This Week in the MAAC: Dec. 12, 2002
In his last column of 2002, Jim Connelly selects the MAAC’s top news stories of the year gone by.
Jim Connelly
This Week in the MAAC: Dec. 5, 2002
After playing two Hockey East teams tight, is Quinnipiac a legitimate national threat? That’s just one of the questions Jim Connelly tries to answer.
This Week in the MAAC: Nov. 28, 2002
As the holiday season commences, Jim Connelly offers his traditional look at a MAAC Thanksgiving, as well as the league’s weekly awards and a preview of next week’s coverage.
Northeastern Avoids Upset By Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac put out a solid defensive effort and got spectacular goaltending on Saturday night, but came up just short of pulling off the ultimate upset, falling, 2-1, to Northeastern in front of a hostile crowd of 3,259 at Matthews Arena. The Bobcats hoped to become the first MAAC team to win a nonconference game against … Read more
Top-Ranked BC Gets Back In Win Column
Behind a two-goal effort by sophomore David Spina and plenty of offensive patience and poise, No. 1 Boston College got back to winning ways Friday, knocking off pesky Northeastern, 4-1, in front of 7,500 at BC’s Conte Forum. The Eagles used four unanswered goals in the final 27 minutes of play to prevent the Huskies … Read more
This Week in the MAAC: Nov. 21, 2002
Rebuilding Iona stuns Mercyhurst; the MAAC streaks toward the holidays; southern Connecticut offers the league some hospitality; and Quinnipiac logs miles and miles on the road. Jim Connelly reports.
Collins Nets OT Winner As UNH Overtakes BC
Sean Collins scored the game winner in overtime as No. 2 New Hampshire overcame top-ranked Boston College to take over the lead in the Hockey East stadndings.
Massachusetts Takes Alumni Cup
Sparked by a two-goal, late third period rally, the visiting Massachusetts Minutemen knocked off the Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks, 4-3, Saturday night to sweep the weekend series. The win gives the Minutemen its first weekend home-and-home sweep of a Hockey East weekend series since knocking off Providence on Jan. 7 and 8, 2000. It also clinches … Read more
Maine Blows Out Northeastern In Wild Second Period
Friday’s matchup between No. 10 Maine and its host, an unpredictable Northeastern club, was billed as having potential for plenty of excitement. The game had just that but was missing one thing: a close score. Maine used a six-goal outburst in one of the craziest second periods in Hockey East history to rout Northeastern, 8-2. … Read more
This Week in the MAAC: Nov. 14, 2002
Sacred Heart takes on the unfamiliar role of favorite; Bentley ends a long spell of road futility; Iona bucks up for a tough stretch; and more. Jim Connelly reports.
Ben Eaves Makes Return For BC, Scores in Rout
If there’s one building that the Boston College Eagles do not like, it’s Merrimack’s Volpe Center. Having lost three of the four games at the Warriors’ home and registering a loss in each of the last four seasons, the nation’s second-ranked team was hoping history wouldn’t repeat itself. Leaving nothing to chance, the Eagles (6-0-0, … Read more
This Week in the MAAC: Nov. 7, 2002
The MAAC picks up another win over a “Big Four” opponent — this one in convincing fashion; Fairfield gets off the schneid; Mercyhurst heads back into conference play after a brutal weekend; and more. Jim Connelly reports.
Merrimack Power Play Awakens
Merrimack entered Sunday’s contest against Dartmouth 0-for the season — zero goals in 22 chances — on the power play. Looking for the special teams unit to click, the Warriors picked a perfect night, scoring three goals with the man advantage and adding a shorthanded tally en route to a 4-3 victory in front of … Read more
This Week in the MAAC: Oct. 31, 2002
The battle between powerhouses Mercyhurst and Quinnipiac ends the only way it could; Holy Cross welcomes some help in nets; the MAAC gets a little tube time; and more. Jim Connelly reports.
This Week in the MAAC: Oct. 24, 2002
The underdogs struck a blow last weekend, giving the MAAC a win and a tie against Big Four conference opponents. Now, the league’s members turn their attentions inward, starting with a March kind of game in October. Jim Connelly reports.
This Week in the MAAC: Oct. 17, 2002
After a rough weekend, the MAAC looks to right the collective ship. That begins at the Q-Cup, where this year’s edition features an all-MAAC lineup. Jim Connelly reports.
Huskies Roll … Northeastern, That Is
As the Northeastern Huskies hosted the Connecticut Huskies on Friday night, it was easy to rush around the press box with that overly-obvious old line, “I bet the Huskies will win tonight.” Barring a tie, those folks are right, but in the back of everybody’s mind, the simplicity of the expression was that it would … Read more
This Week in the MAAC: Oct. 10, 2002
Quinnipiac might have sported a new mascot, but the results looked very familiar as the Bobcats thumped Holy Cross to open the MAAC season. Elsewhere, a mixed bag of exhibition play greeted league teams last weekend. On the slate now: tourneys, tourneys, tourneys. Jim Connelly reports.
2002-03 Quinnipiac Season Preview
Though sporting a new mascot, the Quinnipiac Bobcats are likely to worry about an old-time sports problem: the sophomore slump. It was just a year ago that Quinnipiac entered the season with a rookie-filled lineup but shocked the league and the nation when the young class gelled late and carried the club to the MAAC … Read more
2002-03 Canisius Season Preview
As the youth movement rips across the MAAC, one coach isn’t overly thrilled. And Canisius coach Brian Cavanaugh won’t pull any punches when he tell you. “We’re a young team,” Cavanaugh said very matter-of-factly. “We graduated pretty much all the name players that people are familiar with and gave us a lot of wins and … Read more