Quinnipiac senior forward Grace LaBarge felt the end in silence. The Bobcats had just lost to Seton Hall 57-40, and were sitting in the visiting locker room of Walsh Gymnasium. LaBarge had just taken off her shoes, which were a hybrid of pink, purple and blue.
It was only players in the locker room at this point, no one was speaking, though. Some had their heads down, others were crying. It wasn’t until a minute or two in that sophomore forward Anna Foley said something, then LaBarge spoke.
She thanked them for her senior year and how proud she was of all of them. With her shoes off, and her uniform eventually coming off, LaBarge had a realization.
“Wow, I’m not going to put these back on,” LaBarge said. “I’m never going to be suited up for a game again.”
Former Bobcat guard Jillian Casey has been on that road before. Her basketball career ended in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the year before at the MAAC Tournament. Casey is now a physical therapy student at the University of Rhode Island pursuing her doctorate.
She texted LaBarge right after the game ended, “How are you feeling?”
“[LaBarge] said, ‘definitely weird, and I’m not really sure what to think of it,’” Casey said.
The morning after, LaBarge was in a haze. It was 10 times worse after sleeping. She texted a group chat she has with sophomore guards Maria Kealy, Ava Sollenne, Paige Girardi and Foley.
“It feels like we’re still in a nightmare,” LaBarge said. “This is reality.”
This was the second sit-down blow of the end for LaBarge. Quinnipiac was clobbered 76-53 in the MAAC Championship game by Fairfield, so that and the permanent end created a “double whammy,” for LaBarge.
A month later with fresher eyes and now a “NARP”, (a non-athletic regular person), LaBarge sees the end of her basketball, hell, her college life as simply the end of chapters. College is a four-year chapter, sure, but basketball has been a 17-year chapter for LaBarge. It’s been a chapter filled with joy, camaraderie, injury, anxiety and, above all, love.
Where it all started
LaBarge first started playing like most kids with her siblings at around five years old. She’s the baby of the family. She has three older siblings, a brother, Michael, and two sisters, Emily and Hannah.
That’s how her love of the game developed.
“I would go to all of their games, and I loved watching them play,” LaBarge said.
From there, her next memory concerns something LaBarge has become all too accustomed with: three pointers on the wing. LaBarge attempted the fourth most three pointers on Quinnipiac this past season.
She was in fourth grade, playing up against fifth graders and she put up a prayer.
“I shot the shot, and I immediately started running back on defense,” LaBarge said.
It went in. From there, a love of the three-ball started with LaBarge. Of her 601 career points with Quinnipiac, 213 are triples.
Pretty early on — in late elementary school/early middle school — LaBarge knew that she wanted to play collegiate basketball. She played up for most of her life, in preparation for playing for William Fremd High School.
When she got there, LaBarge instantly made an impact. She was on the varsity team as a freshman, although the varsity team was like LaBarge at the high school level, inexperienced.
“We were really young,” then-assistant coach and interim head coach of Fremd James Han said. “We actually didn’t have a great season, per se, because we were so young.”
Dave Yates was the head coach of Fremd when LaBarge went there. He had to step down in 2024 because of a brain cancer diagnosis. He was the Fremd girls basketball head coach for 18 years and died on June 11, 2024.
He was instrumental in LaBarge’s growth. LaBarge struggled with self-confidence her sophomore year. She would get on the court and think that she couldn’t do it and she would mess up. She was locked in her head.
“There was a time where I was like, I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to play basketball anymore. I’m ready to give up,” LaBarge said.
It was Yates who convinced her not to. Through being there for LaBarge, he put her on the path she’s on now.
“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have ever made it to Quinnipiac,” LaBarge said.
In LaBarge’s junior year, Fremd went on to win the state championship, its first in program history. It beat Lincoln-Way West 58-47 to take home the trophy.
But trophies weren’t of the team’s concern.
“None of us wanted to be done,” Emily Klaczek, the then-point guard on Fremd said.
“One of our mantras Grace’s junior year was ‘keep winning so we could spend more time together as a group,’” Han said.
It was Dave Yates first ever state championship. Yates’ family held a celebration of life in the Fremd library, where the whole state championship team came to show their support. Both LaBarge and Klaczek flew back for the occasion.
“I’m so glad I made the trip home for it,” LaBarge said. “It really encapsulated the type of person he was, that he was having so many people come around for him.”
The Quinnipiac experience
LaBarge celebrates with teammates sophomore guard Karson Martin (center) and freshman guard Gal Raviv during the Bobcats MAAC Tournament win over Merrimack. (Rob Rasumssen | P8 Photos)
LaBarge committed to Quinnipiac over the pandemic. One of her AAU coaches put her on a phone call with Quinnipiac, which was news to LaBarge, both the phone call and the school she would shortly be talking to.
“I have never even heard of Quinnipiac,” LaBarge said. “What is that?”
LaBarge knew right when speaking to Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri that it would work out. She talked with former players Rose Caverly and Cat Almeida, took a visit and committed shortly after that.
She moved in over the summer for the two summer practice sessions with four other freshmen — senior guard Jackie Grisdale, Rose Caso, Reiven Douglas and Korin Mereste.
Talk to anyone about LaBarge, and they’ll mention how funny she is.
“She was certainly a goofball,” Han said. “She’s always been silly.”
She instantly left that impact upon her fellow freshman, regardless of what they were doing.
“We would sit in the common area and play board games,” Douglas said. “She would be one of the ones making jokes about the games.”
Her humor left a lasting impression on Casey too. The team was shooting around, some were shooting others were rebounding. LaBarge walked up to Casey and left her with seven words.
“Born to yap. Forced to play basketball.”
Her and Casey became close, over humor, yes, but also over common struggles. Throughout LaBarge’s four years as a Bobcat, she dealt with uncertainty about her playing time, having to miss family events, multiple sprained ankles — including one that sidelined her for a little over two weeks this season.
Casey has been through all of that. She had a concussion her junior year and then broke her pinky her senior year. But she had Grace to lean on throughout it all.
“I can honestly say that I’m not sure that I would have gone through my last two years without being friends with her,” Casey said.
For LaBarge, former director of basketball operations Jasmyne Fogle and senior associate athletic trainer Becky Mella are who helped her get through the four years in Hamden. In the first summer session, Mella gave all of the new freshman hugs.
“Even from day one, I already knew that I was going to be very close to her,” LaBarge said. “As the years went on, I would find myself turning to Becky if I needed help.”
There’s disagreement among those closest to Grace about what their favorite Quinnipiac basketball memory was of her. Her parents, Ann and Jim, recall the 20-point performance against Princeton on Dec. 6, 2023. LaBarge went 6-6 from the field, and 3-3 from beyond the arc.
Brody Limric, a former Quinnipiac player and Grace’s boyfriend, however, likes to think about her layup against Fairfield from this past season.
— Quinnipiac Women's Basketball (@QU_WBB) March 8, 2025
LaBarge got the ball on the right wing, she drove to her left side, got banged in the paint and while falling to her left toward the M&T Bank Arena stands, lofts a left-handed shot off the glass into the bucket. It sealed a regular-season finale win over Fairfield.
At that moment, it felt like Quinnipiac could win the MAAC, and Grace’s last memory would be hoisting a trophy. But only if we could live in “what ifs,” life would be so much different.
The future
No one truly knows what the future holds for them. For LaBarge, though, the next steps may lay in a cat she adopted over the summer. Meet Oliver, he’s a little over a year old with light brown fur and black stripes all over his body. He’s also missing his left eye. He loves to go on walks outside, he begs LaBarge every day to make it happen. LaBarge loves doing it.
However, some of the students on Quinnipiac’s York Hill campus think otherwise.
“I’ve been walking outside with him and people will yell out their windows at me, and they’ll say ‘that’s not a fucking dog,’” LaBarge said. “I vividly remember some guy yelling that, and I wish I knew where he lived, because I’d be like ‘are you serious?’”
LaBarge worked at the Mount Carmel Veterinary Hospital on Whitney Avenue. She only worked a little during the school year, due to basketball and classes, but a lot more in the summer.
LaBarge came in one day, and saw Oliver on the recovery table, post surgery from removing his left eye. He was mangled — the vets believe he was hit by a car — which caused his left eye to bulge out of his skull.
He needed help with recovering, and it was in part LaBarge’s job to do that. It was a challenge for Oliver to recover.
“It got to the point that I was like, I feel so bad leaving him here overnight in a cold crate, so I asked the vet if I could take him home just nights with me,” LaBarge said.
The answer was yes, and LaBarge grew attached with each night.
“He wanted to be with me the whole, entire time,” LaBarge said with a wide smile. “He was also just so cute and had one eye, how could you resist him?”
LaBarge holding Oliver in her dorm at Quinnipiac University. (Courtesy of Brody Limric)
Oliver eventually went up for adoption, and it was LaBarge who adopted him.
“She loves that animal,” Limric said. “She does a lot for it.”
Oliver is a representation of LaBarge’s love of animals, which inspired her to become a veterinarian. She’s always had that love, dating back to the ditch at the end of her driveway in Inverness.
“That [love] probably started sooner than basketball for me,” LaBarge said. “This is so gross, I have so many memories playing in our little ditch at the end of our driveway, because there would be so many frogs there.”
“I loved hanging out with the frogs, I would spend hours outside with them.”
She’s waiting to hear back from two veterinarian schools, the University of Illinois and Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. She had a job interview on May 2 to work at a vet back home. The summer plan is to go back home and work there, then spend the year with Limric — who is currently in the transfer portal — wherever he ends up, if LaBarge doesn’t get into vet school.
LaBarge isn’t going to walk the stage at graduation. Her collegiate end won’t be in a cap and gown. It will be among family and friends back in Illinois. That won’t be in silence either, but once in solitude, LaBarge is filled with nothing but gratitude about her journey.
“If I was there, I would just be grateful for all of the good experiences that I had, and the bad,” LaBarge said.
Hamden, CT – Tricia Fabbri was hired as Quinnipiac College’s first full-time women’s basketball coach in 1995.
She did not have an arena to call home like she does now. Her resources — as a Division II school in the mid-1990s — were limited. She didn’t even have an office to herself.
Coming from Fairfield University, Fabbri had a stellar playing career. Known then by her maiden name, Tricia Sacca, she finished her career with 1,622 points, 1,036 rebounds and three First-Team All-Conference selections. Fabbri knew what winning looked, felt and sounded like early in her life.
Fabbri wasn’t coaching when she got a call from her former coach at Fairfield, Dianne Nolan, asking her to join her coaching staff as an assistant after graduating.
Fabbri was working as a cocktail waitress in Atlantic City when Nolan called her back to Connecticut.
As an assistant for four seasons, Fabbri helped the Stags to a record of 64-51. Once Quinnipiac had an opening for its head women’s basketball coaching position, then athletic director Burt Kahn reached out to Fabbri about moving to Quinnipiac.
This article is a profile of Fabbri’s 30 years in Hamden (on and off the court) told by her peers, players, assistant coaches, family and all those who became family along the way.
Early Days
Nolan: “It also made a lot of sense. They were just getting their program off the ground. [Fairfield] at the time had done a similar thing. We went from Division II to Division I. We had made the NCAA Tournament a few times. I think the administration at Quinnipiac looked at Fairfield and said, ‘Wow. We want to kind of do what they did,’ and she is all part of that. Let’s hire someone who’s been through it and has had success with it.”
John Lahey, Quinnipiac President 1987-2018: “She was very young … And I’ll have to give Burt Kahn credit … He recognized the quality and potential there to hire [a] younger coach.”
Billy Mecca, Quinnipiac MBB Coach 1991-96/Senior Associate Athletic Director 1998-Present: “She was full of energy and a bundle of joy. And really anxious in a good way, about the opportunity that Quinnipiac provided for her.”
