Bennett Schneider graduates early from Hamilton, signs with Pensacola Ice Flyers of SPHL

Bennett Schneider (courtesy of Richard Davis Photo)

Hamilton defenseman Bennett Schneider (D, '13.5) has graduated early and recently signed with the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). The 6' 3" 218 lb. defensive minded blueliner had six points (0-6-6) in 73 games as a Continental.

Schneider, a Fort Myers, FL native, made his pro hockey debut on Sunday, December 29th in the Ice Flyers 3-2 overtime win over the Louisiana IceGators. He had a +/- of -1 and one shot on goal for the evening. The Ice Flyers currently sit in second place in the ten team SPHL with a 15-9-2 record through 26 games. Louisiana (16-7-3) is in first.

This is Schneider's first professional hockey gig, but it is not his first experience playing with pro hockey players. The former Hamilton Continental spent the past three summers as an invitee to the New York Islanders development camp.

Schneider's last collegiate game ends up being the Continentals' 4-3 upset win over Middlebury on December 7th. Hamilton now enters 2014 with no upperclassmen ('14 or '15) on the blueline. One solution to even out the seven man d-corps and add experience could be to move senior Dom Jancaterino (F/D, '14) back on D when he comes back from injury. The Hawaii native has not played since the Conts opening weekend losses against Amherst.

The SPHL is an independent professional hockey league, roughly equivalent to "A" in minor league baseball, with ten teams spread across eight states across the southeast and Illinois. Besides Schneider, five NESCAC alumni call the SPHL home, including recent alums Nick Craven (Wesleyan, '13) ,  Brandon Hew (Amherst, '13) and Scott Harff (Colby, '13).

The Ice Flyers return to action on New Year's Day against the first place Ice Gators in Louisiana. Hamilton returns to action without Schneider on Friday in the opening round of the Buck Supply Winter Classic against top ranked Plattsburgh.

Frozen Fenway update: Cow vs Chicken, selfie contest and more

courtesy of @frozenfenway

As most of you probably know, Williams will take on Trinity at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 as part of Frozen Fenway, a two week series of outdoor hockey games at the famed Fenway Park. The Ephs/Bantams match-up is the second half of a D-III doubleheader that starts off with UMass-Boston vs Salem State.

To promote the game, Williams and Amherst joined forces for a promo video that features the two mascots (purple cow, chicken) squaring off in a supermarket (#chickenVcow). Embed of the video can be found below. In addition, Trinity is running a Frozen Fenway "Selfie" contest because 2014. Participants should submit a photo representing Bantam pride with selfies encouraged but not required. Trinity coach Matt Greason will have the say on who wins the prize: four tickets to Frozen Fenway along with four Trinity hockey hats. Entry details can be found here.

Besides the excitement of playing at Fenway, this will be an important game for the NESCAC standings. The outdoor battle is the first league tilt of 2014 and features the first place Ephs vs. the third place Bantams. The Berkshire Eagle  has a piece on the first place Ephs, who are one of only three undefeated teams in all of D-III men's hockey.

NESCAC women's hockey update

2013 NCAA runner-up Middlebury leads the NESCAC this year

We, as you can tell, focus exclusively on NESCAC men's ice hockey. But the women of the little ivies lace up the skates (besides Tufts), too, so it's about time we at least gave you an update on how their season is going so far. The women's game gets off to an even slower than the men with no team in the 'Cac having played more than four of their sixteen conference games yet. Also, with the odd number of teams (9) the ladies don't have travel partners for conference play. Instead, they either host or travel to one school and play two games against the same opponent.

Defending national runner-up Middlebury currently sits in first place with a 4-0-0 record in conference and a 6-1-0 record overall, with their only loss coming to the top ranked Plattsburgh Cardinals (Platty is number one in men's polls as well). The Panthers, led by Bill Mandigo, the winning-est coach in women's college hockey history, currently sit at number two in both the USCHO and D3Hockey.com national polls. Between Middelbury men's coach Bill Beaney and Mandio, the killer Bills have 1,061 career collegiate coaching wins.

