Conference roundup: Canisius, BU and Colgate all NCAA Tournament bound after conference tournament wins

The Colgate Raiders came into Saturday night 25th in the Pairwise. Their mission was simple heading into the ECAC Championship Game – win-and-in.

Mission accomplished as the Raiders are NCAA Tournament bound after a 3-2 upset win over Harvard. Colgate also knocked off top-seeded Quinnipiac in double overtime Friday night, 2-1.

Colgate, which entered the ECAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed, rattled off five straight wins over the last 15 days en route to its first ECAC Tournament title since 1990.

The win sends Colgate to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history. Their last trip came in 2014. Despite the loss in Lake Placid, Harvard will also be in the NCAA Tournament.

Four total ECAC teams (Quinnipiac, Harvard, Cornell and Colgate) will be in the field of 16. The Raiders will be the 15th overall seed while Harvard stays put at No. 7.

As for how Colgate's win happened, Colton and Alex Young struck for a pair of first-period goals, giving the Raiders an early 2-0 lead.

Harvard’s Henry Thrun cut the lead in half in the second, only to see Colgate forward Levi Glasman make it a 3-1 game minutes later.

Despite a late scare and Matthew Coronato’s third-period power-play goal, the Raiders held on for their fifth win of the tournament and 19th win of the season.

Colgate’s win knocks Alaska out of the NCAA Tournament and with St. Cloud State’s 3-0 win over Colorado College, Merrimack secures a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Warriors also stay put at No. 14 in the Pairwise. See more on Merrimack below.

The field of 16, which appears set, will officially be revealed Sunday night at 5:30 CT on ESPNU.

COLGATE 3, HARVARD 2

Colgate 2-1-0 – 3
Harvard 0-1-1 – 2

*Game played at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.*

First Period
Colgate: Colton Young (Ehan Manderville, Alex Young), 1:01, PP
Colgate: Alex Young, 12:47

Second Period
Harvard: Henry Thrun (Joe Miller, Alex Laferriere), 6:01
Colgate: Levi Glasman (Nick Anderson, Simon Labelle), 9:38

Third Period
Harvard: Matthew Coronato (John Farinacci, Sean Farrell),12:55, PP

Saves – Carter Gylander, Colgate, 34; Mitchell Gibson, Harvard, 20.

Power plays – Colgate 1-1, Harvard 1-4. Penalties – Colgate 4-8, Harvard 1-2.

Lane Hutson netted a power-play goal in the first and fired a shot through traffic 1:57 into overtime, giving the Boston University Terriers a 3-2 overtime win over Merrimack.

The win, in front of a lively crowd at TD Garden, sends BU to back to the NCAA Tournament and for the first time under first-year head coach Jay Pandolfo.

It also secures the 10th Hockey East title in program history.

The Terriers were dealt a blow hours before the opening faceoff as senior forward Wilmer Skoog was suspended one game for a boarding penalty in Friday’s win over Providence. Skoog came into Saturday’s game second on BU’s roster with 14 goals and centered the Terriers top line.

However, the Terriers were able to overcome the loss and also overcome a pair of one-goal deficits Saturday night.

Despite trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, Hutson knotted the game at one 38 seconds into the second period, blasting a one-time feed home from the far circle. The Hobey Baker finalist now leads BU with 14 goals and 47 points through 36 games.

BU (27-10-0) went down again in the second and trailed 2-1 heading into the final frame. Devin Kaplan tied it with 10:58 left in regulation and Hutson wasted little time in overtime.

BU, which came into the night fifth in the Pairwise, became the third team to officially punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

Canisius (AHA) was the first thanks to a 3-0 win over Holy Cross while Minnesota State (CCHA) also completed a 3-2 comeback win against Northern Michigan in overtime.

Michigan (Big Ten) is also NCAA Tournament bound after a 4-3 win over Minnesota.

Speaking of overtime, Merrimack (23-13-1) advanced to the Hockey East Championship Game thanks to a double overtime win on Friday.

All three of Merrimack’s HE Tournament games required extra hockey and seven of Merrimack’s last 11 games have gone beyond 60 minutes.

However, it was the Terriers that emerged victorious Saturday.

Now the Warriors will be closely watching the scoreboard in St. Paul. With a St. Cloud State win, Merrimack is also NCAA Tournament bound.

However, a Colorado College win and NCHC auto bid would mark the end of the road for the Warriors. Merrimack is currently 14th in the Pairwise.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY 3, MERRIMACK 2 OT

Merrimack 1-1-0-0 – 2
Boston University 0-1-1- 1– 3

*Game played at TD Garden*

First Period
Merrimack: Christian Felton (Ben Brar), 6:57, SHG

Second Period
BU: Lane Hutson (Domenick Fensore, Devin Kaplan), 0:38, PP
Merrimack: Mac Welsher (Tristan Crozier), 15:09

Third Period
BU: Devin Kaplan (Jamie Armstrong, Ryan Greene), 9:02

Overtime
BU: Lane Hutson (Matt Brown, Sam Stevens), 1:57

Saves – Hugo Ollas, Merrimack, 27; Drew Commesso, BU, 23.

Power plays – Merrimack 0-2, BU 1-5. Penalties – Merrimack 5-10, BU 2-4.

The Canisius Golden Griffins rode a Nick Bowman second-period goal and a pair of empty netters Saturday night to a 3-0 win over Holy Cross in the Atlantic Hockey Championship.

The win gives Canisius its second league title and second NCAA Tournament berth in program history. The Golden Griffins are the first team to officially qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Canisius, who entered Saturday 43rd in the Pairwise, was the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament. Holy Cross came in as the No. 7 seed and the 44th-ranked team in the Pairwise.

The Golden Griffins (20-18-3) finished the regular season on a 7-2-1 run and defeated Army and Niagara over the last two weekends in the AHA playoffs. Both series required three games.

However, Trevor Large's squad was able to win both and play for a spot in the NCAA Tournament Saturday night against Holy Cross.

The win gives Canisius the first of six conference auto-bids, which will all be decided Saturday night.

The Golden Griffins are likely ticketed for Fargo as the No. 16 seed. Canisius’ opponent will likely be Minnesota, the current No. 1 overall seed.

Many college hockey fans this week talked about a potential Minnesota-Holy Cross rematch in Fargo — which goes back to the Crusader's improbable upset win in 2006.

Instead, it’ll be the Golden Griffins making their first tournament appearance since 2013.

CANISIUS 3, HOLY CROSS 0

Holy Cross 0-0-0 – 0
at Canisius 0-1-2 – 3

First Period
NONE

Second Period
Canisius: Nick Bowman (Jackson Decker, David Melaragni), 17:59

Third Period
Canisius: Markus Boguslavsky, 18:32, ENG
Canisius: Keaton Mastrodonato (Hudson Lambert), 18:57, ENG

Saves – Jacob Barczewski, Canisius, 24; Jason Grande, Holy Cross, 22

Power plays – Canisius 0-1, Holy Cross 0-1. Penalties – Canisius 1-2, Holy Cross 1-2