What?!?!

Matt Nieto had two goals last night
in BU's 5-2 win over Merrimack
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Last night I did not go to the Merrimack game because I had my own hockey commitment. When I looked and saw the score was 3-0 after the first period I had to go back and re-look at it to make sure it was right. In no way did I see last night's 5-2 win over Merrimack coming. It was a happy surprise that definitely makes me feel much better about this BU team.

BU is now in control of it's own destiny if they want home ice in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. The Terriers can clinch 6th or better with a win friday night against Vermont. To secure the fourth seed (home ice) without help from other teams, they must win their remaining four games; two home games vs Vermont and a home and home series vs Northeastern. BU does not control their own destiny for the top three and would need help from other teams to get there. That being said, they are only two points behind first place Boston College. In fact, the top 6 teams in Hockey East are separated by just two points.

In the Pairwise, BU is now in a four way tie for 17th with St. Lawrence, Robert Morris and Alaska Fairbanks. Using the Pairwise customizer over at College Hockey News, I figured out that if BU sweeps Vermont they will be in 14th. Now, that is based only on BU's results and does not take into consideration the results of any other games being played. A Vermont sweep would put BU at 22 and a split would have the Terriers in 18th.

I will not be able to attend this Friday's game vs BU because I have my first playoff game at Bentley's home rink.

Photos From The Weekend

Lowell Tops Terriers 3-1, Complet Sweep

Tonight, Lowell finished off their first ever season sweep of BU with a 3-1 win at Tsongas Center. BU was out played from the drop of the puck and Lowell took a 1-0 leads just 5:47 into the game.

Scott Wilson picked up a Sean Escobedo turnover at the red line. After getting about 10 feet into the BU zone he unloaded a cannon slap-shot that nicked the bottom of the crossbar before entering the net. It was and unassisted goal for Wilson, his 10th of the year.

Scott Wilson scores on Sean Maguire in the first period.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Miraculously BU made it out of the first period only down one. Lowell out worked and out played BU all over the ice. The Terriers only managed shots all frame. BU's best chance to score was a set up in front, that saw Wade Megan get stoned buy Connor Hellebuyck.

BU continued to struggle in the second and Lowell upped their lead to 2-0 midway through the stanza. Joe Pendenza was stuffed by Sean Maguire on a great set up off a rush by Derek Arnold. Chad Ruhwedle picked up the loose rebound and chipped it over Maguire's leg and into the net. It was his 7th goal of the season, a power play goal.

BU was shorthanded for the bulk of the second frame and would eventually get their only goal of the weekend on the penalty kill midway through the third period. Evan Rodrigues grabbed a loose puck behind the Lowell cage and wrapped it into the net between Hellebuyck's legs.

BU had no real chances to tie the game, as they only mustered thee shots in the entire third period.

Lowell capped the game at the 12:05 marker, when Joe Pendenza beat Maguire five hole on a two on one.

UML now is ahead of the Terriers in the Hockey East standings. BU falls to 20th in the PWR and into 6th in the league standings. They will host Merrimack on Tuesday night.

Lowell Blanks BU

Tonight, Lowell shutout BU in one of the most boring hockey games I have ever been too. The first period saw no goals, no good chances (exept a Lowell post) and no every in the building. It all made for a pretty sleepy stanza that saw a combined 11 shots make their way on net.

Lowell finally broke through at the 5:35 marker of the second. Scott Wilson rang a slapper from the top of the far circle off the post and by Matt O'Connor for his 9th of the season.

Minutes later, Joe Pendenza made it 2-0 on a really flukey play. Josh Holmstrom threw a pass into a mass of body's in the slot. The puck hit off of Pendenza's leg and into the net. O'Connor never saw it.

Lowell made in 3-0 in the closing minutes of the game. Riley Wetmore beat O'Connor five hole, as he was left all alone in the low slot. If not for O'Connor's play, it could have been 8-0.

The two teams will go at it again tomorrow night in Lowell.

Weekend With The Riverhawks

Tonight kicks off one of the most important weekends to date for the Terriers. Lowell has made a significant second half push and are currently just two points behind BU in the Hockey East standings.

From the Vault
Evan Rodrigues takes the play wide on a Lowell defender
in a 7-1 rout by the Riverhawks in November, 2011.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Starting on December 8th, Lowell won nine games in a row. In that span the Riverhawks swept both Clarkson and Vermont and also upended BU all away from home. Since the holiday break, UML is 10-2-1. Last weekend they swept UMass. The two losses came against Maine and Merrimack in the same weekend.

