The 11 men’s teams in the NCAA tournament were announced Monday morning.
In the first round to be played March 12, Geneseo hosts Salve Regina, Williams hosts Salem State and Massachusetts-Boston travels to play defending champion Trinity.
Five teams receive byes to the March 19 quarterfinals, where they are joined by the winners of three first-round games. Adrian will host Wisconsin-Stevens Point, St. Norbert hosts Augsburg and then Hobart hosts the Mass.-Boston-Trinity winner.
The semifinals and finals are scheduled for the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y., March 25-26.
Automatic qualifiers:
• Pool A: Seven postseason tournament champions — from ECAC Northeast, MASCAC, MIAC, NEHC, NESCAC, NCHA and SUNYAC
• Pool B: One institution from group of schools in conferences that do not qualify for Pool A consideration (ECAC West, WIAC)
• Pool C: Three institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that are not their conference champions, and the remaining teams in Pool B
Trinity topped Stevens Point in the 2015 championship final.
The eight women’s teams in the women’s NCAA Division III tournament were announced Monday morning.
Plattsburgh, Middlebury, Wisconsin-River Falls and Adrian will host quarterfinal matchups on home ice March 11-12.
Plattsburgh hosts Amherst, Middlebury hosts Massachusetts-Boston, St. Thomas travels to Wisconsin-River Falls and Adrian will host Elmira this coming weekend.
The semifinals and finals will then run at a to-be-determined campus site March 18 and 19. The semifinals are slated for March 18 with the title game March 19.
Automatic qualifiers are the postseason tournament champions from the ECAC West, MIAC, NEHC, NESCAC and NCHA.
Plattsburgh defeated Elmira on home ice to win the 2015 championship.
Our guests on the March 8 edition of USCHO Live are Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson, whose Huskies won a share of the MacNaughton Cup for the first time in 40 years, and USCHO.com bracketologist Jayson Moy, with a look at where teams stand in the PairWise as we near the end of the season. USCHO.com’s Dan Rubin will sit in for Jim Connelly alongside Ed Trefzger.
Please note our new live streaming host: Join us for the conversation and information, Tues., March 8, at 8 p.m. EST using the player below or listen using the Spreaker Radio app for iOS, Android or Windows phone.
Be part of the conversation! Send your tweets to @USCHO or your emails to [email protected]. Each episode of USCHO Live! features a look at news around NCAA hockey, a look ahead at upcoming games and events, and conversation with people who coach, administer and play college hockey, and journalists who cover the sport.
About the hosts
Dan Rubin covers Atlantic Hockey for USCHO and is the radio voice for Bentley. He also is a broadcaster for Brown, and has been a broadcaster for a wide range of college sports during his broadcast career.
Ed Trefzger has been part of USCHO since 1999 and now serves as a senior writer and director of technology. He has been a part of the radio broadcasts of Rochester Institute of Technology hockey since their inception — serving as a producer, studio host, color commentator and as RIT’s play-by-play voice for nine seasons. Ed is general manager of CBS Sports Radio affiliate 105.5 The Team in Rochester, N.Y., and COO of its parent company, Genesee Media Corporation.
Freshman Blake Wojtala made 43 saves, completing a playoff shutout hat trick in backing Salve Regina to its first ECAC Northeast title and automatic berth into the NCAA tournament (photo: Edward Habershaw).
What a weekend it was in the East.
All of the conference titles have been decided and just as the entire season has shown, don’t take anything for granted when it comes to the final outcome on the ice. While some favorites proved why they were just that, others saw their conference title aspirations dashed by teams peaking at just the right time and taking home the coveted conference title and national tournament qualification.
Here’s a look at the weekend’s action:
ECAC Northeast
Either way it went, one of Endicott in its first year as a program or Salve Regina would be celebrating their very first conference title. The Gulls hosted the championship game against the third-seeded Seahawks and ran into the hottest of goaltenders in the final, leading to Salve Regina’s 4-0 championship win.
Freshman Blake Wojtala was clearly the tournament MVP as he recorded his third consecutive shutout in the conference playoffs and made 93 total saves, including 43 in the final, to backstop Salve Regina into the NCAA tournament. Kevin Clare and Tommy Evangelista gave Wojtala and the stingy defense all the scoring they would need in the first two periods and two third-period short-handed goals sealed the win for Salve Regina, who now await their seeding and schedule for the national tournament.
ECAC West
The conference has no auto-bid, so sending the right message to the selection committee was of paramount importance to both Utica and the host team, Hobart.
It took a little while for the Statesmen to take control, but a dominant first period, where they outshot the Pioneers by an 18-7 margin, was rewarded late in the period as Hobart scored three goals in a one-minute span to take control of the contest. Brad Robbins scored twice in 30 seconds and Booby Sokol added the third goal half a minute later to give Hobart a commanding 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Vincent Russo and Andrew Silard added goals in the second and third period, respectively, while Lino Chimienti made 30 saves for the shutout in the 5-0 championship win.
Look for Hobart to earn an at-large bid with their 21-4-2 record on the season.
MASCAC
The championship game was as expected with the two top seeds going at each other in a repeat of last season’s title game. This time, Salem State, as was the case in the regular season, got the best of Plymouth State by a 5-0 score to win the conference title and punch their ticket to the national tournament.
