UMass Lowell clinched the No. 1 seed in the HEA tournament with Notre Dame's loss Saturday night.
UMass Lowell hockey may have been idle Saturday night, but the River Hawks still picked up a victory without hitting the ice.
With Notre Dame's 4-1 loss to Boston University Saturday, UMass Lowell clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Hockey East tournament. UMass Lowell, Boston University and Boston College each finished the regular season with 29 points as regular season conference co-champs — the River Hawks own the head-to-head tiebreaker for seeding purposes.
BU slides into the No. 2 seed with Saturday's victory while BC comes in at No. 3. This is the first regular season that's ended with a three-way tie at the top of the conference.
For the first time ever - we have tri-regular season champions! Congrats @RiverHawkHockey, @TerrierHockey and @BCHockey!
— Hockey East (@hockey_east) February 26, 2017
A Notre Dame (28 points) win would have catapulted the Irish past the Massachusetts squads for its first Hockey East regular season title in its four years as part of the conference. Instead, the Irish will round out the top four seeds that will receive a first-round bye in the 12-team tournament.
UMass Lowell helped its cause with a two-game sweep over Boston College this Thursday and Friday. River Hawks goalie Tyler Wall was a stonewall in those two games, recording 50 combined saves in 4-1 and 3-1 victories.
The first round of the Hockey East tournament begins March 3. The semifinals and finals on March 17-18 will be played at TD Garden in Boston.