Lahey: “You hire young leaders and you hope they’ll turn out to be great, but you never know for sure. So, whatever Trish has, I wish I could clone it. I wish I could have every coach that we hired turn into a Trish Sacca. You know, she’s very impressive. She’s a big woman. I mean, she’s a presence. I can only imagine her boxing somebody out. I see why she had the rebounding records.”
Fabbri had the potential to be a great coach, and 30 years later many can attest she’s achieved that status. It wasn’t always that way, though.
After a 33-98 record in her first five seasons in Hamden, frustration weighed heavily on Fabbri. Her story at Quinnipiac almost ended before it really even started.
Nolan: “I don’t think she ever shared this story that she was ready to resign. Her first few years were not successful and nor were mine at Fairfield … She hates to lose and the losing killed her.”
Mecca: “She just wanted to walk away because she was so competitive, and winning was such a part of the institution of the Sacca name, that her not winning (was) what she would call failing … But her ability to get past that and use it as a springboard, to me it’s a remarkable story of perseverance.”
Nolan: “When you lose as a coach, self doubt creeps in. No matter what anybody says, you are what your baseball card reads. So it was hard, but we knew she had it. The school was on the right path. It was just going to take time.”
Who is Coach Fabbri?
Whether it’s from playing for her or working alongside her, there are many ways to describe Fabbri on the court and around the game of basketball. Her success at QU came once she started to find her footing in recruiting.
Mecca: “Her ability to get kids committed versus her grabbing kids just to be involved, that’s when you saw the transition from being an average basketball team to the powerhouse she created.”
Nolan: “Winning breeds winning. When you win a championship, you can go get a higher level recruit and it kind of snowballs.”
Greg Amodio, Quinnipiac Athletic Director 2015-Present: “She finds kids that fit into her program and will work with her mindset. And then there’s a level of expectation that is within the entire program that we’re not just here to be mediocre, we’re here to try to compete for championships.”
Nolan: “When you win your first conference championship, it’s hard to do … Once you win one, it’s very addicting. Us coaches all have addictive personalities. Thank God we coach. We don’t gamble.”
Amodio: “With success comes other eyes on your program and on your coach … Am I going to get a phone call? Is Trish going to get a phone call? And there were phone calls. Those coaches who get phone calls from other schools about an opportunity to move up just means that they’ve been doing a really good job where you are … [With] Dr. Lahey, who was here at the time, we were incredibly proactive in rewarding Tricia for her success and showing her that she was important to us.”
Fabbri’s precision and honesty keeps her atop the game and helps her earn respect from her players and staff.
Gillian “Boo” Abshire, Quinnipiac Guard 2011-15: “She’s all about the details and going the extra mile, and I really think that’s what makes her so great is just paying attention to those details – showing love and passion every single day, and she’s really just the best human out there.”
Lisa Lebak, Quinnipiac Guard 2009-13: “She’s willing to call you out for your mess ups, but she’s willing to do the same for herself, and have ownership in what she may have or could have done better or differently.”
Pat Kraemer, Quinnipiac SID 2023-Present: “She doesn’t even tell [the players] how to fix [anything]. She just expects them to know how to fix it and how to change their attitude, their effort, whatever it is. She’ll just say out loud ‘I don’t like our effort.’ She’ll just be brutally honest with them. She doesn’t tell them how to fix anything. They just already know.”
Mackenzie DeWees, Quinnipiac Guard 2018-23: “It can sound harsh sometimes, but Coach is just preparing you for life. There’s obstacles that we face. There’s mistakes that we make and you have to pick back up and readjust and keep going.”
Amodio: “I think the thing I love about her is there’s no nonsense. There’s not a lot of drama with her program and with her, she holds her student athletes accountable.”
Jasmine Martin, Quinnipiac Guard 2011-15: “She loves her players, she loves coaching, she loves what she does, and she shows up for us 110% every day. In all my years playing, I never felt like ‘Man, she doesn’t want to be here’, or ‘It’s just too much for her.’”
Abshire: “And obviously being a Division I athlete is really tough, but you have this female coach who’s been in my shoes before. So it’s just like, why wouldn’t I listen to every single word that she says?”
Lori Landino, Men’s & Women’s Basketball Administrative Assistant 2007-Present: “Her success is different, but it’s also what she does every day to come to the table – to how she’s prepared, how she prepares along the way and all the little details how she handles her business to get to the final point.”
Mountain MacGillivray, Quinnipiac Assistant 2009-18: “Coach is utterly unflappable and just ready to go. When we were playing a game where we were supposed to win, she was always a nervous wreck. Because she never liked being in a situation where we had a big lead, so … It allowed me and the assistants to be assistants, and kind of took her off the ledge when we had already done our job and put a team away, we could try to get her to calm down.”
Jen Fay, Quinnipiac Forward 2014-19: “I would say she’s demanding, but in the best way possible.”
DeWees: “When I was a freshman and we had been losing at halftime to Harvard, I remember she came into the locker room and it was like [this] fire in her eyes. I felt like she had fire in her eyes and fire in her hair, and instead of being shocked, everybody just honed in … Some people misinterpret it for being angry, how her demeanor and stuff are being angry or mad. It’s not, she’s just a passionate, caring woman that wants to win games and wants to play basketball.”
Lebak: “She told you what she needed from you, and there were no secrets or confusion whatsoever. I think direct is probably the best thing you can be as a coach, and she absolutely was, which was super helpful.”
Carly Fabbri, Daughter/Quinnipiac Guard 2014-18: “I think that’s why she’s made such a niche for her in this career. I just think that kind of trickles down throughout her players and her best players are normally the ones that are really tough-nosed, really competitive, will outwork you, and I think that’s her coaching style as well.”
An example of this tough-nosed nature comes from Jen Fay needing a “gentle” reminder on the bench during a game.
Fay: “We’re at Marist and I think it’s my senior year. I’m absolutely playing terribly. She pulls me out, she turns to me and goes, ‘Are you ready to get your head out of your ass now? You ready to go play?’ In that moment I was like, ‘I love you.’ It was like ‘Yeah, you’re right. You’re exactly right.’”
Fabbri is transparent with who she is from the minute players she is recruiting step onto Quinnipiac’s campus.
Martin: “A lot of times you get recruited, it ends up being the people who recruited you aren’t the people who actually are coaching you. It’s a facade. I didn’t know what I was getting into. But with Coach, my dad always said, ‘Go where you’re loved, not where you’re liked,’ and Coach showed that she loved me.”
Jacinda Dunbar, Quinnipiac Forward 2008-2012: “I’d never even heard of the school Quinnipiac until I was being recruited … But the one thing I can remember about her that made me comfortable was just more or less just the warmth that she just has, whether she knows you for a long time, whether you’re brand new, it’s always consistent and it’s always inviting.”
Fay: “I remember driving up this huge hill. I’m like, where am I going? I was an hour and a half away. Her and Mountain both recruited me heavily out of New York City. And I remember on my visit, just kind of getting out of the car. As soon as I got out of the car, the energy and the passion were just right there.”
Kraemer: “That’s a big way that Trish sells this place, is just being comfortable from the minute you step foot on campus.”
AJ Fabbri, Son: “I think my mom is really a salt of the earth woman. I think that’s why a lot of young women want to come play for her, because she can relate to a lot of different people from a lot of different walks of life.”
Fay: “My gratitude for her now is 10 times what it was as a player. I had no idea the behind-the-scenes stuff that you have to go through as a head coach and the decisions you have to make, trying to keep everybody happy. It’s incredible how much she can juggle.”
Her ability to recruit highly competitive players got the team its first NCAA Tournament win in 2017. Fabbri’s message to the team before the game still stays with her players to this day.
Carly Fabbri: “We were super dialed in … Fired up just to be in Miami, to be in the tournament. Sometimes you can get a little bit wrapped up, but I thought her and the rest of the coaching staff did such a great job of grounding us and making sure that we were so well prepared. She ended [practice] with ‘And when we win tomorrow, be ready, don’t act like you’ve never been there before, even though you really haven’t, but act like you deserve this and you’ve been prepared.’”
Every year, only a small number of teams end their season with a win, and everyone else has to end their season with a loss. Fabbri has had to address her teams in painful moments, including ones like the end of a season.
Amodio: “In the face of defeat, she still has an even keel about her. She’s as pissed off as anybody, but she can compartmentalize that and still bring it around to a positive message.”
Kraemer: “Probably one of the biggest losses we had this year was in the MAAC Championship. She didn’t even talk about the game afterwards. She said, ‘I don’t care about the game. We had a great season.’”
DeWees: “Once you’re in her group, she loves you like you’re one of her kids.”
Landino: “She stands the test of time.”
Who is Tricia Fabbri The Person?
Fabbri has 544 wins on her resume. It’s easy to talk about her as a coach and the success she has had, but it’s who she is off the court that has stayed with people the most.
Mecca: “Her personality has never changed. Her personality had the ability to open doors back then, but over time, the character that she developed kept every door open.”
Abshire: “One of my favorite things about her is she’s not afraid to show her emotions. I have countless memories of her getting choked up in a locker room because of how much she cares.”
Landino: “She wears her heart on her sleeve. Her vulnerability and her emotion, it’s so true.”
MacGillivray: “She also was not afraid to let the players see how much she cared. She wouldn’t hesitate to cry, she wouldn’t hesitate to show her emotions if the frustration got to a point where she was pouring herself out, and she didn’t feel like the team was… She wasn’t afraid to show it, and I think that vulnerability draws the players to be connected to their coach, and I think honestly to this day I still wish I had a little bit more of that.”
Fay: “Her ability to know what kind of message and tone needs to be said to the team at what point during the game and her ability to push the assistant (coaches) and really be emotional, but then know that, ‘okay, the kids need confidence right now.’”
Abshire: “I remember when I did my first scout. It’s kind of like a big project you do. You work on it for a lot of hours and then deliver it to the team. I texted her that morning and just told her that I was nervous. And she was like, ‘You know what, Boo? Why don’t you just share with your team that you’re nervous? Like, it’s okay to be vulnerable.’”
Fay: “It allows her to be demanding on the court because you know how much she cares about you off the court. But the way that Coach treats (people) from the custodian who’s vacuuming the locker room, to her best player to her assistant coaches, it doesn’t change.”
Becky Mella, Senior Associate Athletic Trainer 2011-Present: Even when there’s tons of injuries, that can be stressful, because it takes away their plan, right? Takes away their power a little bit, not on purpose, but, she’s just always so good. She’ll get stressed at times, but she’ll always come back and thank me. She always says the nicest things to basically appreciate us as a staff and what we do. We’re all on the same page, so that’s all you need really.
Fabbri even embraces her players and staff by opening up her home to them.
Fay: “She would have the team over all the time. Even those players like us, who couldn’t go home, ‘Come over for a meal, come over and do this and that.’”
Martin: “I was in Boston maybe, like I don’t know, 4 or 5 months ago I needed a place to stay on my way home, and she let (me stay). Her door is always open.”
MacGillivray: “She’s just a really enjoyable person to be around, she knows how to have fun, and she sure knows how to host a party like nobody’s business.”
And while she is a fierce competitor on the court, she has a fun, goofy side that she’s not afraid to show too.
Lebak: “I think one of my favorite things about Coach Fabbri is every now and then she would come in and we would finish practice, and we’d be in a circle, and she’d just start dancing. Like, where is this coming from?”
Nolan: “(My husband) had this one saying about her. ‘Sacca does everything large.’ She had big hair, she had a big car. That’s what made her fun. She did everything with great enthusiasm and great competitiveness.”
Paul Henry Fabbri, Son: “There’s a reason why girls come back with their kids and their families for the alumni weekend. Come see Coach Fabbri, and that’s most rewarding, being able to talk to all of them, whether it’s from 1999 or 2014. Girls are coming back.”