Conference Player of the Year Marcus Zelzer was as advertised in making 25 saves and earning the shutout in the Vikings’ 4-0 win. After a scoreless first period, Salem State scored three times in the second period, including tallies from Keaton Cashin, Brandon Platt and Daniel Campbell, to take a commanding 3-0 lead after two periods of play. Cashin’s goal, his first of the season, proved to be the game winner for the Vikings, who added a final marker on Cam Moniz’s 19th of the season to close out the third period.
NEHC
In a battle of two nationally-ranked teams, the first NEHC title game played between Massachusetts-Boston and Babson lived up to its billing as a great championship game with the unfortunate aspect of one team having to lose out.
The Beacons earned their very first conference title and trip to the NCAA tournament with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win in front of a raucous home crowd. Sophomore Colin Larkin banged home a rebound with just over seven minutes left in the overtime session to send the Beacons into elation. The Beacons twice came back from one-goal deficits in the contest and sent the game into the extra session on a goal from Alex Demchuk in the third period.
Babson goalie Jamie Murray made 42 saves in a losing effort and the Beavers await their fate as an at-large candidate for the NCAA tournament.
NESCAC
Saturday’s semifinal games saw the defending champions from Amherst and host of the final four, Trinity, advance to Sunday’s championship game.
Amherst again proved to be a tough road team as they knocked off Middlebury by a 4-2 score behind two goals from John Festa and 26 saves from goalie Connor Girard. Middlebury had won both regular-season games from Amherst, but fell behind 2-0 after 40 minutes and could not stage a third-period rally as Patrick Arena and Festa closed out the scoring for Amherst in the win.
Trinity faced last season’s demon in a Tufts team that has grown a reputation for knocking off top seeds like Williams last weekend and the Bantams last season in the quarterfinals. The game was not without some drama this year as a 4-1 lead was quickly eroded by the Jumbos in the final minute to a 4-3 score that was finally settled by Trinity’s Sean Orlando’s empty-net goal for the 5-3 win. Alex Morin picked up his 13th win of the season making 25 saves for Trinity.
In the championship game on Sunday, Michael Hawkrigg scored two goals and set up two more as the Bantams cruised to a 5-1 win over Amherst. The Bantams finished 2-for-5 on the man advantage as Amherst uncharacteristically took 10 penalties for 31 minutes, including a match penalty. The defending national champions now get a shot at defending their crown based on earning the school’s third NESCAC crown.
SUNYAC
The Geneseo-Plattsburgh championship game figured to be another epic matchup, but sometimes the paper version of the game is not what happens on the ice.
The Knights have demonstrated some prolific offense of late, including last weekend’s semifinal road win over Buffalo State by a score of 6-1 and they weren’t done scoring goals as they routed the Cardinals by a 7-1 score to take the SUNYAC crown and NCAA auto-bid that comes with it.
Arthur Gordon scored twice and the Knights chased Cardinals netminder Spencer Phinney in the second period on their way to a 7-0 lead before Nick Belger broke Devin McDonald’s shutout bid in the third period. McDonald made 42 saves for Geneseo as the Knights were outshot 43-30, but built an early lead and kept the offense rolling.
Weekend Biscuits
Blake Wojtala, Salve Regina – completed his shutout troika in style notching 43 saves in the championship game against Endicott after earning quarterfinal and semifinal shutouts over Johnson and Wales and Nichols, respectively. The freshman was a perfect 93 for 93 in the playoffs and should cause some concern for any team Salve faces in the NCAA tournament.
Marcus Zelzer, Salem State – the MASCAC Player of year made 25 saves and posted a shutout in raising his record to 18-1-0 on the season in the Vikings’ 5-0 championship win over Plymouth State.
Colin Larkin, Massachusetts-Boston – the sophomore scored the decisive overtime goal in the Beacons’ first conference championship and NCAA tournament bid in their 3-2 win over Babson.
Michael Hawkrigg, Trinity – recorded four points with a pair of goals and a pair of assists to launch Trinity past Amherst for the NESCAC title and an opportunity to defend their national championship in this year’s tournament.
WEST WRAP – Brian Lester
Auggies win MIAC thriller
Nothing came easy for Augsburg in its MIAC championship game showdown against St. John’s Saturday night, but in the end, the Auggies skated away with the trophy.
Mack Ohnstead scored 2:53 into the third overtime to lift Augsburg to a 5-4 win over the Johnnies in a thrilling battle for the MIAC tournament title.
With the win, Augsburg (17-8-2) assures itself of a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign. It will be the Auggies’ third appearance in program history.
The Johnnies (13-10-4) had their 10-game unbeaten streak snapped.
Augsburg trailed by two twice in the game, including staring up at a 4-2 deficit in the third period. Eric Brenk and Rory Vesel both scored to tie the game and force OT.
The Auggies also trailed 2-0 before tying the game in the second period thanks to goals by Max Pernham and Luke Dietsch.
Shots weren’t in short supply as Augsburg took 65 in the game while St. John’s tallied 52. Jordyn Kaufer made 48 saves for the Auggies while the Saxton Soley racked up a career-best 57 saves for the Johnnies in what turned out to be the third longest game in NCAA Division III history (102:53).
