The postseason began for ECAC and Atlantic Hockey clubs over the weekend as Hockey East teams completed the regular season in advance of their own best-of-three series to come.
With that, New England Hockey Journal’s Top 10 continues leading into quarterfinal series in all three leagues based in the region.
This past weekend, Brown, Yale, and Dartmouth all finished off series victories in ECAC postseason play with the Bears sweeping their set following a triple-overtime second contest and the Big Green needing a third game to advance to face rival Harvard. Holy Cross was topped by Robert Morris in a pair of one-goal Atlantic Hockey affairs.
Northeastern and UMass Lowell clinched the final two Hockey East home-ice slots that were left up for grabs. Along with UMass and Providence, they will host this weekend’s series.
TOP 10
1. Massachusetts
Record: 26-8 (18-6 Hockey East) / Last week: 1
The Minutemen overcame a three-goal deficit but dropped a 4-3 decision to UConn in Friday night’s regular-season finale at the XL Center. Sophomore Mitchell Chaffee netted two points to help lead the offense, including his first goal in nine games to tie the score early in the third period. Cale Makar had two assists in the game to reach 42 points, breaking a single-season program record for a defenseman. All three goaltenders saw action with sophomore Brad Arvanitis (Holliston, Mass.) taking the loss in his season debut.
2. Providence
Record: 21-9-6 (14-7-3 Hockey East) / Last week: 2
A three-goal third period helped the Friars conclude the regular season with a 3-1 win over Boston College as well as clinch the No. 2 seed in the Hockey East standings. Freshman Tyce Thompson (Milford, Conn.) and junior Josh Wilkins both recorded two points in the final frame with Wilkins scoring the game-winning goal for his 14th of the year. Senior goaltender Hayden Hawkey was the winner with 29 saves.
3. Quinnipiac
Record: 25-7-2 (14-6-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 3
Quinnipiac clinched the top seed in the ECAC standings by virtue of a tiebreaker won over Cornell and will open its postseason run this weekend against eighth-seeded Brown in Hamden, Conn. The Bobcats are Cleary Cup champions for the fourth time, while its 25 wins are tied for the second-most in program history during a regular season.
4. Northeastern
Record: 23-10-1 (15-8-1 Hockey East) / Last week: 4
The Huskies earned their third victory of the season over New Hampshire with a 4-0 decision on Friday night. Sophomore Cayden Primeau made 32 saves and senior Ryan Ruck came on for the final three, combining for the team’s sixth shutout. Junior Biagio Lerario scored Northeastern’s first two goals after a scoreless first period before senior Liam Pecararo (Canton, Mass.) and junior John Picking (Wellesley, Mass.) provided the rest of the offense.
5. Harvard
Record: 17-9-3 (13-7-2 ECAC Hockey) / Last week: 6
Two wins away from returning to Lake Placid as one of the ECAC’s final four teams for the fifth consecutive year, the Crimson will welcome fifth-seeded Dartmouth to Bright-Landry Hockey Center for yet another quarterfinal meeting. Harvard won 13 of its final 18 league games this season.
6. UMass Lowell
Record: 18-11-4 (12-7-4 Hockey East) / Last week: 7
The River Hawks finished the season with two consecutive ties and three in their last four games, skating to an even 2-2 score against Vermont through 65 minutes. Seniors Ryan Dmowski (East Lyme, Conn.) and Nick Master scored Lowell’s goals as the team put 30 shots on goal against the Cats’ Stefanos Lekkas. In the River Hawk net, junior Tyler Wall made 25 saves.
7. Boston University
Record: 14-15-4 (12-8-3 Hockey East) / Last week: 5
Saturday night’s 6-0 loss at Maine dropped the Terriers to fifth in the Hockey East standings and sets up a quarterfinal clash at UMass Lowell this coming weekend. Junior Jake Oettinger gave up four goals on the first 12 shots he faced before freshman Vinnie Purpura allowed the final two on 14 shots during his fourth appearance of the season.
8. American International
Record: 18-15-1 (18-9-1 Atlantic Hockey) / Last week: 8
After claiming their first-ever Atlantic Hockey regular-season title last week, the Yellow Jackets had this past weekend off and will now host No. 10 Army West Point in a best-of-three set beginning Friday night at the MassMutual Center.
9. Maine
Record: 15-15-4 (11-9-4 Hockey East) / Last week: 9
The Black Bears scored six even-strength goals and senior Rob McGovern (Weymouth, Mass.) pitched a 30-save shutout en route to a 6-0 win over Boston University on Saturday night. It was Maine’s first and only shutout of the regular season. Senior Brendan Robbins (Nashua, N.H.) scored twice and added an assist to lead the offense, while top-liners Chase Pearson and Mitchell Fossier both had a goal and an assist.
10. Brown
Record: 13-13-5 (8-9-5 ECAC) / Last week: Not ranked
The Bears pitched a 3-0 shutout to open their ECAC first-round set against Princeton before senior Alex Brink’s goal 3:30 into the third overtime lifted them to a 6-5 win to sweep the series. Brink also had two assists in the series-clinching contest to complete a three-point game, while defenseman Brady Schoo scored twice. Junior Gavin Nieto stopped all 21 shots he faced in the series opener before backstopping the marathon victory with another 35 stops.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Quin Foreman
Dartmouth / Soph. / F / Needham, Mass.
Foreman was a major reason why Dartmouth was able to advance past St. Lawrence in its three-game ECAC postseason series as he logged two goals and five assists to lead the Big Green offense. Four of those points came during the second period of the deciding third game, helping Dartmouth to an 8-0 win, matching the career-high he set on Feb. 23 of last season at Yale.
Rob McGovern
Maine / Sr. / G / Weymouth, Mass.
McGovern made his first start since Jan. 8, 2018 at Brown and pitched a 30-save shutout to lift the Black Bears past Boston University to conclude the regular season. The Thayer Academy product made 13 of his stops in the first period and 10 in the third to post his lone decision of the season at Alfond Arena. It marked his first clean sheet since Jan. 14, 2017 against Connecticut.