Scouting the Riverhawks
Joe Pendenza leads the team in points with 24, 10 goals and 14 assists in 26 games played. Sophomore Scott Wilson is a close second with 23 points (8g, 15a). Riley Wetmore leads the team in goals with 12.

In goal, Doug Carr has seen the bulk of the action and is holder of an 8-8-1 record in 19 appearances. He is the owner of a .897 save percentage and a 2.79 goals against average. Freshman Connor Hellebuyck has seen action in 9 games with a 7-1-0 record, a .931 save percentage and a 1.84 goals against.

---> Lowell won the lone game played already this year by a score of 4-3. I missed that game, but if I remember correctly that was the game that Garrett Noonan was thrown out for spearing.

---> Jake Moscatel will be back in the line up, replacing Matt Ronan as the fourth line right wing. Moscatel was out with a separated shoulder.

---> Matt O'Connor will be in night tonight and Sean Maguire will close out the series in Lowell on Saturday.

Taking A Crack At Bracktology

We are just under a month away from selection sunday in college hockey, so I though I'd take my best shot at predicting the bracket as it stands right now.

Regional sites
Northeast... Manchester, New Hampshire... Hosted by UNH
East... Providence, Rhode Island... Hosted by Brown
Mid-west... Toledo, Ohio... Hosted by Bowling Green
West... Grand Rapids, Michigan... Hosted by Michigan

Current Pairwise rankings:
1. Quinnipac
2. Minnesota
3. Miami
4t. New Hampshire
4t. Boston College
6. North Dakota
7t. Minnesota Mankato
7t. Western Michigan
9. St. Cloud State
10. Niagara
11. Denver
12. Yale
13. Boston University
14t. Lowell
14t. Union
16t. Notre Dame
---------------------------
16t. RPI
16t. Merrimack

Re-aline so that it's 1-16 and no ties:

1. Quinnipac
2. Minnesota
3. Miami
4. New Hampshire
5. Boston College
6. North Dakota
7. Minnesota Mankato
8. Western Michigan
9. St. Cloud State
10. Niagara
11. Denver
12. Yale
13. Boston University
14. Lowell
15. Union
16. Notre Dame

Place the one seeds:
-Quinnipac goes to Providence
-UNH hosts the North East Regional in Manchester, so they are sent there
- Miami goes to Toledo
- Minnesota goes to Grand Rapids

Place the four seeds, avoiding intra conference match ups:
16. Notre Dame placed in Providence
15. Union heads to Manchester
14. Lowell heads to Grand Rapids
13. BU is sent to Toledo

Place the two seeds, avoiding intra conference matches and keeping the bracket's "integrity"
5. BC placed in Manchester
6. North Dakota should be place in Toledo, but to avoid playing WCHA foe Denver, they are moved to Toledo
7. Minnesota Mankato is place in Grand Rapids
8. Western Michigan is place in Providence

Place the three seeds,  avoiding intra conference matches and keeping the bracket's "integrity"
9. St. Cloud State heads to Providence
10. Niagara is placed in Toledo
11. Denver is place in Manchester
12. Yale is seeded in Grand Rapids

The Bracket:
Providence:
1. Quinnipac vs 16. Notre Dame
8. Western Michigan vs 9. St. Cloud State

Grand Rapids:
2. Minnesota vs 14. Lowell
7. Minnesota Mankato vs 12. Yale

Toledo:
3. Miami vs 13. Boston University
6. North Dakota vs 10. Niagara

Manchester:
4. New Hampshire vs 15 Union
5. Boston College vs 11 Denver

For attendance prepossess you could move flip flop BU and Notre Dame, but the NCAA likes to keep the 1vs16 matchup. Just another reason they should go back to the best two out of three format on the higher seeds campus.

Nieto's OT Goal Caps Wild Game

Matt Nieto scored with less than five
seconds left in overtime to give
BU the win.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

With 3.8 seconds left in overtime, Matt Nieto finished a two on none rush with Evan Rodrigues to put the Terriers past Maine and picked up two huge points in the process. Before the thrilling OT ending there was more rather exciting hockey played at Alfond Arena

Miane jumped out to a 1-0 lead on their fourth power play goal of the weekend. Freshman Ryan Lomberg, who was charged with goalie interference that negated what would have been the Maine game winner last night, got a little revenge as he scored with 3:50 left in the first. Joey Diamond and Jake Rutt picked up the assists on the goal.