Andrew Commers had a solid game in defeat for St. John’s scoring three goals. He is the first St. John’s player to have a hat trick since November of 2014. It’s the first postseason hat trick for a St. John’s player since 1999. Commers scored two of his goals in the first eight minutes of the game. Sam Valerius also scored for St. John’s.
Bulldogs repeat as NCHA champs
Adrian is the Harris Cup champion for the second consecutive year after topping No. 1 St. Norbert 4-1 Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (24-3-1) scored twice in the final three minutes to pull away from the Green Knights (23-3-2) in a title game showdown that featured the top two teams in the nation. Adrian clinched the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament with the win.
Adrian celebrates its 2016 Harris Cup championship after a 4-1 win over St. Norbert last Saturday night on home ice (photo: Mike Dickie Photography).
Kevin Entmaa made 23 saves but was forced to leave with an injury. He came into the game as the only undefeated goaltender in the country. Tyler Parks played the final 28 minutes of the game to earn the win. It was his eighth victory of the year. Parks racked up 15 saves.
Jeremy Olynik scored a goal and dished out an assist while Bryan Yim, Taylor McCloy and Connor Armour also scored for the Bulldogs. Tanner Froese scored the lone goal for the Green Knights, who had their 11-game unbeaten streak snapped. St. Norbert is still expected to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Adrian won its seventh consecutive game and is 14-0 on the year at home. The Bulldogs improved to 6-5 all-time against the Green Knights.
Pointers survive overtime battle with Falcons to take WIAC
Wisconsin-Stevens Point didn’t win the regular-season WIAC title but it did come away with the league tournament crown after surviving a double-overtime thriller against Wisconsin-River Falls Saturday night.
Lawrence Cornellier scored the game winner off an assist from Kyle Sharkey to deliver the Pointers their first playoff crown since the 1992-93 season.
Stevens Point (22-5-2) looked like it was going to cruise to the win on this night as it built a commanding 3-0 lead. Alex Brooks, Drew Graves and Sharkey all scored goals to give Stevens Point the edge against the Falcons (16-7-5). The goal by Sharkey was his 17th of the season.
Goals by Christian George, Zach Schrotenboer and Danny Hamburg gave the Falcons new life.
The Pointers held a 45-27 advantage in shots and Max Milosek made 24 saves, with 11 of those saves coming in the the first OT period. Tanner Milliron tallied 41 saves for the Falcons.
Stevens Point and River Falls split during the regular season, with both games being decided by a goal. Saturday’s win was the 12th road victory of the year for the Pointers, who are hoping to be selected for the NCAA tournament and have a shot to get to the national title game for the third consecutive year. Stevens Point has been the national runner-up the last two years.
What a wild weekend in the Big Ten. While other conferences were engaging in playoff hockey, B1G teams were playing their second-to-last weekend of regular-season play and showing us that nothing is predictable for this league this season.
Congratulations to Ohio State for completing its first sweep of Michigan since 2011, and congrats to Wisconsin for its second Big Ten win of the season.
The three things I take away from this weekend have everything to do with the number 3.
1. Three points never seemed so elusive.
Had the Golden Gophers won Saturday, they’d have captured their third regular-season Big Ten title by the time sun set Sunday by way of Michigan’s loss to Ohio State. The Spartans, however, had another narrative in mind. Before Saturday’s match between Minnesota and Michigan State was a minute old, the Spartans led 1-0 and then never looked back. It was Mason Appleton scoring on the first shot of the game at :46 to give State that lead, and the Gophers never really had much of a sniff in the contest because Michigan State senior goaltender Jake Hildebrand didn’t give them one as he stopped all 28 shots for his third shut out of the season.
Now the Gophers still need three points to guarantee that third consecutive regular-season B1G championships. And given their loss to a team not under PairWise consideration, the Gophers have dropped to a two-way tie with Penn State for the 17th spot in the PWR, so Minnesota will likely need to win the Big Ten tournament to return to the NCAA tournament.
2. Three points never seemed so elusive, Part 2.
After beating Wisconsin 2-1 Friday night, the Nittany Lions pulled to within three points of second-place Michigan. Penn State had an opportunity Saturday to tie Michigan for points in the standings and have an upper hand with the tiebreaker; had the Nittany Lions beat the Badgers Saturday night, PSU would have had one more win than Michigan — given the Wolverines’ 6-5 loss to Ohio State Sunday — heading into next weekend’s series between the two teams in Yost Ice Arena.
But the Nittany Lions didn’t win. Instead, after scoring early in the first period to take a 1-0 lead, PSU allowed four unanswered Wisconsin goals, two to end the first and two in the second. Freshman goaltender Matt Jurusik put in an heroic 46-save performance for the Badgers to help guarantee that win in Wisconsin’s last home game of the season.
Freshman Chris Funkey saw his third game action of the season for Penn State, playing the final 33:22 of the contest.
Now the Nittany Lions need to sweep Michigan in Yost next weekend to capture second place in the final B1G standings and a first-round bye in the championship tournament, and — like Minnesota — Penn State will likely need to win the Big Ten tournament outright to get to the NCAA tournament.
3. 3×4=12, enough to beat Michigan twice.
