BU, Northeastern, BC, and UMass-Lowell move on to the Hockey East finals

READING, PA – In last weekends quarterfinals of the Hockey East Tournament, No. 1 seeded Boston University defeated No. 8 Maine, while No. 2 Northeastern downed No. 7 Massachusetts. Both series ended in three games. Meanwhile, No. 6 Boston College upset No. 3 New Hampshire and No. 4 Vermont fell to No. 5 UMass-Lowell in two game sweeps.

BU will now face BC, while Northeastern takes on UMass-Lowell. The winners will than face-off to determine who will represent Hockey East in the NCAA Frozen Four tournament. BC is the defending tournament champions. The following is a review of this past weekends games No. 1 Boston University vs No. 8 Maine BU’s sophomore class made the difference in Friday night’s matchup, as Colby Cohen (Villanova, Pa.) netted his sixth goal of the season with 2:56 remaining in regulation to lift the Terriers to a 2-1 victory over Maine. Classmate Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.) netted a goal and added an assist, while Colin Wilson (Winnipeg, Man.) had two assists on the night. Maine’s Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) notched a pair of goals in Saturday’s game, helping the Black Bears to a 6-3 victory. Maine’s power play was 4-for-7 on the night, while Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) and Chris Hahn (Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask.) each added a goal and an assist in the victory. BU bounced back in game three with a resounding 6-2 victory. The Terriers tallied three goals in each of the first two periods, while linemates Brandon Yip (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Nick Bonino (Unionville, Conn.) each picked up a goal and an assist in the win. No. 2 Northeastern vs No. 7 Massachusetts Massachusetts earned a 2-1 victory behind a pair of third period goals on Friday at Matthews Arena. Chris Davis (Simsbury, Conn.) notched his tenth goal of the season, the game-winner, with 7:30 left in the game. Paul Dainton (Fort McMurray, Alb.) made 26 stops in the victory, while Brad Thiessen (Aldergrove, B.C.) had 23 saves in the losing effort. In game two of the series, NU earned a 4-1 victory over the Minutemen behind a 32-save performance from Thiessen. Steve Quailer (Arvada, Colo.) and Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week Alex Tuckerman (Orleans, Mass.) each tallied a goal and an assist in the victory. In the final tilt of the series, Northeastern nabbed the 3-2 overtime victory behind Tuckerman’s second goal of the night at 10:26 in the extra frame. Northeastern led 2-1 until UMass blue liner Matt Irwin scored his third goal of the weekend with an extra attacker at 19:25 in the third. No. 3 New Hampshire vs No. 6 Boston College BC’s offense came alive on Friday at the Whittemore Center, earning a 5-3 victory over UNH. Brock Bradford (Burnaby, B.C.) scored a pair for the Eagles, while rookie Cam Atkinson (Greenwich, Conn.) added two assists in the victory. UNH’s James van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) tallied two goals in the loss, while the Wildcats owned a 38-29 shot advantage in the game. BC completed the two-game sweep on Saturday night after Matt Price (Milton, Ont.) netted the game-winner and lone goal of the game at 6:12 in the first. Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week John Muse’s 31-save shutout improves his career record to 6-0 in the Hockey East tournament. No. 4 Vermont vs No. 5 UMass-Lowell Late-period heroics lifted UML over Vermont Friday at Gutterson, as Nick Schaus (Orchard Park, N.Y.) tied the game at three with 30 seconds remaining in regulation. Maury Edwards (Rocky Rapids, Alb.) went on to score the game-winner at 19:58 in overtime. The River Hawks then earned a 4-2 victory over the Catamounts on Saturday, advancing to the HE semi-finals for the first time since 2002. Reebok Player of the Week Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.) netted two goals and an assist on the night, while Mark Roebothan (St. John’s, Nfld.) tallied two assists in the victory. Vermont’s Viktor St. This weekends games will take place at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston for the Hockey East Championships on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21.   No. 1 Boston University vs No. 6 Boston College (BU won the season series 1-0-1)

