Hockey East is down to one team as the original field of 16 was whittled down to six after the second day of action. The Northeast and Midwest Regionals will send their members to the Frozen Four on Sunday to trim the field to four. BC skated past Alaska-Fairbanks 3-1 in the day’s first game while New Hampshire saw another offensive explosion, this time courtesy of their opponents, upstart RIT, in a 6-2 loss.

With RIT another four seed making the Frozen Four, history is being made again this season. Saint Cloud got its first tournament victory, RIT has its first two in the program’s first postseason appearance, and Alaska made their tournament debut, albeit a loss. Yale also recorded its first tournament victory since 1952.

Eagles Advance, Without Rival Sioux?

BC opened the scoring against the Nanooks in their regional semifinal with a Matt Lombardi shorthanded goal 8:54 into the game. It was Lombardi’s fifth goal this season, all coming since the regular season ended. Alaska was not going down easily after a 12 hour flight across five time zones and their star Andy Taranto tied the game with 2:28 to go in the second period.

However, the Eagles would not have to wait too long to retake the lead, one they would not relinquish as Pat Mullane put a rebound into the open side of the net for the eventual game-winner. John Muse was stout again for the Eagles with 28 saves on 29 shots pushing his record to 5-0 in NCAA tournament games.

Matt Price put the game away in the waning seconds with an odd goal as the puck never actually entered the net, but it did not need to! Price was hooked at the blue line entering the Alaska zone with an empty net in front of him, drawing a delayed penalty. The Nanook defenseman hauled Price down as he closed on the net drawing a penalty shot and knocking the puck out of harm’s way. By rule, a penalty shot against called with an empty net is an automatic goal (credited as empty net, not penalty shot).

Eagle Nation may have wanted another playoff game with North Dakota, a team they have met in eight of the last 11 tournaments, winning with regular success. (Many Eagle fans may have also worried about meeting the very talented Sioux as well.) However, Yale prevented the dream (nightmare?) matchup from occurring by holding on for a 3-2 victory.

Denny Kearney (brother of Olympic skier Hannah) scored two goals, including the first just six minutes into the game to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead at the second intermission. Ryan Rondeau was the surprise starting netminder for Yale after he played just five games all season. Billy Blase disappointed in their upset loss to Brown in the ECAC first round and earned him the benching.

North Dakota put the pressure on immediately in the third period. They scored at the three and six minute marks to pull within one and put the heat on the largely untested backstop. Yale was able to hold the Sioux in check the rest of the game to advance to Sunday’s regional final and a date with BC.

CCHA Beats CHA in Midwest

The Midwest Region featured two matchups of CCHA and CHA teams. Top seed Miami beat Alabama-Huntsville 2-1 in a game that the score cannot describe. The RedHawks controlled the game while the Chargers spent chunks of it in the penalty box. Miami led 2-0 late in the game, but could not earn the shut out as UAH scored with 38 seconds to go.

Michigan, rolling for the past month with backup goalie Shawn Hunwick (brother of the Bruins’ Matt), set up the all-CCHA regional final with a 5-1 victory over Bemidji State. With both CHA teams out of the tournament, the conference is officially defunct. Michigan recently beat Miami in the CCHA semis, but Miami was the number one team in the country most of the season and the league’s regular season champion. The winner of this region plays the BC-Yale winner in the Frozen Four.

Wildcats Season Over

The Wildcats exploded Friday to run Cornell out of the tournament 6-2 and RIT treated them to the same unceremonious exit by the same score. The fourth seed Tigers are making the most of their first ever NCAA appearance as they will make the trip to Detroit. RIT broke open a 1-1 game in the second with three goals in 1:34. The first two were only separated by 13 seconds and UNH could not find an answer after that. Surprisingly, UNH’s six trips to the sin bin resulted in zero Tiger goals.

WCHA Represents the West

The WCHA assured itself at least one Frozen Four team (before North Dakota fell, ensuring it would be only one) Friday night when top seed Wisconsin and second seed St. Cloud State advanced to the regional final. Wisconsin downed St. Cloud 5-3 to become the second Frozen Four team.

The Frozen Four will be comrised of four different conferences with the WCHA out West, the AHA (RIT) from the East, the CCHA from the Midwest, and either Hockey East or the ECAC from the Northeast.

