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.
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 100th 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 32nd 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.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”
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!”
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].
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Completing a season sweep of Lake Superior State with a 4-1 win Saturday night, Minnesota State captured sole possession of the MacNaughton Cup, the trophy awarded to the CCHA regular-season champion, for the seventh time in eight years (photo: Minnesota State Athletics).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
February is almost over, one league has (just about) reached the end of its regular season while another has crowned a champion. This and more in this week’s Monday 10…
1. Now that the math is done, Minnesota State is your CCHA champion
You can put your abacus away as I will save you a little time: Minnesota State is your CCHA champion. The league used percentage of total points (winning percentage) to determine its champion with the late addition of Augustana to the league schedule. And it was that Vikings team that forced us to pull out the calculators. Minnesota State, after sweeping Lake Superior this weekend, boasts a .722 winning percentage to Augustana’s .625. With the Vikings schedule complete, the Mavericks’ percentage can’t drop below .667. Hand them the trophy.
2. Season’s end delayed, Holy Cross still takes Atlantic crown
Holy Cross knew that this past weekend, despite the scheduled close of the Atlantic Hockey America regular season, that they still had a game to play. A rescheduled game against AIC is scheduled for Monday, but the Crusaders have already clinched at least a share of the title. They are currently tied with Sacred Heart so any points earned on Monday against the Yellow Jackets would clinch the crown outright. A regulation loss would create a co-champion situation though Holy Cross still owns the top seed.
3. Michigan State loses games and B1G top spot
It was one tough weekend for Michigan State. After moving back to the top spot in the USCHO.com poll last Monday, the Spartans took just one-of-six points from Penn State on home ice over the weekend. Michigan State rallied for a tie on Friday before dropping the shootout and then fell behind, 3-0, on Saturday to have a rally fall short. Certainly the results are disappointing for Sparty but more painful may be losing the grip on first place in the Big Ten to Minnesota, which swept Ohio State. That race will come down to the final weekend.
4. One team’s losses are another team’s gains
One the other side of Michigan State pain is Penn State, which has quickly ascended up both with Big Ten standings and the national rankings. The Nittany Lions are a point behind Michigan for the final home ice spot in the semifinals. More importantly, they’ve made a meteoric rise in the PairWise. On January 18, Penn State was 28th in the PairWise and winning the Big Ten tournament looked as the only hope for an NCAA bid. Now Penn State, riding a 9-1-3 record in its last 13, is 16th in the PairWise, needing to climb past Arizona State and UMass Lowell to get inside the cutline. An interesting wrinkle for the host school of the Allentown Region.
5. Boston College is eying the top spot in the poll, wrapping up Hockey East
Certainly, Boston College has been among the best teams all season. But recent losses to Boston University in the Beanpot final and Massachusetts had kept the race for the top spot in Hockey East close. Maine’s recent surge brought the Black Bears into a tie with the Eagles entering the weekend. BC, though, re-planted the flag with a sweep of Vermont while Maine lost its only game of the weekend in overtime to Connecticut. The Black Bears now have a game in hand on BC, but the Eagles lead by five points heading down the stretch.
6. Western Michigan likely wins the NCHC, but Arizona State put the celebration on hold for now
As the NCHC season comes to a close, Western Michigan is a mere three points away from clinching its first-ever regular season title. But Arizona State did its part to make sure points aren’t coming easy for the Broncos. The Sun Devils posted a 5-3 win on Friday and sported a 3-2 edge in Saturday’s rematch. Western Michigan, though, got a Liam Valente goal to tie the game before Iiro Hakkarainen won the game in OT. It is still mathematically possible for Arizona State, Omaha and North Dakota all to catch Western Michigan in the final two weeks. But if the Broncos can earn just three of the remaining 12 points, they’ll clinch the title. On another note, the regulation loss on Friday was the first in NCHC play all season for Western Michigan. That’s impressive.
7. Quinnipiac will enter final weekend on verge of ECAC title
Quinnipiac has quietly exploded to within two points of clinching the ECAC regular-season crown. The Bobcats have won four straight and are 7-1-0 in their last eight games. This stretch has given the Q a four-point lead in the ECAC over Clarkson heading into their game on Friday in the North Country. More importantly, the Bobcats are now 13th in the PairWise, inside the bubble which means it may be possible for the ECAC to get two teams into the NCAA tournament.
8. North Dakota sweeps Minnesota Duluth and may be stalking dark horse status
There are plenty of dark horses that over the next four weekends will help their teams emerge and win a conference championship. Sometimes they’re difficult to pick. But sometimes, you can see those teams coming. North Dakota seems ready to take on the status of dark horse. They are 5-2-1 in the last eight and are coming off a sweep of Minnesota Duluth to extend a winning streak to a modest three games. But the Fighting Hawks defense has also been making a mark, allowing three goals or less in 12 of the last 16 games.
