The first round of the playoffs are done, with all the higher seed winning. While the higher seed won, it’s clear that the craziness from the end of the regular season has carried over into the playoffs. AIC and Sacred Heart both pushed their series to three games. Next weekend is sure to have much of the same.

Canisius at UConn – The Huskies swept Canisius in two games. The Huskies eked out an overtime victory on Friday before Garrett Bartus shut out the Golden Griffins on Saturday. Cole Schneider had two goals and two assists while Brant Harris added a goal and three assists. It’s the third straight year that the Huskies have made it to the AHA quarterfinals. The Huskies will travel to Air Force in the quarterfinals

For the Golden Griffins, the season ends on a sour note but they will be returning much of the same team next year, with four of their top five scorers being sophomores right now. Taylor Law finishes him sophomore season with 26 points, well above the 11 he produced his freshman year.

Army at Holy Cross – The Crusaders swept the Black Knights, grinding out a 3-2 victory and winning 5-2. Shayne Stockton picked up two goals and two assists to lead the Crusaders. Adam Schmidt added a goal and an assist. It’s the fourth straight year that Holy Cross has made the AHA quarterfinals. They’ll travel to Mercyhurst this weekend.

For the Black Knights, it’s the end of the season and the end of the career of their top scorer Mike Hull. Hull recorded two assists on the weekend and finishes the season with 25 points. Andy Starczewski, who will be back for his senior year next  year, had a goal and an assist. He recorded career highs in goals, assists, and points.

AIC at Robert Morris – The Yellow Jackets pushed the Colonials to three games, and then to overtime in the third game but couldn’t get the game winner. The Colonials won game 3 in overtime to advance to the quarterfinals, where they will travel to Niagara. In game one Adam Brace recorded a hat trick in the third period to help the Colonials come back from a 3-1 deficit. Brace finished the weekend with four goals and two assists.

The Yellow Jackets came so close but just couldn’t get over the hump. Nielsson Arcibal forced overtime with a goal with 11 seconds left in game 3, but the Yellow Jackets couldn’t find the series winner. Adam Pleskach had a goal and three assists for the Yellow Jackets.

Sacred Heart at Bentley – In the only other first round series to go three games, Bentley survived Sacred Heart to move on. The Falcons outshot the Pioneers in every game. Brett Gensler scored three times and added two assists tot lead the Falcons. He now has 47 points on the season, just one less than double last year’s points. Alex Grieve continued his strong second half, picking up two goals and an assist.

The Pioneers came on strong near the end of the regular but couldn’t continue it through the playoffs. Matt Gingera capped off his Sacred Heart career with a hat trick in game 2. He also added three assists. He finished the season with a career high 33 points.

Monday, March 5th, 2012 - 1:31 pm | Atlantic Hockey