Pioneers' O'Brien Named Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week (11/13/06)

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Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week

Ray Jean - Bentley 
Senior, Goaltender, Randolph, Maine

Made 25 saves for his second career shutout on Saturday to hand Army its first AHA loss of the season after making 21 saves in Friday's game.

Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week

Josh Heidinger - Canisius 
Freshman, Forward, Buffalo, N.Y.

Heidinger had three points on the weekend - two goals and an assist. He now has a team-best 15 points on the season and has scored a point in five straight games and all seven conference games this season.

Weekly Honor Roll

Eric Ehn, Air Force (Jr., F, Dexter, Mich.) - Scored two goals on Saturday in the 5-3 win...Assisted on AFA's game-winning goal...Scored AFA's only goal on Sunday...Leads the nation with 13 goals...Third in the nation in PPG with five...His two goals on Saturday were the fifth time this season he has had two goals...Currently has a three-game scoring streak...Has scored in nine of the 12 games this season...Won 22 of 34 face-offs and Saturday and 37 of 60 on the weekend.

Bryce Hollweg, Army (Jr., F, Langley, BC) - Hollweg registered his third multi-point effort of the season in Friday nights' 4-3 win over Bentley. He scored his third goal of the season early in the second period and then collected an assist on Own Meyer's third period goal.

Josh Kassel, Army (So., G, Greensburg, Pa.) - The sophomore added 50 more saves to his season total with 27 on Friday night and 23 on Saturday, going 1-1 between the pipes this weekend. Kassel kept Army in both games making miraculous saves when the Black Knights needed them most.

Owen Meyer, Army (Fr., F, Dundee, Ill.) - Meyer registered the first two point game of his career in Army's 4-3 win over Bentley on Friday night. He collected his second assist of the season in the second period then added his fourth career goal in the third.Tom Dickhudt, Bentley (Sr., G, Randolph, Maine) - Dickhudt scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the Falcons' 3-0 win over Army on Saturday and also tallied an assist in Friday's game.

Joey Coccimiglio, Canisius (Sr., F, Sault Ste. Marie, ONT) - Coccimiglio had a goal and an assist on the weekend and has tallied a point in 10 straight games in the month of November. His goal in the 4-1 victory over Air Force was the game winner.Andrew Loewen, Canisius (Fr., G, Winnipeg, MAN) - Loewen received his first start since Oct. 27 and made 27 saves to pick up the victory. The freshmen improved to 2-2 on the season.

Cole Koidahl, Connecticut (Sr., F, Minneapolis, Minn) - Koidahl scored his first career hat trick in a 4-3 win over American International Friday night. Koidahl scored the game's first goal, and then scored later in the game to cut the AIC deficit to just one goal in the second period. He went on to score the game-winning goal to cap his career night. Koidahl also added an assist on the game-tying goal for a total of four points on the night.

Jon Landry, Holy Cross (Sr. D, Lexington, Mass.) - Landry had four assists in the two games against Sacred Heart. On Friday, he dished out one assist, while on Saturday he recorded three assists. Landry's 14 points are second on the team as he has five goals and nine assists. His 1.56 points per game by a defenseman leads the nation.

Ryan Driscoll, Holy Cross (Fr., F, Drochester, Mass.) - Landry had four assists in the two games against Sacred Heart. On Friday, he dished out one assist, while on Saturday he recorded three assists. Landry's 14 points are second on the team as he has five goals and nine assists. His 1.56 points per game by a defenseman leads the nation.

Erik Boisvert - Sacred Heart (Fr., F, Drummondville, QUE) - Boisvert had his best week as a Pioneer, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Pioneers three win week. He scored SHU's final goal in Tuesday's win over AIC, and then tallied the Pioneers first goal on Saturday night. He later helped set-up the game winner for the Pioneers in overtime. With his three point week, Boisvert doubled his point total for the season. He now has three goals three assists, six total points on the year.

Jason Smith - Sacred Heart (Sr., G, St. Lambert, QUE) - Smith had an outstanding weekend in the net, stopping 65 of 71 shots he faced in the Pioneers two game sweep of Holy Cross. Smith made 34 saves on Friday night and made 37 on Saturday. Of the six goals he allowed, only one came during 5-on-5 even strength play.

