CAPE COD, Mass. - Commissioner of the ECAC Rudy Keeling and the ECAC Northeast Executive Committee announced the 2010 ECAC Division III Northeast Ice Hockey League Playoffs seeds on Tuesday. The quarterfinals are set to begin on Saturday, February 27.
Curry College finished the season with a 10-3-1 record to earn the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. The Colonels finished the year with the top scoring defense in the league with 31 goals and 2.21 goals per game. Curry will host No. 7 Western New England College on Saturday, February 27 at 4:30 p.m. The Golden Bears finished the conference schedule with a 2-12-0 record. WNEC is led offensively by sophomore Kory Grahl (San Diego, Calif./San Diego Surf) with 12 points on five goals and seven assists.
Wentworth finished the season with an 11-3-0 conference record to clinch the top seed in the Northeast tournament. This is the Leopards first regular season title since the 2002-03 season. Wentworth heads into the playoffs with the top scoring offense in the league (4.57 g/gm), led by senior Jeff Olitch (Calgary, Alberta/Helena, NAHL) who tallied 16 goals and 11 assists for 27 points, good for second in the league. The Leopards will face off against the eighth seeded Seahawks of Salve Regina. Salve finished the season with a 0-13-1 conference record. The Seahawks' Billy Sabia (Ridgefield, Conn./Trinity-Pawling) looks to continue his hot streak into the playoffs, having scored a point in three consecutive games.
Suffolk University earns the number three seed. The Rams went 8-4-2 in the league. Suffolk is led offensively by Pat Welch (Dorchester, Mass./Bay State Breakers, EJHL) and Niles Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Bay State, EJHL), who each tallied eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points. The Rams will host No. 6 Johnson & Wales University on Sunday, February 28 at 6:25 p.m. Johnson & Wales finished the year with a 7-6-1 league record and were 10-14-1 overall. Craig Houle (Burrillville, R.I./Portland Pirates) leads the Wildcats, and the league, in scoring with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points.
Becker College earns the number four seed after finishing the year with an 8-6-0 league record (12-11-1 overall). Becker is led by Patrick Bellew (Newington, Conn./Conn. Clippers) who finished the regular season with seven goals and three assists for 13 points. Becker will face number five Nichols College at 3:10 p.m. on Sunday, February 28. The Bison tied Johnson & Wales for fifth place during the year and receive the number five seed based on regular season head-to-head play. The Bison defeated Johnson & Wales once and the two programs played to a tie in their final game. Zach Kohn (Hartland, Wisc./New England Falcons) led the Bison with 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) during the regular season.
Read the full ECAC Northeast Playoff Release
