NCAA Division I Playoff Races
NCAA Division 1 hockey’s season is hitting its crucial point, with teams battling to get into conference tournaments. Check out some of the top races by conference.
Check out next week's newsletter for all of the NCAA D3 conference tournaments, news, notes and player standouts.
Atlantic Hockey
AIC vs Sacred Heart
AIC is coming into this weekend series that will ultimately decide who will be the second seed in the Atlantic with 42 points. While Sacred Heart is currently sitting in the second spot with 44 points. Securing the second seed would be a huge boost to a Sacred Heart program that features a core group of players searching for an Atlantic League title. AIC, comes into the weekend with a 3-2-1 February record while Sacred Heart is sitting with a 3-4 February record. The home and home is an advantage for Sacred Heart; look for one of Sacred Heart senior forwards to step on Saturday night at the new Martire Family Arena, in front of what should be lively crowd.
AIC and Sacred Heart tied Friday night 2-2 after OT, making Saturday’s tilt even more meaningful.
NCHC
Omaha vs St. Cloud
With the top 4 pretty much in tack in the NCHC standings, this match up is more for seeding purposes as Omaha enters in third place and only one point behind Western Michigan. St. Cloud sits two points behind Omaha and set to travel to one of the hottest teams in the country, Nebraska Omaha. St. Cloud has not seen a regulation win since January 21st, this maybe a hard weekend to get on track as Omaha is undefeated in their last 5.
#6 ranked St Cloud defeated Omaha 6-2 Friday night.
Denver vs Western Michigan
An interesting weekend set is going to happen at Lawson Ice Arena this weekend as Denver comes into town to take on Western Michigan. Denver was cruising with 5 straight wins till a recent hiccup as they lost 6-5 to Duluth. Now Denver is tasked with traveling to Michigan to see a Western Michigan team that is 11-1 since Christmas. Western's Junior goaltender Cameron Rowe has been trending up since the mid way point of the year and will be put to the test this weekend, if he stands tall Denver may be facing a must win situation next weekend to clinch first. Western Michigan currently trails Denver by 5 points for first entering the weekend with both teams have four regular season games remaining each.
Friday night’s game was closer than the score of 5-2, as these top 5 teams will faceoff again Saturday night.
Big 10
Michigan vs Notre Dame
Dropping two in a row to Ohio State is never good when you are a Michigan Wolverine. Unfortunately for Notre Dame they are going to see a very angry Michigan team that will be dialed in for this weekend series. With how bunched up the Big 10 standings are at the top; Michigan cannot afford a slip up vs the Irish as the Buckeyes of Ohio State are on their tail for the second-place spot. #4 Michigan and #20 Notre Dame went into a shootout Friday night, a win for Notre Dame but a tie for the standings.
Ohio State vs Minnesota
Sweeping Michigan last weekend for the Buckeyes maybe the thing they needed to get on a run late in the year. If Ohio State is trying to catch Minnesota sleeping they are wrong, the Gopher's high-octane offense led by Freshman Logan Cooley (44pts) and Jimmy Snuggerud (43pts) has been clicking on all cylinders. Minnesota Senior Goaltender Justin Close has matured through out the season and has been gaining confidence week by week, the Buckeyes will have a hard time figuring him out. Sitting tied for second in the Big 10 with Michigan, Ohio State will need a big time effort this weekend if it looks to secure the second seed.
The nation’s top team shutout the Buckeyes 4-0 Friday night.
Penn State vs Wisconsin
Penn State has a chance to get it's once promising season back on track this weekend vs Wisconsin. Penn State laid an egg last weekend vs Minnesota amongst of tough 2023, going 2-6-2. A weekend sweep could propel Penn State into a potential 4th seed in the Big Ten tournament, and they got off on the right foot with a 6-1 win Friday night.
CCHA
Minnesota State vs Michigan Tech
The series of the weekend features two heavy weights slugging it out for first place in the CCHA. Minnesota State currently sits in first with 49 points and Michigan Tech sits in second with 47 points. It feels like ages ago people were questioning how good this Minnesota State team actually was after their mid-season losing skid. Tech has been tough on Minnesota State going 1-0-1 this season and is currently 6-1-1 in their last 8. Senior goaltender Blake Pietila has proven to be one of the top goaltenders in the country posting a 92.8 save percentage. This weekend the question is can Minnesota State Sophomore goaltender Keenan Rancier (91.8 save percentage) out duel Pietila?
These top 15 teams faced off Friday night, with Michigan Tech taking game 1 2-0.
ECAC
St. Lawrence vs Harvard
Harvard is peaking at the right time, which does not bode well for St. Lawrence as they are fighting to keep up with Colgate for the 4th seed in the ECAC tournament. Colgate should take care of business vs Yale this weekend, which makes St. Lawrence's job even more difficult. Harvard's forward group which is littered with NHL talent has grown a lot since the mid-way point. Harvard is not only a threat to take down Quinnipiac for the ECAC, but has potential to make noise in the NCAA tournament.
Harvard took care of business Friday night, defeating SLU 6-2.
Hockey East
UMass Lowell vs Merrimack
Merrimack has been trending down since the Christmas break but is still in the thick of things as they currently sit two points behind Northeastern and one point behind BU in Hockey East standing. The sweep over Boston University not only saved Merrimack's regular season title hopes but also can provide the spark they needed to head into the playoff. The teams Merrimack are trying to catch (Northeastern and Boston U) have very winnable games vs UMass and Vermont, making this weekend series vs Lowell vital that they take wins to keep up. Merrimack’s Sophomore Forward Matt Capponi is a player to watch as he is listed 99th NA skater on NHL Central scouting. He has cooled down a lot from his hot start as he has only notched 3 goals since Christmas, he needs to get on track to improve his draft stock.
Merrimack, currently ranked #17, defeating #19 UMass Lowell 5-3 Friday night at Tsongas Center.
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