College Hockey Update:  Last week over half of the top twenty teams were involved in top twenty matchups, and North Dakota edged up to #1 after winning at Nebraska-Omaha, which edged the Mavericks down to #12.  This next one has a double interlock involving a total of four teams, so fasten your seatbelts.  Boston College edged down to #2 after hosting and losing to Massachusetts, which lifted the Minutemen three spots to #6 (UMass had also picked up a win at Providence earlier in the week, and Providence edged down to #15, as they subsequently earned a win at Northeastern then hosted and tied Northeastern, the results of which edged the Huskies down to #18).  Whew!  Mankato State edged down to #4 after splitting with Bemidji State, each team winning at home, which lifted the Beavers two pegs to #17 (Bemidji State subsequently hosted and split two games with #20 Lake Superior State Tuesday and Wednesday nights, after the Monday poll came out).  I said last week that Bemidji had played well against both Mankato and Bowling Green and that I expected two great games; the Beavers didn’t disappoint, playing a pair of OT thrillers, both ending with the score of 4-3.  St. Cloud State dropped two notches to #8 after a loss at Minnesota-Duluth, which edged the Bulldogs up to #9.  Michigan Tech edged up to #19 after hosting and beating Lake Superior State, and then sweeping a home and home weekend with Northern Michigan; the Lakers dropped two slots to #20 on their loss, after which they hosted and beat Ferris St.

Wisconsin held at #5 after hosting and sweeping Ohio State; Michigan held at #7 after hosting, beating, and tying Arizona State, and Boston University dropped two spots to #10 after splitting a home and home weekend with Merrimack, each team winning on the road.  Quinnipiac edged up to #11 after hosting and beating Long Island University, and sweeping its weekend at St. Lawrence; Bowling Green held at #13 after hosting and sweeping Alabama-Huntsville; and Clarkson edged up to #14 after sweeping its home and home weekend with Colgate.  An idle Minnesota edged up to #3, and idle American International held at #16.

COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE FEATURED PLAYER

Last Friday night Massachusetts had huge help from red-shirt senior Carson Gicewicz, of Orchard Park, N.Y., who scored the tying goal late in the third, paving the way for his team’s come-from-behind OT win at Boston College.  Gicewicz is first on his team in goals scored, with twelve, and is tied for tenth in assists, with five.  Gicewicz almost played four seasons at St. Lawrence, and had a season-ending injury, playing in only two games is senior year, creating his red-shirt status.  As a junior at St. Lawrence, Gicewicz tied for eighth in goals, with four, and was first in assists, with fifteen; as a sophomore he tied for fourth in goals, with eight, and tied for fourth in assists, with ten; and as a freshman he tied for third in goals, with nine, and tied for ninth in assists, with eight.  His home town of Orchard Park, settled in 1803 by Quakers, was incorporated in 1850, and sits fourteen miles south of downtown Buffalo.  It is home 30,000 residents spread among its thirty-nine square miles, and sits at an elevation of 870 feet.

Friday night at Boston College, a fast-paced, offensively-dominated first period (BC barely outshot UMass 15-14) yielded no scoring.  In the second, UMass had some good opportunities on a power play from the five minute mark to the seven minute mark, but couldn’t convert. Quickly after that, a BC goal gave the Eagles the 1-0 lead at the seven minute mark.  The Minutemen had more scoring opportunities on a power play from the nine minute mark to the eleven minute mark, but BC again withstood the challenge.  Four minutes later BC scored again for the 2-0 lead, despite being well defended, and getting a sparse number of shots off. But a fast break off the ensuing face-off lead to a UMass goal by Bobby Trivigno only five seconds later, which seemed to ignite the Minutmen.  While UMass had some good scoring opportunities in the last few minutes, BC didn’t relent, an the second ended 2-1, BC.  UMass outshot BC 14-6 in the period.  UMass pushed for the tying goal in the third, with much of the play taking place in the BC zone.  With only six minutes left in the period, Carson Gicewicz deflected a shot from the boards off of his upper body into the net to tie it up at 2-2.  Late in the period BC rallied and put a lot of pressure on the UMass net, but goalie Filip Lindberg didn’t relent, and the game ended 2-2 in regulation.  UMass barely outshot BC 9-8 in the period. Three minutes into OT Marc Del Gaizo had a breakaway near the net and was taken down by a BC defender who took Del Gaizo out of the play, and slid into his own goalie on the way down. Del Gaizo’s effort to get the puck into the net was further carried into the goal by the BC defender putting the tackle on Del Gaizo, and it scored with the two BC players stacked on top of each other, for the 3-2 UMass win.

The University of Massachusetts enrolls 24,000 undergraduates and 7,000 graduate students on its 1,500 acre campus just north of downtown Amherst.  It offers 109 undergraduate degree programs, 77 master’s degree programs, and 48 Ph.D.programs.  It was founded in 1863 as the Massachusetts Agricultural College; in 1931 it became Massachusetts State College; and it became the University of Massachusetts in 1947.  Its sports teams are called the Minutemen, and their colors are Maroon, Black, and White.  Massachusetts basketball gave the world Julius Erving; Dr. J. really invented the emphasized vertical game in basketball, or at least took it to “new heights.”

UMass Hockey plays in the 8,600 seat Mullins Center, which was built in 1993.  UMass has two NCAA DI Tournament appearances in its history, in 2007 in which they won in the opening game, and lost in the second round; and two seasons back (2018-2019), in which they made it to the final game. They also claim the longest college hockey game ever, played in the 2015 Hockey East Tournament against Notre Dame, in which UMass prevailed towards the end of the fifth overtime, at the 151 minute and 42 second point, by the score of 4-3.  A few notable UMass hockey alumni are Jonathan Quick, goalie of the Los Angeles Kings, who was with the team for two Stanley Cup Championships; Conor Sheary, forward on the Pittsburgh Penguins, who was with the team for two Stanley Cup Championships; and Cale Makar, defensemen on the Colorado Avalanche since 2019.  2018-2019 was an incredible turnaround by UMass for third year coach Greg Carvel (now in his fifth year), who played college hockey at St. Lawrence in his hometown of Canton, NY, from 1989-93, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1992.  In Carvel’s first year at UMass the team finished 5-29-2, in his second year improved to 17-20-2, and in his third year (2018-2019) they finished the season 31-10-0.  Last year they finished the season 21-11-2.  UMass-Amherst, 13-5-3, and ranked #6, will host Maine Friday for their final game of the regular season.

Well here we are looking at the tail end of the regular season.  This weekend features some top twenty matchups, as #1 North Dakota hosts #12 Nebraska-Omaha for one game on Friday; #2 Boston College hosts #18 Northeastern for one game on Friday; #3 Minnesota hosts #7 Michigan Friday and Saturday; #4 Mankato State hosts #19 Michigan Tech Friday and Saturday; and #8 St. Cloud State hosts #9 Minnesota-Duluth for one game Saturday. Conference tournaments will start next weekend, and it seems that the traditional best two of three in the first round will be replaced by single game eliminations in every conference.  More on that next week.

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

[table id=225 /]

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

— Tom