For Holy Cross head coach Bill Riga, every game and every weekend represent an opportunity to continue developing his new program.
The Crusaders didn’t produce a winning result during the Ice Breaker Tournament at DCU Center, but games against ranked Hockey East opponents Northeastern and Boston College could go a long way towards establishing the team’s identity.
“When we do the things we want to do habitually and establish how we want to play, we’re going to have success,” Riga said following Saturday’s 5-1 loss to tournament champion BC, which capped off just the second Ice Breaker ever hosted by an Atlantic Hockey team.
“I think it’s just been too spotty. … Part of it is we’re taking a whole different system and putting it on against three really, really good teams, and there’s a good chance we’re going to take some lumps along the way.”
Riga discussed creating offense more consistently within a new, more up-tempo system. Featuring nine juniors and seniors on the line chart, his club played toe-to-toe with Northeastern for the first half of Friday’s game before sophomore Lucas Thorne turned the coach’s thoughts into action, scoring a goal while playing with senior assistant captains Ryan Leibold and Anthony Vincent (Wilton, Conn.) the following night.
At this point, wins and losses are secondary to the team’s goals of getting better every weekend.
“Once we started to go north with the puck, get pucks deep and forecheck, we had some success, so I want to build off that,” said Riga, whose club starts Atlantic Hockey play next Friday at Mercyhurst.
The play of former Deerfield goaltender Thomas Gale was another major positive, as he relieved senior Erik Gordon just over three minutes into Saturday’s game and stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced. Junior Matt Radomsky played on Friday, meaning that the Crusaders got three of their goalies into action on the weekend.
“I think, going into the future, he's going to be a really good goaltender for us and could very well be a guy that we ride,” Riga said of Gale. “I'm not saying that will be this year, but he's got that kind of talent. He jumped into a tough situation and really played well against a good team. I like his confidence, I like his athleticism.”
Levi makes Husky history
Northeastern goaltender Devon Levi became a household name with his record-setting performance at the IIHF World Junior Championship last winter, but it was later revealed that he played through a broken rib that kept him out of the crease when he returned to Northeastern for the second half of his rookie season.
Though his college debut was delayed until Oct. 2, it was worth the wait. With Friday’s 3-0 win over Holy Cross, Levi became the first Northeastern goaltender to pitch back-to-back shutouts since 2003 and the first in program history to start his career in that fashion.
Under first-year head coach Jerry Keefe, the Huskies’ main goal has been to play defense-first hockey. Stepping away from that style of play resulted in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Quinnipiac, but it was little fault of the “special” goaltender who owns the top goals-against average and save percentage in Hockey East.
“I think if we can hold some teams, that’s a goal of ours,” Keefe said. “If we play strong defensive hockey, we know what type of goaltender he is for us. We’re struggling a little bit offensively right now, which I’m confident will come around with the group that we have, but I’m more concerned with our structure defensively.”
B1G win for Bentley
Major wins are nothing new for Bentley, which has beaten a Hockey East opponent at least once during each of the last seven seasons it has played one. The streak ran for five years until the Falcons played a conference-only schedule last year, but Northeastern spoiled the first chance for 20th-year coach Ryan Soderquist’s club to pick up another against a local foe in the season opener.
Friday night’s 2-1 win over Ohio State was Bentley’s first of the season and one of Atlantic Hockey’s three against the Big Ten on Friday night. Sophomore Nicholas Grabko was a workhorse in the net yet again, turning aside 39 Buckeyes shots for his second 30-save performance in as many weekends.
History for Hockey East pair
New Hampshire started the season with back-to-back wins for the first time under fourth-year head coach Mike Souza as it swept a Union team that, like the majority of the ECAC, is seeing its first action since the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2019-20 season short.
The Wildcats dominated both games territorially, clinching the latter meeting on senior Joseph Cipollone’s goal with 56.5 seconds remaining. Rookie forwards Robert Cronin (Plymouth, Mass.) and Liam Devlin (Needham, Mass.), formerly of Gunnery and St. Sebastian’s, respectively, both scored in their college debut.
In addition, UConn matched its most lopsided margin of victory ever against Boston University, scoring a 5-1 win on Saturday at Agganis Arena. Sophomore Ryan Tverberg, a winger who made an immediate offensive impact after joining the Huskies early midway through last season, scored twice, while Union transfer Darion Hanson stopped 72 shots in the two-game series.
Three more stars
Hockey East - Declan Carlile, Merrimack
A key member of Merrimack’s strong and mobile defense corps alongside junior classmate Zach Uens in recent seasons, Carlile got off to a great start during a two-game opening weekend.
The former Hockey East All-Rookie defenseman who averaged more than three blocked shots per game last season scored both Warrior goals in Thursday’s setback to Providence before assisting on a power-play tally on the way to a win over Sacred Heart two nights later.
ECAC - TJ Friedmann, Quinnipiac
Friedmann, who tied his career-high with three goals last season, netted a pair in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Northeastern to help his case for Ice Breaker MVP honors and mark the centerman’s first multi-point game as a Bobcat.
While fellow seniors Wyatt Bongiovanni and Ethan De Jong are known for their scoring prowess, continued contributions from role players like Friedmann will go a long way towards the Bobcats making a return tournament trip.
Atlantic - Braeden Tuck, Sacred Heart
Like Friedmann, Tuck registered a two-goal game for the first time in his career as he helped the Pioneers hang around with Merrimack through two periods before dropping a 4-2 decision.
The junior is Sacred Heart’s top returning scorer (six goals, 16 points last season) and provides plenty of experience to a team filled with transfers, which is in the midst of a six-game road trip against Hockey East foes to begin the season.
This weekend's hat trick
1. Can Friars keep scoring?: Sophomore Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) and junior Parker Ford (Wakefield, R.I.) have three goals apiece to lead a Providence team that has scored 17 times across three wins. The Friars will look to keep their offense rolling in another Ice Breaker Tournament in Duluth, Minn., as they open the weekend against a stingy top-ranked Minnesota State team whose ace goaltender Dryden McKay has a pair of shutouts.
2. Early Beanpot battle: Boston College and Northeastern crossed paths and both picked up victories in Worcester this past weekend, but their first head-to-head Hockey East meeting is set for Friday night at Conte Forum. The two teams are loaded with skill and could be destined for more than three dates by the season’s end.
3. Champs clash: The region’s two conference champions from a season ago, UMass and American International, both hail from Western Massachusetts and will resume their rivalry with a home-and-home series starting Friday. The Minutemen are the second of four Hockey East or ECAC teams paying a visit to the Yellow Jackets’ home at the MassMutual Center this season.
