How many Hockey East men's teams will make the NCAA Tournament?

Boston Globe

13-02-2025

UMass certainly could help itself when it takes on a BC squad licking its wounds after
In the win over the Huskies, UMass overcame an early 2-0 deficit, thanks to a hat trick from
Jack Musa
. The sophomore has 13 goals, surpassing last season's total of 12. The increase came after a suggestion from coach
Greg Carvel
, who notched his 250th career win.
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Hatty highlights 🎩🎩🎩
— UMass Hockey (@UMassHockey)
'I was watching him in practice, and everything he shot was going off the glass,' said Carvel. 'I came over, I said, 'When are you going to decide to hit the net? Why don't you just shoot low this week, see what happens? Just shoot low in practice.' And then he's been on a tear.'
BC and UMass have key forwards out with injuries. Sophomore
Aydar Suniev
is the No. 2 scorer for the Minutemen (14 goals, 13 assists), despite missing five games. Junior
Oskar Jellvik
(4-9—13) was injured in BC's win over Northeastern in the Beanpot and has missed the last two games.
The matchup will feature the top three scorers in the conference, led by UMass junior
Cole O'Hara
(15-24—39), followed by BC sophomores
Gabe Perreault
(11-25—36) and
Ryan Leonard
(23-12—35).
Making their move
The Atlantic Hockey Association is down to its final two weekends, with Bentley and Holy Cross in the mix for the regular-season crown and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. Sacred Heart (17-10-5, 14-7-3) and Holy Cross (17-11-2, 16-4-2) are tied for first with 47 points, with Bentley (16-12-2, 14-7-1) a point back.
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Holy Cross and Bentley have two games in hand on Sacred Heart. The Crusaders pulled even thanks to a 14-game unbeaten streak in conference play, with 10 wins in regulation, three in overtime, and one tie in which they won the shootout.
Liam McLinskey
, a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last season, leads the conference with 17 goals and is tied for the lead in points with 33.
Thomas Gale
leads the AHA in save percentage (.940) and goals-against average (1.74). On Thursday, he was named a top-10 finalist for the Mike Richter Award, presented annually to the top goalie in NCAA Division 1 hockey. BC's
Jacob Fowler
and Maine's
Albin Boija
were also selected.
The Falcons pulled to within a point after
Connor Hasley
posted consecutive shutouts against Robert Morris, giving him an NCAA-best seven on the season. Bentley is back in action when it hosts Canisius for a pair of games this weekend, while Holy Cross began a two-game series with Mercyhurst on Thursday. Sacred Heart is off.
Weekend plans
With the Beanpot in the rearview mirror, Hockey East resumes with a more conventional schedule. BU and Providence play a home-and-home series in a top-10 matchup beginning Friday night at Schneider Arena.
UNH heads to Maine for a pair of games as the Border Battle heads to Orono. Vermont is at Merrimack for two, and UMass Lowell will be at Northeastern Friday night to open a home-and-home series.
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Harvard hopes to carry momentum from its Beanpot consolation win against Northeastern when it heads to North Country to take on St. Lawrence and Clarkson.
A true impact
There was a nice moment Monday night as TD Garden welcomed Team Impact families from the four Beanpot schools.
Team Impact kids, from left, Parker Watson with Harvard, Simon Valencia-Devin with Northeastern, Logan Gatto with Boston University, and Josh Bellow with Boston College posed with the Beanpot trophy.
Team Impact
Josh Bello
(BC),
Logan Gatto
(BU),
Simon Valencia-Devin
(Northeastern), and
Parker Watson
(Harvard) have spent time at practices, games, and other team events. The four posed for a picture with the Beanpot during the first period of the championship game
Founded in 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 3,500 children with 750-plus colleges and universities in 50 states, impacting more than 87,000 student-athletes.
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