The Buckeyes scored six unanswered goals in Friday’s 7-4 road win over the Wolverines — three to end the first period, three to begin the second — and then scored three unanswered goals in the second half of the first period in Sunday’s 6-5 overtime win on their way to sweeping Michigan. It was a nice turn of events for Ohio State, a team that scored six goals against Michigan in Yost Arena earlier in the season and lost. It’s also an interesting reversal of fortune for the Wolverines, who netted 10 goals two games and lost both.
Sunday’s game marked Michigan’s third consecutive loss, the first time that’s happened to the Wolverines this season. And what a lost opportunity to pull within a point of the Golden Gophers in the standings, knowing that Minnesota had dropped that game to Michigan State the night before.
Other interesting numbers following the Friday-Sunday series:
• OSU and UM combined for eight power-play goals, three scored by Ohio State.
•Seven different Buckeyes scored in the 7-4 win and five different Buckeyes scored in regulation in the 6-5 win. Nick Schilkey is the only OSU player to net two goals, both in Sunday’s game including the winning goal at 2:54 in OT.
•The Buckeyes have scored 30 goals in their last five games, going 4-0-1 in that span.
•Michigan drops to a two-way tie for eighth with Boston University (from sixth) in the PWR following the losses.
With a single win next weekend against Penn State — three points — the Wolverines guarantee a conference finish no lower than second place and a first-round bye in the Big Ten championship tournament.
These are the three things I think I learned this week.
1. Once the playoffs start, there are no easy games.
I’ll admit it. I thought that Maine and Massachusetts had the proverbial snowball’s chance in Tampa.
UMass had been getting shellacked by seemingly everyone over the second half. Boston University, by contrast, had positioned itself nicely for an NCAA tournament berth. And with the games at Agganis Area, I expected the Terriers to do little more than break a sweat in dispatching the Minutemen, in the immortal words of Mike Tyson, into Bolivian.
Instead, a stunningly feisty UMass club took BU to overtime in the first contest and was tied in the second with nine minutes remaining in regulation. The Minutemen lost both games but went out fighting.
And while Maine had been playing light years better than UMass, the Black Bears were taking on a Northeastern club that was as hot as any team in the country. Maine actually held a 2-0 lead in the first game and didn’t get tied until the third period. Both games required overtime.
So much for my expectation of “just about a zero chance” for UMass and Maine.
2. The John Micheletto era at UMass is over.
This was hardly a surprise. This past weekend aside, UMass had been getting stomped by lopsided scores for virtually the entire second half of this year. More importantly, Micheletto’s four years added up to two last-place finishes and two next-to-last seasons.
That dog won’t hunt.
It will be interesting to see whether UMass invests in an ultra-high-profile coach the way that Providence did with Nate Leaman just a few years ago, an investment that obviously produced huge dividends.
3. Momentum and home ice didn’t mean much in the 8 vs. 9 and 7 vs. 10 match-ups.
UConn earned home ice with an end-of-the-season sweep of New Hampshire but still lost to a Vermont team that was entering the playoffs with four straight losses.
Similarly, Merrimack swept the Catamounts in the regular season’s final weekend to take home ice, but lost the opener to UNH and had to survive overtime in game two before taking the rubber game, 2-1. The Wildcats, on the other hand, entered the series having gone 0-4-2 in their last six.
Seven conference champions have been crowned in Division III women’s circles. Suffice to say, several title games had their share of drama.
Colonial Hockey
Stevenson’s Jessie Capanelli’s power-play goal at 13:15 of double overtime lifted the Mustangs to a 2-1 win over Endicott Sunday afternoon.
Lexi Klein opened the scoring for Endicott early in the first period before Chelsea Blackburn tied it at 1:18 of the third period.
Stevenson’s Sarah Modzelewski and the Gulls’ Vendela Jonsson each made 44 stops in goal.
ECAC West
No contest here as Plattsburgh cruised to an 8-0 win over Utica on Sunday.
Courtney Moriarty and Jordan Lipson each scored twice for the Cardinals and Camille Leonard made all 17 saves in goal.
Keira Goin finished with 42 saves for Utica.
MIAC
Megan Juricko’s goal 3:31 into the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and St. Thomas held on to beat Bethel 2-1 Saturday afternoon.
Becca Zarembinski also scored for UST, while Lauren Kolak notched the lone goal for the Royals.
Mackenzie Torpy kicked aside 21 shots in goal for the Tommies and Michelle Klimstra stopped 33 for Bethel.
NCHA
Adrian won the Slaats Cup as NCHA champs Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 shutout over St. Norbert.
Jade Walsh nailed down the 27-save shutout and Shelly Czarnowczan broke a 0-0 tie at 11:49 of the third period. Kaylyn Schroka added an empty-net goal at 18:30 for the Bulldogs.
SNC’s Leigh Grall made 31 saves in net for the Green Knights.
NEHC
Massachusetts-Boston pulled off the upset in blanking Norwich 2-0 Saturday to win the first-ever NEHC championship.
Jenny Currie and Kayla Smith scored for UMB and Rachel Myette was stellar in stopping all 35 Cadets’ shots.
Celeste Robert stopped 15 shots for Norwich.
NESCAC
More overtime heroics Sunday afternoon as Maddie Winslow’s goal 6:37 into extra time lifted Middlebury over Amherst by a 5-4 count.
Janka Hlinka had tied the game for the Panthers with five minutes to play in the third period.
