UNH sophomore James van Riemsdyk picked up his first point in five games last Saturday against Boston University when he set up Mike Sislo’s third-period goal. Before that, van Riemsdyk had not scored since returning form the World Junior championships. . . . “I’m not concerned about him,” said UNH coach Dick Umile this week. “He’s playing well. He does a lot of good things and he’s involved in a lot of stuff. He kills penalties, he’s on the power play. Obviously we’d like to see the puck go in a little more on the power play overall.” . . . UNH was 0-for-14 on the power play in two games against BU and will try to get it going tonight in a home game against Vermont. . . . Van Riemsdyk had scored at last a point in 10 straight games, and 15 of UNH’s 17 games, before leaving for the World Juniors.
Senior point guard Eric Gilchrese, who has been out of the lineup for more than a month and a half, scored 22 points to lead the UNH men’s basketball team to a 71-60 win at Stony Brook tonight. Gilchrese had not played since making a brief appearance in a Dec. 6 game against Brown. His mother, Eva Powers, died a few days after that and he left the team to go home to Springfield, Ill., and deal with family matters. Gilchrese returned to practice at the beginning of the second semester last week and came off the bench last night. He had played in five games earlier in the season and was averaging 9.2 points a game. . . . The Wildcats improved to 8-11 overall and 3-4 in America East with the win. They play Vermont, 15-6 and 6-2, on Saturday at noon in Lundholm Gymnasium.
Nick Schmalhofer, an offensive/defensive lineman from Lancaster (Pa.) Catholic High School is headed to Durham to play football for UNH. Schmalhofer is 6-4 and 240 pounds and said tonight that he thinks the Wildcat coaches are leaning toward using him on the offensive line. . . . He called in last night and told the UNH folks that he wanted to accept the scholarship that had been offered to him. . . . Schmalhofer had narrowed his choices down to UNH, Appalachian State, Eastern Michigan and Stony Brook. He took official visits to all four schools within the last two weeks and said UNH quickly emerged as his clear-cut favorite. . . . Schmalhofer plans to sign an official letter of intent to accept a scholarship when the signing period opens next Wednesday, Feb. 4. . . . “He’s got good size and quickness and a nice wing span,” said Lancaster Catholic coach Bruce Harbach. “I don’t think he’s done growing yet and he’s almost 6-5.”
Vermont, 14-5-4, is ranked No. 6 and UNH is No. 13 in this week’s USCHO college hockey poll. The Catamounts come to Durham on Friday night to take on the Wildcats for the first time this season. The teams meet again to close out the regular season in Burlington on March 6 and 7. . . . UNH is also No. 13 in the current PairWise rankings, which mimic the system used to select NCAA tournament teams. Vermont is in a four-way tie at No. 3 in the PairWise with Northeastern, Cornell and Minnesota. . . . The Wildcats are the fifth Hockey East team in the top 13 of the PairWise. Besides Northeastern and Vermont, Boston University is at No. 1 and Boston College is No. 12. . . . And if those aren’t enough numbers, Vermont is No. 6 in the USA Today/USA Magazine poll and UNH is No. 14.
The Ball State offense was led by a couple of super-productive juniors during the 2008 season. Quarterback Nate Davis passed for 26 touchdowns and 3,591 yards and threw eight interceptions. Running back MiQuale Lewis scored 22 rushing touchdowns while gaining 1,736 yards and averaging 5.4 yards a carry. . . . UNH may only have to contend with one of those two Cardinals. Davis has announced he is leaving school early and entering the NFL draft. . . . UNH is playing at Ball State, a Football Bowl Subdivision team, on Sept. 12. . . . The Cardinals won all 12 of their regular season games last year and then lost to Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference championship game and to Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl to finish 12-2. . . . UNH was 10-3 and qualified for the Football Championship Subdivision tournament for the fifth straight season.
The men’s basketball team will try to change a couple of directions on Sunday afternoon when it takes on Vermont at 1 in Burlington. The Wildcats were 2-1 and atop the America East standings on Monday and then lost in Maine, 78-75 in double overtime, that night and at home to Binghamton, 60-47, on Thursday night. Now they are 2-3 and in sixth place. . . . The Catamounts are going the other way. They lost their first two league games and have won four straight and are tied for second in the league at 4-2 with Boston University. Binghamton is first at 5-2. . . . The Wildcats must contend with Marques Blakely at Vermont: He’s averaging 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds a game.
Seamus O’Neill, the standout offensive lineman from Manchester Central headed to UNH to play football, said he doesn’t have a preference when it comes to what kind of blocking he is asked to do. “I like both run blocking and pass blocking,” he said. “I just like to hit people. It’s fun.” . . . O’Neill made an officially recruiting visit to UNH last weekend and on Wednesday called and told the coaches he would like to accept their offer of a scholarship. He canceled recruiting visits he had scheduled to Maine this weekend and Rhode Island next weekend. . . . O’Neill, almost 6-4 and about 270 pounds, said he is down a little in weight from football season. He plays basketball for the Little Green and also throws the shot put and discus for the track team. . . . There’s more on O’Neill and his decision in today’s print edition of the paper.
Senior UNH defenseman and co-captain Joe Charlebois is academically ineligible, according to NCAA standards, and is done playing for the season and thus his college career, coach Dick Umile announced this afternoon. Charlebois had been suspended two weeks ago and sat out UNH’s last three games, but Umile had hoped he would become eligible as the second semester started this week. But that did not occur. . . . “He’s a veteran guy, it hurts in a lot of ways,” Umile said. “He’s well-respected in the locker room and he’s got a lot of experience. . . . It hurts. He’s a great kid. I feel for him. It’s a difficult life lesson.” . . . Charlebois was named Hockey East’s best defensive defenseman last season. He had nine assists in UNH’s first 18 games and was even in the team’s plus-minus statistics. . . . UNH, 11-6-4 overall and 7-4-3 in Hockey East, plays a home-and-home series with Boston University this weekend. The teams play at BU on Friday night and at UNH on Saturday night. BU is 16-5-1 and 9-5-1 and two points ahead of UNH in the standings.
The UNH men’s basketball team tumbled out of first place in America East tonight with a 78-75 loss in double overtime at Maine. The Wildcats led by six points with a minute to go in regulation but could not close out the Black Bears. . . . UNH started the day in first place in the league and were the only team with one loss in the standings. . . . Now there’s a logjam of two-loss teams. Binghamton is on top at 4-2. Vermont, Albany and Boston University are at 3-2 to tie for second place. UNH and Maine are tied in fifth. Maine is 3-3 in the league and UNH is 2-2. . . . Binghamton, 11-7 overall, is at UNH on Thursday night. The Wildcats are 7-9 overall.
The UNH men’s basketball team, tops in America East with a 2-1 league record, takes on Maine tonight in Orono at 7. Albany and Binghamton have 3-2 records and will take over first place if UNH loses. The Wildcats have won four of their last five games and are 7-8 overall. Maine is 7-11 and 2-3 and coming off a 72-61 win over Albany. . . . Junior guard Mark Socoby leads Maine with 12.9 points a game and freshman guard Gerald McElmore is averaging 11.7. Sophomore forward Sean McNally is the top rebounder with 7.1 a game. . . . Senior guard Tyrece Gibbs leads UNH with 13.5 points a game. Sophomore guards Alvin Abreu and Tyrone Conley are at 12.4 and 10 points. Sophomore center Dane DiLiegro averages 7.3 rebounds a game. . . . UNH has won its last two games at Maine. And Maine has won its last two games at UNH.
