Men's Hockey Entertains Brown University on Friday Night (7 p.m.)
Game Notes
DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire men's hockey team returns to action after the holiday break when it entertains ECAC-foe Brown University on Friday night (7 p.m.) at the Whittemore Center. The Wildcats, who are 6-3-0 at home, are trying to snap a three-game skid. The teams played to a 5-5 overtime tie a year ago.
Scouting the Bears: Brown enters the matchup with UNH with a 4-6-1 overall record and an even 3-3-0 mark in ECAC. The Bears snapped a five-game winless draught with a 6-4 win over nationally-ranked Yale on Dec. 3 before the 27-day layoff. A well-balanced offensive attack is led by senior Jack Maclellan with five goals and four assists, while Bobby Farnham and Matt Wahl each have eight points for the Bears. In net, senior netminder Mike Clemente has seen every minute of action posting a 4-6-1 record with a 2.56 GAA coupled with a .907 save percentage. The Bears have been stingy defensively allowing just 2.73 GAA offensively, but are averaging only 2.18 over the first 11 games.
Series History vs. Brown: The Wildcats own a 20-13-2 all-time record vs. Brown in 35 all-time meetings dating back to Feb. 11, 1927. UNH is unbeaten in the last eight meetings with Brown (7-0-1) including a 5-5 come-back tie last year. The last time Brown defeated UNH was Dec. 1, 1987 (4-3). UNH last defeated Brown on Nov. 26, 2007 (5-2). UNH has won 11 of the last 13 meetings and are 15-2-1 in the last 18 games. Mike Borisenok and Brett Kostolansky both scored goals in last year's game and are the top returners. Di Girolamo is 0-0-1 with a 4.66 GAA and a .815 save percentage against Brown
Scoring Leaders vs. Brown:
Player GP G-A-P
Mike Borisenok 1 1-0-1
Brett Kostolansky 1 1-0-1
Stevie Moses 1 0-0-0
Dalton Speelman 1 0-0-0
Austin Block 1 0-0-0
John Henrion 1 0-0-0
Kevin Goumas 1 0-0-0
Jeff Silengo 1 0-0-0
Kevin McCarey 1 0-0-0
Nick Sorkin 1 0-0-0
Damon Kipp 1 0-0-0
Connor Hardowa 1 0-0-0
Goaltending Stats
Player GP/Min GA GAA W-L-T SV SV%
Di Girolamo 1/64:20 5 4.66 0-0-1 22 .815
Last Time These Teams Met (11/23/10): Blake Kessel and Mike Borisenok scored goals 11 seconds apart late in the third period to lift UNH to a 5-5 non-conference tie against Brown University at the Whittemore Center. Trailing 5-3, the Wildcats called time out with 2:33 remaining and pulled goaltender Matt Di Girolamo in favor of an extra skater. Phil DeSimone swung the puck from the right circle to Mike Sislo at the opposite side. Sislo quickly made a touch pass to Kessel in the high slot and his shot sailed into the net at 18:07. Borisenok leveled the score, 5-5, at 18:18 when he corralled a loose puck in front of the net and beat Brown goalie Mike Clemente. Di Girolamo finished with 22 saves, including four in the five-minute overtime session. Clemente stopped 36 shots, including two in OT and 14 in the third period. It was the seventh time this season New Hampshire registered 40-plus shots on net. UNH's offense was led by Sislo (two goals, two assists) and DeSimone (three assists). Kessel tallied a goal and an assist. For Brown, Harry Zolnierczyk (2g, 1a), Jack Maclellan (3a) and Jeff Buvinow (2a) had multiple-point games.
Last Time Out (12/8/11): Casey DeSmith made 32 saves in his first collegiate start but UNH was defeated 2-1 by 11th-ranked Boston University in Hockey East action at the Whittemore Center. DeSmith made double-digit saves in both the first (11) and second (14) periods, and he stopped all seven shots in the final frame. BU netminder Kieran Millan finished with 28 saves, including 11 in the second stanza.
DeBut for DeSmith: In his first collegiate start, Casey DeSmith stopped 32 of 34 Terrier shots. DeSmith made double-digit saves in both the first (11) and second (14) periods, and he stopped all seven shots in the final frame.
