Maybe they were thinking more about Christmas vacation and less about the scoreboard.
None of the ECAC Northeast’s teams had much luck against nonconference opponents in a stretch of four days, from last Wednesday to Saturday, as the ECAC Northeast finished a combined 2-7 in that span. The only two wins? Nichols, which defeated Franklin Pierce, 4-1, last Wednesday, and Curry, which defeated Babson, 6-2, on Thursday to extend its winning streak to seven games.
Against Babson, the Colonels trailed 2-1 early in the second period before scoring five unanswered goals, including a pair by Payden Benning. Curry leads the nation in team offense, averaging 5.75 goals a game in its first eight games.
Conversely, Salve Regina has lost its last four games by a combined score of 28-4. The low point of that stretch? Saturday’s 12-0 loss at Utica, in which the Seahawks managed only 12 shots on goal.
One more chance
Swept Friday and Saturday by Fredonia State, Johnson and Wales has a chance to redeem its conference Wednesday, when it closes its December schedule with a nonconference game at home against Southern New Hampshire.
Of note from the Wildcats’ weekend series at Fredonia State: Fredonia State held Jeremiah Ketts, who is one of seven players tied for third in the nation with 20 points, scoreless.
Spoiler alert
The MASCAC closed out its December schedule over the weekend, as the Thursday and Saturday before the holiday break featured six conference contests, punctuated by Worcester State’s 4-0 win Saturday at Salem State. Remarkably, the Lancers won despite being outshot 30-17.
In a stretch of seven days, the Lancers have emerged as a spoiler of sorts. In addition to Saturday’s win at Salem State, Worcester State upset Plymouth State last Saturday (December 3), as Tim D’Orazio’s goal less than three minutes into overtime gave the Lancers a 3-2 win.
A hot offense
Massachusetts-Dartmouth finished the final two weeks of the season by winning four of five games, including Saturday’s 9-4 win over Framingham State. Yet after taking a 5-0 lead with 5:09 left in the second, the Corsairs and the Rams combined for eight goals in the third period.
Mass.-Dartmouth forward Mike Owens finished with three goals and an assist against Framingham State, and enters the Christmas break as the league’s leading points scorer and goal-scorer, with nine goals and seven assists. Owens is one of three Mass.-Dartmouth players among the top five leading scorers in the league (Phil Bronner 8-6-14, Rob Dudley 5-9-14).
Mass.-Dartmouth leads the league in total offense, averaging 4.4 goals a game in its first 10 games, and has the league’s top power play (12 for 41, 29.3 percent).
