Well, I went 3-1 in the quarterfinal round (.750), to bring my postseason record to 27-11 (.711). There are only three games left. Let’s see how I do.

Friday, March 22

Boston College vs. Minnesota
I’ve wanted to see this game all year. It should be a speedy one too. Boston College is deeper than it was a year ago, but so is Minnesota, and with Noora Räty in net, and the Gophers playing on home ice, it’s too much for the Eagles. Minnesota 4-2

Mercyhurst vs. Boston University
Oh boy, who knows what will happen in this game. I give the Lakers a slight edge in net with Steph Ciampa, but feel the Terriers are a more balanced team, and they’ve looked slightly more consistent. I’d imagine this will go to OT. Boston University 3-2

Saturday, March 24

Boston University vs. Minnesota
The Gophers will be going for an historic season if they win the semifinal against Boston College, undefeated and untied. The Terriers played Wisconsin in the title game two years ago and fell short, and will again, as the Gophers and Hobey trio of Amanda Kessel, Megan Bozek, and Räty capture the championship on home ice. Minnesota 4-1

Four survive to compete on the final weekend
A quarterfinal of the NCAA tournament may be the most pressure-packed game of the season. Win and a team is on to the Frozen Four, and by most measures, a season is judged as a success no matter where a team may have fallen short during the rest of the year. Lose, and the championship dream comes to a screeching halt.

For that one game, everything is magnified. Any decision by a coach, such as whether to juggle lines or how to match them against the opposition, what goaltender to start, or when to call that one timeout, could alter the outcome. So too for an action by a player, and those judgements have to be made in an instant.

In terms of advancing beyond that round, experience appeared to matter. The two teams that had not participated in the NCAA tournament since 2010, Clarkson and Harvard, were both eliminated in regulation. All four teams that gained a spot in the semifinals have at least some players on the roster that have participated in a previous Frozen Four, although admittedly, Mercyhurst was outgunned in that respect by Cornell.

Saturday did not prove to be a good day for the ECAC. The conference with the most teams in the NCAA tourney is the only one that won’t be represented at the Frozen Four.

Half of the quarterfinals required overtime, and one unseeded squad triumphed, along with three hosting teams.

Boston College continues success over Harvard
The storyline in this game may be as simple as the Eagles just matching up well against Harvard of late; they ran their head-to-head winning streak to five with a 3-1 victory.

Like they did in the Beanpot, the Crimson got on the scoreboard first, but again it proved to be their only goal. Gina McDonald had a chance to put Harvard ahead four and a half minutes into the contest, but with Corinne Boyles down, she was unable to lift the puck as Boyles kicked out a skate. At the 16-minute mark, Mary Parker’s quick shot on a power play got through Boyles and barely trickled across the goal line.

Exactly a minute later, Harvard’s lead was gone. Katey Stone decided to start freshman Emerance Maschmeyer over senior Laura Bellamy down the stretch, but that move did not pay dividends on this day. A rolling puck that did not appear threatening off of the stick of Haley Skarupa managed to find a route under Maschmeyer’s stick and into the goal. If one soft goal in a game of this magnitude is difficult to overcome, two can be back-breaking. A couple minutes into the middle frame, Caitlin Walsh released another shot that was more fortuitous than forceful; it fooled the goaltender, and BC was up, 2-1.

Alex Carpenter doubled the lead with a nice redirect. Harvard was unable to rally, as Boyles slammed the door with 30 saves.

Boston University overpowers Clarkson
The Golden Knights rely on a defense that allowed less than two goals on average. Their offense takes a conservative approach, averaging under three goals a contest, so when Boston University scored two goals 16 seconds apart to lead, 4-1, in the third period, that presented a challenge outside of Clarkson’s comfort zone.

The Golden Knights made a valiant attempt, answering 12 seconds later and pulling within one on a Shannon MacAulay goal with under five minutes remaining. Clarkson pulled Erica Howe for an extra skater with 1:06 to play, and Sarah Lefort converted into the empty net just seven seconds later, her second goal of the game. Lefort’s linemates, Marie-Philip Poulin and Jenelle Kohanchuk, each contributed a goal and a helper. Kerrin Sperry thwarted 34 shots to win her 23rd game, a career high.

Lakers outlast Cornell
When Caroline Luczak scored to put Mercyhurst ahead of Cornell, 3-2, at 18:47 of the third period, it appeared that the Big Red may have at last sunk into a hole from which they could not climb. Instead, a Lakers’ forward made one of those seemingly minor decisions that had major implications, dumping a puck without gaining the center line. The resulting icing call allowed Lauren Slebodnick to be replaced by an extra attacker and gave Cornell an offensive zone faceoff. Brianne Jenner won a draw back to Jillian Saulnier, and her shot wound up in the net. Just 17 seconds after falling behind, the Big Red were back to even. For the fifth straight playoff game, they had scored in the final two minutes of regulation to either tie or take the lead.

One would expect that such a dramatic turn would wreak havoc on a young team like Mercyhurst; rather than celebrating, it found itself in overtime with its season at stake. Perhaps that is where the Lakers’ youth served them well, and they were blissfully unaware that their program’s previous four trips into overtime in the NCAA tournament had ended in defeat. Saturday followed a different script, as Stephanie Ciampa made four more stops to bring her total to 29 for the game and freshman Jenna Dingeldein netted a game-winner 4:49 into the extra session.

Mercyhurst advances to its third Frozen Four and first since 2010, coincidentally also held in Minneapolis.

Minnesota takes marathon from North Dakota
The Gophers attempted to reproduce their quarterfinal recipe from a year ago against North Dakota in a quarterfinal. The first step went well, as Hannah Brandt scored in the opening minute to put the visitors in immediate trouble.  However, North Dakota departed from precedent, pressuring Minnesota into mistakes, outshooting the hosts heavily in the opening 20 minutes, and taking a lead of its own before a half minute was played in the next period on goals by Ashley Furia and Meghan Dufault. Amanda Kessel squared the contest at 2-2 before the second intermission. Minnesota had to kill off a five-minute major, North Dakota survived a couple of minors of its own, and bonus hockey was needed.

Goaltenders Shelby Amsley-Benzie and Noora Räty overcame all challenges through the first overtime, a second, and most of a third. When North Dakota was assessed another penalty, the Gophers’ Kelly Terry was finally credited with the deciding goal off of a goal-mouth scramble at 18:51 of the third OT, the longest game in history for both programs.

Semifinals schedule
The resulting bracket pairs Boston College versus Minnesota on Friday at 6 p.m. EDT, 5 p.m. CDT., and Mercyhurst with Boston University at 9 p.m. EDT, 8 p.m. CDT. The same matches occurred in NCAA quarterfinals in 2011, with both Boston schools earning victories.

Well, I did pretty well again in my second week of postseason picks, going 7-3 (.700). I can’t count the Sunday games, because I didn’t get around to posting picks in the new match-ups since I was at Denver-Alaska-Anchorage for an 11 a.m. game. Overall on the postseason, I am 24-10 (.705).

Here comes the NCAA tournament!

Saturday, March 16

North Dakota at Minnesota
This is the sixth meeting this season between these two teams. However, I don’t see the results changing, although it might be closer than it has in the past. Minnesota 3-2

Mercyhurst at Cornell
The Lakers haven’t really been tested since getting clobbered by Cornell back in January, and I think that will hurt them in this game. Cornell 4-2

Clarkson at Boston University
This comes down to goaltending: can Erica Howe hold off the Terriers offense enough for Clarkson’s less potent offense to succeed? My gut says not enough. Boston University 3-2

Harvard at Boston College
A rematch of a very thrilling Beanpot semifinal game won by the Eagles. I think the score and the winner will be the same. Boston College 2-1

Conference tourneys provide final pieces in NCAA picture
The four conference tournaments are in the books, and that means our season has been reduced to the seven games of the NCAA tournament, and that bracket has been announced. First, we’ll consider the conference action, where in a complete reversal of last season, every regular-season champion backed up its success with a playoff title. Two teams repeated their runs from a year ago, while a pair of squads are back on top after being upset in 2012.

Mercyhurst resumes CHA reign
The Lakers had to deal with recent nemesis Robert Morris in the semifinals, but they emerged unscathed with a 2-1 victory. Lauren Jones gave Mercyhurst a lead in the second period, and last-minute goals by Christine Bestland into an empty net and Brandi Pollock with an extra attacker offset. Stepanie Ciampa made 25 saves to up her personal record on the year to 18-1-0.

In the other semi, Syracuse recorded its fourth-straight 2-1 win over RIT. Seniors Kim Schlattman and Tenecia Hiller combined to put the Tigers on the board first, with Schlattman tallying the four-on-four goal at 6:32 of the second. It took the Orange more than a period to answer, but Allie LaCombe did so on a power play. Six minutes into overtime, Sadie St. Germain of Syracuse flirted with the role of goat when she sat for a trip. Her teammates killed off her penalty, and less than two minutes after her confinement ended, St. Germain proved heroic, scoring the game-winner from Brittney Krebs and goaltender Kallie Billadeau. Billadeau made 22 stops in her more conventional job, and Ali Binnington denied 43 shots in defeat.

The championship game brought a continuation of the pattern where Syracuse can get so close but no closer where Mercyhurst is concerned. Shiann Darkangelo just beat the buzzer to give the Orange a 1-0 lead at the end of a penalty-filled second period. The Lakers responded with a four-goal final frame, with markers coming courtesy of Molly Byrne, Caroline Luczak, Bestland, and Christie Cicero. Ciampa stopped 19 shots to earn another win and return the CHA Championship to Mercyhurst.

Minnesota repeats in WCHA
North Dakota and Wisconsin clashed in a much anticipated semifinal to determine the eighth team in the rankings, and potentially, the final team into the NCAA field. UND seized the role of the aggressor, and it paid off with an Ashley Furia goal 12:36 into the game. Monique Lamoureux doubled the lead six minutes into the final period, and 10 minutes elapsed before Erika Sowchuk responded for the Badgers. UW had to go onto the penalty kill a minute after getting momentum from the goal, and the clock ran out on any further comeback attempt from the 2-1 hole. Shelby Amsley-Benzie saved 26 chances for her 19th win.

Versus Ohio State, Minnesota got two goals from frosh Maryanne Menefee and a 24-save shutout from Noora Räty. Hannah Brandt, Mira Jalosuo, and Megan Bozek also found the net, giving the hosts a 5-0 victory.

Bozek and Menefee scored two minutes apart in the second period of the championship game, and Räty did the rest. Her 30-save shutout of UND was her fifth consecutive blanking and the sixth in a row for the Gophers.

Terriers take Hockey East again
Louise Warren scored twice in a three-goal second period as Boston University prevailed over Providence, 4-0, and advanced to the final. Half of Kerrin Sperry’s 42 saves came in the final 20 minutes, as the Friars dominated the shot chart but could gain no ground.

After flirting with disaster in the quarterfinal versus Maine, Boston College became seriously involved in the semis. Northeastern’s Casey Pickett struck short-handed early in the second period, and the Huskies lead swelled to three before the Eagles got on the board late. Chloe Desjardins turned aside 34 shots and NU kept its NCAA hopes alive with a 4-1 victory.

BU wasn’t in the mood for any Cinderella stories in the championship. Isabel Menard got her team a lead four minutes into the game, and Sarah Lefort tacked on a goal eight minutes later. Twice the Huskies drew within a goal, and twice Jenelle Kohanchuk answered. Sperry notched another 35 saves in a 5-2 win, the Terriers hoisted a trophy, and Northeastern fell just short of the NCAA field for the second straight season.