What Was Your First Impression of Fabbri?
Cass Turner, Women’s Ice Hockey Head Coach (2015-Present): “I think every interaction I ever had with Coach Fabbri has been an energetic one. I feel like I can remember first meeting her and just instantly knowing (she) was somebody who was successful, and that I (could) turn to when I needed to and (someone) to look up to as a great mentor in coaching.”
Tyrell Walden-Martin, Sports Information Director 2021-2023: “My first interaction with her was when they won the championship my freshman year. The entire crowd rushed the floor and everybody stormed the court … And as I was celebrating on the court I just bumped into Trish. But I saw Trish and I was just like, ‘Congratulations, Coach’ and she just gave me a hug. At the time I’m just a random student so I’m just like, holy crap. I just hugged the women’s basketball head coach (who) just won a championship on our floor.”
Tyler Brosious, Women’s Basketball Graduate Assistant (2017-18): “Everyone was always like, ‘You’re from South Jersey. Trish is from South Jersey. You guys have to go talk to each other.’ We found out that she is from the exact town where my dad was living at the time. Where she grew up and where I grew up was like a 10 minute drive. We were truly cut from the same cloth. There was an instant connection there that blossomed in the four or five years that we worked together.”
Abshire: “The morning of my (recruiting) visit, I remember (there was) something that paralleled to my mom. She walked up and introduced herself to me and she had her Starbucks cup, and it had red lipstick all over the part where you drink, and that’s the same thing as my mom. So that was a big reason why — I know it’s something so small and corny – but I was like, ‘I think I’m going to come here.’”
MacGillivray: “I went to main campus first, walked down to the center of the quad, didn’t know where the arena or the gym was. [I] looked back, saw Sleeping Giant over the dome of the business school and was like, ‘Yeah, I could get used to this.’ I was like ‘Man, I think I could talk anyone into coming here.’ So that was certainly a big sell.”
Brijesh Patel, Associate Athletic Director/Director of Athletic Performance (2008-Present): “Quinnipiac didn’t really have a strength coach before me … But right from the get go, I explained ‘Here’s the philosophy, here’s how we’re gonna do things.’ And she was like, ‘I’m all in. Let’s go.’ So it was fantastic to have that level of support initially, when you’re working with somebody for the first time.”
Mom Fabbri
When asked to describe Fabbri, “motherly” was used by almost every person, whether they played for her or worked with her. Her own children grew up at Quinnipiac as part of the team, accepting their “extra siblings” with open arms.
Fabbri’s oldest son, AJ, has one of his earliest memories at a Quinnipiac game.
AJ Fabbri: “When my mom was first starting out coaching, apparently (the other team) was on a fast break. I got loose from whoever was watching me and ran out onto the court and the game had to get stopped. They got delayed, the refs blew a whistle, all that. I saw my mom and just took off right in the middle of the game. My mom always gave me credit for saving a bucket for her on defense because I was able to stop a fast break as a five or six year old.”
And even with the demanding nature of running a basketball program, Fabbri went out of her way to make time for her own kids as they grew up.
Paul Henry Fabbri: “(During) my senior year of high school basketball she was scheduling practices around my schedule because she was like, ‘I am not missing any of your games.’ I was the last kid who was still playing, and I was having a really great year. But it’s so funny because she was so cool and tame in the stands. (She had) that different side of her being the intense coach on the sidelines, and then coming to her kid’s game and just sitting there waiting and never getting really too crazy.”
Her ability to have the same level of care for her bloodline and her “adopted family” is unwavering.
Fay: “That is my mom away from home. Her ability to push and to maximize potential and all of her players and at the same time to put an arm around them is incredible.”
AJ Fabbri: “It’s very gratifying to hear other players view my mom as a mother figure. That’s just the type of woman she is. I just think that that speaks to her character so much.”
AJ Fabbri: “As a young man growing up in today’s day and age, I just feel very grateful to have such a strong, brave and courageous female role model in my life. For me, it was never men’s basketball or women’s basketball. Basketball was basketball because in our household, it didn’t matter.”
While Fabbri’s daughter, Carly, eventually joined the team as a player, she was always involved with the program in some way from a very young age.
Carly Fabbri: Being on the bench (growing up) and seeing how the coaches acted, how the players acted. That was such an advantage for me. To be able to be like, ‘Okay, even if you have a bad play and you get subbed out, this is how you should act. You should just go to the bench, you shouldn’t hang your head.’ And just being around that at such an impressionable age … Taught me right from wrong.”
MacGillivray: “It felt like Carly was part of the team long before she started playing. She was there handing out the water and on the bench waving the towel long before her playing years, so it just seemed like a natural transition.”
Carly Fabbri: “I was a water girl. I took that job very seriously. I knew which girls wanted Gatorade, which girls wanted water, which girls needed an extra cup for whatever reason.”
Trica and Carly Fabbri’s dynamic changed from mother/daughter to coach/player as well in 2014.
Nolan: “I remember when she was going to coach Carly… I remember her calling Kim Mulkey and Chris Gobrecht (to ask) what it’s like having to coach your daughter. She had a couple role models there.”
AJ Fabbri: “I think my mom kind of wanted to be hands off and let Carly have her own college experience with it.”
Carly Fabbri: “I feel like we did a good job of keeping it relatively normal. I wouldn’t really call her mom on the court, she was always Coach on the court.”
Abshire: “Carly earned every single minute that she played. If you wanted me to print out a teammate being the perfect teammate, it would be Carly Fabbri, in every way that year.”
Carly Fabbri’s Quinnipiac playing career ended in Connecticut in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The cheers from her home state fans roared as she and her mom embraced in a quick hug for their final moment as coach and daughter.
Carly Fabbri: “(For my last game) to be up there at Gampel (Pavillion) and playing in front of 10,000 people with Geno Auriemma, and for that to how my college career ended… If I had to lose, it might as well be to UConn and in that kind of environment. But then obviously doing it with my mom it literally was like a storybook.”
Lahey: “I still remember when Carly came out of the game at UConn, there wasn’t a dry eye, at least among the Quinnipiac fans. There wasn’t a dry eye to see her come out, and it still chokes me up to see her hug her mom.”
Mecca: “But to see the hug and the culmination of a chapter of their life in a book that had closed. That’s all time, not every love story has a happy ending.”
Fabbri’s Lasting Legacy at Quinnipiac
Martin: “I cherish the legacy that we’ve been able to leave through the program, and it all starts with her.”
Fay: “I just want every kid that plays for wherever I’m coaching to love a school as much as I loved Quinnipiac and I loved playing for Coach Fabbri.”
Lahey: “It’s not just a great coaching career that she’s had over these past 30 years. It’s truly remarkable. I mean, it’s up there in a class by itself. I marvel at it. And the fact that she’s stayed with Quinnipiac when she could have left … You don’t see it very often.”
Dunbar: “When I talk about my current work ethic and everything like that, (my time at Quinnipiac) really did shape who I was and who I am, so now as a coach I carry some of those same passions and same fiery instincts.”
Mecca: “I don’t think a Trish Sacca/Fabbri sequel could be any better than your original one.”
Paul Henry Fabbri: “Honestly, something needs to be named after her when she’s all said and done at Quinnipiac, because of how much she’s done for the university.”
To become a Division I athlete, the journey and the path to get there is a long one that varies from athlete to athlete. Different sports have different paths to ultimately get to the collegiate level. In some sports that pathway starts early on, and for other sports that pathway develops later. While that goal and ambition for these athletes remain the same, the process of getting there is not consistent.
Recruiting in college athletics has never followed a one-size-fits-all model, but the differences in recruitment between sports have only continued to widen with the nature of college sports today. In some sports, attending camps and showcase tournaments early on in middle school and high school are required. For other sports, athletes discover opportunities later in their high school careers, often through informal connections, or high school sports. In less well-known or emerging sports, recruiting remains a player-led process, built on highlight videos and reaching out to coaches.
The recruiting journeys for athletes from various teams at Quinnipiac University highlight how different recruitment can look even at the same school. Through the stories of athletes in men’s hockey, field hockey, men’s basketball, and acrobatics & tumbling at Quinnipiac, it shows how the process to earn a roster spot in Division I athletics is a long road with many ups and downs.
Different Sports, Different Timelines
An athlete’s recruiting journey can often define the rest of their college pathway. But the question of when that process starts and what it looks like depends heavily on what sport they play and their background in that sport.
Hockey: Early Exposure, Long Waits
For men’s hockey, committing early is common, many hockey players are scouted through showcases in ninth or tenth grade or through junior hockey programs and national tournaments. The hockey recruitment path relies heavily on early development leagues like the USHL or prep school circuits, which act as pipelines for Division I hockey programs. Hockey players are usually scouted many years before they step foot on a college campus.
However, even early commitments don’t mean immediate arrivals on those college campuses. Many players will go to play juniors after high school because they aren’t physically ready for the pace of college hockey yet. The college hockey path is a long one and the dream is oftentimes developed early.
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For Alex Power, a junior on Quinnipiac’s hockey team, the dream of playing college hockey started as early as he can remember. Growing up in Canada not playing hockey was not really an option and he always looked to play at the next level. When he was in prep school, he was faced with a decision familiar to many Canadian hockey players: pursue the major junior route or aim for NCAA hockey. Power was drafted to a major junior team and attended their camp when he was 16, but he already knew the path he wanted to take.
“I always pictured myself playing college hockey, from there, I just took steps that would move me closer to that goal,” Power said.
That path did not lead him right to college hockey. It first led him to junior hockey, where he played for two years after high school. For Power, this time was a critical step on his journey, for development and for gaining exposure to college programs. His breakthrough came during a showcase event early in his second year of juniors, where all the teams in the league played in a showcase in front of dozens of NCAA scouts. That’s where he caught the attention of Quinnipiac assistant coach Mike Corbett.
From there, the process was a slow build. Conversations began casually with check-ins and gauging interest. As Power started stringing together good play on the ice the talks turned serious.
Two months after the showcase, Power took the next step on his path and committed to Quinnipiac. And while official visits are common in many sports before committing, he never made the trip to Hamden before his commitment.
“I talked to people who had been here, and everyone had great things to say, I trusted what I’d heard and seen,” Power said.
While every athlete’s story is different, Power’s recruiting journey is considered “typical” in the world of men’s hockey, especially for Canadian players. The process is a long one, often starting years before the athletes ever arrive on campus. Exposure depends heavily on showcase events and performance in juniors, and most players don’t commit until they’ve proven they can handle the pace of play at the next level.
That lengthy timeline, though necessary, can be stressful. Power recalls watching other players commit ahead of him and wondering if his opportunity would ever come.
“Pretty much everyone in my class was committed before I was,” he said. “It wasn’t jealousy it was more just wondering, ‘Is this ever going to happen for me?’”
In the end, it did. And for Power, it was a reminder that the recruitment process doesn’t need to be rushed, just trusted.
Power’s story fits into the broader trends of men’s college hockey recruiting, especially for players navigating the decision between NCAA hockey and the major junior route. In hockey, early exposure is typical, but it rarely guarantees an immediate result. The recruiting process can include many stages: youth leagues to juniors, junior leagues to showcases, and finally, a college commitment. For most players like Power, it’s a long winding path. Junior hockey serves as both an in-between and a development stage, where athletes physically and mentally prepare for the demands of Division I. Power’s journey emphasizes how the timing and direction might not look the same for every athlete, but the destination that the path leads can be the same.
Field Hockey: Early Outreach and a Positive Payoff
For sophomore Quinnipiac field hockey player Katie Shanahan, the dream of playing Division I field hockey started earlier than most of her teammates. In eighth grade she was already thinking about her future, she was determined to find a place to play at the next level. She wasted no time in getting started.
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“I emailed about 45 schools. I was young and didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go or what level I’d end up playing at. But I’m a go-getter and I just wanted to start putting myself out there” she said.
