Monday 10: No. 1 Boston College falls to Northeastern as conference playoffs kick into high gear heading to championship weekend

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Luka Sukovic scores the overtime winner Saturday night for Clarkson (photo: Jim Meagher).

Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.

1. Northeastern upsets No 1. Boston College

For the first time in Hockey East history, a ninth seed has made it to TD Garden.

Northeastern became the first nine seed to advance to the Hockey East semifinals after a 3-1 win over top-seeded and overall No. 1 Boston College on Saturday.

Cam Lund and Joe Connor scored 2:09 apart in the second period for the Huskies, and Ryan McGuire’s empty-net goal sealed the deal for Northeastern, which will face Maine in the Hockey East semifinals on Thursday.

Cameron Whitehead stopped 30 of 31 shots for the Huskies.

Boston College remains the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

2. Maine, Boston University, UConn punch tickets to the Garden

The rest of the higher seeds in Hockey East advanced with victories on home ice on Saturday.

No. 4 Maine defeated No. 19 Mass-Lowell, 7-1 thanks to goals from seven different players and 27 saves from Albin Boija. It’s the first time since the 2005 and 2006 seasons that the Black Bears have made consecutive trips to the semifinals.

At Agganis Arena, ninth-ranked Boston University defeated No. 14 Massachusetts, 3-2 in overtime to advance.

Cole Eiserman’s goal 2:59 into overtime sent the Terriers to the Hockey east Semifinals. Massachusetts should still be a lock for the NCAA tournament.

No. 8 Connecticut will play BU on Thursdays thanks to a 3-1 win over No. 7 Providence.

It’s the first time since 2022 that the Huskies advanced this far. Joey Muldowney scored twice for UConn and Tyler Muszelik made 32 saves.

Providence remains a lock for the NCAA tournament. Hockey East has six teams safely in the NCAA field, with Northeastern as a seventh should the Huskies win the HEA title.

3. A pair of Game 3s result in Clarkson, Denver advancing

There were only two Game 3s necessary this weekend, and Clarkson and Denver moved on with victories.

The host Golden Knights outlasted Harvard, winning 3-2 and then 2-1 in overtime, losing the middle game 3-2 in OT.

All three games went down to the wire. The only game ending in regulation was on Friday, with Ryan Bottrill’s second of the contest for Clarkson with 27.6 seconds left giving the Golden Knights the win.

On Saturday, Harvard forced a third game thanks to Casey Severo’s OT winner at 6:09 of the extra frame, but Clarkson advanced to Lake Placid on Luka Sukovic’s GWG 7:10 into overtime on Sunday.

In the NCHC, Denver needed three games to advance over Colorado College, 1-3, 6-3 and 9-2.

The Tigers, swept by Denver the week before, took Game One at Magness Arena on Friday. Colorado College erased a 1-0 Pioneers lead with three unanswered goals in the third.

On Saturday, Denver scored three goals in the second period en route to the win. Zeev Buium paced the Pioneers with two goals. Colorado College goalie Kaidan Mbereko was injured making a save early in the third period and didn’t return, nor did he play in Sunday’s deciding game. Rookie Carsen Musser finished Saturday’s game and took the loss on Sunday.

Denver scored three power-play goals and a shorthanded tally in Sunday’s 9-2 win.

4. Western Michigan, Arizona State, North Dakota sweep in the NCHC

NCHC regular-season champion and third-ranked Western Michigan advanced to the Frozen Faceoff with a pair of 6-2 wins over St. Cloud State.

Alex Bump had three goals in the series with Matteo Costantini, Iiro Hakkarainen and Tim Washe potting two goals apiece.

Newcomer Arizona State punched its ticket to the Frozen Faceoff with a 4-3, 6-5 (OT) sweep of Minnesota-Duluth.

Saturday’s game was a wild affair that saw the Sun Devils erase a 3-0 deficit and earn the win thanks to a Ryan Kirwin goal at 6:08 of overtime.

North Dakota was the only lower seed to advance, sweeping host Omaha in a pair of 3-2 games.

In Game One, the Mavericks outshot the Flying Hawks 17-0 in the third period but couldn’t solve goalie T.J. Semptimphelter for the equalizer.

Saturday saw UND erase a 2-0 third period deficit thanks to goals from Carter Wilkie and Cade Littier, and Jayden Jubenvill scored the game-winner with 1:36 left in regulation.

The Fighting Hawks, Sun Devils and Broncos plus Game Three winners Denver advance to St. Paul.

5. Quinnipiac, Cornell, Dartmouth join Clarkson in Lake Placid

No. 13 Quinnipiac advanced to the Whitelaw Cup semifinals for the fifth-straight season with a 4-1, 4-0 sweep of Brown.

