Vic’s picks
Victor Fernandes unveils his predictions for the NCAA Division I tournament:

East Regional
at Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, R.I.
Semifinals – Saturday
No. 4 Canisius def. No. 1 Quinnipiac
No. 2 Boston College def. No. 3 Union
Championship game – Sunday
No. 2 Boston College def. No. 4 Canisius

Northeast Regional
at Verizon Wireless Arena – Manchester, N.H.
Semifinals – Friday
No. 4 Wisconsin def. No. 1 UMass-Lowell
No. 3 Denver def. No. 2 New Hampshire
Championship game – Saturday
No. 4 Wisconsin def. No. 3 Denver

Midwest Regional
at Huntington Center – Toledo, Ohio
Semifinals – Saturday
No. 4 St. Cloud State def. No. 1 Notre Dame
No. 2 Miami, Ohio def. No. 3 Minnesota State-Mankato
Championship game – Sunday
No. 4 St. Cloud State def. No. 2 Miami, Ohio

West Regional
at Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Mich.
Semifinals – Friday
No. 1 Minnesota def. No. 4 Yale
No. 2 North Dakota def. No. 3 Niagara
Championship game – Saturday
No. 1 Minnesota def. No. 2 North Dakota

Men’s Frozen Four
at CONSOL Energy Center – Pittsburgh
Semifinals – April 11
No. 2 Boston College def. No. 4 St. Cloud State
No. 1 Minnesota def. No. 4 Wisconsin
Championship game – April 13
No. 2 Boston College def. No. 1 Minnesota

NCAA Division I Tournament schedule
East Regional
at Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, R.I.
Semifinals – Saturday
No. 1 Quinnipiac (27-7-5) vs. No. 4 Canisius (19-18-5), 5:30 p.m. ESPN3
No. 2 Boston College (22-11-4) vs. No. 3 Union (21-12-5), 9 p.m. ESPNU
Championship game – Sunday
Semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m. ESPNU

Northeast Regional
at Verizon Wireless Arena – Manchester, N.H.
Semifinals – Friday
No. 1 UMass-Lowell (26-10-2) vs. No. 4 Wisconsin (22-12-7), 4:30 p.m. ESPN3
No. 2 New Hampshire (19-11-7) vs. No. 3 Denver (20-13-5), 8 p.m. ESPNU
Championship game – Saturday
Semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m. ESPNU

Midwest Regional
at Huntington Center – Toledo, Ohio
Semifinals – Saturday
No. 1 Notre Dame (25-12-3) vs. No. 4 St. Cloud State (23-15-1), 1:30 p.m. ESPN3
No. 2 Miami, Ohio (24-11-5) vs. Minnesota State-Mankato (24-13-3), 5 p.m. ESPN3
Championship game – Sunday
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m. ESPNU

West Regional
at Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Mich.
Semifinals – Friday
No. 1 Minnesota (26-8-5) vs. No. 4 Yale (18-12-3), 2 p.m. ESPNU
No. 2 North Dakota (21-12-7) vs. No. 3 Niagara (23-9-5), 5:30 p.m. ESPNU
Championship game – Saturday
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m. ESPNU

Men’s Frozen Four
at CONSOL Energy Center – Pittsburgh
Semifinals – April 11
East Regional champion vs. Midwest Regional champion, 4:30 p.m. ESPN2
Northeast Regional champion vs. West Regional champion, 8 p.m. ESPN2
Championship game – April 13
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m. ESPN

The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team will face Cornell Saturday at 1 p.m. in their NCAA Division I quarterfinal game at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y. All four games in the opening round will be played Saturday. Harvard (24-6-3) and fourth-seeded Boston College (26-6-3) will join the Lakers (28-6-1) and second-seeded Big Red (27-5-1) in playing at 1 p.m. Clarkson (28-9-0) travels to No. 3 Boston University for a 3 p.m. game, while top-seeded and defending champion Minnesota (38-0-0) hosts North Dakota (26-11-1) at 5 p.m.
In other news, the Lakers swept College Hockey America’s weekly honors. Junior forward Christine Bestland was named player of the week for totaling two goals and three points in wins against Robert Morris and Syracuse that clinched the program’s 10th conference title in the past 11 years. Senior Stephanie Ciampa earned top goaltender honors for stopping 45-of-47 shots in the two games. Jenna Dingeldein had a goal and three points to earn top rookie honors.