When she was in 8th grade the current NCAA rules prohibited coaches from contacting players until June 15 of their junior year of high school. That left a long stretch of waiting after sending emails and attending clinics, without much feedback to gauge where she stood. These clinics were held by different colleges, and they played a key role in keeping her name in the mix with the coaches.
She explained how college field hockey coaches don’t really come to high school games, especially for players like her playing in the public school system. So, these clinics and showcases were the best way to get seen before that period where coaches could finally contact them.
When that June 15th date finally arrived, she took the day off from school just in case the phone might ring, she really had no expectations going into the day.
“I got my first call at 8 a.m. from Princeton,” she recalled. “It was a little nerve-wracking because I didn’t know who would call, or if anyone would, but as the day went on I received eight phone calls.”
She heard from some schools with better programs on paper but already had a favorite in mind. Having attended clinics at Quinnipiac since eighth grade, she felt a strong connection with the coaching staff that made her feel at home.
Two weeks after receiving those initial phone calls, she made it official and committed to Quinnipiac. Her path would take her from Massachusetts to Connecticut.
She committed very early on in the process and that came with its own challenges.
“I was one of the first 10 to commit in my class in the area,” she said.
Her early decision to commit very early came with both perks and challenges. For almost seven months, she was the only player from her recruiting class at Quinnipiac to commit, which felt a little isolating.
Not only was it isolating it also caused her peers to question why she didn’t want to weigh her options and see if she could draw attention from bigger schools.
“My teammates from high school and coaches would say, why didn’t you go there? Why didn’t you go there? When I told them about my commitment,” Shanahan shared.
But for her, the choice wasn’t about chasing the biggest conference or athletic department, it was about finding the right fit.
“I’d rather pick a school that I love than a school that’s ranked just for the name,” she said.
The Quinnipiac culture, coaching staff, and campus environment all aligned with what she envisioned for her college athletics experience.
Shanahan’s recruiting journey was different because she did not take the wait-and-see approach that many athletes in her sport take. She proactively emailed dozens of coaches before high school and worked hard at many different clinics which directly translated to her receiving early offers. While Shanahan’s early and proactive approach to her recruitment helped her secure a Division I spot, not every athlete’s journey follows such a straightforward path.
Basketball: The Importance of the Late Push
For Akintola Akinniyi a sophomore on Quinnipiac’s basketball team, basketball was never just something he did for fun, it was his steppingstone. Growing up with athletic promise in Texas, people told him that he had the tools to make it and he aimed to prove them right. From the very beginning his goals for where basketball could take him were high.
Quinnipiac Athletics
“I wasn’t even thinking about college. I was thinking about the NBA, and I knew college was just part of that path” he said.
However, the path hasn’t been as simple as he once anticipated. His journey in the recruiting circuit began as it does for many talented basketball players with AAU hoops. He participated in tournaments held on weekends during and in the summer that drew scouts and coaches from around the country.
The thing that mattered the most from these tournaments was getting the all-important “write-ups”. Write-ups are short scouting reports written by scouts evaluating a player’s skills and potential. Akinniyi remembers getting his first one in eighth grade, it was a validation that he was on the right path. More write-ups continued to roll in, especially after strong performances at summer events leading to interest and offers.
“AAU makes your money, that’s what gets you the offers, the write-ups, the rankings” Akinniyi explained.
Despite opportunities to play at a prep school like many of the top players his age, Akinniyi chose to stay at his public high school for all four years. This decision kept him closer to home but may have slowed his recruiting process. His first Division I offer didn’t arrive until late in his senior year, just three days before his graduation. He felt pressure to commit because it was so late in the game, so he committed to Army.
The transition to a service academy proved challenging for him. The military regiment just wasn’t what he was looking for. By the fall of his freshman year, he decided to step away from the team and enter the transfer portal. This decision was a risk because he didn’t want to give up on basketball entirely but knew there could also be limited interest in the portal.
“It’s a leap of faith,” he said. “There’s thousands of people in the transfer portal, and not everyone makes it out.”
Similar to Power, Akinniyi also felt a lot of pressure and jealousy when he saw the things his AAU and high school teammates were doing at nonservice academies. He also had a hard time accepting that Army was where he was supposed to be.
“I was very envious. When I was at Army and seeing other people at other schools, obviously non-service academies I was very envious, very jealous. And it was kind of like, dang, what am I doing wrong?” Akinniyi said.
That self-doubt and desire to do more did not defeat him, he used it as motivation to change his setting. Akinniyi didn’t want his path in basketball to be over, so he emailed several programs in the middle of the semester hoping for another opportunity.
The timing was right, Quinnipiac was searching for a forward after suffering some injuries. He emailed them and heard back the next morning. He visited campus during Thanksgiving break and accepted their offer, officially enrolling on his 19th birthday. The next stop on his path led him to Connecticut.
His commitment to Quinnipiac was the next step towards his long-term goal but getting there did not come without roadblocks and stress.
“It’s very stressful, because you just don’t know what your future entails. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Especially for me, I’m at Army and it’s like if I don’t find an offer, I’m going to have to stay here. I’m going to have to stay in the Army”.
Akinniyi’s journey is an example of how chaotic and uncertain the recruiting and transfer process can be. Recruitment is a long road and although every athlete and sport has differences in what it takes to play at the Division I level, similarities do exist as well.
Akinniyi’s story isn’t considered an outlier, it’s a reflection of how modern college recruiting has evolved and the evolution of the transfer portal. The path to a Division I roster spot today is rarely the same.
In addition to recruitment, many athletes’ paths include navigating the transfer portal, which has reshaped the recruiting landscape in the last five years. The transfer portal was always used as a fallback option, but it is now a key part of how coaches build rosters and how players find new opportunities.
His decision to bet on himself and re-enter the recruiting circuit is something more and more athletes are doing. Like so many other athletes navigating this new recruiting environment, he learned that sometimes the journey takes detours before it arrives at the right destination.
Acrobatics & Tumbling: The Emerging Path
For junior, Quinnipiac acrobatics and tumbling athlete Ally Murray, the road to college athletics didn’t begin in a recruiting database or at a national showcase. It started through a casual conversation. A family friend who was a former college football coach mentioned a unique fast-growing NCAA sport that combined gymnastics, cheerleading, and team-based stunting. It was a path she knew nothing about and hadn’t considered going on.
“I was a gymnast my whole life,” she said. “I think going into college I wanted to still be an athlete, but I also wanted a change.”
The more she researched acrobatics & tumbling, the more it made sense for her. It offered her the chance to keep competing at a high level while joining a sport that had a larger team approach in a way she never had while competing in gymnastics. The recruiting process, however, looked different than it did for many of her friends in other sports. Rather than campus visits and showcases, her recruitment was built on emails, online questionnaires, and video submissions of her gymnastics routines.
“For me, my recruitment was all videos, I think now there are showcases, but at the time it was just film from my meets,” Murray said.
After looking more closely at different programs Quinnipiac quickly became her top option. From the first email reply to the initial phone call, the program stood out. As conversations progressed, she set aside other schools and focused her attention on the Bobcats. When she finally arrived on campus for her official visit, the decision was easy.
“All of my current friends now, we were on the same visit,” she said. “We bonded so fast. Meeting those girls and seeing how close the team was, I knew it was going to be a family.”
Like many acro athletes, Murray’s experience comes from competitive gymnastics. The transition to a team-based sport came with challenges. Learning to stunt and being on top of a pyramid was a new experience after years of competing alone.
“The hardest part was working with other people, in gymnastics, it’s just you. I wasn’t used to having to rely on someone else or have them rely on me” Murray said.
Even the equipment was a change. While gymnastics routines take place on a spring floor, acrobatics & tumbling is performed on what athletes call a dead mat, with no bounce to assist in tumbling passes. But with experience, hard work, and adjusting on the fly she made the necessary adjustments quickly.
As the sport continues to evolve, so does the interest and the diversity of the athletes that make up the team. Many of these athletes come from gymnastics, others arrive with cheerleading or even club acrobatics backgrounds. Quinnipiac’s roster reflects that mix, which is something that made her feel less behind when starting the sport in college.
Though the recruiting process wasn’t as high-pressure as what athletes in sports like hockey or basketball experience, it came with its own challenges. Waiting for emails, wondering about follow-up calls, and learning how she could fit into the sport. But ultimately Murray was grateful for how it all unfolded.
“It wasn’t super stressful for me, once I knew this was where I wanted to be, everything else fell into place,” she said.
What began as a casual chat with a family friend turned into a new athletic identity. This new identity allowed her to stay competitive, discover a team culture, and participate in one of college athletics’ fastest-growing sports.
Paths Aligned
With all the different recruiting paths and how different the starting points were the ultimate destination was the same. Powers was chasing his junior dreams in Canada, Shanahan was actively searching for the right fit, Akinniyi was chasing write-ups and late-night transfer portal emails, and Murray was sending tumbling videos to coaches in a sport she was still learning about. For all four of them, their separate winding paths eventually intersected in Hamden, Connecticut.
Across these four sports, the recruiting timelines couldn’t be more different. In hockey, commitments are early and often long-term. For field hockey, it’s all about clinics and trusting the process. In basketball, recruiting can be quick, fluid, and dependent on late exposure. In acro & tumbling, it’s about discovery and outreach. The similarity? It is difficult to navigate these pathways in a college sports environment that is constantly changing.
The stories of Power, Shanahan, Akinniyi, and Murray, make one thing clear: there’s no single path to being a collegiate athlete. Each athlete’s recruiting experience was shaped by both their individual talent and the experience and resources required of their sport.
College athletics offers many opportunities for student-athletes. The systems that deliver these opportunities are evolving rapidly, and with it so are the steps the athletes must take. The paths may look different from sport to sport or even player to player on the same team, but they can all eventually lead to a similar destination.
Late in the evening of March 21, members of Quinnipiac’s men’s hockey team wandered the streets of Lake Placid, New York, in a daze. Others huddled in crowded booths at The Pickled Pig, a restaurant in the shadow of Herb Brooks Arena, where several truths loomed large.
The Bobcats late ECAC Semifinal collapse against Cornell a few hours earlier was the eighth-straight season they’ve bowed out of the conference tournament empty handed, a legacy of disappointment familiar to everyone in attendance.
And this time, it might have cost them an NCAA Tournament bid.
See, unlike every other NCAA tournament, no sense of mystery accompanies Selection Sunday in hockey. By Saturday night, every team knows if they’re in or out. The fate of at-large bids lies not with a committee, but with math. And Quinnipiac’s formula was slightly off.
The Pairwise Comparison System (commonly referred to as the Pairwise), was adopted by the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Committee in early 1990’s as an objective method of comparing teams, and was picked up by the women’s ice hockey committee when it became an NCAA championship sport in 2001. In the early 2000’s it began to be used as the sole determinant of at-large bids in both tournaments. That methodology has continued into the present day.
16 teams make the men’s tournament, each of the six conference tournament winners receive automatic bids, the next 10 teams in the Pairwise are the at-large qualifiers.
A team’s Pairwise position is determined by a direct comparison with every other team in three metrics: 1. Adjusted Ratings Percentage Index or RPI, 2. Record versus common opponents and 3. Head-to-head record.
In a comparison, a team is awarded one point for having the higher RPI, one point for the best record vs. common opponents, one point for the best head-to-head record (if applicable) and one point for each head-to-head win.
The team with the most comparison wins is No. 1 in Pairwise, the team with the second most slots in at No. 2 and so on until every team is ranked.
In a world where every conference champion sits within the top 16 of the Pairwise, the last at-large bid is the No. 16 team. But that’s not the reality of the college hockey landscape. Smaller conferences, such as Atlantic Hockey America and the CCHA, rarely put a team within those parameters, meaning their conference champions steal bids from teams on the fringes of NCAA Tournament contention.