If we combine men's and women's teams, Amherst has had the best hockey season thus far in the NESCAC. The Lady Jeffs are 3-0-1 in conference (2nd) and 4-2-2 overall. Their only losses have come at the hands of defending national champion Elmira and Norwich, both of whom are ranked in the top five nationally. Amherst also gave Plattsburgh (9-0-1) the only blemish on their record, a 1-1 tie at the Panther/ Classic hosted by Middlebury. The Lady Jeffs strength of schedule puts them at fifth in the D3Hockey.com poll but only tenth in USCHO. Let's hesitate to call it anti-Cac bias, but the USCHO men's poll also has Williams - one of only three undefeated D-III men's teams in the country - tied at seven with Babson, a team the Ephs beat and that just lost to UNE, whom Bowdoin beat 9-3 early in the season for coach Meagher's 500th win.

The biggest surprise this season in the women's game has been the slow start of the defending NESCAC tournament champion Bowdoin Polar Bears. Sound familiar, NESCAC men's hockey fans? Expected to compete with Middlebury for the conference crown, 2013 NESCAC Coach of the Year Marissa O'Neill's team has skated to an 0-2-0 record in conference (9th) and a 3-3-0 record overall. They were upset in an opening weekend sweep at arch-rival Colby, led by Mules alum and interim coach Mallory Young ('05). Colby, picked by D3Hockey.com to finish second to last in the 'Cac, hasn't played well since, but still sits at 2-2-0 in conference (3rd) and 3-4-1 overall.

Trinity also has a neophyte coach in four time Team USA Olympian Jenny Potter. The Potter led Bantams, picked by D3Hockey.com to finish third in the conference, currently sit at 1-2-1 in the Cac (5th) and 2-2-3 overall.

D3Hockey.com picked Hamilton to finish fifth, but the Conts haven't been able to replicate the program best 9-3-0 start they had last year and currently sit in eighth with a 0-3-1 record in conference and a 2-4-1 mark overall. The team they tied, Connecticut College, is fifth with a 1-1-2 record (4-2-2 overall). Wesleyan, picked by D3H to finish last, is in sixth (1-2-1; 1-4-2) and Wililams clocks in  at seventh (1-1-0; 3-5-0) to round out the odd numbered field.

Poll: Biggest surprise in the NESCAC so far this year

The last NESCAC game for 2013 was a week ago and by the end of this week all NESCAC players will have finished finals or at least gone home for break. So while the season is only a month old, let's take this time to reflect on what have been the biggest surprises in the 'Cac so far this year. There's a poll on the left sidebar and below is a primer to help you vote. 

Bowdoin's lukewarm start 

It hasn't been smooth sailing for Steve Messina (35)
and Bowdoin so far this season. 

Bowdoin entered this season as the prohibitive favorites to repeat as NESCAC champions. After returning  the bulk of a roster that went 23-4-2 and went to the NCAA Quarterfinals last year, the Polar Bears had hopes of making the NCAA D-III men's ice hockey Final Four that they will be hosting in Lewiston this upcoming March. 

But the game is played on the ice and not paper. The Polar Bears' front-runner image took a hit with a 0-1-1 opening weekend that included a manhandling by Williams, the team Bowdoin beat in last year's conference finals and the only NESCAC team still undefeated heading into the calendar turn. Things got worse the second weekend of the season as the Polar Bears dropped their home opener to arch-nemesis Colby. Injuries, inconsistent play and lineup changes have plagued newly minted 500 career win coach Meagher's squad, and the Bowdoin players return to their respective homes with a 5-3-2  record overall and more importantly, a 2-3-1 record in the 'Cac.

There's still plenty of time left in the season and the Brunswick bunch could very well end up winning the NESCAC. But the 2013-14 season thus far has been disappointing no matter how you measure it. 

Williams undefeated start

Williams entered the season as a legitimate contender for the NESCAC title, but no one thought they would lead the conference in the regular season. You, dear readers, selected the Ephs to finish fifth (as did USCHO) while USCHO and the WordPress blog had coach Kangas' crew coming in at third. With Middlebury, Bowdoin, Amherst and nationally ranked Babson on the early season schedule, most observers would have prognosticated at least one loss in the first seven games.

