Game of the Week #1: ECHC Black Division Semifinal – Columbia(D3) vs Sacred Heart(D1)

The Sacred Heart Pioneers and Columbia Lions duel it out in the Black Division semifinals for the right to go to the championship game on Sunday.

These teams have played twice before, splitting the first two games. In October, the Lions opened up a multi-goal lead in the third period and held on for a wild 6-5 upset win. The most recent matchup occurred two weeks ago, where Sacred Heart decimated Columbia 8-2 to even the season series.

Columbia is led by top scorers Brandon Avezov and Christopher Lerner. The forwards combined for nine points in the two games against Sacred Heart this season.

Our first game of the week will occur Saturday at 3:45 P.M. EST from The Rinks at Upper Shelton Rinks.

Three divisions will have their playoffs for the Empire Conference this weekend, including the aforementioned Black Division. In the other Black Division semifinal, Farmingdale State awaits the play-in game winner between New Haven and Hofstra.

In the Silver Division, two play-in games kick off the playoffs. Those games include Stony Brook taking on Stevens Tech and Ramapo College battling Fordham. Rutgers and Fairfield are awaiting the semifinals. Rutgers will face the lowest remaining seed, and Fairfield will play the higher seed.

Empire’s Purple Division includes four Nationals-bound teams battling in a two-day tournament to decide who will be the conference champion. Farmingdale State will take on Quinnipiac in the first semifinal, and in the second, Fairfield will play Delaware.

– Danny Baum, AAU Head Editor

Game of the Week #2: CHS Division 2 Quarterfinal – Middle Tennessee State vs Tampa

In the first round of the College Hockey South Division 2 playoffs, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will go head-to-head with the Tampa Spartans at 3:45 p.m. EST this Friday. 

While both teams are coming off a bye weekend, the Spartans (13-7-0) swept the Lynn Knights on Feb. 7 and 8 with matching 5-3 scores, and the Blue Raiders (19-6-1) split their series against Ole Miss the same weekend, suffering a 7-2 loss on Feb. 7 but bouncing back with a 3-1 win the following day. 

And, though the two teams haven’t played each other this season, Middle Tennessee and Tampa shared a familiar opponent: the Florida Atlantic Owls. In four games against the Owls, Tampa recorded three losses — 5-4 on Oct. 18, 4-1 on Nov. 1, and 6-3 on Nov. 16 — and one win: 9-2 on Oct. 19. Similarly, Middle Tennessee suffered two losses to Florida Atlantic in their only series, losing 5-3 on Jan. 31 and 8-4 on Feb. 1. 

Other Division 2 quarterfinals include the North Division’s top team, Clemson, taking on the Miami Hurricanes at 9:15 P.M. on Friday, the one seed from the South Division, Florida Atlantic, matching up with the Ole Miss Rebels at 6:30 P.M, and the final team to clinch a playoff spot Vanderbilt tangling with South Florida at 1:00 P.M.

College Hockey South’s Division 3 playoffs will be played simultaneously and feature opening-round matchups of Kennesaw State vs Florida Tech and Alabama vs Miami. The winners of these games will advance to play South Carolina and Florida Atlantic in the quarterfinal.

Other Division 3 quarterfinal games: Florida State vs Georgia and Tennessee vs Florida. 

– Kelly Kaelblein, CHS Beat Writer

NEIHC Playoffs

A champion will be crowned this weekend with the New England Independent Hockey Conference playoffs getting underway. It all comes down to this for the final four teams in the NEIHC as they take the ice at the RI Sports Center. This will be the final time for these teams to battle for the NEIHC Championship as they join the Empire Conference next season. 

Chris Hocevar will lead #2 Babson College as they look to make it to their third final appearance in four years. But first, they must go through last year’s runner-up, #3 Quincy College, with several players returning, including leading scorer Aidan Burke. Babson College won back-to-back titles with wins against Anna Maria College in 2022 and 2023. Babson College looks to win its third NEIHC championship before merging with the Empire Conference next season. 

The 15-1-0 Anna Maria Amcats look to continue their dominant season coming into the playoffs as the one seed as they match up with #4 Stonehill College. Tyler King and Stonehill are underdogs coming into this, with Anna Maria winning twelve straight games in the playoffs. Anna Maria controlled the season series, winning both games when the two met in November. Regular season scoring leader Nick Levasseur looks to lead the Amcats to the NEIHC championship in his first season.

Day one of the playoffs starts on February 22nd as #2 Babson College will take the ice against #3 Quincy College to start the playoffs at noon EST, followed by #1 Anna Maria College facing off against Stonehill College at 2:45 p.m. EST. The winners will compete for the final NEIHC Championship Trophy on Saturday, February 23rd, at 3 p.m. EST. 

– Gavin Coker, NEIHC/DVCHC Beat Writer

UNYCHL Division 1 Playoffs

Four more Nationals-bound teams battle for Conference supremacy this weekend, this time in Upstate New York. The two-day, four-team tournament will take place at Olean Recreation Center in Olean, NY, featuring four of the country’s best AAU Division 1 teams. 

In the first semifinal, 2024 National runner-up Buffalo takes on Niagara in a bitter grudge match. The two rivals have split the first two meetings, with Buffalo taking the most recent game in late January. 

St. Bonaventure and Binghamton face off in the second semifinal matchup on Saturday. The Bearcats won the first two games against St. Bonaventure this year and would advance to the championship game on Sunday with a third straight win.

– Danny Baum, AAU Head Editor