Chevrier Departs: Freshman defenseman Eric Chevrier has left the Wildcats to go play junior hockey in the British Columbia Hockey League with the Surrey Eagles. Chevrier had not seen any game action this season. "I think Eric decided this option gives him an opportunity to play on a more regular basis and continue to develop as a hockey player," UNH coach Dick Umile. "Eric is a terrific young man and I wish him nothing but the best of luck in the future."
Burke Lights the Lamp for Third Time in Four Games: Greg Burke scored UNH's lone goal, he has goals in three of the last four games.
Streaky 'Cats: The streaky Wildcats ended the first half by dropping five of its last six. UNH opened the season with four-straight loses before a seven-game unbeaten streak, which preceded the latest 1-5 stretch.
Coming Back from the Break: UNH is 4-8-0 since 2000 in games coming out of the break. However, the Wildcats have won just once in the last eight games out of the break.
Since 2000 Games Coming Out of the Break
Date Opponent Result Neutral Site Info.
1-2-11 St. Lawrence L, 1-2
1-3-10 Cornell L, 2-5
1-4-09 @ Maine W, 5-4
12-28-07 @ North Dakota L, 1-3
12-29-06 v. Cornell L, 2-5 Estero, Florida
12-30-05 Niagara L, 2-6
12-29-04 at Mich. State L, 3-4 OT
1-3-04 Yale L, 2-3
12-27-02 v. Clarkson W, 4-2 Denver, Colo.
12-27-01 v. Colo. College W, 6-2 Milwauke, Wis.
12-29-00 @Dartmouth L, 3-6
1-3-00 Dartmouth W, 3-2 OT
Total 4-8-0
Home vs. Away: UNH is 6-2-0 at home compared to 0-6-2 on the road. Here is a look at some of the breakdown of home vs. away.
Home Away
Record 6-2-0 0-6-2
Goals For 35 21
Goals Against 19 36
GMs w/ 5+ goal 4 2
Power Play 26.9% 7.4%
Penalty Kill 91.6% 78.7%
Di Girolamo's GAA 2.44 4.47
Di Girolamo's Save % .915 .852
Wins vs. Losses: UNH is averaging over five goals a game in wins and allowing just 1.5. Here is a look at stats in wins versus losses.
Wins Losses
Record 6-0-0 0-9-0
Goals For 31 19
Goals Against 9 42
GMs w/ 5+ goal 4 2
Power Play 30.0% 11.1%
Penalty Kill 94.4% 74.2%
Di Girolamo's GAA 1.54 4.74
Di Girolamo's Save % .946 .844
Top Scorers Goumas (2-9-11) Dowing (2-5-7)
Sorkin (1-10-11) Henrion (1-5-6)
Moses (7-2-9) Moses (3-2-5)
TO THIS POINT LAST YEAR: A comparison through 17 games between this season and last season.
09-10 10-11 11-12
Record 8-6-3 10-3-4 6-9-2
HE Record 8-2-2 8-1-2 4-7-1
Goals scored 57 58 57
Goals scored/PG 3.35 3.41 3.35
Goals Allowed 59 41 58
Goals Allowed/PG 3.47 2.41 3.41
Shots 488 613 599
Shots Allowed 555 521 502
Power Play 16.0% 19.8% 18.8%
(12-75) (16-81) (12-64)
Penalty Kill 75.0% 84.5% 83.1%
(54-72) (49-58) (49-59)
Top 3 Scorers Butler Thompson Moses
13-11-24 11-14-25 11-8-19
Kessel Sislo Sorkin
5-13-18 8-16-24 5-14-19
Thomp. DeSimone Goumas
8-9-17 4-16-20 4-11-15
Protecting the Lead: The Wildcats are 6-1-0 when leading after two periods.
SCORING BY CLASS: 2011-12 breakdown of scoring by class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P %.
