Atlantic Hockey, ECAC Hockey, and NCHC are all playing best-of-three series this weekend, while the Big Ten, CCHA, and Hockey East all are playing single-elimination games.
The conferences with best-of-three series started Friday night.
SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS | USCHO.COM POLL | PAIRWISE
ATLANTIC HOCKEY
Both series will head to deciding Game 3s on Sunday after No. 20 RIT edged Holy Cross 4-3 in overtime and Canisius topped Niagara 5-1.
At the HarborCenter, Max Kouznetsov scored twice for Canisius and Jacob Barczewski made 25 saves in goal.
Elijah Gonsalves’ goal 8:09 into overtime lifted RIT past Holy Cross at the Gene Polisseni Center.
GONZO SAYS WE AREN'T DONE YET!!!! SEE YOU TOMORROW NIGHT FOLKS!! #ROARTECH pic.twitter.com/5omjKMFfSY
— RIT Men's Hockey (@RITMHKY) March 12, 2023
Tigers goaltender Tommy Scarfone finished with 24 stops in the RIT net.
BIG TEN
The two games Saturday were each decided by four goals as No. 1 Minnesota bounced No. 18 Michigan State 5-1 and No. 4 Michigan defeated No. 9 Ohio State 7-3 as the two teams will play next week for the conference title.
Logan Cooley snipped a pair for the Gophers, who got a 29-save outing from goalie Justen Close at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
The boys and the fans were buzzin' tonight pic.twitter.com/tJHwETnAG8
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) March 12, 2023
At Yost Ice Arena, Adam Fantilli scored two goals with two assists and Erik Portillo made 35 saves for the Wolverines.
CCHA
No. 13 Minnesota State and Northern Michigan will play next weekend for the conference championship after the Mavericks dropped Ferris State 7-2 and the Wildcats blanked No. 10 Michigan Tech 4-0.
Jake Livingstone went for a goal and three assists and Keenan Rancier had 19 saves to lead Minnesota State to the win at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
Beni Halasz made 44 saves to guide the Wildcats past the Huskies at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
Mike Van Unen coast-to-coast with a nifty move in front!#NMUwildcats #ShareNMU pic.twitter.com/2hW6fT74cV
— Northern Michigan Hockey (@NMUHockey) March 11, 2023
Andre Ghantous posted a goal and an assist for NMU.
ECAC HOCKEY
All four series wrapped Saturday night as Colgate beat St. Lawrence 3-2, No. 12 Cornell topped Clarkson 3-1, No. 6 Harvard downed Princeton 6-1, and No. 2 Quinnipiac collected a 6-2 win over Yale.
Colgate scored the game’s first three goals and held on for the win at Appleton Arena, Carter Gylander making 31 saves in goal.
At Lynah Rink, Ian Shane stopped 22 shots, losing his shutout in the final minute, as the Big Red eliminated Clarkson.
The five-hole was open 🤷♂️#BobcatNation x #ECACHockey pic.twitter.com/obovCDjRbI
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) March 12, 2023
Alex Laferriere notched a pair of goals to pace Harvard over Princeton from the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Mitchell Gibson made 34 saves, losing his shutout with 1:42 left in the third period.
Six different players scored and Yaniv Perets made 18 saves as the Bobcats took the victory over the Bulldogs at the Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena.
HOCKEY EAST
The four games Saturday night saw UMass Lowell drop No. 19 UConn 2-1, Providence beat No. 15 Northeastern 2-1 in overtime, No. 14 Merrimack blank Boston College 1-0 in double overtime, and No. 5 Boston University defeat Vermont 7-3.
The semifinals will be next weekend.
Blake Wells and Owen Cole scored for UML and Gustavs Davis Grigals stopped 40 shots in the River Hawks’ win at the XL Center.
NOT DONE YET.
Brady Berard's buries the rebound off the end boards for his first NCAA goal to send us to the Hockey East Semifinals next Friday night!!#GoFriars pic.twitter.com/QyfcgPFaFb
— PC Men's Hockey (@FriarsHockey) March 12, 2023
Brady Berard’s OT winner four minutes into extra time won it for the Friars at Matthews Arena.
At Lawler Arena, Mick Messner’s goal at 8:20 of the second overtime won it for the Warriors in a goaltending battle. Hugo Ollas made 36 saves for Merrimack and Mitche Benson 35 for the Eagles.
Nick Zabaneh’s hat trick powered BU past Vermont from Agganis Arena. Drew Commesso needed to make just 19 saves for the Terriers.
NCHC
North Dakota beat No. 18 Omaha 3-1 to send their series to a Game 3, while Minnesota Duluth routed No. 8 St. Cloud State 5-1 to also send that series to a deciding Game 3 on Sunday.
Other games saw Colorado College complete the sweep over No. 7 Western Michigan with a 3-2 overtime win and No. 3 Denver do the same to Miami with a 7-2 victory.
From Baxter Arena, Tyler Kleven scored twice for the Fighting Hawks and Drew DeRidder finished with 24 saves.
Carter Loney netted a pair of goals for UMD as the Bulldogs staved off elimination at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Zach Stejskal made 34 saves in goal.
Tiger Fans!! Enjoy Matthew Gleason's game-winning overtime goal at 7th-ranked Western Michigan that sends CC to the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn.!!#CCTigers pic.twitter.com/zmgLfRFz1x
— CC Hockey (@CCTigerHKY) March 12, 2023
Matthew Gleason’s goal 3:08 into overtime at Lawson Arena gave CC the series win over the Broncos. Kaidan Mbereko turned aside 28 shots between the pipes.
Seven different players scored at Magness Arena and Matt Davis collected 19 saves for the defending national champion Pioneers.