#10 PC Friars Hockey Team to Face-Off Against #2 Boston University; NCAA Bid at Stake

#10 PC Friars Hockey Team to Face-Off Against #2 Boston University; NCAA Bid at Stake

For a brief time in December, there were only two Division 1 NCAA Schools in the US that were the answers to the following question:  What colleges have both their basketball team and their hockey team ranked in the top 25 in the country?  The answer was the University of Wisconsin (36,000 undergraduates) and Providence College (4,000 undergraduates).  Yes, you might remember those heady days in December when the Friar hoopsters were briefly ranked #23 in the polls.  The Wisconsin Badgers were also thriving at the time on the hardwood floor and were ranked #21. Both the PC and the Badger skaters were ranked in the top 10 at the time.  The fortunes of both the PC and Wisconsin hoopsters have faded since then, but their hockey counterparts remain ranked in the top 10.  As of 3/6/24, according to the College Hockey News rankings, Wisconsin is ranked #6 and PC is #10.

 

The Friars have hovered around their #10 ranking for most of the season. The NCAA only takes 16 teams for its tournament, so seemingly PC (18-11-3) at #10 should be safe with only two regular-season games remaining, tonight at home against #2 ranked Boston University (22-8-2) and Saturday against Northeastern at Schneider (16-15-2). PC is actually not a sure thing at this point. The NCAA takes the winners of the six college hockey conferences and then the ten teams with the highest pairwise ratings.  The pairwise rating is a sophisticated system that provides a 4-digit rating based on wins, wins against top teams, close losses, wins on the road, etc. While PC is ranked #10, the teams just behind the Friars—Colorado College, UMass, Michigan, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan, and Cornell—are all bunched very closely to the Friars.  So, the Friars have to still keep winning in their last two regular-season games and in the Hockey East tournament that begins on March 13.

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The Friars will have their hands full in tonight’s matchup against the BU Terriers who are ranked #2 in the country, a notch below their close geographical rival #1 Boston College.  The Friars and BU have played two games this season a few weeks ago with a 2-2 tie at PC’s Schneider Arena and a 5-2 BU victory in Boston.  BU features a high scoring offense, including the expected #1 NHL draft pick in freshman Macklin Celebrini who has scored 26 goals and 22 assists. PC’s top goal scorer is Chase Yoder with 10 goals and top point scorer is Nick Poisson with 21 points.  The NCAA transfer portal has an interesting twist for this game.  Last year’s goalie for Brown, Mathieu Caron, is the goalie this year for BU.  Caron had a losing record at Brown but has thrived at BU with a 22-8-2 record.  A win over #2 BU would boost PC’s pairwise rating significantly and almost provide a lock for their NCAA chances.

 

Despite a virtual season-long ranking of #10 and beating college hockey heavyweights Michigan, Denver, and Boston College, the PC hockey Friars have largely skated under the local sports radar.  Attendance at college hockey games this season is at a record level nationally and close to a record in the Hockey East, but PC this year has only one sellout in its 3,030-seat Schneider Arena. PC does not feature high scorers or lots of goals per game (only 2.9 goals per game), which may account for their modest local support.  There are no scoring snipers on the Friars.  They score by committee with all four lines and their defensemen contributing goals. They put lots of shots on the goalie, hoping that a rebound will be poked in by one of their forwards or center. Their offense can be frustrating to watch. They have 374 more shots on goal this season than their opponents, but only have scored 21 more goals than their opponents.  A March 2nd loss to Merrimack, a lower-tier Hockey East team, dramatically exemplified this dilemma.  PC had 47 shots on goal and only 1 goal.  They lost to Merrimack, which only had 18 shots on goal, 2-1.

 

How have the PC skaters won 18 games, and how have they maintained such a good ranking? This Friar team features a classic Coach Nate Leaman team—disciplined, few turnovers, and an emphasis on forechecking.  And they feature a respectable goalie in sophomore Philip Svedeback, who allows only 2.22 goals per game while stopping 90.2% of shots faced. PC’s high ranking is also attributable to being in Hockey East, the strongest conference in college hockey this year.  Four of the top ten teams in the country are Hockey East teams--#1 Boston College, #2 Boston University, #9 Maine, and #10 Providence.  And #12 is UMass.  Five of the top seven point scorers in the country are from Hockey East—all freshmen from Boston College and Boston University.  PC is currently ranked #4 in Hockey East, and its overall national ranking is due in large part to its strong performance in Hockey East.

 

There are still seats available for tonight’s Providence-Boston University game at Schneider.  Should be a great college hockey atmosphere and an opportunity to see if PC can stymie BU’s freshman phenom Macklin Celebrini.

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: The final regular season game against Northeastern. The PC-Huskies face off is this Saturday at Schneider at 4 PM.  The Friars need whatever home-ice advantage they can get.  This is now a must-win game before they start the Hockey East tournament next week.