Connecticut Ice history didn’t repeat itself for Sacred Heart this past weekend, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.
Two years after winning the inaugural tournament at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, the Pioneers held a late lead in Saturday’s second semifinal before Quinnipiac proved resilient once again, scoring an extra-attacker goal with 1:19 left in regulation before winning the rematch in overtime, 3-2.
It was a memorable game with the opportunity to play for a trophy at stake, as the underdog Atlantic Hockey club gave the eventual tournament champion Bobcats -- who earned their first Nutmeg State trophy with Sunday’s 2-0 win over UConn -- everything that they could handle.
In the end, however, the game meant so much more than a win or a loss.
“I’m on record saying that I think this event is terrific,” said C.J. Marottolo (North Haven, Conn.), the Pioneers’ 13th-year coach whose team earned a come-from-behind, 4-3 overtime win over Yale in Sunday’s early game to claim third place in the second-ever edition of the tournament.
“This is how rivalries start, how you create tradition in your state. People look forward to these games. Ten years from now, I can say, ‘Hey, remember the game in 2022?’ This is how you build hockey in your state. I think games like this will inspire a lot of kids to be hockey players.”
While capturing the inaugural title two years ago has helped to change the trajectory of Sacred Heart’s program, including the construction of a new on-campus arena that will open next January, winning this Connecticut Ice title is just the beginning for the Bobcats, who were unbeaten in 17 consecutive games before their Jan. 22 overtime loss at Cornell.
As senior defenseman Zach Metsa said last week, it checks the first box on a checklist of five trophies in the Quinnipiac team’s sights over the next few months.
In Sunday’s win, Yaniv Perets made 29 saves on the way to his program-record ninth shutout of the season and tournament MVP honors. His .955 save percentage and 0.79 goals-against average would set NCAA records if the season ended today, while the team’s 12 shutouts have already matched the national mark. Senior Desi Burgart scored the game-winning goal.
“I don’t know if I learned anything new (this weekend). It’s what I already thought,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.) said. “It’s a character group. Our culture is outstanding. It’s a joy to coach these guys. They come through. They want to win. They’re selfless, willing to make sacrifices (like blocking 19 shots in the two games). We saw that this weekend.”
Winning a trophy in the middle of the season is unique, but this past weekend’s battle for bragging rights certainly won’t be the last opportunity for these teams to do so this year.
While Quinnipiac has all the makings of a Frozen Four contender, Sacred Heart has key Atlantic Hockey games to play down the stretch and knows that this experience will be a crucial one to look back upon as they aim to make a charge from the current seventh-place position in an ultra-tight standings race.
“To take Quinnipiac to overtime and find a way to win that game today are huge for us,” said junior forward Braeden Tuck, whose nine goals are tied with senior Ryan Steele for tops on the Pioneers. “A thing we’ve been talking about lately is consistency, so I think this tournament came at a great time for us to help us propel into league play.”
The same is true for UConn, which has challenged ranked opponents all season long -- and beaten a handful of them -- in Hockey East play. A tight loss to one of the nation’s best teams won’t faze the Huskies.
“If you continuously compete for 60 minutes, you’ll win a lot more than you lose,” UConn coach Mike Cavanaugh (North Andover, Mass.) said. “ I think we’ve had some really good wins (this year), so we’re not going to shrink because of this. It was just another game that we played really well in and just didn’t come out on the right end.”
Tight race atop Hockey East
UMass Lowell remains in the Hockey East lead after taking a 2-1 Friday win at Northeastern, but Massachusetts trimmed its deficit back to a single point by edging past the River Hawks two days later, 4-3. Freshman defenseman Scott Morrow (Darien, Conn.) scored his 10th goal of the season and second in three games to give UMass its first lead with 2:48 left in regulation.
“We’re on the road against the No. 1 team in the league, so that’s a huge win,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “But, I think for the first time this year I felt like I saw the identity of this team and what it needs to be. We inserted Taylor Makar (who scored his first collegiate goal) and Jerry Harding (Canton, Mass.) in the lineup (because) we wanted to have as much size as we could against these guys. That's one of the top wins I've had since I've been at UMass.”
UMass ensured a season sweep (2-0-1) over its sister school with Sunday’s win. The River Hawks got the opening goal from junior Andre Lee, who has a team-leading 12 this season.
For Lowell, freshman Matt Crasa scored goals in both games to extend his second-leading total to nine on the season. His goal on Friday turned out to be the game-winner, preventing the team’s first three-game losing streak of the season after it was previously swept by Merrimack for the first time in their respective Hockey East histories.
“We made a point of saying it’s not good enough, so I thought they came to play (on Friday),” UMass Lowell coach Norm Bazin said, referencing his team’s effort against Merrimack. “I was hoping they would get rewarded, but you don't always get rewarded when you play well. This is a good team.”
Olympic ready
Boston University sophomore goaltender Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) picked up a 36-save victory in his final game before departing to represent the United States in the Olympic Games. His Terrier team improved to 9-1-1 in its last 11 games and finished off a sweep of two ranked opponents with the 5-2 win over Providence. Junior Wilmer Skoog scored twice to support the BU goalie, who has a .945 save percentage in a 10-start span.