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Hockey East saw two of its three teams in the NCAA Tournament in action on the tourney’s opening night with mixed results. New Hampshire, playing in an evening contest, got off to a slow start, trailing 1-0 with three minutes to go in the second period to Cornell and their goalie, Ben Scrivens. Scrivens had not allowed a goal in three games and only one in their four ECAC playoff games as the Big Red won the league title.

However, UNH came to life at the end of the second with a goal from Hobey finalist Bobby Butler that went through the side of the net. Mike Sislo scored 26 seconds later to change the complexion of the game entirely, giving UNH an edge they would never cede. Cornell went from a team content to nurse a 1-0 lead and let Scrivens carry them to a scurrying team that just could not organize itself, especially on offense. This was best evidenced in Butler’s second goal, in the third period, which put UNH up 4-1 and really iced the game. Cornell attempted to take the puck out of the zone, but just lost it and Butler emerged with the puck, going the other way, and beat Scrivens one-on-one.

Just to show that it was not Cornell’s day, Butler was on the ice to go for the hat trick while Cornell pulled the goalie for the extra attacker. Paul Thompson got the puck on the left side with what looked like a sure goal, but dished it over to Butler, on the right side in traffic. Instead, Cornell broke up the pass, but in doing so, directed the puck right into the net, crediting the goal to Thompson. Butler, Thompson, and Sislo each recorded two goals. Brian Foster recorded 24 saves in the win.

East is the Region of Upsets

Upsets are becoming the norm in the NCAA Hockey Tournament. Last season, three of the four number four seeds beat number ones in the first round and comprised half of the Frozen Four. UNH pulled a minor upset as a three seed beating a two. However, a four seed won earlier in the day in this very region. The fourth seed RIT Tigers beat the region’s top seed Denver 2-1. This was a pretty big upset as it was the tournament’s overall 15 downing the overall number two, a pretty rare feat in the basketball world. UNH will don the home whites as they take on RIT Saturday.

Vermont and Wisconsin Battle in Late Game

The Catamounts got a late start to their tournament because second seeded St. Cloud and third seeded Northern Michigan had to go into the second overtime to decide a winner in the early game in the West Region. St. Cloud scored 23 seconds into the fifth frame to advance with the 4-3 win.

Vermont fell behind early to Wisconsin, but tied the game on a flukey goal when Badger goalie Scott Gudmandson corralled a puck underneath him, but his own defenseman came in and pushed them and the puck across the net. The Catamounts actually mounted a 2-1 lead, but could not hold off the potent Badgers. Wisconsin, owners of the nation’s top power play, flexed their muscle over Vermont. They scored on their first three tries with the extra attacker and Vermont could never answer the score.

Wisconsin dominated the second period with a shot advantage of 16-3 and very physical play. Vermont could not respond, except with sloppy play and played with a man down numerous times. The 2-1 edge after one definitely woke up Wisconsin and they will take on St. Cloud on Saturday. Sophomore goalie Rob Madore did play well in the loss recording 39 saves.

Northeast and Midwest Drop Puck Saturday

Northeast top seed Boston College opens up their tournament against Alaska in the early game on Saturday. North Dakota takes on Yale in the region’s two-three game. In the Midwest, overall number one Miami takes on Alabama-Huntsville and second seed Bemidji State battled Michigan.

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The brackets were announced on Sunday morning and USCHO.com released its latest poll on schedule days before the tournament is to begin. For the first time since December, teams other than Miami and Denver got first place votes, however, the two titans this season have held the top spots since November and the trend continues this week. Miami got 28 of the 50 first place votes to re-take the number one ranking. The Redhawks won the CCHA Third Place game over the weekend, after falling to eventual winner Michigan and earned the tournament’s overall number one seed.

The Pioneers fell to second with six first place votes after losing to two tournament teams, North Dakota and Wisconsin, in the WCHA Semifinals and Third Place game. Denver will be the East’s top seed and the second overall seed in the tournament. BC earned eight first place votes to close to within 11 points of Denver for third. The Hockey East Champions swept through the league playoffs and will be the number one seed in the Northeast Region and fourth overall seed. North Dakota moved up one spot to fourth in the poll with four first place votes. The Fighting Sioux will be the number two seed in BC’s Northeast Region after winning the WCHA Final Five Tournament (the lowest two seeds play a play-in game with the winner advancing to the semis). For the second consecutive season, the league’s champion won three games in three days. Wisconsin, winner of the WCHA’s Third Place game, was number five, down two spots, with two first place votes. The Badgers are the West’s number one seed and third overall.

