Hockey East tournament
Northeastern 3, No. 1 Boston College 1
Northeastern shocked No. 1 Boston College 3-1 on Saturday night to advance to the Hockey East semifinals and to become the first No. 9-seed to make the semifinal round in league history.
After a scoreless first period, the Huskies struck twice in the second to carry a 2-0 lead into the final frame. With his seventh career goal against BC, Cam Lund broke the scoreless deadlock when he buried a snipe from the slot at 14:11. Jake Higgins and Jack Williams assisted.
Only 2:09 later Northeastern doubled its lead when Joe Connor cleaned up a rebound for his seventh goal of the season.
Northeastern held a two-goal lead until the 17:26 mark in the third when BC’s James Hagens scored after goalie Jacob Fowler was pulled for an extra attacker goal to make it 2-1. Ryan McGuire scored on an empty net with two seconds remaining to put the game away for Northeastern.
Maine will be the opponent on Thursday night at TD Garden.
No. 4 Maine 7, No. 19 UMass Lowell 1
Behind seven goals from seven different players, No. 4 Maine cruised to a 7-1 win over UMass Lowell in the Hockey East Tournament quarterfinal before an announced crowd of 5,043 on Saturday night at Harold Alfond Sports Arena.
With the win, the Black Bears advance to the Hockey East Tournament semifinal on Thursday at TD Garden in Boston, where they will face Northeastern.
After a scoreless first period, the Black Bears found the back of the net three times in the middle frame. Maine scored twice in the final three minutes for a 7-1 final.
Maine’s seven goals were its most in a Hockey East postseason game since scoring seven Lowell in 2005. Albin Boija made 27 saves and is now 2-1 in the Hockey East Tournament.
The Black Bears advanced to their consecutive Hockey East Tournament semifinal, marking back-to-back trips for the first time since going in 2005 and 2006.
No. 9 Boston University 3, No. 14 Massachusetts 2 (OT)
Freshman Cole Eiserman scored 2:59 into overtime to lift No. 9 Boston University to a 3-2 win over No. 14 UMass in a Hockey East quarterfinal contest on Saturday night before a crowd of 5,563 at Agganis Arena.
BU led by a goal on two separate occasions, but UMass twice equalized, including with 8:43 remaining in regulation to force overtime. After Mikhail Yegorov made the final of his 36 saves, freshman Sascha Boumedienne cleared the rebound off the crease and sent Eiserman on a 2-on-1 with senior Jack Hughes. Eiserman skated into the left circle before ripping a shot under Minutemen goalie Michael Hrabal’s pads for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.
Sascha Boumedienne scored his third goal of the season and joined Eiserman as Terriers with multiple points. Shane Lachance got BU on the board first with his 11th goal of the season while Hughes, sophomore Tom Willander and Ryan Greene each had an assist. For Greene, the assist marked the 100th point of his career.
BU will face UConn in the Hockey East semifinals on Thursday at TD Garden.
B1G tournament
No. 2 Michigan State 1, Notre Dame 0
Isaac Howard scored 19 seconds into the third period, and that was all No. 2 Michigan State needed for a 1-0 win over Notre Dame in the B1G semifinals on Saturday before a crowd of 6,555 in East Lansing, Mich.
For the second straight season, the Spartans will host the conference championship game. Ohio State will be the opponent on Saturday.
Hobey Baker Award and Richter Award contender Trey Augustine posted an 18-save shutout.
It was the first shutout in a postseason game by Michigan State since the 2013 CCHA quarterfinal series against Miami, which was a 3-0 win in Game 1. It was also Michigan State’s first postseason win by a 1-0 score since Jeff Lerg shut out New Hampshire in the first round of the 2006 NCAA tournament.
Notre Dame goalie Owen Say had 45 saves, matching his 45 stops against the Spartans in the final game of the regular season in South Bend, Ind.
No. 19 Ohio State 4, No. 11 Penn State 3 (OT)
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s game winner at 14:31 of overtime propelled No. 19 Ohio State into the B1G championship game, giving the Buckeyes a 4-3 win over Penn State.
The Buckeyes’ opponent will be Michigan State on Saturday.
It was Fontaine’s second goal of the game and 16th of the season. Riley Thompson and Davis Burnside assisted. Nathan Lewis and Patrick Guzzo also scored. Logan Terness had 31 saves.
NCHC tournament
No. 3 Western Michigan 6, St. Cloud State 2
Western Michigan closed the NCHC quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over St. Cloud State on Saturday night at Lawson Arena for their NCAA-leading 28th win of the season.
With a pair of 6-2 wins, the Broncos advanced to the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn., next weekend.
Western Michigan led 2-0 after two periods, and outscored St. Cloud 4-2 in the third to seal the win. Tim Washe and Alex Bump scored twice for the Broncos. Hampton Slukynsky made 18 saves in net to earn his 13th win of the season.
No. 6 Denver 6, Colorado College 3
Denver was a 6-3 winner over rival Colorado College on Saturday night, evening their NCHC quarterfinal series at a game apiece. A decisive third game will be held Sunday at 6 p.m. MDT.
After the teams skated to a 2-2 tie in the first period, Denver outscored the Tigers 3-1 in the middle frame.
Zeev Buium led the Pioneers with two goals.
Matt Davis had 19 saves in net.
No. 12 Arizona State 6, Minnesota Duluth 5 (OT)
Ryan Kirwin scored at 6:08 of overtime to earn Arizona State a 6-5 win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday night, giving the Sun Devils a sweep of their NCHC quarterfinal series.
Arizona State advanced to the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn., next weekend.
Artem Shlaine scored twice for Arizona State, which trailed 3-0 after the first period. The Sun Devils tied the game after a three-goal flurry in the first 5:01 of the middle frame. Duluth led 4-3 after two stops. Bennett Schimek tied the game 5-5 at 13:21 of the third period.
