2023 MASCAC MIH Bracket

After completing a perfect conference season, Plymouth State lands the top seed in the 2023 MASCAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament which begins tomorrow with the quarterfinal contests.

Hitting the ice on February 25, #3 Fitchburg State hosts #6 Salem State at 5 pm while #4 Westfield State hosts #5 UMass Dartmouth at 5:35 pm.#2 Worcester State will host the Fitchburg State/Salem State winner at 2:30 pm while the winner of Westfield State/UMass Dartmouth will travel to top seed Plymouth State on February 28 for a 6 pm start.

The two semifinal victors will then face off on Saturday, March 4 for the MASCAC Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Earning the top spot and a first round bye, Plymouth State claimed the MASCAC Regular Season title with an 18-0 conference record. 2022 MASCAC Player of the Year continued a solid season with 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points, all in the top three of the conference. He also collected two game-winning goals and three hat tricks to close out the regular season.

Worcester State has the other first round bye with the second seed in the tournament. The Lancers were 12-5-1 at the end of league play. Jakob Kubik finished the regular season in the top four of the league in wins (9), win percentage (.559), goals against (53) and goals against average (3.01) while making 539 saves and a .910 save percentage.

Getting quarterfinal hosting duties is Fitchburg State in the third spot. The Falcons were 9-6-3 in MASCAC action. In his first season between the pipes Max Macchioni had eight wins, a .559 win percentage, 2.41 GAA, 564 saves and .928 save percentage. 

With the other quarterfinal hosting opportunity is Westfield State with the fourth seed. The Owls had six conference wins at the conclusion of the season. Cooper Board found the back of the net 14 times, including two game-winners along with six assists to total 20 points. 

Rounding out the tournament field is UMass Dartmouth and Salem State with the fifth and sixth seed, respectively. The Corsairs also had six wins while the Vikings finished with five in league play. Jake Maynard ended the regular season third in the league in assists with 18 while netting two goals for 20 points. For the Vikings, Erik Larsson led the league in goals with 15 and second in short-handed goals with two. He also assisted on 14 goals to finish with 29 points.

During the 2022 MASCAC Tournament, top seed Plymouth State defeated sixth seed Salem State 8-4 to win the league crown and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.