With the return of the Ivy League, all of New England’s Division 1 college hockey teams have their seasons underway.
Harvard got contributions from its top returning players and a freshman during a pair of wins, while two other local rivals went head-to-head.
In Hockey East, some important players returned, while the last unbeaten team in New England saw its opening run snapped in a highly competitive series. Two of the region’s Atlantic Hockey clubs also earned big conference victories, including one sweeping a two-game set.
Here are 10 things we learned during this past weekend of college hockey:
1. Everybody was in action
New England’s college hockey slate was full for the first time this season as all four Ivy League teams took to the ice. Three head-to-head battles included a home-and-home series between ancient rivals Brown and Yale.
Reigning champion Harvard got off to a 2-0 start after scoring three goals in the third period to roar past Dartmouth and Princeton. Junior Alex Laferriere started strong with two goals and two assists in Friday’s 5-2 win over the Big Green, while sophomore Matthew Coronato’s two goals in the final frame paved the way to the following night’s 4-2 triumph.
Brown and Yale split their series, with the home team winning each game. Junior Nathan Reid made 22 saves in his second career shutout as Yale was a 2-0 winner in Saturday’s season opener. Brown bounced back to win 2-1 on Sunday.
2. Harvard leads the country in a crazy stat
This statistic may be a surprise to some, but Harvard has more NHL draft picks (15) than any team in the country.
Playing alongside Coronato, right winger and Maple Leafs prospect Joe Miller started his collegiate career on a high note with a goal and two assists against Princeton.
Elsewhere among the Ivy schools that play in the ECAC, Yale freshman David Chen recorded a point in each of his first two collegiate games, including assisting on a goal by former Berkshire captain Briggs Gammill (New Canaan, Conn.) in Saturday’s win.
Trym Løkkeberg, Cooper Flinton (Auburn, N.H.) and Luke Haymes scored their first collegiate goals in Dartmouth’s losses to Harvard and Army West Point. Fellow freshman Cooper Black drew the opening start in net.
3. Happy return for Commesso
Boston University junior Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) had to sit with the feeling of a 9-2 loss at Michigan two weeks ago while he missed four games with a hamstring injury. Commesso was victorious in his return to the net in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime win over UMass Lowell, making 29 saves including 16 in the first period and another on a breakaway during the extra session.
Freshman Lane Hutson scored a game-tying goal with 2:09 left in regulation and won it halfway through overtime, ensuring that BU finished another weekend without losing back-to-back games this season. Hutson is the second Terrier rookie to post a two-goal game.
Before Commesso’s return, junior Vinny Duplessis made 19 saves in Friday’s 2-1 setback at Lowell, taking his first regulation loss since Nov. 6, 2021.
4. Levi returns as Huskies split
The absence of Northeastern’s Devon Levi lasted just one game due to illness, but the junior returned to the net twice at Maine and helped the Huskies to a much-needed bounce-back effort in securing four of six Hockey East standings points. He made 35 saves while senior Aidan McDonough (Milton, Mass.) scored twice to begin a 4-1 Saturday win
Maine secured the extra point in a 2-2 Friday tie as senior Ben Poisson scored the shootout winner. The Black Bears have now defeated a nationally ranked opponent in back-to-back weeks after opening their previous series with a win over Quinnipiac.
5. Merrimack and UMass had another tight series
It would be difficult to find a closer head-to-head series than the games between Massachusetts and Merrimack over the past few seasons. Entering this past weekend, the Hockey East teams had played five consecutive one-goal games, with UMass winning the last four. Two of those needed overtime.
The Minutemen continued their streak with Friday’s 3-2 win in extra time, as sophomore Taylor Makar (yes, he’s Cale’s brother) scored 1:12 into overtime for his third goal in as many games. With the team’s goaltenders continuing to alternate, Luke Pavicich made 25 saves to earn the victory.
Merrimack made its mark in Saturday’s finale, returning home to North Andover to earn a 2-1 win over the previously unbeaten (5-0-1) squad in a similar fashion to BU. Warrior sophomore Hugo Ollas held UMass to under 20 shots, and his offense made a comeback effort as senior Mac Welsher (who had three points in the series) scored in the final minute of the third period and captain Ben Brar won the game in overtime.
6. UConn continues to climb
Going back to Thursday, UConn rose to its top spot in the Hockey East standings with a third-period eruption against Boston College. The Huskies scored all four goals in the final frame, including two by junior Ryan Tverberg, ultimately cruising to a 5-1 win.
Sophomore Logan Terness made 33 stops and improved to 7-1-1. The goals have flown in support of Terness, as UConn has 32 through its first nine games (3.56 per game) to lead the conference. Tverberg leads the circuit with seven goals and 11 points.
7. Friars regain footing
After coming up short during a challenging weekend at Denver, Providence returned to Hockey East play and picked up five points in a tie and win against New Hampshire.
The Friars offense hasn’t roared as it did right off the bat this season and as the league’s top-scoring team a year ago, but 2-2 and 3-1 results were enough to climb into third place in the standings after just three games played. The top two teams (UConn and Northeastern) have played five and six, respectively.
In Saturday’s regulation victory, freshman Jaroslav Chmelar scored twice (extending a run of three goals in three games) and the Friars gave up the body for a season-high 17 blocked shots as a team. Senior Craig Needham (Medford, Mass.) — who scored in both games of the series — and junior Chase Yoder helped PC erase a 2-0 deficit in Friday’s tie.
8. Gabe Carriere stole the show for Vermont
Vermont took to the road and extended its unbeaten streak to three games by earning a win and a tie against Colgate. Gabe Carriere extended his shutout streak to 127:48 while making 34 saves during a 2-1 Friday win in which sophomores Andrei Buyalsky and Isak Walther scored goals. Buyalsky’s goal was the first of his Catamounts career, as he missed all but three games last season due to injury.
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Carriere was the star of the following night, making a season-high 42 saves in a 1-1 tie. The junior stopped 101 of the 104 shots he faced over the previous four games, though his .934 save percentage ranks only seventh in Hockey East among goalies who have played more than twice.
9. Pouring it on
Sacred Heart remained atop Atlantic Hockey after pulling off a 6-3, 3-1 sweep of Canisius in its home-opening series. Senior Luke Lush has taken over the net, earning the last three wins in the Pioneers’ 5-1 run.
Blake Humphrey continued an outstanding start to his freshman year, scoring two goals on Friday and assisting two teammates who lit the lamp on Saturday; four of his eight points came over this weekend. Senior Neil Shea (Marshfield, Mass.) factored into all three tallies with a goal and two assists in Saturday’s finale.
American International on Friday ripped eight goals in an 8-2 win at Army West Point. Colorado College junior transfer Jordan Biro had two of them, moving into a tie for third nationally in points (13) with senior teammate Blake Bennett and others. Bennett has scored all of his six goals in five consecutive games.
10. Mixed bag for Falcons, Crusaders
Bentley stepped out of league play and earned a split as one of the nation’s newest Division 1 programs, Lindenwood, returned to Massachusetts for a second straight weekend.
The Falcons triumphed 3-1 on Saturday as freshman Connor Hasley made 27 saves in net, nabbing his second win in three starts. Junior Ethan Harrison scored a goal in each game, while classmate Cole Kodsi scored the other two in Friday’s 7-3 loss.
Holy Cross led 2-1 in Saturday’s third period before RIT scored the last two goals to claim an overtime win and five of six points from the weekend. Sophomore Thomas Gale’s 30-save effort fell short as the Tigers finished a 4-for-9 effort on the power play in the series. On Friday, Quinnipiac transfer Liam McLinskey scored his team-leading fourth goal.