This is the Pairwise bubble. It’s where Quinnipiac lived for all of the 2024-25 season.
After sputtering out of the Connecticut Ice Tournament in late January, Rand Pecknold acknowledged that truth.
“14 is probably not getting in,” Pecknold said. “We’ve got to get at least 13 and then we’ll have a really good chance, but it’s not guaranteed.”
Two months later, Quinnipiac entered that semifinal against Cornell No. 12 in Pairwise. A win over the Big Red all but guaranteed a ticket to the big dance. A loss put the Bobcats precariously on the edge of qualification.
Both AHA finalists sat outside the top 16, so the cut line began at 15. Quinnipiac was the only ECAC team in the top 16, so its semifinal loss moved the line to 14. Minnesota State, champion of the CCHA, owned that No. 14 spot, so the cut line was 13 as the evening turned to night.
If one of No. 16 Arizona State or No. 18 North Dakota won the NCHC, the cut line moved to 12. A Clarkson win over Cornell in the ECAC Championship the next night would push Quinnipiac down to No. 13 and out of the NCAA Tournament.
Both Arizona State and North Dakota lost their NCHC semifinal bouts. Cornell beat Clarkson. Quinnipiac hung on to the No. 12 spot and earned its sixth-consecutive tournament berth — barely.
“It’s not easy to come to the NCAA Tournament,” graduate student forward Travis Treloar said.
Such is life on the bubble. A couple of decimals points were the difference between playing for a Frozen Four berth and getting a head start on the offseason.
The same separated the Bobcats from a different first round matchup, a regional opponent other than red-hot in-state rival UConn, who dispatched Quinnipiac 4-1 with no issue in its tournament opener.
One late loss turned into a win — or a win becoming a loss, and the Bobcats tournament path, and potentially their ultimate fate, looks quite different.
Here are seven different scenarios from the 2024-25 season that could have majorly altered Quinnipiac’s trajectory.
If Quinnipiac…
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…wins the ECAC Tournament
Pairwise PositionNo. 10 (+2)
First Round NCAA MatchupNo. 7 BU in Toledo
By hanging on to its late lead against Cornell and winning the ECAC title the next night, Quinnipiac takes the place of Ohio State against BU in Toledo. The Terriers rolled over the Buckeyes 8-3 en route to a national championship game berth, but Quinnipiac boasted a better defense (2.2 goals allowed per game vs. 2.7) and offense (3.6 goals per game vs. 3.2) so who is to say what might have happened?
…sweeps Maine on the road
Pairwise PositionNo. 9 (+3)
First Round NCAA MatchupNo. 8 Providence in Manchester
Quinnipiac dropped two one-goal games (2-1, 6-5 in overtime) at Maine in October. Winning those games sets the Bobcats up for a Hockey East battle in Manchester against Providence. The Friars — who Quinnipiac has not faced since a 2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal — shriveled in their first NCAA appearance in six years against Denver, losing 5-1.
…beats New Hampshire and Northeastern
Pairwise PositionNo. 8 (+4)
First Round NCAA MatchupNo. 9 Providence in Manchester
Quinnipiac’s most embarrassing regular season losses were the games they dropped to UNH and Northeastern on home ice. The former came just one day after the Bobcats throttled the Wildcats 8-2, the latter was a 5-1 drubbing where Quinnipiac could not keep up. Winning either of those games pushes the Bobcats to No. 10 in Pairwise and a date with BU in Toledo, winning both bumps them to No. 8 and the home team against Providence in Manchester.
…wins the ECAC Semifinal
Pairwise PositionNo. 11 (+1)
First Round NCAA MatchupNo. 6 UConn in Allentown
Beating Cornell in the ECAC Semifinal bumps Quinnipiac up to No. 11, but doesn’t move its bracket position. The committee swapped the original 11 seed, UMass, with Quinnipiac from Fargo to Allentown in the real bracket to avoid a first round Hockey East matchup, so if this were the reality, the Bobcats would simply stay in Allentown and again face UConn.
…goes undefeated in the ECAC
Pairwise PositionNo. 5 (+7)
First Round NCAA MatchupNo. 12 UMass in Fargo
Quinnipiac won the Cleary Cup by a five point margin, ending the regular season with a 16-5-1 conference record. But if the Bobcats went 22-0, as they did in 2023, they find themselves as the top No. 2 seed, squaring off in Fargo against a UMass team that upset No. 5 Minnesota in the real bracket.
…does not force overtime
Pairwise PositionNo. 13 (-1)
First Round NCAA MatchupNo. 4 Western Michigan in Fargo
Quinnipiac pushed four of its regular season losses to overtime, a fact that factors into Pairwise calculations. Had they lost any of those games in regulation, the Bobcats would have fallen to No. 13 and a matchup with eventual national champion Western Michigan in Fargo.
…loses any other game
Pairwise PositionNo. 15 (-3)
First Round NCAA MatchupOut of tournament
The margin for error was so slim for Quinnipiac (less than .005 RPI) that just one more regulation loss to any opponent on its schedule would have pushed the Bobcats to No. 15 and out of the NCAA Tournament. In this scenario, Michigan receives the last at-large bid.
Both MAAC regular season tennis titles could be decided by the season’s final matches. Quinnipiac and Fairfield’s men’s and women’s programs were ranked in the top two in the preseason coaches poll, and an end-of-season date between the in-state rivals could determine who finishes on top this spring.
QUSportsPage’s Carlos Calo Rodriguez and Toni Wetmore broke down players to watch and storylines to monitor ahead of the April 17 matchup between the Bobcats and Stags.
MEN’S
Key players
The Bobcats will rely on the defending MAAC Player of the Year, Czechia native Daniel Velek, who is in his graduate year in Hamden, to keep pushing the team forward. Velek holds the No. 1 spot on both singles and doubles for the Bobcats. After posting a 17-8 record last season, he’s remained a crucial part of the Bobcats’ six-match winning streak, despite dealing with minor injuries this year.
Velek holds a 7-3 record in MAAC play and has found chemistry in doubles play with first-year James Lorenzetti, with the pair going 4-1 through the first five conference matches. In singles, sophomores Carlos Braun Simo and Finn Burridge each boast a 4-1 singles record so far in conference play.
Graduate transfer Alex Yang, who came by way of SMU, has been reliable in singles with a 4-1 record. Doubles, however, haven’t met expectations. Yang was anticipated to be a strong doubles partner for Velek, but the pairing didn’t click during the first tournaments of Spring. They went 0-3 in the first three tournaments playing together. Yang has only played one doubles match in MAAC competition and won it 6-3 vs. Siena, pairing with first-year Elias Hoxha.
Head-to-head against the Stags
Quinnipiac holds an 8-7 edge in the all-time series since the 2008 season.
Their most recent meeting was in the MAAC Tournament final last April when the Bobcats defeated the Stags 4-2 to clinch their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. On April 17, the stakes will once again be high, as both teams are expected to battle for the top seed and the regular season crown in what could be the match of the year. The Bobcats (5-0) are sitting in the No. 1 spot in the MAAC, while Fairfield (2-1) is currently No. 3 after falling to Siena on April 6.
What’s next?
Two matches remain before facing the Stags: Mount St. Mary’s on April 12 and Sacred Heart on April 13. Last season, the Bobcats beat Sacred Heart 4-3 and Mount St. Mary’s 6-1. Their only regular-season loss came against Fairfield, in a match that — like this year — was the final fixture of the regular season for Quinnipiac.
“Fairfield has the talent, and they have become our rival,” Quinnipiac men’s coach Bryan Adinolfi told the Quinnipiac Chronicle in early March. “Siena, Marist, and Niagara all have good teams as well. In my opinion, everyone is good, and no match will be easy, and everyone will have to fight for those six spots in the conference tournament to win the whole thing. In a sense that makes it really exciting, because our work ethic and team chemistry and all those things actually matter.”
With both teams unbeaten in conference play, the April 17 showdown will likely determine the MAAC regular-season champion and the No. 1 seed for the conference championships at Mercer County Tennis Park in West Windsor, New Jersey.
WOMEN’S
Key players
First-year Bobcat Willow Renton won MAAC Player of the Week twice this season. The first came after her performance on the road at Niagara on Feb. 28, earning the No. 1 spot for singles and doubles. Renton and Caitlin Flower were paired for the doubles match and won 6-2.
Renton then went 4-0 in her doubles and singles matches against Merrimack and Rider on March 29 and 30, respectively, all at the No. 1 spot. Her dominance is helping to propel the Bobcats toward an undefeated conference season.
While Renton lost her singles match against Siena this past weekend, her and Flower stayed in the win column in the doubles match with a 6-1 victory. Renton will look to regain her momentum as the Fairfield match gets closer and closer.
Flower won her singles match against Siena’s Andrea Vargas 6-3 and 6-4, making up for Renton’s loss. The team will need these two to continue to dominate together and individually to stay in the win column.
Head-to-head against the Stags
Same as the men’s team, the last time these two teams met was in the 2024 MAAC Championship, which Fairfield won 4-3.
Flower feels the team is more prepared to face Fairfield this time around.
“We have been really successful in the past against Fairfield, and I think we kinda underestimated them a little bit,” Flower told The Quinnipiac Chronicle in early March. “When we lost, it was a little bit of a surprise. This year, we’re focusing on taking it really seriously and putting in the work that needs to be put in to have a successful season and hopefully get the win at the end.”
What’s next?
The Bobcats will look to extend their win streak to six on Saturday for the last home match of the season. Quinnipiac will face Mount St. Mary’s, which currently sits in eighth in the MAAC with one conference win.
Then it’s a matchup at Sacred Heart, which is seventh in the MAAC at 2-3.
The Bobcats wrap up their regular season against undefeated No. 2 Fairfield. While Quinnipiac is 5-0 in MAAC play, Fairfield has only played two conference matches.
This April 17 matchup could be a preview of a fourth-consecutive MAAC title matchup for these two Connecticut powerhouses.
As the NCAA hockey and basketball seasons come to an end, both sports are entering another offseason defined by the transfer portal. Over 1,300 men’s and women’s basketball players have already entered since the window opened this week and men’s and women’s hockey are again expected to see a record number of entrants.
QUSportsPage will update this page with Quinnipiac’s departures and additions during the transfer portal periods.
Men’s Basketball
Portal opening date: March 24th
Portal closing date: April 22nd
Amarri Monroe | Forward
Years of eligibility remaining: 1
The 2025 MAAC Player of the Year from Newburgh, New York, averaged 18.1 ppg and had 14 double-doubles in his second year in Hamden. The All-MAAC First Team selection this past season has heard from multiple schools in the SEC, Big Ten, Big East and ACC since entering the portal, according to On3sports.
Paul Otieno | Forward
Years of eligibility remaining: 1
Otieno spent three seasons with the Bobcats and garnered an All-MAAC First Team nomination in 2024-25. He finished behind Monroe in the MAAC’s double-double leaderboards (13) and was among the nation’s best in offensive rebounding. After spending his first collegiate seasons at Kilgore College (TX), the Kenyan native joined the 1,000 point club this past year, and was granted another graduate season after the NCAA’s junior college eligibility waiver ruling.
Doug Young | Guard
Years of eligibility remaining: 1
Young played two seasons at the JUCO level, one at Odessa College (TX) and one at Midland College (TX), but has spent the past two seasons with the Bobcats. He averaged 5.4 ppg off the bench this past season and scored a season-high 18 points against Sacred Heart. Young was granted another year of eligibility under the same precedent as Otieno.
Ryan Mabrey | Guard
Years of eligibility remaining: 1
Coming over as a transfer last spring after spending his first two seasons at Miami (OH), Mabrey averaged 4.3 ppg in 32 games (12 starts) with Quinnipiac in what’s looking like his lone season in Hamden. He scored in double figures five times including a 17- point outburst in November against St. John’s where he buried a season high five triples.
