Atlantic Hockey Update for Games Through November 30, 2003

December 1, 2003

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Player of the Week

Matt Craig, Quinnipiac (Jr., F, London, ONT) – Craig ended a four-game scoreless streak against Merrimack on November 28. The junior forward netted two goals, including the game-winner at 12:04 of the third period and chipped in an assist on the other goal as the Bobcats picked up Atlantic Hockey’s first-ever win over a Hockey East team in defeating the Warrior’s, 3-2. For the season, Craig leads the club in both goals (7) and points (12).

Others Nominated: CJ McConnell, American International; Scott Reynolds, Mercyhurst; Peter Giatrelis, Sacred Heart.

Goaltender of the Week

Andy Franck, Mercyhurst (So., G, Lakewood, OH) – Franck stopped 44 of a possible 47 shots (.936) as the Lakers skated to a 3-3 tie with #13 ranked Cornell. The sophomore netminder made 13 saves in each period of regulation and five more in overtime.

Others Nominated: Frank Novello, American International; Scott Tomes, Connecticut; Jamie Holden, Quinnipiac; Kevin LaPointe, Sacred Heart

Freshman of the Week

Cole Koidahl, Connecticut (Fr., F, Minneapolis, MN) – Koidahl scored the game winning goal against Bemidji State in the Huskies 4-3 winn over the Beavers in the frist of a two game series on November 25. Koidahl also tallied assists on the Huskies’ second and third goals of the game for a total of three points in the contest. In UConn’s 7-2 loss to Bemidji on November 28, the freshman scored the Huskies’ second goal for his third of the season.

Others Nominated: Jeremy Leroux, American International; Jamie Hunt, Mercyhurst

Team Notes

American International: The Yellow Jackets picked up their second straight win of the season with a 3-2 overtime win against Bentley (despite being outshot 33-18) in a rare Tuesday night contest. The win avenges an earlier 6-3 loss to the Falcons at the Q-Cup at the beginning of the year. AIC returns the ice this weekend with games against Canisius (Friday) and Mercyhurst (Saturday) enjoying the middle games of a six-game home stretch. In the win over Bentley, sophomore CJ McConnell scored two goals including the game-winner in overtime extending his goal scoring streak to four games. McConnell has also notched at least one point in his last five outings. Junior netminder Frank Novello turned away 31 saves (allowing only two goals in a 17 second span), picking up his second straight win. Novello also stopped the Falcons on four powerplay chances extending his streak to 23 straight kills on the extra-man advantage. Senior Guillaume Caron scored the game-tying goal with a powerplay tally with 2:29 left in regulation and also assisted on the game-winning goal leaving him just 11 points shy of 100 for his career.

Army: Army was idle this past week. Army will travel to Holy Cross in a two-game weekend series on December 5-6. The Black Knights are 2-2 in four meetings a year ago, including a split at Hart Center (1-1).

Bentley: Bentley, in its only game of the week, dropped a 3-2 overtime game to American International on the road Tuesday night. After falling behind 14 seconds into the game, the Falcons netted two unanswered to take a 2-1 lead after the first period. Sophomore Jeremy Chase (So, F, Big Rapids, Mich.) tallied his second of the season, and classmate Brett Murphy (So, D, Caledonia, Mich.) recorded Bentley’s final score of the night. Bentley went winless in the month of November, and is still looking for its first conference win. The Yellow Jackets avenged a 6-3 loss to Bentley earlier in the season in the Quinnipiac Cup tournament. Sophomore Paul Markarian (So, F, Quincy, Mass.) leads the Bentley offense with five goals, three assists, and eight points. Three players, juniors Brendan McCartin (Jr, F, Camp Hill, Pa.) and Seth Vinocur (Jr, D, Traverse City, Mich.) and rookie Kyle Larman (Fr, D, Canton, Mich.) follow Markarian with seven points a piece.

