SATURDAY ROUNDUP: Conference playoff slate continues as two Atlantic Hockey series going to Sunday Game 3s; Minnesota, Michigan advance in B1G; Minnesota State, NMU advance in CCHA; ECAC, HEA semis set; Denver, CC move on in NCHC

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RIT players celebrate Elijah Gonsalves’ OT winner Saturday night to push their series with Holy Cross to a deciding Game 3 (photo: Josh Boland).

Atlantic Hockey, ECAC Hockey, and NCHC are all playing best-of-three series this weekend, while the Big Ten, CCHA, and Hockey East all are playing single-elimination games.

The conferences with best-of-three series started Friday night.

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ATLANTIC HOCKEY

Both series will head to deciding Game 3s on Sunday after No. 20 RIT edged Holy Cross 4-3 in overtime and Canisius topped Niagara 5-1.

At the HarborCenter, Max Kouznetsov scored twice for Canisius and Jacob Barczewski made 25 saves in goal.

Elijah Gonsalves’ goal 8:09 into overtime lifted RIT past Holy Cross at the Gene Polisseni Center.

Tigers goaltender Tommy Scarfone finished with 24 stops in the RIT net.

BIG TEN

The two games Saturday were each decided by four goals as No. 1 Minnesota bounced No. 18 Michigan State 5-1 and No. 4 Michigan defeated No. 9 Ohio State 7-3 as the two teams will play next week for the conference title.

Logan Cooley snipped a pair for the Gophers, who got a 29-save outing from goalie Justen Close at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

At Yost Ice Arena, Adam Fantilli scored two goals with two assists and Erik Portillo made 35 saves for the Wolverines.

CCHA

No. 13 Minnesota State and Northern Michigan will play next weekend for the conference championship after the Mavericks dropped Ferris State 7-2 and the Wildcats blanked No. 10 Michigan Tech 4-0.

Jake Livingstone went for a goal and three assists and Keenan Rancier had 19 saves to lead Minnesota State to the win at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

Beni Halasz made 44 saves to guide the Wildcats past the Huskies at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Andre Ghantous posted a goal and an assist for NMU.

ECAC HOCKEY

All four series wrapped Saturday night as Colgate beat St. Lawrence 3-2, No. 12 Cornell topped Clarkson 3-1, No. 6 Harvard downed Princeton 6-1, and No. 2 Quinnipiac collected a 6-2 win over Yale.

Colgate scored the game’s first three goals and held on for the win at Appleton Arena, Carter Gylander making 31 saves in goal.

At Lynah Rink, Ian Shane stopped 22 shots, losing his shutout in the final minute, as the Big Red eliminated Clarkson.

Alex Laferriere notched a pair of goals to pace Harvard over Princeton from the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Mitchell Gibson made 34 saves, losing his shutout with 1:42 left in the third period.

Six different players scored and Yaniv Perets made 18 saves as the Bobcats took the victory over the Bulldogs at the Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena.

HOCKEY EAST

The four games Saturday night saw UMass Lowell drop No. 19 UConn 2-1, Providence beat No. 15 Northeastern 2-1 in overtime, No. 14 Merrimack blank Boston College 1-0 in double overtime, and No. 5 Boston University defeat Vermont 7-3.

The semifinals will be next weekend.

Blake Wells and Owen Cole scored for UML and Gustavs Davis Grigals stopped 40 shots in the River Hawks’ win at the XL Center.

Brady Berard’s OT winner four minutes into extra time won it for the Friars at Matthews Arena.

At Lawler Arena, Mick Messner’s goal at 8:20 of the second overtime won it for the Warriors in a goaltending battle. Hugo Ollas made 36 saves for Merrimack and Mitche Benson 35 for the Eagles.

Nick Zabaneh’s hat trick powered BU past Vermont from Agganis Arena. Drew Commesso needed to make just 19 saves for the Terriers.

NCHC

North Dakota beat No. 18 Omaha 3-1 to send their series to a Game 3, while Minnesota Duluth routed No. 8 St. Cloud State 5-1 to also send that series to a deciding Game 3 on Sunday.

Other games saw Colorado College complete the sweep over No. 7 Western Michigan with a 3-2 overtime win and No. 3 Denver do the same to Miami with a 7-2 victory.

From Baxter Arena, Tyler Kleven scored twice for the Fighting Hawks and Drew DeRidder finished with 24 saves.

Carter Loney netted a pair of goals for UMD as the Bulldogs staved off elimination at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Zach Stejskal made 34 saves in goal.

Matthew Gleason’s goal 3:08 into overtime at Lawson Arena gave CC the series win over the Broncos. Kaidan Mbereko turned aside 28 shots between the pipes.

Seven different players scored at Magness Arena and Matt Davis collected 19 saves for the defending national champion Pioneers.

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