Cornell clutch in ECAC Hockey run
Few teams of late have embraced postseason drama with the enthusiasm of Cornell. After a number of overtime classics in recent years, the Big Red needed a pair of late rallies to get by Colgate in this season’s quarterfinal. Against St. Lawrence in the semifinal, Cornell opened up a gap on two Taylor Woods goals late in the first period before the Saints’ Rylee Smith put in a pair of tallies in the next frame. Still knotted at two, the Big Red survived some penalty problems in the latter stages of the third period and got the game-winner at 18:22 as Woods completed her hat trick. She assisted on Brianne Jenner’s empty-net goal to seal a 4-2 win.

Harvard led throughout in defeating Clarkson, also by a 4-2 score. The Crimson took a three-goal lead in the final period before the Golden Knights were able to get anything going. Mary Parker put the exclamation point on the triumph with her second goal into an empty net.

Jenner and Hillary Crowe traded goals in the first period, and although Cornell dominated the shot counter, it couldn’t get a second puck by Emerance Maschmeyer until Jessica Campbell connected on a power play with under two minutes remaining in regulation. The 2-1 win gives the Big Red seniors their third playoff title in their careers.

Tournament invitations
Due to winning conference tournaments, Minnesota, Boston University and Cornell were automatically in the NCAA field. The other five at-large spots went to the next five highest teams in the PairWise Rankings. The first four were obvious: Boston College, the fourth seed and final quarterfinal host; Harvard, Clarkson, and Mercyhurst.

Although the USCHO PairWise Rankings would seem to indicate that North Dakota’s loss on Saturday dropped them out of the field, that was a result of how that algorithm considers the Common Opponents category. The computer version computes a cumulative winning percentage against all common opponents combined, and because UND had more games and losses to Minnesota, it appeared to lose a comparison to St. Lawrence despite a better record versus the only other COP, Clarkson. Based on this and other recent decisions by the women’s selection committee, it evidently considers the winning percentage versus each COP separately. That flips the UND comparison with SLU and allows UND to tie Northeastern and Wisconsin with three comparisons won. North Dakota advances due to a higher RPI.

The NCAA bracket
North Dakota at No. 1 Minnesota, Saturday at 4 p.m. CT
Harvard at No. 4 Boston College, Saturday at 1 p.m. ET

Clarkson at No. 3 Boston University, Saturday at 3 p.m. ET
Mercyhurst at No. 2 Cornell, Saturday at 1 p.m. ET

Individual awards
The three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award were announced last week, senior defenseman Megan Bozek, junior forward Amanda Kessel, and senior goaltender, Noora Räty, all from Minnesota. The winner of the award will be announced at the Kazmaier Banquet on March 23.

Each conference also handed out regular season awards, highlighted by the Player of the Year for each: CHA, junior forward Christine Bestland, Mercyhurst; ECAC Hockey, junior forward Brianne Jenner, Cornell; Hockey East, sophomore forward Alex Carpenter, Boston College; WCHA, Kessel.

The playoffs brought more recognition in the form of all-tournament teams, plus a Most Valuable Player in each: CHA, senior goaltender Stephanie Ciampa, Mercyhurst; ECAC, freshman goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer, Harvard; Hockey East, junior goaltender Kerrin Sperry, Boston University; WCHA, Räty.

All of these young ladies are most deserving, and their talents are definitely worthy of recognition.

One award of a slightly different tone went to Yale senior Alyssa Zupon, winner of the ECAC Hockey Mandi Schwartz Award. Zupon’s community service efforts, inspired in part by her late teammate for which the award is named, are truly exemplary, and serve as a sample of the great things done by players off of the ice that we learn of less often. She is also a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. More information regarding her work on behalf of causes such as earthquake and tsunami relief and forming a pediatric patients support group can be found here at this link.
http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-hockey/2012-13/releases/20130309gzv964

Well, I did pretty well in my first weekend of postseason prognosticating. I got most of the series right, correctly picking 11 series out of 15. In the games, I went 17-7 (.708). I’m picking everything again, so let’s see how I do.

Friday, March 8

Robert Morris at Mercyhurst
How many times can the Colonials make me look foolish for picking against them in this match-up? Something tells me the Lakers finally have their swagger back in this one. Mercyhurst 5-2

RIT vs. Syracuse
Overtime is likely. Will the break for the Orange work for them, or against? RIT didn’t look that great last weekend against Penn State. Syracuse 3-2

Ohio State at Minnesota
With or without Kessel, the Gophers are just too deep. Minnesota 4-1

North Dakota at Wisconsin
This one is a coin flip, so I’ll go with Wisconsin having a better goalie. Wisconsin 3-2

Saturday, March 9

Syracuse vs. Mercyhurst
The Orange will make it close, but the Lakers have their number. Mercyhurst 3-2

Wisconsin at Minnesota
The Badgers threaten the perfect season, but fall a little short. Minnesota 4-3

Harvard at Clarkson
Oh boy. I got this one wrong the last time, picking the Crimson. Can the Golden Knights make it three-for against the Crimson? Clarkson 3-1

St. Lawrence at Cornell
The Saints run of postseason heroics ends here. Cornell 4-2

Northeastern at Boston College
The Eagles have looked shaky of late, but I think they’ll have enough for a little Beanpot revenge. Boston College 3-2

Providence at Boston University
A close one ultimately falls the Terriers’ way.  Boston University 4-3

Sunday, March 10

Clarkson at Cornell
Can the Golden Knights get the title? If Erica Howe is on, anything is possible. Clarkson 3-2

Boston College at Boston University
These teams each won one, and tied a third, during the regular season. OT is definitely a possibility, especially since neither has looked like a powerhouse of late. Boston College 3-2

Sixteen survive to play another day
The brackets are set for the semis and finals of the four conferences, but before looking at them, some valiant efforts by losing teams, although ultimately unsuccessful, deserve a mention. Eight tournament games went to overtime, including the first two games of St. Lawrence at Quinnipiac, the only series to require a deciding third game.

The Lions sleep tonight
If an award was given to the team that demonstrated the most improvement over the course of a season, that recognition would have to go to either Lindenwood or Colgate. The Lions packed a lot of hockey into the final week of their season after their final regular-season series at Syracuse was postponed until Tuesday and Wednesday. Lindenwood took the first game of that series, 2-1, thanks to 42 saves from freshman goaltender Nicole Hensely and an overtime game-winner from Caitlyn Post. The Orange came back with a 4-1 victory on Wednesday. Hensely had another 36 saves, and she was just getting warmed up.

Friday at Robert Morris brought the Lions’ first taste of the postseason, and they made it memorable. The Colonials won, 2-1, on a power-play goal by Cobina Delaney at 8:04 of the third overtime. That was the game’s first successful power play; each team had nine opportunities, including two apiece after regulation. Hensely finished with 90 saves, surpassing the previous NCAA record of 78 set by Desirae Clark of Mercyhurst in a 2005 NCAA tournament game versus Harvard that also went deep into a third overtime. Taylor Fairchild took over in the Lindenwood net on Saturday and stopped 40 of 42 shots, but the Lions didn’t have a fresh contingent of skaters to put on the ice. Playing 289 minutes and five seconds over the course of five days, they were unable to muster any offense, and finished their season with a 2-0 loss.

The Nittany Lions of Penn State also experienced their first tournament, coming up a goal short each day at RIT, 1-0 and 3-2 in overtime. PSU goalie Nicole Paniccia had 88 saves over the two games.

Charging ahead
Cornell could conceivably have become one of those rare teams that reaches the NCAA tournament, but not the semis of its own league tourney. After winning the season series by a combined score of 18-2, the top-seeded Big Red trailed in the final minute of both games versus Colgate, and but for some extra-attacker magic, could be watching the rest of the ECAC playoffs rather than hosting. On Friday, the Raiders held a two-goal lead early in the third period, and after the hosts battled back to tie, took a 4-3 lead on a power-play goal by Brittany Phillips at 17:25. Monika Leck was able to pull Cornell even just three seconds after Lauren Slebodnick departed for an extra attacker. Once on a fresh ice sheet in overtime, Brianne Jenner needed just 39 seconds to complete her hat trick, part of a five-point game, and put the contest in the win column for the Big Red.

Saturday was deja vu all over again, as Colgate again could not kill off the remaining time once Slebodnick headed to the bench and another Cornell skater came over the boards. This time it took 17 seconds for Lauriane Rougeau to net the equalizer, and Jenner saved some Zamboni fuel by scoring the deciding goal at 19:59 in a 3-2 win.

I’ve watched a lot of hockey this season, and I don’t remember seeing a single charging penalty assessed. However, over the course of this series, two different teams of referees whistled at least three in each contest. It makes one wonder if they can’t remember the signal for body checking, or if the league office sent out a missive encouraging its officials to reduce the inventory on unused charging calls before the offseason. Or maybe they just forgot that the game speeds up in the postseason?

Nuisance Bears
Boston College found the Black Bears to be a bit more troublesome than expected, although much of that difficulty was limited to a single Bear, senior goaltender Brittany Ott. The Eagles outshot Maine, 74-18, but still required 64 minutes to advance with a 2-1 win, due to 72 saves by Ott.

Another senior goalie bows out
Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence fought down to the wire this season for the final home-ice spot in the ECAC. The Bobcats won that battle, yet ultimately lost the war. Both teams had success on the road a year ago, so perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that the Saints leveraged the strong play of sophomore netminder Carmen MacDonald into a series win. MacDonald pitched shutouts in the odd games to edge her team over Quinnipiac; she stopped 137 of the 140 shots that she faced on the weekend.

Friday’s only goal came off a wrap-around attempt by Kayla Raniwsky of SLU at 10:56 of OT. The Bobcats struck back on Saturday, despite blowing a two-goal lead when Rylee Smith scored twice for the Saints in the final 32 seconds. Quinnipiac’s Amanda Colin ended matters at 8:55 of the third overtime, dragging the puck to elude the final defender and beating MacDonald to the far post. Colin’s second goal in the 3-2 win was one more than she’d scored in the season’s previous 34 games. After playing seconds shy of nine full periods over the previous two days, SLU took a first-period lead on tallies by Brooke Fernandez and Kelly Sabatine, survived heavy pressure by the Bobcats in the second period, and claimed a 2-0 victory and a semifinal berth. When Quinnipiac finally turned on the goal light with 3:26 remaining, the goal was disallowed, as the ruling was the puck had been kicked into net.

The defeat ends the career of Victoria Vigilanti, who had done much to carry the Bobcats’ program to new heights. She made 114 saves in her final weekend, but was simply outdone by MacDonald.

Home-ice advantage?
In 11 of 14 cases, the team playing at home advanced. However, in pairings where a No. 4 seed hosted a No. 5, presumably the tightest matches, the visitor moved on in three of the four. The only exception is the case of RMU over Lindenwood.

CHA
Robert Morris advances to face Mercyhurst, the team that seems to bring out the Colonials’ best. On the other half of the bracket in Erie, Syracuse attempts to stave off RIT, a team it tied once before earning three straight one-goal victories.

ECAC
Last year, St. Lawrence carried the momentum of a road quarterfinal series win into triumphs over Harvard and Cornell to grab the league crown. This year, Cornell will be first up for the Saints.

Clarkson is back in the ECAC semis for the first time in three years. The Golden Knights bested Rensselaer, 3-2, on the strength of a Carly Mercer goal 8:51 into overtime, and a 5-2 win to close out the series. Jamie Lee Rattray scored a highlight-reel goal while falling to the ice in game one and backed it up with a pair of markers the next day. Clarkson travels to Harvard to face a Crimson team that looked rejuvenated in bouncing Dartmouth, 3-0 and 4-0. Lyndsey Fry scored twice in the second game, and Harvard limited the Big Green to 39 shots on goal for the series.

Hockey East
Haley Skarupa’s game-winner secured Boston College a date with Northeastern in Hyannis. The Huskies spotted Vermont the first goal before taking a 5-1 win. Kelly Wallace found the net twice, and Kendall Coyne had a four-point effort.

Jenelle Kohanchuk led with two goals and Boston University recorded its third straight triumph at Connecticut’s expense. The defending tournament champs will meet Providence. The Friars were the league’s only road team to advance, storming back with goals from Nicole Anderson and Brooke Simpson to force overtime at New Hampshire. Beth Hanrahan finished off the Wildcats 5:51 into the extra session.

WCHA
Ohio State was the third road squad to find the accommodations to its liking. The Buckeyes surrendered the first goal of the series to Minnesota-Duluth, and then knocked in seven of the remaining eight tallies on the weekend, advancing with 4-2 and 3-0 wins. Several players for OSU had three-point series, and Chelsea Knapp backstopped both wins. The Buckeyes reach their first WCHA Final Face-Off since 2010, while the Bulldogs miss out on the event for the first time. The Buckeyes will face host Minnesota. The Gophers rode a pair of record-setting shutouts by Noora Räty to 5-0 and 8-0 defeats of Bemidji State.

The other half of the bracket matches two teams battling for their NCAA tournament futures. For North Dakota, it was all Lamoureuxs, all of the time, in 6-1 and 8-1 poundings of Minnesota State. The sisters combined for 14 points in their final games in Grand Forks. Wisconsin was less explosive, but just as dominant in shoving aside St. Cloud State, 5-0 and 4-1. Madison Packer had a six-point series and Brianna Decker chipped in five points. The Badgers took three of the previous four meetings with UND this season.

Hey Arlan, thanks for playing! However, for the second consecutive year, I held off Arlan in the last month of the season to claim our season picks race and win a six pack of microbrew! Yahoo!!! Last weekend, I went 15-1-5 (.833), while Arlan went 13-3-5 (.738). I finished the regular season 234-71-32 (.741), while Arlan finished 231-74-32 (.732).

Arlan doesn’t pick in the playoffs, so I restart my season and see how I do in the playoffs, then give you final count after the Frozen Four in March. Here we go!!!

Friday, March 1

Maine at Boston College
I imagine the Eagles are still kicking themselves for putting 54 shots on net against Vermont and only getting a tie. If the BC offense is that explosive here, it could get ugly. Boston College 5-1

Friday-Saturday, March 1-2

Penn State at RIT
I finally started to get a handle on picking the Tigers in mid-January. Penn State will play this close, but I think will fall short in both games. RIT 3-2, 3-1

Lindenwood at Robert Morris
Oh how the defending champs have fallen. Lindenwood swept the Colonials at home a couple of weeks ago, and split with them at RMU back in January. This might be an upset. Lindenwood 3-2, Robert Morris 3-2, Lindenwood 4-3

Rensselaer at Clarskon
The Golden Knights have their swagger back, and while one game is close, expect this to be a sweep. Clarkson 3-1, 4-1

Colgate at Cornell
I’d bet a house on this series, even if Colgate has surprised a few teams this year. Cornell 4-1, 5-1

Dartmouth at Harvard
The Crimson stumbled badly last weekend, and Dartmouth has been playing well. This series will go the distance. Dartmouth 2-1, Harvard 3-2, Harvard 2-1

St. Lawrence at Quinnipiac
Another tough series to predict. Probably will go the distance, and home ice will be the difference. Quinnipiac 3-2, St. Lawrence 2-1, Quinnipiac 2-1

Ohio State at Minnesota-Duluth
The Buckeyes finally got wins last weekend, but I think the Bulldogs are playing a bit better right now. Minnesota-Duluth 4-2, 4-3

Bemidji State at Minnesota
The Beavers threw a scare into the Gophers a couple of weeks ago, coming closer than anybody else to ruining Minnesota’s untied and unbeaten record. Expect the Gophers to come out flying. Minnesota 4-1, 5-0

Minnesota State at North Dakota
The Mavericks have shown definite improvement this year, but it ends here. North Dakota 4-2, 4-1

St. Cloud at Wisconsin
The Huskies have also shown improvement, but don’t have the offense to beat Alex Rigsby in the playoffs. Wisconsin 3-1, 3-2

Saturday, March 2

Connecticut at Boston University
The Huskies threw a scare into the Terriers last weekend, but expect BU to come out strong. Boston University 4-2

Vermont at Northeastern
If Roxanne Douville makes 53 saves again, all bets are off. Northeastern 3-2

Providence at New Hampshire
In three games this year between the two, there were two ties. Expect overtime, possibly many of them. New Hampshire 3-2

One season ends as another begins
We’ve reached the end of the regular season — almost. Due to weather-related postponements, Lindenwood has a pair of games to make up at Syracuse, while Yale plays one at Harvard this week. The former has playoff seeding implications in the CHA; the latter matters because Harvard is still in the NCAA tournament picture.

This week’s wrap will summarize the conference tournament pairings to the extent that they have been determined.

ECAC Hockey
The ECAC has a best-of-three quarterfinal round hosted by the higher-seeded team.

League champion and No. 1 seed Cornell hosts its travel partner, Colgate, as the Raiders emerged from a four-way battle for the final playoff berth. The Big Red took care of business, winning 4-1 at Rensselaer and 4-0 at Union. Coupled with Harvard’s inability to gain more than a single point on the weekend, the victories lifted Cornell to its fourth-straight ECAC regular season title. Colgate defeated the same two opponents by identical 2-1 scores. The Friday win over the Dutchwomen required a bit more drama; Colgate got a late second-period goal from Jenna Klynstra to tie and a power-play game winner from Taylor Volpe with 92 seconds to go. Brittany Phillips had both goals versus RPI and the Raiders led most of the way. Colgate returns to the postseason for the first time since 2010 thanks to a big assist from Yale in knocking off Princeton.

Clarkson secured the second seed with a road sweep at Dartmouth and Harvard, winning 3-1 both days. The Golden Knights took a two-goal lead into the first intermission in each contest and made it stand up. Erica Howe was strong in net, making 31 saves against the Big Green and adding 39 to top the Crimson. Vanessa Gagnon led the attack with two points at Harvard, and her goal in the final second of the opening frame was pivotal. Clarkson will entertain RPI, which returns to the tournament after a year’s absence, albeit on a three-game losing skid.

