NCAA D-II/III East Men’s Ice Hockey Game Picks – Part II – February 28, 2025

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February 28, 2025

Hobert’s Austin Mourar will put aside personal recognitions in the NEHC as Hobart looks to claim the final NEHC conference title (Phot by Adam Farid)

Here is Part II of this week’s two-part game predictions with a smorgasbord of quarterfinals (NEHC & NESCAC); semifinal action (CNE, MAC, MASCAC, SUNYAC & UCHC) and one title game in the NE-10. The upset bug hit big with MCLA’s win as an No. 8 seed on Thursday and now the remaining teams are all one week closer to a big prize. Every team is putting it all on the ice trying to attain something that has been dreamed about since last October. Virtually all the favorites won earlier this week so will that trend continue as stakes get higher? Look for some exceptional hockey on Saturday that will crown one conference winner while determining final four or championship pairings across the remaining seven conferences in the east.

Wednesday and Thursday’s opening round picks finished at picks finished at an amazing 9-1-0 (.900) missing out on the huge MCLA upset win. Hopefully, that is a good sign entering a big weekend of playoff games on Saturday. My season numbers after yesterday now stand at 121-51-10 (.692) so maybe my strong early playoff showing will keep my success rate on the climb. With all the mid-week results in the books here are the picks in the east for the penultimate weekend:

Saturday, March 1, 2025

CNE

(15) Endicott v. (8) University of New England

These two teams are about as evenly matched as it gets anywhere in D-III. Check the boxes on goaltending, defense, forward group and special teams. The only significant intangible is the home-ice thing and that is something the Nor’easters will look to take advantage of with a raucous crowd. Overtime is mandatory – UNE, 3-2

Suffolk v. (4) Curry

The Rams are looking to pull a major upset and really have nothing to lose which could be dangerous for the Colonels. Goaltending of CJ Hapward will keep things close for a while, but third period and special team goals from assorted Colonels provide ample margin to advance Curry to the CNE title game – Curry, 4-1

MAC

Alvernia v. Wilkes

The Colonels best not look past the Golden Wolves expecting an easy path to the MAC title game. Everyone wants that first title that includes an NCAA auto-bid, so it is imperative the home team start fast and finish strong. They do give the home crowd much to cheer about, but it is still close – Wilkes, 3-2

Neumann v. Stevenson

This game actually has me really thinking about the UPSET ALERT as I firmly believe either team can “escape” with a win here. Will take the home team in overtime because this is the time of year that Liam McCanney & Company are built for – it is playoff hockey – Stevenson, 4-3

MASCAC

Fitchburg State v. Salem State

The Vikings and Falcons have a long history, and this game should be a lot of fun to watch with chances aplenty at both ends of the ice. Salem State won their first home playoff game this decade on Thursday and like the feeling so much they double down against the Falcons. Score is closer than final margin shows due to multiple ENGs – Salem State, 5-2

MCLA v. Anna Maria

The AmCats best not look past the Trailblazers who showed a couple of goals, great goaltending and disciplined defense is a good formula to spring an upset as they did against Plymouth State. Matthew Gover is red-hot but Brandon Della-Paolera and the “Matthews” (Byrne & Gilbert) score just enough to eke out a win and a spot in the title game – Anna Maria, 3-1

NE-10

St. Michael’s v. St. Anselm

The only championship game of the week will determine this year’s D-II level winner. The Hawks have beaten the Purple Knights four consecutive times this season but should not expect an easy time in Round five. Overtime was required in last year’s final and so it will be this year with the home team tasting victory in front of the home crowd – St. Anselm, 4-3

NEHC

Albertus Magnus v. (1) Hobart

The Statesmen always “fear no team and respect all teams” per coach Mark Taylor. Hobart’s only loss of the season was to the Falcons and the best way to pay back the favor is to send the visitors home to end their season. Too much playoff pedigree for the No. 1 team in the country starting their post-season journey – Hobart, 5-1

Elmira v. Norwich

The Cadets found their game in February and leveraged those strong results into the No. 2 seed. No intention in not taking advantage of home-ice against a team with lots of talent. Sami Molu is a difference maker as is the leadership and scoring of Clark Kerner and Joe Johnson who find the winning margin in regulation time – Norwich, 3-2

New England College v. Babson

The Beavers are built for playoff hockey with balanced scoring, disciplined defense, and a confident Nate Mueller in the crease. The Pilgrims will keep this one close but fall just short before an ENG provides the final margin of victory for the home team who advances to the semifinal round – Babson, 4-2

Salve Regina v. Skidmore

The Thoroughbreds have been strong contenders in recent NEHC tournaments and will take advantage of the big rink to take out a skilled Seahawks squad. The teams split the two-game series in Rhode Island in the regular season and the home team will be looking to replicate game two of that series with a strong win. Fast start leads to a comfortable win – Skidmore, 4-1

NESCAC

Conn College v. (11) Hamilton

The Continentals took the regular season title and now look to parlay that advantage in the conference tournament. Camels won’t be an easy out especially with Will McEvoy playing so well in goal. Tchor, Krock and DeVries pace the offense and a chance for the home team to host the semis and final in a week’s time – Hamilton, 4-2

Middlebury v. (13) Trinity

The Bantams and Panthers played two very close games in the regular season with Trinity taking both games with third period scoring. Bobak and Heinze will keep things low-scoring and Korona or Sedlak send the home team on to the next round in defense of their title from last season – Trinity, 2-1

Amherst v. Colby

The Mammoth suddenly started scoring last weekend as the road team where they moved up in the standings. Colby has a lot of talent, but this conference is known for upsets and a six-seed isn’t that big a stretch in the most balanced conference top to bottom. Late goal and ENG give the visitors more hockey next week – Amherst, 5-3

Tufts v. Bowdoin

The two teams played each other last weekend to close out the regular season and the Jumbos skated off with a 5-0 win. Completely different venue and stakes this week as the Polar Bears have short memories and take advantage of the friendly confines of “The Sid” – Bowdoin, 3-1

SUNYAC

Buffalo State v. Oswego

The Lakers were young to start the season but that seems like forever ago. The same can be said for the Bengals who have been strong all season as the road team. Seesaw affair finds a home team surge in the final period before an overtime winning goal as the Lakers advance, barely – Oswego, 4-3

Plattsburgh v. (12) Cortland

The Red Dragons were a far better road team this year than they played on home ice. That said no time like the present to take advantage of your rink, crowd and the rest of the comforts of being on campus. Cardinals had to push late for playoffs and a comeback win on Wednesday, but their season ends here with Seitz and Settimo lighting the red light enough to advance the home squad – Cortland, 3-2

UCHC

Manhattanville v. (6) Geneseo

The Knights lost out on the top seed but won’t give Manhattanville much time or space from the opening puck drop as Purcell, Dameski, Morgan and Fensterstock make things difficult for Sebastien Woods in the Valiants net – Geneseo, 4-1

Chatham v. (3) Utica

The Pioneers have already seen what the Cougars can do in a 7-6 regular season loss. Home ice is a very comfortable place for the No. 1 seed who need to win so hockey fans can enjoy the fifth installment of Geneseo and Utica for the UCHC title. Jakob Breault and Johnny Mulera spark the offense in the win – Utica, 5-3

There is just one weekend left to decide who skates with the trophies in all the D-III conferences. Don’t win this week, you don’t get to play for the big prize and more March hockey – “Drop the Puck!”

Beloit adds men’s, women’s NCAA Division III hockey teams for 2025-26 season

By USCHO Staff

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February 28, 2025

Beloit College has announced the addition of NCAA Division III men’s and women’s hockey teams to its athletic program.

Beloit has also extended an invitation to Northland College’s men’s and women’s hockey teams to join the Beloit community, following the news that Northland will close at the end of the semester.

The Northland coaches have accepted the offer, and Northland student-athletes met the news with great excitement.

“It’s wonderful to know that our history will continue,” said men’s coach Shane Buckley in a statement. “To know that we can offer our students an incredible experience at Beloit in the classroom, as well as on the ice, is amazing. We can build something truly special at Beloit.”

“I’m excited about the welcoming community at Beloit,” added women’s coach Jake Bobrowski. “Beloit College has the academics, the athletics, the Powerhouse, the student experience. By year two and three, we’re going to be very competitive. My goal is to get to the NCAA Division III tournament, and at some point get to a national championship. I can’t wait to welcome new students.”

Beloit College representatives will attend a Northland college transfer fair on March 13 and will host the hockey teams and all other interested students on Beloit’s campus March 22.

The men’s and women’s hockey teams will begin competing in the 2025-26 school year, with a full schedule already planned.

Huge tilts in Big Ten, NCHC top our slate for money lines, analysis for Feb. 28: USCHO Edge college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 17

By Jim Connelly Dan Rubin and Ed Trefzger

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February 28, 2025

USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger look at money lines and over/under for six college games on February 28, 2025:

Minnesota -220 @ Penn State +170; over/under 6.5
Michigan State -250 @ Notre Dame +190; o/u 5.5
Northeastern +175 @ UConn -230; o/u 5.5
Arizona State -125 @ Omaha -105; o/u 6.5
North Dakota +190 @ Western Michigan -250; o/u 5.5
New Hampshire +380 @ Boston College -580; o/u 6.5 (our “pizza money” game)

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Check out all of USCHO’s podcasts, including USCHO Weekend Review and USCHO Spotlight, plus our entire podcast archive.

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Hockey East announces 2024-25 women’s all-rookie team, highlighted by three unanimous selections, plus five individual awards

By USCHO Staff

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February 27, 2025

UConn’s Claire Murdoch is a unanimous Hockey East all-rookie team member for the 2024-25 season (photo: Clarus Multimedia Group).

Hockey East has announced the 2024-25 all-rookie team and five other season-long awards as voted by the women’s league’s 10 head coaches.

