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Huskies Scherer named Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week (3/13/06)
Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week
Matt Scherer - Connecticut
Junior, Forward, Seattle, Wash.
Scherer notched a hat trick to lead the Huskies to a 4-1 victory
over Sacred Heart in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic Hockey
tournament. Scherer scored his first to goals in the first period
to help the Huskies to an early lead. His third came within the
final two minutes of the game on an empty-netter. The hat trick
pushed him ahead of his teammates and now makes him the leading
goal-scorer with 15.
Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week
Brad Smith - Connecticut
Sophomore, Goaltender, Detroit, Mich.
Smith led the Huskies to victory over Sacred Heart with a
record-breaking 52 saves. Smith recorded 16 saves in the first
period, 15 in the second and 21 in the third to break the school
record that stood at 51. Smith allowed just one goal in 53 shots to
lead the Huskies to victory and advance the team to the semi-final
round of the AHA tournament for the first time since the conference
was established.
Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week
Dain Prewitt - Bentley
Freshman, Forward, Westminseter, Colo.
Prewitt scored a pair of goals and added an assist in
Bentley’s 4-3 double overtime win over Army Saturday night.
Prewitt scored early in the second period to tie the game at two
and then scored a shorthanded goal with just 1:22 to play to even
the game at three and send it into overtime. He then assisted on
the game-winner with 5:30 to play in the second overtime.
Weekly Honor Roll
Ray Jean - Bentley (Jr., G, Randolph, Maine) -
Jean made 35 saves, including 14 in the extra sessions, as
Bentley’s topped Army 4-3 in double overtime Saturday night.
After allowing a goal 3:48 into the third period, Jean blanked Army
over the final 51:42 to lead Bentley to the win in the longest game
in league history.
Tony Quesada - Holy Cross (Sr., G, South Freeport, Maine)
- Quesada made 20 saves on 21 shots in the 3-1 win over AIC.
Quesada is now 19-5-2 on the season. Quesada’s 19 wins ties
the school record for wins in a season with Mark Young who set the
record in the 1979-80 season.
Tyler Small - Mercyhurst (Fr., G, Kincardine, ONT) - Small
stopped 29 of 31 shots, including a second period breakaway, in the
Lakers’ 7-2 win. He also held Canisius at bay late in the
third when the Golden Griffins pulled their goalie and had a 6-on-3
advantage. Small has made 10 straight starts and has started 16 of
the last 17.
Ryan Toomey - Mercyhurst (So., F, Bolton, ONT) -
Toomey scored a pair of goals in a four-goal third period as the
Lakers defeated Canisius Saturday 7-2. Toomey’s first goal, a
shorthanded marker, came in the first minute of the third and gave
the Lakers a two-goal lead. His second goal came on a Mercyhurst
power play. He had four shots in the game and finished +2.
Chris Trafford - Mercyhurst (Fr., F, Kinburn, ONT)
- Trafford tied for the team lead with his 4th game-winning goal of
the season. His 12th goal of the campaign came late in the second
period and gave Mercyhurst a 3-2 lead.
Team Notes
Army: Army fell to Bentley,
4-3, in double overtime in the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals on
Saturday … the Black Knights were making a school-record
sixth consecutive playoff appearance, earning the team’s
highest seeding in its three years in Atlantic Hockey … Brad
Roberts stopped 51 shots in the loss for the second highest total
in tournament action … he finishes his Army career with
3,019 career saves, becoming the first Army goalie to eclipse 3,000
saves in a career … Luke Flicek scored two of Army’s
three goals … including last season’s two playoff
tilts, Flicek has four goals and five points in three postseason
appearances.