Luke Pavicich and Gibson Homer combined for 44 saves in net for Arizona State.
No. 17 North Dakota 3, No. 20 Omaha 2
Down by a pair of goals entering the third period, No. 17 North Dakota rallied for a 3-2 win over Omaha in Game 2 of the NCHC quarterfinals, earning the series sweep.
The Fighting Hawks advanced to the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn., next weekend.
Carter Wilkie and Cade Littier each scored in a 29-second span of the third period to tie the game. Jayden Jubenvill broke the deadlock with just 96 seconds remaining in regulation.
Goalie T.J. Semptimphelter finished with 32 saves to earn the second postseason victory of his career.
ECAC tournament
No. 13 Quinnipiac 4, Brown 0
No. 13 Quinnipiac is heading back to Lake Placid, N.Y., and the ECAC’s championship weekend after finishing off a dominant sweep of Brown. The Bobcats took the second game of the best-of-3 by a 4-0 final behind a standout performance from Matej Marinov (34 saves) and a two-goal outing from Tyler Borgula.
Mason Marcellus and Victor Czerneckianair also scored for Quinnipiac.
It’s the fifth consecutive ECAC semifinals for Quinnipiac, which seeks its second Whitelaw Cup. Quinnipiac has outscored its opposition 35-10 in its last eight home playoff games.
Harvard 3, No. 18 Clarkson 2 (OT)
Harvard forced a Game 3 in its ECAC semifinal series with Clarkson, rallying from two goals down to win 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night.
Casey Severo scored the winning goal for the Crimson at 6:09 of the extra frame. Severo has now scored two overtime goals in the last three weeks.He has goals in two of three playoff games this season and is up to 16 on the year.
The first minutes of the second period featured a flurry of goals. After Clarkson went up 2-0 less than a minute into the frame, Zakary Karba and Mason Langenbrunner responded less than a minute later with two goals in 2:10 to tie the game 2-2.
The two-goal comeback was Harvard’s first in the postseason since Game 1 of the 2022 ECAC quarterfinals.
Cornell 3. Colgate 0
Cornell shut out Colgate 3-0 to sweep the best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series at the Class of 1965 Arena Saturday night.
Dalton Bancroft (goal, assist) and Michael Suda (two assists) led the Big Red in scoring, while Ian Shane had 21 saves to move past Ken Dryden for the fourth-most shutouts in program history with 14.
Sullivan Mack and Charlie Major scored for Cornell, which will be make the trip to Lake Placid, N.Y., for the third consecutive season and the sixth time since 2017.
Colgate’s Andrew Takacs made 19 saves for the Raiders, who were held without a goal for the first time since 2022, snapping its NCAA-leading 100-game scoring streak.
Dartmouth 7, Union 2
Dartmouth scanned its QR code to the ECAC semifinals with a 7-2 win over Union on Saturday to complete the sweep.
Emmett Croteau made 28 saves for his 13th win of the season.
A baker’s dozen different players recorded at least one point for Dartmouth, with Luke Haymes and Nate Morgan scoring two goals each.
Dartmouth has now defeated Union seven straight times. The Big Green advanced to the ECAC Semifinals for the second straight season. It is the first time since the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons that Dartmouth has advanced to the ECAC Semifinals in back-to-back seasons.
CCHA tournament
No. 15 Minnesota State 4, Bemidji State 0
CCHA Player of the Year Alex Tracy posted his fifth shutout of the season with 27 saves as Minnesota State defeated Bemidji State 4-0 in the CCHA Mason Cup semifinals Saturday night at Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
Adam Eisele scored two goals. The Mavericks advance to the conference championship, where they will try to hoist the Mason Cup for the third time in team history on Friday against St. Thomas.
With St. Thomas ineligible for the NCAA tournament, Minnesota State clinched the league’s automatic berth. The Mavericks have won four straight games and are unbeaten over their last 10, dating back to a Jan. 31 loss to the Tommies.
St. Thomas 3, Bowling Green 2
Red-hot St. Thomas is heading to the CCHA championship game for the first time in program history after a 3-1 win over Bowling Green. It was the Tommies’ eighth straight win.
Liam Malmquist and Cooper Gay each scored, each earning a share of the school record for goals in a season with 19. Casy Laylin also scored. Jake Sibell made 32 saves on 33 shots to extend his win streak to 12 games. He is now the single season program record holder in wins with 12.
The Tommies will visit Minnesota State for the Mason Cup on Friday.
AHA tournament
Holy Cross 5, Army West Point 1
Holy Cross beat Army 5-1 in Game 2 of the Atlantic Hockey America semifinals at the Hart Center Saturday night to earn the right to host the championship game next weekend.
Goalie Thomas Gale recorded 29 saves, extending his win total to a team-record 24.
With a goal and a pair of assists, Liam McLinskey became the first Crusader to hit the 50-point mark in a season since Tyler McGregor in 2005-06.
Holy Cross will host Bentley Saturday night for the AHA’s automatic NCAA tournament berth.
Bently 3, Sacred Heart 0
Bentley will play for a championship for the first time since 2006, after a 3-0 win over Sacred Heart to clinch a series sweep on Saturday night in the Atlantic Hockey semifinals.
The Falcons will play at Holy Cross in the final Saturday night. It will be only the second AHA final appearance for Bentley.
Goalie Connor Hasley recorded his 11th shutout of the season and third in four postseason games. Hasley, who made 26 saves, is now tied for the second most shutouts in a single season in NCAA history.
Ethan Leyh bookended the goals by scoring 56 seconds into the game and an empty netter with 16 seconds remaining in regulation.
