Hockey Secures Fourth Seed, Will Host UNE on Saturday in CCC Quarterfinals

Hockey Secures Fourth Seed, Will Host UNE on Saturday in CCC Quarterfinals

PRINGFIELD, Mass. – With a 14-3-1 CCC (20-3-2 Overall) record and 29 points in the standings, No. 7/9 Endicott became the winner of the inaugural CCC Men's Ice Hockey Regular-Season Championship. The Gulls will now enter the CCC Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament as the top seed.

The Gulls have made great strides in just their second year as a varsity program. They have received national recognition all year and currently sit at No. 7 in the D3hockey.com Top 15 and at No. 9 in the USCHO.com Division III Men's Hockey Poll. They were also ranked third in the East in the latest NCAA Division III Regional Rankings.

Nichols earned the second seed in this year's tournament with 26 points and a conference record of 11-3-4 (14-6-5 Overall). Salve Regina, the only other CCC team to earn a spot in the national polls this year, will be the No. 3 seed after earning 25 standings points with an 11-4-3 CCC (14-7-4 Overall) record. Curry will serve as the final quarterfinal host as the No. 4 seed. The Colonels went 11-5-2 in conference (14-9-2 Overall) this year for 24 points in the standings.

The quarterfinals take place on Saturday, Feb. 25. Top-seeded Endicott will host No. 8 seed Western New England with puck drop scheduled for 2:50 p.m. Nichols draws No. 7 seed Becker at 3:40 p.m.

The Golden Bears clinched the final spot in the inaugural CCC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament with a win over Wentworth on Tuesday forcing a three-way tie for the seventh and eighth seeds. WNE, Becker, and Suffolk all finished the regular season with 11 points. Becker was awarded the seventh seed thanks to the first tiebreaking step, head-to-head record among all tied teams. The Hawks went 3-1 in their matchups with the Golden Bears and Rams, while the other two teams sported 1-2-1 records.

With Becker removed from the equation, WNE and Suffolk entered a new tiebreaker for the eighth spot. The Golden Bears were awarded the final seed thanks to their head-to-head win over the Rams on Jan. 28.

In the other two quarterfinals, Salve Regina will host No. 6 seed Johnson & Wales at 4 p.m., while Curry will host No. 5 seed UNE at 4:45 p.m.

After the conclusion of the quarterfinal round, teams will be re-seeded for the semifinals. The highest remaining seed will host the lowest remaining seed in one semifinal, while the second highest remaining seed will host the third highest remaining seed. The semifinal round will take place Wednesday, March 1.

The two semifinal winners earn a trip to the inaugural CCC Men's Ice Hockey Championship which takes place on Saturday, March 4. The CCC Tournament Champion will receive the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

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(Release Courtesy of the Commonwealth Coast Conference)