By: James Duffy
Weekend Review:
With the exception of Notre Dame, every Hockey East team played their first real game last weekend. The 11 teams that played games that counted combined for a record of 9-3-2, and the Fighting Irish won and tied their exhibitions.
Providence College had a strong weekend against a very good Miami (OH) team, dominating on Friday by a score of 7-3 and then settling for a 2-2 tie on Saturday. Trevor Mingoia, the Warrior Player of the Week, put up 6 points for the Friars in these two games, highlighted by a 4 point effort on Friday. Providence shot up to #2 in the USCHO national rankings, making them the highest ranked Hockey East team. The former national #1, Boston College, split a pair of games, beating Army on Friday then losing in a goaltending battle to RPI. The good news for BC was that Thatcher Demo not only played both games, but played really well, stopping 49 of the 52 shots he faced.
Boston University lost their first game of the season at Union, and saw themselves slip to #6 in the rankings, but did get to see star freshman Charlie McAvoy score his first collegiate goal. Vermont came away with an impressive win in Minnesota on the heels of a Mike Santaguida shutout and snuck into the top 20. Maine came into the weekend with daunting matchups against Michigan State and North Dakota, but ended up tying both games. The Black Bears actually won both games when they went into shootouts, but their record still stands at 0-0-2 despite their impressive showing.
Scores:
Friday, October 9
Boston College 5-1 Army
Rensselaer 0-3 UMass Lowell
Providence 7-3 Miami
Guelph 5-7 Notre Dame (Exh.)
Michigan State 3-3 Maine
UCONN 5-2 Alabama Huntsville
Massachusetts 6-3 Colorado College
Saturday, October 10
Colgate 1-2 Northeastern
Boston University 3-5 Union
America International 3-7 New Hampshire
Providence 2-2 Miami
Vermont 3-0 Minnesota
North Dakota 1-1 Maine
UCONN 2-4 Alabama Huntsville
Massachusetts 4-3 Colorado College
Sunday, October 11
Boston College 1-2 Rensselaer
Notre Dame 2-2 USA Under 18-Team (Exh.)
The Week Ahead:
While there aren’t real highlight games like we saw last weekend with a game like PC-Miami, this weekend still has a lot to offer on the out-of-conference slate.
Notre Dame will officially open their season this weekend with two games in Happy Valley against Penn State, as the Nittany Lions are looking to build off an opening night win against Canisius. Maine will get a chance to build off their strong opening weekend as they’ll take on Union in a home and home series. The Black Bears will also travel to Hamden, Connecticut on Tuesday night to take on Quinnipiac.
The Northeastern Huskies will play a home-and-home with Bentley in what could be a good early season test against an Atlantic foe, while the UConn Huskies will take on Arizona State on Friday. Vermont will get a great shot to prove that they belong in the top 20 when they face #3 Omaha twice at home this weekend. Boston College and Boston University will both play Wisconsin this weekend as they look to reclaim some lost ground in the national rankings.