Monday, March 13, 2000
 
BC, BU, MAINE & UNH SWEEP TO ADVANCE TO THE FLEET
Semifinal Game #1 BU vs. Maine - Semifinal Game #2 UNH vs. BC
 
 
LAWRENCE, MA - For the second consecutive year, the top four seeds in the
Hockey East Championship have advanced to the semifinal round at the
FleetCenter in Boston, MA.
 
In quarterfinal action this past week, BU, UNH, BC and Maine each swept
their respective best-of-three series to mark the first time in the
tournament's 16-year history that these four teams qualified for the
semis.
 
New Hampshire senior forward Mike Souza (Wakefield, MA) scored both game
winning goals against #7 Merrimack for the #2 Wildcats, including the
overtime decider on Friday night (3-2), for Hockey East Player of the Week
honors. The same night, the #4 University of Maine Black Bears captured a
5-4 overtime victory over the #5 Providence Friars on a goal by Brendan
Walsh (SR F, Dorchester, MA).
 
The following night, #1 Boston University closed out its sweep of #8 UMass
Amherst with five unanswered goals for a 5-2 win. Meanwhile, the #3 Boston
College Eagles capitalized on a third-period goal from Hockey East Rookie
of the Week Krys Kolanos (Calgary, AB) for a 3-2 win and a berth in the
semis.
 
The 16th annual Hockey East Championship and Awards banquet will be held
on Thursday, March 16th at 7:00 p.m. at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in
Cambridge, MA. The conference's annual awards will be announced as will
the 2000 Hobey Baker Finalists.
 
Remaining tickets for the Hockey East Championships at Boston's
FleetCenter on March 17th & 18th are available by calling TicketMaster at
(617) 931-2000.
KOHO Player of the Week:
MIKE SOUZA, University of New Hampshire - (SR F, Wakefield, MA) scored
back-to-back game winning goals to advance the Wildcats to Hockey East
semifinals.
Rookie of the Week:
KRYS KOLANOS, Boston College - (FR F, Calgary, AB) scored 2-2-4 to lead BC
offense in two-game sweep of Northeastern in the Hockey East
quarterfinals.
Defensive Player of the Week:
MATT YEATS, University of Maine - (SO G, Innisfail, AB) held on for two
tight victories over PC. Tied a quarterfinal record for saves in a period
with 19.
Hockey East Honor Roll:
JACK BAKER, Boston University - (SO, F, South Boston, MA) scored 3-2-5 in
two-game sweep of UMass Amherst, leads a post-season scorers.
 
JOHN SABO, Boston University - (FR, F, Harding Township, NJ) scored 2-2-4
against UMass Amherst.
 
JEFF FARKAS, Boston College - (SR, F, Williamsville, NY) scored 2-2-4
against Northeastern on Friday, including 100th career assist.
 
BROOKS ORPIK, Boston College - (FR, D, Amherst, NY) scored three assists
in Friday's 8-4 win.
 
NIKO DIMITRAKOS, University of Maine - (SO, F, Somerville, MA) had 1-2-3
in opening game against Providence.
 
MARTIN KARIYA, University of Maine - (FR, F, N. Vancouver, BC) tallied
0-3-3 in OT win over Providence on Friday.
 
TOM WELBY, Merrimack College - (JR, G, W. Roxbury, MA) posted 47 saves
against New Hampshire on Friday.
 
DARREN HAYDAR, University of New Hampshire - (SO, F, Milton, ON) scored
100th career point on Thursday.
 
RYAN CORDEIRO, University of New Hampshire - (SO, F, Somerset, MA) cracked
UNH line-up and was a spark, scoring 1-1-2 in weekend series.
 
MATT KEATING, Northeastern University - (JR, F, Arlington, MA) registered
three of NU's six goals on the weekend.
 
