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 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.

The Mercyhurst women’s hockey team gave top-ranked Wisconsin a big-time battle.

But after playing the teams played to a draw through two periods in their NCAA Division I quarterfinal matchup Saturday night at Kohl Center, the defending national champion Badgers took control.

Top-seeded Wisconsin scored twice in the third period to seal a 3-1 win against the No. 8 Lakers to end Mercyhurst’s season and send the Badgers (32-4-2) to next weekend’s Frozen Four in Duluth, Minn.

Senior forward Kelley Steadman scored Mercyhurst’s lone goal, which tied the score 1-1 with 40 seconds left in the second period. But Hilary Knight’s short-handed breakaway snapped the tie with 8:42 left in the game. Brianna Decker’s empty-net goal with 1:15 left sealed the Lakers’ fate.

The Lakers (23-8-3) ended their season in the quarterfinals for the second straight season. They lost to Boston University 4-2 a season ago.

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

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

Where: Kohl Center – Madison, Wis.

On the air: www.wpt.org/wisconsinchannel, insideBadgerSports.com (live stream), www.iheart.com (Internet radio – The Mic 92.1) and www.wsum.org, www.uwbadgers.com (live statistics)

Fast facts: Mercyhurst plays in the NCAA tournament for the eighth straight season, the longest streak in Division I history. The Lakers broke a tie with Minnesota Duluth, whose seven-year streak ends this season. … The Lakers have a 0-7 all-time record against Wisconsin, including two losses in the NCAA playoffs – 2-1 in double overtime in the 2006 quarterfinals and 5-0 in the 2009 championship game. … The Lakers have a 3-6 record in NCAA playoff games, including a 2-5 mark in the quarterfinals. … Wisconsin and Mercyhurst rank second and third nationally in scoring offense at 4.59 and 4.55 goals per game, respectively. … Mercyhurst leads the nation on the power play (28.3 percent), three spots ahead of the Badgers (23.7). … The teams have combined for seven of the nation’s top 20 scorers – Mercyhurst’s Bailey Bram, pictured at right, (27 goals, 41 assists, 68 points), Christine Bestland (24-34-58) and Kelley Steadman (32-20-52) and Wisconsin’s Brianna Decker (36-42-78), Brooke Ammerman (32-42-74), Carolyne Prévost (25-29-54) and Hilary Knight (28-2-56). … Wisconsin ranks second in scoring defense (1.43 goals per game), more than half a goal better than the Lakers (2.09). … Wisconsin tops the penalty-kill list (89.6 percent), well ahead of Mercyhurst (83.1 percent). … Wisconsin G Alex Rigsby leads the nation in save percentage (.952) and ranks second in winning percentage (.865) and shutouts (9) and third in goals-against average (1.36). … Decker is a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which honors the nation’s top D-I player. … Wisconsin earned the No. 1 seed despite losing to UMD in the semifinals of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. … Badgers coach Mark Johnson played on the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 1980 at Lake Placid, N.Y., and coached the U.S Olympic Women’s team in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

- Victor Fernandes

NCAA Women’s Division I Tournament schedule

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.

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

What: No. 3 Mercyhurst College (12-2-0) at St. Lawrence (8-7-2)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 3 p.m.

Where: Appleton Arena – Canton, N.Y.

On the air: www.americaone.com (Internet video)

Players to watch

Mercyhurst – Jr. G Hillary Pattenden (11-2-0 record, 2.05 goals-against average, .904 save percentage, 1 shutout), Sr. F Meghan Agosta (15 goals, 16 assists, 31 points), Sr. F Vicki Bendus (10-19-29), Jr. F Bailey Bram (8-12-20), Sr. F Jesse Scanzano (5-15-20)

St. Lawrence – Fr. F Rylee Smith (6-8-14), So. F Kelly Sabatine (6-5-11), So. F Kayla Sullivan (6-5-11), Fr. D Bailey Habscheid (5-6-11), So. D Brooke Fernandez (3-8-11)

Fast facts

Mercyhurst – The Lakers complete the first half of the season looking to extend a five-game winning streak. … The Lakers have won five straight to close the Saints’ all-time series lead to 12-7-2, including 4-2 and 6-2 road wins last season. Mercyhurst ended the Saints’ 2008-09 season in the NCAA Tournament. … Bendus had six points in last weekend’s home sweep of Niagara, including four while playing defense on Saturday. … F Kelley Steadman (11-6-17) has points in a career-high, six straight games. … Bendus leads NCAA Division I in assists per game (1.46). … Agosta leads the nation in points per game (2.38) and trails only Minnesota Duluth junior F Haley Irwin (32) and Boston College senior F Kelli Stack (32) in total points. … The Lakers lead the nation in scoring (5.43 per game). … Pattenden moved into second on the program’s all-time wins list (64) with Saturday’s victory against Niagara. She stands 10 wins shy of equaling 2008 graduate Laura Hosier’s mark of 74. … Michael Sisti (294-80-26) needs six wins to become the sixth women’s coach to reach that mark.

St. Lawrence – The Saints have won three of their last four games. Their only loss in that stretch was at No. 1 Cornell 3-1 last Friday. … They are 1-2-1 against ranked opponents (a 2-1 loss at then-No. 5 Boston University on Oct. 22, a 7-3 win and 1-1 tie against then-No. 6 Boston College on Nov. 12-13 and the loss to Cornell). … They have 12 freshmen and sophomores on a 20-player roster. … The Saints have split time in net between graduate student Maxie Weisz (4-5-1, 2.14, .921, 1 SO) and freshman Caitlyn Lahonen (4-2-1, 2.29, .909, 1 SO).

Up next: Easton Holiday Showcase – at St. Cloud State (Jan. 1, 3 p.m.), vs. Wisconsin (Jan. 2, noon)

- Victor Fernandes

Erie Otters winger David Broll is ranked 24th overall among OHL skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary rankings. Read more by clicking this link. Check out complete skater and goaltender lists from all three CHL leagues by clicking this link. Meanwhile, check out the NCAA players to watch, which include former Otters draft picks Kevin Clare (Michigan) and Michael Mersch (Wisconsin).