Katie Mandigo added a pair of goals for Middlebury and Sara Culhane posted two for Amherst.
In net, Julie Neuburger turned aside 31 shots for Middlebury and Sabrina Dobbins fashioned a 21-save outing for Amherst.
WIAC
Wisconsin-River Falls goalie Angie Hall made 23 saves to lead the Falcons past Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4-1 in the WIAC final Saturday afternoon.
Chloe Kinsel notched two goals and an assist and Dani Sibley a goal and two assists for River Falls.
Sydney Conley stopped 24 shots for the Pointers.
The women’s D-III NCAA tournament selection show is scheduled for Monday morning (March 7) at 10 a.m. EDT.
Mercyhurst returns to the top of College Hockey America
Mercyhurst received a scare from Syracuse, the longest-working team in the country this weekend, but ultimately, the Lakers backed up their CHA season title with the conference’s playoff title.
Jenna Dingeldein scored her second goal of the game at 15:06 of overtime, with assists from Emily Janiga and Rachael Smith, to earn a 4-3 win for Mercyhurst. The Orange had rallied to force overtime with goals by Allie Munroe and Alysha Burriss in the final three minutes, the latter an extra-attacker tally. Stephanie Grossi had struck first for Syracuse in the second period, but Mercyhurst rallied quickly with three goals in two minutes spanning the second intermission. Dingeldein and Sarah Hine scored on power plays before the break, and Smith pushed the score to 3-1 with 46 seconds gone in the third frame. Sarah McDonnell’s 34 saves proved to be one more than Jenn Gilligan’s total for Syracuse. The Orange lost in overtime in the final for the second-straight season.
Syracuse reached the final by winning the longest game in CHA history, surviving Penn State, 3-2, on Grossi’s goal at 16:10 of the third overtime. Burriss and Emily Costales had the assists. Megan Quinn and Munroe put the Orange ahead, 2-0, in the second period, but Bella Sutton and Laura Bowman tied it up for the Nittany Lions early in the third period. From that point, the goalies prevailed until Grossi’s wrist shot hit the twine. Celine Whitlinger made her final game for Penn State memorable with 61 saves, and Gilligan needed 40 stops to get the win.
Mercyhurst advanced with a 4-2 semifinal victory over Robert Morris, scoring three times on the power play and sealing the win into an empty net. Brooke Hartwick broke a 1-1 tie in the second period, and Dingeldein provided an insurance goal. Ashley Vesci pulled the Colonials back within one with a power-play goal of their own before Hannah Bale scored with 10 seconds left. Janiga opened the scoring, and Amanda Panataleo tied the game at 1-1. McDonnell made 18 saves to get the win, and RMU’s Lauren Bailey stopped 39 of the 42 shots she faced.
Boston College earns second Hockey East Championship in program history
The top line of Boston College exploded for 10 points as the Eagles thumped Boston University, 5-0. Haley Skarupa topped the point parade with a goal and three assists, and her linemates each had three points, with Alex Carpenter tallying twice and Kenzie Kent once. Kristyn Capizzano completed the scoring. Katie Burt stopped all 25 shots, as BC got revenge for last year’s final defeat at the hands of the Terriers.
BC had a closer contest in its 4-2 semifinal win over Connecticut. Carpenter and Capizzano scored on third-period power plays after Theresa Knutson and Justine Fredette had dug Connecticut out of an 0-2 hole. Haley Skarupa and Meghan Grieves also scored for the Eagles.
BU survived Northeastern, 4-3, in the other semifinal. Kayla Tutino put the Terriers ahead to stay with five minutes left in the second period, and a short-handed goal by Alexis Crossley midway through the final stanza proved to be the game-winner. Shelby Herrington made it interesting with an extra-attacker, power-play goal with 65 ticks left, her second tally of the game. Rebecca Leslie and Victoria Bach had the other BU goals, and Ainsley MacMillan opened the scoring for Northeastern.
Quinnipiac backs up first ECAC Hockey season title with first playoff trophy
Senior Nicole Brown’s goal 18:20 into the title game stood up and gave the Bobcats a 1-0 triumph over Clarkson. Classmates Nicole Connery and Cydney Roesler assisted, and 16 saves by Sydney Rossman assured that it would be enough in the defensive tilt.
Randi Marcon’s fourth goal of the year with five minutes left pushed Quinnipiac above St. Lawrence, 2-1, in the semifinal. Emma Greco had opened the scoring, and Hannah Miller answered for the Saints. Rossman made 20 saves to earn the win.
Clarkson scored the game’s final four goals to rally for a 5-2 win over Colgate. Shannon MacAulay scored twice, Erin Ambrose had a goal and two assists, and Cayley Mercer added three helpers.
Wisconsin repeats as WCHA Champion
Ann-Renée Desbiens didn’t allow a goal in the entire tournament, culminating with Wisconsin’s 1-0 defeat of Minnesota in the final. She stopped 35 shots in the title game, and Sydney McKibbon buried the rebound of a Rachel Jones shot in the second period. Amanda Leveille made 23 saves for the Gophers.
Wisconsin dominated Minnesota-Duluth territorially in a 5-0 semifinal win, outshooting the Bulldogs 43-17. Mikaela Gardner’s goal 7:34 into the contest was all the offense Desbiens would need, but the Badgers piled on four more goals in the next stanza.
