The puck drops on Division 3 postseason hockey on Saturday, with the quarterfinal round of the NEHC tournament taking place on four campus sites.
The No. 1 seeds for the region’s four leagues have all been locked in – Trinity in the NESCAC, Curry in the Commonwealth Coast, Plymouth State in the MASCAC and defending national champion Hobart in the NEHC.
But that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty to play for this weekend across the region.
Let’s examine what’s at stake during the final weekend of the D-3 regular season.
NESCAC
What is typically the region’s most unpredictable conference tournament has a clear team to beat.
Trinity improved to 18-3-1 (14-1-1 NESCAC) by beating Colby and Bowdoin, a weekend highlighted by senior Gerard Marretta’s best game of the season against Colby, with a goal and two assists. Steady sophomore goalie Devon Bobak stopped 34 of the 38 shots he faced in the two games.
The Bantams play a meaningful home-and-home series against last-place Wesleyan this weekend as they try to polish their NCAA tournament resume in the event they don’t win the league tournament.
Defending champion Bowdoin (13-5-4, 9-3-4) is the only other team assured of a home quarterfinal. After that seedings are up for grabs depending on results this weekend. Third-place Tufts and fourth-place Hamilton hold their home-ice fates in their own hands.
Last season, three of the top four seeds were upset on home ice in the quarters, with No. 7 Bowdoin ultimately skating off with the NESCAC title and into the NCAAs.
COMMONWEALTH COAST
Picked to finish fourth in the league’s preseason poll, Curry didn’t just exceed expectations, it also sewed up first place with a weekend to go.
The Colonels (19-4-1, 14-3 CCC) are riding an 11-game win streak into their final regular-season game against Suffolk on Friday. Three of their players – sophomore leading scorer Gage Dill, senior forward Tao Ishizuka (Providence, R.I.) and freshman goalie Shane Soderwall – have all been named semifinalists for the Joe Concannon Award.
What’s still to play for? Endicott (14-5-5, 11-3-3) has locked up the No. 2 seed and the other first-round bye, while Salve Regina (15-7-2, 10-5-2) will finish third with a tie or win at the University of New England (15-5-4, 9-4-4) in their finale on Friday.
Salve and UNE will be favorites to win their first-round tourney games next Wednesday and advance to the Feb. 24 semifinals.
MASCAC
The question is the same as it always is at this time of year in the MASCAC? Which team will emerge as the top challenger to Plymouth State (19-2-2, 16-1-2)?
UMass Dartmouth (14-9, 12-7) and Fitchburg State (12-9-2, 11-6-2) are the next two teams in the standings. Dartmouth has been more explosive this season, its 82 goals second-most in the league after Plymouth.
But Fitchburg might be the best dark horse bet. It’s won two of the three games it’s played this season against UMD and the two are on track for another collision in the semifinals.
This is the seventh straight year Plymouth State has won the league’s regular-season title. The Panthers are seeking their fifth straight MASCAC championship.
NEHC
Saturday night’s quarterfinal matchups are set:
No. 8 Vermont State-Castleton (7-18) at No. 1 Hobart (22-2-1), 7 p.m.
No. 5 Babson (14-9-2) at No. 4 Elmira (17-6-1), 7 p.m.
No. 7 Southern Maine (9-13-3) at No. 2 Norwich (14-7-4), 7 p.m.
No. 6 UMass Boston (9-14-2) at No. 3 Skidmore (17-6-2), 7 p.m.
Babson inflated some air into its postseason hopes with three straight wins to close the regular season, including a hard-fought, 2-1 win over Norwich on Friday powered by freshman Sean Senier’s (Melrose, Mass.) first career goal.
Norwich earned the No. 2 seed thanks to a tiebreaker and a 5-2 win over Southern Maine to close the regular season, and despite not having a double-digit goal scorer for the second straight year.
UMass Boston will face a quarterfinal challenge after getting outscored by Skidmore 11-3 in their two regular-season games.
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