9. Behind a three-point effort for Barrett Hall, St. Cloud State ends an ugly streak
It’s been a really difficult 2025 for St. Cloud State. Entering the new year with high hopes and an 11-7-0 record, the Huskies entered Saturday on an 11-game winless skid (0-10-1). But Barrett Hall proved hero on Saturday scoring the game’s first two goals and setting up a third in a 4-2 win over Colorado College. According to veteran scribe Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, the 11-game winless skid was a Division I record for St. Cloud.
10. Great career, toothy ending for Big Ten referee Tony Czech
This past weekend was the final for veteran Big Ten referee Tony Czech as he wore the stripes for Minnesota and Ohio State. But according to Gopher Puck Live, Czech’s goodbye weekend was interrupted on Friday when he was struck in the face by a stick, knocking out teeth. Anyone who has ever met an ice hockey official, particularly at the higher levels, know that being on the ice means everything to them. So it’s not surprising to see that Czech was back on Saturday night to finish off his great career.
The Badgers skated off with a pair of 6-1 victories to close out the regular season in Bemidji. The two teams will meet again next week – this time in Madison – in the opening round of the WCHA Tournament. On Friday, KK Harvey broke the school record for most points in a single season by a defender when she hit 50 by scoring the first goal of the game, cleaning up her own rebound to have UW up 1-0 at the first break. Bemidji State tied the game early in the second thanks to a power play goal from Genevieve Hendrickson. Wisconsin took the lead back as the period wound down when Cassie Hall put back a rebound from a Lacey Eden shot to make it 2-1. Less than two minutes later, Casey O’Briend scored on a breakaway and pass from Kirsten Simms to make it 3-1 at the second intermission. Laila Edwards, O’Brien and Finley McCarthy each lit the lamp in the third to secure the Badgers the 6-1 lead. In the second game, the Beavers struck first as Raeley Carney scored unassisted and BSU would take that 1-0 lead into the locker rooms. But Bemidji got into penalty trouble in the second and the top-ranked Wisconsin power play took advantage. UW scored four times in the second, three of which came on the power play. Simms bookended the period, scoring power play goals to open and close the Badger scoring in the frame. In the middle, Eden added an extra-attacker goal and Edwards scored at even strength and the Badgers quickly had a 4-1 lead. Simms completed her second career hat trick in the first minute of the third, cleaning up a loose puck and playing to the whistle to make it 5-1. Hannah Halverson scored two minutes later to close out the 6-1 win and weekend sweep. Bemidji State made 35 blocks in the two games.
(11) St. Cloud State at (2) Ohio State
Ohio State pulled out to a 3-0 lead on Friday as Makenna Webster scored in the opening minutes and Joy Dunne struck on the power play to make it 2-0 after one. Joceyln Amos scored three minutes into the second to make it 3-0. But St. Cloud State came rushing back. Alice Sauriol scored late in the second to cut into the lead and make it 3-1. Then Laura Zimmerman scored on the power play and Emma Gentry lit the lamp to tie the game before the midpoint of the third. Amos struck on the power play to regain the lead for OSU and then hit an empty-netter to complete a hat trick and close out the 5-3 win for Ohio State. On Saturday, Dunne took the puck coast to coast midway through the first to make it 1-0 and Riley Brengman scored short-handed in the second to give the Buckeyes the 2-0 lead. But once again, St. Cloud State pushed back. Gentry scored on the power play late in the second and then Abby Promersberger scored with fewer than five minutes left in regulation to tie the game 2-2. But the #2 team in the country dug deep and Webster quickly responded, putting OSU ahead and killing any momentum for SCSU. The Buckeyes skated off with the 3-2 win.
(6) Minnesota Duluth at (3) Minnesota
On Friday, the teams traded goals and momentum. Emma Kreisz scored late in the first for the Gophers, but UMD quickly responded as Olivia Wallin tied the game before intermission. Ella Huber and Natálie Mlýnková scored in the second to put Minnesota up 3-1. Wallin scored again in the third to cut the lead to 3-2, but Minnesota Duluth could not find an equalizer and the Gophers skated off with a 3-2 win. With the win, Hannah Clark became the first Gopher goaltender to reach the 20-win mark as a freshman Ève Gascon made 48 saves as Minnesota peppered the net, but it was one flukey play that made the difference on Saturday. Midway through the third period, Abbey Murphy ripped a shot that deflected off the back glass and back over the top of the net. It looked as though Gascon had gloved the puck and saved the goal, but upon review, it was shown the puck crossed the line midair and the Gophers were awarded the goal. That proved to be all they’d need to take the game and weekend sweep.
Harvard at (10) Quinnipiac
Maya Labad and Makayla Watson each scored in the first and then the Bobcat defense stepped up as Kayle Doyle earned her eighth shutout with 26 saves and Quinnipiac took the 2-0 win. They will head to Clarkson for the second round of the ECAC Tournament.
