NH Tops USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

With 18 of 19 first place votes, New Hampshire is once again the top team in the nation for the second consecutive week as they swept Niagara at home this past weekend. Harvard University, who took the other first place vote, moved from fifth to third, and UMD went from fourth to third. Wisconsin went from third to fourth, and St. Lawrence University dropped from second to fifth. Tenth place Boston College returned to the top 10 this week after finishing out of it last week.

Poll (first-place votes in parentheses)

1) University of New Hampshire, 189 (18)
2) Harvard University, 160 (1)
3) University of Minnesota Duluth, 145
4) University of Wisconsin, 126
5) St. Lawrence University, 106
6) Mercyhurst College, 96
7) University of Minnesota, 88
8) Dartmouth College, 60
9) University of Connecticut, 53
10) Boston College, 10

Clarkson University (7), St. Cloud State University (4), and Princeton University (1) also received votes.

Agosta, Ayearst, and Stoa are CHA’s Best

For the second time this season, Mercyhurst junior forward Meghan Agosta has been named the CHA’s Offensive Player of the Week after her three goal outburst against Princeton where her team won two games this past weekend. Two came Friday in a 3-1 win, and the other came Saturday as the Lakers won 1-0. The goal was also her 100th career point, and she is now second in the nation with five game winners this season. She currently has an eight-game point streak going and finished this weekend with a +3 rating.

Agosta’s teammate, senior rearguard Danielle Ayearst, took home her first Defensive Player of the Week award as she added an assist on Agosta’s game-winner on Friday and finishing the weekend with a +2 rating. She was instrumental in her team’s defense as they held the Tigers to 43 shots on goal and an 0-13 mark on the power play.

Robert Morris freshman forward Maria Stoa received her first Rookie of the Week award. She had two goals over the weekend (one in both games) as Robert Morris went 1-1 versus the teams in Providence. She scored the game-winner in Friday’s 3-1 win over Brown, and netted the game’s first goal in the Colonials loss to Providence and finished the weekend with a +1.

Wilson, Zilis, and Trunzo Take ECAC Honors

The ECAC has named Harvard junior forward Sarah Wilson, Yale senior netminder Shivon Zilis, and Dartmouth freshman forward Amanda Trunzo the player, goalie, and rookie of the week. Wilson netted two goals this week and added one assist as Harvard beat Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Her second period goal on Saturday gave the Crimson a 4-0 lead versus Clarkson; she assisted on the first goal on Sunday versus St. Lawrence and added her team’s third goal Sunday as Harvard beat St. Lawrence 5-1. She also finished a +3 over the weekend and was the first star of the game on Saturday.

Saturday Zilis stopped 43 of 45 shots versus Boston College as both teams played to a 2-2 overtime tie with 13 saves each period and four in the extra frame. Her 0.937 save percentage puts her fifth in the nation; her 1.92 goals-against-average ranks her 10th.

Trunzo’s second period goal, her first of the weekend, tied the game at 2-2 against St. Lawrence on Friday. She also earned first star of the game honors. Her game-winner came 16:50 into the third period as Dartmouth beat Clarkson on Sunday in a game that she also had an assist.

Petrich, Turgeon, and Wakefield Earn Hockey East Awards

Northeastern senior forward Nikki Petrich was involved in all of her team’s goals, scoring two and assisting on the other in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Quinnipiac to take the Hockey East Player of the Week award. One of the goals was a game-winner that came with 47 seconds left in regulation.

Taking the Defensive Player of the Week honors was Maine junior goalie Genevieve Turgeon who made 60 saves over a two game period with 37 coming Tuesday against Boston University, and 23 in Saturday’s scoreless tie versus Vermont.

New Hampshire freshman forward Jenn Wakefield’s five points (2G, 3A) and +4 over the weekend gave her the top rookie honors. Four of her points came in Sunday’s 11-1 blasting of Niagara.

West, Brookshaw, and Irwin are WCHA’s Best

Minnesota freshman forward Emily West, Bemidji State senior netminder Emily Brookshaw, and Minnesota-Duluth freshman forward Haley Irwin are the WCHA offensive, defensive, and rookie players of the week. In winning her first offensive player of the week award, West had two goals and two assists as the Golden Gophers swept North Dakota at home this past weekend. She assisted on the game-winner last Saturday and a power play goal in the 5-1 win, and then scored two goals on Sunday as the Gophers won 5-3. West was two for five in shots on goal in that game for an 0.400 shooting percentage. She had seven shots on goal this weekend and was a +2.

This is Brookshaw’s second defensive player of the week award with the first coming the week of October 16th. Brookshaw stopped a career high 50 shots in a scoreless overtime tie versus Wisconsin on Saturday. This was the first time that Bemidji shutout Wisconsin in 36 games all time, snapping a 20-game losing streak against the Badgers. That game also saw Brookshaw break the BSU record for saves in a career as she has now stopped 2405 shots over her career. That breaks Bre Dedrickson’s record of 2379 that she set from 1999-2003. She now sits sixth overall in WCHA career saves. She had 87 saves over the weekend.

Irwin’s three goals against Minnesota State last Saturday was her first career hat trick in a 10-4 UMD win. She also assisted on a goal in Friday night’s 3-1 win and had five points in two games.