Maine would take the 1-0 lead into the dressing room after the first, only to see BU score the next four goals. Halfway through period two, Danny O'Regan potted his first of two power play goals. Ahit Oksanen continued his strong play, picking up an assist with Ryan Santana notching the other helper.

Less than five minutes later, Cason Hohmann scored a goal that will definitely be on the season highlight-reel. Wade Megan made spectacular indirect pass off the boards along the bench. The puck bounced off the wall to Hohmann at the blue line and he was pretty much in alone from there. One Maine defender added pressure late, so Hohmann leaned into him to protected the puck. In the process Hohmann made Martin Ouellette leave the post, opening room on the short side. Hohmann took out his pitching wedge and chipped a shot top-self over Ouellette's shoulder for his eight of the year.

With 51 seconds left in the stanza, Matt Grzelcyk riffled a shot through Ouellette and into the back of the net. It was Grzelcyk's third marker of the year and first against a team other than Boston College. Hohmann picked up the lone assist on the play, his 20th.

1:03 into the third, O'Regan netted his second, again on the power play. Out of a large scrum in the slot, Oksanen controlled a loose puck and was able to hit O'Regan with pass by the side of the cage. Danny was all alone and beat Ouellette who had zero chance. At this point the game looked all but over, as BU has traditionally done a very good job of closing games out in the third period this year. Not to be.

Three minutes after the O'Regan goal, Joey Diamond cut the BU lead to 4-2. Devin Shore fired a shot from the top of the near circle and the puck deflected off Ben Hutton's blade right onto Diamond's stick. Joey had one of those "look what I found" moments and wasted no time firing it into the net. It was his 12th on the season.

Minutes later Maine made things very tense, as Shore scored an incredibly flukey shorthanded goal with more than half the period to play. Conor Riley fired a one on four shot at the net and the rebound popped up in the air. Riley, from behind the  goal line,  batted the puck out of the air off Sean Maguire's back and into the crease. That's were Shore was standing and had all 6x4 of the net and putted home his 3rd of the year. Riley's somewhat lucky assist was his first apple of the year.

With the goalie pulled and time running out at the Alfond, Steven Swavely redirected Jake Rutt's shot from the point past Maguire at 19:21 of the third period to tie things 4-4. The Maine comeback was a result of two things. One, BU backed off the gas after O'Regan made it 4-1 and secondly, Maine played much harder as the crowd got back on their feet.

Maine, like much of the third period, controlled the play in overtime. Maguire held his ground and with less than five seconds left, BU somehow had a 2 on 0 from the redline in on Ouellette. O'Regan hit Evan Rodrigues with an indirect pass off the glass from in the BU zone at center ice. From there, Rodrigues skated all the way to the dot before making a slight move to get Ouellette to bight. Then he dished over to Nieto, who was crashing hard to the far post. Nieto hit the back of the net with 3.8 seconds left in overtime, causing me to jump off my basement couch in excitement. Finally there was something to get excited about with this team.

Nieto had this to say about the goal "It was middle of the net. Nothing but net. The goalie was no where to be found."

BU now will look ahead to a critical home and home series with the Lowell River Hawks starting on Friday.

Better Lucky Than Good

Fortunate call leads to tie

Ahit Oksanen's goal with 12:52
left was the reason BU was able
to come away with a point.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Last night, BU should have lost their third straight game if not for an unbelievably fortuitous call late in the third period that negated a Maine goal. Devin Shore blasted a wrist shot over Matt O'Connor's shoulder on the power play with 5:19 that would have given Maine 4-3 lead. The play went to review and it was determined that Maine's Ryan Lomberg had interfered with O'Connor. I watched the replay 50 times and I have no idea why it was not a goal. Lomberg's skated made little contact with O'Connor's pad and was outside the crease. BU definitely got lucky on this one.

The Terriers did jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first after dominating the opening minutes of the contest. Matt Nieto slammed home a centering fead from Evan Rodrigues and ten seconds later, Wade Megan scored on a spin around shot in the slot. Cason Hohmann caused a turnover behind the Maine net and found Megan in between the circles. Megan caught the pass on his back hand and had to spin around and fire a low wrist shot that found it's way inside the post and past Martin Ouellette right pad.

Maine cut the lead in half with under two minutes left in the frame. Steven Swavely converted on a wide open net following a leg save by O'Connor on Lomberg. It was Sawavely's first of two and Maine's first of three power play goals.