The 5-0-2 is not without its blemishes with ties against Colby and Hamilton, but in such a competitive conference those are bound to happen. The Ephs have ridden rocksteady goal-tending from Sean Dougherty (G, '15), a solid defense and scoring from a strong recruiting class ( eight of the twelve Ephs goals are from rookies) to a national ranking of seven and five in the USCHO and D3Hockey.com polls, respectively. 

Wesleyan freshman Elliot Vorel's torrid start 

Milton product Elliot Vorel (F, '17) started off his collegiate career in about as auspicious a manner as one could imagine, netting five points (2-3-5) in Wesleyan's opener against Tufts, including the game winner with four seconds remaining. Sure there was some luck involved with Vorel being moved up to the first line alongside 2013 NESCAC Player of the Year Keith Buehler (F, '14), but luck is par for the course in a five point game.

Vorel hasn't kept up the five points per game clip, but he has had at least a point in ever one of the Cardinals'eight games. The Garden State product has nineteen points (10-9-19) in eight games and leads the country with 2.38 points per game. While Vorel will likely slow down as the sample size increases, he is currently on track to score 57 points in the regular season. No NESCAC player has had 50 points in a season since Mickey Gilchrist (F,'06) did it for Middlebury in 2005-06 (24-26-50). Gilchrist only had 37 points in the regular season and needed the 2006 NCAA championship game against St. Norbert to reach the 50 point plateau. 

Amherst sophomore Dave Cunningham's brick wall in net 

Dave Cunningham entered this season as the Lord Jeffs starting goaltender after a solid seven game stint as a backup in his freshman campaign. But with only two NESCAC games under his belt it was impossible to tell how he would do as a full-time starter. 

So far, the Bellmont Hill product has been up to the task. Through seven games, Cunningham has Amherst tied for first place thanks in large part to his 1.29 Goals Against Average (7th in nation) and .946 save% (8th in the nation). He hasn't let up more than two goals in any game and went toe-to-toe with Williams' Dougherty. The Jeffs lost, 1- 0, but Cunningham out-saved Dougherty, 27-18, and looked impressive throughout. 

Trinity's Liam McKillop not scoring a goal as a Bantam 

Liam Mckillop (F, '15) transferred to Trinity after playing for St. Anselm's of the ECAC East the past two seasons. In 59 games with the Hawks, the NYC native had 56 points (27-29-56). An adjustment to a new system and team might explain a drop in production, but not one point and no goals (0-1-1) through eight games. Mckillop hasn't been hurt and he has seen good ice time, making it even more surprising. 

Middlebury's Matt Silcoff (F, '16) -- the reigning NESCAC Rookie of the Year - - has also seen a precipitous drop in production, garnering only two points (0-2-2) in eight games after a 24 point (11-13-24) rookie season. Silcoff's been a bit dinged up and Mckillop has an extra year on his resume, so we'll give the nod to the Bantam transfer as the more surprising of the goal-less wonders. 

While still surprising, McKillop's drop isn't unprecedented. 2011-12 1st team All-NESCAC forward Nik Tasiopoulos (F, '14) made the opposite jump from McKillop when he transfered to ECAC East's Babson last year. In two seasons at Wesleyan, Tasiopolous put up 57 points (31-26-57) in 50 games, including 19 goals and 15 assists in 2011-12. In his first season as a Beaver, Tasipolous had just eighteen points (5-13-18) in 30 games, and only one of those goals came in the first eight games. This season, Tasiopoulos has 10 points (6-4-10) in 11 games for Babson.

Hamilton's three-point weekend against Williams and Middlebury 

Entering the December 6th and 7th match-ups against Williams and Middlebury, Hamilton hadn't had three points in a weekend against the Panthers/Ephs since January of 2011 at Sage, when they tied Middlebury and beat Williams. Since the end of the NESCAC/ECAC East interlock in 2011, Hamilton has only mustered two points in eight games against the duo thanks to a 3-0 win over Middlebury in December of 2011.

