Plymouth State set to host NCAA Division III tourney hockey game
Mar. 4—The Plymouth State University men's hockey team will host SUNY Cortland in a first-round NCAA Division III tournament contest Saturday night at Hanaway Rink, it was announced Monday morning.
Game time is 7 p.m. There will be no advanced ticket sales. Admission to the game will be available when doors open at 5:40 p.m.
The Panthers (23-2-2), who claimed a fifth straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament title on Saturday night, rose from No. 11 to No. 9 in Monday's latest USCHO.com national poll. They are making their seventh appearance in the NCAAs but have never won an NCAA tournament game.
The PSU-Cortland meeting will be the eighth all-time between the teams and the first since 2008-09 when the Panthers swept a weekend series.
Cortland (18-2-2) is making its first appearance in the NCAAs after upsetting a pair of nationally ranked teams to capture its first State University of New York Athletic Conference tournament title. The Red Dragons beat Brockport 5-1, then fourth-ranked Geneseo 3-2 in the semifinals before taking down No. 5 Plattsburgh 3-2 in overtime in Saturday's final.
The winner of Saturday's matchup will advance to play at No. 2 Utica on Saturday, March 16. Utica received a first-round bye.
UNH women to visit Northeastern in Hockey East semis
The University of New Hampshire women's hockey team will visit Northeastern in a Hockey East tournament semifinal on Wednesday (4:30 p.m.) in Boston.
Both the UNH-Northeastern semifinal and Boston College-Connecticut semifinal (7 p.m.) will be televised on NESN.
The Wildcats (18-15-2), backed by a 15-save effort from freshman goalie Sedona Blair, blanked Vermont 3-0 on Saturday in the quarterfinals.
On Monday, Blair was named a finalist for the league's rookie of the year. UNH coach Hilary Witt was named a finalist for coach of the year, along with Connecticut's Chris MacKenzie and Northeastern's Dave Flint, a Trinity High grad.
Plymouth State's McNichols is Little East lacrosse goalie of week
Plymouth State senior Owen McNichols, a Manchester resident, on Monday was honored by the Little East Conference as its lacrosse goalie of the week.
McNichols, a graduate of Manchester Central, helped the Panthers to two nonconference wins last week. He made 10 saves and allowed six goals in PSU's 17-7 victory at Norwich, then made another 10 saves, including a key stop in the first overtime, as the Panthers beat Curry 9-8 in double overtime.
PSU hosts a pair of games this week, starting with Rivier on Wednesday (6 p.m.).