Team Notes

Air Force: AFA's three-game unbeaten streak ended with Sunday's loss...Air Force has yet to win back-to-back games this season...Three Falcons had two points in the Canisius series, Brian Gineo, Mike Phillipich and Josh Schaffer...Freshman defenseman Chris Hepp had an assist on Saturday, his frosh leading fifth of the season...Ian Harper earned his third win of the season on Saturday as he stopped 17 of 20 shots. He has three of AFA's five wins this season...Air Force's penalty kill was much improved, killing 12 of the 14 Canisius PP. However, the Golden Griffs scored two short-handed goals on Sunday...Defenseman Greg Flynn had a three-game scoring streak (three assists) that ended on Sunday. It was the longest scoring streak of his career...Forward Josh Print had a three-game scoring streak (three assists) that ended on Sunday. It was the longest scoring streak of his career...Defenseman Matt Charbonneau returned to the lineup after missing four games with an injury. For the first time in his career, he played for forward, skating as the left wing on the fourth line...For the first time this season, the Falcons' top line of Ramsey, Ehn and Phillipich gave up a goal. Canisius' first goal on Sunday, its only even-strength goal, was scored with the Falcons' top line on the ice...Ehn is a +13 on the season while Phillipich and Ramsey are each a +10...Brian Gineo scored the game-winner on Saturday, his first of the season and the fourth of his career.

American International: All three of AIC's goals in Friday night's setback to Connecticut were scored by special teams, with Mike McMillan (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) and Matt Woodard (St. Louis Park, Minn.) scoring on the power play and Jereme Tendler (Viceroy, Saskatchewan) notching a short-handed tally.

Army: The Black Knights defeated Bentley Friday evening to increase their Academy best conference start to 6-0-1, before falling to the Falcons on Saturday...Despite the loss Army remained in first place in the AHA standings, but now share the spot with Sacred Heart ... Friday nights' victory marked the Black Knights first win in Waltham since Oct. 24, 2003 ... triumph also ended Army's five-game winless streak against Bentley ... goalie Josh Kassel ranks 17th in the NCAA with a 2.19 goals against average and 12th among the college ranks with a .925 save percentage ... Army's defense stands 11th in the NCAA with a team 2.30 goals against average ... the Black Knights penalty kill unit jumped to 6th in the college rankings (90.6 %) after holding Bentley to an 1-15 mark on power plays this weekend.

Bentley: The Falcons picked up their first shutout of the season with a 3-0 win over Army on Saturday ... it was the second career shutout for senior goaltender Ray Jean ... sophomore Anthony Canzoneri capped a six-game point-scoring streak with two assists on Friday before being held off the scoresheet on Saturday ... sophomore Tom Dickhudt scored two goals in a game for the second time this season after previously accomplishing the feat on Oct. 28 at Princeton ... freshman Brendan Harrison made his first collegiate start on Saturday and scored his first career goal ... The Falcons killed off all 17 Army power plays this weekend to improve their penalty kill to among the top ten in the nation ... The Falcons out shot Army in both games this weekend, marking the first two games of the season in which Bentley has out shot its opponent ... This weekend, the Falcons head to Rochester, N.Y., for their first two meetings with RIT at the Division I level.

Canisius: Canisius played it's first-ever games against Air Force last weekend, splitting the contests between the teams. In the 5-3 loss, three freshmen scored for the Golden Griffins. Carl Hudson (Smooth Rock Falls, Ont.) tallied his sixth goal of the season, which have all come on the power play. In the 4-1 victory, the Griffs had two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill. The two shorthanded goals are the most since the program went to the Division I level for the 1998-99 season. Josh Heidinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) had a three-point weekend for the Griffs, recording two goals and an assist. Heidinger has scored in five straight games, all seven conference games and in nine of 11 games on the season. Andrew Loewen (Winnipeg, Manitoba) received his first start since Oct. 27 and made 28 saves to pick up his second win of the season. Joey Coccimiglio (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) had the game-winning goal in the 4-1 victory on Sunday and had a point in each contest. Coccimiglio has scored a point in 10 straight games in the month of November. Coccimiglio's goal ended a stretch of six straight Canisius goals scored by freshmen. Scott Follett (Hamilton, N.Y.) scored his the first goal of his career.

Connecticut: The University of Connecticut men's hockey team split a pair of games over the weekend. The Huskies opened the weekend with a 4-3 win over American International sparked by Cole Koidahl's first career hat trick. Koidahl scored the game's first goal off an assist from Trevor Stewart. It was the fourth consecutive game in which Stewart had recorded an assist. After AIC scored three straight goals in the second period, Koidahl scored his second goal of the game to cut the lead to just one before Stewart evened the score early in the third period. Koidahl struck again for the game-winner midway through the third period to give UConn a 4-3 win. The following night, UConn came up just short in a 3-2 loss at Yale. Matt Scherer notched a goal for his team-leading ninth goal and 12th point, and has now tallied at least one point in every game this season. Freshman Michael Coppola collected his first career goal to tie the game midway through the second period, but the Bulldogs scored the lone goal of the third period to earn the win.

Holy Cross: Senior captain James Sixsmith scored a goal and had two assists in the weekend home-and-home series with Sacred Heart. He has four goals and 14 assists for a team-leading 18 points. Sixsmith has at least one point in eight of Holy Cross' nine games. His 2.00 points per game are tied for first in the nation, while his 1.56 assists per game are also ranked first nationally. For his career, Sixsmith now has 35 goals and 88 assists for 123 points. His 88 career assists ties him for 10th all-time at Holy Cross with Larry Murphy (1966-70), while he is second all-time on Holy Cross' Division I assists list. Current San Jose Shark Patrick Rissmiller (1998-2002) owns the Division I record with 90 assists...Senior defenseman Jon Landry had four assists against Sacred Heart, including three on Saturday. Landry has scored at least one point in six straight games. Landry's 14 points are second on the team as he has five goals and nine assists. His 1.56 points per game by a defenseman leads the nation...Freshman Ryan Driscoll has recorded one point in five straight games with two goals and three assists. He has four goals and three assists for seven points on the season.

Mercyhurst: Junior Ben Cottreau reached the 100-point plateau with a goal and three assists in two games at Sacred Heart. He has 43 goals and 57 assists in 78 career contests. Senior Scott Champagne has 123 points (40g, 83a) in 113 career games. Senior captain Kyle Gourgon has the most career points among the others on the roster, 34g and 37a in 114 games. Mercyhurst has now lost three conference games in succession for the first time since the fall of 2003 when it lost successive AH games at Holy Cross (twice) and at Quinnipiac. Mercyhurst hopes to get something going next weekend when it plays Canisius in a home-and-home series. The Lakers are 28-12-4 lifetime against the Golden Griffins and won all five meetings last year. Three of the games, however, were decided by one goal, including one in overtime, and another by two goals, including an empty net. Canisius' last win against Mercyhurst came at the Ice Center on January 18, 2005, when the Griffs prevailed 3-2. Following Friday's game in Buffalo, the Lakers play the next four games at home. Mercyhurst has played only two games at home so far.

Rochester Instit. of Tech.: Junior tri-captain Darrell Draper had two assists versus St. Clair. Thirteen different Tigers scored at least one point on Saturday. RIT scored four goals in the first period and a goal in the second and third periods. Freshman goaltender Jared DeMichiel played the second and third periods, allowing a goal and making 16 saves.

Sacred Heart: The Pioneers won three games this week to extend their winning streak to five in a row. Tuesday night, SHU posted a 5-2 win over AIC. Over the weekend, the Pioneers swept a pair from Holy Cross, winning 4-2 Friday night and then taking a 5-4 overtime victory home from Worcester Saturday night. Senior Pierre-Luc O'Brien, who scored the game winner Saturday night, had nine points, three goals and six assists on the week. O'Brien now has 17 points in his last five games (8 goals and 9 assists), bringing his point total up to a team leading 19 on the season, with 9 goals and 10 assists. Sophomore Bear Trapp had seven points on the week, three goals and four assists. Senior Jason Smith stopped 65 of 71 shots against Holy Cross, allowing only one 5-on-5 goal. The Pioneers, who didn't win a game when trailing after two periods last season, have now staged two third period comebacks in their last four games, winning last Saturday against Mercyhurst and then scoring closing a one goal deficit after two periods Saturday at Holy Cross. The Pioneers travel to Troy, NY Friday night for a non-conference date with ECACHL member RPI.