New Hampshire inched up one spot despite having the weekend off and will be the East’s number three seed this weekend. Vermont fell to BC in the HEA Semis and dropped one spot to 15. The Catamounts will be the four seed in the West Region. Maine, which beat BU in what amounted to a play in game for the NCAA tournament and took BC to overtime in the league title game with the NCAA tournament again on the line, was up one spot to 18. The Black Bears were the third highest ranked non-tournament team.

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The NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship bracket was announced Sunday morning and Hockey East will see three teams in the 16 team field. Boston College, the Hockey East tournament champions will be a number one seed in the Northeast Regional in nearby Worcester. New Hampshire, the Hockey East regular season champs, will be the East’s third seed in Albany. Finally, Vermont, which just made the cut after finishing eighth in the balanced league, drew the fourth seed in the West Region in St. Paul.

Eagles Land in Worcester

BC will play Alaska-Fairbanks in the first round on Saturday. The opponents are about as far apart as possible geographically, 4,500 miles. North Dakota and Yale face off in the other semi with the winners facing on Sunday to go to the Frozen Four in Detroit. Looking past the first round, BC may possibly face North Dakota in the Regional Final.

The Eagles and Fighting Sioux have a rich postseason history. They first met in the playoffs in 1963 in a National Semi with the Sioux victorious. The Eagles got revenge in 1965′s National Semifinal. The teams played for the National Championship in 2000 and 2001 with North Dakota winning the first and BC getting revenge in the rematch. North Dakota beat the Eagles in the 2005 East Regional Final and BC beat North Dakota in three straight Frozen Fours from 2006 through 2008. (The Eagles went 1-2 in those subsequent Championship games, winning in 2008.)

Midwest Headlined by Overall Top Seed Miami

BC is the fourth overall number one seed, so their Northeast Region winner will face the winner of the Midwest Region in Fort Wayne in Saturday-Sunday action. Miami is this group’s number one seed, the overall top seed in the tournament. They will face the University of Alabama-Huntsville, College Hockey America’s tournament champion and the only tournament team with a sub-.500 record. The CCHA and CHA will do battle in the other semifinal here as well with Bemidji State and Michigan facing off.

The CHA has only four teams and will disappear after this season. Six teams are needed to maintain the autobid, though the NCAA granted the league a grace period from the rule through this season after two schools in the league dropped hockey. Two teams departed for the AHA and Bemidji State will join the WCHA (where its women play). That brought the WCHA to 11, so they re-acquired Nebraska-Omaha from the CCHA, dropping that league to 11. UAH applied to the CCHA to make 12, but the CCHA denied their bid, leaving them as an independent next season. UAH will certainly have revenge on their mind when they face off against Miami and possibly Michigan should they win.

UNH Draws Short Trip to Albany

The Wildcats and their fans can drive to the East Regional, but their opponent will be even closer Cornell on Friday. The Big Red finished second in the ECAC by a point, but made their statement in the league playoffs. Goalie Ben Scrivens has not allowed a goal in the last three games and allowed only one in the four games in the playoffs. UNH scuffled down the stretch, especially struggling on the road. However, they lost two games to one on home ice to Vermont in the quarterfinals, winning 7-4 and then dropping two 1-0 games.

Denver is the top seed, and second overall, in the region and will face RIT. It is possible that the Pioneers will have to go through two New York teams in Albany despite being the top seed in the Region. With no region near Denver this season, the Pioneers were looking at a flight anyway, despite their rank, and could end up with two “road” games.

Vermont Last At-Large Team In

The Catamouts are the third and final Hockey East team and are the 14th overall seed in the tournament, beating out only the two autobids who otherwise would not have qualified (RIT and UAH). One other upset in a conference tournament would have left the Green Mountain Boys at home. They will draw the West Region’s top seed Wisconsin, also on Friday. St. Cloud State and Northern Michigan face off in the other semifinal.

Outlook

If you want  prediction, I like BC to advance out of its semi to face North Dakota in another playoff game. UNH will have a tough time getting past Cornell who is among the hottest teams in the country right now and Scrivens especially is playing so well. Vermont goalie Rob Madore can shut down anyone on any given day, but the Catamounts struggle offensively. Wisconsin has too much for Madore to carry them by. So, Hockey East will ride with BC this season, it looks like. However, the league is the two time defending champion (BC in 2008, BU in 2009).