Connecticut vs. (12) Boston University
Credit where it’s due – UConn had put themselves in a difficult position heading into the final weekend after losing three of five games in February. They had to sweep BU, winning both games in regulation, to win their second-straight Hockey East regular season titles. If the Terriers earned a single point on the weekend, the title was theirs. And UConn delivered, winning 4-1 on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday to deny Boston University and earn their second-ever conference championship. With a strong BU defense taking out some of UConn’s bigger threats, younger players really stepped up. Freshman Sadie Hotles had just one goal all season heading into Friday’s game, but her first-period goal have UConn the 1-0 lead at the first intermission and she doubled the lead early in the second, scoring her second and third goals of her career. Martha Mobarak scored her second goal of the season at the midpoint to make it 3-0. In the final minutes of the second, Jada Habisch scored her seventh goal in the last seven games to push the lead to 4-0. Lindsay Bochna’s power play goal ruined the shutout and got BU on the board, but they could not muster more offense and Connecticut skated off with a 4-1 win. On Saturday, defender Ava Rinker scored her second and third goals of the season to lead the Huskies. Rinker’s first period goal had UConn up 1-0. Luisa Welcke scored late in the second to tie the game 1-1. Rinker struck again early in the third to make it 2-1. Because BU just needed the game to go to overtime, they pulled their goalie with more than four minutes to play, but UConn pressured hard and Habisch’s empty-netter secured the 3-1 win, weekend sweep and conference title.
RPI at (13) Princeton
The Engineers defeated the Tigers in the final week of the regular season, but Princeton overcame an early deficit to end RPI’s season and advance in the ECAC tournament. Aylah Cioffi’s shot went just under the crossbar on the power play to give Rensselaer a 1-0 lead and it looked like they’d carry that into the first intermission, but Mackenzie Alexander tied things up with 15.3 seconds left in the frame on a spin-o-rama in the slot to make it 1-1 at the break. Late in the second, Emerson O’Leary’s pick off sent Alexander and Izzy Wunder in on a 2-on-1 that Wunder capitalized on to make it 2-1. RPI pushed back in the third and was successful at tying the game midway through when Sophie Helgeson’s wrister off the faceoff hit the top corner to make it 2-2. The tie lasted just 90 seconds as Rosie Klein’s power play goal gave Princeton the 3-2 lead and they were able to hold on over the final few minutes to earn the win. The Tigers will head to Colgate for the next round of the ECAC tournament.
(14) Northeastern at Vermont
Northeastern led in shots 5-4 after the first on Friday, but neither team could find an advantage. That changed early in the second as Maddy Skelton crashed the net following Lara Beecher’s breakaway. The loose puck deflected off her skate and into the net :21 into the second to put Vermont up 1-0. Thirty-seven seconds after that, Ashley Kokavec settled a loose puck and let go of a wrister to give UWM a 2-0 lead. Evelyne Blais-Savoie extended the lead, dangling through the slot just after a power play expired to give Vermont a 3-0 lead four minutes into the second. But as Northeastern is wont to do, they came out firing in the third. Lily Brazis and Skylar Irving each found the back of the net in the opening minutes of the third to cut the lead to 3-2. Jane Gervais made 20 of her 25 saves over the course of the second and third periods and nabbed a puck destined to tie the game with just eight seconds left in regulation to hold off the Huskies and earn Vermont the win. Sophomore goalie Mattie Robitzer earned her first career win on Saturday, making 18 saves to lead the Huskies to a 3-1 victory. After a scoreless first frame, Natalie Zarcone capitalized on the power play in the opening minutes of the second to give the Catamounts a 1-0 lead. That held into the third, but Northeastern found another gear at intermission and came out firing. It paid off in two goals over 37 seconds as Lily Shannon and Taze Thompson each lit the lamp. Irving’s late empty-netter secured the 3-1 win and weekend split for the Huskies.
New Hampshire vs. (15) Boston College
After a scoreless first on Friday, Keri Clougherty caused a UNH turnover, getting the puck to Sammy Taber, who fed Julia Pellerin to put BC up 1-0 midway through the second. Early in the third, Alanna Devlin cleaned up the rebound of a Gabby Roy shot to put the Eagles up 2-0. Boston College’s defense served up 19 blocks and Grace Campbell made 28 saves to earn the win and shutout. In the second game, Charlie Rauch scored late in the first and UNH carried that 1-0 lead into the third frame. Six minutes in, Katie Ham equalized and neither team could find the go-ahead goal, even through overtime. Gabby Roy’s goal secured the shootout for BC, who earned home ice for the Hockey East tournament with the two points.
Minnesota swept Ohio State in a top-10 matchup over the weekend at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn. (photo: Jim Rosvold).
Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll of Feb. 17 fared in games over the weekend of Feb. 21-22.
