PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Providence booked their second trip to the TD Garden for the Hockey East semifinals in as many years with a 3-2 win over the University of New Hampshire in the third game of the series. All of the scoring came in the first two periods, and goaltender Jon Gillies and the Friar defense held off the Wildcats in the third for the win.

Mark Jankowski got the early lead for PC with a beauty of a backwards pass to Schaller, who moved the puck across the crease back to Jankowski for the clear shot on net and the 1-0 advantage. The Wildcats answered late in the first at 17:07 when John Henrion tipped in a rebound after an original shot from Trevor van Riemsdyk.

UNH pulled ahead when Grayson Downing struck on the power play with an assist from van Riemsdyk at 10:31 in the second period for the 2-1 lead. But two goals late in the second period undid the Wildcat lead and sealed the victory for PC. First, Tim Schaller ripped one from the bottom of the circle at 16:29 to beat goaltender Casey DeSmith. Nick Saracino got the go-ahead goal at 17:13 when the puck was knocked around in front and he jammed in a rebound while DeSmith was on his back. (more…)

BOSTON — In Jack Parker’s final home game, Boston University beat Merrimack 5-3 to advance to the Hockey East semifinals for the 11th time in the last 12 years. Ben Rosen broke a 3-3 tie 5:11 into the third when he took in a nice backhand pass from Matt Lane and beat Sam Marotta on a second effort. The Terriers shut down Merrimack for the remainder of the game and will now face archrival Boston College in the late game on Friday. They will most likely need to win to make NCAAs.

What I saw
-A crazy second period. BU tied the score at one 1:31 into the period when Danny O’Regan fed a charging Matt Nieto, but Merrimack retook the lead three minutes later when Mike Collins shot through a Josh Myers screen for the Warriors’ second power-play goal of the game. The end of the period was even more frantic than the start, though. Cason Hohmann scored on the power play to tie the game with 3:48 to go. Then John Gustafsson capitalized on a BU turnover to make it 3-2 Merrimack with 1:20 left. Not to be outdone, the Terriers took advantage of a late power play when Sam Kurker jammed a loose puck past Marotta.

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Chestnut Hill, Mass – Boston College had the opportunity to send Vermont home on Saturday night, as the Eagles entered with a 1-0 series lead after last night’s 3-2 win over the Catamounts. Vermont began the game very undisciplined, as they gave BC six power-plays in the first period. BC took advantage at 12 minutes, 12 seconds of the period as pretty passing ended up on the stick of Steven Whitney and Whitney roofed it to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. The lead would hold until the 16:45 mark of the second period, when Patrick Brown banked a shot off a Hoffman’s skate to give BC the 2-0 lead.

Johnny Guadreau would add his 20th goal of the season four minutes into the third period, as an insurance marker to give BC a three goal lead. Pat Mullane and Matt White would score for their respective teams, as Boston College defeated Vermont going away 4-1. BC advances to next week’s semi-finals at the TD Garden in Boston to play Comm Ave rival Boston University, while Vermont’s season ends. The win moves BC up to a one seed in the tournament, as they now sit in fourth place in the Pairwise, with games still to be played out west.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A hat trick from sophomore forward Matt Willows boosted the University of New Hampshire 4-1 past Providence College to tie up the quarterfinal series at a game apiece and forced a Game 3 Sunday to determine who advances to the semifinal round.

Last night, the Wildcats saw shift after shift of good play and didn’t have a problem getting pucks on net, but the scoring didn’t come proportionally. That play paid off early Saturday when sophomore Matt Willows took the puck following a faceoff win in the PC zone. With some stick work in front of Jon Gillies, he went outside and beat the goaltender for the 1-0 lead at 15:19 in the first.

The Wildcat lead grew when Willows struck again, this time on an open net when Goumas sent the puck across to his linemate at 1:45 in the second period. Gillies was still facing Goumas by the time Willows took the slap shot. The two-goal lead was short lived for UNH, and once again it was freshman Nick Saracino who proved dangerous to the Wildcats, and with an assist from freshman defenseman John Gilmour, he beat Casey DeSmith to bring the Friars within one. The 2-1 score in favor of UNH held through the end of the second.