Amanda Kessel had a goal and an assist on Sydney Baldwin’s goal as the Gophers slipped past North Dakota, 2-0. Leveille turned in the 21-save shutout.
NCAA Field
Because the top seeds won all four tournaments, Princeton lives to play another day despite being eliminated from the ECAC playoffs in the quarterfinals. Minnesota, Clarkson, and Northeastern also received at-large bids. They will join the four conference tourney winners who receive automatic bids.
The bracket created by the NCAA Selection Committee pairs the teams as follows:
Northeastern at No. 1 Boston College
Clarkson at No. 4 Quinnipiac
Mercyhurst at No. 2 Wisconsin
Princeton at No. 3 Minnesota
Michigan Tech clinched a share of the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA’s regular-season champion on Saturday night after beating Northern Michigan 5-1 and after co-champion Minnesota State lost 1-0 to Bemidji State. While the Mavericks picked up their second-straight title, the Huskies are getting the cup for the first time in 40 years. Michigan Tech is the 103-year-old trophy’s trustee, so getting it back in Houghton, even for part of the next year, is undoubtedly special for the program. “I’m really proud of our players,” Tech coach Mel Pearson said. “We’ve had a great regular season, and I’m really, really proud of how we finished things off.” The Huskies, who have the No. 1 seed for the WCHA tournament, thanks to the tiebreaker over Minnesota State, have won five games in a row and have just one loss in 2016, a span of 14 games. They will host Alaska in next week’s best-of-three series. Minnesota State, the second seed, will host Lake Superior State.
2. Home ice for Ferris
Ferris State leapfrogged over Northern Michigan on Friday night with a win over Lake Superior State and held on to that fourth and final home-ice playoff spot on Saturday despite dropping the second game against the Lakers. Northern Michigan dropped both games to Michigan Tech to finish fifth. The Bulldogs will host the Wildcats for a chance to get back to the Final Five, which will be played in their backyard of Grand Rapids, Mich. In a cool moment on Friday, Ferris State honored retiring equipment manager Ben Mumah before the game. He had been on the bench with the Bulldogs for 33 years. The other team with home-ice advantage next weekend is Bowling Green, which will host Bemidji State. The third-place Falcons split their series at Alabama Huntsville, with Friday’s stunning 7-5 loss to the 10th-place chargers taking them out of contention for a regular-season championship.
3. Playoff in Alaska
The biggest series of the weekend took place in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the Alaska Nanooks not only won the Governor’s Cup over rival Alaska Anchorage but also jumped over the Seawolves to claim the WCHA’s final playoff spot. A four-point weekend from senior Tyler Morely, who had missed the team’s previous six games, had to help the Nanooks get out of the basement. He was one of the WCHA’s leading scorers before getting injured. Now he makes them a potentially dangerous team heading into the playoffs. “Extremely proud of this group,” Alaska coach Dallas Ferguson said. “We talked about it for the last few weeks here, just about pushing and pushing and sticking together and finding ways. Extremely proud of our team an dhow they kept it together and stayed on it.” Anchorage, meanwhile, will sit out the league playoffs for the second year in a row. It lost seven of its last eight games. Alabama Huntsville is the other odd team out, finishing last despite getting points in all but one of its final seven series.
The third regular season of NCHC hockey is in the books. Here are a few of the bigger talking points from the final weekend before the playoffs begin next weekend:
North Dakota wins Penrose Cup outright
To claim sole ownership of the NCHC regular season title, all North Dakota needed this weekend was one point at home against Western Michigan. UND didn’t waste much time getting that and then some.
The Fighting Hawks already had one hand on the Penrose Cup, but the other latched on Friday night when UND tagged Western with an 8-1 defeat. UND scored each of the game’s first five goals, and freshman standout Brock Boeser finished the game with two of them plus an assist.
Saturday’s rematch in Grand Forks, N.D., saw UND experience a greater struggle in a 5-4 win over the Broncos. WMU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in Saturday’s first period before UND needed a Drake Caggiula’s eventual game-winning goal 5:34 into the third period.
Top-seeded UND will host Colorado College next weekend in the first round of the NCHC playoffs, while Western hits the road again to take on No. 2 seed St. Cloud State
Duluth wins right to stay at home
The biggest league series this weekend that didn’t have a trophy up for grabs took place in Duluth, Minn., where Minnesota-Duluth swept Miami to earn home ice in the first round of the league playoffs.
Duluth’s opponent next weekend at the Amsoil Arena? The same team UMD just defeated twice and three times in total so far this season.
The Bulldogs gained the upper hand in their latest series against Miami on Friday when UMD pasted the RedHawks 5-0. Five different Duluth skaters found the back of the Miami net, while Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped all 20 shots he faced at the other end of the ice.
Duluth then prevailed again in Saturday’s rematch, this time handing Miami a 3-1 defeat. The teams entered Saturday’s second period tied at 1-1 before Charlie Sampair and Alex Iafallo scored in the third to allow UMD to take all six points from the series.
Omaha’s late-season struggles continue
A Frozen Four participant last season, Omaha finds its NCAA tournament hopes this time around even more unstable after a pair of road losses to Denver this weekend.