This season, the Conts entered the weekend at 2-3-0 overall and only 1-3-0 in conference. Williams entered the weekend undefeated and ranked in both the USCHO (9th) and D3Hockey.com (6th) polls, while Middlebury appeared in the D3Hockey.com poll as well at 15. Hamilton earned a hard fought tie against Williams, thanks in large part to senior goaltender Joe Quattrocchi (G, '14) making 39 saves. The next day, the Continentals  survived a back and forth third period to vanquish the Panthers 4-3. Middlebury's goalie carousel had started spinning again, but even with that in consideration most observers wouldn't have predicted an undefeated weekend in Sage for the home team. 

News and Notes 12/12/13: Williams and Amherst at top of D3H computer rankings, KRACH and Dear Santa

Williams and Amherst on top of D3Hockey.com Rankings
In this week's edition of "take these with a grain of salt" D3Hockey.com computer rankings, Williams and Amherst swap top spots after the Ephs defeated the Lord Jeffs 1-0 on Saturday. The biggest winners from this past weekend were Hamilton and Conn College. The Conts had the highest ranking jump in the country , courtesy of their victory over Middlebury and tie with Williams, while the Camels had the highest ratings bump in the nation thanks to winning their first game of the season against Bowdoin. We also learned that losing to last place Conn or Tufts is a no-no for the computers, as Bowdoin and Colby found out.

The NESCAC's small number of out-of-conference games makes their samples non-representative, which is to say you can't reliably compare their ratings to the rest of the schools that have two weeks of extra games under their belt. There's also the issues of how seriously different coaches take non-conference play (who's in net?), where you have played your games (Hamilton's only road game is against Amherst), etc. and so on.

It's easy to pick apart the computer rankings, especially at this point in the season. Sure the games are played on ice instead of circuit boards, but the statistical models are a fun tool, so why do you hate fun, haters? Plus, if they get some hockey players or fans to look up statistical terms like representative sample, we can claim they are educational. So there's that.

Below is the table with the current rankings (out of 79 DII-DIII schools) and rating for each NESCAC school this week. In parentheses is the change in ranking or rating from the first set of computer ratings that came out last week.

School	Computer Ranking (change from last week’s ranking)	Computer rating (change from last week’s score)
Williams	1 (+1)	706 (+3)
Amherst	2 (-1)	700 (-7)
Trinity	13 (-2)	595 (-13)
Hamilton	16 (+29)	585 (+23)
Wesleyan	21 (+5)	563 (+10)
Middlebury	27 (-15)	548 (-56)
Bowdoin	35 (-17)	530 (-50)
Colby	37 (-24)	529 (-73)
Tufts	59 (+7)	444 (+35)
Conn College	67 (+10)	404 (+109)

KRACH
One computer ranking model we have not talked about is "Ken's Ratings for American College Hockey" or KRACH. The KRACH applies the Bradley-Terry rating system, a statistical model for pairwise comparisons that is utilized in various computer ranking models including in D-I football by the BCS. Another thing for you to look up while you study for your stats final.

USCHO publishes KRACH  and provides a little bit more of the raw data than D3H, including the strength of schedule rating/ranking based on the model. The same caveat of insular sampling in the NESCAC applies for this model like it does for D3H. With that said, below are the current KRACH overall rankings/ratings and Strength of Schedule (SOS) ranking/rating for each of the ten NESCAC schools. Unlike D3H, USCHO doesn't include the D-II schools in the KRACH, so the rankings are out of 73 schools. The exact national ranking is a bit different, but D3H and KRACH produce the same order or rankings for the 'Cac.

