Atlantic Hockey Weekly Update Through January 11, 2004

January 12, 2004

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Player of the Week

Seth Beamer, Army (So., F, Merrimack, N.H.) –

Beamer had a 5 point weekend (one goal, four assists) registering a career-high four points in Army’s 5-2 win over American International College Friday at Tate Rink. The second-line center scored one goal and recorded three assists, two coming directly off faceoffs in the second period to lead Army in scoring. Beamer finished off the weekend with an assist in the Black Knights’ 2-2 overtime tie at AIC the next night, giving him five points for the weekend. In addition, Beamer won 15 of 23 draws in Friday’s win and was a plus-4 for the game. His lone assists on Saturday came on the game-tying goal with 5:24 left in the contest.

Others Nominated: Guillaume Caron, AIC; Andrew Dawe, Canisius; Pierre Napert-Frenette, Holy Cross; Mike Carter, Mercyhurst.

Goaltender of the Week

Andy Franck, Mercyhurst, (So., G, Lakewood, Ohio) -

Franck stopped 67 of 70 Bentley shots (.957) in a 2-0 weekend as the Lakers won two straight for the first time since a four-game streak early in the season. He backboned a defense that bent at times but allowed only three goals and held Bentley scoreless in a combined 14 power play chances. Mercyhurst defeated Bentley on Friday 2-1 and 3-2 on Saturday.

Others Nominated: Frank Novello, AIC; Brad Roberts, Army; Bryan Worosz, Canisius; Tony Quesada, Holy Cross.

Freshman of the Week

Michael Cohen, Canisius (Fr., F, Williamsville, NY) -

Cohen, a freshman forward, tallied three assists over the weekend as the Griffs swept Quinnipiac by scores of 3-0 and 4-2. Cohen assisted on both of Canisius’ first-period goals in Friday’s shutout win and added his third assist of the weekend on Saturday. Cohen leads the Griffs in scoring with 12 points and is tied for the team lead in goals with six.

Others Nominated: Jeremy Leroux, AIC; Ryan Cruthers, Army; Jon Landry, Holy Cross; Scott Champagne, Mercyhurst

Team Notes

American International: Senior Guillaume Caron is one point shy of the 100-point mark for his career. He recorded three goals last weekend, including both tallies in AIC's 2-2 tie with Army...Caron paces Atlantic Hockey and is 20th in Division I with his 1.22 point-per game average...freshman Jeremy Leroux is tied for seventh in Division I and tops in Atlantic Hockey in points per game for a freshman (1.00 ppg)...Leroux recorded a pair of assists last weekend...the Yellow Jackets head west for a two-game series with Mercyhurst next weekend (January 16-17).

Army: Army picked up three of a possible four points in the Atlantic Hockey standings over the weekend, topping American International College at home on Friday, 5-2, and then skating to a 2-2 overtime tie in West Springfield, Mass., Saturday night. Including the St. Clair contest, Army is 2-0-1 in the new year, marking its best start to the second half of the season since going 3-0 in its first three games in 1997-98. It is only the second time since 1983-84 that the Black Knights have gone unbeaten in their first three games after the winter break. Army, entering the second half of the season averaging just 1.50 goals per game, has dented the twine 10 times in three games and scored twice on the power play to break out of its scoring slump.The Black Knights peppered AIC’s goaltenders with a total of 85 shots on goal in the weekend series, marking the highest shots on goal total in a weekend for an Army team since the first two games of the season against Ryerson when it recorded 92 shots on goal in two games. Sophomore forward Seth Beamer registered a five-point weekend with four points (1G, 3A) on Friday and another assist on Saturday. His four points and three assists in Friday’s win over AIC were both career highs. Sophomore defenseman Corey Rudd scored his first career goal on Friday. Junior forward Chris Garceau picked up three assists in Army’s two games. Army’s second line of Garceau, Beamer and Chris Migliaro has been the most productive since the break. They were on the ice for five of Army’s seven goals against AIC. Friday, Jan. 16 Army battles service academy rival Air Force in a game that will be televised live by College Sports Television (CSTV) as part of their “Friday Night Game of the Week” package.