DEVIN RASK, Providence College - (FR, F, Parkside, SK) was a force for the
Friars, scoring 2-2-4 in two games against Maine.
Hockey East Notes:
BOSTON COLLEGE's win over Northeastern marked the first time since Jan. 9
that the Eagles had given up two power-play goals in one game. With one
more assist, senior defenseman Mike Mottau (Avon, MA) will tie David
Emma's career record of 127. Junior forward Brian Gionta (Rochester, NY)
had his eighth multiple-goal game of the season against Northeastern on
Mar. 10. Gionta is 26-13-39 in his last 25 games and has a seven-game
scoring streak. Gionta also passed Kevin Stevens to move into 10th on the
BC career scoring list (86-85-171). Senior forward Blake Bellefeuille
(Framingham, MA) also has a seven-game scoring streak. Boston College now
has a 20-game unbeaten streak during the month of March. 19 of BC's 24
players have never lost a March game...BOSTON UNIVERSITY finished the
season undefeated at home. With the two wins over UMass/Amherst, B.U.
ended with a 14-0-3 record at home, marking only the third time since they
began playing at Walter Brown Arena that they were undefeated at home. In
1974-75, they were 12-0-2, while they were 10-0-0 in 1977-78. With the
series win over UMass, the Terriers return to the Hockey East finals for
the first time since 1997. That year, they skated to a 4-2 win over New
Hampshire in the title game. In 1998, B.U., which was seeded number one,
was upset in the quarterfinals by Merrimack. Then, last year, the
fifth-seeded Terriers were eliminated in the quarterfinals by
fourth-seeded Providence. The Terriers defeated UMass on Saturday night
and earned a trip to the HE finals on head coach Jack Parker's 55th
birthday. Parker was born in Somerville on March 11, 1945. Including the
two wins in this year's Beanpot, B.U. will take a 13-1-0 record at the
FleetCenter to next weekend's finals...UNIVERSITY OF MAINE will play
Boston University in the first game of the Hockey East semifinals on
Friday at 4:00 pm. Since losing to New Hampshire on on Feb. 6, Maine has
run off a ten-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1). The Black Bears will make
their 12th semifinal appearance and hold a record of 9-2 in previous
semis. Maine has only played BU in the semifinals once, in 1990, and took
the 3-1 victory...MERRIMACK COLLEGE set a new school record with its 11th
overtime game of the season against New Hampshire on Friday. The 11
overtimes break the previous single season mark of 10 set during the
1984-1985 season. The Warriors overtime loss to UNH was the first time
Merrimack has reached overtime in the Hockey East playoffs. It was also
the 15th game this season that has been decided by one goal or less.
Junior Tom Welby's (W. Roxbury, MA) 47 saves on Friday night is a new
career high and was the highest single game total of the
season...UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE saw all 12 forwards register a point
in Thursday's 5-2 win, with the fourth line of Tim Walsh (Concord, NH),
Patrick Foley (Milton, MA) and Johnny Rogers (Etobicoke, ON) all recording
two-point games. What makes the feat even more amazing is that all 12
forwards registered a point after just four goals. UNH has now gone
undefeated in ten overtime games this season, posting a 4-0-6 record. In
the Hockey East first round, UNH has never played in a third and deciding
game; either they have won or lost in two straight. Mike Souza (SR, F,
Wakefield, MA) broke the all-time UNH record for career games played and
consecutive games played on Friday night, when he played in his 154th
college game. Souza has not missed a game in college or in high school.
Darren Haydar (SO, F, Milton, ON) cracked the 100-point plateau with his
assist on Souza's game winner Thursday night. UNH's 23 wins are the fifth
most for the Wildcats since joining Hockey East in 1984-85. UNH is making
its seventh appearance at the Hockey East semifinals and it is the sixth
time the Wildcats have made the semis under Umile's reign...NORTHEASTERN
UNIVERSITY followed a frustrating 0-for-26 stretch on the power play with
four goals in its last 14 chances. With three assists in the weekend
series against BC, senior captain Roger Holeczy (Lake Forest, IL) rounded
out his storied career with exactly 100 points. He played an NU record 145
consecutive games, every game for four seasons. Boston College's three
goals Saturday was its lowest offensive output against Northeastern in 16
games. The last time BC failed to score four goals against the Huskies was
Nov. 11, 1995, a 5-2 Husky win at Matthews Arena. Northeastern made a
practice this season of outshooting its opponents on a regular basis.
However, opposing goaltending compiled a .918 save percentage against
Husky shooters over the course of the season. The losses to BC cap a
frustrating end to a nine-game losing streak NU sufferend to complete its
season. The last time the team lost nine in a row was the 1980-81 season
when the team lost 11 straight at the end of its schedule after opening
with a 12-0 record...PROVIDENCE COLLEGE senior forward Fernando Pisani
(Edmonton, AB) finished his career having played 143 consecutive games for
the Friars. Pisani missed just one game in his entire career and finishes
as the Friar's 13th all-time leading scorer with 56-97-153. Junior
netminder Boyd Ballard (Weyburn, SK) made 73 saves in his two games
against Maine in the Hockey East quarterfinals, giving him 32 or more
saves in eight of his last nine games. Providence College has much to look
forward to. Aside from freshman Devin Rask's display this past weekend,
sophomore Peter Fregoe (Massena, NY) finished third on the team in scoring
with 14-15-29 in 34 games, a best for a Friar rookie since Pisani
registered 30 points in 1996-97. Friars hold an all-time Hockey East
quarterfinal record of 15-11-1. They are 21-20-1 all-time in the
tournament as a whole.
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