Non-Conference Action

Non-conference play on Tuesday saw Northeastern edge Quinnipiac 3-2. On Friday, Robert Morris doubled Brown 4-2, while Wayne State beat Colgate by the same score and Mercyhurst topped Princeton 3-1.

On Saturday, New Hampshire was all over Niagara 6-2, Mercyhurst shutout Princeton 1-0, Colgate dominated Wayne State 7-3, Providence beat crosstown rivals Brown in the second game of the Mayors Cup, and Boston College and Yale played to a 2-2 overtime tie.

In Sunday’s action, the games were very one-sided as New Hampshire finished their series with Niagara with an 11-1 flattening of the Purple Eagles, while Providence dominated Robert Morris with a 7-1 beating.

Conference Action

Boston University got by Hockey East foes Maine 3-2 on Tuesday. In ECAC action on Friday, it was St. Lawrence 4 - Dartmouth 3, and Harvard 5 - Clarkson 0.

Wisconsin slammed Bemidji State 7-0, UMD beat Minnesota State 3-1, and St. Cloud State defeated Ohio State 4-1 in WCHA action.

Saturday’s ECAC action saw Harvard dump St. Lawrence 5-1, and Dartmouth get by Clarkson 3-1. The lone game in Hockey East action featured Maine and Vermont skating to a scoreless overtime tie.

In the all WCHA match-ups, Wisconsin went into Bemidji where the two teams also finished in a scoreless tie, Minnesota skated to a 5-1 win over North Dakota, Ohio State beat St. Cloud State 4-1, and Minnesota-Duluth was all over their state rivals Minnesota State 10-4.

The lone Sunday game in the WCHA had Minnesota finishing off North Dakota with a 5-3 win.

On the Leader Board

Mercyhurst is still tops in the CHA and overall conference play with their two conference wins against no losses and no ties; overall they are 10-2-2. As Mercyhurst is the top team in the conference standings, it is no surprise that sophomore forward Meghan Agosta tops all conference scorers with four goals and one assist over the two conference games, while her teammate, senior netminder Laura Hosier, dominates every goalie category with her 1-0-0 record, 0.00 GAA, and 1.000 SAV %. She is also the top goalie overall as she has won six games while losing two and tying two, has a goals-against-average of 1.76, and a 0.921 SAV %.

Wayne State junior forward Melissa Boal is the top point getter in the CHA overall as she has played 13 games and netted 19 goals and 14 assists over that period.

In the ECAC, Harvard tops all teams with a 7-0-0 conference and overall record, while New Hampshire is tops in Hockey East and overall conference play as they have won all seven conference games that they have played while winning 13 of the 15 games that they have played overall against two losses.

Dartmouth sophomore forward Jenna Cunningham leads both the ECAC and overall conference standings as she has 16 points (7G, 9A) over seven conference games and 22 points (11G, 11A) in 10 games overall. Harvard’s sophomore goalie Christina Kessler leads all categories conference-wise and overall with a 7-0-0 record, 0.86 GAA, and 0.961 SAV %.

In Hockey East, New Hampshire junior forward Sam Faber’s six goals and nine assists in seven conference games puts her in first place, while her teammate, freshman Kayley Herman, has a 6-0-0 record, 1.00 GAA, and 0.922 SAV % which gave her the nod as the conference’s top netminder. She is also tops overall with 11 wins, one loss, and no ties, a 1.03 GAA, and a 0.936 SAV %.

Dominique Thibault, a sophomore forward with Connecticut, leads all Hockey East point getters overall with 11 goals and 11 assists in 13 games.

Minnesota-Duluth leads the WCHA and overall standings as they have gone 9-3-0 in WCHA play and 10-3-1 overall.

With UMD leading the standings, their sophomore forward, Saara Tuominen, leads the way in both the conference (8G, 12A) and overall (8G, 14A) scoring races. Wisconsin junior goalie Jessie Vetter’s record of 6-2-1, goals-against-average of 1.22 and 0.948 save percentage puts her in first place among netminders. Her 9-4-1 record, 1.14 GAA, and 0.952 SAV % puts her in first place overall among netminders as well.

Games to Come

Hockey East action resumes on Thursday as Boston College will travel to Connecticut.

Friday night’s ECAC action, Rensselaer hosts Harvard, Dartmouth makes their way to Union, St. Lawrence will be in Providence for a game against Brown, Yale hosts Clarkson, Princeton goes to Hamilton, N.Y. for a game versus Colgate, and Cornell is at home to Quinnipiac.

In the WCHA, Wisconsin is at home to UMD, Bemidji travels to Minneapolis for a game against state rivals Minnesota, and North Dakota hosts Minnesota State. All of those series will conclude on Saturday.

Saturday’s CHA play features Mercyhurst at Niagara for a two-game set that will conclude on Sunday.

ECAC conference play has Quinnipiac visiting Colgate, Rensselaer at home to Dartmouth, Harvard making their way to Schenectady, N.Y. to play Union, St. Lawrence traveling to New Haven, CT to take on Yale, Brown hosting Clarkson, and Cornell taking on Princeton in Ithaca.

Boston University travels to Durham, NH to take on the Wildcats, Providence hosts Maine, Northeastern is at home to Vermont, and Connecticut makes their way to Chestnut Hill, MA to take on Boston College.

Play will wrap up on Sunday will three games in Hockey East as Providence takes on Maine at home, Vermont makes their way to Beantown for a game against Boston University, and Northeastern is at home to New Hampshire.