Khaden Bennett | Guard
Years of eligibility remaining: 2
In his second year in Hamden, Bennett had anything but a sophomore slump. He averaged 10.3 ppg on the season, including three 20-plus point games. He spent most the beginning half of the year as the primary ball handler with veteran guard Savion Lewis out with an injury. Many times guarding the opposing team’s second or third scoring option, Bennett compiled 43 steals during the season.
Women’s Basketball
Portal opening date: March 24th
Portal closing date: April 22nd
Gal Raviv | Guard
Years of eligibility remaining: 3
Raviv was the first player in MAAC history to win both Rookie and Player of the Year awards. The Kadima, Israel native finished the season averaging 17.9 points per game, the most for a Quinnipiac women’s basketball player since the 2013-14 season.
Men’s Ice Hockey
Portal opening date: March 30th
Portal closing date: May 13th
Noah Altman | Goaltender
Years of eligibility remaining: 1
Atlman’s four years in Hamden made him the longest-tenured player in the program this season. He appeared in parts of seven games across four seasons, but his lively personality made him a favorite in both the locker room and among fans over the years. His impact on the program warranted his selection as an alternate captain for the 2024-25 season.
Nate Benoit | Defenseman
Years of eligibility remaining: 2
With his portal entry, Benoit is destined for his third team in as many seasons. He spent his freshman year with North Dakota before transferring into Quinnipiac for his sophomore season. In 2024-25 with the Bobcats, he appeared in 21 games and recorded two assists. Benoit’s last appearance for Quinnipiac was in its ECAC Tournament semifinal loss to Cornell, where he slotted in as the seventh defenseman but did not see any ice time. He was a healthy scratch in the team’s NCAA Tournament loss to UConn.
Michael Salandra | Forward
Years of eligibility remaining: 3
Salandra did not play in his first year in Hamden. During the 2023-24 season, he played in the BCHL, a part of the West Kelowna Warriors organization. During his second year with the Warriors, he was named an alternate captain and recorded 21 goals and 23 assists.
Noah Eyre | Forward
Years of eligibility remaining: 3
During his first year in Hamden, Eyre only appeared in five games and last played on Jan. 31 against Dartmouth. He came to Quinnipiac from the Sioux Falls Stampede along with two other Quinnipiac freshmen, Tyler Borgula and Chris Pelosi.
Chase Ramsay | Defenseman
Years of eligibility remaining: 2
Similar to Eyre, Ramsay only played a handful of games in his second season in Hamden. During the season, there were two months between each of his three appearances. Playing seven games total in two years, Ramsay did not record a single point while wearing the blue and gold.
Women’s Ice Hockey
Portal opening date: March 16th
Portal closing date: April 29th
Outgoing Players
Tiana McIntyre | Defender
Years of eligibility remaining: 1
McIntyre, a native of Park City, Utah, dressed for 36 of the team’s 38 games in 2024-25. She did not register a point, but recorded 21 shots on goal, had an even plus-minus rating, and tied for seventh on the team with 16 blocked shots. As a sophomore in 2023-24, McIntyre had two assists and a +6 rating.
Incoming Players
Calli Hogarth | Goaltender | Merrimack
Years of eligibility remaining: 1
Hogarth played three seasons in North Andover, serving as Merrimack’s primary starter or a platoon goaltender in each of them. In 2024-25, she started 23 games for the Warriors, finishing with a 2.79 goals against average and .904 save percentage. At 6 feet tall, Hogarth reflects the growing trend of bigger goaltenders in women’s college hockey. She is expected to compete with rising sophomore Felicia Frank for playing time.
Alex Law | Forward | Boston University
Years of eligibility remaining: 2
Law was a highly-touted recruit coming into college, playing for Canada’s national team at two IIHF Under-18 World Championships. She played two seasons for the Terriers, putting up 13 points as a freshman and nine this past year as a sophomore. She recorded an assist in BU’s NCAA tournament loss to Clarkson. Law also was a member of BU’s lacrosse team and is expected to play both sports at Quinnipiac.
Anna Foley, Jackie Grisdale and Gal Raviv dragged their feet and stepped up onto the postgame press conference podium with their heads down following their loss to the Fairfield Stags in the MAAC championship game just five days ago.
It was clear that before facing the media, the players had shed tears together in the locker room. You could see the red around the three players’ eyes. You could hear their sniffles as head coach Tricia Fabbri gave her opening statement and you could feel that the team knew they were 40 minutes away from the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season. But they could not withstand the pure dominance from Fairfield.
Over the next 28 hours, more questions loomed for Quinnipiac women’s basketball. At that point, the Bobcats were 28-4. That was good for 15th-best in the country. Fairfield had claimed the conference’s automatic bid, but Quinnipiac’s fate still hung in the balance. The Bobcats had beaten three teams during the regular season that ended up being at-large and automatic qualifiers following the selection show Sunday night. Their chance for an at-large bid was low, but not zero.
— Quinnipiac Women's Basketball (@QU_WBB) March 16, 2025
Despite many media outlets, and even Fairfield’s head coach Carly Thiboult-Dudonis, trying to advocate for Quinnipiac with the NCAA Selection Committee to allow the Bobcats to get an at-large bid, ESPN’s Elle Duncan never uttered the words, “The Quinnipiac Bobcats,” during Sunday night’s selection show.
I asked Fairfield head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis what her pitch to the NCAA Selection Committee would be to get Quinnipiac – who is now 28-4 – into the NCAA Tournament
Quinnipiac’s season would be extended, however. Not in the NCAA Tournament, but in the WBIT. The Bobcats will be playing the Seton Hall Pirates Thursday night at 7 p.m. in South Orange, New Jersey in the opening round of the tournament.
How Quinnipiac got here
The Quinnipiac Bobcats defeated the No. 10 Iona Gaels in the MAAC quarter-final round in convincing fashion, 79-51. The Bobcats followed up two days later by beating the No. 6 Merrimack Warriors in the semi-final round 65-51. The team then ran into the buzzsaw that was the No. 1 Fairfield Stags, who were able to beat the Bobcats 76-53 in the MAAC championship game. The Stags had made 15 three-pointers during the championship game, tied for the most made three-point field goals in one game of the entire season for Fairfield.
“We have to give Fairfield a ton of credit,” senior captain Jackie Grisdale said postgame. “They played a great game and we couldn’t keep up.”
Sydni Scott scored all of her 18 points from behind the arc, not missing one of her six attempts from deep.
“Once I saw the first one go in, I knew it was going to be a good day,” Scott said after the game.
What is The WBIT?
The WBIT is the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament and it is offered to teams that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. In 2024, the tournament was created to replicate the men’s version of the National Invitational Tournament. It is a 32-team postseason tournament and is sponsored by the NCAA, unlike the WNIT. The Bobcats will look to become the second ever winner of this tournament after Illinois who won the inaugural tournament last year and who now will be playing in the NCAA tournament.
There are certainly advantages to playing in the tournament as it gives younger players experience playing in a competitive tournament as well as increased exposure for players to give coaches or professional scouts another chance to take a look. There can be some downside however as the travel and schedule strain can be massive as if the Bobcats are to win, they will have to travel to the west coast immediately after the game to play Stanford or Portland. There can also be added injury risk playing in these games.
This season, Quinnipiac is one of four teams in the tournament that has five or less losses in the entire season.
— Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (@wbitwbb) March 17, 2025
How does Quinnipiac match up against Seton Hall?
Seton Hall head coach Tony Bozzella and the Pirates finished third in the Big East conference, behind Connecticut and Creighton. The two schools are a 2-seed and a 9-seed, respectfully, in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
“While we are all disappointed that the third-place team in the fifth hardest country did not get selected for the NCAA Tournament,” Bozzella said on social media. “We are very excited to once again represent Seton Hall in the postseason.”
Both Bozzella and Fabbri believed that they should have been a part of the NCAA Tournament this season. While Fabbri did not take the same approach as Bozzella, Quinnipiac’s head coach has made it clear in the past that the conference they play in deserves more respect than it receives.
A portion of head coach Tricia Fabbri’s opening statement after today’s win against Fairfield.
The MAAC will have to wait another year for the women’s basketball side to get two bids for the first time since 2001, Quinnipiac still has a game to play.
Quinnipiac (28-4, 18-2 MAAC)
Seton Hall (22-9, 13-5 Big East)
68.4
PPG
62.7
73.9%
FT %
77.9%
44.2%
FG %
38.6%
34.8%
3PT %
27.4%
32.7/G
REB/G
33.3/G
12/G
TO/G
14.2/G
The Bobcats and the Pirates are very similar on paper, but the biggest battle will be the point guard play for either side.
The two schools will meet for the third time ever. Seton Hall won the previous two matchups by a total of 10 points, the two first matchup since 2007.
Quinnipiac’s Gal Raviv was awarded the MAAC Rookie and Player of the Year award this season. It is the first time that the conference gave the player of the year honors to a freshman in its 43-year history.
The 5-foot-7 guard leads the team in scoring at 18.3 points per contest and forces all of her opponents to bring reinforcements her way when she has the ball in her hands. If the other team brings a second defender, she has the intelligence to find the open player and have the Bobcats play on the advantage. She also leads the team in assists.
On the other side, another 5-foot–7 freshman guard has been playing lights out for the Pirates.
Jada Eads is from Orlando, Florida and has the chops to be a part of “the best backcourt around,” Bozzella said during the season.
Averaging 13.8 points per game, Eads does a lot of the same things that her Quinnipiac counterpart does. She has a crafty handle, commands attention when she is on offense and limits turnovers to keep her team in the game.
It is a long road for the chance to compete for another championship, and while one team’s season will end Thursday night, the other will move on to the west coast for the second round of the tournament. The winner will face the winner of Stanford vs. Portland, though dates and times are still TBD.
“…It’s another opportunity for us to get postseason experience,” Fabbri said to WTNH News 8 Wednesday. “That will pay itself forward as we get ready for next year.”
Since the start of the season, every team in the MAAC has had one goal in mind – to punch their ticket to the big dance.
Day one is complete for the MAAC tournament, 10 teams came in, now eight remain.
QU Sports Page’s Khalise Harris and Judaea Ingram discuss the first round results and will break down the matchups in the remaining rounds to predict which squad will punch their ticket and which will fall short of their championship dreams.
So which team will prevail and head to March Madness?
First round results:
No. 8 Rider scrapes passed No. 9 Siena
Rider advanced to the quarterfinals after edging Siena 78-76 in a tightly contested battle. Siena held a narrow two-point lead at halftime. In the second half, Rider turned up the intensity as Zion Cruz stepped up and scored key buckets. It wasn’t the best shooting night from beyond the arc for either team. Rider dominated inside with 46 points in the paint to Siena’s 32 and capitalized on second-chance opportunities, scoring 23 points. The game featured 20 lead changes, with Tariq Ingraham leading the charge for Rider with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman guard Flash Burton added 17 points on 8-for-16 shooting, including the game-tying shot to even the score at 69-69.
No. 7 Sacred Heart offense was too much for No. 10 Fairfield to handle
The nerves kick in when your season is on the line, but the jitters didn’t seem to bother Sacred Heart as they advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Fairfield 71 to 58. The Pioneers would open up with a 7-0 lead and would never look back. With the best scoring offense in the MAAC, the Pioneers fast paced scoring could not be stopped. With 22 total assists for the day, they moved the ball extremely well, making the extra pass and playing unselfish ball. They had 18 total fast break points, taking advantage of their quick transition offense.
