By Nate Ewell
Note of the Week
Borelli's emergence propels Brown – Brown will host its first playoff series since 2005 this weekend against Clarkson, and the Bears earned home ice in large part thanks to a player who started the season on the bench. Senior goaltender Anthony Borelli had just two starts in his first three years, but since seizing the starting job in December is 9-7-5 with a 1.77 GAA (fifth in the nation) and .943 save percentage (third). The undersized (5-9, 170 pounds) goalie from the Buffalo area is a proven winner – in prep school he led Salisbury to the Founders League title and was the team MVP.
Must Read/See/Hear Material
Lee’s success deserved – Albany Times-Union
Frenetic finish on tap – Wisconsin State Journal
Saracino hopes to go out with a roar – Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Like father, like son – NCAA.com
Walters’ biggest impact? UNO forward ‘gets the job done’ – USCHO.com
College hockey players increasing in numbers, importance in NHL – CBSSports.com
Through These Doors: Six – UNDsports.com
Five More Notes No One Should Be Without
Can Carpenter lead a BG encore? – Bowling Green travels to Lake Superior State this weekend with hopes of repeating last season’s improbable playoff run. The Falcons, who last year traveled to Northern Michigan to start a run that sent them to the CCHA semifinals, are led by sophomore Ryan Carpenter of Oviedo, Florida. Carpenter is a college coach’s dream: a captain as a sophomore, one of the nation’s top goal scorers and a student with a near-perfect GPA in finance. He had nine points in seven playoff games during the Falcons’ run a year ago.
Lowell aiming for elite group – Only four schools have ever won a Hockey East regular season title – Boston College, Boston University, Maine and New Hampshire – but UMass Lowell enters the season’s final week poised to join that group. The River Hawks took over sole possession of first place thanks to Sunday’s win at Merrimack on the strength of junior Josh Holmstrom’s two first-period goals. Holmstrom is a familiar name to UMass Lowell hockey, as his brother, Ben, was a three-year captain from 2007-10 and is now a member of the Philadelphia Flyers organization.
PP showdown at RIT – The tightly packed Atlantic Hockey standings have produced several compelling first-round matchups, perhaps topped by American International’s visit to RIT. AIC is on a three-game winning streak and is 7-1-3 in its last 11, earning more than half of its wins since Feb. 1. Watch the special teams play in this series – both teams rank in the top five nationally on the power play, but 41st (RIT) and 44th (AIC) on the penalty kill.
Zengerle has Badgers in hunt – Five teams enter this weekend with a chance to claim the WCHA title, perhaps none more unlikely than Wisconsin, which was 1-5-2 in its first four league series. The Badgers have bounced back thanks in part to junior Mark Zengerle’s return from injury in December. The Rochester, N.Y., native has played his best lately, carrying a six-game point streak into the weekend and leading all WCHA players in points (12) and plus/minus (+10) since Feb. 1. He will lead his team against the top team in the WCHA standings, St. Cloud State, which is seeking its first conference title.
Both games are on FOX Sports Wisconsin
Watch the rookies – This is the time of year that coaches like to say freshmen aren’t freshmen any more – and the numbers bear that out. Thirteen rookies have averaged a point per game or more since Feb. 1. A few to watch: