Hockey East Semifinals Roundup: UConn and UMass advance to conference championship
UConn reigns supreme in Battle of the Huskies
By Patrick Donnelly
The University of Connecticut Huskies scored three unanswered goals over the final two periods, and won 4-1 against the Northeastern University Huskies in the first game of the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden on Friday.
Junior forward Vladislav Firstov, junior defenseman Roman Kinal and sophomore forward Ryan Tverberg each scored for UConn (19-15-0, 14-10-0 HE). Freshman forward Chase Bradley had two assists, and graduate goaltender Darion Hanson made 24 saves.
Junior forward Aidan McDonough scored for Northeastern (25-11-1, 15-8-1 HE), and sophomore goaltender Devon Levi made 33 saves.
Firstov put UConn ahead 1-0 at 11:39 of the first. Northeastern turned it over, and Bradley passed towards the slot, where sophomore forward Nick Capone tapped it to Firstov, who put it by Levi.
McDonough tied it 1-1 at 14:13 with a one-timer on the power play.
Kinal gave UConn a 2-1 lead at 13:47 of the second. Bradley’s shot hit the post, and the rebound jumped out to Kinal, who scored on the de facto open net.
Tverberg made it 3-1 at 4:32 of the third, stealing the puck from the Northeastern breakout before dancing around Levi in front to tuck it by him.
UConn senior assistant captain Marc Gatcomb scored on an empty net for the 4-1 final at 17:52.
McDonough almost made it 4-2 with 4.6 seconds remaining, but the goal was called back because Northeastern was offside.
UConn will advance to the Hockey East championship for the first time, while Northeastern has to scoreboard watch to see if they will get into the national tournament.
Minutemen Edge Rival Riverhawks in Battle of UMass
By Owen Gund
The defending Hockey East champions will defend still as the University of Massachusetts Minutemen skated to a 3-1 victory over the UMass Lowell River Hawks in the second Hockey East semifinal at TD Garden on Friday.
Senior forward Garrett Wait had a goal and an assist for the Minutemen (21-12-2, 14-8-2 HE), and senior captain Bobby Trivigno also scored. Graduate goaltender Matt Murray made 22 saves.
Freshman forward Matt Crasa scored for the River Hawks (21-10-3, 15-9-1 HE). Senior goaltender Owen Savory made 16 saves.
Wait put the Minutemen ahead 1-0 with a power play goal 12:27 into the first, following a Matt Crasa penalty.
Trivigno made it 2-0 UMass at 14:10 when he rushed the puck into the Lowell zone, cut across the ice, and ripped the puck over the glove of Lowell goaltender Owen Savory.
The first period ended with the Minutemen leading 2-0 and the River Hawks holding an 11-6 edge in shots.
Crasa got the Riverhawks on the board with 3:23 to go in the second period, tipping in a Nick Austin shot from the point
With seven minutes to go in the third period, junior forward Jerry Harding gave UMass a 3-1 lead when he fired the puck on Savory, and Crasa swept the rebound into his own net.
The defending national and conference champion Minutemen will face UConn in the Hockey East championship at 7 p.m. at the Garden on Saturday.