Championship Preview: No. 4 Salve Regina hosts No. 5 Nichols
FEBRUARY 26 | 7 p.m. PORTSMOUTH ABBEY • PORTSMOUTH, R.I. |
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NICHOLS BISON (11-12-2, 8-8-2 CCC) |
SALVE REGINA |
SERIES |
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INTERACTIVE BRACKET | PRINTABLE BRACKET | |
GAME PROGRAM Download PDF |
NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University men's ice hockey team earns the No. 4 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships and hosts No. 5 Nichols College.
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – No. 9 nationally-ranked University of New England will head into the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament as the top seed, looking to defend its CCC Tournament title from a year ago.
The Nor'easters earned 46 points in the conference standings with a 14-2-2-0 CCC (18-4-3 overall) record. UNE's prolific offense puts them in the conference lead with 5.00 goals per game. It also sports the second lowest goals-against average at 2.02.
Endicott will be the No. 2 seed in this year's bracket, earning a share of the Regular-Season Championship as they also earned 46 points with an identical 14-2-2-0 CCC (20-5-0 overall) record. The Gulls won the inaugural CCC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Championship in 2016-17.
With UNE and Endicott tied in the standings, the league's tiebreaking procedure was needed to determine seeding. The two teams split their head-to-head regular-season matchups, offering no relief. In the second tiebreaking step, teams' records against other conference opponents in rank order were compared. UNE won this tiebreaker with a 2-0-1-0 record (8 points) against No. 3 seed Curry, while Endicott went 2-1-0-0 (6 points).
This year the league introduced a new overtime procedure (as allowed by NCAA playing rules) and a new standings point structure along with it. For the 2019-20 season, if a conference game remained tied following the NCAA-mandated five-minute 5-on-5 overtime period, the game would continue to a five-minute 3-on-3 overtime. If the score remained tied, the game would be decided in a sudden-death shootout. In these games the official result for NCAA purposes and the PairWise calcuation is a tie.
Points were awarded in the following manner: Three points for a win in regulation, two points for a win in either overtime or shootout, one point for a loss in either overtime or shootout, and zero points for a regulation loss.
The Nor'easters and Gulls will earn byes into the CCC Tournament Semifinals. The four remaining tournament qualifiers will play a quarterfinal round on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Fourth seeded Salve Regina (9-6-1-2 CCC (31 points), 14-10-1 overall) will host No. 5 seed Nichols (7-6-2-3 CCC (28 points), 11-12-2 overall) at 7 p.m. in one quarterfinal, while No. 3 seed Curry (10-4-3-1 CCC (37 points), 17-5-3 overall) hosts No. 6 seed Wentworth (3-10-1-4 CCC (15 points), 7-15-3 overall) at 6:50 p.m. in the other.
Following the quarterfinals, teams will be re-seeded for the semifinals. The lowest remaining seed will play top-seeded UNE, while the other quarterfinal winner will travel to Endicott. The semifinals will be played on Saturday, Feb. 29 with game times for those matchups being announced following the conclusion of the first round.
The two semifinal winners will advance to compete in the 2020 CCC Men's Ice Hockey Championship game on Saturday, March 7. The winner will be named the CCC Tournament Champion and earn the league's automatic qualifier into the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.
LAST TIME OUT
PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (February 22, 2020) - Salve Regina University topped the Western New England University men's ice hockey team 6-0 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action on Senior Day.
MORE READING: Seahawks blank Golden Bears on Senior Day
SEAHAWKS NOTES FROM THE NEST
- The Seahawks have made the playoffs for eight straight seasons and appeared in the conference championship in four of those seasons (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019).
- Salve Regina has won one conference title, the 2016 ECAC Northeast Championship, topping Endicott College, 4-0, in the championship game.
- After falling to eventual conference champion Nichols College in the CCC semifinals in 2018, Salve Regina earned an At-Large bid into the NCAA Tournament and finished as the national runners-up, falling to St. Norbert in double overtime of the NCAA Championship.
- Danny Eruzione (7g-20a-27p) led the Seahawks in scoring this season and was named a third team All-CCC forward
- Eruzione is the Seahawks all-time leader in career assists (70).
- Eruzione ranks second all-time in career scoring (100 points) and is six points away from setting a new program record.
- Eruzione was nominated as a semifinalist for the Joe Concannon award given to the best American-born hockey player in New England.
- Vincenzo Renda (2g-12a-14p) was named a second team defensemen.
- Renda ranked third in the CCC in assists for defensemen.
- Erik Udahl leads the Seahawks in goal scoring (12).
BISON BITS
- The Bison won the CCC in 2018 as the number five seed and previously captured the ECAC Northeast in 2015, 2015, and 2009.
- The Bison lost their final regular season game to Curry, however they had gone 10-0-2 in games prior to that.
- Graduate student J.B. Baker was named to the All-CCC second team while senior Hogan Davidson and sophomore Curtis Carlson were named to the third team.
- Baker leads the Bison and sits ninth in the conference in scoring with 30 points; his 23 assists are second in the CCC.
- Carlson is one of three Nichols players to finish the regular season with 22 points (12-10-22); his 12 goals are tied with classmate Justin Perron for tops on the squad.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Salve Regina University and Nichols College meet for the 46th time. This is the fifth meeting in the postseason in the last six seasons. Nichols claimed the ECAC Northeast Championship over the Seahawks in 2015 by a 3-0 final, then the Seahawks defeated the Bison by that same score in the seminfinals on their way to the 2016 ECAC Northeast crown. In 2018 the Bison eliminated the Seahawks from the CCC tournament on their way to a conference crown, only to be dereailed by the Seahawks in the NCAA quarterfinals. The Seahawks won both of this seasons meetings, 3-2 and 4-2 respectivley.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Winner advances to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinal on Saturday, February 29.