Maybe it was the “Super Full Moon” that saw a ton of upsets among favored and ranked teams including Skidmore, Plattsburgh, Trinity, and UNE to name but a few. Conversely, there were teams finding their game like Endicott, Elmira, and Plymouth State who all had big weekends along with Connecticut College in the first week of play for NESCAC. This season is really bearing out the fact that any team can win on any given night and with just three weekends in the books we are setting up for one of the most exciting seasons across all the conferences in quite some time. Here is the recap of the action that have a lot of people, including this prognosticator, scratching their heads in the east:
CNE
Endicott and the University of New England played a home-and-home series and once again the Gulls found a way to win on the road with Andrew Kurapov delivering an overtime win with a breakaway goal against the previously unbeaten Nor’easters. At home on Saturday, Kurapov led the Gulls attack with a pair of goals as Endicott found their offense in an 8-1 win. The Gulls started fast with three goals in the first period and blew the game open with four unanswered goals in the second period. Peyton Miller also scored twice for the Gulls.
Curry looked to keep their winning ways in a pair of contests against Western New England. On Friday, the Colonels took advantage of 23 saves from goaltender Shane Soderwall and two goals from Alex Duncan in a comfortable 5-0 win on the road. Back on home ice on Saturday, Curry was led by forward Eelis Laaksonen who scored two goals as Curry cruised to a 4-0 lead before the Golden Bears scored two times late in the third period for a 4-2 final and weekend sweep.
Nichols faced a Suffolk team coming off a 5-1 non-conference win on Tuesday against Worcester State but it was the Bison who brought the offense to the Friday night contest. Gabe Temple scored two goals as Nichols opened a 3-1 lead in the second period and Nathan Carl sealed the 4-1 win with a tally in the third period. Goaltender Nick Anderson stopped 35 shots to earn the victory. On Saturday, Temple added his third goal on the weekend in the third period to tie the score at 1-1 and the teams finished with an overtime tie and the Bison earning a shootout win over the Rams.
Johnson & Wales played Wentworth and each team took a win to earn a split of the series. On Friday, the Leopards rallied from a 2-1 first period deficit to skate away with a 5-2 win. Ethan Lim scored one goal and added a pair of assists for Wentworth. On Saturday, it was again the visiting team that took control of the scoring as the Rams scored five unanswered goals to break open a 1-1 tie on the way to a 6-1 win. Bret Beale scored a pair of goals for Suffolk while Harout Torosian added a goal and an assist.
MAC
Stevenson faced-off against newcomer Misericordia in a weekend series and despite outshooting the visitors by a 49-26 margin, the Mustangs eked out a 2-0 win. A goal by Gage Parillo in the first minute of play and an empty-net goal from Jack Karlsson was all goaltender Ford DeLoss (26 saves) would need to earn the shutout win. On Saturday, goals from Ryan Karbach and Patrick Toomey gave Misericordia a 3-2 lead entering the final period. Stevenson tied the score in the final three minutes of regulation off the stick of Blake Benson and the teams finished with a 3-3 overtime tie before Stevenson won the shootout.
Wilkes hosted Lebanon Valley for a pair of games and swept the Flying Dutchmen by scores of 5-2 and 4-1. On Friday, the Colonels jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals from Leyton Pettypiece only to see LVC tie the game before the end of the first period. Two goals from Nick Swain sandwiched around one from Patrick Roglinski led to the 5-2 final score. On Saturday, Jordan Carter opened the scoring and finished the scoring as he completed a hat trick with an empty-net goal in the third period to help Wilkes earn a 4-1 win.
Alvernia played host to King’s for the weekend and the Monarchs stunned the Golden Wolves on Friday night earning their first win of the season by a 3-1 score. Kent Lee and Ethan Hersant gave the visitors a 2-1 lead before Patrick Nowak iced the win with an empty-net goal for the 3-1 final score. Goaltender Ben Williams was outstanding in goal making 49 saves as King’s was outshot by a 50-22 margin. On Saturday, Alvernia started fast with four first period goals and cruised to a 5-2 win. Will White, Frazer Dodd and Matthew Imbriano each scored a goal and added an assist to help Alvernia earn a split of the two-game series.
MASCAC
Fitchburg State took a non-conference win over Assumption on Tuesday by a score of 5-2. Alexandre Bauvais and Elowan Orme Lynch each chipped in with a goal and assist. Looking to remain unbeaten, the Falcons opened conference play against Salem State and captured a 2-1 road win to remain unbeaten at 4-0-0 on the season. The teams traded first period goals, and the goaltenders took over until Isaiah McKinney netted the game-winner for FSU midway through the third period. Goaltender Frederick Soderberg stopped 32 of 33 shots in the Falcon win.
Plymouth State kept the win streak going at three games with an 8-2 win over Worcester State in their MASCAC opener. Ethan Stuckless, Dante Moretti, and Cam Patton each scored two goals to pace the offense for the Panthers.