Seniors: 20-16-35 35%-16%-23%
Juniors: 15-29-43 26%-29%-28%
Sophomores: 12-34-46 21%-34%-29%
Freshmen: 10-22-33 18%-22%-20%
Wildcats Among National Leaders (Thru 12/16): Below is a list of where UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank Stats
Points Per Game:
Nick Sorkin 38th 1.12 ppg
Stevie Moses 38th 1.12 ppg
Goals Per Game:
Stevie Moses 16th 0.65 gpg
Assists Per Game:
Nick Sorkin 18th 0.82 apg
Kevin Goumas 42nd 0.69 apg
Power Play Goals:
Nick Sorkin 20th 4 ppg
Stevie Moses 49th 3 ppg
Short Handed Goals:
Kevin Goumas 12th 1 shg
Nick Sorkin 12th 1 shg
Rookie Scoring
Grayson Downing 9th 0.87 ppg
Casey Thrush 42nd 0.60 ppg
Team
Scoring Offense 13th 3.35
Scoring Defense 52nd 3.41
Scoring Margin 34th -.06
Power Play 30th 18.8
Penalty Kill 27th 83.1
Combined Special Teams 31st 49.6
Among the League Leaders (Thru 12/16): Where some of the Wildcats rank in Hockey East.
Player All Games HE Games
Points Nick Sorkin 6th (19 pts) 39th (8 pts)
Stevie Moses 6th (19 pts) 15th (11 pts)
Kevin Goumas 15th (15 pts) 39th (8 pts)
Goals Stevie Moses 3rd (11 g) 12th (5 g)
Grayson Downing 29th ( 5g) 52nd (2 g)
Nick Sorkin 29th (5 g) 52nd (2g)
Assists Nick Sorkin 2nd (14 a) 26th (6 a)
Kevin Goumas 9th (11 a) 16th (7 a)
John Henrion 20th (9 a) 64th (3 a)
PP Points Stevie Moses 9th (7 pts) 9th (5 pts)
Nick Sorkin 9th (7 pts) 42nd (3 pts)
PP Goals Nick Sorkin 4th (4 ppg) 12th (2 ppg)
Stevie Moses 12th (3 ppg) 12th (2 ppg)
SH Points Kevin Goumas 8th (1 shp) n/a
Nick Sorkin 8th (1 shp) n/a
Stevie Moses 8th (1 shp)
T. van Riemsdyk 8th (1shp)
SH Goals Kevin Goumas 3rd (1 shg) n/a
Nick Sorkin 3rd (1 shg) n/a
Game Winning Goals
Jeff Silengo 18th (1 gwg) 9th (1 g)
Kevin Goumas 18th (1gwg) n/a Stevie Moses 18th (1gwg)
Kevin McCarey 18th (1 gwg) 9th (1 g)
Bret Kostolansky 18th (1gwg) 9th (1 g)
Nick Sorkin 18th (1gwg) 9th (1 g)
Def. Scoring T.van Riemsdyk 10th (9 pts) 22nd (3 pts)
Damon Kipp 15th (7 pts) 18th (4 pts)
Freshman Scor. Grayson Downing 3rd (13 pts) 13th (4pts)
Casey Thrush 9th (9 pts) 6th (7 pts)
T. van Riemsdyk 9th (9 pts) 17th (3pts)
Plus-Minus Casey Thrush 8th (+8) 5th (+6)
GAA Matt Di Girolamo 9th (3.36) 9th (3.23)
Save % Matt Di Girolamo 9th (.885) 9th (.888)
Saves Matt Di Girolamo 3rd (371) 2nd (278)
Minutes Matt Di Girolamo 2nd (857:32) 2nd (649:11)
Where UNH is Ranked in Hockey East (Thru 12/16):
Overall HE games
Goals/per game 3.35/4th 2.67/7th
GAA 3.41/9th 3.25/7th
Power Play 18.8/6th 14.6/9th
Penalty Kill 83.1/6th 88.1/2nd
Special Teams Net +2/6th 0/6th
1st Period Scoring 21/1st 12/4th
2nd Period Scoring 18/3rd 11/5th
3rd Period Scoring 17/5th 9/8th
Overtime Scoring 1/3rd n/a
All in the Family: Junior forward Scott Pavelski is the younger brother of Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks while freshman defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk is the younger brother of former wildcat and current Philadelphia flyer James van Riemsdyk. Freshman forward Jay Camper is the brother of Miami standout Carter Camper, while Associate Head Coach Jim Tortorella is the brother of Rangers head coach John Tortorella.