Harvard started the week with a 5-2 win over Brown on Tuesday, but a 2-2 tie with St. Lawrence and the loss to Clarkson dropped it to third. That means the Crimson host their travel partner as well. Dartmouth looks like a dangerous team, going 12-4-3 over its most recent 19 games. On the weekend, the Big Green followed the loss to Clarkson by pounding the Saints, 7-2. Sasha Nanji and Karlee Odland potted a pair of goals each in the win.

Quinnipiac gained the final home-ice berth with matching 4-0 wins at Yale and Brown. Victoria Vigilanti denied all 36 shots she faced on the weekend. St. Lawrence will visit Hamden, hoping that the road will prove as kind as it did a year ago.

Hockey East
Hockey East has a new playoff format, as all eight teams qualify for one-game quarterfinals at the higher seed.

Boston University earned its second regular-season conference crown by sweeping a home-and-home series over Connecticut, 7-5 and 4-2. Saturday’s game got off to a rocky start; Alissa Fromkin got the Senior Day start and surrendered four goals on six shots in the opening stanza. Usual starter Kerrin Sperry’s relief effort began shakily as well, and Connecticut led, 5-1, 2:52 into period two. Sarah Lefort and Jenelle Kohanchuk keyed a rally, and BU knotted the score by the second intermission; Kayla Tutino provided the game-winner at the 4:43 mark of the third period. Lefort and Kohanchuk had three points in a far more orderly win on Sunday to wrap up the title. As a reward, the Terriers host Connecticut again on Saturday.

For a second consecutive season, Boston College botched an inside track to its first regular-season championship and wound up a point short. The Eagles were undone by a 1-1 tie at Vermont on Saturday, when Roxanne Douville frustrated them with 53 saves. Emily Walsh put the Catamounts on the board first, and BC needed a late power-play goal from Alex Carpenter to salvage a tie. The Eagles’ 4-0 win on Sunday was a bit hollow, but in the big picture, BC still seems assured of an NCAA home quarterfinal as it prepares to host Maine on Friday night in the HEA tournament.

Northeastern took both ends of a home-and-home series with Providence and locked down the third seed. Casey Pickett enjoyed a big weekend with two goals and two assists in Saturday’s 5-1 win, and another assist in Sunday’s 4-3 victory. Vermont will be the Huskies’ opponent on Saturday night in the Catamounts’ first foray into the postseason as a D-I program.

New Hampshire will host the Friars on Saturday. The Wildcats took three of four points from Maine on the weekend, skating to a 2-2 tie and getting a third-period game-winner from Sara Carlson on Sunday.

WCHA
All teams in the WCHA compete in best-of-three quarterfinals at the higher seed starting Friday.

Top-seeded Minnesota completed the first undefeated regular season in the NCAA history of Division-I with 2-0 and 3-0 wins at St. Cloud State. Rookie Amanda Leveille turned in her third shutout in as many starts in game one, and Noora Räty followed suit on Saturday with her 39th career shutout, matching the mark established by Jessie Vetter. Bemidji State travels to Minneapolis for the opening round.

Wisconsin turned in a 2-0 and 3-1 sweep at Bemidji State that left it tied with North Dakota in the standings. The Badgers take the second seed thanks to a 3-1 head-to-head record and will host St. Cloud.

North Dakota dropped to third when it tied, 2-2, but lost a shootout in the second game at Minnesota-Duluth. Without the WCHA’s shootout system, UND would have earned the second seed. Jocelyne Lamoureux had three points in Friday’s 4-1 win. Minnesota State will travel to Grand Forks to battle North Dakota.

Ohio State took five of six points versus the Mavericks over the weekend, but the Buckeyes needed all six. Minesota-Duluth was able to forge a tie and take the tiebreaker with more league wins. The Bulldogs will play host to OSU for the second consecutive year.

CHA
Due to the delay of the Lindenwood at Syracuse series, the CHA bracket is still a work in progress. Mercyhurst is assured of the top seed. The Lakers and the second-seeded Orange get quarterfinal byes. Penn State will be the sixth seed and face the third-seeded team. The odds are that will be RIT. The Tigers are currently tied with Robert Morris with 19 points and own a head-to-head tiebreaker. Lindenwood sits four points back and could conceivably create a three-way tie for third and win tiebreakers over both RIT and RMU based on more league wins and head-to-head results, respectively. That seems unlikely only because Syracuse has been the most predictable team in the turbulence that is this season’s CHA, and the Orange did sweep the Lions earlier in the year. If Syracuse gains at least a point, RIT will host Penn State and Robert Morris will entertain Lindenwood. What is certain is that the CHA will have best-of-three quarterfinals hosted by the third and fourth seeds.

In the games that did take place as scheduled over the weekend, Mercyhurst completed a season sweep of RIT, 4-1 and 5-2. Stephanie Ciampa earned both wins to improve to 17-1-0 on the season. Christine Bestland had a two-goal game and Jenna Dingeldein, Vaila Higson, and Kelsey Welch all had three-point games on the weekend. Robert Morris dominated the shot chart in sweeping Penn State, 4-1 and 4-2.

Well, a couple of ties, a couple of splits, and I held off Arlan once again on a week when we had the most number of different picks all year. Arlan and I both went 20-3-3 (.826). Entering the final weekend of the regular season, I hold a one-game lead in the race for the six pack, as I moved to 219-70-27 (.735), while Arlan is 218-71-27 (.732). We are picking a lot of games, so let’s see if I can win the race!