Rivier played a thrilling game on Tuesday where they took a 6-4 win over in-state rival St. Anselm. Jake Laville scored twice and added two assists while Damon Kiyawasew added a goal and two assists for the Raiders. In their MASCAC opener on Saturday, the offense was hard to come by as Salem State started fast with three goals in the first period on the way to a 6-2 win. James Tatro recorded a hat trick for the Vikings while goaltender Will Nepveu picked up his first win stopping 34 of 36 shots.
Framingham State picked up their first win of the season in a non-conference game against Franklin Pierce on Tuesday. Sam Larkin led a group of six players with two-point games as the Rams broke open a 2-2 first period tie with four unanswered goals for the 6-2 win.
NE-10
After Tuesday’s loss to Fitchburg State, Assumption returned to NE-10 action with a weekend series against Franklin Pierce and skated off with a pair of wins to remain unbeaten in league play. On Friday, the Greyhounds scored twice in each period on the way to a 6-3 win over the Ravens. Ronny Paragallo scored twice for Assumption in the win. On Saturday, two power -play goals and a pair of shorthanded goals helped lead Assumption to a 7-2 win and weekend sweep. Paragallo chipped in with a goal and two assists while Jonathan Surrette (1G-2A-3 Pts) and John Wornle (0G-3A-3 Pts) also recorded three-point games.
St. Michael’s was looking to keep pace with Assumption with a sweep of SNHU over the weekend to remain unbeaten, but the Penmen had other ideas. On Friday, SNHU took a 2-0 first period lead and stretched the advantage to a comfortable 5-2 win on the road. On Saturday, Ben Baxter got the Purple Knights off and running with a pair of goals as the home team took a 3-0 lead and cruised to a 5-2 win to earn the weekend split.
After a Tuesday loss to Rivier at home, St. Anselm traveled to play Post for a weekend series. The Eagles were fresh off an overtime win over Westfield State on Tuesday and carried that momentum into Friday night where they took a 4-3 win over the Hawks. Baxter Kimball’s power-play goal in the first minute of the third period proved to be the game-winner for Post. On Saturday, the Eagles took a 3-0 lead only to see St. Anselm rally back with four goals, including two with the man advantage for a 4-3 win to split the series. Luke Mix assisted on three of the four goals for the Hawks who moved to 3-1-0 in NE-10 action.
NEHC
After opening the season 0-1-1, Elmira has their game going in NEHC play with back-to-back weekend sweeps. After taking a pair of games from Southern Maine last weekend, the Soaring Eagles played host to nationally ranked Skidmore and took wins by scores of 3-2 and 5-1. On Friday, Nathan Young and Cole Tucker scored third period goals to rally the home team from a one-goal deficit to a one-goal win. Goaltender Brody Haynes made 33 saves for Elmira to earn the win. On Saturday, Young and Tucker were again featured in the offense as Elmira took a 3-0 lead and converted the advantage into a 5-1 win over the Thoroughbreds.
Hobart hosted Massachusetts-Boston looking to extend their win streak to six games to start the season. Khalil Fontana’s hat trick helped lead the Statesmen to a lopsided 7-1 win on Friday night. On Saturday, Hobart completed the sweep scoring the first five goals of the game including two from forward Shane Shell, on the way to a 6-2 win.
Newcomers Salve Regina traveled to Babson looking to remain unbeaten in NEHC play and took Friday night’s contest by a 5-3 score. Trailing 3-2 in the third period, the Seahawks scored three goals including Aidan Connolly’s game-winner with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Logan Calder iced the win with a goal in the final five seconds. On Saturday, both teams combined for 13 goals in a crazy 7-6 win for the Beavers, who picked up their first win in conference play on the season. Babson scored five times in the first forty minutes including a hat trick from Jimmy Fallon and held on for the one-goal win.
New England College opened their conference campaign hosting Norwich and surprised the Cadets with an overtime tie and win in the two-game series. Goals were hard to come by for both teams as evidenced by Friday’s 1-1 tie where the Pilgrims’ David Novotny tied the score in the final second of regulation. There was no overtime winner, but NEC captured the shootout. On Saturday, Novotny was again the hero for NEC as he assisted on Paul Waldhauser’s third period goal before providing an insurance goal in a 2-0 Pilgrim win. Goaltender Anthony Beaulieu stopped 31 Cadet shots to earn the shutout win.
Albertus Magnus moved to 2-2-0 in conference play with a pair of one-goal wins over VSU-Castleton. After Friday’s 3-2 win, the Falcons needed a third period comeback from a 3-1 deficit. Goals from Zane Kindrachuk and JJ Berdal tied the score at three and William Lavigne gave the home team the 4-3 win in the first minute of overtime.