Fairfield throughout the game would cut the lead back to single digits, going on scoring runs, but Sacred Heart responded each time with a run of their own. With so many three point snipers on their team, it was hard for Fairfield to defend. When the Stags closed out tight, Sacred Heart would make the extra pass to paint or penetrate to the basket. The Pioneers were able to stop the Stags biggest threat, Prophet Johnson, the junior guard would often get double-teamed whenever he touched the ball, he finished the night with eight points and 10 rebounds, going 3-for-12 from the field and 0-for-3 from the 3-point line. Amiri Stewart had a breakout game with 18 points, leading all players.
“That’s one down, we got another one tomorrow,” Stewart said to his teammates in the locker room after celebrating their win.
Quarterfinals:
Game 3: No. 1 Quinnipiac vs No. 8 Rider
A balanced assault and key position experience have helped the Bobcats recover from last year’s agonizing 62-60 buzzer loss to Saint Peter’s in the semifinals. Quinnipiac ranks third in the MAAC in scoring, averaging 73.8 ppg, thanks to Amarri Monroe, Savion Lewis, and Paul Otieno, who elected to stay. Monroe, the preseason MAAC Player of the Year, leads the league in rebounding with 9.2 boards and third in scoring with 17.7 points. Just behind him is Otieno, who averages 8.6 rebounds and has grabbed double-digit boards 13 times this season. Savion Lewis ranks second in the MAAC with 6.4 assists per game, powering the attack. Quinnipiac’s defense allows 71.4 points per game (6th in MAAC) and.418 field goals. The Bobcats lead the MAAC in team rebounds (38.5), offensive rebounds (11.6), and defensive rebounds (26). They rank third in MAAC thefts (8.52) and second in blocked shots (4.81). Quinnipiac will be tough to beat in the tournament if Monroe, Otieno, and Lewis keep scoring.
X-factor: The battle on the boards will be the key to this matchup. Quinnipiac leads the MAAC in team rebounds, while Siena relies on its defense and shot blocking to disrupt opponents. If the Bobcats can hold down the glass and generate second-chance points, Quinnipiac will have the edge. On the other hand, if Siena can protect the paint and limit Quinnipiac’s offensive rebounds, it could swing the momentum in its favor.
Prediction: Quinnipiac.
Game 4: No. 2 Merrimack vs No. 7 Sacred Heart
The Warriors use their tenacious defense to funnel their game. They focus on a tight zone defense. This focus on defense allows them to control tempo and make critical plays in crucial moments. This is a team that can score 50 points and still win the game. They play games on their own terms. It’s slow, dragged out, and winning the turnover battle. On the other side, the Pioneers boast a high powered offense. They run their transition offense effectively and challenge teams to match their pace. They are turnover prone and Merrimack will take advantage. The Warriors have proven to stop the Pioneers quick paced offense, having them shoot poorly from the field in their two outings against each other. This game will come down to the final possession and there is no one better to have the ball in their hands than junior guard Adam “Budd” Clark.
“Clark does not have a nervous bone in his body. He’s got a flare that’s made for March. He’s proven he can go out and win some games,” head coach Gallo said.
X-factor: Offensive possessions. Merrimack is known to stop offenses from flowing and controls the pace of the game. How well they can stop the Pioneers juggernaut offense for a third time will be crucial for them, as this game will come to the wire. The team that can get the most clean looks and gain time of possession during crunch time will come out on top.
Game 5: No. 4 Iona vs. No. 5 Manhattan
Iona overcame a three-game losing slump to win three straight. DeJour Reaves leads the Gaels with 16.7 ppg (4th in MAAC). Their three-point defense is exceptionally effective, limiting opponents to 33.1% shooting. Yaphet Moundi leads the MAAC with 7.2 rebounds per game (top 10). The Gaels are tough to beat when they play well, combining excellent defense, rebounding, and scoring. Manhattan is on a four-game winning streak entering the MAAC tournament. The Jaspers have one of the most balanced attacks in the MAAC, scoring 76.4 ppg. They are dangerous from three, ranking 4th in three-point percentage (35.1%) and 2nd in made threes (8.8) per game. Five players average double digits, led by Will Sydnor (14.3 ppg, 9th in MAAC) and Devin Dinkins (13.5 ppg, 11th). Manhattan is a tough tournament opponent since they score at all three levels and capitalize on second chances.
X-factor: The key will be which team can impose its style of play — if Iona’s defense can disrupt Merrimack’s offensive rhythm, it could swing the game in their favor. However, if Merrimack can maintain its scoring pace and find ways to break down Iona’s defensive schemes, it will put pressure on Iona to keep up offensively. The team that can adjust and excel on both ends of the court will likely come out on top.
Prediction: Iona.
Game 6: No. 3 Marist vs No. 6 Mount St. Mary’s
Offensively, Marist is middle of the pack, this is not a team that will blow you out with their offensive schemes. Defense is their bread and butter. They force long possessions and do not allow good looks or second chances, as they are ranked 1st in the MAAC in rebounds. They have great on-ball defense at multiple spots. The Mountaineers are a good all-around team, offensively averaging 70.7 points per game. They are top five in the MAAC scoring, field goal percentage, and three point percentage. They get many second chance opportunities due to the presence of Jedi Cordelia and Dola Adebayo. Teams do not shoot well against the Mountaineers. It does not hurt that they also have the conference’s best outside shooter, Carmelo Pacheco, who shoots 46.4% from the arc and he can hit big shots when needed.
— Mount Men’s Basketball (@MountHoops) March 8, 2025
“Our guys respond every time, no matter what has happened to us this year, good or bad, we have responded” Coach Donny Lind said after their win against Marist.
X-factor: On-ball pressure. These are two on-ball pressure teams. Both teams will find it crucial to take care of the ball and make crisp moves when moving up and down the court. They will be in each other’s space and will try to dictate the opponents pace. Keeping themselves in front of the player, limiting penetration and kick outs will be important for both teams.
Prediction:Mount St. Mary’s.
Semifinal Round:
Game 7: No. 1 Quinnipiac vs. No. 4 Iona
Quinnipiac managed to control the pace in both matchups against Iona this season, and its balanced attack is difficult for the Gaels to stop. If Quinnipiac stays disciplined defensively and continues to spread the scoring load, the Bobcats should have the upper hand. Iona scored 32 points in bench production and scored 33 points off turnovers against Quinnipiac both times. If they can capitalize on Quinnipiac’s mistakes and force the Bobcats into turnovers, it will be crucial to their success. Iona forced Quinnipiac to commit 18 turnovers over the two previous games, and they will need to replicate that pressure to stay competitive. Taking advantage of turnovers and bench contributions could swing the game in Iona’s favor.
X-factor: In this game will be the offensive execution from both teams. With both Quinnipiac and Iona having strong offensive presences, the ability to execute efficiently could lead to a high-scoring affair. Quinnipiac’s balanced scoring and Iona’s ability to capitalize on turnovers and fast breaks will be crucial in dictating the tempo. If both teams can maintain their offensive rhythm and avoid defensive lapses, this could turn into a high-scoring, back and forth battle.
Prediction:Quinnipiac.
Game 8: No. 2 Merrimack vs No. 6 Mount St. Mary’s
With Budd Clark at the point, Matt Becht and Devon Savage on the wings, both of them shooting with confidence, and the front court duo of Bryan Etummu and Sean Trumper, Merrimack has one of the conference most complete starting five. Defense anchoring this team, in the last matchup against the Mountaineers, they forced 19 turnovers. The Mountaineers forced the Warriors to shoot poorly from the field and behind the arc. The Warriors will make adjustments to continue to play their style. Winning seven of their last 10 games, the Mountaineers are on a run. Unlike many MAAC teams, the Mountaineers were able to shoot well from the 3-point line against the Warriors. They were 9-17 from the 3-point line and shot over 50 percent from the field.
“Because we’re so unique, we spend a lot more use on ourselves than we do our opponents,” Joe Gallo said.
X-factor: Rebounding. Merrimack is one of the worst rebounding teams in the MAAC, Mount St. Mary’s is one of the best rebounders. In their last matchup, the Warriors were outrebounded 43-23. 10 of those 43 rebounds were offensive boards, accumulating 11 second chance points. The Warriors lost by 10 in their last matchup.
Prediction: Merrimack.
Final:
No. 1 Quinnipiac vs No. 2 Merrimack
The Bobcats are hungry for redemption after a tough season, but with a mix of experienced returners and the added energy from freshman Jaden Zimmerman, they are poised for success. The team has been here before, but this time they have the right blend of hustle, grit and leadership to go all the way.
Merrimack has solidified their reputation with an elite defense that shuts down opponents and forces turnovers. However, while their defense remains a strength, don’t expect the same offensive performances as in previous matchups. Merrimack will certainly adjust, but Quinnipiac’s offensive firepower and depth will challenge their defensive focus.
X-factor: Merrimack’s defense. They thrive on their tight zone defense, forcing turnovers, blocking shots, and limiting opponents’ scoring opportunities. Their ability to control tempo and disrupt offensive rhythm will be key in limiting Quinnipiac’s offensive firepower. Bryan Etumnu’s dominance in the paint and the aggressive defense led by Adam Clark could force Quinipiac into uncomfortable situations, especially if the Warriors can capitalize on turnovers.
However, Quinnipiac’s depth and offensive versatility provide them with the tools to overcome Merrimack’s defensive pressure. The Bobcats’ ability to adjust their offense-mixing inside play with perimeter shooting-while managing the pressure from Merrimack’s defense, will determine the outcome. The X-factor will be how well Quinnipiac can handle Merrimack’s defensive intensity and still execute their balanced offense, leveraging their depth to exploit mismatches.
By Connor Wilson, Ethan Hurwitz, Judaea Ingram & Khalise Harris
With the regular season wrapping up on Saturday, the 2025 MAAC Men’s Basketball Championship is officially upon us. In Atlantic City, 10 teams playing over the course of five days at Boardwalk Hall will determine which school earns the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
If there’s one thing to take from these types of tournaments, it’s that anything can happen, and the favorites aren’t always the ones hoisting the trophy on Saturday. All 10 postseason-eligible teams can make a case to win it all, so here’s one x-factor from each squad that will be crucial towards their team’s success in the tournament:
Quinnipiac: Khaden Bennett, Soph., G (10.4 PPG, 40.7% FG)
The Bobcats are led by a veteran group of upperclassmen with much experience. Bennett has become a key contributor for this team. After playing just 16 games last season, he has stepped into a larger role as the fourth-leading scorer while starting 20. His energy and hustle stand out – diving for loose balls, taking charges, and attacking the rim for momentum-shifting dunks. He also spaces the floor and ranks third on the team with a .346 3-point percentage (22nd in the MAAC). In the backcourt, his 43 steals are the second-most on the team. Over the last five games, he has recorded three double-digit scoring performances, proving his consistency. With his ability to impact both ends of the floor and do the little things, Bennett has been a key piece of the Bobcats’ success. – Harris
Merrimack: Matt Becht, Sr., G (9.8 PPG, 34.8% 3PT)
The Warriors’ identity isn’t beating you from the perimeter, but sometimes in March, the team that comes out on top is the team that gets hot from three. If Merrimack is going to do that, Becht’s fingerprints are going to have to be all over it. The 25-year-old is one of the oldest players in the country and attempts the third most triples per game in the MAAC at 7.3. He knocked down multiple threes in 17 of the Warriors’ 20 MAAC games, and is going to need to perform similarly down in Atlantic City to give Merrimack its best chance at its first NCAA Tournament appearance. No other player besides teammate Budd Clark (20.2) is averaging in double figures this season, so now is the perfect time for somebody on the Warriors to step up. – Wilson
Price was sidelined the entire month of February with a foot injury before returning to the Red Foxes on March 6 in their loss to Merrimack. Marist was rolling with its starting center in the lineup, beginning the year 16-3 overall before the injury. The Red Foxes went 4-4 with him out of the lineup and have lost both games since his return as he adjusts back to speed. Price scored in double figures six times in MAAC play before the injury, and got back to that level in Saturday’s loss to Mount St. Mary’s when he had 13 points. Head coach John Dunne and company need a healthy Price in Atlantic City to make some noise in the tournament. – Wilson
The MAAC All-Rookie Team selection has come on as one of the Gaels’ premier players heading into Atlantic City. Njie Jr. scored in double figures in eight of Iona’s final nine games, with his magnum opus a 26-point outburst at Canisius on March 2. While the majority of the Gaels’ offense runs through senior guard DeJour Reaves and junior forward Yaphet Moundi, Njie Jr. provides an additional level of scoring to head coach Tobin Anderson’s offense. With a first-round bye and a looming quarterfinals matchup against Manhattan — a team that can shoot the three ball with the best of them — it’s safe to assume that Njie Jr. will be an underrated component to lock down one perimeter and help contribute on the other. – Hurwitz
Manhattan: Devin Dinkins, Soph., G (13.5 PPG, 44% 3PT)
Ladies and gentleman, your MAAC Sixth Player of the Year, Devin Dinkins!
