Tuesday Night in US College Hockey: United East Playoffs Begin, and Bucknell Chase a Winning Season in the Finale
Tuesday night in US college hockey is a split screen. In one window, the playoffs start. In the other, a team plays for a winning season and a bit of history.
The United East Championship starts on Tuesday with two first-round games, and the winners go to the semifinals on Saturday 31 October. The champion earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, so these games are not warm-ups. They’re win or go home.
No. 6 Cedar Crest travel to No. 3 Lancaster Bible College at 7:00pm. Lancaster Bible have had a historic season. The Chargers are 5-9 overall, a Division III program record for wins, with a program-best 3-3 finish in the United East for the third seed. They’ve scored a program-record 27 goals in 14 games, averaging 1.93 per game, and they recorded first-ever wins over King’s, Immaculata and Gwynedd Mercy this year, plus a three-game win streak from 30 September to 7 October that tied their longest Division III win streak. Riley Danko led them in conference play with five goals. Now they get their first-ever home playoff match. That’s the kind of night a program remembers.
The other first-round game is No. 5 Wilson at No. 4 Immaculata. Immaculata earned the fourth seed after winning three of their last four conference games, with Alexis Andrada leading them with eight goals against United East opponents.
Waiting in the semifinals are the top two seeds, who both earned first-round byes. No. 1 Penn State Harrisburg finished 6-0 in conference play and outscored their opponents 23-1, with Alysa McCarthy leading the conference with nine goals and goalkeeper Macenzie Mulholland allowing just one goal against conference opponents at a .889 save percentage. No. 2 St. Mary’s College of Maryland finished 5-1, scoring 25 goals against conference opponents, with Josie Mascolo leading them with six goals.
At the same time, Bucknell close their season at home against Lock Haven at 6:00pm, in the Susquehanna Showdown, streamed on ESPN+.
Bucknell are 7-7, and they’ve won three straight, including a 2-1 win over Lehigh last Friday night on goals from Ryane Fisahn and Elodie Nevitt. That win didn’t save their season, though. Holy Cross upset American on Sunday to clinch the final Patriot League Tournament spot, and that ended Bucknell’s faint hopes.
So Tuesday is about something else. A win gives Bucknell an 8-7 record and their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2008 and 2009. That’s a real milestone for a program, and it’s a good reason to turn up for a season finale. Lock Haven are 5-10. Head coach Kelsey Usefara is in her fifth season at Bucknell, and her 38 career wins are the fourth-most in program history.
For our money, Lancaster Bible is the game to watch. A first home playoff match, after a record-breaking season, against a Cedar Crest side with nothing to lose. That’s exactly the kind of night the postseason is for.
Related links:
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