The all-rookie team consists of seven players, including three unanimous selections in UConn forward Claire Murdoch and Northeastern defender Tuva Kandell and her teammate, goaltender Lisa Jönsson. The team is rounded out by defender Olivia Maffeo (Boston College) and forwards Lauren Glaser (Boston College), Chloe Goofers (Merrimack), and Eloise Caron (Northeastern).

Also recognized for her efforts in the 2024-25 campaign is Boston University graduate student Tamara Giaquinto, who has been named defender of the year, the first Terrier to win the award since Kasey Boucher in 2011-12.

Two statistical awards have been formally announced, as Providence’s Reichen Kirchmair has captured the Hockey East scoring crown, netting 15 goals and adding 15 assists for 30 points. She is just the second Friar to ever claim the title and the first since Kelli Halcisak did so in the league’s inaugural 2002-03 campaign.

Boston College goaltender Grace Campbell has captured the Hockey East three stars award, given to the player who accrues the most points from being named the first, second, or third star of the game throughout the season.

Providence graduate Hannah Johnson has been honored as the best defensive forward during the regular season. She becomes just the second Friar to win the award after Sarah Hjalmarsson in 2022-23.

Merrimack graduate forward Raice Szott was awarded the conference’s sportsmanship award. Szott is a three-time nominee for the Hockey Humanitarian Award and has been a finalist each of the last two years.

Hockey East will announce the 2024-25 all-star teams on Friday and then the finalists for player, rookie, and coach of the year awards on Monday.

NCAA D-III West Men’s Hockey Weekend Picks

By Brian Lester

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February 27, 2025

Joe Harguindeguy and the Cobbers take on Gustavus in the semifinal round of the MIAC tournament. (Photo provided by Concordia Athletics)

Are we ready for some playoff hockey?

There will be plenty of it this weekend as the MIAC, WIAC and NCHA tournaments take place. The MIAC is beginning postseason play while the WIAC and NCHA are continuing on with their tournaments.

Time to dive in with some picks and see who is going to advance to next weekend’s championship games.

MIAC

Gustavus (14-9-2) vs. Concordia (12-11-3)

The Gusties won the regular season title and are in the conference tournament for the first time since 2020. Concordia is in the semifinal round for the first time since 2018 after beating Saint John’s 4-2 on Wednesday.

These two squads haven’t played since November. Gustavus won both games, prevailing 4-0 and 4-3. Gustavus won just twice in its final seven games while the Cobbers are playing with house money in this one. Once out of playoff contention, the Cobbers got in and hope to make a run. They have won four of their last seven.

An upset wouldn’t surprise me, but I’ll go with the home team here.
Gustavus, 4-2

Bethel (13-9-3) vs. St. Olaf (13-9-3)

No need for introductions here. The Royals and Oles are playing for the third time in the last eight days and the fourth time overall. They split their regular season series but St. Olaf also won an outdoor game in November.

For the Royals, it’s about revenge. They lost to the Oles in the championship game last season as St, Olaf won its second title in the last three seasons.

Bethel has been great at home, losing just once, and feature one of the top goal scorers in hockey in Tyler Braccini. St. Olaf has a pretty good scoring threat of its own in Jonathan Panisa. Expect this one to go right down to the wire. I like Bethel at home, but then, St. Olaf in the playoffs is a hard thing to bet against. It won’t be a surprise no matter who wins.
Bethel, 3-2

NCHA

Aurora (23-3-1) vs. Adrian (17-9-1)

The Spartans are the top seed and have won their last five. They took two of three from the Bulldogs in the regular season and have the best offense in the league with 134 goals. They are also 13-0 at home.

Adrian ranks third in goals scored (103). But don’t overlook the goalie matchup between JaCob Mucitelli of Aurora and Dershahn Stewart of Adrian.
Aurora, 5-3

St. Norbert (21-5-1) vs. Trine (20-5-2)

The Green Knights are unbeaten in their last eight games. They split with Trine in the regular season on their home ice. The Thunder have won two in a row and unbeaten their last five. This could end up being a shootout and should go down to the wire. St. Nobert has its sights set on a championship and hopes home ice proves to be an advantage.

St. Norbert, 4-3

WIAC

UW-Stevens Point (18-5-2) vs. UW-Eau Claire (12-14-1)

The Pointers won it all last season, beating the Blugolds for the crown. In the regular season, Stevens Point won two of three against Eau Claire and hope to continue that success this time around. The Pointers are unbeaten in their last five games and have lost only one game at home this season. They also have the top two goal scorers in the conference in Peyton Hart and Dawson Sciarrino. The goalie matchup will be one to watch as Max Gutjahr of Eau Claire and Alex Proctor of Stevens Point are two of the best in hockey. I could see this going to a mini game.
Stevens Point, 4-2; Eau Claire, 3-2; Stevens Point, 2-1 (mini game)

UW-Superior (18-4-3) vs. UW-River Falls (16-10-1)

The Yellowjackets have had quite the year, winning the regular season crown, and sport a 9-2-3 record at home. But the Falcons are no pushover and all three meetings between these two teams were close throughout.

Superior has lost just once in its last 17 games and are led by Reed Stark and Justin Dauphinais.

The Falcons have two big threats in Dylan Smith and and Jonny Meiers. This should be a really fun series to watch. River Falls is hoping to win its first title since 2015. The power play could be key here for River Falls, which has at least one power play goal in six of its last seven games.
Superior, 4-3; River Falls, 5-4; Superior, 1-0 (mini game)

This Week in Atlantic Hockey America: Playoffs have arrived with all 11 conference teams in hunt for NCAA tournament autobid

By Chris Lerch

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February 27, 2025

Connor Hasley has been a wall in net this season for Bentley (photo: Ryan DeSantis/Bentley Athletics).

When the dust settled on the 2024-25 Atlantic Hockey America regular season, no tiebreakers were necessary to determine the playoff seedings:

1. Holy Cross
2. Sacred Heart
3. Bentley
4. Niagara
5. Army West Point
6. Canisius
7. Air Force
8. American International
9. Rochester Institute of Technology
10. Robert Morris
11. Mercyhurst

That means the 2025 Atlantic Hockey tournament looks like this:

First Round
Single elimination
February 28
#9 RIT vs. AIC (Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.)
March 1
#11 Mercyhurst at #6 Canisius
#10 Robert Morris at #7 Air Force

Quarterfinal Round
Best-of-three series
March 7-9
Lowest surviving seed at #1 Holy Cross
Second lost surviving seed at #2 Sacred Heart
Third lowest surviving seed at #3 Bentley
#5 Army West Point at #4 Niagara

Semifinal Round
Best-of-three series
March 14-16
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed
Second-lowest surviving seed at second-highest surviving seed

Championship
Single elimination
March 22
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed

Predictions vs. reality

It’s been a yearly tradition here to take a look at how the coaches and yours truly picked the final standings at the start of the season. The coaches vote in a preseason poll, and I vote in a poll of one to determine USCHO’s picks.

Observations:
I had a better year than the coaches, but we both whiffed on a couple of predictions.

There were question marks surrounding defending champions RIT after the Tigers lost several key players to blue chip programs via the transfer portal at the end of last season. RIT lost three first-team and one second-team all-league players to transfer, and the impact turned out to be more significant than the coaches or myself predicted, resulting in a ninth-place finish, tied for the lowest for RIT since joining the league in 2006.

On the positive side, RIT also finished in ninth place in 2014 and went on to capture the next two conference championships.

The other major miscalculation by myself and the coaches was Army West Point. The Black Knights were picked to finish tenth by the coaches and last by yours truly. But thanks to the emergence of players like Mac Gadowsky and a freshman class that includes Jack Ivey (23 points) Ben Ivey (16 points), Nils Forselius (20 points) and JJ Cataldo (.925 saves % and a 2.31 GAA), combined with the X-Factor of coach Brian Riley’s impending retirement, Army West Point earned a fifth-place finish and first round bye.

Previewing the First Round

Anything can happen in a single-elimination game, and one or more upsets in this round wouldn’t be shocking.

#11 Mercyhurst at #6 Canisius
This is the oldest rivalry in Atlantic Hockey, going back to when both teams were in the Division III ECAC West. The schools have met 114 times previously, with Mercyhurst holding a 52-49-13 edge. Canisius holds the advantage in the Division I era (42-39-11).

Mercyhurst will be looking to stay out of the box against the Golden Griffins, who sport the best power play in the conference (23.8%). That’s compounded by the Lakers having the lowest penalty kill success rate in the league (71.9%).

The teams met three times in the regular season with Canisius taking 7 of 9 points (two wins plus a tie and shootout loss).

#10 Robert Morris at #7 Air Force
This is another rivalry that predates Atlantic Hockey. The former CHA members have played 46 times, with Air Force holding a 24-17-5 edge.

The teams’ only meeting this season was last weekend, when Air Force took five of six points with a victory and shoutout win.

Statistically, Robert Morris is averaging around a half a goal a game better than Air Force, while the Falcons are allowing about a half a goal a game less than the Colonials.

Neither team comes into the game on a hot streak. Air Force is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games while RMU is 1-7-2.

#9 Rochester Institute of Technology at #8 American International
This battle of the acronym schools is a rematch of last year’s Atlantic Hockey championship game, a 5-2 Tigers win that was closer than the score indicates.

This game will be played on Friday at West Point as the Mass Mutual Center, AIC’s home rink, is booked this weekend.

With the cancellation of its Division I program at the end of the season, every game could be the last for the Yellow Jackets. It’s difficult to end another team’s season, much less a situation like this.

The teams met two weeks ago, with the Tigers recording a victory and a shootout win on home ice.

RIT leads the all-time series 37-11-4.

Minnesota State goaltender Tracy tabbed 2024-25 CCHA student-athlete of the year

By USCHO Staff

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February 27, 2025

Minnesota State goalie Alex Tracy has been a workhorse this season for the Mavericks (photo: Russell Hons).

