College Hockey Update:  Last weekend provided a great top fifteen matchup as Minnesota-Duluth held onto the #3 spot in the poll after managing a split with Western Michigan, which edged up to #7 in the poll; each team came out of the weekend with a win by three goals and a loss by three goals.  Elsewhere, Denver held at #1 after sweeping Nebraska-Omaha [This is corrected and was first posted as Denver sweeping St. Cloud State, which was the result from the previous week; Thanks to John McLean for the catch], and Minnesota split with Michigan and held at #5.  Providence held at #10 after sweeping UMass-Amherst in opening round action of the Hockey East Tournament, and Penn State held at #11 after splitting with Wisconsin.  Vermont edged up to #13 after sweeping Maine in the Hockey East Tournament; North Dakota edged up to #14 after sweeping Miami of Ohio; and Ohio State dropped down two spots to #15 after splitting with Michigan State.  An idle Harvard held at #2; idle UMass-Lowell held at #4; idle Union held at #6; idle Boston University edged down to #8; idle Cornell held at #9; and idle Notre Dame held at #12.

Last weekend Vermont had huge help from senior forward Brendan Bradley, of Warminster PA, who scored a goal and added an assist in his team’s 5-0 win Friday night, and then went on to score another goal and add another assist in his team’s 5-1 win Saturday night, both against Maine in a best-of-three series in the opening round of the Hockey East Tournament.  The 6’0″ 170lb lefty is tenth on his team in goals, with six, and is fifth in assists, with thirteen.  He has been a solid contributor his entire career at Vermont, and his numbers this year are perhaps a bit short of expectations given his first three years.  As a junior he tied for first in goals, with ten, and tied for fourth in assists, with ten; as a sophomore he was tied for sixth in goals, with seven, and was fourth in assists, with seventeen; and as a freshman he was third in goals, with eight, and was fifth in assists, with thirteen.  Vermont is 20-11-5, ranked #13, and has only one loss in its last seven games.  As the #6 seed in the Hockey East Tournament, Vermont will travel to play a best-of-three series this weekend at #17 Boston College, which is the #3 seed in the Tournament.

Friday night in Vermont, it was all Vermont, and it happened right away.  Three minutes into the first period a goal by Liam Coughlin made it 1-0, Vermont, and he followed that six minutes later with another goal (Brendan Bradley on the assist), for the 2-0 lead.  With a minute left in the first, a Craig Puffer goal made it 3-0.  Each team had 13 shots on goal in the first.  In the second Vermont really controlled the pace as they out-shot Maine 16-8, and Brendan Bradley scored with seven minutes left in the period to make it 4-0, Vermont.  In the third Maine out-shot Vermont 10-6, but to no avail, as Mario Puskarich scored two minutes into the period for the final goal, and Vermont took the 5-0 win.

Saturday night Brendan Bradley scored seven minutes into the first to put Vermont up 1-0, and with two minutes left in the period, Rob Hamilton converted on a power play opportunity to make it 2-0, Vermont.  Maine converted on a power play opportunity seven minutes into the second to cut the lead to 2-1, and seemed to control the pace as they out-shot Vermont 17-8,, but Vermont wouldn’t let them make a game of it.  Eight minutes later it was Mario Puskarich converting on a Vermont power play opportunity, and then only twelve seconds later another Craig Puffer goal made it 4-1, Vermont.  In the third Maine mustered a slight edge in shots, 11-9, but the two teams skated to a scoreless stalemate until Vermont’s Matt Alvaro found Maine’s empty net with twenty-two seconds left to give Vermont the 5-1 win and sweep of Maine.  Maine did manage 31 shots Friday night and 37 Saturday night, but Vermont goalie Stefanos Lekkas stopped all 68 attempts in the two nights.

This weekend is the last weekend of play for the little six.  All five other conferences are in tournament play.  There is one top-fifteen matchup this weekend, as #10 Providence travels to #12 Notre Dame to play a best-of-three series in second round action of the Hockey East Tournament.  Each of the five conferences use a best-of-three format for opening round/second round until the semi-final and final games, which are single game eliminations.  There is one exception; the WCHA is in semi-finals this weekend, and will use a best-of-three series to determine the finalists, and will then play a single game elimination final game next weekend.  Pairings for this weekend are:

Atlantic Hockey

• Bentley vs. #18 United States Air Force Academy
• Niagara vs. #22 Canisius
• Mercyhurst vs United States Military Academy (Army)
• Holy Cross vs. Robert Morris

ECAC

• Yale vs. #2 Harvard
• Princeton vs. #6 Union
• Clarkson vs. #9 Cornell
• #21 Quinnipiac vs. #19 St. Lawrence

Hockey East

• New Hampshire vs. #4 UMass-Lowell
• #27 Northeastern vs. #8 Boston University
• #10 Providence vs. #12 Notre Dame
• #13 Vermont vs. #17 Boston College

NCHC

• Colorado College vs. #1 Denver
• Miami of Ohio vs. #3 Minnesota-Duluth
• #24 Nebraska-Omaha vs. #7 Western Michigan
• #20 St. Cloud State vs. #14 North Dakota

WCHA

• Bowling Green vs. #23 Bemidji State
• #26 Mankato State vs. #25 Michigan Tech

This provides the top fifteen teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=150 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom