Backcheck
Sure, the term “parity” is as hip within the Hockey East community this season as “Y2K Bug” was amongst machine junkies at this time last decade.
But, the skeptics have been apt to say, what is being done on the ice to verify the idea that anybody and everybody can make ripples in the eight WHEA ponds?
Try the New Hampshire Wildcats losing their first league contest at the Whittemore Center in the conference’s eight-year history. It happened Saturday afternoon at the hands of none other than the Cats’ timeless rivals from Providence College.
More harrowingly, though, the 4-1 upshot made for a less-than-climactic end to the four-time league champions’ 69-0-9 all-time tear, and to their 5-0-1 start in the 2009-10 league schedule.
Wake-up call much?
“Stats can lie sometimes in sports,” said Wildcats coach Brian McCloskey on his program’s YouTube channel. “But we kind of got out of our game.
“This league is going to go down to the wire,” he added. “We’ve been fortunate, I think, thus far to have won all of our other league contests, but we’re going to have to find a way to get more out a wider range of people than we have been.
“What you’re seeing in the league is that there’s just a lot of teams that are very close on any given day.”
On top of the fact that each of their last three seasons have been terminated by UNH, the Friars had been mounting a considerable stash of bottled, carbonated frustration, especially with a recent string of swings and misses against top-shelf competition. They were 1-5-3 against nationally ranked teams going into Saturday’s face-off. They were winless in their last three outings (all at home, no less) due to a fall-from-ahead 4-3 falter versus Northeastern, a 2-2 knot with Wisconsin, and a 4-1 nosedive to the Badgers that wasn’t even decided until the final three minutes of the third period.
PC finally compressed the wound at the most unlikely First Aid station, flowering a startling 2-0 edge midway through the first and never losing the extra stride.
Along the way, long-injured rookie forward Jessie Vella nailed her first two collegiate goals on as many shots, giving her a 2-1-3 scoring transcript in just four appearances. Senior grinder Arianna Rigano, the team’s leading puckslinger with 63 shots on net this season, nabbed a goal-assist value pack. Sophomore Laura Veharanta –the only unanimous selection to last year’s All-Rookie squad- slammed the door on a third period power play strike for her fifth point in as many ventures, thus kicking more ice chips on a forgettable October.
Oh yeah, in midst claiming the groundbreaking triumph in the oft-treacherous depths of Lake Whittemore, they barred McCloskey from earning his own milestone –namely career victory No. 200- at their expense. The New Hampshire skipper, whose pupils had treated him to an exquisite 4-0-2 November record, will take another hack at his landmark win on Tuesday in a visit to Boston College.
***
The Friars were hardly the only party lassoing the league’s early runaways this weekend. The first-place Northeastern Huskies, 6-1-2 against conference cohabitants prior Thanksgiving, took their second consecutive clip in the teeth Friday through a 3-2 overtime loss at BC. With the win, the elastic Eagles are suddenly one point behind NU in the standings and have a game in hand.
BC pole-vaulted safely over rival Boston University and still have their one-point lead for second place after the desperate UConn Huskies curbed the Terriers in a home-and-home series. The Huskies deleted an initial 2-0 deficit and wrested a 4-3 decision at Freitas Ice Forum Saturday, then flicked over the Terriers in a Sunday shootout.
***
The Vermont Catamounts have now consumed three-sevenths of their 21-game league schedule, and after a two-handed biff via Maine this weekend rendered them 1-7-1 on the year, they have every right to break the first nervous sweat in the Hockey East pennant race.
In each of the past two seasons, the traditionally plebeian Catamounts and Black Bears have closed their respective curtains by playing one another with nothing but dignity at stake for the final weekend of regular season play. But with the sweep –courtesy of 4-1 and 1-0 decisions at Alfond Arena- Maine already has 10 points to its credit and, if the playoff picture froze in place until February 21, would be seeing bonus action for the first time since 2006.
Not to mention, the Bears are a gratifying 3-0-3 overall in their last six outings after panting through an excruciating 0-9-2 stretch.
Conversely, Vermont has a 0-5-1 hex to think about as the December deceleration kicks in early for them. Apart from freshman forward Erin Wente (plus-1), no one is in the black under the plus/minus heading.
They still have yet to plug in a consistent offensive ignition and rank dead last in goal production with a 1.75 per game median. They are averaging the most penalty minutes with 12.8 per evening and are second-worst on the penalty kill with a 78.4 success rate.
It’s not over, to be sure. But the fact is, the Catamounts are on the wrong side of the largest points’ gap the standings have seen so far. They bear a mere three points behind seventh-place UConn’s nine, and the Huskies, in turn, trail top dog Northeastern by the same six-point deficit.
So, why don’t we just say UVM will have the most ground to make up when they get back from their holiday hiatus? The message is clear and fair enough.
Forecheck
With Northeastern on break until New Year’s Day, Boston College will have two practically written invitations to lay claim to first place and prove that they have stabilized before going on their own respite. New Hampshire and Providence will visit the Conte Forum on Tuesday and Friday, respectively, for the week’s lone league games.
Weekly scoreboard
Friday, December 4
Maine 4, Vermont 1
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wmnever1.d04
http://goblackbears.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120409aaa.html
http://www.uvm.edu/~sportspr/womens_hockey/?Page=News&storyID=15550
Connecticut 4, Boston University 3
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbu_con1.d04
http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120409aaa.html
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120409aaa.html
Boston College 3, Northeastern 2 (OT)
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbc_noe1.d04
http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120409aaa.html
http://gonu.com/whockey/2010/wh10-16.shtml
Saturday, December 5
Providence 4, New Hampshire 1
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wprvunh1.d05
http://www.unhwildcats.com/sports/wice/2009-10/releases/20091205st3q6e
http://www.friars.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120509aaa.html
Maine 1, Vermont 0
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wmnever1.d05
http://goblackbears.cstv.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120509aaa.html
http://www.uvm.edu/~sportspr/womens_hockey/?Page=News&storyID=15556
Connecticut 2, Boston University 1 (SO)
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0910/boxes/wbu_con1.d05
http://www.goterriers.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120509aaa.html
http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/recaps/120509aab.html
Upcoming schedule
Tuesday, December 8
Connecticut at Harvard, 7:00 pm
New Hampshire at Boston College, 7:00 pm
Friday, December 11
Maine, at Union, 2:00 pm
Providence at Boston College, 7:00 pm
Saturday, December 12
Maine at Union, 2:00 pm
New Hampshire at Dartmouth, 7:00 pm
No comments:
Post a Comment