The CCHA has announced that Minnesota State junior goaltender Alex Tracy as the conference’s 2024-25 student-athlete of the year, as voted on by the faculty athletics representatives from each member school.

A native of Chicago, Tracy is a finance major with a 3.93 cumulative grade point average. Named to the Dean’s List and CCHA scholar-athlete in each semester in which he has been eligible, he is a two-time AHCA Krampade All-American Scholar, along with academic all-district honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC).

Tracy is a three-year member of SAAC, for which he has helped produce videos for mental health awareness as well as the Slam Don’t Drive Drunk campaign. He assists with the school’s All-Sports Camps and Trick or Treat with the Mavericks each year. Helping with the Kiwanis Holiday light event and the Anthony Ford Pond Hockey tournament, he also assists with the YMCA corn roast to raise funds for food pantries, helps at Futures School and works as a guest coach at the Miracle League for six weeks in the Fall.

Along with his teammates, Tracy has spent the past two years working with the adaptive floor hockey team for the Mankato High Schools, practicing with this group at least one a week and attending as many games as their schedule allows, including a road trip to support the team in tournament play.

Tracy coaches aspiring goaltenders at clinics and works in the Athlete-to-Athlete program mentoring three young athletes. He organizes the team Bible Study, participates in “I am Second” group designed to spread the gospel on campus, and leads devotional for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). He organizes the groups pickleball games and works at a local church on Wednesday evenings with the AWANA program.

On the ice, Tracy has started all 32 games for the Mavericks this season, posting a 22-8-2 record with four shutouts. He has compiled a 1.46 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage across 1926:32 minutes, totaling 796 saves. He is a five-time CCHA goaltender of the week and was both the league and national goaltender of the month in November.

Tracy is among the national leaders in a number of statistical categories, including wins (1st), goals-against average (1st), save percentage (2nd), shutouts (3rd), minutes played (3rd), games played (3rd) and total saves (9th).

Given annually, the award is presented to one CCHA student-athlete who performed consistently as a regular member of their CCHA varsity hockey team, displayed outstanding sportsmanship, made satisfactory progress towards a degree, displayed leadership and was active in community service off the ice, encompassing a positive culture of the institution and league.

Last year, Michigan Tech senior Blake Pietila was the third recipient of the CCHA student-athlete of the year since the conference’s return in 2021-22.

Resurgent Vikings focused on playoff success

By Tim Costello

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February 27, 2025

Salem State captain Luke Day has been a key role model to the young Vikings who are preparing for their first home playoff game in eight seasons (Photo by Liliana Nunez/Emily Jancauskas)

With tonight’s quarterfinal home playoff game against Massachusetts-Dartmouth just hours away, the Salem State Vikings will be hosting a home conference tournament game for the first time since 2017 – ironically the last year they won the MASCAC title. The Vikings have found a winning formula that has led to an 18-6-0 record and a seven-game win streak that dates back to February 1 – a streak the team would like to extend into March and starting with a win this evening at “The Rockett.”.

“It has been really nice to see the re-birth of the program after missing out on the playoffs last season,” stated second-year head coach Chris MacInnis. “We have been getting contributions from everyone in the lineup and have had everyone buy into the system we need and want to play to be successful. We are still a fairly young team, so our leadership has been very important to make sure everyone is invested and doing what it takes for the team to get results.”

Captain Luke Day started wearing the “C” midway through last year’s season and his ability to carry the weight of the team and mentor the younger players has been on display this season with both on-ice and off-ice activities. In the last game of the regular season it was Day’s late third period goal that spurred a 6-4 comeback win over Worcester State with three goals coming in the final three minutes of regulation time.

“Luke has certainly carried the team at times,” noted MacInnis. “ He is especially good at doing things the “right way” and showing the younger players the foundations of being a successful college hockey player. Another leader has been Keagan O’Donoghue who returned as a graduate student this year and had some question marks on buying into the system and approach from the coaching perspective. He has checked all those boxes, been a great leader for us, is a big part of our first line with Landyn {Greatorex] and James [Tatro] and recently picked up his 100^th career point. I was so happy for him to achieve that important milestone especially since I was the last player to that here at Salem State. I hope we will see many more 100-point players come through the program.”

One player on that trajectory is first-year James Tatro. So far this season Tatro is playing on the top line and already has thirty points on the season (14G – 16A – 30 Pts; +18) He has been dynamic on special teams scoring five power play goals and two shorthanded markers while scoring four game-winning goals for the Vikings so far this season.

“I knew when he visited that james was a good fit here at Salem State,” said MacInnis. “He was going to go play club hockey at Niagara but after thinking about things over the summer decided to come here and the fit has been obvious from the start of the season. He is a local kid who played high school hockey at Triton, so his family is nearby and very supportive of his playing here. I think James might fall into the “late bloomer” category, but he has certainly come into his own in this his first year at the collegiate level.”

Macinnis himself is a graduate of Salem State having recorded 102 points (44G – 58A – 102 Pts) between 2006-2009. MacInnis played for the legendary Bill O’Neill and then was an assistant coach with O’Neill before taking the job last season upon his mentor’s retirement. He learned a lot from his college coach and others that has helped with the quick trajectory the team has seen in just his second season behind the bench.

“I definitely take a lot from coach O’Neill and others including John Maguire, head coach at Waltham High School where I was an assistant when they won the Massachusetts state championship in 2018,” stated MacInnis. “I think the biggest takeaways have been really getting to know the players on a personal level, creating some work life balance and just a love of being at the rink every day. They say find something you love ,and you will never work a day in your life and that is what I have here at Salem State. There have definitely been a few “pinch me” moments that I am doing this, but this is what I love to do.”

The Vikings would love to play in a semifinal MASCAC playoff game and play for a 32^nd conference title the following week. The young team has learned a lot over the course of the season and now hopes the applied lessons will carry them back to the top.

“Anything is possible in the playoffs,” noted MacInnis. “We have built a lot of confidence from winning games over teams like Endicott and coming back over Worcester State in the season finale as well as winning the Boston Landing tournament. We have also learned from adversity with some key losses. It is a three-game tournament and right now we are focused on the opponent for tonight as the Corsairs can be very dangerous with players like Tyler Stewart.”

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Final regular-season weekend means ‘the moment doesn’t care about you; you care about the moment’

By Paula C. Weston

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February 27, 2025

Penn State goalie Arsenii Sergeev has the ability to steal games on his own (photo: Penn State Athletics).

Hockey coaches and players famously embrace both the world of belief and the world of self-determination.

They’re a superstitious lot, some more so than others.

They can look you straight in the eye and begin a sentence with gratitude for puck luck and finish it with a triumphant declaration of TCB.

Never is that dichotomy more apparent than in the final days of a regular season with a conference title on the line, or as Minnesota coach Bob Motzko says, “The moment doesn’t care about you; you care about the moment. Just stay in it.”

Could any advice better combine the mystical and physical into one perfect hockey sentiment?

After sweeping Ohio State at home and following Michigan State’s one-point road performance against hotter-than-hot Penn State, Minnesota is now once again at the top of the Big Ten standings, two points ahead of the second-place Spartans.

Of the three Big Ten teams for whom the regular-season title is still mathematically within reach, only Minnesota controls its own fate. Two wins outright in the final weekend of play would give the Gophers a first-place finish and first-round bye for the Big Ten playoffs.

One slight potential problem: the Gophers are playing that hotter-than-hot Penn State team.

“They started out on the wrong side early but just stuck with it,” said Motzko of the Nittany Lions.

In his weekly press conference, Motzko said that the return of Penn State’s goaltender Arsenii Sergeev following an early-season injury helped to turn around a bad start for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State began first-half B1G play with eight straight losses. In Andreev’s first weekend back, the Nittany Lions earned a tie and their first Big Ten win. Including that series, they’ve been 8-2-4 in conference games.

Seegeev “seems to be the one big thing that’s happened,” said Motzko. “That and confidence. They’re brimming with confidence right now.”

The Nittany Lions are especially confident after tying and knocking off then-No. 1 Michigan State in Munn Ice Arena last weekend. The Spartans had been coming off a bye week prior to facing Penn State.

“Tough weekend for us, for sure,” said Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale in his weekly presser. “Going into the weekend, we thought we had two good weeks of practice. One thing for our group is that we really hadn’t hit a bump, and this is definitely a bump, but our guys are excited about the challenge.”

Nightingale said that the Spartans learned some valuable lessons from the losses, including valuing the puck and that “you can’t dig yourself a hole.”

The Spartans played from behind in both games, having to answer for Penn State’s scoring to get to that 2-2 Friday. In Saturday’s 3-2 loss, Michigan State was down 3-0 after two and found the back of the net in the third period, 20 minutes in which the Spartans outshot the Nittany Lions 19-5.

Of lessons learned from that one-point weekend, Nightingale said, “It stings a little bit more,” adding, “we’ve learned a lot from wins this year, too.”

Now chasing the regular-season title, the Spartans will face last-place Notre Dame on the road, and these are two games that Nightingale knows can’t be taken for granted. Given that the Fighting Irish will play on the road throughout the Big Ten playoffs, these will be the last two home games for Jeff Jackson, who announced his retirement prior to this season.

“It’s a big weekend for them,” said Nightingale. “Coach Jackson, one of the legends of not just college hockey but all of hockey.”

Nightingale, who grew up in Cheboygan, Mich., said that he and his hockey-playing brothers Jason and Jared all admired Jackson when they were young.

“You look at what he did at Lake Superior in really building that program into a national power,” Nightingale said. “He was the first coach of the U.S. national team. At the time when he did that it was kind of taboo. You look at what that’s done for USA Hockey.”

The emotions will be high in the Compton Family Ice Arena.

“It’ll be a really good test for our group,” said Nightingale. “Hard building to play in. We’re going to have to play our best hockey if we want to be successful.”

Both Nightingale and Motzko say that they’re focused on a much smaller picture than the possibility of earning a regular-season title.