PC’s best chance to tie it up came when a Tim Schaller shot rang the underside of the crossbar, but rebounded down and out. But the third period scoring was all UNH. Jeff Silengo, who replaced Nick Sorkin on the third line, went five-hole and beat Gillies on one he’ll surely want back. Willows sealed both the game and a hat trick with an empty netter for the 4-1 UNH final, forcing a Game 3 to determine which team heads to the TD Garden for the Hockey East Championship. (more…)

PROVIDENCE, R.I.  – Freshman Nick Saracino helped lift the Friars past the University of New Hampshire with two goals and an assist in PC’s 3-2 victory in Game 1 of their Hockey East quarterfinal series. A goal from fellow freshman, defenseman John Gilmour rounded out the PC scoring. New Hampshire’s goals came from Grayson Downing and Austin Block, who beat Jon Gillies backhand. The Wildcats had the momentum on their side early, and finished the game outshooting the Friars 37-25, but couldn’t overcome a surging PC third line coupled with Gillies in net.

UNH controlled the first period, with the 23-15 advantage on shots attempted, but the talent of Gillies in net counteracted any Wildcat chances and the teams were scoreless after the first twenty. It looked like UNH would take the 1-0 lead about halfway through the first period when a giveaway in UNH’s zone resulted with the puck on Grayson Downing’s stick. Downing rushed through the PC defense and shot inside the right circle, but the puck rang the inside of the post and bounced out. There was a steady back-and-forth pace to the game until the 12:30 mark of the first, when the Wildcats had some sustained pressure in the PC zone in peppered Gillies with shots, two of which came from Knodel. Shane Luke finally cleared it for the Friars  with some smart play behind the net to end the onslaught of shots.

The momentum shifted in the second as the Friars came out flying and Saracino scored the game’s first goal at 2:06 with an assist from linemate Shane Luke. Just under five minutes into the period, Dan Correale beat the PC defense and had a breakaway chance on Gillies, who came up with the save. Gillies came up big again when Block stole the puck from Myles Harvey, who was attempting D-to-D pass in the PC zone. While Gillies kept UNH scoreless, Gilmour gave the Friars a 2-0 cushion with assits from Saracino and Luke at 13:27. But the Wildcats weren’t far off, and Downing scored a power play goal to pull UNH within one 23 seconds later at 13:50.

The final period became a lot more intense when Block’s beauty of a backhand shot got past Gillies, and it was a tied game at 2-2 with 18 minutes to play. Saracino’s second of the night gave PC some breathing room and was the final goal of the night. (more…)

BOSTON — Boston University goaltender Sean Maguire made 30 saves, and Matt Nieto scored a goal and added an assist to help the Terriers to a 3-0 win over Merrimack Friday night. The win gave BU a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Game 2 is Saturday night at 7 p.m. from Agganis Arena.

After a scoreless first period, Wade Megan broke through at 6 minutes, 10 seconds of the second period. The senior redirected a shot from Ahti Oksanen over the blocker of Merrimack goaltender Sam Marotta. Nieto added his own 10 minutes later. A power-play goal from grinder Ryan Santana extended the lead to 3-0 55 seconds into the third period.

Marotta made 42 saves for the Warriors, but he didn’t receive much support from his teammates. The Warriors created little pressure in front of Maguire and failed to generated any second- and third-chance opportunities. In the second period, they recorded no shots from the grade-A on Maguire.

What I Saw

• Merrimack was far too content to stay on the perimeter. Maguire did well to avoid allowing many of these chances. There were some there, however, and the Warriors avoided battling for them. Based solely on talent, Merrimack cannot compete with BU. The Warriors have to win this series by scoring ugly goals. They looked entirely disinterested in doing that Friday night.