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Maine executed their best-in-the-nation power play perfectly and BC goalie John Muse did not have his best outing, but the Eagles proved that they could win a slugfest as well, downing Maine 7-6 in overtime to claim their ninth Hockey East tournament title. Their eight coming into the night was already tops in the conference, ahead of BU’s seven.

Maine scored two power play goals in eight chances, with their 25% efficiency actually being down from their near 30% mark coming into the game. BC took advantage with two of their own in only five tries. Maine scored with the extra attacker on the ice off of a face off in the BC zone with 27.6 seconds to go to tie the game and force the overtime. Matt Lombardi won the game with his third goal of the game (and only sixth of the season) 5:25 into the extra period.

Muse made 26 saves of the 32 shots faced while Maine’s Dave Wilson saved 27 of 34 to take the loss. Joey Diamond had two goals for Maine as five players from each team found the back of the net and 22 players recorded a point in the wild game.

With Saturday night being conference championship night, the NCAA Tournament field of 16 is set. The tournament will officially be announced Sunday morning, but with the system the selection committee uses, the teams are determined. The committee has some discretion with where to place teams based on geography, attendance, and avoiding first round intra-conference matchups.

BC will get the fourth overall seed, or a number one seed in one of the regionals. It appears BC will draw Michigan in the first round, barring some jumbling of the teams due to the aforementioned factors. The Wolverines are among the hottest teams in the country. With Maine’s loss, Vermont earned the 14th seed (a number four) and UNH earned a berth earlier in the evening, number 11 overall (a number three seed).

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BC knows that it will be playing in NCAA Hockey’s playoff tournament, but BU and Maine were playing an elimination game and Vermont needed some help to get in. BC did Vermont, and the rest of the league, no favors in a 3-0 win over the Catamounts in the early semifinal. Maine jumped on BU in the nightcap and won 5-2 to keep their hopes alive.

BU cannot make the NCAAs with the loss and Maine will need to beat BC in the final to do so. Vermont is squarely on the bubble and will have to sweat it out Sunday. An upset autobid from another conference, or even a Maine win, likely spells doom for the Catamounts. Regular season champion UNH will also have to sweat it out for a spot in the 16 team tournament. They are ahead of Vermont in the pecking order, but have not locked up a spot yet.

#2 Boston College Eagles vs. #4 Maine Black Bears

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Last week saw some upsets in the early rounds of the nation’s college hockey tournaments, but the top five in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll remained unchanged from last week. Denver solidified its grip on first with 46 of 50 first place votes, while Miami remained in second with the other four votes. Wisconsin, BC, and North Dakota complete the top five. Hockey East gained representation in the poll with Maine and BU re-joining the poll in the final two spots, 19 and 20, respectively. New Hampshire fell two spots to 13 after its quarterfinal loss to Vermont. The victory propelled Vermont up five spots to 14.

Conference tournaments wrap up this weekend and the brackets will be announced Sunday. Hockey East features #2 BC vs. #8 Vermont and #3 BU vs. #4 Maine Friday with the winners playing Saturday night (SoB preview can be found here). With the formula that the Selection Committee follows, BC is a lock and UNH is very likely to get in, however, there are scenarios that leave BC as Hockey East’s only representative and others giving the league as many as four teams (BC, UNH, Vermont, and BU or Maine). Vermont does not need to win the tournament, but if they do not, they need help. BU and Maine must get the autobid to get in.

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With seven of the teams finishing within four points of each other, quarterfinals going the distance and overtimes were to be expected and the conference delivered! Second-seeded BC swept the seven-seed UMass behind freshman goalie Parker Milner, who struggled, and junior John Muse. Other than that, the other three series went to a third game, including two matchups which required overtime in the final game. Top seeded UNH opened their series with eight-seed Vermont with an emphatic come from behind win in their game one. They rallied for five consecutive goals after trailing 4-2 and chased sophomore goalie Rob Madore. Madore rallied the Catamounts in the second and third games by shutting the Wildcats down entirely. UNH did not score in any of the final six periods of the series and in the overtime in the final game, falling 1-0 in both contests.

Third-seeded BU had all they could handle from Merrimack and their “stretch play”, where they keep one player at center ice while on defense to attempt to get one-on-one’s with the goalie. The Warriors opened the first game 2-0, but fell 3-2 to the Terriers. In the second game, Merrimack triumphed 3-2 in overtime, but Kieran Millan found his dominant form of last season and shut out Maerrimack 3-0 in the final game. Fourth seed Maine and UMass-Lowell needed overtime to settle their third game, a Black Bear victory to seal the come from behind series win. Maine fell on home ice in overtime in game one, but rebounded to win the second game 2-0 before taking Sunday’s final game to advance to Boston.

