 3-3 tie in the second period and Brad Arvanitis stopped 36 of 39 shots in Babson’s big road win.
After a 5-0 win over travel partner Castleton on Friday that featured five different goal scorers and a 25-save shutout from netminder Tate Brandon, the Thoroughbreds returned home to play a tough Cortland team fresh off an upset win over No. 7 ranked Wilkes on Tuesday. In a tight checking game that saw a combined 40 shots by both teams, Reid Russell’s late power-play goal in the second period proved to be the game winner for Skidmore and goaltender Blaine Moore who outdueled Cortland’s Luca Durante and Owen Zdunski, who replaced Durante in the second period. The win was the Thoroughbred’s tenth on the season and third in a row in 2022.
NESCAC
Colby picked up a pair of big wins over Trinity and Wesleyan over the weekend moving the Mules to 7-3-0 overall and 5-2-0 in conference play. On Saturday, Henry Molson and John McElaney gave the Mules a 2-0 lead in the first period and Andy Beran was outstanding in net making 31 saves in a 4-1 win over the Bantams. On Sunday against the defending NESCAC champion Cardinals, Brian Sanzone and McElaney again gave the Mules the 2-0 first period lead and Jack Sullivan scored two goals in the final two periods to break open a 2-1 contest in another 4-1 final. Beran was again solid stopping 23 of 24 shots for the Mules.
For a goal-starved Amherst squad, the offense got going last week starting with a Tuesday game at Middlebury. A five-goal second period and a hat trick from newcomer Michael Pitts helped the Mammoths break a four-game winless streak with a 6-3 win. On Friday, the offensive fireworks continued against Connecticut College as Pitts scored to answer an early Camel goal and five other teammates scored goals in a 6-2 win. On Saturday, the Mammoths leveled their conference record at 4-4-1 with a 5-3 win over Tufts. Three power play goals by Amherst’s Matt Toporowski, Joey Verkerke and Ben Kuzma helped forge a 3-3 tie after two periods. Matteo Mangiardi and Sean Wrenn both scored in the final two minutes of regulation to give the home team the hard-fought 5-3 win and three-game win streak for the week.
SUNYAC
Having not played since January 2 against Canton, Oswego returned to SUNYAC play with a game against Buffalo State on Friday night. The Lakers used balance scoring from five different players, three assists from Travis Broughman and 35 saves from goaltender Steven Kozikoski in a 5-0 win over the Bengals. The win moved the Lakers to 5-1-1 in conference play.
After a nail-biting win over Nazareth on Tuesday, Geneseo took a pair of wins on the weekend over Lebanon Valley and Williams. Peter Morgan’s five-point night, including three goals and two assists helped lead the Knights to a comfortable 8-1 win over the Flying Dutchmen. On Saturday against Williams, Chris Perna, Stefan Miklakos and Dan Bosio would provide all the scoring that Matt Petizian would need in a 3-0 win. Petizian stopped all 24 shots he faced to earn the shutout over the Ephs.
Prior to the aforementioned loss to Skidmore, Cortland continued their pattern of one-goal games on the road with a thrilling 4-3 win over Wilkes on Tuesday. The Red Dragons surrendered the game’s first goal before reeling off four goals in a row to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. Wilkes tried to rally back on goals from Phil Erickson and Tyler Dill late in regulation, but Owen Zdunski made 27 of his 31 saves in the game to preserve the one-goal advantage and upset win for Cortland.
UCHC
In a game that featured seven special teams goals, Utica cruised to an 11-3 win over Neumann on Friday night. Brett Everson led the offensive barrage with a hat trick and an assist while six other Pioneers finished the game with three-point nights. On Saturday, things were much closer for the Pioneers in a 3-2 road win over Manhattanville. After Utica’s Cameron Patton and Manhattanville’s Artem Mateichenko exchanged goals in the first period, Regen Cavanaugh and Remy Parker scored in the first five minutes of the second period providing just enough for the Utica win.
After the tough loss to Cortland and a game postponement against Stevenson on Friday, Wilkes was anxious to get back to the ice in a road game at Chatham. Both teams found the back of the net in each of the first two periods setting up a dramatic final 20 minutes. Jay Gallagher gave the Colonels their second and final lead with a goal at 17:46 of the period and Phil Erickson gave Wilkes some breathing room with an unassisted goal at 19:44 for a 4-2 win.
Three Biscuits
Michael Pitts – Amherst – broke into the collegiate scoring ledger in a big way with a hat trick in the Mammoths’ 6-3 win over Middlebury on Tuesday.
Ryan Creenan – Morrisville – made 52 saves in Morrisville’s 1-0 win over Post on Tuesday. Creenan stopped 19 shots in the second period and 21 in the third period to preserve the one-goal win.
Chris Lee – New England College – scored a hat trick in the Pilgrims’ 11-0 rout of Johnson & Wales on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuits
Andrew Andary – St. Anselm – scored five goals for the Hawks in a pair of wins over Post including a hat trick in Friday’s 5-1 win.
Peter Morgan – Geneseo – had a five-point game in the Knights’ 8-1 win over Lebanon Valley on Friday. Morgan scored a hat trick and added two assists in the win.
On a more somber note, the hockey world lost a great champion of the sport last week with the passing of Bill Belisle, the long time hockey coach at Mount St. Charles high school in Rhode Island. Coach Belisle left a legacy of building character and skills in players that produced 32 state championships and over 20 players drafted by the NHL including the likes of Brian Lawton, Bryan Berard, Matthieu Schneider, Paul Guay, Garth Snow and Brian Boucher. Bill’s son Peter is currently the head coach at Massachusetts-Boston, and we extend our sincere condolences to Pete and his family on the passing of his illustrious father.
