WAKEFIELD, Mass. - The Hockey East Association has announced the four pairings for the best-of-three quarterfinal round of the 2019 Hockey East Tournament. Playoff games begin Friday, March 15. The top five seeds, No. 1 Massachusetts, No. 2 Providence, No. 3 Northeastern, and No. 4 UMass Lowell, will play hosts No. 8 New Hampshire, No. 7 Boston College, No.6 Maine, and No. 5 Boston University, respectively, for the right to advance to championship weekend at TD Garden March 22-23. A full schedule can be found below.

No. 1 Massachusetts (26-8-0, 18-6-0 HEA) draws No. 8 New Hampshire (12-13-9, 8-10-6 HEA) after claiming the first-ever regular season crown in program history. The Minutemen earn hosting duties for the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2007, while New Hampshire finished with its highest ranking since 2015 (8th.) All-time in the Hockey East Tournament, the Wildcats own a 6-1 record against the Minutemen in six series. The two programs have not met in the postseason since the 2008 quarterfinals. During the regular season, UMass took a 2-0-0 mark against UNH. The Minutemen have not appeared in the semifinals since 2007.

No. 2 Providence (21-9-6, 14-7-3 HEA) will play host to No. 7 Boston College (11-20-3, 10-11-3 HEA) in the eighth-ever playoff series between the two schools, with BC holding a 7-3 advantage. The Eagles took a 2-1-0 mark against the Friars during the regular season, winning twice at home, although the lone PC win came on March 7, a 3-0 win in Providence. The Eagles have moved on to three consecutive semifinal weekends, while Providence has advanced to the TD Garden in five of the last seven years. Providence earned the second seed for just the second time in program history, while Boston College hasn't been the road time in a quarterfinal series since 2009 at New Hampshire.

No. 3 Northeastern (23-10-1, 15-8-1 HEA) welcomes No. 6 Maine ( 14-15-4, 10-9-4 HEA) to Matthews Arena for the first time since an Opening Round series sweep in 2016. Despite the 2016 series, the Black Bears own a 6-3 record against the Huskies all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, including a 4-0 mark in quarterfinal games. Maine looks to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2012, a year in which they appeared in the title game, while Northeastern hopes to make it to the TD Garden for th sec ond year in a row. The Huskies took the regular season series, 2-0-0, by a combined score of 7-2 on Jan. 11-12 in Orono.

No. 4 UMass Lowell (18-11-5, 12-7-5 HEA) will host No. 5 Boston University (14-16-4, 12-9-3 HEA) in the quarterfi - nals after earning the right to home ice in the final game of th e regular season. Historically, the Terriers own a 9-5 postseason record against the River Hawks, including a 5-3 win in the 2015 title game. Most recently, the River Hawks swept Boston University in the 2016 quarterfinals at Tsong as Arena. During the 2018-19 regular season, the two squads split the two-game regular season series, with each team winning on the road.