Bentley: Bentley advanced to the conference Final Four (MAAC in 2003, AHA 2005, 2006) for the third time in four years with a 4-3 double overtime win over Army Saturday night at the John A. Ryan Skating Arena - The fourth-seeded Falcons will play second-seeded Mercyhurst on Friday at the Hart Center on the campus of Holy Cross at 7:30 ... the game against Army was the longest in Atlantic Hockey history, lasting 94:30 and easily breaking the old record of 64:56 set in last year’s Championship game ... Bentley set a tournament record by registering 55 shots on goal, breaking the old record of 49 set by Holy Cross in 2004 ... Dain Prewitt became just the third player in AHA tournament history to net a shorthanded goal with his dramatic game tying goal with 1:22 to play in the third period ... Ray Jean’s 11 wins in goal this season are tied for the fifth most of any goaltender all-time in a season. His 842 saves are the second best season total and his 1600 minutes played and 27 appearances are both third best season totals. His current 2.81 GAA this season would be the second best for a Bentley goaltender and his .918 save percentage is the best ever season total for a Bentley netminder ... With two goals Saturday night, Dain Prewitt became the first Bentley player to record both double digit goals and assists this season. His 10 goals and 13 assists leaves the rookie tied with fellow classmate Jeff Gumaer for second on the team in points, trailing fellow classmate Anthony Canzoneri who has 29 ... Canzoneri’s 29 points are tied for fifth most for a Bentley player at the Division I level and his 21 assists are the fifth most for a Falcon in D-I play ... With an assist on Saturday night, Ryan Mayhew became just the second player in school history to reach 30 goals and 40 assists in D-I play ... Bentley’s 14 wins this season are the second most in school history, just one behind the program record of 15 set in 2002-03.
Connecticut: UConn defeated Sacred Heart 4-1 on Saturday night to advance to the semi-final round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament since the conference was established. UConn played the best game of the season against the Pioneers, including a hat trick and a broken school record. Junior co-captain Matt Scherer led the team in offense with two goals in the first period and his third in the final period to record the only hat trick of the season. Sophomore goaltender Brad Smith led the team in defense with a tournament and school record-breaking 52 saves on 53 shots. The team will next play Holy Cross on March 17 in the semi-final round of the AHA playoffs.
Holy Cross: With its 3-1 win over AIC in the quarterfinals, Holy Cross is now 5-1 all-time in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Holy Cross’ 24 wins is a new school record. Both the 1998-99 and 2003-04 teams each won 22 games. The senior class has been a part of 79 wins, which are the most wins in a four year period in the program’s history. Senior goaltender Tony Quesada is now 19-5-2 on the season as he made 20 saves on 21 shots in the AIC win. Quesada’s 19 wins ties the school record for wins in a season with Mark Young who set the record in the 1979-80 season. His .926 save percentage this season is currently a single-season school record. Quesada currently owns five of the six all-time career goaltending records at Holy Cross. He ranks first all-time for save percentage (.915), goals against average (2.49), wins (58), games played (101) and minutes played (5793:26), while he is second in saves (2571). Senior captains Pierre Napert-Frenette and Tyler McGregor are at the top of the all-time games played list at Holy Cross. Napert-Frenette is first all-time with 142 games played and McGregor is second with 139. They each have 131 career points which is good for 19th all-time at Holy Cross. The Crusaders won the season series with UConn, 3-1-0. Junior James Sixsmith has 98 career points which puts him two points shy of becoming the 37th Crusader to reach 100 points.
Mercyhurst: Mercyhurst won all five games this season against Canisius and now leads the all-time series 28-12-4. The four regular season games were decided by a total of five goals. Five of the Lakers’ goals Saturday came from special teams; 3 power play and 2 shorthanded. Senior forward Dave Borrelli had a power play marker and a shorthanded goal as did sophomore winger Ryan Toomey. Junior defenseman Jamie Hunt started the scoring in the first period with a power play tally. Mercyhurst entered the game with Division I’s best offense (4.15) and best power play (23.3). The Lakers are now 17-0-1 when leading after forty minutes and 22-5-1 when scoring three or more goals. Mercyhurst and Bentley will meet for the third time in postseason play since the Lakers joined Division I in 1999-2000. The Lakers routed the Falcons 10-2 in a MAAC semifinal at Army in 2003 and then edged Bentley 5-4 in the Atlantic hockey quarterfinals at Army in 2004. The Lakers won all four meetings during the 2005-06 regular season and outscored Bentley 27-13. Mercyhurst leads the all-time series 20-4-2.
Sacred Heart: The Pioneers lost their AHA quarterfinal round game, 4-1, to Connecticut Saturday night in Milford. The loss was only the Pioneers second at home this season, both coming to Connecticut. The Pioneers finished the season with 21 wins, the most in school history. Junior Pierre-Luc O’Brien led the team in scoring with 50 points including 19 goals and 31 assists. His 50 total points are the most points in a single season of any player in Sacred Heart history. O’Brien’s 31 assists are also a record for most assists in a season. Junior goaltender Jason Smith has posted a .927 save percentage and a 2.24 goals against average, the best in Atlantic Hockey, this year. Smith’s 18 wins and 2.24 goals against were both single season school records. Senior Rocco Molinaro played in 140 games in his career, the most of any player in school history.