No. 1 Michigan State (22-6-4)
02/21/2025 – No. 18 Penn State 2 at No. 1 Michigan State 2 (OT)
02/22/2025 – No. 18 Penn State 3 at No. 1 Michigan State 2
No. 2 Boston College (24-6-1)
02/21/2025 – No. 2 Boston College 6 at RV Vermont 3
02/22/2025 – No. 2 Boston College 4 at RV Vermont 1
No. 3 Western Michigan (23-6-1)
02/21/2025 – No. 3 Western Michigan 3 at No. 12 Arizona State 5
02/22/2025 – No. 3 Western Michigan 4 at No. 12 Arizona State 3 (OT)
No. 4 Maine (19-6-5)
02/21/2025 – No. 4 Maine 2 at No. 11 Connecticut 3 (OT)
No. 5 Minnesota (23-7-4)
02/21/2025 – No. 7 Ohio State 1 at No. 5 Minnesota 4
02/22/2025 – No. 7 Ohio State 3 at No. 5 Minnesota 6
No. 9 Boston University (18-12-1)
02/21/2025 – Northeastern 5 at No. 9 Boston University 1
02/22/2025 – No. 9 Boston University 3 at Northeastern 1
No. 10 Michigan (17-12-3)
Did not play.
No. 11 Connecticut (17-10-3)
02/21/2025 – No. 4 Maine 2 at No. 11 Connecticut 3 (OT)
No. 12 Arizona State (18-12-2)
02/21/2025 – No. 3 Western Michigan 3 at No. 12 Arizona State 5
02/22/2025 – No. 3 Western Michigan 4 at No. 12 Arizona State 3 (OT)
No. 14 Quinnipiac (21-9-2)
02/21/2025 – Yale 1 at No. 14 Quinnipiac 4
02/22/2025 – Brown 0 at No. 14 Quinnipiac 4
No. 15 Minnesota State (22-8-2)
02/21/2025 – No. 15 Minnesota State 4 at Lake Superior State 0
02/22/2025 – No. 15 Minnesota State 4 at Lake Superior State 1
No. 16 Massachusetts (17-12-3)
02/21/2025 – No. 16 Massachusetts 3 at RV New Hampshire 3 (OT)
02/22/2025 – RV New Hampshire 1 at No. 16 Massachusetts 3
No. 17 North Dakota (17-12-2)
02/21/2025 – Minnesota Duluth 2 at No. 17 North Dakota 4
02/22/2025 – Minnesota Duluth 1 at No. 17 North Dakota 6
No. 18 Penn State (17-11-4)
02/21/2025 – No. 18 Penn State 2 at No. 1 Michigan State 2 (OT)
02/22/2025 – No. 18 Penn State 3 at No. 1 Michigan State 2
No. 20 Colorado College (17-14-1)
02/21/2025 – No. 20 Colorado College 4 at St. Cloud State 3
02/22/2025 – No. 20 Colorado College 2 at St. Cloud State 4
Cortland’s Domenic Settimo celebrated a hat trick and a regular season title on Friday before closing out the regular season unbeaten on the road with a 2-1 win over Oswego in the SUNYAC season finale (Photo by EDL Photography)
Well, wasn’t that some playoff-style hockey to finish out the regular season! Everyone had to be scoreboard watching and calibrated on what the tiebreaker formulas looked like with shootout points, head-to-head and regulation wins coming into play across the conferences. There was great drama in the NE-10 playoffs where St. Anselm had to rally back from two goals down to win in overtime after tying the game with a 5-on-3 shorthanded tally late in the third period against Assumption. All this drama points to some very interesting playoff matchups that begin across the region on Wednesday. But before we go there, here is the recap of the wild finishes over the weekend in the east:
CNE
The CNE wrapped up their regular season on Friday night setting the stage for the conference tournament that will begin on Wednesday with the quarter final round.
Regular season champions Curry extended their win streak to fourteen games with a 3-1 decision over Johnson & Wales. Ryan Prewitt scored two goals and Shane Soderwall made twenty-one saves as Curry finished the regular season schedule at 22-3-0.
The University of New England closed out their conference schedule with a 3-0 road win over Wentworth. The Nor’easters were led by Drew Olivieri who recorded a goal and an assist while Stefan Carney earned the shutout making thirteen saves against the Leopards.
Endicott concluded their regular season schedule with an 8-1 rout of Western New England led by two goals from Domenic Garozzo. Michael Casey, Primo Self, and John Goldowski each chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Gulls win on home ice.
Suffolk and Nichols closed out the CNE schedule as a playoff teaser with the game ending in a 1-1 overtime tie and the Rams winning the shootout 2-1. CJ Hapward was stellar in goal for Suffolk stopping twenty-five of twenty-six Bison attempts on goal.
With the regular season complete Western New England and Johnson & Wales are eliminated from the playoffs. On Wednesday, No. 6 Wentworth will visit No. 3 Endicott and No. 5 Nichols will face No. 4 Suffolk in the quarterfinal round of the CNE tournament. On Saturday, the lowest remaining seed will travel to face No. 1 Curry and the remaining winner will travel to Maine to face UNE in the semifinals. The conference championship will be played at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, March 8.
