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Allen Lessels' College Hockey: UNH's DeSmith has been Da Man
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Casey DeSmith, a freshman goalie out of Rochester, helped lead the University of New Hampshire out of ninth place in Hockey East with a sweep of Providence College last weekend.
The Wildcats and DeSmith will be out to improve their playoff lot even more this weekend when they take on Northeastern tonight at the Whittemore Center and Merrimack on Saturday night in North Andover, Mass.
DeSmith has started the last 10 games for UNH since taking over for senior Matt Di Girolamo, who had a rough first half of the season. DeSmith's .929 save percentage ranks second in Hockey East and ninth nationally and his 2.17 goals-against average is third-best in the league.
“As coaches, we all felt he was going to be a good one,” said UNH coach Dick Umile. “But until they get in there, you never know.”
DeSmith stopped 71 of the 74 shots he faced in the wins over Providence last weekend, 3-1 on Friday night in Durham and 3-2 in overtime at Providence on Saturday night.
His poise in the net has been impressive.
“I'll tell you, he doesn't get rattled at all,” Umile said. “He's very, very composed. He handles a lot of pucks and he's in the right position and they don't become threatening. Obviously some do, but most don't. He's playing well and playing with an awful lot of confidence.”
DeSmith has not faced Northeastern and split a pair of games against Merrimack three weeks ago.
The Wildcats, 11-14-2 overall and 8-11-1 in the league, enter the weekend tied with Providence in sixth place in Hockey East. Each team has 17 points, which is seven behind fifth-place Maine and just one in front of eighth-place Northeastern. Massachusetts is in ninth place, three points behind UNH and Providence.
The Wildcats lost a 4-0 game at Northeastern on Oct. 14 and beat the Huskies, 5-2, in Durham on Oct. 29.
Northeastern is 11-12-3 overall and 7-11-2 in the league and is coming off a 7-1 loss to Boston College in the first round of the Beanpot on Monday night.
The Huskies have won their last three league games.
Merrimack, led by the goaltending of senior Joe Cannata (.924 save percentage and 2.13 GAA) is ranked No. 8 in the country with a 15-6-5 overall record. The Warriors are 11-5-3 in the league and tied with Boston College for third place with 25 points behind first-place Boston University (27 points) and UMass-Lowell (26).
DeSmith made 24 saves in a 2-1 win at Merrimack on Jan. 20 and had 23 saves the next night, but a John Heffernan goal 19 seconds into overtime beat him and the Wildcats, 3-2.
THE DARTMOUTH MEN, 9-10-4 overall and 6-7-3 in the ECAC, will face teams from opposite ends of the league standings at home, as they try to bounce back from a couple of tough weekends.
The Big Green play league-leading Union, 16-6-7 and 10-3-4, tonight at 7 and last-place Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 7-19-2 and 4-10-2, on Saturday night.
Dartmouth, which has collected a single point in each of the last two weekends, is tied for seventh place in the league with Yale, a point out of sixth.
The Big Green lost a 7-1 game at Union on Jan. 6 and beat Rensselaer, 4-3, the next night.
The Dartmouth women, 15-7-2 and 11-5-2, are at Union, 4-22-4 and 2-14-2, tonight and play at RPI, 8-18-4 and 5-11-2, on Saturday at 4.
Dartmouth is tied for fourth with St. Lawrence and is two points out of third.
THE ST. ANSELM MEN, 9-8-3, play a weekend series with New England College, 9-8-4. The teams play tonight at 7 at St. Anselm and on Saturday at 4:30 at NEC.
St. Anselm senior Amy Zappen takes a three-game shutout streak into a game at UMass-Boston on Saturday.
Zappen and the Hawks have blanked Holy Cross, 6-0, Salve Regina, 4-0, and Colby, 5-0, in their last three games. She made 14, 16 and 17 saves, respectively.
THE UNH WOMEN, 10-17-3 overall and 4-11-2 in Hockey East, play Providence, 12-15-3 and 9-7-1, in a pair of home games on Saturday and Sunday, at 2 p.m. each day.
The Wildcats are in a battle for the sixth and final Hockey East playoff spot. They currently are in sixth, a point ahead of Connecticut and two in front of Vermont.
UNH closes out the regular season with a pair of games at Maine next weekend.
