Quinnipiac Takes Regular Season Title, Top Seed
Playoffs Kick Off Tuesday Night at Army
Weekly Release (PDF)

Quinnipiac pulled away from the pack at the right moment in the season, completing an epic turnaround and capturing the Atlantic Hockey regular season championship with a win Thursday evening at Connecticut. The Bobcats head into the upcoming week with the top seed in the tournament, and will host the winner of the American International - Army meeting slated for Tuesday night.

The Bobcats headed to Storrs Thursday night with more than just the regular season title on the line, as the winner of the Quinnipiac-Connecticut contest would earn the ‘Heroes Hat’. The Huskies looked to have the early advantage after Tim Olsen opened the scoring only seconds into the game, however the Bobcats rebounded to take control later on in the first frame and never relinquished the lead en route to a 4-2 win. Quinnipiac claimed the Hat for the fourth straight year, along with the regular season title and the season series over the Huskies, 2-1, with both wins coming on the road.

Quinnipiac wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with a 6-1 win over American International, extending its winning streak to six games in the process. Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week Matt Craig was part of the reason that the Bobcats were successful last week, scoring two goals and adding in four assists.

Canisius closed out the regular season at home with a pair of wins over Army, coming from behind in both games in the third period to secure the victory. The Griffs posted a 4-2 win on Friday, followed by a 5-2 win on Saturday, scoring four goals in the third period. Atlantic Hockey Co-Rookie of the Week Mike Ruberto had a hand in each comeback over the weekend. Ruberto scored the game-tying goal on Friday, and netted the game-winner Saturday evening over the Black Knights. Ruberto also added in two assists on Saturday for a four-point weekend.

Just down the road in Erie, host Mercyhurst and guest Sacred Heart were both battling to stay in the home ice picture for the Quarterfinals. The Pioneers only needed to secure a win to claim home ice, but Sacred Heart ran into a streaking Lakers squad that ended up handing the Pioneers a pair of losses. Friday night Mercyhurst rolled to a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart, as six different Mercyhurst skaters tallied, and on Saturday the Lakers came from behind in the third for a 4-2 victory. Atlantic Hockey Co-Rookie of the Week Ben Cottreau continued to make his case as one of the league’s top rookies, scoring three goals and adding in two assists in the weekend sweep. Teammate Mike Ella took home Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week for the second straight week, making 63 saves on 66 shots faced over the weekend.

Holy Cross used a three-point weekend against Bentley and a pair of losses by Sacred Heart to move back into the home ice picture in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic Hockey playoffs. Holy Cross had a 2-1 lead after one period before Bentley knotted the contest at two midway through the second. Josh Chase’s game-tying goal proved to be the last goal of the game, as the two clubs skated to a 2-2 tie. In the final meeting of the season on Saturday at Bentley, the Crusaders exploded for five successive goals - four of which came in the second period - en route to a 7-2 win over the Falcons.

AIC came close to catching Army for hosting duties in the Atlantic Hockey play-in game scheduled for Tuesday this week, but the Yellow Jackets fell just short. Last Tuesday AIC hosted UConn, and although the Yellow Jackets trailed the Huskies 4-1 after two periods of play, a three-goal third ended up giving AIC a tie on the evening with Connecticut. The Yellow Jackets couldn’t pass the Black Knights in the standings though, as AIC fell at Quinnipiac Saturday evening, 6-1.

Tuesday’s play-in game will be a rematch of the first game from last season’s Atlantic Hockey tournament. AIC surprised host Army with a 4-3 win to advance to the Quarterfinals. Game time for Tuesday night is slated for 7:00 p.m.

Whoever comes out on the plus side Tuesday night will have the challenge of upending top-seeded Quinnipiac in the Quarterfinals on Saturday. The Bobcats have won 13 of their last 15 games, and went 3-0 against both AIC and Army this past season.

Second-seeded Canisius will see seventh-seed Bentley for the second time in three weeks on Saturday. While the Griffs took the season series, 2-1, the two teams split in the weekend series out in Buffalo on Feb. 25 and 26, with the Falcons coming away a 4-2 win on the front end of the series.

UConn has known for quite some time that it would be the sixth seed in the Atlantic Hockey tournament, but the Huskies had to wait until the weekend was over to know just who they would play. Third-seeded Mercyhurst earned the honor with a weekend sweep of Sacred Heart. The only blemish on the Lakers’ record in the past eight games is an overtime loss to the Huskies on Feb. 18 in Erie.

Fifth seed Sacred Heart will head North to Worcester to take on fourth seed Holy Cross in the final Quarterfinal game of Saturday. The Pioneers won the final two meetings of the season over the Crusaders, with the only loss to Holy Cross coming in overtime in Milford. All Quarterfinal matchups are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. The highest remaining seed to advance out of the weekend will host the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals and Championship next weekend.