School	Ranking	Rating	SOS Rank	SOS Rating
Williams	3	771.7	4	178.1
Amherst	5	637.8	1	289.9
Trinity	8	508.9	26	117.4
Hamilton	17	248.7	2	248.7
Wesleyan	23	154.9	39	92.92
Middlebury	24	153.1	12	153.1
Bowdoin	31	108.8	53	75.33
Colby	36	98.85	46	80.88
Tufts	61	34.45	34	103.3
Conn College	66	25.41	17	144.0

Wish List for Santa
In Tim Costello's final NESCAC column of 2013 for USCHO, he goes through each team in the NESCAC and what he thinks they'll be asking Santa to bring them for the 2014 leg of the 2013-14 NESCAC season. Includes things like Middlebury asking for consistent goaltending and Williams asking for good weather at Frozen Fenway.

Week in Review: 12/4-12/10

The 'Cac took an almost two week break from conference action for Thanksgiving and out-of-conference play but emerged with another wild weekend. Bowdoin then closed out play in 2013 with their tie at University of Southern Maine last night. Here's the week that was, the week after break ahead and player of the week for each school, in order of current NESCAC standings.

1. Amherst (6-2-0; 5-1-0) 

 1st in NESCAC - 10 points
This week's record: (1-1-0; 1-1-0)

The week that was: The Lord Jeffs are tied for first with Williams, but unless Amherst can beat the Ephs in Williamstown later this year, Williams would own the ultimate tie-breaker should the two teams end up with the same record at the end of the year. The Ephs knocked off Amherst on Saturday in a defensive duel that only had 46 shots total in the game. The night before Amherst vanquished the Middlebury Panthers 4-1 on the strength of Brendan Burke (F, '16)'s first two collegiate goals in the third period. 

The week ahead:  Finals. After that, holiday time with friends and family before returning to campus for practice on the 28th. Amherst plays Plymouth State from the MASCAC in the first round of Norwich's Northfield Bank Tournament on January 3rd and then either lowly Milwaukee School of Engineering or Norwich in the next round. 

After that it's four straight weekends on the road for the Lord Jeffs, including a trip out west to face North Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) foes Concordia College  in Wisconsin and Lake Forest College in Illinois. The Lord Jeffs last traveled out west a decade ago, when they defeated St. Thomas and tied Gustavus Adolphus of Minnesota in January of 2004.

Player of the week: Dave Cunningham (G, '16) The sophomore sensation stopped 51 of 53 shots he faced over the weekend, earning New England Hockey Journal D-III Player of the Week honors. Cunningham and the Jeffs haven't allowed more than two goals in a game this season, even in the two losses. 

1.  Williams (5-0-2; 4-0-2) 
1st in NESCAC - 10 points
This week's record: (1-0-1; 1-0-1)

The week that was: The Ephs finished the weekend as the only undefeated team in the NESCAC and one of only three unbeatens in the nation. They tied Hamilton 1-1 in a game that the Ephs were trailing in the third period and the Continentals needed a 38 save performance from goalie Joe Quattrocchi (G, '14) to earn the tie. They followed that up with a 1-0 nail bitter against arch-rival Amherst to move in to a tie for first with the very same Lord Jeffs.

The week ahead: After break, the Ephs start the  new year off in upstate New York at the Cardinal classic, where they play Hobart and then either 'Cac foe Hamilton or host and current number one team in the nation, Plattsburgh, in the next round.  Just three days later they play Trinity at the much anticipated Frozen Fenway game. 

Player of the week: Sean Dougherty (G, '15) Stopped 43 of 44 stops, 18 of which came in his first shutout of the year, on his way to earning NESCAC Player of the Week for the first time in his career. 

3. Middlebury (3-3-2; 3-2-1)

3rd in NESCAC - 7 points
This week's record: (0-2-0; 0-2-0)

The week that was:  Middlebury dropped both road games to fall from second to third in the 'Cac (likely would have a steeper decline if Trinity played in conference). More concerning for the Panthers, the goalie carousel is now back in full motion. Mike Peters (G, '15) had the job locked up through the first five games of the season, but then yielded to senior Nick BonDurant (G, '14) after letting up three goals on seven shots in the first period of the PrimeLink finals against Plattsburgh. BonDurant shutout Platty the rest of the way, but gave up four goals to Amherst and Liam Moorfield Yee (G, '16) - - who wasn't even on the initial roster this year - - played against Hamilton, giving up four goals on 22 shots in a 4-3 loss. The only netminder and class not to get a shot yet is freshman Drew Michals (G, '17). 