Independent
Keene State closed out its season with a two-game series against Misericordia. On Friday, the Owls secured a 3-2 win with Jack Unger scoring the game-winning goal just thirty-eight seconds after Jack Tos had toed the score at 2-2 with a power play goal for the Cougars. Ben Skelton was sharp in the Owls net making thirty-four saves including eighteen in the final period. On Saturday, the last game of the season for both first-year clubs saw the Owls skate off with a 5-2 win to finish the season with a 13-10-1 record. A three-goal first period paced the visitors to a quick lead to help close their maiden season with a six -game win streak.
MAC
The MAC playoff slate was determined based on Friday’s games with Alvernia joining Wilkes, Stevenson, and Neumann in the tournament bracket. The Golden Wolves will travel to face No. 1 Wilkes on Saturday in one semifinal while No. 2 Stevenson will host Neumann in the second semifinal. The winners will play in the first MAC championship game on Saturday, March 8, where the winner receives and auto-bid to the NCAA tournament.
Alvernia took a 7-0 win over Lebanon Valley on Friday to clinch their playoff position. Vincent Servizzi scored two goals, and Patrick Del Vecchio scored a goal and setup two more in the runaway win over the Flying Dutchmen. Goaltender Jacob Stern stopped thirty-four shots, including seventeen in the third period to pick-up the shutout.
Stevenson closed out their MAC slate with a 2-1 win over Arcadia. Connor MacDonnell and Evan Beers provided the offense and goaltender Ford DeLoss finished with thirty-four saves, losing his shutout bis in the final minute of regulation on a goal from Cody Mastay for the Knights.
After Friday’s 3-3 overtime tie with King’s (King’s win shootout) where the Monarchs rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits inn the third period to earn the tie, Neumann closed out their regular season with a Saturday game against Lebanon Valley. The Knights finished the regular season with an offensive flourish in a 9-3 win over the Flying Dutchmen. Matt Dimaline paced the Knights’ attack with two goals and two assists.
With the top four teams clinched into the MAC playoff bracket, Arcadia, King’s, Lebanon Valley, and Misericordia ended their 2024-25 seasons.
MASCAC
The MASCAC standings were tight entering the final week of play with lots of different scenarios including who would be atop the conference at the end of regulation play with Anna Maria and Plymouth battling head-to-head on the final day. Lots of battles for position in the new one-eight playoff format (Thanks Coach Millerick for confirming format on Saturday) and games that ultimately saw Plymouth State repeat as regular season champions for the eighth consecutive season, and their last as a member of MASCAC.
Anna Maria moved into first place with Tuesday’s overtime win over Worcester State with Pearce Baker sealing the win in the extra session. Salem State was next on the schedule for the AmCats and the Vikings having aspirations of moving up in the standings picked up a big road win on Thursday, 5-2. Landyn Greatorex figured in four of the goals, scoring a hat trick and assisting on another Viking goal. With Plymouth State’s drubbing of MCLA on Thursday, the stage was set for a winner take all regular season title with the Panthers and AmCats playing on Saturday.
The Panthers were not about to cede their streak of conference championships to Anna maria as five different players scored for the Panthers and goaltender Brandon Shantz was stellar in goal stopping all twenty-six AmCat attempts on goal in a 5-0 victory that sealed their eighth straight regular season title.
Salem State remained unbeaten in February as they closed out the regular season with a 6-4 win over Worcester State led by two goals and an assist from James Tatro and two goals from Luke Day.
Fitchburg State needed a win in their season finale against Rivier to move into fourth place – last home-ice playoff position for quarterfinal round – and eked out a 4-3 win over the Raiders. The falcons started fast with three goals in the first period but needed Marcus Macchioni’s power play goal late in the third period to hold off the Raiders and pick-up the points needed to move into fourth place. Macchioni finished with one goal and two assists.
While Framingham State and Rivier were eliminated from playoff consideration, the playoff matchups for the quarterfinals this week look like this: No. 8 MCLA travels to No. 1 Plymouth State; No. 7 Westfield State plays at No. 2 Anna Maria; No. 6 Massachusetts-Dartmouth plays No. 3 Salem State and No. 5 Worcester State will face-off against No. Fitchburg State. Quarterfinal games will be completed on Thursday this week with semifinal action on Saturday March 1 and the conference championship game at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, March 8.
NE-10
The quarterfinal round of the NE-10 tournament was played on Tuesday with No. 3 Southern New Hampshire hosting No. 6 Franklin Pierce and No. 3 Assumption hosting No. 5 Post.
SNHU found themselves in a dogfight despite outshooting the Ravens by a 36-20 margin. Nic Dallaire provided the only goal of the game in the second period and goaltender Collin Berke kept the Ravens off the scoresheet with a twenty save shutout in a 1-0 victory for the Penmen. The win earned SNHU a semifinal date on Saturday against No. 2 St. Michael’s.