BU%27s Chris Connolly

#1 seed Boston University and #6 seed Boston College will meet for the eleventh time in Hockey East Tournament play but only the third time in the Hockey East semifinals. Boston University leads the all-time tournament series, 7-3. The teams have split their previous semifinal match-ups – Boston University won in 2003 with 6-5 victory in double overtime while Boston College earned a 6-2 win in the 2007 semifinals. Boston University has advanced to the semifinals for the 18th time and eignth consecutive year. The Terriers have advanced to the title game eight times, winning six titles (1986, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2006). Boston College has advanced to the semifinals for the 17th time and the fifth consecutive season. The Eagles have advanced to the title game thirteen times, winning eight titles (1987, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008). Boston University won the season series, 2-0-1. Team Notes Boston College: Senior captain Brock Bradford (Burnaby, B.C.), senior assistant captain Benn Ferriero (Essex, Mass.) and senior defenseman Tim Kunes (Huntington, N.Y.) each saw their scoring streaks come to an end in BC’s 1-0 win over New Hampshire on Saturday. Bradford’s streak was broken at six games (6-4-10), Ferriero’s at five games (1-5-6) and Kunes’ was snapped at four games (1-4-5). Freshman forward Cam Atkinson (Greenwich, Conn.) has seven points (1-6-7) in the last six games. Sophomore goaltender John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.) is 5-1 with a 1.65 GAA and a .941 save percentage in the last six games. The Eagles have won 10 consecutive Hockey East Tournament games and are 17- 1 in the last five seasons in league playoff competition. BC improved to 8-3 against New Hampshire in 11 Hockey East tournament meetings, including a 7-1 record under head coach Jerry York. BC has won seven straight games between the teams in league playoff competition. Boston University: Boston University became the first team in league history to reach the semifinal round in eight straight seasons. Senior Matt Gilroy (North Bellmore, N.Y.) recorded three assists on the weekend and continues to lead all Hockey East defensemen in points with 32 (8g, 24a). Sophomore Colin Wilson (Winnipeg, Man.) needs just one more point to become the first BU player in 11 seasons (Chris Drury, 1997-98) to tally 50 points in a season. Wilson’s 35 assists are the most by a Terrier since Bob Lachance earned 38 in the 1995-96 season. BU matched its longest unbeaten streak in the last 30 years (17 games, 14-0-3) with Friday’s win before having it snapped in Saturday’s setback to the Black Bears. BU has won the Hockey East Championship as a No. 1 seed four previous times. The Terriers have 11 players with 20 or more points this season, the most since a dozen reached the 20-point mark in the 2001-02 campaign. Freshman Kieran Millan (Edmonton, Alb.) went undefeated in 19 straight decisions (16-0-3) before suffering the loss in goal on Saturday. No. 2 Northeastern vs No. 4 UMass-Lowell #2 seed Northeastern and #5 seed UMass Lowell will meet for the 14th time in Hockey East Tournament play. It will be their third game in the semifinal round as the schools previously met in a two-game, total goals semifinal matchup in 1988 (NU advanced with a 3-1 win and a 1-2 loss). So in effect, this is just the second semifinal battle between the two schools. UMass Lowell leads the all-time tournament series, 10-3-0. Northeastern has advanced to the semifinals for the sixth time and for the first time since 1994. The Huskies have advanced to the championship game game only one time – in 1988 when they won the Hockey East title with a 4-3 win against Maine. UMass Lowell has advanced to the semifinals for the 13th time and for the first time since 2002. The River Hawks have also advanced to the title game only one time – in 1994 when they dropped a 3-2 decision to Boston University. Northeastern won the season series 3-0. Team Notes Northeastern: With back-to-back wins over Massachusetts on Saturday and Sunday, Northeastern won its first playoff series since 1994 when NU swept Providence in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. Northeastern became the sixth team ever to lose the first game of its best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series and come back to win. Northeastern tied the school record for wins, improving to 25-10-4 on Sunday. NU went 25- 9-2 in 1981-82. Northeastern will have at least twice as many wins as losses for the first time since 1981-82. Northeastern faces UMass Lowell in the Hockey East Semifinals, the teams’ 13th-ever playoff matchup and the second semifinal matchup after a two-game, total goal series that UML won in 1986. Northeastern is 3-10 against UMass Lowell in the playoffs. Freshman Alex Tuckerman (Orleans, Mass.) got his 20th point of the season on Saturday, giving Northeastern five 20-point scorers for the first time since 2001-02. Ryan Ginand (Milford, Mass.) scored his 20th goal on Sunday, becoming NU’s first 20-goal scorer since 2001-02.

UMASS-Lowell%27s Scott Campbell

UMass-Lowell: The River Hawks advance to the Hockey East Semifinals for the first time since 2002. The series sweep was UML’s first since 1997. The River Hawks have scored nine power play goals (9-for-21, 42.9%) in the last four games. UML has killed 56 of the last 59 (94.9%) power plays against. The River Hawks have won three straight and are unbeaten in 4-1-2 in their last seven games at Gutterson Fieldhouse. The River Hawks have eight players with 20 or more points. Scott Campbell had four points in the weekend sweep and has a four game point streak (3g, 5a). This is the fourth time in league history that #1, #2, #5 and #6 have advanced to the league’s championship tournament. The previous seasons were: 1995: #2 Boston University won the title with a 3-2 victory against #6 Providence. 1997: #1 Boston University won the title with a 4-2 victory against #2 New Hampshire. 2003: #1 New Hampshire won the title with a 1-0 OT victory against #5 Boston University. This year breaks a four-year streak of the top four seeds advancing into the semifinals. This will be the first time that Boston University, Northeastern, UMass Lowell and Boston College have comprised the semifinal field. Photos and source information courtesy of www.hockeyeastonline.com Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com