Athletics

Minutemen Set to Host Hockey East Quarterfinal Series March 15-17

UMass locked up its first-ever regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the league playoffs with a 4-2 win at Merrimack on Feb. 28
UMass locked up its first-ever regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the league playoffs with a 4-2 win at Merrimack on Feb. 28

The Minutemen hockey team is set to host a Hockey East Quarterfinal series for the first time since 2007 on March 15-17 at the Mullins Center. The top-seeded Minutemen, ranked No. 2 nationally, will face either Boston College or New Hampshire, depending on which team finishes the regular season eighth in the league. All of the games in the best-of-three quarterfinal round are scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with Sunday's game to be played only if necessary.

UMass locked up its first-ever regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the league playoffs with a 4-2 win at Merrimack on Feb. 28. They have since defeated Maine, 6-0, on home ice during Senior Night on March 2, and will wrap up the regular season March 8 at UConn.

Led by Hobey Baker Award candidate Cale Makar, Amherst native John Leonard and goaltender Matt Murray, who broke the single-season wins record set by Los Angeles Kings all-star Jonathan Quick in 2006-07, the team has won a program-record 26 games this season under third-year coach Greg Carvel and set a single-game attendance record at the Mullins Center on Dec. 8 when 8,412 fans packed the house against No. 8 Quinnipiac.

The Hockey East semifinal and championship games will be played March 22-23 at the TD Garden in Boston.

Tickets for the Hockey East Quarterfinal games are available at the Mullins Center box office, by visiting www.UMassAthletics.com, or by calling 1-866-UMASS-TIX. The games will not be televised, but will be available online via paid streaming at www.FloHockey.tv.