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LOWELL, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell became the first team to punch its ticket to the TD Garden, winning 2-1 in overtime on Friday to sweep its quarterfinal series against Maine. Derek Arnold scored the winner 1:50 into the extra session on a play that required a long review. Scott Wilson set up Christian Folin on a 2-on-1, but Martin Ouellette made a great save. As the rebound fluttered through the air, Ouellette got taken out by a backchecking teammate. Michael Fallon knocked the puck down with his glove, and Arnold buried it into the empty net. The review was to see if Fallon made a hand pass to Arnold, but the goal was ultimately upheld.

Devin Shore gave Maine a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal 7:51 into the second. Ryan Lomberg won the faceoff back to him, and he walked across the blue line before snapping a shot through traffic and past Connor Hellebuyck. Michael Fallon tied the game four minutes into the third when he followed up a Scott Wilson wraparound attempt and jammed the puck past Ouellette. That goal came less than a minute after Lowell had failed to capitalize on a five-minute power play.

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Chestnut Hill, Mass – Boston College began their quest to win a fourth consecutive Hockey East tournament title against seventh seeded Vermont. The Eagles jumped out to a lead at 14 minutes, 47 seconds as Brooks Dyroff took the puck into the zone, beat a defender and scored on the second shot. The 1-0 lead would hold through the intermission, as the Eagles and Catamounts played a defensive neutral zone game through 20 minutes. BC would score halfway through the second period, as Michael Matheson sent a bomb right into the back of the net to make it 2-0 for the Eagles.  The Eagles would add another from Cam Spiro to take a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.

Vermont made it interesting in the third period, as Ben Albertson received a puck all alone in front at 4:56 of the third period to make it a 3-1 game. The Catamounts would score again, shorthanded, as Matt White converted a BC turnover to bring UVM within a goal, with just 7:23 remaining in the game.But it was not to be, as Johnny Gaudreau would seal the game for the Eagles on an empty net goal. BC defeated Vermont 4-2 and the Eagles take a 1-0 series lead into tomorrow night’s tilt at Conte Forum. The win moves BC into fifth in the Pairwise rankings. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell beat Maine 4-2 on Thursday to take Game 1 of their Hockey East quarterfinal series. Scott Wilson broke a 1-1 tie 1:52 into the third when he followed up a Christian Folin drive to the net and buried his second goal of the game. Joseph Pendenza scored off an A.J. White rebound 21 seconds later, and Josh Holmstrom made it 4-1 four minutes after that when he tipped in a Chad Ruhwedel slapper.

Maine opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 13:52 mark of the first. Jake Rutt walked in from the left point and fired a shot that hit the post before bouncing in off Connor Hellebuyck’s back. The River Hawks tied the game with a power-play goal of their own late in the second. Wilson held the puck in the right circle before beating Martin Ouellette through a screen. Devin Shore cut Lowell’s lead to 4-2 with 47.1 seconds left in the game, but it was too little too late.

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AMHERST, Mass. – Just one night after being eliminated from Hockey East playoff contention, Massachusetts comes back with a strong showing, ending its season on a high note with a 3-0 win over Merrimack at the Mullins Center Saturday night.

Adam Phillips was the only multi-point scorer for the game with a goal and an assist, including the opening tally on a power play at the 5:08 mark. Conor Sheary and Colin Shea were the other two goal-scorers for UMass.

Steve Mastalerz got his fifth straight start for the Minutemen, and made 24 saves to finish the year with a 4-8-1 record with the shutout win.

Sam Marotta took the loss for the Warriors, making 30 saves on 33 shots faced.

What I Saw

• Neither team had all too much to play for, UMass in particular, but it was the Minutemen that came out playing hard and were ultimately the better team on Saturday. UMass got plenty of pressure on Marotta in the first period, and capitalized 5 minutes, 8 seconds in when Rocco Carzo hit Adam Phillips with a nice backhand feed and Phillips buried it into an open net. The Minutemen doubled their advantage at 17:42 on Conor Sheary’s second goal in as many games. Branden Gracel’s initial shot from the left circle was saved by Marotta, but Sheary gathered the rebound and easily tapped the puck in. 

