CENTERVILLE, Mass. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) announced today the seedings for the 2014 ECAC Northeast Hockey Tournament. After closing out the regular season with a conference record of 9-3-2, the Nichols College Bison earned the Tournament's top seed, and will host a semifinal game on Wednesday, March 5, at 8:10 p.m. at Levy Rink. The 2014 ECAC Northeast Hockey Tournament begins on Saturday, March 1, and concludes on Saturday, March 8 with the Tournament championship at the highest remaining seed's campus.
The opening game of the 2014 ECAC Northeast Hockey Tournament is a quarterfinal matchup between No. 3 seed Salve Regina University and the No. 6 seed, Curry College. Salve Regina is the No. 3 seed as a result of a tiebreaker with Wentworth. The Seahawks and Leopards finished with identical 9-5 conference records, but Salve Regina dropped both its regular season meetings to Wentworth. The Seahawks went 11-14 through their first 25 games this season, including wins in four of their final five games. As a team, Salve Regina averages 3.12 goals per game, which is the third-best in the Conference. Sophomore Peter Gintoli (Monroe, Conn.) is fifth in the ECAC Northeast in scoring, netting nine goals and handing out 16 assists during the course of the regular season. Gintoli put forth one of his finest efforts of the season in Salve Regina's penultimate game, scoring once and dishing out two assists in a 3-1 triumph over Western New England University. Classmate Marc Biggs (Plano, Texas) also ranks among the league leaders in scoring, as his 22 points (8 g, 14 a) are good enough for No. 8 overall. Sophomore David Chiokadze (Langhorne, Pa.) earned the start in goal in the Seahawks' last five games and owns a 2.77 goals against average and .911 save percentage in 520:34 minutes this season.
The Curry Colonels used a 4-3 overtime victory in their final regular season game to qualify for the 2014 ECAC Northeast Tournament. Curry enters the Tournament after wrapping up its regular season with a pair of wins over Becker College and Johnson & Wales University to improve to 10-13-2 overall and 6-8 within the confines of the ECAC Northeast. Sophomore Brandon Gilmore (Quincy, Mass.) has been the leader of the Colonels' offense this season, racking up 19 points on nine goals and 10 assists, which ties him for the 11th best point total in the Conference. Junior defenseman Chris Mason (Monrovia, Calif.) scored the golden goal for Curry in its playoff clinching win over Johnson & Wales University, and both of his goals this season have proven to be game winning tallies. The Colonels boast the second-best scoring defense in the ECAC Northeast, thanks in large part to the play of junior goaltender Derek Mohney (Amherst, N.Y.). In 964:20 minutes of action, Mohney has the second-lowest goals against average in the Conference (2.12) and the second-highest save percentage (.932). The opening faceoff is slated for 4:05 p.m. at the Portsmouth Abbey School.
For more information regarding the 2014 ECAC Northeast Hockey Tournament, including scores, game times and locations, visit www.ecacdiiihockey.com.
Click here to read the full Tournament Announcement
Click here to visit Tournament Central
Click here to view a Tournament Bracket