1:12 into the second, Swavely potted his second on the man advantage with the assists going to Shore and Joey Diamond. Less than five minutes later, Diamond torched O'Connor on a wrist shot from the high slot through a screen. Diamond picked up a loose puck along the side boards, skated to the top of the circle before pump faking once to create a shooting lane. From their he found the top corner to put Maine up 3-2.

BU fought back in the third with a power play goal of their own. Nieto hit Ahit Oksanen with a pass at the near point. Oksanen walked to the middle before releasing a wrist shot that made it's through traffic and past Ouellette, who never saw it.

Maine controlled the play in overtime, with BU getting a few good chances in the closing minutes. The two teams will play each other again tonight.

BU heads To Maine

Alexx Privitera
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Things have gone from bad to worse at BU. Yesterday it was announced that Sophomore defenseman Alexx Privitera will be suspended for the remainder of the year for his on ice actions. He has already been suspended by Hockey East and Coach Parker once this year. Following his first suspension, Parker said that if he was kicked out of another game he would be done for the year. Privitera was thrown out of the Denver game for kicking a DU player after he was down. Monday afternoon, Alexx was tossed for a brutal leg check in the Beanpot consolation game.

BU will look to overcome their most resent departure when they take on Maine tonight. A trip to Orono my be just what the doctor order for the Terriers. If you recall following the Max Nicastro incident, BU traveled to Vermont a swept a struggling Catamounts in Burlington. It not so much the team BU is playing, its that fact that they can bond and get away from everything back in Boston and just focus on hockey and what they need to do to get back on track in Maine. Last year is seemed to right the ship a little bit, hopefully that can happen again.

Scouting the Black Bears
Maine has won just two home games all year and only eight games total, but BU is in no place to take this Maine team lightly. The Black Bears are 3-1-1 in their last five games and two of those wins came in a sweep at Boston College. Last weekend, Maine was humbled by Vermont 3-0.

Joey Diamond leads the team in goals and in points with a line of 10-5-15 in 25 games played. Freshman Devin Shore is second in the scoring race with 13 points with 2 goals and 11 assists in 28 games. Sophomore Connor Leen comes in at 12 points, posting seven goal and 5 assists in 27 games,

In goal, Martin Ouellette has taken over the number-one roll. In 20 appearances, he has a 6-8-5 record with a .924 save percentage and a 2.16 goals against.

The Last Time They Met...
was back in December with BU coming away with a hard fought 1-0 win.

---> Ryan Ruikka will be back on the blue line tonight with Privitera out. That also means Junior Defenseman Matt Ronan will see his first action of the season. He will take Ruikka's place as the fourth line right wing.

---> Forward Jake Moscatel suffered a separated shoulder in practice and will be out about three weeks

---> Matt O'Connor will get the start in goal tonight, while Sean Maguire will be between the pipes tomorrow.

Tuesday Thoughts: Bad ----> Worse

Last night, BU's forgettable second semester of hockey took a swift dive to new depths, as they dropped their third straight game to struggling a Harvard club. Harvard has won two games since November 16th, both have come against BU. The even more depressing out come is that BU has now finished last in the Beanpot two out of the last three years. Before 2011, BU had not finished 4th since 1980 and that was only because their three best player were beating commies in the Olympics.

This was taken 5 minutes before the
consolation game started. The place
was a morgue, but still not an excuse
to why the team play so poorly.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Last night's loss was maybe saddest hockey game I have ever attended. Coach Parker said it best, "The lack of enthusiasm in the building drans your ability to get up for a game." well maybe so, but I think it was harder to watch as a fan. There were (like there always is for the conso game) about 15 people in the stands for the first game, me being one of them. The excuse of there being no energy in the rink making it tough to play is a joke. Yes, its hard to "get up" for the consolation game of any tournament, but after the first five minutes of feeling bad for yourself goes away, don't ya think you should focus and play the game at hand?

The lack of focus and the poor defensive play, as pointed out by Ryan Ruikka in the post game comments is the biggest problem with the team right now. Its not the goalies fault either.

Looking at BU's last three game, other than last night, BU's goaltending was very strong. Yes, Sean Maguire gave up 5 goals at UMass, but none of those were his fault. Matt O'Connor was the only reason BU was "in" the first round Beanpot game vs NU. Last night, again Maguire was hung out to dry by the D several times, leading to goals.

