Hockey East Headlines: Bad Weekend For Ranked Teams

If you were a ranked team in Hockey East not named Merrimack, this was a pretty rough weekend for you. Number One Boston College beat up on No. 20 Maine 5-1 on Friday night, but traveled to Amherst on Saturday and couldn't hold off UMass, which unseated the Eagles, 4-2. 

Maine went to archrival UNH on Saturday night looking to right the ship but wouldn't have any luck - UNH won the matchup by a 3-2 mark a night after they outslugged UMass by a 7-3 score. 

BU, ranked 12 heading into their Saturday night matchup with Lowell at a renovated Tsongas Center, got absolutely spanked, losing 7-1. Twelve River Hawks had points and seven of them had multiple-point efforts in the game, which surely will cost BU its place in the top 20. 

As for the weekend series, 

No. 7 Merrimack 1, 3 vs., at Northeastern 1, 2

Ryan Flanigan scored on a shorthanded breakaway nearly two minutes into overtime Saturday evening at Matthews Arena, capping a Warriors comeback from down 2-0 to leave Merrimack the lone remaining unbeaten team in the country. Joe Cannata stopped 17 Huskies shots in the effort, which saw Mike Collins score twice during regulation. Despite their hot start, Merrimack is still second to Boston College in the league.

at Providence 5, 5; Vermont 2,1

The Friars continued their strong start to the season under Nate Leaman, taking four points from the Catamounts with two strong offensive efforts. Alex Beaudry made 62 saves on the weekend, while junior Tim Schaller recorded his first career hat trick on Friday night. Defenseman Myles Harvey was the only Friar to post multiple points on Saturday, with a goal and an assist.