Hockey East Weekly: BC sweeps Merrimack; BU’s Chiasson named ‘Athletic Republic Player of the Week’

As CLNS Radio continues to expand it’s coverage of sports in the New England area, we are beginning a weekly segment to help you get up to date on everything going on in college hockey’s most competitive conference, Hockey East. 

NORWAY, ME – It’s starting to look like it’s going to be a three-way battle between Boston College, Boston University, and UMass-Lowell to determine the 2012 Hockey East regular season champions. After having five teams in contention prior to this past weekends contests, the University of Maine and Merrimack College seem to have put themselves out of contention for the number one spot.

After splitting their weekend series with Umass at Alfond Arena, Maine is now three points behind Boston College with a game to give. At that same rate, Merrimack College was swept by BC this past weekend, which led to them falling to fifth place in the standing (five points behind BC). Needless to say, without a miracle happening, those two teams are better off focusing on solidifying home-ice advantage for the first round of the Hockey East playoffs.

Weekend Results:

Boston College vs. Merrimack – Boston College and Merrimack College played a home-and-home series this past weekend. On Friday night, BC traveled to Lawler Arena and defeated the Warriors 4-2 behind goals from four different scorers and 17 saves from goalie Parker Milner. The win gave Boston College head coach Jerry York his 900th win of his career.

On Saturday, Merrimack traveled to Boston College and were defeated by the Eagles 2-1 on a late third period goal by BC’s Paul Carey.

UMass vs. Maine – The University of Massachusetts Minutemen traveled to Orono this weekend for two games at Alfond Arena. After dropping Friday night’s game by the score of 7-3, UMass responded by winning 4-1 on Saturday. Brian Flynn had two goals in Maine’s win over the Minutemen on Friday. Goalie Kevin Boyle allowed just three goals while making a total of 34 saves in two games.

Providence vs. Northeastern - Northeastern and Providence tied on consecutive nights, 1-1 and 2-2, for the first time since 2003-04. It marked the third time in series history that’s occurred. On Saturday night, Chris Rawlings eclipsed his old mark of 43 and made a career-high 47 saves to anchor the Huskies’ defense in the 2-2 tie.

Boston University vs. UMass-Lowell – Two of the top teams in the Hockey East conference squared off in a home-and-home series this past weekend. After losing a tough one on Friday night at home by the score of 7-4, Lowell responded on Saturday by stealing a game (4-2) from Boston University at Agganis Arena.

University of Vermont vs. University of New Hampshire – Vermont’s H.T. Lenz scored a goal with 14 seconds remaining in regulation on Friday night and Drew MacKenzie capitalized 1:38 into the overtime period to give the Catamounts a 4-3 win over UNH at the Whittemore Center. UNH didn’t let UVM catch them by surprise on Saturday night, taking care of business defeating the Catamounts 3-1.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week:

#9 Alex Chiasson (Junior Forward) , Boston University

Chiasson totaled six points (1g,5a) over three games for the Terriers, including a career high four points (1g,3a) in Friday’s win at UMass Lowell at the Tsongas Center. Chiasson recorded 15 shots on goal for BU on the week.

National Rankings (USCHO.com):

#2 – Boston College

#5 – Boston University

#7 – UMass-Lowell

#10 – Maine

#12 – Merrimack

Matchup of the Week:

UMass-Lowell vs. Merrimack – Lowell and Merrimack will play a home-and-home series this upcoming weekend. With Lowell just one point out of first place in the conference and Merrimack in a tight battle with Maine for home-ice advantage, this is sure to be an exciting series. Lowell defeated Merrimack 3-0 in the two team’s first matchup this season at Tsongas Center. Sophomore goalie Doug Carr made 31 saves for a shutout performance.