AROUND HOCKEY EAST: The Vermont Catamounts claimed the second annual Friendship Four championship in Belfast Northern Ireland, topping No. 3 Quinnipiac, 5-1 On Friday the Catamounts defeated the UMass Minutemen, 4-2, to advance to the tournament championship game. Greg Carvel and UMass would go on to play Carvel's former team, No. 19 St. Lawrence in the third place game, skating to a 2-2 draw. Vermont rookie forward Ross Colton (Robbinsville, N.J./1g, 2a) led the Catamounts with three points while Stefanos Lekkas (Ellburn, Ill.) backstopped the win with a career-high 40 saves to be named the tournament's most outstanding player … Northeastern scored four unanswered goals in the third period to come back and beat No. 8 Minnesota, 6-4, on Friday. Junior forward Dylan Sikura (Aurora, Ont./3g, 1a) recorded his first career hat trick in a four-point effort for the Huskies, sparking a come-from-behind win with two strikes, including the game-winner, in the third period ... Merrimack earned its first win in Hockey East play, riding a four-point night from freshman forward Tyler Irvine (Livonia, Mich./2g, 2a) to a 5-2 win over Providence Friday night. The Friars bounced back with a 3-2 victory over Colgate at Schneider Arena the next night, as senior defenseman Anthony Florentino (West Roxbury, Mass./1g,2a) recorded three points ... No. 4 Boston University won its lone game of the week against No. 9 Harvard on Tuesday, 5-3, by way of freshman duo Dante Fabbro (New Westminster, B.C./1g, 2a) and Patrick Curry (Schaumburg, Ill./1g, 1a) … No. 3 Boston College split two games over Thanksgiving holiday, taking a 5-2 win at UConn powered by a hat trick from JD Dudek (Auburn, N.H) before dropping a 4-2 decision to Minnesota … Maine won its only game of the week, taking a 5-1 victory over Brown on Saturday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine. Rob Michel (Camillus, N.Y./ 1g, 2a) led the Black Bears with three points while Cedrick Lacroix (Shefford, Que.) netted two goals in the victory … Notre Dame split its games in the 11th annual Shillelagh Tournament hosted by the Fighting Irish. The Irish won the opening matchup against Holy Cross, 5-3, led by junior forward Anders Bjork's (Mequon, Wis./1g, 2a) three points … New Hampshire blanked RPI, 5-0, Tuesday night behind junior goaltender Daniel Tirone's (Trumbull, Conn.) 25-save shutout. Five different Wildcats scored in the shutout victory. Dick Umile's squad traveled down to Madison Square Garden Saturday to face ECAC opponent Cornell, where Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) recorded his 11th goal of the season, but the Wildcats fell to the Big Red, 3-1.

Warrior Hockey Player of the Week Dylan Sikura of Northeastern

DYLAN SIKURA - NORTHEASTERN Dylan Sikura (Aurora, Ont.) netted his first career hat trick and added an assist in a 6-4 win over No. 8 Minnesota at Matthews Arena. Sikura sparked a comefrom- behind win, netting two of his four tallies in the third period and scored the game-winning goal.

TYLER IRVINE - MERRIMACK ROSS COLTON - VERMONT Tyler Irvine (Livonia, Mich.) Had a career-high four points (2g, 2a) in a 5-2 win over Providence. The victory over the defending Hockey East regular season co-champion was Merrimack's first league win this season. Ross Colton (Robbinsville, N.J.) registered four points (2g, 2a) in the Friendship Four, including a 2-1-3 line in the championship game victory with a pair of highlight goals.

STEFANOS LEKKAS - VERMONT Stefanos Lekkas (Elburn, Ill.) stopped 73 of 76 shots he saw in the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, including a 40- save performance over No. 3 Quinnipiac. He posted a .961 save percentage and two wins and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Dante Fabbro, BU (Fr., D; New Westminster, B.C.) Scored a goal and added two assists in a 5-3 win over No. 9 Harvard on Tuesday.

Patrick Curry, BU (Fr., F; Schaumburg, Ill.) Netted a goal and chipped in an assist in a 5-3 victory over Harvard.

Cedric Lecroix, ME (Jr., F; Shefford, Que.) Potted two goals in a 5-1 win over Brown, Maine's lone game of the weekend.

Rob Michel, ME (So., D; Camillus, N.Y.) Picked up two points (1g, 1a) in the Black Bears' 5-1 win.

Drew Vogler, MC (So., G; Florissant, Mo.) Stopped 21 of 23 shots in his lone start last week, a 5-2 win over PC.

Garret Cockerill, NU (Jr., D; Brighton, Mich.) Scored a goal and blocked five shots in the win over Minnesota.

Anders Bjork, ND (Jr., F; Mequon, Wis.) Registered a goal and two assists in ND's win over Holy Cross to be named to the 2016 Shillelagh Tournament All-Tournament Team.

Craig Puffer, UVM (So., F; New Canaan, Conn.) Had three points in the Friendship Four Tournament in Belfast, Northern Ireland, including two goals against UMass, posting the game-tying and game-winning tallies, before he assisted on the decisive goal in the Belpot Final over No. 3 Quinnipiac.