BC will face Vermont and BU will take on Maine on Friday, March 19 and the winners face off for th Hockey East Championship the following night. All games take place at the TD Banknorth Garden.

#2 Boston College Eagles vs. #8 Vermont Catamounts

#3 Boston University Terriers vs. #4 Maine Black Bears

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Maine Goalie Suspended Indefinitely

Sophomore starting goalie Scott Darling has been suspended indefinitely by the University of Maine, apparently to seek treatment for alcohol-related issues. He was suspended before last weekend’s home series with UMass to close out the regular season. The Black Bears has already clinched a playoff spot and were sitting in third, but with the Minutemen sweep, they fell to fourth and will host UMass-Lowell in this weekend’s Hockey East Quarterfinal best of three.

Darling was suspended for two games earlier this season and one last season. He was 15-6-3 with a 3.10 goals against average and had a .895 save percentage and is property of the Phoenix Coyotes when he elects to leave school. Freshman Shawn Sirman (1-6 in 8 games, 5.19 GAA, .832 SV%) started both of the UMass games, but was relieved in each one by senior Dave Wilson (0-3 in 8 games, 2.84 GAA, .871 SV%).

If he is indeed battling an alcohol related issue, we wish Scott well in his recovery.

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New Hampshire defended home ice on Friday night, rallying to tie Boston College 3-3, enough to clinch their third Hockey East regular season title in four years and eighth overall. This was the second time the Wildcats had overcome a three goal deficit to tie the Eagles in as many games this season. BC got revenge on Saturday night in Chestnut Hill in a nearly meaningless game as BC has the second seed locked up.

While UNH and BC were settling the top two seeds, most of the remaining teams were scrambling just to get into the playoffs. Eight of the ten teams make the playoffs and only three teams had locked up a berth going into the weekend and only Providence was eliminated. After the music stopped, Northeastern was the odd team out after dropping two one-goal contests to BU. Merrimack replaced the Huskies as the only change in the eight teams to make the playoffs compared to last season.

BU’s sweep vaulted them into a three-way tie for third with Maine and UMass-Lowell. The Terriers own the tiebreakers over each school and will earn the third seed. Maine, who was swept at home by UMass will host UMass-Lowell in the 4-5 matchup. Merrimack took three of four points from Providence to earn the sixth seed and a date with the Terriers. UMass, the seventh seed, will face Boston College, and Vermont, after a loss and tie to UMass-Lowell, earns the eighth seed and a series with UNH.

Aside from the top two teams, with 36 and 35 points, and Providence with 14, the rest of the league from third (home-ice) to ninth (no playoffs) was only separated by only four points. With the conference very bunched up, anything could happen in the playoffs. This is a very tough conference tournament to handicap. Quarterfinal series are best-of-three and all games are at the higher seeded.

#8 Vermont Catamounts at #1 New Hampshire Wildcats

• Season Series: UNH 5-2, 5-4 (ot), 3-3 (ot) (UNH 1-0-1 at home)
• UNH: 3.63 goals per game (#2 HEA), 2.85 goals allowed per game (#3 HEA), 17.0% power play (#8 HEA), 78.1% penalty kill (#8 HEA)
• UVM: 2.89 gpg (#7 HEA), 3.04 gapg (#4 HEA), 16.5% pp (#10 HEA), 79.1% pk (#6 HEA)
• UNH won the league, but really beat up on the lower half of the league. They had a number of come from behind victories and tied six times in conference play (only Vermont had more with seven). Overall, they got the job done, almost in spite of their special teams. Senior Forward Bobby Butler led the league in goals (21) and points (41).
• Vermont will rely on sophomore goalie Rob Madore, who carried them to the Frozen Four last season. He had another great season with a 2.67 GAA (fourth in HEA) and .906 save percentage (sixth in HEA).
• Outlook: Goalies perhaps have the single biggest effect on a team’s playoff fate than any other single player in major team sports. They seem to be able to take over a series or control a team’s playoff run like no other position and Madore has this pressure squarely on him in this series. The Catamounts need this series to make the NCAA tournament and can do some damage as an eighth seed in the Hockey East playoff if he can overcome their offensive problems. That said, UNH has just enough firepower to slip by Vermont in three tight games.