“We don’t spend much time talking about standings and all those things, or rankings,” said Nightingale. “We don’t look at any of that stuff. None of that stuff matters to us. It’s just about getting better and improving. The nice thing for us is that we’ve established that, so our guys know that.”

“You battle through your season,” said Motzko. “Win the series against the team you play.

“We can’t worry about what Michigan State does. All we had to do last week is worry about who we were playing. Right now, it’s Friday night against Penn State. Then we’ll see what’s in front of us the next day.

“To think anything more than that, it’s just wasted energy.”

Penn State is 9-5-2 at home this season and Minnesota is 7-4-2 on the road. The Golden Gophers swept the Nittany Lions in Minneapolis Nov. 1-2. The Nittany Lions can finish no higher than fourth place – but that’s a very important fourth place, as the teams that finish second through fourth host a first-round playoff series. Even if Penn State sweeps Minnesota, the Nittany Lions aren’t guaranteed that spot in fourth.

Minnesota and Penn State meet for two games in Pegula Ice Arena this weekend, with Friday’s game starting at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday’s at 8:00. Both games will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

The Fighting Irish broke a five-game losing streak in their split against Wisconsin on the road last week, a 6-1 win that followed a 7-3 loss. Notre Dame is 5-10-0 at home and Michigan State is 8-3-2 on the road.

The Irish have no place to go in the standings and will finish in last place. A single win for the Spartans guarantees them a spot no lower than second in the final standings, and if they’re swept, they can finish no lower than third place. Friday’s game begins at 7:00 p.m., Saturday’s at 6:00 p.m.

There is one more series this weekend, that between arch-rivals Michigan and Ohio State. Sitting in third place with 40 points – six behind Minnesota – the Buckeyes can finish in first place, theoretically, but that would require some planets to align. Because they’re four points behind Michigan State, the Buckeyes also need a little magic to finish as high as second, but even if they lose out this weekend, they can’t finish lower than third.

With two wins over Ohio State this weekend, Michigan finishes in fourth place regardless of all else that transpires in the league. The Wolverines can finish no lower than fifth.

The Wolverines and Buckeyes play in Value City Arena, with Thursday’s game beginning at 8 p.m. and Friday’s at 6 p.m. The Big Ten network will televise both of those games.

Wisconsin, locked into a sixth-place finish, has a bye for the final weekend of the regular season.

This Week in Hockey East: Maine seniors reflect on turnaround, UMass coach Carvel approaches milestone

By John Doyle

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February 27, 2025

UMass plays a home-and-home series this weekend against UMass Lowell (photo: UMass Athletics).

Checking in on a few trends around the league as “Senior Night” season heats up:

—Senior forward Nolan Renwick was blunt in his assessment of where the Maine hockey program stood during his freshman season of 2021-22.

“We weren’t very good,” Renwick said. “And our record reflected that.”

Indeed. Maine finished dead last in Hockey East that season (5-17-2, 7-22-4 overall), but since then, Renwick’s had one of the best seats in the house for the Black Bears’ remarkable turnaround. Maine improved to 15-16-5 overall the following season and 23-12-2 last year, which culminated in Maine’s first NCAA tournament berth in 12 years.

For Renwick, this weekend’s final homestand at Alfond Arena (vs. Vermont) will be a chance to reflect how far the Black Bears have come in his four seasons with the program.

“We really pulled this program up from a position where nobody thought we were going to do well,” he said. “Nobody thought we were going to win. Now we’re in a position where we’re contending for Hockey East championships.”

Entering the weekend, Maine is five points behind league-leading Boston College with an 11-4-5 conference record (19-6-5) overall — still very much in contention for the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming Hockey East tournament.

“I think that adds a lot, makes it a lot more special, to come from where we were to where we are now,” Renwick said. “That even adds to the memory of my four years here.”

Unlike his departing players, coach Ben Barr is not expected to go anywhere at the end of the season. Yet the weekend will mark the beginning of the end of coach Ben Barr’s fourth season with the club, and with it an opportunity to reflect on Maine’s transformation from a Hockey East doormat to a national title contender. Barr took over the program during the summer of 2021, following the unexpected passing of coach Red Gendron.

“Without those guys, I don’t think anything changes the last couple of years,” Barr said of the athletes playing their last home regular-season games this weekend. “They’re special kids. (They’ve) turned themselves into good hockey players. It’s not like they were just given all the talent in the world. That’s contagious to everybody else. It’s contagious to the coaches. You know you’re always in the game with those guys as your leaders because they’re going to bring everyone else with them.”

—When Massachusetts hosts UMass Lowell on Thursday, it will make senior forward Lucas Mercuri the longest-serving Minutemen player under coach Greg Carvel, according to UMass broadcaster Nathan Strauss.

“He’s a tough guy, a tough kid,” said Carvel about Mercuri, who has missed all of one game in four seasons. “He’s really taken on the identity of a power forward and has really thrived off of it.”

A win vs. the River Hawks will make Carvel the program’s all-time winningest coach, surpassing Don “Toot” Cahoon, who guided the Minutemen from 2000-12.

—Like every team, Massachusetts will be fighting this weekend and next for the highest possible seed in the Hockey East tournament. But the No. 5 seed might be the perfect spot for UMass, and for good reason. The top eight seeds are guaranteed at least one home playoff game — except No. 5, which will earn a bye to the quarterfinals but will be forced to play that game on the road.

The Minutemen have performed better on the road this season (8-4-2) than at home (7-6-1).

“(We’re) trying to figure that out,” said Carvel. “I don’t know if it’s a home-ice advantage this year.”

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Colorado College planning for ‘a long run’ as Tigers need to ‘win a lot of games to get to where we ultimately want to be’

By Matthew Semisch

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February 26, 2025

Drew Montgomery has compiled 10 goals and 17 points this season for Colorado College (photo: Casey B. Gibson).

Sitting 32nd in the PairWise Rankings, Colorado College isn’t what you’d call a team on the bubble for a NCAA tournament berth this season.

But with two regular-season games left, plus however far into the postseason the Tigers get, coach Kris Mayotte wants his squad to look the part.

CC’s series split last weekend at St. Cloud State included a fifth win from the Tigers’ past six games, as the visitors were victorious 4-3 in Friday’s opener. But a 4-2 defeat Saturday kept the Tigers from potentially cutting the gap on Denver in fifth place in the NCHC standings to one point.

Ultimately, at 17-14-1 this season, CC is where it is.

But Friday’s victory showed glimpses of what the Tigers’ season still could be. Eleven different CC skaters found their way onto the score sheet, and while four different Tigers scored, goaltender Kaidan Mbereko posted a season-best 42 saves, including 15 in a scoreless third period.

“Just be him,” Mayotte said of what he wants to see out of Mbereko down the home stretch. “He’s really good when he’s him.”

There was also a good, if imperfect, team effort.

“I thought we got better as the game went on,” Mayotte said on a night when CC scored three second-period goals. “We played a team that was off the weekend before, they’re going to have their legs early. That, paired with getting used to the rink a little bit, I thought our first period was pretty sloppy in terms of chances we were giving up and our connectivity, but as we got into the second, you started to see us build our offense a little better and started to see us connect a little better defensively, and we were able to build some transition off of it.

“I thought we all executed really well. The talk on the bench was good, and there’s starting to be a belief. I thought in the third, they had the shot advantage (15-8), and I think a little bit of that is just the nature of the score, but I really liked how we went out and played. We weren’t hanging on. We went out to win the hockey game, and we got the job done.”

But the script flipped Saturday, when St. Cloud State scored three goals in the first period and then held on to win, again after a scoreless third. Second-period goals from Fisher Scott and Zaccharya Wisdom couldn’t get CC over the hump.

“I liked the way we played for the majority of tonight,” Mayotte said Saturday. “Unfortunately, we got down early, but we played a lot better than I think what the scoreboard reflects.

“You outshoot a team 44-20, you win 70-plus percent of the (faceoff) draws, I loved our discipline tonight, I thought we were generating chances the right way, I thought we were using our speed. We were driving, we were getting to the net. Sometimes it’s hockey, and their goalie (Isak Posch) played really well tonight. I thought he was the difference in the game.”

CC now has one last bye week before finishing the regular season with a home-and-home set March 7-8 against Denver. The teams split their first two Gold Pan series games back in December.

“Get prepared for a long run,” Mayotte said of his team’s approach the rest of the way. “Continue to get better, obviously, but at the same time, we know we’ve got to go on a run here and win a lot of games to get to where we ultimately want to be.”

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Swan song approaching for Ferris State coach Daniels, who says ‘I really enjoyed the heck out of this season’

By Jack Hittinger

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February 26, 2025

Ferris State coach Bob Daniels has been behind the Bulldogs bench for 36 years (photo: Ferris State Athletics).

Bob Daniels knows his Ferris State team will be opening the 2025 Mason Cup playoffs on the road.

Considering how well the Bulldogs seem to have played away from Big Rapids, Mich. — they’re 6-8-0 on the road compared to 5-8-2 at home — that’s just fine with Daniels.

“We could finish as high as fifth and as low as lowest eighth, so there’s a lot to play for, and we really don’t care where we go. Our road record has been pretty good this year. We’ve been a pretty good road team, so we’re fine with that,” Daniels said on Monday, following his team’s road split with Michigan Tech in Houghton. The Bulldogs lost 6-1 on Friday night and were down 2-0 on Saturday night before winning 3-2. “I do think coming from behind at Michigan Tech, which is a really a great fun environment and difficult environment to play, I do think that’s going to bode well going into the playoffs and knowing that we just recently took on a pretty darn good hockey team, and we’re able to split with them on the road.”

Because of where Ferris State is in the CCHA standings, it means that this weekend’s home series against Northern Michigan will also be the Bulldogs’ final regular-season home dates at Ewigleben Ice Arena. By extension, those two games will also be Daniels’ last two home games behind the Bulldog bench. The 65-year-old Daniels announced in January that he is retiring at the end of this season.

