College Hockey

We'll go back two weeks, first, to cover the CCHA playoff round that preceded this weekend's quarterfinals.

Concerning the Panthers, Ohio State took on Bowling Green while Western Michigan hosted Lake Superior.

In game one of the Ohio State/Bowling Green series, the Buckeyes, playing without Matt Bartkowski, skated to a 5-4 win. The following night, Bartkowski had a goal and an assist in OSU's 7-1 trouncing over Bowling Green.

Western Michigan needed three games, but they too, advanced to the CCHA quarterfinal with Ryan Watson playing in two of the three.

The two remaining series saw Northern Michigan eliminate Michigan State, while Ferris State was knocked off by Nebraska-Omaha.

Moving ahead to this past weekend, the WCHA, CCHA and Hockey East all played out their quarter-final series.

Michigan and Western Michigan were put head-to-head right away, however, so one of the Cats' prospects had to see his season come to an end. Matt Rust made sure it wasn't him.

In the two games, Rust scored two goals and added two assists, while Michigan advanced to the semi-final with a pair of decisive victories (5-2, 6-1). They take on Alaska next weekend.

Notre Dame eliminated Nebraska with two shutouts and they'll host Northern Michigan.

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In the WCHA, Denver took on Alaska-Anchorage in the opening round, and in the first game, after falling behind 2-0, the Pioneers rallied to score three times en route to a 3-2 victory. Marc Cheverie was in net, and stopped 19 of 21. John Lee was on the ice to start the game, as well. The next night, Denver was the team outshot by a considerable margin, and the goals were back and forth right to the end. But again, the Pioneers came out on top, 4-3, while Chevy stopped 31 of 34.

Denver will take on Wisconsin next weekend.

Wrapping up the WCHA's weekend, Minnesota eliminated St. Cloud State, Wisconsin eliminated Minnesota State, Minnesota-Dultuh knocked off Colorado College and North Dakota defeated Michigan Tech.

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Lastly, but not least, of course, Hockey East.

Maine was a longshot to beat Boston University, and while they didn't, they did manage to force the series to a third game with a big 6-3 win on Saturday. Over the first two games, Matt Duffy had three assists, although the third game was all Boston University - scoring six in the first two periods, and holding out for a 6-2 win.

The loss wraps up Maine's season, although Duffy could always join Rochester on an amateur tryout, now that his college career has ended. Either way, we move on to New Hampshire.

But, no. The news is no better.

UNH was beaten in two games by Boston College, with Brian Foster first stopping 24 of 29 in a 5-3 loss and then lost 1-0 on 23 shots.