Out of Conference Preview: 11/25/14

Amherst (2-1-0; 2-1-0 NESCAC) at St. Michael's (3-2-1; 2-2-1 ECAC-East)
Colchester, VT   
4PM 
Video (NSN)   Live Stats    Preview 

Amherst kicks off their Out-of-Conference schedule against 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.

The Lord Jeffs are no strangers to St. Michael's, especially in recent years. Amherst vanquished the Purple Knights 4-1 in Vermont in January of 2013 and blanked them 4-0 at Amherst last November. St. Michael's went into Western Mass 0-5 last fall to face the 4-0 Lord Jeffs. The Purple Knights, coached by Hamilton alum Damian DiGuilian, are off to a much better start this year at 3-2-1. Amherst has wins over Hamilton and Wesleyan with a drubbing by Trinity sandwiched in between. The Jeffs still received votes in the D3Hockey.com and USCHO polls.

Look for one of the backup netminders to get some action for Coach Arena's crew.  Senior Danny Vitale (G, '15), who saw some action in the 7-2 loss in Hartford, could get his first career start. For the Purple Knights, senior AJ Pieprzak (F, '15) was just named ECAC-East Player of the Week after posting a five point weekend (3-2-5) in a loss to New England College and a tie with St. Anselm's.

With the Lord Jeffs playing the Purple Knights, is there any option other than Prince's "Purple Rain" 






Bowdoin (3-0-1; 3-0-1 NESCAC) at University of New England (3-3-0;2-3-0 ECAC-East)
Biddeford, ME
7 PM
Video  Live Stats 

It's the fifth game of the season for Bowdoin - and their second on the road - and all have come within the friendly confines of Maine. Both schools enter the game riding the high of rivalry wins with Bowdoin sweeping Colby in the annual series and UNE blanking University of Southern Maine 8-0 last Friday.

Bowdoin has never lost to UNE - who is in its sixth year as a D-III hockey program - in six games all-time. Last November, the Polar Bears drubbed the Nor'easters 9-3 for Terry Meagher's 500th win as a coach in addition to a 4-3 win in Brunswick later in season. The Nor'easters are off to a promising start this season for a fledgling program that set a record for wins last season at 10-15-1. Bowdoin looks to continue its dominance over in-state opponents after moving up to tenth in the D3 polls this week.

In honor of this in-state matchup, here's  Mike + Ruthy - featuring Bowdoin alum Michael J. Merenda ('98) - with "On My Way Home". The folk duo also have an awesome instrumental piece called "Bobby Orr Tattoo". 





Becker (1-6-0; 0-5-0 ECAC-Northeast)  at Tufts (0-3-1; 0-3-1 NESCAC)
Malden, MA
Video   Live Stats

Last season, the 0-5-2 Becker Hawks took on the 0-4-0 Tufts Jumbos at the Malden Valley Forum. The young Hawks headed back to central Mass. with their first victory of the season but both teams ended up at the bottom of the D-III records. The Hawks will once again carry a young team east with nine freshmen and fourteen sophomores on the roster. The Jumbos have their own youth movement with nine freshmen on the roster, including Brian Brown (F, '18), who leads the Jumbos with two goals scored.

It's another rough start for Tufts and Becker, but it's early yet, so hang in there Jumbos and Hawks. Here's Guster - formed at Tufts in the early 1990s - with "Hang on".