Assumption hosted a Post team that had beaten them thee of four games in the regular season. Dean Simeone scored a power play goal in the first period that would be all the offense Thomas McLarnon would need as the senior goaltender stopped all thirty Eagles attempts on net to earn a shutout win. Daniel Lemanski and Sean Donoghue added third period tallies for the final margin in the 3-0 win. Assumption earned a semifinal date with top seed St. Anselm.
On Saturday, SNHU traveled to Vermont where Patrick Last scored two goals in a 3-1 win for the host Purple Knights. Ryland Dukes iced the contest with an empty-net goal late and Evan Plunkett stopped thirty-five Penmen shots to earn St. Michael’s a spot in the conference championship game.
In the other semifinal, Assumption took a 2-0 lead on top seed St. Anselm but goals by Garrett Alberti and Richie Colarusso, shorthanded while killing a 5-on-3 late in the third period, tied the score at 2-2 sending the contest to overtime. In the extra session, it was Colarusso who sealed the win for the Hawks less than one minute after the puck drop in a 3-2 overtime win.
St. Anselm will host St. Michael’s in the championship game next Saturday, March 1.
NEHC
Hobart had clinched the top spot in the final season of the NEHC weeks ago but would figure prominently in the battle for second place as they visited Babson who was battling Norwich for the second position. On Friday, the Statesmen took a 2-0 win over the Beavers in what was a playoff atmosphere while Skidmore downed Norwich, 5-3 setting up a final game scenario for points to keep or take second place. If goals were at a premium on Friday, Saturday’s game at Babson saw outstanding goaltending by Mavrick Goyer for Hobart and Nate Mueller for Babson in a 0-0 OT tie. The one point for Babson meant Norwich needed a win against Skidmore on Saturday to jump over Babson in the standings. The Cadets led 3-0 before Skidmore mounted a comeback and cutting the deficit to 3-2 in the third period. Holden Daggett’s empty-net goal gave the Cadets breathing room in a 4-2 win that vaulted them into second place.
With Albertus Magnus splitting their two-game series with New England College over the weekend, Elmira needed a sweep of VSU-Castleton to move ahead of the Falcons into seventh place in the standings. Friday saw the Soaring Eagles rout the Spartans, 8-1 but Saturday’s finale was a dogfight that needed overtime to decide a winner. The Soaring Eagles held a 3-1 lead entering the third period but goals from Aiden Roben and Zach Papapetros tied the score at 3-3 requiring overtime. “Big Goal Bailey” Krawczyk netted the overtime winner to give Elmira the sweep and move into seventh place over Albertus Magnus.
With Massachusetts-Boston, VCU-Castleton, and Southern Maine all missing qualification for the conference tournament, the quarterfinal matchups look like this for Saturday, March 1: No. 8 Albertus Magnus travels to No. 1 Hobart; No. 7 Elmira plays at No. 2 Norwich; No. 6 New England College will play at No. 3 Babson and No. 5 Salve Regina will face-off against No. 4 Skidmore. The semifinal round and championship game will be held at the highest remaining seed on March 8-9.
NESCAC
Hamilton and Trinity had entered the weekend with the two top seed positions all but guaranteed but after those two positions the hunt for playoff positions three through eight were wide open among the remaining teams.
Amherst made a big move picking up six points with wins over Middlebury and Williams to guarantee the continued streak for Coach Jack Arena whose teams have not missed the conference tournament. On Friday, the Mammoth trailed 3-2 before scoring five unanswered goals in the third period for a 7-3 win over the Panthers. Ben Kuzma and Vincent Velocci each scored two goals while Josh Burke recorded four points with a goal and three assists. In Saturday’s season finale against the Ephs, Amherst continued to find goals with a 5-2 win.
Conn College moved from ninth into a playoff position with a win over Bowdoin on Friday and an overtime tie (with shootout win) over Colby on Saturday. Quinn Kennedy scored the game-winning goal early in the third period to give the Camels a 2-1 win over Bowdoin. On Saturday, goaltender Will McEvoy was the hero stopping forty-nine of fifty-one shots, including three in the shootout that earned Conn College the extra point and secure the eighth seed in the tournament.
Middlebury rebounded from Friday’s lopsided loss to Amherst with a come from behind win over Hamilton, 4-2, to secure their position in the NESCAC tournament. Jackson Morehouse assisted on the game-tying goal before scoring the game-winning and extra margin goals for Middlebury while goaltender Andrew Heinze made forty-three saves in the win.
Tufts secured their position in the playoffs with an overtime loss to Colby on Friday and dominating win over Bowdoin on Saturday. After dropping a 3-2 overtime game to the Mules, the Jumbos rebounded with a 5-0 win over the Polar Bears led by goals from five different players, two on the power play and twenty-six saves from Gus Bylin who earned the shutout win in goal.
Trinity won handily on Friday over travel partner Wesleyan, 5-0. In Saturday’s season finale, the Bantams needed a third period rally with goals from Theodore Griffin, Ty Broad, and Ryan Panico to erase a 3-2 deficit and win 5-3.