NCAA Women’s Division I Tournament schedule
Quarterfinals – Saturday
Harvard (24-6-3) at No. 4 Boston College (26-6-3), 1 p.m.
Mercyhurst (28-6-1) at No. 2 Cornell (27-5-1), 1 p.m.
Clarkson (28-9-0) at No. 3 Boston University (26-5-3), 3 p.m.
North Dakota (26-11-1) at No. 1 Minnesota (38-0-0), 5 p.m.
Semifinals*
March 22 at Ridder Arena – Minneapolis, Minn.
UND-Minnesota winner vs. Harvard-BC winner, 6 or 9 p.m.
Mercyhurst-Cornell winner vs. Clarkson-BU winner, 6 or 9 p.m.
Championship game*
March 24 at Ridder Arena – Minneapolis, Minn.
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.
* Streamed live on NCAA.com

NCAA Women’s Division I Tournament schedule
Quarterfinals – Friday or Saturday
North Dakota (26-11-1) at No. 1 Minnesota (38-0-0), Saturday at 5 p.m.
Harvard (24-6-3) at No. 4 Boston College (26-6-3), Saturday at 1 p.m.
Mercyhurst (28-6-1) at No. 2 Cornell (27-5-1), TBD
Clarkson (28-9-0) at No. 3 Boston University (26-5-3), Saturday at 3 p.m.
Semifinals*
March 22 at Ridder Arena – Minneapolis, Minn.
UND-Minnesota winner vs. Harvard-BC winner, 6 or 9 p.m.
Mercyhurst-Cornell winner vs. Clarkson-BU winner, 6 or 9 p.m.
Championship game*
March 24 at Ridder Arena – Minneapolis, Minn.
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.
* Streamed live on NCAA.com

The Mercyhurst University men’s hockey team received two votes in USCHO.com’s opening Division I poll of the season, which was released Monday. Mercyhurst spent two weeks on the honorable mention list last January on the way to a 20-16-4 record a season ago. The Lakers are one of four Atlantic Hockey Association schools that earned votes in the poll.
Defending AHA champion Air Force stands 19th with 116 points. Rochester Institute of Technology (six points), Mercyhurst and Niagara (two) were among the honorable mention.
Boston College begins defense of its national championship ranked No. 1 with 35 first-place votes and 972 points. Minnesota stands second with 12 first-place votes and 937 points, followed by Michigan at No. 3 with three first-place votes and 857 points. North Dakota (826) and Union (789) complete the top five.
Mercyhurst plays 12 games against five teams ranked among the top 20 or the honorable mention. No. 11 Ferris State, which lost to BC in the national title game this past spring, and No. 15 Maine joins Air Force, RIT and Niagara on the schedule.

The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team gained one spot in the latest USCHO.com Division I poll, which was released Monday. The Lakers (2-0-0), which swept a season-opening series with College Hockey America newcomer Rochester Institute of Technology this past weekend, passed Northeastern (0-0-0) for the ninth spot with 34 voting points.
Defending national champion Minnesota (2-0-0) retained the No. 1 spot after sweeping Colgate by a combined 18-0 score this past weekend. Cornell (0-0-0) and Boston College (0-0-0) moved up one spot to second and third, respectively, despite not playing any games. Wisconsin fell to fourth from second after a win and tie against unranked Minnesota State-Mankato. North Dakota (0-0-0), Boston University (0-0-0), St. Lawrence (0-0-0) and Minnesota Duluth (0-0-0) rounded out the top 10.
Quinnipiac (0-0-0), which hosts Mercyhurst Friday and Saturday, made the honorable mention list with two points.

The Mercyhurst University women’s hockey team will begin the 2012-13 season ranked 10th in the USCHO.com Division I poll, which was released Monday. The Lakers begin the season Saturday with an 3 p.m. exhibition game against Stoney Creek (Ontario) at Mercyhurst Ice Center. The regular season begins Sept. 28 at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Defending national champion Minnesota tops the list after receiving all 15 first-place votes, followed by Wisconsin, Cornell, Boston College and North Dakota. Boston University stands sixth, ahead of St. Lawrence, Minnesota Duluth, Northeastern and the Lakers. Robert Morris, which snapped Mercyhurst’s nine-year run as College Hockey America Tournament champion a season ago, received one vote in the poll.