Marc McLaughlin’s (North Billerica, Mass.) team at Boston College wasn’t so fortunate as it dropped Friday’s 4-1 decision in Maine and is now winless in seven straight games (0-6-1), but the senior captain scored his Hockey East league-leading 18th goal of the season.
Harvard’s Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Nick Abruzzese will head to Beijing after their Crimson squad took five out of six points from a weekend at Colgate and Cornell, beating the latter club in a shootout to take the first head-to-head season series since 2016-17. Abruzzese scored the deciding goal in the six-round shootout following a 2-2 tie with the Big Red, who were held to two points on the weekend after losing to Dartmouth in a shootout as well.
With Devon Levi -- who had played every minute of every Northeastern game until being pulled in a Jan. 22 loss to UMass -- off to Team Canada, freshman T.J. Semptimphelter made 30 saves in his first collegiate start Friday against UMass Lowell. The Canadian roster includes Levi and BC forward Jack McBain.
Streak Crossed
American International tops the Atlantic Hockey standings race, but its nation-leading win streak was snapped at 11 games with Sunday’s 5-4 home setback to Holy Cross. Sophomore Jack Ricketts scored two goals during a three-point day and junior Matt Radomsky made 23 saves to earn the victory for the Crusaders.
Holy Cross, which matched its team season-high mark with five goals after losing 3-1 in Thursday’s series opener, has gained points in three of its last six league games to move within two points of Mercyhurst.
The Yellow Jackets received a goal and two assists from both Zak Galambos and Blake Bennett in the series, but three extra-attacker goals were just not enough in their first loss since Nov. 26, 2021, at Canisius. AIC holds a 10-point lead over second-place Bentley and Canisius after the Falcons were held to a single point in two home games against RIT.
Back in Hockey East, Vermont earned its second win in three games to begin a weekend split of Alaska on Friday. Sophomore Gabe Carriere made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season while senior defenseman Carter Long scored both Catamount goals.
In Dartmouth’s 2-2 tie with Cornell, sophomore Clay Stevenson made 16 of his 30 saves in the third period and earned an extra point for the Big Green by backstopping the shootout win.
THREE MORE STARS:
Hockey East - Riley Duran, Providence
The Bruins prospect from Woburn, Mass., and Lawrence Academy continues to make an impact during his freshman season as a Friar as he scored both goals in the third period of Friday’s 2-1 win at UMass. Duran netted the game-winning goal with 3:42 to play in regulation, finishing PC’s first win over the Minutemen in eight games.
Duran has been the top scorer among the team’s first-year players with eight goals, five of which have come since Dec. 10.
ECAC - Marshall Rifai, Harvard
Rifai has been Harvard’s top man in the plus-minus department (plus-13), but he was a key contributor on offense during the Crimson’s New York weekend. The senior from Quebec scored in each game and finished the series with three points after a one-goal, one-assist performance in Saturday’s draw with Cornell.
A Hotchkiss School product, Rifai had gone five consecutive games without a point before the weekend. He scored his first goal of the season on Jan. 2 against UConn.
Atlantic - Harrison Scott, Bentley
The Falcons couldn’t manage a win this past weekend, but Scott enjoyed a strong individual weekend with goals in each game, which went down as a 2-1 loss and 3-3 tie. The freshman from San Jose, Calif., has netted all three of his collegiate goals within his last eight games since his first on Dec. 4 against Mercyhurst.
THIS WEEK’S HAT TRICK:
1. Full Friday starts a busy weekend: The upcoming weekend looks to be a busy one across all three New England-based conferences. A full slate of Friday action includes one game for the four Beanpot teams before their return to TD Garden for the 69th edition of the famed tournament on Monday, Feb. 7.
Two of the region’s four Atlantic Hockey teams will be on the road as Bentley heads to Niagara and American International looks to continue its winning ways at RIT. The two-day slate with identical schedules includes Sacred Heart visiting Holy Cross for two games after the Pioneers play a Tuesday game against fellow league rival RIT on neutral ice in West Point, N.Y.
2. Hockey East highlights: Merrimack and New Hampshire are both set for key games after having this past weekend off. The Warriors, who were ranked at No. 19 nationally last week before losing last Tuesday at UConn, will host the Wildcats and Maine in North Andover, Mass.
UNH will be back home in Durham the following night to host UConn in a battle of two teams fighting in the middle of the standings, while the league’s three Beanpot teams will all be at home before their Monday dates.
3. Plenty of ECAC home action: It’ll be a week of rivalries for Harvard as it heads to Boston College for a rescheduled game on Tuesday and completes its season series with Dartmouth on Friday before the Beanpot. The midweek slate also features Brown hosting Cornell and Dartmouth welcoming RPI.
The Bears will also skate on home ice during the weekend as Clarkson and St. Lawrence will make the trip to New England to face Brown and Yale. Quinnipiac has games scheduled against Union and RPI.