Bentley: Bentley dropped a pair of hard fought, one-goal games on the road at Mercyhurst over the weekend. On Friday night, the Lakers jumped ahead 2-0 on the Falcons, only to see Bentley cut the lead to one on Ryan Mayhew’s (So, F, Owatonna, Minn.) tally at 18:13, but his team could get no closer as the Lakers won 2-1. The Following night, Mercyhurst survived a late Bentley flurry to grab a 3-2 win. Ahead 3-0 heading into the third period, Bentley dominated the final 20 minutes, and climbed to within one with just under 10 minutes to go in the game. Ryan Lessnau’s (So, F, Southfield, Mich.) shorthanded goal got Bentley’s offense going and junior Brendan McCartin’s (Jr, F, Camp Hill, Pa.) sixth goal of the season pulled Bentley within one. But once again the Lakers would not let Bentley get over the hump and held on for the win. McCartin, who recorded two points (1g, 1a) over the weekend, leads Bentley in scoring with 13 points (6g, 7a). Sophomore Paul Markarian (So, F, Quincy, Mass.) who recorded a helper on Saturday, is second on the team with 12 points (6g, 6a) and junior defensemen Seth Vinocur (Jr, D, Traverse City, Mich.) is next on the list with 11 points, all coming on assists, including one this weekend. Junior goaltender Simon St. Pierre (Montreal, Que./College Bourget) had a solid weekend between the pipes for Bentley. On Friday, he and Mercyhurst goalie Andy Franck went head-to-head to combine for 71 saves, 34 credited to St. Pierre. Bentley has no games this week, and will be back in action a week from Friday to host American International in the first of a home-and-home series with the Yellow Jackets.

Canisius: Canisius Canisius College swept previously Atlantic Hockey unbeaten Quinnipiac University last weekend by scores of 3-0 and 4-2. Friday night, Canisius junior goalie Bryan Worosz (Brantford, ONT) posted 23 saves as the Golden Griffins shutout Quinnipiac 3-0 at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Canisius snapped a six-game losing streak against the Bobcats dating back to Feb. 16, 2001, a 5-2 win in Buffalo, and recorded its first shutout of the season. Four Canisius players recorded multi-point games as the Golden Griffins scored three power-play goals to defeat visiting Quinnipiac 4-2 Saturday afternoon, completing a weekend sweep of the Bobcats. Canisius improves to 4-7-5 overall, 4-4-2 in Atlantic Hockey. Six Canisius skaters recorded multi-point weekends, led by sophomore Andrew Dawe (Kitchener, ONT) with a goal and three assists. Senior Rob Martin (Pickering, ONT), junior Ryan Corcoran (Sault Ste. Marie, ONT) and freshman Michael Cohen (Williamsville, N.Y.) each posted three points, while freshman Billy Irish-Baker (Clarence, N.Y.) and senior Joe D’Urzo (Etobicoke, ONT) notched two points apiece. Worosz posted 41 saves over the weekend with a 1.00 GAA and a .953 save percentage. Canisius returns to action next weekend as it travels to face Sacred Heart at the Milford Ice Pavilion Jan. 16-17. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday.

Connecticut: UConn was defeated 3-1 by league-leading Holy Cross in their only contest of the week, as the Crusaders' Pierre Napert-Frenette scored twice to lead his team to victory. The contest marked the third and final time the two teams will meet in the regular season, and also marked the third win for the Crusaders over the Huskies. The Huskies Tim Olsen scored the lone goal for UConn, his third in as many consecutive games, and fifth of the season. Napert-Frenette struck early, sliding the puck past UConn goaltender Scott Tomes despite his team being down a man to Connecticut. The shorthanded goal came 7:18 into the first period. Holy Cross out-shot UConn 15-11 in the opening period, but would not out-shoot them again for the remainder of the game. The Crusaders added a second goal midway through the second period when Jeff Dams scored his seventh of the season. The two-goal lead lasted until with just under three minutes remaining in the period, Olsen scored with help from Cole Koidahl and B.J. Crum. The assist was Koidahl s eighth of the season, while Crum notched the second point of his career at UConn. Despite being out-shot by UConn 11-3 in the final period, it was the Crusaders who managed another goal when Napert-Frenette struck again just five minutes into play. Tomes finished with 25 saves for the Huskies, while Holy Cross goaltender Tony Quesada made 33 saves to improve his overall season record to 10-2-1. The Huskies will return to the ice on Friday, January 16 when they travel to non-conference opponent Brown for a 7:00 p.m. contest that will be televised by Brown locally on Cox3.