'Cats Selected in the NHL Draft: Two current UNH players have been selected in the National Hockey League draft. Greg Burke (Washington) and Eric Knodel (Toronto) have all been drafted.
UNH to Play Rival Maine at Fenway Park: The University of New Hampshire will make history Jan. 7, 2012, when the Wildcats face off against longtime nemesis University of Maine at Fenway Park as part of a Hockey East doubleheader that was announced Aug. 25 at the venerable ballpark, which is home to the Boston Red Sox of MLB. The event has been dubbed Frozen Fenway 2012 and Hockey Day in New England. The 111th meeting in the series between UNH and Maine - the 'Cats swept last year's season series - is the second game of a doubleheader at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a matchup between the University of Vermont and the University of Massachusetts at 4 p.m. The doubleheader will be broadcast live in high-definition on NESN.
UNH, Verizon Wireless Arena Awarded 2013 NCAA Northeast Men's Hockey Regional: The NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee announced Oct. 5 that the University of New Hampshire and Verizon Wireless Arena have been awarded the 2013 NCAA Division I men's hockey Northeast Regional. Game dates and times have not been finalized, but will be held between March 29-31. 2013 will mark the fifth time UNH and Verizon Wireless Arena have hosted this event, all since 2004. Last season, UNH advanced to the regional finals against with a 3-1 win over top-seeded Miami at the NCAA Northeast Regional in Manchester. New Hampshire also hosted in 2007 and 2009. In addition to the Northeast Regional, the East Regional will be held at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. and hosted by Brown University, the Midwest Regional will be held at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio and hosted by Bowling Green State University and the West Regional will be held at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. and be hosted by the University of Michigan.
Wildcats Tabbed Third in Hockey East Preseason Poll:
2011-2012 Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll
Rk. Team (FPV) Pts
1. Boston College (7) 88
2. Boston University (3) 83
3. New Hampshire 72
4. Maine 64
5. Merrimack 61
6. Vermont 44
7. Massachusetts 42
8. Northeastern 33
9. UMass-Lowell 27
10. Providence 26
Where is UNH Ranked?: Here is a week-by-week look at the 'Cats in the national polls and the HE standings:
Date USA TODAY USCHO HE
9/27 12th 12th 3rd (pre)
10/3 NP NP 3rd (pre)
10/10 RV 15th 6th
10/17 NR RV 8th
10/24 NR NR 8th
10/31 NR NR 7th
11/7 NR RV 4th
11/14 NR RV 4th
11/21 NR RV 4th
11/28 NR NR 4th
12/5 NR NR 7th
12/12 NR NR 8th
12/19 NR NR 8th
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's Hockey Poll (Dec. 19)
Rk. Team, Points (FPV) Last Poll Record Weeks
1 Minnesota Duluth, 510 (34) 1 12-3-3 12
2 University of Minnesota, 474 2 14-5-1 11
3 Boston College, 426 4 12-6-0 12
4 Ohio State University, 418 3 13-4-1 6
5 Colorado College, 340 7 11-5-0 12
6 University of Notre Dame, 332 6 11-6-3 12
7 Merrimack College, 306 5 10-3-2 11
8 Western Michigan Univ., 254 8 9-4-5 12
9 Boston University, 216 9 10-5-1 9
10 Union College, 214 12 9-3-5 12
11 Colgate University, 168 10 11-4-2 6
12 Ferris State University, 166 11 11-6-1 9
13 Cornell University, 82 15 7-3-1 2
14 Michigan State University, 72 14 10-6-2 3
15 University of Denver, 54 13 8-7-3 12
Others receiving votes: UMass Lowell, 34; Lake Superior State University, 8; United States Air Force Academy, 2; University of North Dakota, 2; Yale University, 2.
USCHO.com Division I Men's Hockey Poll (Dec. 19)
Rk. School (FPV) Record Points Lst Wk.
