Games of the Week: (College Hockey South Playoffs) Women’s Quarterfinal – South Florida Lady Bulls vs Georgia Ice Dawgs / Men’s D1 Quarterfinal – Tampa Spartans vs Alabama Frozen Tide

Division 1 

In one of the Games of the Week, the No. 3 seed Tampa Spartans — the reigning College Hockey South conference champions — and the No. 6 seed Alabama Frozen Tide will start things off at 5:30 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 7, for the Men’s D1 half of the weekend. 

Last weekend, the Spartans swept the Frozen Tide in a “three-in-three” series: 8-1, 4-1 and 7-3. However, fighting for the CHS Division 1 trophy may be the fuel Alabama needs to take down the Spartans this weekend.

Following Tampa and Alabama’s conclusion, the No. 4 seed South Carolina Gamecocks and the No. 5 seed Florida Gators will go head-to-head to conclude the initial round of play at 8 p.m. EST. 

The reigning D1 AAU National Champions — the Gamecocks — have bested the reigning D2 AAU National Champions — the Gators — twice this season, 8-2 and 8-5. Florida will look to prove itself in its first-ever Division 1 playoffs appearance since moving up from Division 2 at the beginning of the season.

Friday’s losing teams will compete for fifth place at 11:30 a.m. the following day

Rather than have a set bracket to determine the bye teams’ opponents in round two on Saturday, the No. 1 seed — and home team — Georgia Ice Dawgs, will take on the lowest-seeded winner from Friday at 7:30 p.m. EST, while the No. 2 seed Tennessee Ice Vols will face off against Friday’s highest-seeded winner on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m.

Both of Saturday’s losing teams will play for third place at 11:30 a.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 9, followed by the championship game scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EST.

Women’s Division

In the second Game of the Week, the No. 3 seed South Florida Bulls will take on the Georgia Lady Ice Dawgs on Friday, Feb. 7, at 2:30 p.m. EST to get the women’s tournament underway. 

South Florida defeated Georgia in two contests this season: 7-3 on Nov. 9 and 9-2 on Nov. 16. However, the Lady Ice Dawgs’ home-ice advantage may impact their success, as they have yet to lose a game in their brand new arena.

On Friday at 4 p.m. EST, the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Auburn Tigers will hit the ice for the women’s tournament’s second and final first-round contest. The Tigers (8-6-0) and the Gamecocks (5-3-0) have yet to face off this season, but both are sure to put on their best performance this weekend in hopes of skating away with a conference title.

Friday’s losing teams will compete for fifth place at 10 a.m. the following day.

In the same fashion as the Men’s D1 second round, the Tampa Spartans will take on Friday’s lowest-seeded winner at 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday in hopes of repeating their success from last year, while the Alabama Frozen Tide will go head-to-head with the highest-seeded winner at 2 p.m. EST. 

Both of Saturday’s losing teams will play for third place at 10 a.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 9, followed by the championship game, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

– Kelly Kelblein, CHS Beat Writer

DVCHC Division 3: Bloomsburg @ Alvernia

This week, the Bloomsburg University Huskies (3-4-0) will take on the Alvernia University Golden Wolves (5-6-2) in a DVCHC Division 3 matchup. Alvernia University put on an offensive clinic in November when the teams met, leading to an 8-1 victory over the Huskies.

Bloomsburg has turned their season around, going undefeated since the loss to Alvernia, scoring five or more goals in each of those contests. Meanwhile, the Golden Wolves have faced tough competition, with their last two games ending in ties. 

Alvernia will look to Logan Buch (55) to be the difference in this matchup. Buch currently leads the Golden Wolves with 10 goals and 12 assists. Alvernia’s powerplay has been effective this season, averaging one power-play goal per game. Gavin Weisgable (13) looks to continue his hot streak as he has scored goals in his last three games for the Huskies.

Alvernia sits atop the division and is looking to defend the throne. The Huskies are chasing Salisbury, who currently sit ahead of them in the standings by four points. The puck drops at 5:30 p.m. EST on February 8th at the Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex. 

– Gavin Coker, DVCHC Beat Reporter

ECHC Division 1: Quinnipiac @ Fairfield

The Fairfield University Stags will host the Quinnipiac University Bobcats for a Division 1 matchup on Friday, February 7th. Puck Drop will commence at 9 pm at The Rinks at Shelton. 

This is the season’s third head-to-head matchup for the Stags and the Bobcats. The first resulted in a Quinnipiac victory on October 27th. In the second, played just last Sunday, the Stags pulled ahead to even the record. 

On both a team and individual player level, this will shape up to be an exceptionally evenly matched game. As teams, both have won/lost against the same opposing teams in their past five games. The teams also have roughly the same average of goals per game, with Quinnipiac’s 5.2 to Fairfield’s 5.0. The same can be said for goals against, with the Stag’s 4.4 and the Bobcat’s 3.8

At the individual player level, teams boast similar leader stats. In terms of goals, Quinnipiac’s John Cielo holds 12 over Fairfield’s Robert Sharfstein’s 8. As for assists, Bobcat Alex Umbro holds 15, just two more than Stag Brendan Cullen. The point leaders heading into this game will be, once again, Alex Umbro and Brendan Cullen, with totals of 21 and 20.

– Caroline Delaney, ECHC Beat Reporter

UNYCHL Division 1: SUNY Cortland @ St. Bonaventure

This Saturday, we have an exciting matchup in the UNYCHL with SUNY Cortland and St. Bonaventure. The two teams played in November, where Suny Cortland came alive in the third period to tie the game before St. Bonaventure snuck in the game-winning goal to seal the victory. 

The long-awaited rematch favors St. Bonaventure, as it leads in average goals per game and has fewer penalty minutes. Owen Hughes (17) is the man to look out for for the Bonnies. The forward from West Seneca, NY, is the team leader in both goals and assists for a total of 28 points, making him a nightmare for opposing teams. He had three assists against the Red Dragons during the last game in November and certainly looks to be trouble for SUNY Cortland. 

The scoring tends to be evenly distributed amongst SUNY Cortland’s offense, but Cole Haldane (10) is the one to watch out for in this one. The forward from Clifton Park, NY. is the leading scorer for this Red Dragons squad with 6 goals and 5 assists for the season. He has a great support system in Maxwell Taylor (91), who leads the team in assists. 

This game will likely be the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object with SUNY Cortland’s offense and St. Bonaventure’s defense. No matter the outcome, it will be a great game between the two. Puck drop will be at 3:00 pm this Saturday from the William O. Smith Recreation Center.

– Preston McAlhany, UNYCHL Beat Reporter

ACCHL D2 Interleague: Indiana(ACHA) @ Denison(ACCHL)

Our preview concludes with an interleague series between two streaking Division 2 teams. Representing the ACCHL is the Denison Big Red, who have had a stellar season. The Indiana Hoosiers are a part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association and have won eight straight games dating back to November.

The Big Red are second in the ACCHL behind High Point despite scoring a victory over the Panthers in November. Denison won’t pick up points because it is an interleague series, but playing a team of Indiana’s caliber will test the mettle of the Big Red.

The Big Red bring the heat offensively, averaging over five goals per game. Denison has three players with 30 points or more, including Preston Fisk, who leads the team with 36 points. 

Indiana is also offensively inclined, scoring five or more goals in six of their last seven games. The Hoosiers are led offensively by Will Gerami with 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists).

– Danny Baum, AAU Head Editor