Williams and Wesleyan have their seasons come to an end having not qualified for the NESCAC tournament. Next Saturday’s quarterfinals will see these matchups. No. 8 Conn College will travel to No. 1 Hamilton; No. 7 Middlebury will play at No. 2 Trinity; No. 6 Amherst will face No. 3 Colby and No. 5 Tufts will face-off with No. 4 Bowdoin in a re-match of Saturday’s season finale. The semifinal and championship games will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on March 8-9.
SUNYAC
The regular season title was decided on Friday night with Cortland’s win over Morrisville and all the seeding for the SUNYAC tournament confirmed.
Cortland took advantage of Domenic Settimo’s hat trick as the Red Dragons scored ten goals in a 10-2 rout of Morrisville on Friday night to clinch the regular season title. On Saturday, the Red Dragons closed out the regular season against No. 2 seed Oswego, who dispatched Canton on Friday night, 7-3 paced by Brandon Cohen’s hat trick and four-point game. The Red Dragons remained unbeaten on the road eking out a 2-1 win over the Lakers with netminder Ronan Mobley playing great with thirty-two saves against the Lakers.
Buffalo State downed Fredonia 4-3, to lock up the No. 3 seed in the playoffs. Jason Kwestel scored two goals and added an assist while Vadim Kiriakov scored one goal and added two assists in the Bengals win over the Blue Devils.
Plattsburgh downed travel partner Potsdam in what was a preview of the quarterfinal playoff round coming up on Wednesday. The Cardinals broke a 1-1 tie with three unanswered goals in the final two periods to post a 4-1 win over the Bears. Vlad Pshenichnikov opened and closed the scoring for the Cardinals to pace the offense.
Wednesday’s quarterfinal games find No. 3 Buffalo State hosting No. 6 Canton and No. 4 Plattsburgh hosting a re-match with No. 5 Potsdam. The lowest seed remaining will play No. 1 Cortland in one semifinal on Saturday while the second lowest seed will travel to play No. 2 Oswego. The championship game will be held on Saturday, March 8. With the end of the regular season Fredonia and Morrisville have seen their tournament hopes come to an end.
UCHC
With all six teams eligible for the playoffs, the biggest remaining question was which of Geneseo or Utica would take the regular season title and top seed in the UCHC tournament. Utica closed out their season with Manhattanville while Geneseo faced Nazareth in the final two games on the schedule.
Utica needed a sweep of the Valiants and maybe some help from Nazareth to take the No. 1 seed and that is exactly what happened. On Friday night, the Valiants scored first but the Pioneers answered with five unanswered goals in a 5-1 win. Johnny Mulera scored twice for Utica in the win. On Saturday, it was the Pioneers who took an early 2-0 lead only to see Manhattanville answer back on goals from Lane Paddison and Nicholas Rogers for a 2-2 tie midway through the second period. Mulera provided what proved to be the game-winner on the power play with just over a minute remaining in the middle stanza and Utica held on for a 3-2 win before scoreboard watching the result from Nazareth.
Geneseo had also taken care of business on Friday night with a 9-1 rout of Nazareth in their last home game on the schedule. Peter Morgan and Cooper Fensterstock each scored a goal and added two assists in the Knights lopsided win over the Golden Flyers. On Saturday, Nazareth was the home team and playing their last regular season game for the program’s only coach George Roll which may have added some additional motivation for a win. Zach Purcell and Alex Dameski helped the Knights to a 2-1 lead in the second period, but the host erupted for four unanswered goals and added two empty-net tallies in the third to skate off with a 7-4 win over Geneseo that gave Utica the regular season title.
With the standings finalized, the UCHC playoffs look like this: No. 6 Brockport plays No. 3 Manhattanville and No. 5 Nazareth plays at No. 4 Chatham in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, February 26. On Saturday, March 1, the lowest remaining seed will travel to No. 1 Utica while the highest remaining seed will play at No. 2 Geneseo. The championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, March 8.
Three Biscuits
Landyn Greatorex – Salm State – recorded four points with two goals and two assists in the Vikings’ 5-2 win over Anna Maria on Thursday night.
Domenic Settimo – Cortland – scored a hat trick for the Red Dragons and added an assist in their lopsided 10-2 victory over Morrisville on Friday.
Richie Colarusso – St. Anselm – scored a shorthanded goal during a 5-on-3 to tie the game at 2-2 and scored the game-winner less than a minute into overtime to send the Hawks on to a 3-2 OT win.
I do not think it is just me that feels like this regular season flew by so quickly. The action has been so great, it is hard to believe that we have already arrived at the win-or-go-home portion of the season where the games mean more because there are championships on the line starting this week. It is definitely going to be an exciting couple of weeks leading up to the NCAA tournament with a lot to be decided on the ice for who will be there.
Northland’s men’s hockey team played its final games ever this past weekend. (Photo Credit: Andrew Birko/Northland Athletics)
Northland played the final game of its men’s hockey season Saturday night. And like 25 other times this year, the Lumberjacks lost.