Allen Lessels covers college hockey for the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. He may be reached at alessels@unionleader.com.
The Wildcats and DeSmith will be out to improve their playoff lot even more this weekend when they take on Northeastern tonight at the Whittemore Center and Merrimack on Saturday night in North Andover, Mass.
DeSmith has started the last 10 games for UNH since taking over for senior Matt Di Girolamo, who had a rough first half of the season. DeSmith's .929 save percentage ranks second in Hockey East and ninth nationally and his 2.17 goals-against average is third-best in the league.
“As coaches, we all felt he was going to be a good one,” said UNH coach Dick Umile. “But until they get in there, you never know.”
DeSmith stopped 71 of the 74 shots he faced in the wins over Providence last weekend, 3-1 on Friday night in Durham and 3-2 in overtime at Providence on Saturday night.
His poise in the net has been impressive.
“I'll tell you, he doesn't get rattled at all,” Umile said. “He's very, very composed. He handles a lot of pucks and he's in the right position and they don't become threatening. Obviously some do, but most don't. He's playing well and playing with an awful lot of confidence.”
DeSmith has not faced Northeastern and split a pair of games against Merrimack three weeks ago.
The Wildcats, 11-14-2 overall and 8-11-1 in the league, enter the weekend tied with Providence in sixth place in Hockey East. Each team has 17 points, which is seven behind fifth-place Maine and just one in front of eighth-place Northeastern. Massachusetts is in ninth place, three points behind UNH and Providence.
The Wildcats lost a 4-0 game at Northeastern on Oct. 14 and beat the Huskies, 5-2, in Durham on Oct. 29.
Northeastern is 11-12-3 overall and 7-11-2 in the league and is coming off a 7-1 loss to Boston College in the first round of the Beanpot on Monday night.
The Huskies have won their last three league games.
Merrimack, led by the goaltending of senior Joe Cannata (.924 save percentage and 2.13 GAA) is ranked No. 8 in the country with a 15-6-5 overall record. The Warriors are 11-5-3 in the league and tied with Boston College for third place with 25 points behind first-place Boston University (27 points) and UMass-Lowell (26).
DeSmith made 24 saves in a 2-1 win at Merrimack on Jan. 20 and had 23 saves the next night, but a John Heffernan goal 19 seconds into overtime beat him and the Wildcats, 3-2.
- - - - - - -
THE DARTMOUTH MEN, 9-10-4 overall and 6-7-3 in the ECAC, will face teams from opposite ends of the league standings at home, as they try to bounce back from a couple of tough weekends.
The Big Green play league-leading Union, 16-6-7 and 10-3-4, tonight at 7 and last-place Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 7-19-2 and 4-10-2, on Saturday night.
Dartmouth, which has collected a single point in each of the last two weekends, is tied for seventh place in the league with Yale, a point out of sixth.
The Big Green lost a 7-1 game at Union on Jan. 6 and beat Rensselaer, 4-3, the next night.
The Dartmouth women, 15-7-2 and 11-5-2, are at Union, 4-22-4 and 2-14-2, tonight and play at RPI, 8-18-4 and 5-11-2, on Saturday at 4.
Dartmouth is tied for fourth with St. Lawrence and is two points out of third.
- - - - - - -
THE ST. ANSELM MEN, 9-8-3, play a weekend series with New England College, 9-8-4. The teams play tonight at 7 at St. Anselm and on Saturday at 4:30 at NEC.
- - - - - - -
St. Anselm senior Amy Zappen takes a three-game shutout streak into a game at UMass-Boston on Saturday.
Zappen and the Hawks have blanked Holy Cross, 6-0, Salve Regina, 4-0, and Colby, 5-0, in their last three games. She made 14, 16 and 17 saves, respectively.
- - - - - - -
THE UNH WOMEN, 10-17-3 overall and 4-11-2 in Hockey East, play Providence, 12-15-3 and 9-7-1, in a pair of home games on Saturday and Sunday, at 2 p.m. each day.
The Wildcats are in a battle for the sixth and final Hockey East playoff spot. They currently are in sixth, a point ahead of Connecticut and two in front of Vermont.
UNH closes out the regular season with a pair of games at Maine next weekend.
Allen Lessels covers college hockey for the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. He may be reached at alessels@unionleader.com.
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