UNO’s 3-0 loss inside Magness Arena on Friday and a 2-1 defeat to the Pioneers in Saturday’s rematch saw the Mavericks’ current losing streak stretch to six games. Also worrying for UNO is the fact that the Mavs are now 4-12 in their past 16 games.
They sit in 15th place in the PairWise Rankings ahead of next week’s first round of the NCHC playoffs. UNO’s opening-round foe? Denver, currently tied for sixth in the PairWise, back in the Colorado capital.
All three Atlantic Hockey first-round series went the full three games, but in the end the higher seeds triumphed. It sure was interesting, though.
Battle in the 716
Canisius and Niagara met for the fifth time on Sunday, a record number of times for the Western New York rivals in a single season. And like the previous two postgame meetings between the schools, it was the Golden Griffins that advanced.
After dropping Game One 3-2, Canisius defeated the Purple Eagles 1-0 on Saturday and 4-1 on Sunday. In all three games, the team that led in shots on goal lost.
Shane Conacher factored in five of Canisius’ seven goals on the weekend. He scored the game-winner on Sunday, his school record sixth GWG of the season.
Canisius moves on to visit Air Force. The Golden Griffins are the seventh seed, and the last two times they’ve made the AHC finals, they were also No. 7, including winning it all in 2013. Canisius’ march to the title that year included a quarterfinal sweep at Air Force.
This season, Air Force won the regular season series, 2-1-1.
Going to extremes
Army West Point and American International’s series was a tale of extremes: the Black Knights dominated Games One (5-0) and Three (4-0) and lost Game Two to the Yellow Jackets, 3-2 in overtime.
Junior goaltender Parker Gahagen posted his second and third shutouts of the season to lead the way, while Conor Andrle and Ian Mansfield led a balanced Army West Point attack with a pair of goals each in the series.
The Black Knights advance to face Holy Cross. Army West Point took three of four points from the Crusaders in Worcester a month ago.
This one had it all
Sacred Heart and Bentley usually bring out the best in each other, and their series at the John A Ryan Skating Arena lived up to expectations.
Friday’s game featured unanswered runs by both teams, as Bentley opened a 3-0 lead only to see the Pioneers get the next three. A pair of Bentley goals in the third gave the Falcons the lead, which held up despite a late SHU talley.
Game Two was a goaltender’s battle between Bentley’s Gabe Antoni (37 saves) and Sacred Heart’s Brett Magnus (36) that needed 13 minutes of overtime before Justin Danforth won it for the Pioneers, 2-1.
The Falcons entered the third period on Sunday clinging to a 2-1 lead, but a pair of goals by Kyle Schmidt in the final two minutes clinched the game and the series.
Junior Max French returned from injury to score three goals in the series. Injuries limited him to 29 games this season, but he leads the team in goals (21) and is tied for points (43) so far.
Bentley now draws top-seeded Robert Morris in the quarterfinals. The Colonials swept the Falcons in convincing fashion (5-1 and 5-0) in early January.
Playoff picture
So to recap, the quarterfinals matchups are:
No. 8 Bentley at No. 1 Robert Morris
No. 7 Canisius at No. 2 Air Force
No. 6 Army at No. 3 Holy Cross
No. 5 Rochester Institute of Technology at No. 4 Mercyhurst
Rensselaer swept Brown at Houston Field House over the weekend, giving the Engineers a home playoff series win for the first time since 2004.
RPI trailed the Bears 3-0 in Game 2, but a pair of goals by Milos Bubela made it 3-2 before Riley Bourbonnais and Jared Wilson scored to complete the comeback. Wilson’s game-winning goal came at 18:18 in the third period.
Brown had given the Engineers trouble in the playoffs before, knocking off RPI at home in 2010 and 2013. The Bears made it to the league semifinals in both of those seasons.
While much was made of the Engineers’ playoff struggles at home, RPI did win first-round series at Clarkson last year as well as in 2012.
Rensselaer will travel to face third-seeded Harvard this weekend, while Brown ends the year at 5-19-7, the worst record under seventh year coach Brendan Whittet.
Saturday was also the final game for Brown senior forwards Nick Lappin and Mark Naclerio. Both players should get plenty of interest as NHL free agents.
Here are the rest of the matchups for next weekend’s best-of-three quarterfinal series.
No. 9 Cornell at No. 1 Quinnipiac
No. 7 Dartmouth at No. 2 Yale
No. 5 Clarkson at No. 4 St. Lawrence
Dartmouth and Colgate go the distance
The lone series of the weekend that went to three games didn’t disappoint, as Tim O’Brien’s goal at 4:37 in the second overtime gave Dartmouth a 4-3 win over Colgate.
It was the first time in program history that Dartmouth played two overtimes in one postseason series, as the Big Green won the series opener in overtime on Friday. It was also the first time Dartmouth had played in a Game 3 that needed overtime.
Like Naclerio and Lappin, Colgate seniors Darcy Murphy, Mike Borkowski, and Tylor and Tyson Spink should attract attention from NHL teams. Those four were part of a big senior class that was missing two players this year, as defenseman Ryan Johnston and forward Kyle Baun signed professional contracts last offseason.
Union swept
For the second time in as many seasons following the program’s national title in 2014, Union won’t make the NCAA tournament.