Friday, Feb. 22

Princeton at Brown
Candace: If the Tigers win, they are in the playoffs. Princeton 3-2
Arlan: This game is as big as a playoff game. Princeton 4-2

Clarkson at Dartmouth
Candace: This game will probably be a lot closer than the last one between these two. Clarkson 3-2
Arlan: The Golden Knights need two wins and a lot of help. Clarkson 2-1

St. Lawrence at Harvard
Candace: I’d love to give St. Lawrence the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t. Harvard 3-1
Arlan: It’s been a long time since the Saints have defeated the Crimson anywhere other than Ithaca, N.Y. Harvard 3-0

Cornell at Rensselaer
Candace: The Big Red should eat up little red. Cornell 5-1
Arlan: Possible prelude to a quarterfinal series. Cornell 4-1

Friday-Saturday, Feb. 22-23

Northeastern vs. Providence
Candace: Northeastern has been playing a lot better than the last time these two played. Northeastern 4-2, 3-2
Arlan: The teams combined for 15 goals in last game; it’ll be hard to match that in two. Providence 4-3, Northeastern 5-1

Wisconsin at Bemidji State
Candace: The Badgers get revenge for the Beavers ruining the debut of Wisconsin’s new arena in October. Wisconsin 3-2, 3-1
Arlan: BSU wants a win in the worst way, but the Badgers are a far better team than in the opening weeks. Wisconsin 2-0, 5-1

Minnesota State at Ohio State
Candace: The Buckeyes have only won one game over the last month. I want to pick a split, but don’t know if the Mavericks can take advantage. Ohio State 2-1, 3-2
Arlan: Unlike the first half, the Mavericks’ best performances have come on the road in 2013. Ohio State 2-1, 3-2

North Dakota at Minnesota-Duluth
Candace: These will be close games, but I expect North Dakota to have enough to stay ahead of Wisconsin in the race for second. North Dakota 4-3, 4-2
Arlan: UMD hit a one-of-six stretch at the worst time. Minnesota-Duluth 2-1, North Dakota 4-2

Saturday, Feb. 23

Quinnipiac at Brown
Candace: This game could be closer if the eighth spot for the ECAC playoffs is still up for grabs. Quinnipiac 4-2
Arlan: The Bobcats warm up for the postseason. Quinnipiac 4-1

St. Lawrence at Dartmouth
Candace: I really don’t want to pick this game. Dartmouth 2-1
Arlan: The Big Green have played their best hockey in February. Dartmouth 3-2

Clarkson at Harvard
Candace: Home ice should just be enough to get the Crimson over the hump. Harvard 3-2
Arlan: Harvard wraps up the ECAC crown. Harvard 3-1

Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 23-24

Connecticut vs. Boston University
Candace: These games may be close, as the Terriers seem unable to romp over teams lately. Boston University 4-2, 4-3
Arlan: The Terriers share of the Hockey East title is all but assured. Boston University 5-0, 4-1

Maine at New Hampshire
Candace: Maine wants to play spoiler, but New Hampshire wants home ice. New Hampshire 3-2, 4-2
Arlan: Hopefully the Wildcats plan a better effort than they had on Wednesday or they’ll be hitting the road for the tournament. New Hampshire 3-2, 4-1

Boston College at Vermont
Candace: The Eagles keep pace with the Terriers, forcing a coin flip. Boston College 4-1, 5-1
Arlan: The final pick of the season is a bit anticlimactic. Boston College 5-1, 7-2

A little bit of everything and extra of some
I would claim that it was a wacky week, but as I seem to be doing that on a regular basis. Apparently, it was just a typical week in our game’s current landscape. The extra this week was bonus hockey, both due to making up games that had been postponed by earlier storms and playing beyond 60 minutes in eight different contests over the weekend.

Lakers still trophy takers
No. 9 Mercyhurst clinched its 12th CHA title in as many seasons by recording 5-3 and 3-2 wins at Syracuse. Lauren Jones’ second goal of the game into an empty net iced the Friday win. Christine Bestland and Stephanie DeSutter had scored five minutes apart in the back half of the final period to rally the Lakers from a goal down. On Saturday, Mercyhurst raced to a 3-0 lead and held off an Orange comeback. Margot Scharfe scored twice for Syracuse, but that was all that got by Stephanie Ciampa, as the Lakers’ defense stiffened and allowed but three shots in the final period.

No longer being considered
The final game played may have had the greatest impact, at least on first glance. Blayre Turnbull scored for No. 7 Wisconsin with 5:37 remaining in regulation to force overtime against visiting Minnesota-Duluth. Halfway through the extra session, Brianna Decker created the perfect ending to her Senior Day, scoring on an individual effort off of a faceoff for a 3-2 victory for the Badgers. Decker had also bagged the game’s first goal. Coupled with a 3-1 Wisconsin win on Saturday with Madison Packer scoring twice and Alex Rigsby providing 25 saves, the sweep dropped UMD down to 14 in the Ratings Percentage Index, where it is likely looking at a scenario where it will need to win the WCHA auto bid in order to reach its 11th NCAA tournament.

Collateral damage
The Bulldogs’ plight also put a dent in No. 8 North Dakota’s prospects. With UMD no longer a Team Under Consideration, North Dakota’s record in the TUC category falls to 2-9. That is enough to cost UND the comparison with No. 10 Northeastern, as the Huskies win over Clarkson trumps UND’s split with the Golden Knights in common opponents, and Northeastern takes the comparison despite trailing by a considerable margin in RPI.

UND is the next opponent for the Bulldogs, so if they win their way back under consideration, that doesn’t really benefit UND either. The Huskies’ gain may prove to be hollow, as Northeastern still trails Wisconsin in RPI as well, and this time the Huskies lose the COP criterion because of going 2-1 versus New Hampshire, whereas the Badgers swept the Wildcats. North Dakota can still flip the PairWise comparison with Wisconsin, despite losing three of four games head-to-head with the Badgers. The RPI margin is tight, and a sweep in Duluth may prove to be enough. That would likely produce an equal number of PairWise comparisons won for Wisconsin, Northeastern, and UND, and because UND would have the highest RPI in this theoretical model, it would be ranked higher.

In the meantime, North Dakota controlled what it could, sweeping Ohio State by scores of 5-2 and 3-2 to tie the program’s high for victories in a season at 22. Monique Lamoureux celebrated senior weekend with a pair of three-point games, sister Jocelyne had a five-point weekend, and Michelle Karvinen and Meghan Dufault alternated two-goal games.