1 Minnesota-Duluth (48) 12-3-3 998 1
2 Minnesota (1) 14-5-1 920 2
3 Boston College 12-6-0 879 3
4 Ohio State (1) 13-4-1 865 4
5 Notre Dame 11-6-3 721 6
6 Colorado College 11-5-0 716 7
7 Merrimack 10-3-2 682 5
8 Western Michigan 9-4-5 631 8
9 Boston University 10-5-1 596 9
10 Union 9-3-5 571 11
11 Ferris State 11-6-1 508 10
12 Colgate 11-4-2 482 12
13 Cornell 7-3-1 391 13
14 Michigan State 10-6-2 327 15
15 Denver 8-7-3 259 14
16 Lake Superior 11-7-2 254 16
17 Massachusetts-Lowell 10-5-0 247 17
18 North Dakota 9-8-1 107 18
19 Yale 6-5-1 68 19
20 Michigan 9-8-3 60 20
Others receiving votes: Quinnipiac 52, Northern Michigan 50,
Northeastern 29, Air Force 26, Miami 18, Clarkson 12,
Providence 10, Harvard 9, Nebraska-Omaha 8, Robert Morris 4.
UNH Hockey on Television(Subject to change or additional):
DATE GAME Channel RES.
Oct. 21 at St. Cloud Charter L, 5-7
Oct. 22 at St. Cloud Charter T, 3-3 OT
Nov. 12 at Vermont WCAX T, 4-4 OT
Nov.18 Mass.-Lowell WBIN W, 5-0
Dec. 8 Boston Univ. WBIN L, 1-2
Jan. 7 vs. Maine (Frozen Fenway) NESN 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 21 Merrimack WBIN 7 p.m.
Jan. 27 at Boston College NESN 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 28 Boston College WBIN 7 p.m.
Feb. 3 Providence CBS Sports 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 10 Northeatern WBIN 7 p.m.
Feb. 11 at Merrimack NESN 7 p.m.
Feb. 17 Vermont WBIN 7 p.m.
NESN FLEX GAMES WILL BE DETERMINED TWO WEEKS OUT
Feb. 18 Vermont at New Hampshire NESN-FLEX 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 25 New Hampshire at UMass NESN-FLEX 3:30 p.m.
Mar. 3 New Hampshire at Maine NESN-FLEX 4 p.m.
WILDCAT AWARDS: Here is a list of awards that Wildcat players have won to date this season:
Player Award Date
Matt Di Girolamo USCHO's Top 10 Goalies #1 9/26
Stevie Moses USCHO's Top 10 Forwards #4 9/30
Matt Di Girolamo HE Defensive Player of the Week 10/31
UNH Wildcats HE Team of the Week 11/7
Casey Thrush HE Rookie of the Week 11/21
Stevie Moses HE co-Player of the Week 11/28
UNH HOCKEY ON THE RADIO: In the summer of 1999, the University of New Hampshire Athletic Department formed the "UNH Sports Network" — the largest network ever to broadcast UNH sporting events.In 2009, Wildcats Sports Properties has added WGIN-AM 930 (Rochester) and WQSO-FM 96.7 (Portsmouth) as affiliate stations on the Wildcat Sports Network, joining flagship WGIR-AM 610 (Manchester), which was added in 2008. All three stations are part of the Clear Channel family. These three aforementioned stations -- along with WSMN-AM 1590 (Nashua), WNTK-FM 99.7 (New London) and WASR-AM 1420 (Wolfeboro) -- will carry the following: all UNH football & men's hockey broadcasts, a select number of men's basketball, women's basketball and women's hockey broadcasts. Dan Parkhurst will be handling the play-by-play for the fifth-straight season, while Pete Webster will once again be doing the color commentating. Webster has been announcing Wildcat hockey since the 1993-94 season.
LISTEN LIVE ON THE INTERNET: UNHWildcats.com via Stretch Internet Broadcast will carry all of the UNH men's ice hockey action again this season. If you can not attend Wildcat hockey, you can still tune into the game from anywhere you can gain access to the internet. Fans can get to the UNH men's ice hockey broadcast site by going to the men's hockey schedule page at www.unhwildcats.com.
GRANITE STATE CONNECTION: The Wildcat hockey team features three players from New Hampshire with Greg Burke (Lee), Ryan Randall (Durham) and Casey DeSmith (Rochester) all hailing from the Granite State.
