The first weekend of February was filled with highs-and-lows for every program that played two games in as many days. In a strange turn of events, the teams that only had one game over the weekend happened to walk away with a favorable result (Except UMass Lowell because that’s who they are this season).

               1^st ranked Boston College was at the Riverhawks on Friday night at the Tsongas Center. This was not much of a contest, as the Eagles won handily by a score of 6-1, with Gabe Perrault leading the charge with 3 points. 3^rd ranked Boston University had a similar Friday night adventure when visiting the 18^th ranked UNH Wildcats up in Durham. The final score was 6-3, and that’s closer than this game truly was as the Terriers were out to a 4-0 lead at the midway point in the game with Jack D. Hughes leading the way on a 3-point night. New Hampshire would not leave the weekend without a win, as they defeated Merrimack College on Saturday by a score of 3-1, wherein Robert Cronin would have a 3-point performance of his own. Merrimack’s loss to UNH was not their only misstep over the weekend, as they were also toppled 3-2 on Friday night by 11^th ranked UMass in a game where Lucas Mercuri recorded two points, including the game winning goal. 11^th ranked UMass; however, could not complete the weekend sweep after falling 1-0 against 6^th ranked Maine. Honestly, this game was a defensive slog with the goaltenders both seeing less than 25 shots each. Despite the critical win against a ranked opponent, Maine started their weekend off with a disparaging defeat against Northeastern. Poor discipline in the early stages of the 3^rd period led to a complete collapse for the Black Bears, as Northeastern cashed in on 1 goal in a 4 on 4, and then buried 3 goals in less than two minutes on a major penalty against Ben Poisson. The only true home and home series of the weekend was played between 10^th ranked Providence and UConn. On Friday night in Connecticut, the Friars dominated as a unit, winning by a score of 5-0. However, Saturday saw the Huskies pull of the upset by a score of 2-1 behind a sensational performance from Ethan Haider who stopped 42 of 43 shots.

               Overall, the only teams that got out of this weekend unscathed were Boston College and Boston University. Northeastern should feel good about their chances against Harvard in the first round of the Beanpot on Monday after upsetting a top-10 team in the country. As the season approaches its conclusion, if Providence and Maine end up missing out on a National Tournament bid in the Spring, much like UNH the last two weeks, these could be the missed opportunities that they look back on as the reason. Next weekend’s marquee showdown will be 6^th ranked Maine and 10^th ranked Providence as they attempt to jockey into the 3^rd place in the Hockey East.