Beanpot repeat
Northeastern is in the PairWise discussion thanks in large part to the Huskies’ successful defense of their Beanpot title. Northeastern opened the week with a 4-3 win over No. 2 Boston College in the championship game. Power-play goals by Brittany Esposito and Casey Pickett erased second-period deficits, and Paige Savage gave the Huskies their first lead. After a beautiful individual effort by Emily Field drew the Eagles even, Katie MacSorley deflected in the game winner 79 seconds later with less than 10 minutes to go.

The Huskies built their winning streak to four with a sweep at Maine. In Saturday’s 5-2 triumph, Esposito and Kendall Coyne each scored twice. Coyne potted another pair on Sunday as Northeastern won, 7-2, and linemates Rachel Llanes and Picket had three-point games.

Good news Bears
Only one team in the ECAC managed to put together a perfect week, and those without knowledge of the results would likely need a few guesses to identify that squad. Brown accomplished that feat by taking care of home ice. The Bears besting Union, 2-1, would raise few eyebrows, given that the Dutchwomen are winless in league play. Aubree Moore earned her third win by making 22 stops and getting offensive support from Emilie Dolan and Jennifer Nedow. Saturday’s 5-2 vanquishing of playoff-bound Rensselaer was less expected. Alena Polenska spearheaded the attack with a goal and three primary assists. With the four points, Brown moves within two points of the final playoff berth. The Bears have a busy week ahead, traveling to No. 5 Harvard on Tuesday before hosting Princeton and Quinnipiac.

So obviously the Dutchwomen and Engineers stumbled, but what about the rest of the ECAC? No. 4 Cornell and Dartmouth couldn’t hit a net between them over 65 minutes. Harvard lost to the Big Red. Clarkson fell to Princeton, who in turn succumbed to St. Lawrence. The Saints and Quinnipiac tied. Colgate and Yale didn’t post a win in five games between them. At least until Tuesday, Brown is the league’s hottest team.

Clarkson losing control
Despite being only a point out of first place, the Golden Knights’ title hopes are in a world of hurt. Cornell is a point up and has a seemingly easier road trip to RPI and Union, while Clarkson visits Dartmouth and Harvard. Even should the Knights grab all four points, they’ll need help on a couple of fronts as Harvard also plays Brown, St. Lawrence, and Yale. Clarkson is in this predicament because after Danielle Skirrow gave her team a 1-0 lead on home ice, Kelly Cooke and Corey Stearns collaborated three times in a 4-1 Princeton win. Kimberly Newell yielded but the single tally on 41 shots. Clarkson salvaged something from the weekend as Carly Mercer provided the game’s only goal against Quinnipiac 59:55 into the match. Erica Howe was perfect on 27 shots to make a hard-luck loser out of Victoria Vigilanti, who recorded 32 saves.

Darn Dartmouth
Cornell got the win it had to have by beating Harvard, 3-1, on Friday thanks to a pair of third-period goals from Jessica Campbel and a three-assist performance by Erin Barley-Maloney. But the Big Red really needed another win on Saturday to keep pressure on the Crimson, and they were foiled by a 34-save effort of Lindsay Holdcroft to offset the 23-save shutout of Lauren Slebonick in a 0-0 draw with Dartmouth. Despite Cornell’s recent run of success in the ECAC, the Big Green always manage to be a thorn in the Big Red’s side.

Nobody is blinking
Nothing was decided in the battle for Hockey East supremacy. After both BC and No. 3 Boston University tasted defeat on Tuesday in the second week of the Beanpot, each regrouped with a sweep over lesser foes in league play. Sophomore Alex Carpenter had seven points and passed the 100-point mark for her career when the Eagles overwhelmed Connecticut, 6-1 and 4-0. BU kept pace by surviving Vermont, 2-1 and 3-2. Marie-Philip Poulin had both goals on Saturday and Isabel Menard tallied twice in the finale. The Eagles and Terriers remain deadlocked with three games to play. BC finishes on the road at Providence followed by two at Vermont. BU hosts New Hampshire before a home-and-home with UConn.

Advantage Wildcats
UNH enjoyed a five-point week, shutting out UConn, 4-0, winning 6-4 at Providence, and coming back in the final minutes to tie the Friars, 3-3. Kayla Mork had the game-tying goal on Sunday, and Hannah Armstrong and Kristina Lavoie had hat tricks versus the Huskies and Friars, respectively. The Wildcats now sit a point above Providence in the battle for the final home-ice quarterfinal.

Streak busters
Bemidji State came closer to defeating No. 1 Minnesota than anyone else has over the past 40 games for the Gophers. After pasting the Beavers, 8-0, on Friday, the Gophers had to come from behind twice to outlast BSU, 3-2 in overtime. Freshman Kaitlyn Tougas scored a pair of goals in transition to give BSU leads, only to have Minnesota roar back moments later. The Gophers only lead of the game came on the final play 3:48 into overtime. Lieksa, Finland, native Mira Jalosuo slipped the puck into the net from the back door off of a feed from Kelly Terry. Jalosuo’s mother was attending her first collegiate series as Minnesota honored Jalosuo and her senior classmates. By taking the game to overtime, Bemidji State did end the Gophers’ streak of multi-goal wins at 39.

Climactic penalty shot
The final play of the game being a penalty shot is fairly common in the WCHA, because that is the only league that uses shootouts to settle ties. However, it is a rarity in the rest of the country. Alison Wickenheiser provided a true game-winner on a penalty shot 55 seconds into overtime on Friday as Lindenwood defeated Robert Morris, 3-2. Lyndsay Kirkham had scored a short-handed, extra-attacker goal in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. Brett Lobreau’s winning goal came earlier on Saturday, as the senior scored at 11:38 of the third period to put the Lions up 3-2; Wickenheiser added an empty-netter for a 4-2 final. Nicole Hensley made 88 saves in the series for Lindenwood, as it celebrated its first CHA sweep, upped its unbeaten streak to six games, and forged a tie with RMU for fourth and the opportunity to host a league quarterfinal.