Tournament Bracket

For the third time in four years, the Plymouth State Panthers have claimed the number one seed in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament which will begin on Saturday, February 24 with the quarterfinal round.

In the quarterfinals Saturday, fourth seed UMass Dartmouth entertains fifth seed Westfield State while third seed Worcester State will host sixth seed Salem State at 7 pm. Top seed Plymouth State will then host the winner of UMass Dartmouth/Westfield State on Tuesday, February 27 at 7 pm in the semifinals while second seed Fitchburg State entertains the winner of Worcester State/Salem State also at 7 pm.

The two semifinal winners will then face off for the MASCAC Tournament crown on Saturday, March 3 at a time to determined for not only the conference title, but the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.

Earning a first round bye and the MASCAC regular season title for the second straight year, Plymouth State finished the conference campaign with a 15-2-1 record. Ryan Stevens led the Panthers with 36 points on 11 goals and 25 assists tied for the third most in the conference. His assist total was the second-best in the league while also having the fourth most power play points with 14 on four goals and 10 assists. In goal, Evan Morelli finished the regular season atop the league in goals against average (1.87), save percentage (.931) and winning percentage (.868).

Fitchburg State grabbed the other first round bye after finishing 11-4-3 in the MASCAC this year for the second seed. In his first season with the Falcons, Sascha Figi registered 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points which is tied for third in the league and tops among freshman. His 18 goals were the second-highest tally in the conference and 18 assists were fifth-best. Goalie Kirby Saari was strong between the pipes with a .929 save percentage, 2.85 goals against average and a 7-3-2 record which are all in the top three of the conference.

Coming next in the third seed is Worcester State who was 8-8-2 at the end of the league regular season. Mike Moran netted 16 goals, fourth highest in the conference and 15 assists for 31 points, sixth-highest point total in the MASCAC. He also collected four power plays goals which put him in top eight of the league.

UMass Dartmouth is the fourth seed after completing the MASCAC campaign with a 7-8-3 record. Jonathan Ruiz led the conference in several categories following the end of the regular season, including total points with 41 and goals scored with 24. He was also first in power play points with 23 on 12 goals and 11 assists, power play goals, shorthanded goals with three and shorthanded points with five.

Rounding out this year’s tournament field is Westfield State and Salem State in the fifth and sixth seed. The Owls were 8-10 during conference action this season. Leading the way for the team was Aaron Clancy who scored 14 goals and added 11 assists for 25 points. He led the MASCAC in game-winners with four while his goal total was good enough for a tie for fifth. The Vikings closed out the regular season 6-9-3 in the conference. Derek Makimaa was the top point scorer on the team with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points this season. His goals scored were the ninth most in the league while he netted two game-winning scores.

During the 2017 MASCAC Tournament, second seed Salem State won its second straight tournament title with a 4-3 victory over top seed Plymouth State and earned a bid into the NCAA Tournament.