The week ahead:  The Panthesr start 2014 with their own Middlebury Classic in which they face off against feeble St. Michael's in the first round, and either Southern Maine or Neumann in the next round. 

Player of the week: Derek Pimentel  (F, '15) Had two points (1-1-2) against Hamilton to end the weekend as the only Panther in double digits for points (5-5-10) on the season.   

4. Trinity (6-2-0; 3-1-0)
4th in NESCAC - 6 points 
This week's record: (1-1-0; 0-0-0)

The week that was:  Trinity, like Wesleyan, didn't play any conference games. Last Thursday, they lost a disappointing 2-0 game at home to Stonehill despite outshooting the Skyhawks 42-30 in the game and 22-6 in the final frame. They then exploded for a 6-3 victory on the road against Manhattanville on Saturday. Valiants goalie Alex Scola (G, '15) had entered the game with two straight shutouts over Tufts and Conn College. 

The week ahead: Trinity returns to action on January 3rd in Beantown against Becker and then at home the next day against New England College to complete their OOC schedule. They return to conference action just three days later on January 7th against Williams under the lights at Frozen Fenway in a rematch of one of last season's NESCAC Semfinals, which the Ephs won, 4-2.

Player of the week: Mike Hawkrigg (F, '16) The Toronto, Onatario native is usually the one doing the distributing but on Saturday he was the one on the receiving end of the assists. First career hat-trick. 'Nuff said.

5. Bowdoin (5-3-2; 2-3-1)

5th in NESCAC - 5 points
This week's record: (1-1-1;1-1-0)

The week that was: Bowdoin lost 3-2 in OT to previously winless Conn College on Friday night in Brunswick. Max Fenkell, who left the UNE game after the second period and didn't dress for the games against Suffolk and UMD at Bowdoin/Colby Faceoff Classic, returned to the two goalie rotation with Steve Messina (G, '14).

The Polar Bears then exploded for five second period goals in an 8-4 drubbing of Tufts the next day. They then concluded play for NESAC schools in 2013 with a 3-3 tie at USM last night. If any team could use a break right now to get players healthy and figure out its identity, it's Bowdoin. 5-3-2 might not be a bad record for a lot of teams, but it is a disappointment for a squad that hopes to make it to the D-III Final Four that they are hosting in Lewiston. Still plenty of puck to be played, though, so I'm sure coach Meagher isn't panicked. 

The week ahead: Bowdoin returns from break at home with their second game of the season against University of New England, the team they beat 9-3 for Meagher's 500th career win in November. They then return to conference play against Amherst and Hamilton that weekend.

Player of the week: Colin Downey  (F/D, '14) Scored twice and added an assist in the rout of Tufts (2-1-3) and added an assist against Southern Maine. The senior from East Sandwich, MA leads the team with sixteen points (6-10-16) and sits just four points away from the 100 point club. 

5. Colby (4-3-2; 2-3-1) 
5th in NESCAC - 5 points
This week's record: (1-1-0; 1-1-0)

The week that was : Colby lost,5-2, at home on Friday to previously winless-in-conference Tufts. The score was tied at two after two, but the Jumbos netted three third period goals for the victory. Colby saved face against Conn College on Saturday, 4-3, but it took OT to do so. 

The week ahead: Colby's the first NESCAC school to play in 2014, facing off against frequent 'Cac adversary Wentworth in the opening round of the Salem State Tournament. The Mules then play either another 'Cac frequenter in Babson or host Salem State in the second game of the tournament. 

Player of the week: Ben Chwick (F, '14) Had a goal and an assist against Tufts before netting three points (2-1-3) against Conn College to end 2013 with a team leading 13 points (7-6-13). Chwick has stepped up his production after appearing for team USA in the Maccabiah Games this summer and his seven goals this year already match his career high for a season. 