Canisius: Canisius was off last week, the first idle week for the team since the season began. Canisius returns to action Dec. 5-6, with two road games against conference rivals American International and Quinnipiac. After this weekend's action, the Gold Griffins will not return to the ice until playing host to Quinnipiac Jan. 9-10, 2004 at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

Connecticut: The Huskies split a two-game series against College Hockey America member Bemidji State, recording a 4-3 win in game one on Nov. 25, but losing 7-2 in the second game on Nov. 28. UConn scored two power play goals in the third period of the first game, overcoming a 3-2 deficit. Scott Tomes stopped 31 shots in the game, twice as many as Bemidji State goaltender Grady Hunt. Freshman Cole Koidahl scored the game-winner with 6:02 remaining in the contest, after previously tallying two assists in the contest. Mark Murphy and Tim Olsen also recorded two assists in the game, and Bill Magnuson tallied a goal and an assist. UConn’s two power play goals marked the most the Huskies have scored in a game this season, and they won the game despite being out-shot 34-19. Despite leading 1-0 after the first period of the second game against Bemidji, the Huskies eventually lost after the Beavers scored five goals in the second period alone, and added two in the final period. It was Bemidji who tallied two power play goals in the second game, including one with a two-man advantage. Chris Uber and Koidahl scored the lone two goals for UConn. The Nov. 28 loss concludes a five-game home stretch for the Huskies, who will return to the ice on Dec. 2 when they travel to league-leading Holy Cross.

Holy Cross: Holy Cross' men's ice hockey team ended it's six game winning streak Tuesday night, with a 2-1 loss to Sacred Heart at the Milford Ice Pavilion. The Crusaders now stands at 8-4-1 overall and 8-1-1 in Atlantic Hockey Action. Sacred Heart came out strong, scoring two goals in the first period to take the early 2-0 lead. Peter Ferraro struck first for the Pioneers assisted by Pierre-Luc O'Brien. Peter Giatrelis scored the game-winning goal for the Pioneers at 17:17 of the first period. The score remained 2-0 until the 11 minute mark of the third period when senior R.J. Irving (Marlboro, MA) connected on assists from Andrew McKay (Bellefeuille, QUE) and Blair Bartlett (Dryden, ONT) to make the score 2-1. Tony Quesada (South Freeport, ME) stood strong to keep the Pioneers from adding to their lead. The Crusaders pulled Quesada with 1:11 left in the game to add an extra attacker in an attempt to even the score, but were unable to connect. Quesada posted 29 saves for the Crusaders.

Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst finished 1 of 4 on the power play at Cornell while killing all four shorthanded situations. Sophomore Scott Reynolds sixth goal of the season with six seconds to play tied the game at 3-3. Sophomore netminder Andy Franck stopped 44 of 47 shots in the first-ever meeting between the teams. The Lakers are now 1-1-1 on an eleven-game road trip. Mercyhurst will return to Atlantic Hockey action next weekend with Friday and Saturday night games at Quinnipiac and AIC respectively. Mercyhurst went 3-0-1 against the Bobcats last season, including a 4-3 win in the conference championship game, and now leads the all-time series 7-5-2. The Lakers won all three meetings last year against AIC and have a 10-1-1 advantage in the all-time series.

Quinnipiac: The Bobcats program took another step forward on the national level by taking a 3-2 win from Merrimack on Saturday night...Members of Atlantic Hockey had posted an 0-40-5 mark against members of Hockey East prior to the win...Quinnipiac is now 2-20-2 against members of the Big Four...The Bobcats other win came over ECAC member Union on Dec. 2, 2000...Junior forward Chris White notched his first multiple-point effort of the year with a goal and an assist on Saturday...Quinnipiac had been 3-0-2 in its last five outings prior to Friday's 4-1 loss...The Bobcats host Mercyhurst and Canisius this weekend in a key weekend couplet.

Sacred Heart: The Pioneers won their third straight home game after defeating Holy Cross 2-1 on November 25th at the Milford Ice Pavilion in the final regular season meeting between these two teams. Sacred Heart has won four out of their last five games to move into a second place tie with Quinnipiac in the conference standings. The Pioneers return to action when they open a home and home series at Bentley on December 5th and will play the final regular season meeting between the two teams the following night, December 6th at the Milford Ice Pavilion