And although the FSU athletic department plans on pulling out all the stops for their longtime head coach of 36 years in these two games — going so far as to call this “Bob Daniels Weekend” in his honor — Daniels would love nothing more than to treat these games like any other. At the very least, he wants to make sure his players get their due before him.

“Well, I’m sure there will be emotions, but I really am trying to just take it as another game only because, you know, I like our team, we fought hard all year long, and I don’t want to get distracted at the end,” Daniels said. “Our seniors, it’s their last games, too. And so, rightfully, I think the spotlight should be on them.”

The Bulldogs have five seniors on the team–captain Kaleb Ergang, Nico DeVita, Zach Faremouth, Nick Grimaldi and Nick Nardecchia, as well as graduate transfer goaltender Noah West and Jacob Dirks.

“This has been a really good group of guys to work with, just really self-directed, no issues off the ice, they play with a purpose, and they’re fun and they’re engaged, so that’s why I really feel compelled to make sure that we run through the finish line and give these guys every opportunity and make sure we give them our best so that they have every opportunity to go and make a memorable season out of it.”

The Bulldogs, currently 12-18-2, have been on a pretty good run since the start of 2025 and can continue that this weekend with a pair of games against Northern Michigan–who they already swept on the road. In their last eight games, FSU is 5-3-0 and won against three of the top four teams in the CCHA (Minnesota State, Bowling Green and Michigan Tech). Whatever matchup the Bulldogs get in the next round, they’ll be battle-tested.

“I really enjoyed the heck out of this season,” Daniels said. “But when it’s over, I think I will be saying that it’s going to be the exact right time, and there’ll be no regrets or no, you know, ‘We should come back for another year.’ It’s pretty darn close to perfect timing. I don’t feel like I went too long. I don’t feel like it got shorter, that’s for sure. So it’s perfect. But I do want to kind of really enjoy the last games. And I’d like to keep going as deep as we can.”

After that? Daniels said he’ll finally have more time to reflect on his career once the season is over and the emotions subside. After all, there’s a lot of memories packed into nearly 40 years of time behind the bench in Big Rapids. As head coach, Daniels went to four NCAA tournaments, one NCAA title game and won three regular season league titles (two in the old CCHA and one in the WCHA). He also won his 500th career game back in November.

“It will be nice to get opportunities to look back and thank people,” Daniels said. “And I know there’s something going on this weekend, so we’ll have a reception and so forth, but, you know, anything else we plan on really doing will probably take place after the season ends.”

And he plans on remaining with the program in some capacity.

“I would like to stay involved to some extent, in terms of maybe helping out with growing our booster club, and, you know, maybe look to lend my name and help a little bit, and some fundraising endeavors go. I don’t want to get involved with the program, other than, what can I do to kind of help grow the, you know, grow our program financially,” Daniels said. “I don’t want to be involved in the Xs and Os. I’ve been there, done that, but I do know from being there, there’s times you can use a voice or a hand, maybe approach an alum saying, ‘Hey, we could use a little help, you know, in this area. And would you be willing to do so?’ And I would certainly be open to that. But yeah, when it comes to hockey, I’m going to let the coach do that.

“They don’t need me,” he joked. “There’s a couple thousand other coaches sitting in the stands at the game. I’ll let them help.”

NCAA D-II/III East Men’s Ice Hockey Game Picks – Part I – February 26, 2025

By Tim Costello

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February 26, 2025

Stevenson captain Liam McCanney hopes to lead his squad towards playoff victory as the battles for conference titles begins today in the east (Photo by Craig Chase)

Here is Part I of this week’s two-part game prognostications with several conferences playing quarterfinal round action before semis on the weekend. Playoff hockey is here and surely there will be some upsets along the way as teams battle for conference glory and an opportunity to play on a national stage in March. Not much time to prepare but all these teams know that the way to keep playing important games is to win – No one overly excited about the going home option.

Last week my picks finished at a less than stellar 7-4-2 (.615) so I too need to be better as the games dwindle towards conference championships and the national tournament. My season numbers for the regular season finished at 112-50-10 (.680) so maybe a solid playoff run will get me at or near my 70% target for the season. These are the mid-week picks with a recalibration set for the weekend based on the outcomes across a handful of conferences:

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

CNE

Wentworth v. (15) Endicott

The Gulls are surely not thrilled to have to play a quarterfinal round game, but they are at home and have all three phases of their game performing well from the goal on out. Balanced scoring is the difference as Andrew Kurapov and Jackson Sterrett do not have to score for the home team to win – Endicott, 5-2

Nichols v. Suffolk

The weekend’s 1-1 tie to close out the regular season just proved that this one is likely to go to bonus hockey. CJ Hapward has given his team a chance to win most every night, and they will need him at his best to hold off the Bison. Can you say double OT – Suffolk, 2-1

SUNYAC

Canton v. Buffalo State

The Bengals did not qualify for the playoffs last season nor did Canton who was not officially part of the SUNYAC. So, who shows some playoff grit? The home team has seen some big performances from Vadim Kiriakov and Joe Glamos who lead by example in this close win made comfortable by an ENG late – Buffalo State, 4-2

Potsdam v. Plattsburgh

These two teams just faced each other to close out the regular season so the familiarity will create an interesting dynamic with both teams looking for the advantage early. The Cardinals have found some balanced scoring and that is the difference in a one-goal win to advance to the semifinals – Plattsburgh, 3-2

UCHC

Brockport v. Manhattanville

The Valiants have been a tough out on home ice and the Golden Eagles are looking to extend their positive momentum with their win over Chatham last weekend. Sebastien Woods is the difference in a hard-fought game where the home team hangs on for a win – Manhattanville, 2-1

Nazareth v. Chatham

The Cougars have been exceptionally good on home ice and that is a good thing when a physical and attacking team like Nazareth comes to town. Lots of opportunities from both teams but the Cougars find the extra one in some bonus hockey action for the win – Chatham, 4-3

Thursday, February 27, 2025

MASCAC

MCLA v. Plymouth State

The Panthers will not be content with just the regular season title but start their playoff journey with a team that has never seen a league playoff game since its re-birth a couple of years ago. Brandon Shantz is sharp in goal and Ethan Stuckless, Will Redick and a strong supporting cast get the title hunt off on the right path – Plymouth State, 6-2

Westfield State v. Anna Maria

The Amcats stumbled over their last two games and the best thing about the post-season is those last two games do not matter. Horgan Rink has been particularly good for the AmCats who will start fast to beat a pesky group of Owls. Matthew Hennessey is playoff ready in goal – Anna Maria, 4-1

Massachusetts-Dartmouth v. Salem State

The Vikings have had a terrific season led by a solid group of players including James Tator, Keagan O’Donoghue, Landyn Greatorex and Will Nepveu in goal. Home team knows how to play things close and will need to have jump early against a Lancer team poised for an upset. Vikings advance with an ENG for margin – Salem State, 4-2

Worcester State v. Fitchburg State

The Falcons have played better hockey in recent weeks including their big win to close out the regular season that earned them this home game. Lost on home ice to the Lancers recently so expect coach Dean Fuller’s team to and disciplined in a close game that sees FSU advance by a single goal – in overtime – Fitchburg State, 3-2

Quick turn around after end of the regular season but now is the time where teams need to leave it all on the ice because if you do not win now, you are going home – “Drop the Puck!”

Women’s Division I College Hockey: The PodKaz Episode 39 – NCAA committee chair Janine Oman describes the selection process, plus a playoff lookahead

By Nicole Haase

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February 26, 2025

Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com take a look at the first weekend of the postseason in ECAC Hockey and Atlantic Hockey but first give a glance at the finish in Hockey East, where UConn swiped the regular-season title away from Boston University on the final day.

Janine Oman, the senior deputy athletic director at Ohio State and chair of the NCAA National Collegiate women’s ice hockey committee, joins the show to talk about how it works when the committee meets to set up the NCAA tournament bracket. She also talks about the other work that the committee does through the year.

And we wrap up a show with a look at the playoff action this week in the five conferences, starting with Wednesday night games in Hockey East.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for our mailbag? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

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This Week in ECAC Hockey: Sorting out plethora of conference storylines as final weekend of 2024-25 regular season on tap

By Dan Rubin

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February 26, 2025

Quinnipiac celebrates a Mason Marcellus goal earlier this season at Union (photo: Quinnipiac Athletics).

Arriving at the last weekend of the regular season is an enjoyable process for me.

No, it’s not because I’m finally close to enjoying time off after spending the last five months in full blown college hockey mode (shoutout: the earlier start for half of ECAC Hockey’s teams). It’s not because I’ve spent close to seven or eight months covering college sports (shoutout: football season), and it’s certainly not because I’m going to relax or anything (shoutout: two kids).

Nope. I enjoy reaching this time of year because everything’s a little simpler. Wins and losses are worth the same amount of points in October as February, but they sure seem more important when the playoffs are around the corner because they’re easier to comprehend. Win on Friday, for example, and a team like Quinnipiac wins the Cleary Cup. Lose the weekend, and a team like Dartmouth misses a first-round bye.

The need for superfluous storylines is gone, and as much as coaches talk about focusing on one game at a time, we’re really in a situation where one game matters a whole ton.

At the risk of being too wordy, let’s dive right into what’s at stake for each of the 12 ECAC teams taking the ice for this weekend’s regular season finale, in order from first to 12th. As always, thanks to the Playoff Status website for some of these percentages and scenarios, and apologies for any mathematical errors in the summaries. Trying to condense the league, especially this year, is nearly impossible, but I’ll throw this under the “I did my best” category that usually makes it easier to swallow any mistakes.

