Field Of Four Set For Weekend
Seventh-Seeded Bentley Shocks Second-Seeded Canisius
Weekly Release (PDF)

The one weekend that everyone in Atlantic Hockey has been thinking about since October has finally arrived. Four teams advanced out of the Quarterfinal round on Saturday and extended their season in the process. Before the weekend is over, one team shall hoist the Atlantic Hockey Championship trophy on the ice in Northford, Conn., along with securing a trip to the NCAA Tournament in the process.

Quinnipiac made sure that the Atlantic Hockey Tournament would run through its home ice with a win Saturday night against Army. After the Black Knights advanced past American International in the play-in game Wednesday night, 5-3, Army headed to top-seed Quinnipiac for a chance at revenge against the Bobcats. The Black Knights had succumb to two Bobcat comebacks in the third period just over a month prior.

After a scoreless first period, rookie Ben Nelson broke the tie with his 18th goal of the season early in the second period for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats added a second goal later on in the frame, coming away with the 2-0 win and the right to host the Atlantic Hockey Tournament this weekend.

Bentley headed west for the second time in three weeks, and once again the seventh-seeded Falcons surprised their hosts, the second-seeded Golden Griffins of Canisius. The Griffs jumped out to an early lead, scoring only 21 seconds into the game, however the Falcons bounced back in the second period to knot the game at one apiece. Bentley took the lead early in the second before witnessing Canisius tie the contest at two, but the Falcons would not be denied, scoring the game-winner midway through the final frame and adding an empty-netter for a 4-2 final.

Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week Simon St. Pierre of Bentley got off to a shaky start in the game by allowing that first goal but recovered to give the Falcons the ability to win, stopping 28 shots, including 17 in the final stanza. Teammate Paul Scalisi earned Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week honors by assisting on the game-winning goal and adding the empty-netter. Four of his six goals this season have come against the Griffs, after netting his first career hat trick in his last appearance in Buffalo, a 4-3 win for Bentley on Feb. 25.

Mercyhurst ran into a bit of trouble of its own on Saturday when the Lakers hosted sixth-seeded Connecticut. Having trailed 3-2 after one period and 4-2 midway through the second, the Lakers went on a tear, scoring five unanswered goals en route to a 7-4 decision and a trip to the semifinals. It was the sixth-straight win for Mercyhurst, and the eighth in its last night outings. Eleven different skaters found their name on the score sheet after the evening was over for Mercyhurst.

Fourth-seeded Holy Cross hosted fifth-seed Sacred Heart in the final Quarterfinal matchup over the weekend. Just a few weeks prior, these two teams were competing for the regular season trophy; few may have thought that the two would see each other so early in the playoffs. Tied at two after twenty minutes of play, the Crusaders edged out in front of the Pioneer’s on rookie defenseman Matt Burke’s sixth goal of the season coming on the power-play. It proved to be all the offense the Crusaders were going to need, however Andrew Weber completed the hat trick early in the third period for Holy Cross, earning him Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week honors.

While Bentley has gone 0-3-1 against Quinnipiac this season, don’t be surprised to see the Falcons put up a strong fight Friday night for the right to play in the Championship game on Saturday. The two teams haven’t seen each other since December 30, a 3-2 game in favor of the Bobcats. Bentley has been outscored 10-1 in its last three appearances to the Northford Ice Pavilion, along with the Falcons finding themselves on the short end of two shutouts there this season. The last win for Bentley over Quinnipiac came on Friday, February 13, 3-2 at the NIP.

Holy Cross had put together an impressive streak over Mercyhurst entering February, winning four straight until the Lakers sailed out to Worcester three weeks ago and took two one-goal games from the Crusaders. Expect an exciting matchup between the two clubs on Friday in the second Semifinal of the day, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

If you’re not able to make it to the Northford Ice Pavilion this weekend, the Semifinals and Atlantic Hockey Championship can be followed live on the internet using Collegesports.com’s Gametracker feature. Log onto AtlanticHockeyOnline.com for more information prior to the start of the Semifinals on Friday.