Mike Moran scored his first collegiate
goal last night. It was BU's first goal
the game.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

The one bright spot of last night for the Terriers was the power play. Finally it looked as if there was some actually structure and set up to the man advantage. Evan Rodrigues was moved to the point along side Ahit Oksanen on the group two unit. Rodrigues scored scored from the point on a long range shot. At first I was scratching my head as to why he was on the point, but I guess nothing else was/is working any better.

BU is now in a three way tie for 13th in the PairWise with Notre Dame and Alaska. In Hockey East, BU is in danger of not playing at home in the Hockey East Quarterfinals for the first time since 2004. Currently they are tied with Providence for fourth place. Remember, the top four get home ice. BU

News And Notes

Wes Myron
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

--> Tonight's game vs Merrimack has been rescheduled to Tuesday February, 26th due to the snow storm. If you recall, BU and MC had a game moved back in the 2010 season because of snow as well.

--> Former Terrier Wes Myron, who left the team prior to the UMass game to "attempt a professional career in hockey" has signed with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. The Wings are an affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, the team that drafted Myron in the 6th round this past summer.

Roy Tricks BU, Denies Senior Class Beanpot

Sahir Gill's reaction after the final
buzzer.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

The class of 1965 was the last class to go without winning a Beanpot, until tonight. The current senior class will go Beanpot-less, as Northeastern toped the Terriers in the first round of the tournament. NU was lead by a hat trick from Freshman standout Kevin Roy. Yes, the same Kevin Roy who said he would like to go to BU in the offseason after decomiting from Brown with his brother.

Roy put NU one the board less than three minutes in. He and Vinny Saponari skated in two on one at the top of the circle. Roy and cut to the BU net before jamming the puck past Matt O'Connor on the far side. 

BU would tie the game minutes later on a sweet set up. Evan Rodrigues and Wade Megan exchanged give an go passes before Megan carried the puck into the low circle on the near side. From there, he feathered a pass through an NU defender onto the tape of Danny O'Regan. O'Regan on toughed the pass past Chris Rawlings and into the goal to knot the game at 1-1. From there on, BU did not play well until the third period.

BU's bad play reached a new high on NU second goal. Matt O'Connor went out to play the puck in the far corner. After he stopped it, he passed to Ben Rosen, who then for whatever reason, one touched the pass into the slot. I think he was looking to hit Sean Escobedo in the middle of the ice, but instead it found Roy's stick and further more, the back of the Terrier net. Still don't know why you would ever want to pass it in front of your own net, regardless if the goalie is in the cage or not. 

BU had a golden chance to tie the game on the power play when they had 1:57 of five on three. Not only did they not score, but there no good scoring chances. The power play has been just plain horrible the last two games.

BU poured on the pressure late in the third and had some really solid scoring opportunities snuffed out by Chris Rawlings. NU caught a break and was able to clear with about five minutes left. While the puck was deep in the BU zone, who but Kevin Roy came out of the corner and swatted in a bouncing puck at the side of the net to put the Huskies up 3-1.

BU had some fight left in them, as Sahir Gill banged home a rebound goal with 1:11 left, but there would not be a National Championship-esque comeback, as Northeastern would hold their ground, beating BU in the Beanpot for the first time since 1988.

BU for the second time in three years will face Harvard in the Consolation game next Monday. This also marks the first time since the 2009 tournament that BU and BC will not meet each other.

Beanpot Preview: BU vs NU

Tomorrow night, BU will look to get back to the Beanpot Championship Game, but will have to go through a feisty Northeastern team that has already dealt the Terriers a loss this season. Last year, if you don't recall, BU lost the longest Beanpot championship game to date to Boston College 3-2 with 6 seconds left in the first overtime. Prior to that, BU and Northeastern had the longest championship game. That ended when Chris Bourque dove across the crease and hit in a pass from Brian Miller. Anyway, enough with the history lesson and on to tomorrow night.

Earlier this year, BU and NU played a thrilling (at least for the fans) game at Agganis. Northeastern took a 5-2 lead into the third period, only to see BU storm back and tie the game. Then Vinny Saponari, the former Terrier found the back of the net with under three minutes to play.

Tomorrow night, Matt O'Connor will be in net. NU faced Sean Maguire in the game three weeks ago. For BU, the key to winning this game will be slowing down Freshman standout Kevin Roy, who single-handedly killed the Terriers in that game. In addition, turnovers need to be limited. That is how NU scored the bulk of their goals on BU before. One that really stands out was a play that Ahti Oksanen made when he cut right in front of his own net. He was pick pocketed by Roy, who then torched Maguire, who had no chance. Turnovers were also a huge problem in the UMass game Friday night. They directly led to at least two goals.

