Friars To Open NCAA Play vs. Harvard at The Dunk

The Providence Friars hope to recapture some of that 2015 magic when they
open the 2017 NCAA Tournament vs. Harvard at The Dunk.

By Bob Phillips

The college hockey season kicks off in earnest this coming weekend as the NCAA Division I Regionals are set to take place and this year the 2015 national champion Providence College Friars will have a decided advantage when they take on Harvard, the top seed in the East. Although seeded No. 14 overall (No. 4 in the East Region), and scheduled to open NCAA play against the No. 1 seed in the East (and No. 3 overall), the Friars’ advantage is, simply put, home cooking.

The Eastern Regionals are being held at the cozy confines of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in downtown Providence.

To quote Church Lady: “How Conveeeeeeeenient!!!”

This will be the fourth straight trip to The Dance for the Friars, whose 2015 charge to the national title also began at The Dunk. While not quite their home ice—the Friars, of course, call the Schneider Arena on campus their home—it’s as close as you can get to home without being home.

“It's part of the goals of the season to get here,” said PC head coach Nate Leaman, now in his fifth year with the Friars after having spent eight years at Union developing the Dutchmen into a national power. “Doing it four years in a row, we're very proud of that. It was just a matter of growing throughout the season to get to this point. We had a great second half. I'm happy for the team. Now it's about playing our best hockey at the right time,” said Leaman.

Harvard, which earned a No. 1 regional seed for the first time since 1983, hasn’t faced Providence since 1984 and never in the NCAAs. But the Crimson, who were one period away from winning the 1986 title, aren’t daunted by competing on what amounts to home ice for the Friars, who upended another No. 1 seed (Miami) there two years ago en route to the championship. The Crimson, who easily dispatched national power Quinnipiac in the ECAC semifinals, 4-1, before moving on and defeating Cornell in the ECAC championship game by the same score, will have their came faces on for the Friars, for sure.

“What we need to focus on is how we play,” said Crimson head coach Ted Donato.

Harvard enters the tournament as e the No. 1 seed in
the East, and No. 3 overall.

Harvard comes into The Dunk riding a 16-game unbeaten streak and which has picked up for trophies in the past five weeks. Indeed, the Crimson are as experienced—and explosive—as any group of players in college hockey today.

“They’re probably one of the best Ivy League teams in the last 20 years,” explained Leaman, a former Crimson assistant who was named USCHO Coach of the Year in 2015 after leading the Friars to the national championship. “We have a really big challenge.”

After being swept at Notre Dame in the Hockey East quarterfinals, the Friars were in a precarious position regarding making the NCAA’s at all. However, they got the break they needed when UMass-Lowell topped BC in the Hockey East final.

Harvard, meanwhile, had no such concerns about making the NCAA field. The Crimson have been simply en fuego since mid-January. In the past two months, they have won the Beanpot Trophy and the Ivy League title, tied Union for the ECAC regular season title, and won their second ECAC title in the past three years.

But Friar fans have something else working in their favor: history. After reaching the Frozen Four in 1994, the Crimson have gone one-and-out in the NCAA’s seven times. Last season, they were ousted by archrival BC in the first round. But Donato says his team will not be burdened by history as if it were some sort of Red Sox/Cubs curse.

“This is a new year; a new team,” he said.

First puck will drop at 4 p.m. on Friday. For anyone not able to be there in person, the game will be televised live on ESPNU.

2017 NCAA MEN’S HOCKEY TOURNAMENT FIELD

• ·         No. 1 seeds: Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Harvard, Minnesota
• ·         No. 2 seeds: UMass-Lowell, Western Michigan, BU, Union
• ·         No. 3 seeds: Penn State, North Dakota, Cornell, Air Force
• ·         No. 4 seeds: Notre Dame, Providence, Ohio State, Michigan Tech

Television Schedule (all games will also be streamed on WatchESPN):

EAST REGIONAL (Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence)

Fri., Mar. 24

• ·         No. 1 Harvard (26-5-2) vs. No. 4 Providence (22-11-5), 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
• ·         No. 2 Western Michigan (22-12-5) vs. No. 3 Air Force (26-9-5), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN3)

Sat., Mar. 25

• ·         East Regional Championship, 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

NORTHEAST REGIONAL (SNHU Arena, Manchester, N.H.)