Quinnipiac

Possible finishing spot: First or Second

Most likely finishing spot, per me: First

Most Critical Game of the Weekend, per me: Clarkson-Quinnipiac on Friday

Quick hits: This is my fourth season covering ECAC Hockey for our website, and I picked against Quinnipiac twice. You’d think I would learn, but this year was really the one time when I thought the Bobcats would backslide into second place. Though to be fair, I believe I said that they’d be fine in the long run, but I couldn’t account for the injury woes at Cornell. Regardless, the Bobcats need two points to win their fifth consecutive Cleary Cup and sixth in the last seven years (at least I’m pretty sure they won the Cleary Cup during that four-team COVID year) and even losing to the Golden Knights only lowers the percentage to an 85 percent likelihood with a game against St. Lawrence in Saturday’s finale.

Beyond that, Quinnipiac (No. 13 in the Pairwise Rankings) is unquestionably inching closer to a safe space within the NCAA Tournament’s bubble. Expecting the cut line to land around No. 14 puts the team right on the edge, but not losing games at this point is a big deal when No. 12 UMass plays No. 14 UMass-Lowell and No. 15 Penn State, which plays Minnesota, is surging through the Big Ten.

Clarkson

Possible finishing spot: First, Second or Third

Most likely finishing spot, per me: Second

Most Critical Game of the Weekend, per me: Clarkson-Quinnipiac on Friday

Quick hits: Let’s play a bit of the “what if” game here and assume that Clarkson beats Quinnipiac in regulation. Under that scenario, the Bobcats enter Saturday with a one-point advantage but without the head-to-head tiebreaker because of dueling losses to the Golden Knights. That means Clarkson would win the league’s top seed under three scenarios:

1) Beating Princeton in regulation as long as St. Lawrence at least takes Quinnipiac to overtime.

2) Beating Princeton in overtime or a shootout as long as St. Lawrence beats Quinnipiac in overtime.

3) Losing to Princeton in an overtime or shootout as long as St. Lawrence outright beats Quinnipiac in regulation.

Clarkson can’t win the league if it beats Quinnipiac and loses to Princeton in regulation.

Should Clarkson beat Quinnipiac in overtime, a two-point differential requires the following two scenarios:

1) Beat Princeton in regulation and St. Lawrence beats Quinnipiac in overtime or a shootout.

2) Beat Princeton in overtime or a shootout and St. Lawrence wins in regulation.

Beyond any of that, Clarkson finishes second, and while there are scenarios where Union and Colgate can catch the Golden Knights, the five-point differential requires a weekend sweep against the Bobcats and Tigers.

Side note: Clarkson is sitting at No. 18 in the Pairwise Rankings, so while there are limited opportunities to improve that situation in the ECAC postseason, a win over Quinnipiac makes things a bit more interesting.

Union and Colgate

Possible finishing spot: Second Through Sixth

Most likely finishing spot: Third-Fourth

Most Critical Game of the Weekend, per me: Colgate-Union on Saturday

Quick hits: Union and Colgate tied each other in an early February game in Hamilton, so the head-to-head win on Saturday clinches the tiebreaker scenario. To that extent, it almost doesn’t matter how each team does on Friday, though a Union loss to Cornell and/or a Colgate loss to RPI opens the door for the Big Red to slip ahead of one or both teams, though the Garnet Chargers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, at least for now, over Cornell by virtue of a 4-1 win at Lynah Rink.

Dartmouth can’t gain a first-round bye if Colgate and Union both win in regulation on Friday, so let’s ignore that situation for a second. We’ll come back to it later, but cycling back to the scenario where both Colgate and Union win in regulation on Friday, they’ll play each other for the difference between third and fourth place. If there’s an opening for Cornell or Dartmouth, which essentially requires the Big Red to beat Union along with a successful Big Green trip to southern New England, this game potentially serves as a de facto play-in game for the first-round bye.

Cornell and Dartmouth

Possible finishing spot: Third-Seventh

Most likely finishing spot: Fifth-Sixth

Most Critical Game of the Weekend, per me: Cornell-Union on Friday

Quick hits: Both Cornell and Dartmouth have a chance at gaining a first-round bye, but the scenario essentially requires both teams. The Big Green hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Garnet Chargers but not the Raiders, and the Big Red split with their travel partner outside of the aforementioned loss to Union. So getting both teams into the first-round bye requires some creative math and some tiebreaker shenanigans. There are also scenarios where the three-team or four-team tiebreakers get really weird.

To me, Dartmouth is the wild card to this whole situation. The Big Green travel to Brown and Yale, and I think there’s a direct combination to help them overcome the same four-point differential as Cornell. I think it hinges on a win in Providence on Friday, but the head-to-head game between Colgate and Union keeps the Big Green in the conversation for fifth place even if they lose to the Bears. Under a best-case scenario, a win over Brown, an RPI win over Colgate and a Cornell win over Union increases Dartmouth’s likelihood of finishing fourth by a full two-thirds. It’s not the most probable spot, but I actually really like its possibility.

Both Cornell and Dartmouth open their respective windows by winning in overtime or a shootout on Friday. A loss opens the door for Harvard, which is five points behind both teams, to jump into the conversation for fifth place, but remember that the Big Green have a game against Yale, which is either the No. 11 or No. 12 seed in the postseason.

Harvard and Brown

Possible finishing spot: Harvard: Fifth Through Eighth. Brown: Seventh through Ninth

Most likely finishing spot: Seventh-Eighth

Most Critical Game of the Weekend, per me: Anything involving Brown

Quick hits: Brown last clinched a regular season record above .500 during the mid-2000s, but the ability to host a playoff game with a winning record runs directly through one of the best layered matchups of the weekend. The Bears have a four-point lead over RPI – a common thread throughout the ECAC standings – but playing Dartmouth and Harvard is a brutal proposition given everything that’s at stake.

The most obvious part of Brown’s journey gains home ice with either a regulation win over Dartmouth or a Colgate win over RPI if the Big Green win in regulation. The less-direct route requires the Bears to win in overtime or a shootout while the Engineers and Raiders go to overtime in any capacity, and if the Bears lose in overtime, Colgate needs to win in overtime or a shootout.

Harvard, meanwhile, can move itself closer to a better seed with a win over Yale and a Dartmouth win, but since the Crimson are locked into playing a first-round game at home, there’s less at stake outside of seeding. Should Brown lose to Dartmouth, things get hairier for Saturday’s game in Providence. Of course, RPI’s games against two of the teams vying for the top four spots decreases the likelihood of Brown losing its first-round spot, but the three percent likelihood is enough to make Brunonians sweat until it’s clinched.

RPI, Princeton, Yale and St. Lawrence

Possible finishing spot: RPI can finish as high as eighth, but everyone else is ninth-12th.

Most likely finishing spot: Road for the first round

Most Critical Game of the Weekend, per me: Princeton-St. Lawrence on Friday.

Quick hits: RPI remains the only team with a mathematical opportunity to play itself into a home game for the first round of the ECAC postseason, but the Engineers are most likely to finish ninth unless either a) they’re swept and Princeton beats St. Lawrence on Friday night or b) Brown collapses against Dartmouth and Harvard. Their season series split means that the Tigers also don’t hold the tiebreaker over RPI because of the secondary league win component (RPI’s seven wins is the tiebreaker scenario victory over Princeton’s four).

St. Lawrence, meanwhile, can gain the head-to-head tiebreaker by beating Princeton after the teams tied 4-4 in early February, but Yale’s two wins over the Saints makes things a bit more interesting in the lower quadrant. Each team has an opportunity to move into tenth, but playing things out further, the difference for the first or second round depends largely on where Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth and Harvard finish.

It’s worth noting that road teams are 3-5 since ECAC implemented the single elimination first round in 2023, but one of those wins was No. 12 RPI’s 3-2 win at Clarkson last year.

BRACKETOLOGY: With Selection Sunday one month away, teams starting to solidify spots in 2025 NCAA men’s hockey tournament

By Jim Connelly

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February 25, 2025

Connecticut scored with 40 seconds remaining in overtime to top Maine 3-2, on last Friday night at Toscano Family Ice Forum (photo: Maine Athletics).

Welcome to Week 7 of Bracketology.

Each week from now until Selection Sunday on March 23, I will outline the current 16 teams in the men’s NCAA Division I tournament and attempt to seed a bracket based on the current field.

Connecticut continued to help its cause with an overtime win over Maine, catapulting the Huskies to eighth in the PairWise. Penn State, which still remains on the wrong side of the bubble, really helped its case taking five-of-six points from Michigan State. The Nittany Lions sit in 16th in the PairWise, but trail UMass Lowell, which sits at 14th, by .0008 in the RPI. Of any team currently below the bubble, Penn State currently has the best chance to earn its way into the NCAA field.

All that said, here are the 16 teams who would qualify for the NCAA tournament if the season ended today:

1. Boston College*
2. Michigan State*
3. Minnesota
4. Maine
5. Western Michigan*
6. Providence
7. Boston University
8. Connecticut
9. Denver
10. Ohio State
11. Michigan
12. Massachusetts
13. Quinnipiac*
14. UMass Lowell
15. Minnesota State*
16. Holy Cross*

* – Indicates team that currently has the top conference winning percentage in their respective conference. While each conference is awarded an autobid for its tournament champion, for the purposes of this exercise we will use the first-place team (based on winning %) to receive the autobid.

With the field of 16 in place, we can now seed the four regions using basic bracket integrity (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.).

1. Boston College
8. Connecticut
9. Denver
16. Holy Cross

2. Michigan State
7. Boston University
10. Ohio State
15. Minnesota State

3. Minnesota
6. Providence
11. Michigan
14. UMass Lowell

4. Maine
5. Western Michigan
12. Massachusetts
13. Quinnipiac

As a reminder and also for those who aren’t regular readers of Bracketology, there is one thing that the committee seems to avoid at all costs and that is first-round matchups between teams from the same conference. Good news, though. This week we have none.

It actually makes this one of the easiest brackets to assemble. Let’s take the above bracket and assign regions, remembering that host schools need to play in that region. That’s not an issue this week, though Penn State, the host in Allentown, continues to creep its way up the rankings and are now a bubble team.

