Out-of-Conference Preview: 11/26/13

Four NESCAC teams kick-off their out-of-conference schedule with a full slate of pre-turkey games today. Two games, Tufts at home and Bowdoin on the road, have webcasts.  The other two are scheduled to have live stats, though Amherst didn't have live stats this past weekend, so we shall see. 


St. Michael's Purple Knights (0-5-0)  at Amherst Lord Jeffs (4-0-0) 
4 PM    Orr Rink; Amherst, MA
Live Stats 

The Lowdown: Winless vs Unbeaten 
Undefeated, nationally ranked (10th USCH0, 11th D3H) Amherst kicks off their OOC schedule against winless St.Michael's of D-II. The Purple Knights have an interesting situation in which they - along with St. Anselm's - play a regular season schedule in the ECAC-East (think Norwich), but as a D-II school they are not eligible for the ECAC-E or NCAA D-III Tournament. The two saintly schools join the four members of the Northeast-10 (Southern New Hampshire, Stonehill, Assumption, Franklin Pierece) for a NE-10 post season tournament that essentially serves as a de facto D-II hockey championship.

Last year, the Lord Jeffs traveled to Vermont and vanquished the Purple Knights, 4-1, in a game that saw Amherst coach Jack Arena's son/player Pat score his first collegiate goal. The team's last met at Orr Rink in December of 2010 with Amherst winning 6-1. Current Lord Jeffs captain Andrew Kurlandski (F, '14) scored his second of twenty-nine college goals to date in the contest.

It's very early in the season to compare statistics, especially between OOC opponents. But just to give you a taste of why Amherst is 4-0 and St. Michael's is 0-5: Amherst is currently 21st in the nation in scoring (3.75 goals per game) and 4th in defense (1.25 goals allowed per game), while St. Michael's is 71st out of 78 D II/III schools in both scoring (2.00 goals per game) and defense (4.40 goals allowed per game). Barrie, Ontario native AJ Pieprzak (F, '15) leads the team in scoring (4-1-5).



Wesleyan Cardinals (2-2-0) at Stonehill Skyhawks (3-2-0) 
7 PM    Foxboro Sports Center; Foxboro, MA
Live Stats

The Lowdown: Cardinals look to rebound before turkey day 
After a 2-0 opening weekend, the Cardinals spent most of their 8-5 loss at Hamilton in the penalty box on Saturday and then lost to Amherst on Sunday. They open up their OOC schedule against D-II Stonehill, an opponent they have met twice before and beaten both times. The Cardinals and Skyhawks met a year ago almost to the day on November 25,2012 with Wesleyan pummeling Stonehill 6-0. 

Keith Buehler (F, '14)  had a goal in that game. The Cardinals captain also scored the game tying goal in the third period of an eventual 3-2 win over Stonehill in 2010, the only other time the two teams met. And who assisted Buehler on his first collegiate goal in that game? Babson senior Nik Tasiopoulos (F, '14), who was Wesleyan's leading scorer in 2011-12 before transferring to be a Beaver. Nik's brother Chris Tasiopoulos (G, '15) is Stonehill's primary goaltender. (#CacConnections)



Bowdoin Polar Bears (1-2-1) at University of New England Nor'easters (2-4-1) 
7 PM     Harold Alfond Forum 
Live Stats   Video 

The Lowdown: In-state, out of sorts 
After splitting the rivalry series with Colby last weekend, Bowdoin stays in-state for their first out of conference game (as well as for all of their OOC games). It's very early in the season, but the prohibitive favorites to repeat as NESCAC champions have been nothing sort of a disappointment so far this season. They look to get back on track against UNE, a team they have beaten in all four contests all-time. Last time they met in Brunswick on January 8th of this year, however, the Nor'easters gave the then undefeated Polar Bears all they could handle. UNE took a 3-2 lead into the third period before John McGinnis (F, '15)  and Harry Matheson (F, '14) goals gave Bowdoin the win.

 Zeth Zielinksi (F, '15) leads the Nor'easters in scoring with eight points (4-4-8). The Polar Bears are shockingly led in scoring by freshman Joe Lace (D, '17) with three points (1-2-3). Colin Downey (F/D, Sr.) also has three points with all of them coming on helpers. If Downey doesn't score tonight, he will match the longest goal scoring drought of his collegiate career at five games. Only two Bowdoin players have multiple goals with Matheson and rookie Kendall Culbertson (F, '17) each having two tallies a piece.



Becker Hawks (0-5-2) at Tufts Jumbos (0-4-0) 
7 PM      Malden Valley Forum; Malden, MA 
Video 

The Lowdown: Battle of the winless 
Both teams enter the game looking for their first win. The two teams have met twice before, both times at the Rutland Invitational, with the Jumbos winning both affairs. In the first meeting in November of 2010, Tufts won 6-3 with Kyle Gallegos (F, '14) contributing two goals. The Jumbos will once again head to the Rutland Invitational in Vermont this weekend, but Becker will not.

The Hawks are one of the youngest rosters in the country with 16 freshman dressing this season and ten of them dressing in six or seven games. The only senior on the roster is a backup goaltender. Kansas City,MO native Cody Edwards (F, '15), who played junior hockey for the Blind River Beavers,  leads the team with five points (1-4-5).

Tufts lost their first three games by one goal margins before being handled 4-1 by Williams. The Jumbos have a (-1.50) goal differential per game, putting them at 65th in the nation, while Becker has a (-2.29) differential, putting them at 71st in the nation. Something's gotta give tonight, unless, of course, they tie.