Sat., Mar. 25

• ·         No. 2 UMass-Lowell (26-10-3) vs. No. 3 Cornell (21-8-5), Noon (ESPN3)
• ·         No. 1 Minnesota (23-11-3) vs. No. 4 Notre Dame (21-11-5), 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Sun., Mar. 26

• ·         Northeast Regional Championship, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

MIDWEST REGIONAL (US Bank Arena, Cincinnati)

Sat., Mar. 25

• ·         No. 1 Denver (29-7-4) vs. No. 4 Michigan Tech (23-14-7), 1 p.m. (ESPNews)
• ·         No. 2 Union (25-9-3) vs. No. 3 Penn State (24-11-2) , 4:30 p.m. (ESPN3)

Sun., March 26

• ·         Midwest Regional Championship, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)

WEST REGIONAL (Scheels Arena, Fargo, N.D.)

Fri., March 24

• ·         No. 2 Boston University (23-11-3) vs. No. 3 North Dakota (21-15-3), 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
• ·         No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth (25-6-7) vs. No. 4 Ohio State (21-11-6), 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Sat., March 25

• ·         West Regional Championship, 6 p.m. (ESPNU) 

The Frozen Four will be played April 7 and 9 at the United Center in Chicago.

Huskies Sail to 61-Point Victory Over Albany

Gabby Williams blows past Albany's Mackenzie Trpcic in first-round
action of UConn's 61-point romp on Saturday.

By Bob Phillips

STORRS, Conn. – This one is hardly a surprise. Driven by double-doubles from Napheesa Collier (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Gabby Williams (20 points, 10 boards), the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team topped the University at Albany-SUNY, 116-55, to open their defense of their national championship yesterday morning at Gampel Arena.

Yes, morning. Tip-off was 11 a.m. But anyone who may have thought the early starting time was going to throw the Huskies off—even just a little—got that one wrong. Perhaps of more concern was the four-day layoff after the Huskies cruised to the American Athletic Conference championship last weekend at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Again, no issues.

“We try to keep the same routine,” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma at the postgame press conference. “It’s not ideal to have to wait that long to play.”

No, not ideal, especially at the crack of dawn (in basketball terms). But this was the first round of the NCAA tournament. That meant this was a 1 vs. 16 match-up. In Storrs. No contest, you say?

Over Early

The game was pretty much over after the first quarter, won by Connecticut 37-18. In reality, the game was over at tip-off, after the Huskies raced out to a 9-0 lead. The Greyhounds managed to cut the UConn lead to five, 10-5 with 6:21 remaining in the opening period, but that was a close as Albany would get. By halftime, the Husky lead had swelled to 58-32. There was no way the Great Danes were getting back into the game.

The four-day break was especially helpful to Kia Nurse, who was sidelined for the last four regular-season games with a stress reaction in her left ankle. Nurse, who was 6-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc, tied Collier for game-high scoring honors with 24, while Crystal Dangerfield added 16 points off the UConn bench. Sophomore sensation Katie Lou Samuelson had a somewhat quiet 15 points for the Huskies, who won their 108th straight game. It was also Connecticut’s 25th straight win in NCAA tournament play.

“The rest of the team is going to feed off of what we do, whether that's positive or negative,” said Williams said. “So, we have to make sure that if we're going to say something we have to being doing it too. And we have to lead by example.”

Imani Tate led Albany, which ends its season at 21-12, with 19 points, while Jessica Fequiere added 16.

“We just play and see what other teams are going to give us each game,” said Samuelson. ''Pheese [Collier] and Gabby were basically unstoppable in the paint, and Kia stepped up really big for us, so we were just doing what we could to feed them.''