5. Hamilton (3-3-1; 2-3-1)

8th in NESCAC - 5 points

This week's record: (1-0-1; 1-0-1)

The week that was: Hamilton  had the best week in the 'Cac. After a huge tie against now conference leader Williams, the Conts followed it up with a victory over third place Middlebury. Joe Quattrocchi (G, '14), who has the talent to be an elite netminder in the NESCAC if not the consistency, made 38 saves to earn the tie on Friday. The Conts survived a back and forth third period, scoring one more goal than the Panthers in the final frame to win 4-3 on Saturday. Hamilton is now 3-1-1 in their last five and if not for a third period collapse to Trinity would have a six game unbeaten streak. 

The week ahead: Things don't get easier after break in the schedule department for the Conts, who have played the second hardest schedule in the nation so far this year according to the KRACH model.  They open up 2014 against consensus number one Plattsburgh, then play either Hobart or Williams in the second of Platty's Cardinal Classic. 

Player of the week: Joe Quattrocchi (G, '14) Didn't have the greatest game against Middlebury, but his performance against Williams earned the tie that may have given the Continentals the confidence needed to beat Middlebury. 

8. Wesleyan  (5-2-1; 2-2-0)

8th in the NESCAC - 4 points

This week's record: (1-0-0; 0-0-0) 

The week that was: The Cardinals are in eighth by virtue of playing two less games than 4/5 of the league, not because they deserve to be here. In their only game of the week, Wesleyan dismantled a Hobart team that is better than their 2-4-4 record on  the strength of freshman phenom Elliot Vorel (F,17)'s first career hat trick. Scoring clearly won't be the problem for the conference leading Cardinals (4.0 goals per game), but questions still remain on defense and in net. 

The week ahead: Wesleyan concludes out-of-conference play with home games against New England College (January 4th) and SUNY Canton (January 5th).

Player of the week: Elliott Vorel (F, '17) Vorel continues his torrid pace and now leads the country in scoring with 19 points (10-9-19) and 2.38 points-per-game. While he'll likely slow down, Vorel is on pace for 57 points in the regular season alone. No NESCAC player has had 50 points in a season since Mickey Gilchrist (F,'06) did it for Middlebury in 2005-06 (24-26-50). Gilchrist only had 37 points in the regular season and needed the 2006 NCAA championship game against St. Norbert to reach the 50 point plateau. 

9. Conn College (1-8-0; 1-5-0) 

9th in NESCAC - 2 points

This week's record - (1-1-0; 1-1-0)

The week that was: Conn College breathed a sigh of relief on Friday when they finally won a game, beating Bowdoin 3-2 in OT. They followed it up with their third OT loss of the season to Colby on Saturday. This team isn't good, but they are a lot better than their stats or records show. The Camels could cause some headaches for teams up the standings later in the year if some people could actually put the puck in the net. 

The week ahead: Conn College opens up 2014 with two SUNY schools that couldn't be more different. On January 4th, the Camels host the 2-9-1 Canton 'Roos, who are still in the probationary period for transfer from club to D-III. Three days later, Conn College travels to Oswego to take on the perennial national powerhouse Lakers.  

Player of the week: JC Cangelosi (F, '15) Didn't have a goal this weekend, but still leads the team in goals and had four points (0-4-4) to end 2013 with a team leading 13 points (5-8-13). The next highest scorer on the team is freshman Greg Liautaud (D,'14) with four points (0-4-4) and there in lies your problem, Camels.

9. Tufts (2-7-0; 1-5-0)

9th in NESCAC - 2 points

This week's record - (1-1-0; 1-1-0)

The week that was: The Jumbos got their first conference win on Friday against Colby to keep pace with Conn College on the strength of three third period goals that broke a 2-2 tie after two. They then followed it up with an 8-4 beatdown by Bowdoin. 

The week ahead: The Jumbos start off the year in the most Boston Tournament ever, the Codfish Bowl. They first play University of Southern New Hampshire in the first round, then either Suffolk or UMass-Boston in the second round. 

Player of the week:   Tyler Voight (F, '15)  Had three points in the win over Colby (2-1-3) and added an assist against Bowdoin.