Box Score

POMFRET, Conn.- The UMass-Dartmouth men's hockey team edged Nichols 3-2 to earn the second seed in the upcoming ECAC Northeast playoffs on Saturday night at Jahn Rink. The game looked to be a shootout as each team scored a pair of goals in the opening period but the rest of the way proved to be a defensive battle as both teams looked to secure second place in the conference. A goal by the Cosairs' Jon Finn (Warwick, RI) early in the second period proved to be the game-winner as Nichols had its five game-winning streak snapped.

UMass-Dartmouth grabbed an early 1-0 lead with a goal by senior leading scorer Jeff Grant (Burlington, MA) at the 4:19 mark. Nichols then went on to score a pair of goals within 51 seconds of each other to take a 2-1 lead. Freshman Jean Marc Biron (Atlanta, GA) scored the first goal 10:18 into the period while junior Anthony Monte's (Chicago, IL) goal came at the 11:09 mark.

The Cosairs took advantage of a power play opportunity at the 16:53 mark, tying the game at 2-2. Freshman Joe Hill (Newburyport, MA) scored the goal, his tenth of the season. A closely played 20 minutes, UMass-Dartmouth had a slight edge on shots on goal, 11-9.

Finn's goal 4:28 into the second period proved to be the only scoring the rest of the way as the Cosairs were able to hold onto their one goal lead. UMass-Dartmouth held a 23-22 advantage on shots in the win, despite a 9-3 effort by the Bison in the third.

Nichols' junior Keith Fink (Easton, MD) and UMD junior Jeff Green (Medway, MA) each made 20 saves on the night.

Both Nichols and UMass-Dartmouth will host their ECAC Quarterfinal match-ups next Saturday, March 1. Currently, Salve Regina holds sixth place in the standings with a 4-3 win over Fitchburg State today, but due to the face its game against Stonehill on Friday was postponed due to weather, the Bison will have to wait and see who they will face next Saturday at 8:30 p.m.