• Merrimack showed a deficiency in its power play this weekend, and it was especially apparent on Saturday. The Warriors had a golden chance down 1-0, 5:22 into the first period when Mike Busillo was sent off for a five-minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head. They were ineffective with the man-advantage for the first four minutes, but then an Oleg Yevenko cross-checking penalty gave them 55 seconds of 5-on-3. However, they could only get one quality chance in the sequence that went wide. Overall Merrimack went 0-for-6 on the man-advantage and did relatively little with it.
  

• For what it’s worth, UMass showed some positive signs going into next season with its effort on Saturday night. But I think it’s pretty clear that the Minutemen will once again depend on its first line forwards of Gracel, Sheary and Pereira. They were aided by some strong efforts by Phillips and Shea, but besides that the lack of balance will continue to hold this team back unless someone steps up from the current roster or the incoming recruiting class. One question UMass may have answered heading into next season is who the No. 1 guy in goal will be. Mastalerz has been playing the best hockey of his short career lately, while Kevin Boyle faltered in the last couple months.

• Merrimack appeared to be playing some uninspired hockey for a good portion of this game, which is not the type of rhythm a team wants to have heading into the postseason. The Warriors took too many penalties and spent 14 minutes a man down. The defense afforded UMass some prime scoring chances as well. While Saturday’s result may have no bearing on their standing in Hockey East, it’s something worth mentioning if they come out flat next weekend. The offense did have an improved energy-level for much of the night, especially compared to their effort the previous night. The Warriors were aggressive and tried to push the pace, but it didn’t come from all four lines and it resulted in little ability to convert.
  

What I Thought

• The story of UMass’ season can be told through two particular sequences in the second period. Sheary led a 2-on-0 opportunity in front of the net after forcing an offensive zone turnover but couldn’t complete the short pass to Shane Walsh to set up a scoring opportunity. Then later in the frame, Marotta came out of his  crease to play the puck, but it was deflected and possessed by Sheary, who tried to feed a streaking Walsh in front of a wide open net. But they failed to connect and the Minutemen came up empty. Their season was one full of missed opportunities, and plays such as those define the kind of seasons that leave a team ninth in Hockey East.

• Marotta’s night could be described in two different ways based on your idea of a good night. But the Merrimack goalie could’ve definitely been better despite the lack of goal support. He made that poor decision trying to play the puck with Sheary coming in hard, and had trouble securing pucks. He looked bad on UMass’ third goal when Colin Shea’s shot deflected off the stick of a Warriors defenseman. Marotta could only get a piece of the puck trying to make the glove save and it went out and into the net. While Merrimack’s inability to score is its most glaring issue heading into the playoffs, it will need much sharper outings from Marotta to be successful. 

What They Said

“I thought we played pretty well to be honest with you, we just couldn’t score…I liked how we played (Saturday), I thought we played much better than we did (Friday) for sure.” -Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy.

“We’ve had nights where we’ve done everything the right way and haven’t been rewarded. It’s been heartbreaking because they haven’t been rewarded like they should so to be able to regroup and come out with the execution that we had was really heartwarming.” -UMass coach John Micheletto.

What Else You Should Know

Gracel left the game in the second period with an apparent wrist injury after taking a hard hit into the boards. With the season being over, it’s nothing that should have any bearing on next year despite being in obvious pain after the hit.

UMass finishes ninth in the Hockey East standings and fails to qualify for the Hockey East tournament for the first time since 2002 when former coach Don ‘Toot’ Cahoon was in his second season as head man.

With the loss, Merrimack finishes its season sixth in the Hockey East standings with 29 points, and will travel to Agganis Arena to take on Boston University in the Hockey East Quarterfinals next weekend. The best-of-three series starts Friday night.