For Immediate Release
Contact Dave Geringer, Sports Information Director, (508) 990-9651  [log in to unmask]
Thursday, February 28, 2008					

HOCKEY SET FOR ECAC NORTHEAST CHAMPIONSHIPS

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-With the regular season behind them, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's hockey team will begin defense of their Eastern College Athletic Conference championship when they host a first round playoff game Saturday. The Corsairs will host Salve Regina at 4:30 p.m. at the Stephan Hetland Memorial Ice Arena.

UMass Dartmouth enters the playoffs as the second seeded-team with an overall record of 15-8-1. The Seahawks are the seventh seeded team, and are 10-9-4 overall. The teams split a pair of games during the season, with the Corsairs winning, 3-1, in a non-conference game at Portsmouth Abbey January 16th, and SRU replying in kind with a 4-3 victory at Hetland February 6th. 

UMass Dartmouth has not lost since dropping that game to SRU, and enters the playoffs on a five-game winning streak. SRU is unbeaten in their last seven games since they lost at Johnson & Wales, 5-1, on January 27th.

The other playoff games this Saturday will match top-seeded Curry and eighth-seeded Fitchburg State, while third-seeded Nichols will play sixth-seeded Becker. The fourth seed, Wentworth, will host fifth seed Suffolk on Sunday.

The two highest remaining seeds will host the semi-final games Wednesday evening. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, March 8th, with the champion receiving the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championships.

UMASS DARTMOUTH HOCKEY