Holy Cross: HC vs. Connecticut: HC defeated Connecticut Friday night, 3-1 for their third victory of the season over the Huskies. Pierre Napert-Frenette (Bathurst, NB) collected the first goal of the game six minutes into the first period. R.J. Irving (Marlboro, MA) and Jon Landry (Lexington, MA) assisted on the power play goal. The Crusaders held a 1-0 lead heading into the second period. In the second period, Jeff Dams (Manotick, ONT) found the back of the net after J.R. Walker (Faribault, MN) and Tim Coskren (Walpole, MA) sent a rebounded shot to Dams for the goal. Dams put the Crusaders up 2-0 before the Huskies fought back to make it 2-1. Tim Olsen put the Huskies on the board going into the third period. Irving collected his second assist of the night as he and Blair Bartlett (Dryden, ONT) assisted on Napert-Frenette's second goal of the night. The goal gave the Crusaders the 3-1 lead which they did not relinquish. In goal for the Crusaders, Tony Quesada (South Freeport, ME) posted 33 saves, while Scott Tomes collected 25 saves for Connecticut in a hard fought battle. HC vs. Northeastern: The Crusaders fell to Northeastern 5-2 Saturday night, to collect their first defeat over the last seven games. The game started off with the Crusaders' Blair Bartlett (Dryden, ONT) scoring off an assist from Andrew McKay(Bellefeuille, QUE) to give Holy Cross a 1-0 lead 6:21 into the game. McKay fired in his own rebound past his former Ottawa Jr. Senators teammate Keni Gibson to his glove side. Northeastern answered with a goal from Yale Lewis two minutes later. Junior Jon Awe passed the puck to classmate Aaron Moore, who sent the puck up the wing to Lewis. Lewis skated over the blueline and ripped a wrist shot from the top of the circle past Holy Cross goalie Tony Quesada (South Freeport, ME). Holy Cross struck back at 12:42 in the first when McKay scored unassisted to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead. McKay picked up a loose puck in the Husky end, turned and fired a shot past Gibson to the near post. The Huskies tied the score at 2-2 at 18:27 in the first period when senior Eric Ortlip scored a power-play goal. Northeastern outshot the Crusaders, 10-7, over the first 20 minutes of play and went 1-for-1 with a man-advantage. In goal for the Crusaders, Quesada collected 24 saves, while Gibson recorded 20 saves for the Huskies.

Mercyhurst: The weekend sweep moved Mercyhurst into second place in Atlantic Hockey and dropped the Falcons to last. The Lakers still trail first place Holy Cross by 13 points but have five games in hand. The home games against Bentley were Mercyhurst's first at home in nearly two months and followed a 10-game road trip (3-6-1). Mercyhurst had five different goal-scorers against Bentley. The Lakers allowed their first shorthhanded goal of the season in Saturday's 3-2 win. Junior forwards David Wrigley and Rich Hansen had their second game-winning goals of the season. Sophomore goalie Andy Franck stopped a combined 67 of 70 Bentley shots (.957) in the weekend sweep. The Lakers are now 13-3-1 lifetime against Bentley and have won the last four in a row. The Friday win was the 286th in head coach Rick Gotkin's career, making him the all-time winningest coach in Mercyhurst College history. The Lakers will continue the homestand next Friday and Saturday when AIC visits. Mercyhurst is 11-1-1 all-time against AIC including a 9-0 win at AIC this season.

Quinnipiac: Quinnipiac dropped to 7-9-2, 4-2-2 in Atlantic Hockey last week following three losses. The Bobcats dropped a 1-0 decision at No. 10 Ohio State, losing on a goal in the final second before losing a two-game series at Canisius over the weekend...The Bobcats have now lost four in a row, their second such losing streak of the season...The two-game sweep at Canisius was the first AH sweep since being swept at home by Mercyhurst on 1/17-18/03...Quinnipiac hosts Holy Cross on Saturday in its lone AH game this weekend.

Sacred Heart: The Sacred Heart Pioneers fell to the #4 Maine Black Bears 6-0 this past Friday night at Maine in a non-conference game. Sacred Heart will be looking for their first win since November 25, 2003 when they host Canisius in a weekend series on January 16th –17th at the Milford Ice Pavilion.