Boston College is the top seed and should play closest to home in Manchester, N.H. Michigan State is the second seed and the closest region is Toledo, Ohio, less than two hours from Lansing. Minnesota is the third overall seed and would head to Fargo, N.D., which leaves Maine to play in Allentown, Pa.

That gives us the following:

Manchester Region
1. Boston College
8. Connecticut
9. Denver
16. Holy Cross

Toledo Region
2. Michigan State
7. Boston University
10. Ohio State
15. Minnesota State

Fargo Region
3. Minnesota
6. Providence
11. Michigan
14. UMass Lowell

Allentown Region
4. Maine
5. Western Michigan
12. Massachusetts
13. Quinnipiac

With the four regions set, we now can look at how attendance will be impacted by the participating teams in each region. Regular readers know this is where we often get creative in hopes of creating better atmospheres in each region.

Looking at the current field, there is NOTHING that one can do to improve things. Manchester will be strong with BC, UConn and Holy Cross nearby. Toledo has Michigan State and Ohio State, both within two hours. Fargo will need the Gopher faithful and maybe some Michigan fans to help carry attendance. And Allentown continues to be the sore spot, though Quinnipiac, Maine and UMass all have decent fan bases who might make the drive.

As mentioned earlier, though, the saving grace for Allentown will occur if Penn State continues to win. The Nittany Lions are 9-1-3 in their last 13 and have moved from 28th to 16th in the PairWise in a little more than a month. If they get inside the bubble, they’ll play in Allentown and help sell tickets in that region.

Thus, we have no more movement in this week’s bracket. It’s the rare perfect bracket.

Manchester Region
1. Boston College
2. Connecticut
3. Denver
4. Holy Cross

Toledo Region
1. Michigan State
2. Boston University
3. Ohio State
4. Minnesota State

Fargo Region
1. Minnesota
2. Providence
3. Michigan
4. UMass Lowell

Allentown Region
1. Maine
2. Western Michigan
3. Massachusetts
4. Quinnipiac

Last in: UMass Lowell, Massachusetts
First out: Arizona State, Penn State

Keep an eye on: Penn State as they play a two-game series at home against Minnesota to close the Big Ten schedule. If the Nittany Lions sweep, they’ll take a big jump forward into the field of 16.

TMQ: Discussing upcoming new coaches across NCAA Division I men’s hockey and announcing transactions ahead of time

By Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger

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February 25, 2025

Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson takes a timeout during a NCAA Midwest Regional game against St. Cloud State at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, back in March 2013 (USCHO file photo: Rachel Lewis).

Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.

Jim: Well, Ed, we’re really in the home stretch of the college hockey season. And while generally, I’d start with PairWise or league standings to lead off this conversation, I feel like this year is a little unique and thus needs a different approach.

Of the 64 NCAA Division I men’s teams, four have already announced that they will be changing coaches at the end of this season. All four are coaching legends who are retiring – Mike Schafer at Cornell, Brian Riley at Army West Point, Jeff Jackson at Notre Dame and Bob Daniels at Ferris State.

The farewell tour for these coaches has been ongoing, but I’m sure Saturday night felt very real to Army’s Riley who coached his final game at Tate Rink. Most know the Riley story at Army, but for those who don’t, Saturday’s game marked the end of 75 seasons with a Riley behind the bench in West Point. It began with the patriarch of the family, Jack Riley, before his sons Rob and the Brian led the Black Knights team.

Army gave Riley the proper send off, too, as Vincent Salice scored the overtime game-winner over AIC for the victory.

This significant number of retiring coaches does make me think and reflect. Not just on how incredible each and every one of the careers was, but also on how the current landscape of the college hockey game might be forcing the hands of certain coaches.

The modern game factors in NIL and the transfer portal and could include roster limitations and other things that significantly impact the recruiting and retention of players. I’m sure a coach who has been at this for decades looks at the current game and happily cleanses himself of this landscape.

Listen, change happens. It’s part of life. And the coaches who are retiring this year have done plenty for this game. I just wonder if the modern game is forcing the hands of some of these coaches.

Ed: Coaching has changed quite a bit over the years, and at an accelerating rate. I think the four who are retiring all have adapted to the situation, but you ask a good question, especially if you’re a coach who isn’t a fan of the latest NIL and portal drama.

The first evolution we started to hear about from coaches in some of our podcasts and feature stories was the change in the players themselves from one generation to another. The days of telling a team what to do and just having them do it gave way to players wanting to know why they were being asked to do something. Players and coaches have developed different – I’d say better – relationships from what we hear, with coaches getting even more interested in the whole player and how every aspect of life is going for them. The advent of lots of video of individual players and shifts has also allowed more individual instruction. Players are also more attuned to nutrition and conditioning than ever before.

It’s not just about age, either. Accounts of former Boston College coach Jerry York using text messaging because that’s how his players communicated, or taking an interest in the music they liked to hear demonstrate that.

But it’s the more recent changes that make me wonder if it’s making the game less fun for coaches. I think back to a conversation we had on the USCHO Spotlight podcast in October with Rensselaer coach Dave Smith. We were talking about the transfer portal and its impact, and he said, “We build our team through draft picks and free agency.” That reflects head coaches having to take on what would be general manager roles in the pros, and assistants scouting players on other teams who might become available.

The number of coaching changes so far is not unusual, but coaches retiring and naming their successor a season before is new. Brock Sheahan will succeed Jackson at Notre Dame, Casey Jones follows Schafer at Cornell, and Zach McKelvie will be the first non-Riley since 1951 at West Point. All three are alumni of their respective programs.

Do you like this pattern of naming the next coach ahead of time?

Jim: That’s an interesting question, as I am from Boston and a lifelong New England Patriots fan. Honestly, I do like naming the successor to a long-time head coach as it allows the program some continuity (the Patriots, of course, told Jerrod Mayo and only him that he’d be taking over for Bill Belichick, a move I never liked). I think it is very helpful when you have a successful, long-term coach, something you can say for all four of these bench bosses who are retiring, to do whatever is possible to maintain continuity in the program they depart. That is something that has been accomplished here.

All that said, I think all four of these athletic departments should be ready for change. That is the single biggest opportunity that any program is handed when a long-term coach retires. Certainly, tradition plays a major role in many programs, but so too does fresh ideas and new approaches.

This weekend, we also watched the final regular-season games played by American International. The Yellow Jackets will drop their Division I hockey program at the end of this season despite winning four straight regular-season title and three postseason titles in Atlantic Hockey from 2019 through 2022. Few will forget the upset AIC pulled over top-overall seed St. Cloud State in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

You and I have spent decades around this great game, Ed. So maybe we’re getting a bit too nostalgic as we talk about the legendary coaches and teams of the past. There is, though, something deep inside me that is sad to see the change ever though I am aware that change is often good.

Ed: You and I have both watched the AIC program over the years, going back to when Gary Wright was the head coach, a position he held from 1984 to 2016 (and which he wrote about in his book Striding Rough Ice: Coaching College Hockey and Growing Up in The Game). It’s sad to see this come to an end and for the Yellow Jackets to join other D-I men’s teams that have gone defunct.

A college hockey fan commented to me that Eric Lang has never gotten the recognition he deserves at AIC. That’s certainly a matter of opinion, but I think that USCHO and other college hockey publications have made the accomplishments of Lang and his program well known.

But even as things are coming to a close, Lang is making good on his promise to find new homes for his players, a task made even more difficult with the addition of Canadian major junior players to the mix. Lang has put together the College Hockey Portal Showcase for D-I, D-II, and D-III players on April 5 and 6 in Simsbury, Conn. Its social media sites are @portalshowcase on X and @hockeytransfershowcase on Instagram. The weekend is open to all players in the portal and will include games to showcase players for potential new programs.

I admire Lang’s dedication to his players and this innovative approach to finding places for players to land. And I think Lang himself will land somewhere where his skills in elevating a program will be used well.

As far as change in general, somewhere along the line I decided I didn’t want to be a curmudgeon who constantly points to the “good old days” and accommodate myself to things changing. I like to think of myself as an early adopter with technology.

There’s a lot to like in where college hockey is now. The skill level is incredible. The speed is crazy. The athleticism of goaltenders is amazing.

I realize there’s still a lot of hockey to be played this season, but this column and other stories and podcasts on USCHO have really been detailed on all that. Since you brought it up, what about change over the next five or 10 seasons? Are you willing to look into your crystal ball?

Jim: I think the number one thing I see coming in the coming decade or so will be further conference realignment.

What happened with the old WCHA, the Big Ten and the old and current CCHA is far from over. Though I don’t see the addition or subtraction of a bunch of programs.

What we are seeing on the larger scale of college sports – the Big 5 becoming the Big 4, the formation of an even larger separation between the haves and have nots – could impact every single college sport.

College hockey, with just 64 teams and that number shrinking, probably can’t afford to bifurcate into two groups of larger and smaller teams, but I think we will see more like minded (similar budgets, similar resources, similar academic stature) work together to align.

We have already learned from other college sports that conferences aren’t structured on geography as much as they once were. And I see that creeping into college hockey. Do you?

Ed: I agree about league realignment. With the moratorium on new single-sport conferences in the NCAA coming to an end, there may be some pent-up effort to make something happen, and I’ve heard quiet rumblings from various directions about that.

When we talked with College Hockey Inc.’s Sean Hogan on another USCHO Spotlight episode, he suggested that smaller schools wanting a spot on the big stage could be good candidates for college hockey. While it’s nearly impossible for a new program to make a dent in football or basketball, small schools and new programs have made it to the NCAA tournament relatively quickly.

One change I expect to see is more college hockey players in the NHL. According to College Hockey Inc., 37% of NHL debuts in the past three years have been by former college hockey players. I expect that only to increase with the extending of eligibility to players in the CHL. We’ll see some underage blue-chip players make the move to college hockey to accelerate their development by playing against older talent and having more practice and strength-training time. And older, late-blooming players will have the opportunity to play in the NCAA and get free-agent looks that they might not have been ready for after aging out.

