Hockey East Semifinals Set, Times Announced

Boston, Mass. -- The 2015 Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden are now set with the completion of three game threes on Sunday afternoon and evening. UMass Lowell, Vermont and New Hampshire joined Boston University, who had punched its ticket a night before.

UMass Lowell jumped out to a 4-1 and 6-2 lead over Notre Dame before holding on for a 6-4 win. The River Hawks are the two-time defending Hockey East Tournament champions.

Vermont, a team that had taken a huge step back in the second half after a strong first semester, pulled off the improbable upset over Boston College. After giving up four goals in the first 24:08 of the first game on Friday, the Catamounts shut the door. Michael Santaguida came out and Brody Hoffman was terrific out of the bullpen. Hoffman, a junior from Wilkie, Saskatchewan, only allowed one goal the rest of the weekend. He had a 0.39 goals against average and .989 save percentage over the 154:49 he played.

The Catamounts and River Hawks will play in Friday's first semifinal at 5 p.m.

New Hampshire is the lowest remaining seed to make it to the semifinals at the TD Garden. The Wildcats upset Providence in three games. Jay Camper deflected Brett Pesce's shot past Jon Gillies at the 12:43 mark of the first overtime to pull off the win. Senior Grayson Downing had a goal in each game of the series and Danny Tirone had a .963 save percentage in the three games.

UNH will meet the No. 1 seeded Boston University Terriers in Friday's second semifinal that will kick off at approximately 8 p.m., barring an overtime in the first semifinal.

Both semifinals will be broadcast live on New England Sports Network (NESN).

Hockey East Tournament Schedule
TD Garden
Boston, Mass.

Hockey East Semifinals
Friday, March 20, 2015

5 p.m. - No. 7 Vermont vs. No. 4 UMass Lowell
No. 8 New Hampshire vs. No. 1 Boston University

Hockey East Final
Saturday, March 21, 2015
7 p.m.

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Jeff Cox covers college, junior, high school and prep hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow me on Twitter @JeffCoxSports.