NU will more than likely send Senior goalie Chris Rawlings between the pipes tomorrow night. In 27 appearances, the North Delta, British Columbia native holds a 7-8-1 record with a .910 save percentage and a 2.88 goals against average. Kevin Roy is by far the team leader in points with 27, eight ahead of Saponari.

The Last Time They Met in the Beanpot...
was in the first round of the 2010 tournament. BU skated away with a 2-1 win on the back of Alex Chiasson's goal late in the third period.

Beanpots by Schools:
BU- 29
BC- 17
Harvard- 10
Northeastern- 4

BU and BC have won every tournament played since 1993, when Harvard came away with the title... NU has not won the 'pot since 1988.

Picks
BU 5, Northeastern 3
BC 3, Harvard 1

Game Photos From UMass

UMass Runs Circles Around BU

I think it would be a fare statement to say tonight was not the Terriers night. UMass embarrassed BU in front of over 7,000 people at the Mullins Center.

Conor Sheary looks for an open man in the offensive zone
during the second period
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU missed their few chances early in the game game it looked like they became frustrated from it. Sean Maguire played very well in the beginning of the game and if not for his play it easily could have been 8-1. UMass finally solved Maguire at the 17:21 marker. Branden Gracel finished off a nice set up by Mike Pereira and Conor Allen. The passing completely fooled Maguire, allowing Gracel to slam home his 12th of the year on a soccer net.

After several failed power play attempts by both teams (mainly BU) Kevin Czepiel beat Maguire five hole for his first goal of the season. It was all down hill from their for BU. The power play, as mentioned before was not clicking. At all. They managed just one shot the entire second period. That's with three power play chances.

Matt Lane cuts to the net in the third
period. Defending him is Colin Shea
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Conor Sheary made it 3-0 a little over five minutes into the third on a one timer set up by Pereira. Pereira would go on to score the next two goals, one that looked a lot like the Sheary goal, and one shorthanded. That made it 5-0 and it also marked the worst hockey I have seen BU play all year.

Ben Rosen finally (actually) tested Kevin Boyle late in the third and low and behold the puck went it. It was a high wrist shot blocker side the find twine while BU was a man down. Pretty sad when the PK out scores the PP.

BU never really did test Boyle all night. Their one good chance in the first was Evan Rodrigues' break a way that the netminder made a big time save on that. Besides that, I can't really remember another tough save he had to make. That probably goes back to the fact that the team only had 1 shot in the second period and just 20 for the game.

BU will have to get their act together fast, as the Beanpot is only three nights away.

UMass Preview

In their last game before the Beanpot, BU will travel to UMass and take on the Minutemen at the Mullins Center. BU won the series' first two games this year by scores of 5-2 and 3-2.

BU will have an unusual lineup out on the ice tonight. Ryan Ruikka will be a fourth line wing with Ryan Santana and Mike Moran. In addition, the Terriers will have Evan Rodrigues back in the lineup after he suffered a hand injury in last Friday's game vs Providence. Sean Maguire will be in net.

From the Vault
Rocco Carzo scores on a penalty shot, beating Matt O'Conor
in a late October tilt.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Scouting the Minutemen.
UMass comes into tonight's match-up holding a 9-12-2 record, but have won two of their last three including a surprising rout of Boston College two weeks ago. UMass has been a different team following the holiday break. They won the Ledyard Bank Classic with wins over Bemidji State and Dartmouth. After getting swept by Providence in two close games, UMass toped BU as mentioned before 5-2 at Conte Forum.

Junior Brandon Gracel has a solid lead points wise on the team. In 23 games played, the Calgary native has found the back of the net 11 times while adding 11 assists for 22 points. Behind him is Conor Sheary, who through 23 games has posted a scoring line of 5-12-17. Rocco Carzo, Mike Pereira, and Conor Allen all have 14 points on the year in23 games.

In goal, Kevin Boyle and Steve Mastalerz have split time. Boyle has carried the bulk of the load, appearing in 16 games with a 7-7-2 record. In those 16 games, Boyle has a .900 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average. Mastslerz on the other hand has a 2-4-0 record with 7 appearances to go along with a .868 save percentage and a 3.42 goals against.