They fell 4-0 to UW-Eau Claire in the second and final game of an opening round WIAC tournament series.
But this loss feels different. It has a colder and harsher reality to it as there will be no hockey for Northland moving forward. There wont be any sports at the school for that matter once it closes its doors at the end of this academic year.
It’s an unfortunate thing for any school to endure, but it’s something that has become more common in recent years in this ever-changing college landscape at the small school level.
Northland isn’t the first school to announce its closing its doors. And, sadly, it won’t be the last.
Schools are struggling to stay open because the cost of operation is just too high. And as hard as those schools try to fight against it, to find ways to keep the doors open and the lights on, it often takes a miracle bigger than the one on ice in 1980 to pull it off.
You feel the worst for the athletes because now they have to find a new place to play or give up their sport all together.
On Northland’s roster, there are 27 underclassmen. Fourteen of them are freshmen. That means all but two either have to hope they can land on their skates at a new school or bid farewell to playing the sport they have poured their hearts and souls into for most of their lives.
And for the coaches, Shane Buckley and Scott Gregor, they now have to find new place to coach if they want to stay in the profession. The news of Northland’s closing has to be especially tough for Buckley as he’s an alum of the school and once played hockey for the Lumberjacks.
The WIAC will also now have one less school in its conference when it comes to hockey, leaving the league to fill in scheduling gaps.
Northland hasn’t won many games lately. The Lumberjacks were 1-26 this year, their lone win coming against Saint Mary’s on the road on Jan. 17. They have dropped 11 straight since then.
It’s their second consecutive one-win season.
They haven’t had a non-losing season since the 2018-19 campaign when they finished 12-12-3.
Win or lose, though, the Lumberjacks always competed. Effort was never in question.
Loghan Gallagher led the team in scoring this season, tallying seven goals to go along with two assists. Joe Weber finished with three goals and four assists. Ben Stewart added a goal and five assists. Brock Hart tallied a goal and four assists. Mac Reed also finished with four assists.
You hope all those guys find a new place to play and continue to grow their games. You hope their teammates do the same.
Perhaps the future of hockey at Northland would have been bright. That this program was due for better days ahead.
But now we’ll never know as the Lumberjacks have suffered the biggest loss of all, a loss that doesn’t show up on a scoreboard but one that will forever sting.
Penn State jumped to a 3-0 lead early and then held off the nation’s top team Michigan State, holding on for a 3-2 victory in Lansing on Saturday.
Combined with Friday’s 2-2 tie where Penn State won the shootout, the Nittany Lions held Michigan State to just a single Big Ten point this weekend allowing Minnesota to move into first place with one weekend left in the regular season. The Gophers swept Ohio State this weekend, 4-1 and 6-3.
Charlie Cerrato opened the scoring for Penn State just 59 seconds into the game and JJ Wiebusch extended the lead 41 seconds later.
In the second, Aiden Fink scored his 22nd goal of the season to momentarily take the national lead in points, one ahead of Michigan State’s Isaac Howard.
Penn State’s 3-goal lead survived a rally in the third as Tommi Mannisto scored with 7:58 left and Karsen Dorwarf tallied with nine seconds left. Howard assisted on the Dorwarf goal pulling him into a tie for Fink for the scoring lead.
The five-point weekend for Penn State pulls the Nittany Lions within a single point of Michigan for the final home ice spot in the playoffs.
No. 3 Western Michigan 4, No. 12 Arizona State 3 (F/OT)
Iiro Hakkarainen scored at 2:49 of overtime to complete a comeback for Western Michigan and salvage two points in the NCHC standings.
With two weekends to play, the Broncos now lead Arizona State by five points and third-place Omaha by 10. Western Michigan can clinch the NCHC title with a win in its final four games.
The Broncos never led in the game as Arizona State took leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2. But Liam Valante’s goal with 7:01 remaining tied the game at 3 and forced the overtime.
No. 8 Providence 4, No. 13 UMass Lowell 2
In a key game for positioning in the Hockey East standings, host Providence scored three third-period goal to overcome a 2-1 deficit against UMass Lowell in a 4-2 win.
Nick Poisson, a graduate student for the Friars playing his final regular-season game at home, netted a hat trick, scoring the game’s opening goal, the tying goal in the third and a late empty-netter. Logan Sawyer scored what turned out to be the game-winner.
Scout Truman scored on a penalty shot for UMass Lowell and Pierson Brandon scored in the final two minutes of the second to send the River Hawks to the third with the lead.
Army West Point 3, AIC 2 (F/OT)
Vincent Salice made sure Saturday night that the Riley Era in West Point ended on a high note.
Salice’s overtime tally gave the Black Knights a 3-2 victory over AIC in what was coach Brian Riley’s final game behind the bench at Tate Rink. A member of the Riley family (father Jack, brother Rob) has been head coach at Army for 75 years, a streak that ends this season.
The stick work from Salice to go bar down and send the fans home happy 🤩
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.
