East picks: Feb. 22

Wednesday, Feb. 22

Brockport at No. 10 Geneseo
The Knights were on the wrong side of the tiebreaker that gave a bye to Plattsburgh and forces a first-round game at home against Brockport. Both regular season games went to Geneseo by 6-2 and 5-2 scores. This one will be closer, but the outcome is the same. Geneseo 4-2

Stevenson at No. 6 Hobart
The Statesmen best beware a team that has nothing to fear or lose in this game. The regular season games both went to Hobart, but the last game in January in Geneva saw the game stretch to overtime. Not sure extra time will be required but it is still just a one-goal game. Hobart 4-3

Fredonia at No. 14 Buffalo State
The Bengals have played just .500 hockey over the past three weeks and struggled against key opponents that could have improved their playoff position. The last time these teams met was the opening weekend and the Blue Devils took a win and a tie to open the season. This one will be close and an empty-net goal is the final tally in Buffalo State moving on. Buffalo State 4-2

Neumann at Nazareth
The two teams split the season series, with each team winning on home ice. Neumann is 9-4-2 overall away from home and hopefully can leverage some of that visitor mojo in the playoffs behind the nation’s leading goal scorer, Jory Mullin. Neumann 4-3

Nothing really beats the excitement of playoff hockey and with the competitiveness across all of the conferences, there really aren’t any sure things in predicting the ultimate champions. Buckle up — it is going to be one very, very dramatic ride to the finish!