SATURDAY ROUNDUP: Providence closes regular season in style

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Providence was a 3-1 winner over UConn on Saturday night. (Photo: Providence Athletics)

Logan Sawyer scored the game-winning goal early in the third period and Jack Parsons made 37 saves as No. 5 Providence concluded the Hockey East regular season with a 3-1 win over No. 14 Connecticut on Saturday night at Schneider Arena.

Jack Parsons had 37 saves. Alexei Kivioja, Logan Sawyer and Graham Gamache all scored for Providence.

Providence improved to 18-7-7 all-time against the Huskies.

Northeastern 4, No. 13 Boston College 2

Northeastern erased a two-goal deficit to knock off No. 13 Boston College 4-2 at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Hockey East action on Saturday night, completing a three-game sweep of the Eagles this season.

Giacomo Martino scored twice, while Jack Pechar and Amine Hajibi all scored for the Huskies. Lawton Zacher turned aside 25 shots to earn his 14th win of the season.

With the win, Northeastern clinches the No. 7 seed in the Hockey East Tournament and will host a first-round game this Wednesday at Boston College.

Vermont 5, No. 18 Maine 3

Colin Kessler scored a pair of goals to help lead Vermont to a 5-3 win at No. 18 Maine on Saturday night to conclude the Hockey East regular season.

Thomas Sinclair, Cedrick Guindon and Max Strand also scored for the Catamounts.

Aiden Wright, in net, made 23 saves.

No. 17 Massachusetts 4, New Hampshire 2

Matthew Wilde scored the go-ahead goal with under five minutes to play in the third period to lift No. 17 Massachusetts to a 4-2 win over New Hampshire on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center.

Larry Keenan scored a shorthanded goal for the Minutemen. Daniel Jencko and Jack Galanek also scored for UMass. Michael Hrabal totaled 26 saves in net for the win.

AHA Tournament

Sacred Heart 2, Niagara 1

Sacred Heart booked a second-straight home AHA semifinal series with a quarterfinal sweep of eighth-seeded Niagara.

The Pioneers defeated the Purple Eagles, 2-1, on Saturday behind goals from sophomores Paul Minnehan and Vitaly Levyy.

The Pioneers tied a program record by securing their 21st win of the season. Ajeet Gundarah made 23 saves.

Bentley 6, Mercyhurst 0

After a triple-overtime the previous night, Bentley had a much easier time on Saturday night, dispatching Mercyhurst 6-0 to sweep the AHA opening-round series.
Bentley jumped out to a 2-0 lead after nine minutes of the first period and never let up. David Helledy scored twice, while Kellan Hjartarson, Chase Davis, Jake Black and Arlo Merritt also scored. Lukas Swedin made 14 saves for his first career shutout.

Bentley’s opponent for the semifinals is still to be determined. They will host the best of three series, beginning next Friday night.

Holy Cross 5, RIT 4 (OT)

For the second straight night, Holy Cross beat RIT in overtime, sending the Crusaders to the AHA playoff semifinals.

Jack Stockfish scored at 4:06 in overtime to give Holy Cross the win, his second goal of the night. Devin Phillips, Connor Welsh and David Hymovitch also scored.

Danick Leroux recorded 33 saves in the contest, finishing the weekend set with a total of 66 saves.

Holy Cross will await the winner of the Robert Morris-Air Force series to learn who they will face next. With a Robert Morris win, Holy Cross will head to Bentley for the three-game semifinal set March 13-15. With an Air Force win, Holy Cross will travel to Sacred Heart.

Robert Morris 4, Air Force 1

Robert Morris bounced back in Game 2 of its Atlantic Hockey America quarterfinal series vs. Air Force with a 4-1 win Saturday night at Clearview Arena, forcing a decisive third game Sunday night.

Julian Beaumont, Dario Beljo, Patrick Johnson and Luke van Why all scored for the Colonials, who got 33 saves from Charlie Schenkel.

ECAC Tournament

Union 9, Brown 0
Union put an emphatic end to Brown’s season on Saturday night with a 9-0 win in ECAC Hockey first-round tourney action.

Cameron Korpi recorded his fifth shutout of the season with 22 saves in net. The Garnet Chargers blanked the Bears for the third consecutive time this season, outscoring them 16-0 over that stretch.

