This Week

This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division

NESCAC final four brings battle of offense vs. defense

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The NESCAC quarterfinals went mostly to form as the top three seeds moved on to this week’s conference championship final rounds hosted by Trinity. Trinity, the top offensive team in the conference, will be equally challenged by the top defensive teams in Amherst and Williams and no one should dare underestimate the balance and overall … Read more

Coming Attractions – Norwich vs. Babson: Part III

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Naturally following the Oscars© weekend, the theme for the ECAC East championship preview seemed obvious as the third in the trilogy of the games between these two rivals bears great expectations for terrific hockey with, like the awards ceremony on Sunday, much riding on the outcome in terms of hardware and participation in the NCAA … Read more

Time for drama as the NCHA comes down to talented foursome

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The four top-seeded teams earned their way to the NCHA Harris Cup playoffs semifinals, some of them in more dramatic fashion than others. Let’s recap: Quarterfinals St. Norbert swept Lawrence in the quarterfinal round in a convincing fashion. On Friday night, the Green Knights shut out the Vikings 5-0 as junior goaltender David Jacobson earned … Read more

Final four in the ECAC West; annual award winners unveiled

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Fans hoping for a quarterfinal round upset – and certainly those of Neumann and Nazareth – were left disappointed after Wednesday’s ECAC West playoff lid lifters. Thus, we now have the top four seeds (in order) Utica, Elmira, Hobart and Manhattanville set to square off in the weekend’s semifinal tilts. Manhattanville kept its season going … Read more

‘Just one of those years’ as Massachusetts-Dartmouth misses playoffs for first time in 30 years

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The Massachusetts-Dartmouth bounces just didn’t go the way of the Corsairs in the 2013-14 season. The defending MASCAC champions saw their season come to an end this past Tuesday night with a 4-2 loss to the Fitchburg State and will miss the postseason for the first time in 30 years. A win would have propelled … Read more

Last quartet of SUNYAC squads prepared to take tournament crown

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Hockey can be a crazy game at times, but it’s rarely tinged with insanity. That is if you were to apply the common notion that insanity is defined by repetition followed by an entirely different result. That said, Buffalo State’s hefty 7-2 thumping of Brockport in Wednesday’s SUNYAC quarterfinal did not defy any logic, even … Read more

Salve Regina explores unknown territory

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Turning youthful inexperience into a positive became the focus from the outset for ECAC East second seed Salve Regina. As such, the Seahawks, who are eagerly advancing to unexplored territory, will engage third-seeded Castleton in the ECAC East semifinal on Saturday. Having essentially skimmed below the top-tier radar in the past, constantly building with an … Read more

Conference tournaments kick off another postseason

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Depending on how a team’s season has unfolded to date, the postseason can either bring the most excitement of the year or a time when people turn their attention to something else like spring sports or vacation getaways. Thirty of the 34 teams in Division I conferences are still in contention for tournament championships, so … Read more

ECAC East: And then there were four

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It’s the semifinals this weekend in the ECAC East and the top three teams in the conference are not surprise attendees. Norwich, Babson and Massachusetts-Boston all won handily in their quarterfinal matchups to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round. Joining the three nationally-ranked squads is Castleton that “upset” the fourth-seeded Pilgrims from New England College by … Read more