Victor Czerneckianair and Tyler Borgula each scored a pair of goals in the series, and Matej Marinov stopped 54 of 55 shots, including all 34 for the shutout on Saturday.

The other two sweeps in the quarterfinals went to the visitors. Cornell defeated Colgate, 4-1 and 3-0 to advance to Lake Placid for the third straight season.

On Saturday, Cornell goaltender Ian Shane had 21 saves to record his 14th career shutout. It was the first time Colgate had been held scoreless since Nov. 12, 2022, exactly 100 games ago.

Dartmouth also pulled off a mild upset, sweeping Union, 3-2 and 7-2 in the final games at Union’s Messa Rink.

Luke Haymes, Nate Morgan and Sean Chisholm each scored a pair of goals in the series for the Big Green, which advances to the semifinals for the second consecutive year.

The victories extended Dartmouth’s winning streak over Union to seven games.

6. Michigan State, Ohio State advance to Big Ten championship

In single-elimination semifinals, Michigan State and Ohio State prevailed over Notre Dame and Penn State, respectively, setting up an MSU-OSU final in East Lansing on Saturday.

Top-seeded and second-ranked Michigan State got a goal from Isaac Howard 19 seconds into the third period, and Trey Augustine stopped all 18 shots for a 1-0 win over Notre Dame.

It was the first postseason shutout for MSU since 2013. Owen Say made 45 saves in defeat for the Irish.

Ohio State’s Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, who has scored more than his share of game winners, lit the lamp 14:31 into overtime to put the No. 19 Buckeyes into the Big Ten championship game with a 4-3 win over visiting Penn State.

It was Fontaine’s second goal of the game and 16th of the season. Logan Terness made 31 saves for the win.

7. Minnesota State the first team to make the NCAA tournament field

The Mavericks, behind Alex Tracy’s fifth shutout of the season, defeated Bemidji State 4-0 in the Mason Cup semifinals Saturday night.

Adam Eisele scored two goals for Minnesota State, which advances to the CCHA title game. But the Mavericks already know they will get the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament, because their opponent in the championship game is St. Thomas, which is ineligible for the NCAA tournament because it’s transitioning from Division III to Division I.

The Tommies dispatched Bowling Green 3-2 in the other semifinal, setting up this unusual situation. Win or lose, Minnesota State will advance.

8. Holy Cross, Bentley reach Atlantic Hockey title game

The battle for the Riley Trophy and the NCAA berth that goes with it is down to the final two teams. Top seed Holy Cross will host third-seeded Bentley next Saturday for the Atlantic Hockey America title.

The Crusaders outlasted Army West Point, 3-2 (OT) and 5-1.
On Friday, Crusaders Thomas Gale and Devin Phillips were the heroes, with Gale recording a career-high 45 saves in net. Phillips scored the game-winner 3:15 into overtime.

Saturday’s win was Gale’s 24th of the season, a new school record.

The Crusaders will host Bentley, which pulled a mild upset in a 5-2, 3-0 sweep of Sacred Heart. On Friday, A.J. Hodges scored a natural hat trick in the third period to help Bentley pull away after falling behind 2-0.

On Saturday, Falcons goalie Connor Hasley recorded his 11th shutout of the season, tying him with Yaniv Perets (Quinnipiac in 2021-2022) for second most ever. Niagara’s Greg Gardner holds the single-season record with 12 (1999-2000)

Bentley will play for a championship for the first time since 2006, when it also faced Holy Cross. The Crusaders went on to win that game and post a historic upset of Minnesota in the NCAA tournament.

9. Saying goodbye

This past weekend saw the end of a pair of long coaching careers. Army West Point’s Brian Riley is retiring after 21 seasons at West Point. He was preceded as head coach by father Jack and brother Rob. Next season will be the first without a Riley at the helm for Army in 75 years.

Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson is also calling it quits after 601 wins and a pair of national championships at Lake Superior State.

Cornell’s Mike Schafer’s career isn’t quite finished as Cornell will play at least one more game next weekend. Schafer currently has 558 wins, all at Cornell.

10. Bubble teams will be scoreboard watching

A quartet of teams: Quinnipiac (12th in the PWR), Penn State (13th), Michigan (14th) and Arizona State (15th) are on the bubble heading into conference championship weekend. Quinnipiac and Arizona State can win their way in, while Penn State and especially Michigan must wait it out, hoping against upsets in the ECAC (Cornell, Dartmouth, Clarkson) Hockey East (Northeastern), and NCHC (North Dakota, Colorado College).

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