Parker Lindauer had three points and was one of four Union players with three points in the blowout. Colby MacArthur and Lucas Buzziol had two goals and an assist each, and Ben Muthersbaugh had two assists to go with his 19th score of the season. MacArthur continued his hot streak since the beginning of February and has produced 17 points in the last 11 games.

Union advanced to the quarterfinals for a three-game series against Princeton University beginning Friday at 7 p.m.

Colgate 3, Yale 2

With its playoff hopes slipping away, goals from Antonio Fernandez and Michael Neumeier leveled the score before Simon Labelle slotted home the winner to give Colgate a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Yale in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs on Saturday night. Reid Dyck made 23 saves and earned his first career postseason win.

The Raiders head to Dartmouth for a best-of-three quarterfinal matchup, starting Friday.

NCHC Tournament

Western Michigan 2, Colorado College 1

Liam Valente delivered the overtime game-winning goal on Saturday night at Lawson Arena, pushing Western Michigan to the NCHC semifinals with a 2-1 win over Colorado College.

Owen Michaels was the other Bronco to light the lamp, while Hampton Slukynsky stopped 33 shots in net.

North Dakota 5, Omaha 1

The semifinals are set in the NCHC. North Dakota scored five unanswered goals on Saturday night to cruise to a sweep of its NCHC quarterfinal series vs. Omaha to the tune of a 5-1 win.

Mac Swanson scored twice for the Fighting Hawks. The other goal scorers for North Dakota were Tyler Young, Will Zellers and Dylan James.

In goal, Jan Špunar had 14 saves.

Minnesota Duluth 2, St. Could 1 (OT)

Zam Plante capped a two-goal night with an overtime strike to lift Minnesota Duluth to a 2-1 win over St. Cloud on Saturday night.

Duluth swept the NCHC quarterfinal series and will visit North Dakota on March 14 for a semifinal matchup.
Max Plante had two assists and Duluth goalie Adam Gajan had a 27-save night.

Denver 6, Miami 2

Denver made quick work of Miami on Saturday to the tune of a 6-2 win to sweep its NCHC opening-round series before a crowd of 6,550 at Magness Arena.

A four-goal second period was the catalyst for Denver, which will host defending NCAA champion Western Michigan in the NCHC semifinals on March 14.

Six different players scored for Denver — James Reeder, Kieran Cebrian, Kyle Chyzowski, Hagen Burrows, Eric Pohlkamp and Jake Fisher.

Johnny Hicks had 11 saves in net.

CCHA Tournament

Augustana 2, Bemidji State 1

Colton Friesen broke a scoreless tie late in the third period and Joey DelGreco added an empty-net goal as Augustana secured its first postseason series victory in program history, defeating Bemidji State 2-1 Saturday night at Midco Arena to sweep the quarterfinal series.

Josh Kotai delivered a standout performance in net, stopping 42 of 43 shots.

Ferris State 2, Minnesota State 1

Martin Lundberg made 28 saves and Caden Brown scored the game-winning goal 1:45 into overtime to help lift Ferris State to a 2-1 win over Minnesota State in Game 2 of the CCHA tournament on Saturday.

With the win, the Bulldogs (8-26-2) forced Game 3 in the best-of-three series. It will mark the first time FSU plays in a Game 3 since 2013.

Connor McGrath also scored for Ferris State.

St. Thomas 5, Lake Superior 2

A 3-goal third period helped St. Thomas to a 5-2 win on Saturday night to sweep its CCHA quarterfinal series vs. Lake Superior.

Lucas Van Vliet and Lucas Wahlin each scored twice for the Tommies, while Colton Jamieson also scored. Carsen Musser made 27 saves in net.

Michigan Tech 3, Bowling Green 2

Michigan Tech held off a late rally by Bowling Green and hung on for a 3-2 win to sweep its CCHA quarterfinal series on Saturday night.

Stiven Sardarian, Luca Fasciano and Lauri Raiman all scored for Michigan Tech, which got a goal in each period.

Michigan Tech goalie Owen Bartoszkiewicz got the win with 38 saves.

United Collegiate Hockey Cup

Alaska 4, Lindenwood 3

Chase Dafoe scored in overtime to give Alaska a 4-3 win over Lindenwood in the championship game of the United Collegiate Hockey Cup on Saturday night.
Dean Spak, Peyton Platter and Michael Citara also scored for Alaska.