MASCAC Ice Hockey Post-Season Tournament Bracket Announced
Falcons earn fifth seed and will travel to Worcester State on Saturday, Feb. 23rd
FITCHBURG, Mass. – The Fitchburg State ice hockey team earned the fifth seed in the upcoming Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Ice Hockey Post-Season Tournament, which begins on Saturday, February 23rd with quarterfinal round action.
For the third straight year, Plymouth State will enter the MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament as the No. 1 seed as the Panthers captured the MASCAC Regular-Season Championship once again.
No. 3 seed UMass Dartmouth and No. 4 seed Worcester State will serve as the hosts for the two quarterfinal games on Saturday. The Corsairs will host No. 6 seed Salem State at 6:30 p.m., while the Lancers host Fitchburg State at 5:40 p.m.
The winners of the two quarterfinal games will advance to the MASCAC Semifinals on Tuesday, February 26 where No. 1 seed Plymouth State and No. 2 seed Westfield State wait. The Worcester/Fitchburg winner will visit the Panthers at 7 p.m., while the UMD/Salem winner heads to Westfield at 7:35.
The two semifinal winners will qualify for the MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship, which takes place on Saturday, March 2 with the higher seed serving as host. The winner of the championship game will earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.
The Panthers earn the No. 1 seed with 26 points in the conference standings after a 12-4-2 conference season. They feature the highest scoring offense in the conference led by Matt Volonnino whose 17 goals rank second in the MASCAC.
Westfield went 11-6-1 in conference play to earn 23 points. The Owls have gotten strong play in goal this year from Thierry Messervier who sports a 2.64 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage, which ranks second in the conference.
UMass Dartmouth will be looking to return to the MASCAC Championship game after finishing as the tournament runner up in 2018. The Corsairs went 10-6-2 in conference play this year for 22 points. UMD is led by junior forward Steven Leonard whose 14 goals rank him third in the conference.
Mitchell Purdie was Worcester State's leading score with nine goals and 24 assists for 33 points. His point total ranks fifth in the conference. The Lancers landed in the fourth spot in the conference thanks to a 9-7-2 MASCAC season and 20 points.
Reigning MASCAC Tournament Champions Fitchburg State also had 20 points in the standings with an identical 9-7-2 conference record. The Falcons feature two of the league leaders in Sascha Figi (Kloten, Switzerland) and Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.). Figi leads the MASCAC in goals (23) and points (43), while McGrath is the league's top goaltender with a .940 save percentage and 2.18 goals-against average.
Despite the tie in the standings, the Lancers were awarded the higher seed based on head-to-head comparison. Worcester State won two of the three meetings against Fitchburg State to win the tiebreaker.
Salem State is the final entry into this year's tournament. The Vikings went 7-11 in league place for 14 points in the standings. Their top scorer is Billy McGwin who scored eight goals during the regular season.
During the 2018 MASCAC Championship Fitchburg State defeated UMass Dartmouth 2-0. McGrath was stellar in the contest making 45 saves in the shutout and winning the tournament MVP.
Release Courtesy Of The MASCAC SID Office
Click Here For Complete MASCAC Ice Hockey Tournament Bracket