NU, BU, UVM shoot for titles
River Hawks fall in tourney opener
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A hat trick of Hockey East teams will compete for holiday tournament titles tonight in Minneapolis, Denver, and Burlington, Vt., while UMass-Lowell will seek consolation in suburban Chicago.
No. 6 Northeastern, playing for the first time since it beat Maine Dec. 5, shook off the cobwebs and Western Michigan, 3-1, last night in the Dodge Holiday Classic opener at Mariucci Arena in Minnesota, getting a point apiece from the members of its top three lines.
Steve Quailer put the Huskies (12-3-2) ahead in the first period, Chris Donovan netted the winner in the second, and Wade MacLeod added an insurance goal in the third after Ryan Watson's strike brought the Broncos (3-12-4) with one.
Northeastern dominated the final period, outshooting Western Michigan, 19-7, but was frustrated by Riley Gill, who made 18 of his 37 saves in the third. NU sealed its victory with MacLeod's goal at 18:58, just after a power play concluded.
Dogged work by Joe Vitale behind the net set up Tyler McNeely, who fed MacLeod in the right circle. MacLeod's roofer beat Gill for a 3-1 Northeastern lead.
Brad Thiessen stopped 23 shots for the Huskies, who will face No. 4 Minnesota in the final.
The Gophers, playing without Don Lucia (illness) behind the bench for the first time in his 22 seasons as coach, held Brown (1-9-2) to one shot in each of the first two periods en route to a 6-2 victory. Justin Bostrom had a goal and an assist for Minnesota (9-3-5 ).
BU 6, Rensselaer 2 - The third-ranked Terriers (12-4-1) extended their unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1), scoring four unanswered goals to pull away from the Engineers (3-14-1) in the opener of the Denver Cup at Magness Arena.
Jason Lawrence was top dog for BU, which has scored in nine straight periods. The senior scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period then put BU up, 4-2, in the third. Both power-play strikes were set up by Chris Higgins and Chris Connolly.
Freshman Grant Rollheiser, recovered from an injury and playing for the first time since Nov. 25, needed to make merely 13 saves for the high-powered Terriers, who didn't need the services of sophomores Kevin Shattenkirk and Colin Wilson to overwhelm the Engineers. Shattenkirk and Wilson are with the United States team at the world junior championship.
The Terriers, who killed off the Engineers' three power plays, have not allowed a man-advantage goal in their opponents' last 20 chances. BU will face No. 5 Denver tonight.
Denver 2, Holy Cross 2 - The Pioneers (13-5-2) advanced to the Denver Cup final by beating the Crusaders, 4-3, in a shootout after the game ended in a tie. Everett Sheen's two goals and Adam Roy's 35 saves earned a point for Holy Cross (5-11-2). Marc Cheverie denied Jay Silvia in the shootout to clinch Denver's berth in the final. Joe Colborne, the Bruins' first-round draft pick in 2008, had an assist for Denver.
Vermont 6, Colgate 4 - In the second game at the Catamount Cup in Vermont, Peter Lenes and Justin Milo each scored twice for the 13th-ranked Catamounts (10-4-2), who withstood a third-period rally by the Raiders (5-8-4). The Catamounts will face St. Lawrence in the championship game. The Saints advanced with a 5-4 victory over Ferris State.
Minn.-Duluth 2, UMass-Lowell 1 - Justin Fontaine scored the winning goal on a five-on-three power play in the second period, and Alex Stalock made 13 of his 27 saves in the third period as the Bulldogs (9-4-6) edged the River Hawks (8-9-0) in the first game of the Shillelagh tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill. UMass-Lowell will face Union, which fell, 3-1, to No. 1 Notre Dame.
Quinnipiac 5, Harvard 2 - Jean-Marc Beaudoin and Bryan Leitch each scored twice for the host Bobcats (10-6-1, 4-4-1 ECAC), who scored three goals in the final four minutes to pull away from the Crimson (4-9-2, 4-4-2).
RIT 3, Bentley 2 - Matt Crowell scored twice in Watertown for the Engineers (9-9-1, 8-4-1 Atlantic Hockey). The Falcons (6-9-1, 5-5-1) closed within a goal when Dustin Cloutier netted his second of the game with 1:12 to play but weren't able to put another past Jared DeMichiel (28 saves).
In exhibition games, Maine beat the US Under-18 team, 7-3, in Portland, Maine, and visiting Boston College fell to the University of New Brunswick, 5-3.
BU 5, Ohio State 3 - Sophomore Jillian Kirchner (goal, two assists) sparked the ninth-ranked Terriers (9-5-4) past the host Buckeyes (6-12-1).
Princeton 1, Harvard 0 - Heather Landry scored in the second period and Kristen Young stopped 31 shots for the Tigers (8-8-1, 5-5-0 ECAC), who beat the host Crimson (5-6-3, 5-3-2).
Quinnipiac 1, Dartmouth 1 - Nanna Holm Glaas stopped 41 shots and Trudy Reyns scored the tying goal, enabling the Bobcats (3-17-1, 2-6-2 ECAC) to tie the third-ranked Big Green (8-4-2, 6-2-2) in Hanover, N.H.
Yale 2, NU 0 - Aleca Hughes scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and Jackee Snikeris stopped 22 shots for the Bulldogs (7-6-0), who blanked the host Huskies (7-7-2).
