MAC Hockey Ends Too!

Ok, so this is like 4 days late. I had a rough weekend. I was originally going to do this on Sunday after the games, but something happened that prevented me from getting around to it. But everything is settled now and we can get this out of the way before getting to the season reviews.

Like the MACsketball teams, hockey had one-and-done action this weekend as well. Apparently, no one came out of the weekend with their season intact in either sport, in either gender. But that's the way the cookie crumbles.

On Friday, the #5 Miami RedHawks, the 2-seed in their region took on the Massachusetts-Lowell RiverHawks in the Battle of the 'Hawks. Mass-Lowell jumped out early and had a 3-0 lead going into the 3rd. Miami would respond with 3 goals in the 3rd however to force overtime. (Sorry for the abruptness, I wasn't able to watch the game on ESPN3).

Miami had their chances apparently: They had a major PP late in regulation, and Cameron Schilling just missed the game-winner 1:06 into OT on a one-timer by hitting the post. Nevertheless, as the Hockey Gods would have it, the RiverHawks scored the game winner to advance to their 3rd regional final, where they lost for a 3rd time.

On Saturday, Western Michigan took on the 4th overall seed, and 1-seeded North Dakota team. North Dakota was playing their first game without a logo or nickname via NCAA sanctions. The No-Names jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal that I never saw because the ESPN Syndicate in Kalamazoo (CW7) didn't have a working feed until about 6 minutes to go in the 1st. NoDak would score again, capitalizing on a costly Matt Tennyson turnover to make it 2-0. The Broncos struck back though with a snipe by Kyle O'Kane on a breakaway mid-way through the 2nd.

Then, we had the controversy. Late in the 2nd, WMU got a turnover and tried to capitalize. Ian Slater drove towards the net while a puck was flying towards Aaron Dell. The puck got behind Dell, hit off Slater, and went in, all while the net was being dislodged by a UND defender. After a LONG review, the call was a no goal, and it was CLOSE. UND would add an empty netter to secure a 3-1 win. They would also go on to lose their regional final to host team Minnesota.

So I guess that's it. The CCHA in all went 2-4 in the regionals, with the lone wins coming to CCHA Regular Season Champ Ferris State. Yeah, the same Ferris State team that went 3-0-1-0 against WMU and lost to Bowling Green in the 2nd round of the CCHA Playoffs. They are in the Frozen Four though, in sunny Tampa Bay (geez I wish WMU had won..........).

Full season reviews will come next week (I hope).

As for the Hockey Pick'em, here are the standings, with total possible points as well:

It pretty much just comes down to who wins the Minnesota-BC game. jjncaa is good enough for t-131th overall. I'll make a FanPost for the final standings, so check the side-bar to see how you did. I don't know who all but 3 of the people are (and I think chippewas is rovitz) so let me know who you are so I can glorify you to all of HustleBelt