NESCAC
Connecticut College pulled a major upset to start their season as the Camels knocked off the defending conference champions from Trinity on Friday by a 4-2 score. Two power play goals from John Harrington and Rocco Testa-Basi helped pace Conn College to a 3-1 lead but after Trinity closed the gap to a single goal Jack Luca’s empty-net goal sealed the upset win. On Saturday, the Camels continued their hot start with a 4-1 win over another in-state rival in Wesleyan. Three first period goals from Andrew Eberling, Devan Newhook, and Harrington paced the Camels to a comfortable victory and weekend sweep.
Middlebury also skated away with two wins to open the season and conference play as the Panthers defeated Bowdoin and Colby to start 2-0-0. On Friday, Jin Lee scored two goals, John Burdett chipped in with three assists and goaltender Andrew Heinze earned the shutout win in a 5-0 decision. On Saturday, the Panthers surrendered Will Molson’s goal in the first minute of play before scoring shorthanded and power-play goals before the end of the period to take a 2-1 lead. Jack Silverman scored in the second period and that ended all the scoring in a 3-1 win over the Mules.
Hamilton played a single conference game against travel partner Amherst on Saturday earning a 5-2 win behind a four-point game from Jackson Krock who recorded a hat trick and added an assist in the Continentals win over the Mammoth. Luke Tchor also added a goal and two assists for Hamilton in the road win. On Sunday, Hamilton stayed productive on the road as they knocked Anna Maria from the unbeaten ranks with a 5-1 win over the AmCats. Five different players scored for Hamilton who launched 50 shots against Anna Maria netminder Matthew Hennessey.
SUNYAC
Anytime that Plattsburgh plays Oswego you should just throw out the records and roster analysis because the rivalry always trumps the paper analysis of who should win the hockey game. On Friday, the Lakers entered the third period holding a 1-0 lead and scored four third period goals to down the Cardinals, 5-1. On Saturday, Oswego moved to 2-0-0 in SUNYAC play with a 6-1 win over Potsdam. Six different players scored goals led by Drake Semrad and Travis Baker who scored a goal apiece and added an assist each.
Plattsburgh bounced back with a 7-1 win over Canton to earn a split of their weekend games. Jake Lanyi, Brannon Butler, and Jack Ring each recorded a goal and two assists in the Cardinal victory.
Buffalo State started their SUNYAC season with a sweep of games against Morrisville and Cortland by scores of 4-1 and 5-3. Against the Mustangs, a three-goal second period launched the Bengals to a comfortable three-goal win. On Saturday, Don Powell and Vadim Kiriakov led a four-goal outburst for the Bengals who needed an empty-net goal by Andrey Manov to secure a 5-3 win over the Red Dragons.
UCHC
Utica faced Brockport for the first time in UCHC action and took a pair of wins over the Golden Eagles to move to 4-0-0 in conference play. Matt Wood scored a goal and added two assists to pace the Pioneer offense in a 5-2 win on Friday night. On Saturday, Utica took advantage of four first period goals from four different players for an easy 5-1 win. Transfer Johnny Mulera scored one goal and picked up a pair of assists to lead the Utica offense.
Both Geneseo and Manhattanville entered their weekend series unbeaten in early season conference action. The Knights were ready to go from the drop of the puck on Friday as seven different players scored goals in a 7-1 rout of the Valiants. Luke Panchisin scored one goal and added three assists to pace the Geneseo attack. Things were a little tighter on Saturday as the teams skated to a 1-1 tie after two periods of play. Geneseo’s Cannon Green scored the game-winning goal in the third period to give the Knights a 2-1 win and weekend sweep. Goaltender Jacob Torgner picked up the win making 23 saves as Geneseo outshot Manhattanville by a 57-24 margin.
Nazareth and Chatham played a two-game series with Friday’s game ending in a 3-3 overtime tie before the Cougars earned a 1-0 shootout win. Anthony Quinlivan scored a shorthanded goal in the final minute of regulation to tie the score at 3-3 for the Golden Flyers. On Saturday, a pair of power-play goals from Blake Frost and Logan Tobias in the third period broke a 1-1 deadlock for a 3-1 Nazareth win.
Three Biscuits
Andrew Kurapov – Endicott – scored the overtime winning goal that gave the Gulls a 4-3 win over UNE on Friday that took the Nor’easter from the list of the unbeaten. Kurapov added two more goals on Saturday in an 8-1 romp for the weekend sweep.
Jimmy Fallon – Babson – scored a hat trick in the Beavers’ 7-6 win over Salve Regina to earn a weekend split and give the Seahawk their first loss of the season.
Jackson Krock – Hamilton – recorded a four-point game in the Continentals 5-2 win over Amherst on Saturday. Krock scored a hat trick and added an assist in the season opening win.
Week three really showed that anything can happen regardless of position in the standings or what conference you play in. No doubt every team is showing up ready to play but no team can take its opponent lightly because the margins are just so thin across the talent playing at the D-III level and we the fans are enjoying the tremendous action accordingly.