The ninth-seeded Dutchmen’s season came to an end with a sweep at No. 8 Cornell. Union beat the Big Red 5-1 last weekend at Lynah Rink and knocked Cornell out in last year’s ECAC quarterfinals, but lost a pair of one-goal games this weekend. The Big Red won 2-1 in overtime Saturday, with junior Matt Buckles scoring the game-winning goal after not playing in the series opener.
Union finished the season with a record of 13-14-9, the first time since the 2006-07 season the Dutchmen finished with a losing record.
The eight women’s teams in the NCAA tournament have been revealed.
The top four seeds – No. 1 Boston College, No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Minnesota and No. 4 Quinnipiac – will host quarterfinal matchups on home ice March 11-12.
BC hosts Northeastern, Wisconsin hosts Mercyhurst, Princeton travels to Minnesota and Quinnipiac will host Clarkson this coming weekend.
The Frozen Four will then run at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, N.H., March 18 and 20. The semifinals are slated for March 18 with the title game March 20.
Automatic qualifiers are the postseason tournament champions from the CHA, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East and WCHA.
Minnesota defeated Harvard on home ice to claim the 2015 championship.
John Micheletto went 39-88-13 in four seasons with Massachusetts (photo: Jim Rosvold).
Massachusetts announced on Sunday that head coach John Micheletto has been relieved of his duties after four seasons behind the bench.
Micheletto compiled a record of 39-88-13 with a record of 8-24-4 in 2015-16 for the Minutemen.
“On behalf of UMass Athletics, we thank John for his four years in Amherst,” Massachusetts director of athletics Ryan Bamford said in a statement. “John worked hard to improve our hockey program and we wish him well with his future endeavors. Our expectation is to be a top contender every year in Hockey East, the premiere collegiate hockey conference. We will work aggressively to recruit a head coach to our hockey program that can realize those expectations.”
A national search to fill the position is already underway, the school announced.
The Minutemen finished last or second-to-last in the Hockey East standings in all four seasons under Micheletto.
Jenna Dingeldein scored her second goal of the game in overtime to give Mercyhurst the CHA playoff title with a 4-3 victory over Syracuse in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday.
The Big Ten announced Saturday that Minnesota sophomore forward Leon Bristedt has been suspended one game after a review of an incident that occurred near the 6:23 mark of the third period against Michigan State on March 4.
No penalty was called on the play.
Bristedt is ineligible to play tonight against Michigan State.
Sydney Rossman posted 16 league wins and 11 shutouts in 2015-16 for Quinnipiac (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
ECAC Hockey announced the recipients of the league’s annual postseason awards at its banquet Friday night as part of the 2016 ECAC Women’s Hockey Championship weekend held at Quinnipiac.
The conference also released its three All-League Teams and All-Rookie Team.
Quinnipiac’s Taylar Cianfarano earned both the league’s Best Forward and Player of the Year Awards. She led ECAC Hockey in goals (17), goals per game (0.81) and plus-minus (+45). The three-time ECAC Hockey Player of the Week and one-time Player of the Month finished second in the league averaging 1.29 points per game in 21 league games. Her most memorable game came on Feb. 19 as she tallied four goals and added one assist for five points in the 9-0 win over Union to help the Bobcats clinch the league’s regular-season title.
Sydney Rossman took home Goaltender of the Year honors. Rossman was a vital cog in helping the Bobcats claim their first-ever league regular-season title. She led all netminders in nearly every statistical category posting 16 league wins and 11 shutouts. Rossman also registered an 0.80 GAA, only allowing 18 goals in a league-leading 1343:22 minutes in goal. The four-time ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week and two-time Goaltender of the Month registered a league-best .956 save percentage.
Princeton’s Karlie Lund was named the league’s top rookie, becoming the first freshman to lead the league in scoring since Cornell’s Brianne Jenner topped all scorers in the 2010-11 season. She earned Rookie of the Month three times, Rookie of the Week five times and Player of the Week on one occasion. She has tallied four game-winning goals, two game-tying goals and four power-play goals among her 14 goals and 29 points in conference contests.
Kelsey Koelzer anchored both the Princeton power-play and penalty kill units. The defender ranked first in scoring among her counterparts in league-play averaging 1.05 points per game on 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists), while amassing 30 points overall on 16 goals and 14 assists as the nation’s fourth-highest scoring defender. On the defensive end of the ice, Koelzer recorded 56 blocks, averaging 1.89 per game, ranking fifth in the league.
Coach of the Year honors went to Jeff Kampersal after guiding Princeton to 20 wins overall. This year marks the fourth time he has reached 20 wins with the team one win away from the program record for all-time wins. Last month, he recorded his 300th career victory and has Princeton at its highest ranking (No. 8) in the last decade.
Quinnipiac’s Kristen Tamberg earned the Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the Year. The Biomedical Studies major carries a 3.92 GPA in a demanding environment. The aspiring dentist has a true passion for life and displays an enthusiastic manner making her likable and sincere.
Our guests on the March 8 edition of USCHO Live are Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson, whose Huskies won a share of the MacNaughton Cup for the first time in 40 years, and USCHO.com bracketologist Jayson Moy, with a look at where teams stand in the PairWise as we near the end of the season. USCHO.com’s Dan Rubin will sit in for Jim Connelly alongside Ed Trefzger.
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