The Jaspers were in a six-man rotation for most of MAAC play, now back up to seven, the scoring punch off the bench from Devin Dinkins will be important. Dinkins averaged 13.5 points-per-game (11th in the MAAC). He led the Jaspers with 59 3-pointers this season and had 20 games with multiple 3-pointers to his name. Not only is he shooting well from the field and -point line, but he shoots tremendously from the free-throw line at 87.7%. Whether he is creating his shot or setting up teammates, Dinkins’ versatility will open up different scoring avenues for the Jaspers. His scoring ability gives Manhattan a reliable option in clutch moments and helps keep defenses on their toes. – Ingram
Mount St. Mary’s: Carmelo Pacheco, Soph., G (9.5 PPG, 46% 3PT)
There’s an argument to be made for Pacheco being the conference’s best 3-point shooter. After arriving at Mount St. Mary’s by way of UVA-Wise, Pacheco was the catalyst for a number of the Mountaineers’ wins late in the year. At one point he was ranked inside the top 15 nationally in 3-point percentage, and drilled a game winner against Niagara to steal a win on Feb. 14. He was dealing with a finger injury in Saturday’s win over Marist and played just six minutes, but expect a healthy Pacheco to get the green light early and often from deep. – Hurwitz
In their first year in the MAAC, the Pioneers have impressed many despite finishing as the No. 7 seed. Part of the reason why they are where they are is the youth stepping up, such as Ralph-Beyer. The freshman has been a lights-out shooter for Anthony Latina’s Pioneers all year long, but as of late, he’s been a bit more streaky. Ralph-Beyer hit 20 3-pointers in a seven-game stretch from Jan. 23 to Feb. 16, but in six games since then has only buried eight. Coincidentally, his shooting struggles began when he entered the starting lineup for the first time, so perhaps another change may be in store as Sacred Heart needs the best version of Ralph-Beyer it can get. – Wilson
Cruz has consistently demonstrated his scoring prowess and versatility on the court. In a crucial game against Canisius, he led the team with 12 points, contributing to a decisive 78-50 victory that secured Rider’s berth in the MAAC Tournament. He also had clutch shots against Merrimack and finished the game with 23 points, shooting 9-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from the 3-point line. He is not afraid to shoot and pull from behind the arc. He went 4-5 from the 3-point line against St.Peter’s, finishing the game with 16 points. He is a dynamic offensive option for Rider, and he can stretch out the defense. His hot hand can lead them to the promised Iand. – Ingram
Freshman Wing Gavin Doty (@DotyGavin) has been on a tear since entering Siena's starting lineup 11 games ago, putting up 15 PPG, 8.2 REB (3.3 OREB), 2.3 AST (1.1 TOV), and 1.5 STL in this stretch. Doty plays with a completely unmatched motor, never taking a single possession off! pic.twitter.com/w8RSf0bn3k
Doty has come out of his shell offensively for the Bulldogs since entering the starting lineup. He has scored double digits in eight straight games. Described by Josh Abercombie as an unmatched motor, as he never takes a single possession off. He leads all MAAC freshmen in scoring (14.1), rebounding (7.9), field goal percentage (.480), and free throw percentage (.815). He makes winning plays, whether that is crashing the glass or getting key buckets down the stretch. He does not turn the ball over often and rebounds well for a guard. In three of the last four games, Doty scored 20 or more points, including ending the season with a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double against Manhattan. He is a sensational freshman, and Siena will benefit from his offensive explosion. – Ingram
In his first season at Fairfield, Perry has already made a name for himself. The 5-foot-8 shift and quick guard is a problem – let’s get that straight. Despite starting only three games and averaging 20.0 minutes, he plays with purpose every time he steps on the court. His impact goes beyond the numbers, but he’s had big moments, including a game-winning 7–foot buzzer-beater against Marist. Perry has scored in double figures in 12 games, with three of those being 20-point performances. He also leads the team in free-throw percentage at 88.2%, making it crucial for opponents to keep him off the line, especially since many of his drives result in and-one opportunities. – Harris
The ECAC Hockey men’s tournament kicked off Friday, with the bottom eight seeds gearing up for the single-elimination opening round. No. 1 Quinnipiac — Cleary Cup champions for the fifth-straight season — earned a bye into the quarterfinals, as did No. 2 Clarkson, No. 3 Colgate and No. 4 Union.
With their seasons on the line, No. 8 Brown hosts No. 9 Princeton and No. 7 Harvard faces No. 10 RPI, while No. 5 Dartmouth battles No. 12 St. Lawrence and No. 6 Cornell meets No. 11 Yale.
As the fray begins, here are 15 players to watch in this year’s tournament:
After not reaching double-digit goals in his first three seasons with Clarkson, Martino has become one the nation’s most dangerous scorers seemingly overnight. His 23 goals leads the ECAC and is tied for second in the NCAA. Factor in his 45 points and Martino is a shoe-in to be the first Golden Knight to win ECAC Player of the Year since Todd White in 1997.
Ayrton Martino (#TexasHockey📷 '21 73rd) has been carving up the ECAC this season. 20P in his last 10GP, 14P in last 5GP.
A lightning-quick processor, Martino's physical skill/habits have taken a step. A true dual threat attacker, but his vision separates him. @ClarksonMHockeypic.twitter.com/ockWeanPZr
Shane makes this list not for his regular season performance, but for what he’s left on the table this season. The reigning ECAC Goaltender of the Year, Shane — along with the conference preseason favorite Big Red — has fallen off a cliff. His .923 save percentage in 2023-24 has dropped to .891, second-worst in the nation among netminders with over 20 starts. If Shane finds his form in the postseason, it’s the first step for No. 6 Cornell to shake off a rough regular season and look to repeat as ECAC champions in two weeks.
Brown enters the ECAC Tournament on a tear, winning eight of its last 10 games and steamrolling into the eight seed and home ice advantage in the opening round. The Bears’ most dynamic player through this stretch? St. Louis, who has 15 points since Jan. 17. His 1.25 points per game sits second in the conference, despite missing nine games with two separate injuries.
In his second year with the Bobcats after transferring from North Dakota, Moore has joined a lineage of shutdown No. 1 defenseman at Quinnipiac. Like Jayden Lee before him and Zach Metsa before that, Moore is the focal point of a Bobcats’ defense that is again among the best in the nation. He’s not a dynamic offensive threat (12 points in 33 games), but Moore’s elite defensive instincts break up plays before they become dangerous and allow Quinnipiac to quickly turn plays back up ice. With graduate student Aaron Bohlinger out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, more responsibility now falls on the veteran Moore to lock down the top lines of opposing teams.
Much like the Clarkson women’s top defensive pairing of Nicole Gosling and Haley Winn, the Golden Knights’ men’s duo of Taylor and Sarsland should be spoken of in the same breath. They have 25 and 21 points on the season, respectively, and are a nightmare for offenses to beat in the defensive zone. Taylor, the reigning ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year, is making a strong case to repeat in 2025, and Sarsland’s +11 plus/minus is sixth among defensemen in the conference.
An All-ECAC Second Teamer as a freshman, Foley has taken the next step in his second season with Dartmouth. His 11 goals and 29 points lead the Big Green and sit top five among defensemen in the country, driving an offense that spent half the season without its top forward, Luke Haymes.
In his third season with the Tigers, Gorman pushes the pace as Princeton’s top-line center. He leads the Tigers in goals (12) and points (26) this season. His relentless motor helps regulate the play of a hot and cold program who’s conference tournament run could be anywhere from one day to three weeks long.
A high-scoring winger in his two years at Boston University, Wilmer has kept his scoring pace up in his first year at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats have five players in the top 10 in scoring, and Wilmer’s 38 points are second only to Martino for the conference lead. Quinnipiac is the highest-scoring team in the conference this season, and the 5-foot-8 spark plug has proven to be the leader of the committee.
Two years ago, Dartmouth was at the bottom of the conference standings. Now, the Big Green are an ECAC contender and Haymes is a major reason why. The team’s leading scorer in 2023-24, he missed the first part of this season with a broken hand but has played very well since returning, molding his game into that of a physical two-way center. He is expected to be pursued by many NHL teams at the conclusion of Dartmouth’s season.
That's three straight games that Luke Haymes has opened the scoring for the Big Green!
Chorske has had his breakout season as a senior, and is currently top five in the conference in both goals (15) and points (33). The center from Minnesota is an excellent puck handler and passer, and has been driving the offense for the Raiders in 2024-25. Listed at 6-foot-7, 215 pounds, he provides a size component that few in the country can rival. If Colgate is to win the ECAC, Chorske is going to have to be the best player in the conference tournament.
Union finished fourth in the regular season standings under third-year coach Josh Hauge, and the team’s leader on the back end is Prokop, a second-team All-American from a year ago. Prokop is second among ECAC defenseman in scoring to Dartmouth’s Foley and his offensive output over his three years in Schenectady means opposing coaches have to gameplan for him. He has also taken major steps on his own end, in particular taking an expanded role on the penalty kill, that has allowed the talented Union forwards to take chances offensively.
Just two ECAC forwards have hit the 20-goal threshold in the regular season. One is Clarkson’s Martino. The other is Ricketts, a graduate transfer and former captain at Holy Cross. The left-winger from Oakville, Ontario, really picked up his scoring in the past month, with nine of his 20 goals coming on or after Jan. 31. While the Bobcats get most of their recognition for their strong defense in recent years, their balanced scoring output has also been key to their fifth-consecutive Cleary Cup title. No one has been hotter down the stretch for them than Ricketts.
Thompson is Harvard’s scoring leader., A freshman, he was recently named the Hockey Commissioners Association’s National Rookie of the Month. The 21-year-old had four of his 10 goals and 12 of his 26 total points in February. The Crimson struggled in 2023-24 after most of their stars of the 2022-23 team turned pro and have remained middle of the pack this year. While the team is still in a rebuilding period, Thompson is a piece that Harvard can build around for the future.
2024-25 was another rocky regular season for No. 10 RPI, which faces a steep climb to reach postseason success. If they hope to replicate the first round upset they pulled off last March, the Engineers will need the offensive production of Lee, who’s 12 goals leads the team. RPI has won six games since the start of the new year and Lee scored in five of them, including both o
f the team’s goals in a 2-1 win over Dartmouth on Feb. 21.
Zacher, a second-year starter from Buffalo, New York, is second among qualified conference goaltenders with a .920 save percentage, second to just Quinnipiac’s Matej Marinov’s .922. Handling the bulk of starts for the Bears this season, he was the conference’s only representative among the 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award for Division I’s top goaltender. Postseason hockey, particularly in defensive-oriented conferences such as the ECAC, magnifies the importance of good goaltending. If Zacher gets hot, Brown could put a scare into the top teams in the conference.