Finally, once all the dust settles with lawsuits and settlements, I expect the NCAA to look a bit different and for there to be more independence to make decisions within specific sports.

I know that all of us who share this column have sounded some doom and gloom at times recently. Some might call me a cockeyed optimist, but I’m going to stay bullish on college hockey and suggest that its best days are still ahead.

Boston College earns 43 first-place votes, moves back on top of Feb. 24 USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll

By USCHO Staff

-

February 24, 2025

Andre Gasseau put up three goals and six points last weekend for BC (photo: Nick Romei).

With 43 first-place votes, Boston College is again the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll.

The Eagles move up one spot from last week’s poll.

Minnesota moves from No. 5 to No. 2, earning six first-place votes.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll – Feb. 24, 2025

Michigan State falls two spots to No. 3, Western Michigan is down one to No. 4, collecting the last first-place vote.

Maine is down one to No. 5, Denver stays sixth, Providence is up one to No. 7, Ohio State falls one to No. 8, UConn is up two to No. 9, and Boston University is down one to place 10th this week.

Michigan falls out of the top 10, going from No. 10 to No. 11.

No new teams enter this week’s rankings.

In addition to the top 20 teams, nine others received votes in this week’s poll.

The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.

Watching conference regular-season races, looking at movement along the PairWise bubble: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 19

By Ed Trefzger and Jim Connelly

-

February 24, 2025

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger along with guest host Dan Rubin in for Derek Schooley review games of the weekend and news of the week.

They start with Michigan State’s struggles against Penn State and Minnesota’s surge in the Big Ten. They highlight the Pairwise implications for teams like Quinnipiac, UMass Lowell, and Penn State, as well as Western Michigan’s first regulation loss in the NCHC. The episode also explores the championship races in Hockey East, where Boston College leads, and the ECAC, with Quinnipiac and Clarkson vying for the top spot.

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour

Times are approximate:

00:15 Introduction and sponsorship
00:54 Michigan State’s tough weekend
01:16 Big Ten standings and Penn State’s rise
06:50 Holy Cross wins a share of AHA
13:05 Minnesota State’s CCHA title
16:57 Western Michigan’s NCHC challengers
20:38 Hockey East showdown
26:43 ECAC title race
30:13 PairWise Bubble analysis
47:23 Conclusion and sign-off

Subscribe to this college hockey podcast on Apple podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Find our podcast archive at USCHO.com/podcasts

NCAA D-III West Men’s Hockey Weekend Roundup

By Brian Lester

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February 24, 2025

Gustavus claimed its first regular season MIAC crown since 2010. (Photo by CJ Siewert)

Gustavus is the regular season champion in the MIAC for the first time since 2010 after beating Hamline 6-5 in overtime on Friday night. The Gusties lost 7-4 to the Pipers Saturday but it had bearing on a MIAC race that was tightly contested.

Gustavus led 3-1 after one and 5-3 going into the third before the Pipers forced OT. Jack Wineman scored the game winner just 44 seconds into the extra session.

The Gusties have now won 15 MIAC titles in program history. They are 14-8-2 overall and 10-3-2 in the MIAC despite going just 2-3-2 in the final month of the season.

Oles and Royals split

St Olaf and Bethel will play in a MIAC semifinal this coming weekend after finishing out the regular season against each other.

The Royals won the series opener 3-1 on Friday but the Oles responded with a 3-2 win on Saturday.

Bethel secured the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament with Friday’s win as three different players scored goals, including one from MIAC goal scoring leader Tyler Braccini. Austin Ryman racked up 23 saves.

Bethel is 13-9-3 overall and 9-5-2 in the MIAC and hopes home ice advantage plays a part against the Oles in the tourney as the Royals are 9-1-1 at home this season.

The Oles secured a playoff spot with Saturday’s win, scoring twice in the third to earn the comeback win.

Matthew Pointer and Joey Kennellyscored 20 seconds apart in the third to lift St. Olaf to the win. It’s the third straight year where St. Olaf didn’t clinch a playoff spot until the final day. Thomas Lalonde made a season-high 30 saves for St. Olaf, which is hoping to win the MIAC tourney for the third time in four years.

Johnnies close with a win

Saint John’s avenged a series opening loss to Concordia by beating the Cobbers 4-2 on Saturday. Concordia won the opener last Thursday by the same score.

The win on Saturday gives Saint John’s a playoff berth and it will play Concordia in an opening round game on Wednesday.

Mason Campbell scored twice for the Johnnies and Bailey Huber made 22 saves to win the 20th game of his collegiate career.

The Johnnies are 11-13-1 overall and 8-7-1 in the league while Concordia is 11-11-3 and 7-6-3.

Concordia went on a six game unbeaten streak late in the year but dropped two of its last three, though the Cobbers are still playoff bound.

WIAC Tournament

Falcons fly into next round

After winning 4-1 on Friday, UW-River Falls notched a 4-0 shutout win over UW-Stout on Saturday to move on to the semifinal round of the WIAC tournament.

The Falcons have swept their opening round series two consecutive years. Owen Belisle scored twice for River Falls and Brennan Boynton recorded a career-high 36 saves on his way to his second shutout win of the year.

River Falls improved to 16-10-1 while Stout’s season ends with a 12-13-2 record.

Dylan Smith and Tyler Lee each scored twice in Friday’s win while Jonny Meiers tallied three assists.

Blugolds moving on

Max Dronen highlighted Friday’s 8-1 win over Northland in a WIAC tourney series, coming through with a hat trick, the first of his collegiate career. Ethan Roberts was in goal and made 21 saves.

Kyler Grundy came through with two goals on Saturday for the Blugolds, who finished off the series with a 4-0 win.

For Northland, its year ends as well as its program as the school is closing at the end of the academic year. Loghan Gallagher scored the lone goal of the weekend for the Lumberjacks, who finish 1-26.

NCHA Tournament

Spartans dominate opening series

Aurora won 4-1 and 4-2 to finish off an opening round series against Lawrence.

Four different players scored goals in Saturday’s finale while JaCob Mcuitelli racked up 25 saves. Juliano Santalucia tallied a goal and an assist.

Schmuck scored twice in Friday’s win while Hassan Akl tallied three assists in the win.

Aurora is 23-3-1 and has won its last five games. The Spartans are 13-0 at home.

Green Knights push past Falcons

St. Norbert and Concordia played to a 2-2 tie in their series finale, but the Green Knights prevailed thanks to the first to three points format for the playoffs. Hunter Garvey played a key role as he stopped 23 shots, including four in OT.

Friday’s game wasn’t nearly as close as St. Norbert rolled to an 8-1 win thanks to a hat trick from Curtis Hammond. Gustay Portillo racked up three assists.

The Green Knights are 21-5 and are unbeaten in their last eight games.

Bulldogs survive

Adrian needed a mini game to hold off MSOE in an opening round series. And that mini game went to OT before Connor May finished things out with a game-winning goal.

Ethan Mann scored twice for the Raiders in Saturday’s Game 2 to force a mini game against the Bulldogs and keep hopes for an upset alive.

Adrian won Friday’s game 4-2, with Bradley Somers and Ian Amsbaugh each tallying a goal and assist.

Adrian is 17-9-1 on the year while MSOE finishes the season with a 13-10-1 record.

Trine rolls into next round

The Thunder dominated their series against Marian, rolling to a 5-0 win on Friday and closing things out with a 4-1 win on Saturday.

Logan Furstneau led the way in the finale, scoring twice and dishing out an assist. Ronnie Petrucci tallied 20 saves. Drew Welsch dished out three assists for Trine in Friday’s win. Michael DiPietra added two assists.

Trine is now 20-5-2 and that ties the program record for wins in a season.

Marian finishes at 9-17-1 on the season.

NCAA D-II/III East Men’s Ice Hockey Game Picks – Part II – February 28, 2025

Beloit adds men’s, women’s NCAA Division III hockey teams for 2025-26 season

Huge tilts in Big Ten, NCHC top our slate for money lines, analysis for Feb. 28: USCHO Edge college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 17

Hockey East announces 2024-25 women’s all-rookie team, highlighted by three unanimous selections, plus five individual awards

NCAA D-III West Men’s Hockey Weekend Picks

This Week in Atlantic Hockey America: Playoffs have arrived with all 11 conference teams in hunt for NCAA tournament autobid

Previewing the First Round

Minnesota State goaltender Tracy tabbed 2024-25 CCHA student-athlete of the year

Resurgent Vikings focused on playoff success

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Final regular-season weekend means ‘the moment doesn’t care about you; you care about the moment’

This Week in Hockey East: Maine seniors reflect on turnaround, UMass coach Carvel approaches milestone

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Colorado College planning for ‘a long run’ as Tigers need to ‘win a lot of games to get to where we ultimately want to be’

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Swan song approaching for Ferris State coach Daniels, who says ‘I really enjoyed the heck out of this season’

NCAA D-II/III East Men’s Ice Hockey Game Picks – Part I – February 26, 2025

Women’s Division I College Hockey: The PodKaz Episode 39 – NCAA committee chair Janine Oman describes the selection process, plus a playoff lookahead

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Sorting out plethora of conference storylines as final weekend of 2024-25 regular season on tap

Quinnipiac

Clarkson

Union and Colgate

Cornell and Dartmouth

Harvard and Brown

RPI, Princeton, Yale and St. Lawrence

BRACKETOLOGY: With Selection Sunday one month away, teams starting to solidify spots in 2025 NCAA men’s hockey tournament

TMQ: Discussing upcoming new coaches across NCAA Division I men’s hockey and announcing transactions ahead of time

Boston College earns 43 first-place votes, moves back on top of Feb. 24 USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll

Watching conference regular-season races, looking at movement along the PairWise bubble: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 7 Episode 19

NCAA D-III West Men’s Hockey Weekend Roundup

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