Dog Bites

• This was the 24th consecutive first-round victory for the Huskies, who improved to 25-2 in opening round games at The Dance
• The 116 points ties the Huskies’ all-time NCAA Tournament record. Connecticut also put 116 on the board vs. Hampton in 2000. The Huskies record for most points in a single game is 126, set against Providence in 1998.
• It was also the 13th time since 1997 that UConn's first-round margin of victory exceeded the number of points scored by its opponent.
• This was the Huskies’ 37th straight NCAA Tournament win at Gampel Pavilion. They are now 92-9 as a No.1 seed.

—with Staff Reports

Sean Malone’s Hat Trick Dooms Quinnipiac’s Season

Sean Malone scored his first collegiate hat-trick to lead
Harvard over Quinnipiac in the ECAC semi-finals.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Harvard didn’t need its scoring depth nor its power-play finesse to advance to the ECAC Championship on Saturday. The nation’s No. 2 team only needed Sean Malone’s finishing touch in the 4-1 victory against Quinnipiac in a semifinal. Malone, a senior forward from West Seneca, N.Y., found the back of the net three times—the first hat-trick in an ECAC semifinal since Todd White scored three for Clarkson in 1997. Malone is now just two points shy of hitting the century mark in his collegiate career.

“It’s pretty special,” said Malone on collecting his first hat-trick in his three seasons with the Crimson. “It feels good to do it in a big game like this. More importantly I’m just happy we got the win.

Two of Malone’s three goals came seven minutes apart in the second period. The first came from a quick turnaround after Craig Martin was hit off the puck, while the second Malone threw from the red line on goal. Malone capped off his scoring as he brought the puck in through the zone and neatly played the puck in the crease to slip it past Quinnipiac goaltender Andrew Shortridge early in the third.

“We need our best players to step up and we’ve seen that throughout, starting with last weekend,” said Harvard forward Luke Esposito. “We needed a spark and the greatest thing about our team is that it can come from any player.”

After a scoreless first period, Harvard continued to throw pucks on net, amassing 35 during the game. Merrick Madsen was tested with 26 shots on goal, 15 of which came in the third period. Madsen’s only goal against came on a Quinnipiac power play on a tuck in on his blocker side by Thomas Aldworth, who found a sliver of space between Madsen’s side and the net.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to stick with the game, I think I only had five or six shots in the first,” said Madsen. “It’s hard to play in this type of venue but I think it made it easier for me to stay with it.”

Harvard will face Cornell, a 4-1 winner over Union in the other ECAC semifinal. The Crimson own a 2-0 record against the Big Red this season.

The loss marks the end of the road for Quinnipiac in the playoffs. The only way the Bobcats, ranked No. 19 in  the country, could have earned a guaranteed return to the NCAA Tournament would have come by reclaiming the Whitelaw Cup—awarded to the winner of the ECAC postseason tournament. This was the third straight year the Bobcats had played the Crimson in the playoffs, with the series now 2-1 in Harvard’s favor.

“I give Quinnipiac credit—they kept coming, and they kept making plays,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato, the former Boston Bruins star who played at Harvard and was a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic hockey team. “We’ve had some battles with them for the last three years.” Donato also did short stints for both Connecticut AHL teams, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Hartford Wolf Pack. “In some ways, I feel like our seniors think—you can’t win the ECAC unless you play Quinnipiac along the lines,” he added.

Quinnipiac’s seniors represent the winningest class in Bobcats’ history. Accolades for the class of 2017 included three NCAA Tournament berths, two Cleary Cups (awarded to the ECAC regular-season winner), a Whitelaw Cup and an NCAA Tournament championship game appearance. The class also stands with North Dakota as the only two programs to feature 100-win senior class with 102 overall victories.

“In the end, it’s about our senior class,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “It’s really a nice group of young men who have helped to put our program on the map.”

—USCHO