Erie Otters center Dane Fox stands 46th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, which was released Monday. Five teammates join him on the list, including first-tim selection Luke Cairns. The veteran center is considered No. 189 among North American skaters after not appearing on Central Scouting’s preliminary and midterm lists.
Right wing Connor Brown (No. 110 from No. 85 in the midterm rankings) as well as defensemen Adam Pelech (No. 120 from No. 54), Troy Donnay (No. 122 from No. 115) and Liam Maaskant(No. 195 from No. 134) slipped down the list.
Former Otters winger Chris Marchese, now with Windsor, stands at No. 122. Center Drake Caggiula, the Otters’ third-round pick in the 2010 OHL Priority Selection, appears at No. 185. Caggiula, who played for Stouffville in the Ontario Junior A Hockey League this season, has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at North Dakota.
Sarnia’s duo of right wing Nail Yakupov and Alex Galchenyuk rank first and fourth, respectively, followed by Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci (sixth), Kitchener center Radek Faksa (seventh) and London defenseman Olli Maatta (eighth). Belleville’s Malcolm Subban (first), Saginaw’s Jake Paterson (third) and Kitchener’s Frank Palazzese (ninth) rank among the top 10 North American goaltenders.
The NHL draft takes place June 22-23 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Check out the the complete rankings by clicking on the link.

Mercyhurst’s streak of five straight finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award has ended.

Senior forward Bailey Bram wasn’t named one of the three finalists for the prestigious award, which annually honors the top women’s hockey player in NCAA Division I. A 13-member selection committee chose Wisconsin junior forward Brianna Decker, North Dakota junior forward Jocelyne Lamoureux and Northeastern senior goaltender Florence Schelling. The finalists were unveiled Thursday.

Bram joined fellow Laker forwards Christine Bestland and Kelley Steadman as well as Girard native Jen Schoullis, a redshirt senior forward at Minnesota, on the initial list of 30 nominees two weeks. Bram survived the cut to 10 players a week ago. But she fell short of joining former teammates Meghan Agosta (2007-09, 2011) and Vicki Bendus (2010) as Kazmaier finalists. Bendus won the award in 2010.

Decker has 36 goals, 42 assists and 78 points for the top-ranked Badgers, who on Saturday begin their quest for a fifth national championship in the past seven years as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Lamoureux has 34 goals, 48 assists and 82 points for the Fighting Sioux, which earned the seventh seed in the NCAA tournament field. Like her twin sister, Monique Lamoureux-Kolls, she represented the United States in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Schelling finished the season with a 20-6-4 record, 1.42 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.

The award will be presented March 17 at the Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth, Minn., as part of the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four, which will be held March 16 and 18.

The Mercyhurst women’s team earned the eighth and final seed in the NCAA Women’s Division I Tournament.

That means a quarterfinal matchup against top-ranked Wisconsin (31-4-2), the defending national champion, on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. The sixth-ranked Lakers (23-7-3) learned their fate during the NCAA’s webcast Sunday night.

Wisconsin won the 2011 national title with a 4-1 win against Boston University last March at Tullio Arena.

Meanwhile, Girard native Jen Schoullis and second-seeded Minnesota (31-5-2) begin their quest for a national title on Saturday at 5 p.m. against No. 7 North Dakota (22-11-3).

The quarterfinals earn berths in the Frozen Four, which will be held March 16 and 18 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn. Here’s the schedule for next weekend’s quarterfinals and the rest of the tournament:

Quarterfinals – Saturday

No. 5 St. Lawrence (24-9-4) at No. 4 Boston College (23-9-3), 1 p.m.

No. 6 Boston University (23-13-1) at No. 3 Cornell (29-4-0), 2 p.m.

No. 7 North Dakota (22-11-3) at No. 2 Minnesota (31-5-2), 5 p.m.

No. 8 Mercyhurst (23-7-3) at No. 1 Wisconsin (31-4-2), 8 p.m.

Semifinals

March 16 at Amsoil Arena – Duluth, Minn.

Wisconsin-Mercyhurst winner vs. BC-SLU winner, 6 or 9 p.m.

Minnesota-North Dakota winner vs. Cornell-BU winner, 6 or 9 p.m.

Championship game

March 18 at Amsoil Arena – Duluth, Minn.

Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

- Victor Fernandes