#7 Massachusetts Minutemen at #2 Boston College Eagles

• Season Series: BC 3-1, 7-1, 2-1 (ot) (BC 1-0-0 at home)
• BC: 3.67 gpg (#1 HEA), 2.26 gapg (#1 HEA), 20.2% pp (#3 HEA), 84.8% pk (#1 HEA)
• UMA: 2.67 gpg (#8 HEA), 3.19 gapg (#7 HEA), 19.0% pp (#6 HEA), 76.8% pk (#10 HEA)
• BC had the best defensive stats in the league by a wide margin highlighted by a near half a goal allowed less than any other team. Junior goalie John Muse had another great season with a 2.27 GAA (second) and .927 SV% (fifth), but he struggled a bit and has ceded the net to freshman Parker Milner recently. Milner spent enough time between the pipes to qualify for the leaderboard and won both major categories: 1.93 GAA, .921 SV%, giving the Eagles the top two goalies in the league. Sophomore forward Cam Atkinson was second in the league in goals (18) and he and junior forward Brian Gibbons tied for fourth in the league in points with 34.
• UMass started the season out alright, but really sputtered at the end of the season until this weekend’s sweep of Maine. They were the odd team out coming into the weekend and with the pressure on, they delivered. Forwards James Marcou (sophomore) and Casey Wellman pace the Minuteman offense. Junior goalie Paul Dainton will need play better than he did in the regular season and UMass’ penalty kill is a concern against this offense.
• Outlook: Interestingly, BC had its toughest game in this series at home. BC scores the most and has the top two goalies in Hockey East, how do they lose? In this series, they do not, BC to sweep. Coach Jerry York’s biggest problem might be who to start in net.

#6 Merrimack Warriors at #3 Boston University Terriers

• Season Series: BU 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 (BU 2-0-0 at home)
• BU: 3.44 gpg (#4 HEA), 3.37 gapg (#10 HEA), 19.6% pp (#4 HEA), 78.2% pk (#7 HEA)
• MC: 3.04 gpg (T-#5 HEA), 3.15 gapg (#6 HEA), 23.5% pp (#2 HEA), 80.1% pk (#5 HEA)
• BU goalie Kieran Millan, unlike fellow sophomore Rob Madore at Vermont, hit a big wall this season. Millan was dominant in leading the Terriers to the league and national championships last season, but rated last among qualifying goalies with a 3.30 GAA this season. Of course, BU lost talent in front of him to the NHL and more importantly, they have played much better lately after a miserable start.
• Merrimack freshman forward Stephane Da Costa has made his presence felt in his rookie season, posting 36 points to lead the Warriors and all freshman (second best rookie had 18), and third in the league overall. Junior forward Chris Barton added 28 points, including 13 goals. Goaltending may be an issue for Merrimack.
• Outlook: BU has momentum going their way as this team has improved from the start of the season. Look for them to try to neutralize Da Costa and the Merrimack power play, but if they fail, Millan will need to step up. BU in three high scoring games.

#5 Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks at #4 Maine Black Bears

• Season Series: ME 3-1, 8-4, 2-4 (ME 1-1-0 at home)
• ME: 3.52 gpg (#3 HEA), 3.33 gapg (#9 HEA), 27.8% pp (#1 HEA), 81.8% pk (#3 HEA)
• UML: 3.04 gpg (T-#5 HEA), 2.67 gapg (#2 HEA), 19.0% pp (#5 HEA), 80.3% pk (#4 HEA)
• Maine is a Jekyll and Hyde team: great on offense and terrible on defense. Sophomore forward standout Gustav Nyquist built on last season to tie for the scoring lead in the league with 41 points. Fellow sophomore Brian Flynn tied for fourth in scoring with 34 points. This is the second consecutive year this pair has led the team in scoring. Another sophomore, Scott Darling, is in net and improved slightly over last season.
• UMass-Lowell is a defense first team and the second best defensive team in the league. Senior Carter Hutton is the best goalie in the league outside of Chestnut Hill with a 2.35 GAA and .920 SV%. The River Hawks balanced offense features no top 20 scorers. They have three 20 point scorers and three with 10 or more goals.
• Outlook: Maine has stumbled down the stretch, dropping six of eight and giving up 4.50 goals per game over that stretch. Good goaltending, like Hutton has been giving his team, is the key ingredient to a championship and Lowell has it. Hawks in three.

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