February 26, 2012

NU, BC, BU and PC have all advanced to the 10th Annual WHEA Championship Tournament

WAKEFIELD, Mass. - The Women's Hockey East Association announced the pairings for the 10th annual Championship hosted by the Hyannis Youth and Community Center at Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Rink on Saturday, March 3rd and Sunday, March 4th in Hyannis, Mass.

No. 1 seed Northeastern (22-6-4,15-3-3 WHEA) will face No. 4 seed Providence College (15-16-4, 11-8-2 WHEA) on Saturday, March 3rd at 12:30pm in the first WHEA semifinal, while No. 2 Boston College (23-8-3, 15-4-2 WHEA) will square off against No. 3 seed Boston University (21-13-1, 14-7-0 WHEA) in the second semifinal (3:30pm). Northeastern won the season series vs. Providence with a 2-0-1 record, while Boston University was victorious in the season series vs. the Eagles, 2-1-0.

The Friars advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0 victory against Maine on Saturday at Schneider Arena, while Boston University earned a 9-1 win vs. New Hampshire on Sunday at Walter Brown Arena for its fourth consecutive semifinal appearance. Providence is the only team in league history to play in the league semifinals in all 10 years of the league's existence. Northeastern and Boston College earned a bye to the league semifinal as a result of finishing No. 1 and 2 in the conference standings.

Northeastern and Providence will meet for the first time in tournament play on Saturday, while BC and BU have met twice previously in the tournament, including a 3-2 Eagles win in the 2009 semifinals and most recently a 3-1 Terriers' victory in the 2010 quarterfinal round.

Providence College won the first three WHEA Tournament Championships (2003, 2004, 2005), New Hampshire then won four straight league tournament titles (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) and followed most recently by Boston University (2010) and Boston College (2011).

The WHEA Championship Game will be played on Sunday, March 4 at 1 p.m. The game will be tape delayed on the New England Sports Network (NESN) at 4:30 p.m., following NESN's Boston Red Sox spring training coverage. Both WHEA semifinals games will be broadcast live on the internet by Pack Network at www.hockeyeastonline.tv. Games will be sold on an individual basis for $8.95.

Tickets for the 10th annual WHEA Championship are $8 for general admission, and $5 for groups of 10 or more. Tickets can also be ordered via mail order at www.hockeyeastonline.com. Tickets are also onsale in advance at the HYCC box office or will be available via walk up sale on game days.

The Women's Hockey East Association is an eight-team, Division-I college hockey conference which began play in 2002- 2003, with offices based in Wakefield, Mass. The league also sponsors an 10 team men's league which began play in 1984- 1984.

2012 WHEA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Semifinals
Saturday, March 3 (at Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Rink, Hyannis Youth and Community Center)
No. 4 Providence vs. No. 1 Northeastern (12:30pm)
Live on Pack Network at www.hockeyeastonline.tv)

No. 3 Boston University vs. No. 2 Boston College (3:30pm)
Live on Pack Network at www.hockeyeastonline.tv)

Championship Game (1pm)
Sunday, March 4 (at Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Rink, Hyannis Youth and Community Center)
Tape Delay on New England Sports Network, NESN (4:30pm)