This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
The first round games are complete and the quarterfinal matchups are set. There is still uncertainty about this weekend given all that is happening with events being canceled, but here is a preview of the four games.
After losing the Great Lakes Invitational title game, Michigan owned a 7-11-2 record as the calendar flipped over to a new decade. Since then, the Wolverines have posted an 11-3-2 record (photo: Michigan Athletics).
Western Michigan’s 5-2 home win last Friday against Miami, combined with St. Cloud State’s loss that night against Minnesota Duluth, clinched a home-ice playoff spot for WMU. Another Bronco win Saturday kept Western in with a shot at qualifying for the NCAA tournament. The Broncos aren’t there yet, though (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Sacred Heart is 15-4-2 since Thanksgiving, and AIC is 12-1 in its last 13 games with its only loss coming to the Pioneers. Three years after finishing next to each other in the standings, AIC and SHU did it again but this time as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds (photo: Omar Phillips).
When the playoffs start in hockey, some players find an extra gear, an extra level, that they use to become heroes when their teams need them to. For Michigan Tech, that player is Tommy Parrottino (photo: Michigan Tech Athletics).
Princeton coach Ron Fogarty was happy to get a call from a reporter on Monday, a couple of days after his underdog Tigers swept Dartmouth on the road in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. ”It’s good to hear from you. It means we’ve done something,’’ he quipped (photo: Princeton Athletic Communications).
The first-round NCAA tournament games Wednesday offer intriguing matchups between closely matched teams. Candace Horgan previews the round.
Four wins in a row for St. Thomas, Concordia and St. Norbert. Nine wins in a row for Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Twelve consecutive wins for Adrian. Wisconsin-Eau Claire has won its last two games. Momentum is eveything and every team has it in some form heading into conference championship weekend in the west region. Only time … Read more
Headed into last weekend, there was little reason to believe Miami would have any success, even if they were at home against Omaha, a team that had lost their leading scorer to injury and one Miami tied and defeated in November (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
The semifinals will be single games March 13-14, with Penn State hosting the lowest seed to emerge from this weekend and the highest surviving seed hosting the other winner from the first round. The championship will be played on the home ice of the highest seed to advance from the semifinal round, March 20 or March 21 (photo: Jim Rosvold/University of Minnesota).
After finishing the regular season at 7-15-3 and going 1-7-2 in their last ten conference games, Wentworth has generated some post season magic as the No. 6 seed in the competitive CCC playoffs. In a matter of just a matter of four days, the Leopards have gone on the road and upset No. 3 seed … Read more
Ahead of the conference tournament finales and the NCAA tournament selection, columnist Candace Horgan looks at how the tournaments might shake out.
New Hampshire is not too far removed from a 7-3-1 stretch that took the Wildcats from a club with no postseason hopes up to a spot where earning home ice seemed realistic. But back-to-back losses to Boston University followed by a series a week ago against UMass Lowell where the Wildcats probably played well enough to take more than the single point that they did, and suddenly, it is the midnight hour for this UNH team (photo: Rich Gagnon).
In Atlantic Hockey, all 11 teams make the postseason tournament. No matter what kind of regular season you’ve had, the slate is wiped clean and second chances are offered (photo: Marshal Filipowicz/Canisius Athletics).
Not much separated Alaska and Bowling Green in the regular season. In fact, on paper, these two teams seem almost identical. They finished the regular season with an identical points total (49). They even had the same amount of league wins (14) (photo: Paul McCarthy/Alaska Athletics).
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, it was Saturday’s Cornell-Clarkson matchup that was billed as the game to watch. Instead, it was Rensselaer’s game at Dartmouth Saturday that had the biggest impact on the league standings (photo: Liz Brady/RPI Athletics).
Anything can happen in the playoffs as evidenced by the number of overtime wins and upsets last week pulled off by Wentworth, Franklin Pierce, Nichols, Nazareth, Stonehill and Potsdam to name a few that stunned higher seeds in early round action. While some of the other favorites won and advanced a few nationally ranked teams … Read more
Truly the team that has been the biggest surprise in a positive way is Connecticut. The Huskies, by projections, were to finish either eighth or ninth, but a 7-1-0 record in their last eight Hockey East games has UConn not just in position to clinch a playoff spot, but also to possibly grab home ice (photo: Stephen Slade/UConn Athletics).
Hamilton will be hosting Williams in the first round of the NESCAC tournament this weekend, and is looking to flip the result from when the two teams faced each other in November. The Continentals are playing with more confidence now thanks to a strong second half.
Even though Ohio State is sitting in second place, the Buckeyes have an opportunity to nab their second consecutive Big Ten regular-season title this weekend (photo: Omar Phillips).