Second-seeded Canisius will host No. 8 seed American International in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Atlantic Hockey Conference Tournament, league officials announced Sunday evening.
The best-of-three series will be held March 9-11 at KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER in downtown Buffalo. Game one is slated for March 9 at 7:35 p.m., while game two is scheduled for an 8:05 p.m. puck drop on March 10. If necessary, a winner-take-all game three will be held March 11 at 7:05 p.m.
The winner of the series advances to the tournament semifinals, scheduled for March 16 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.
Canisius earned a bye into the quarterfinal round of the AHC Tournament for the second consecutive season as it finished league play with a record of 17-11-0, two points behind first-place Mercyhurst (16-8-4).
AIC, meanwhile, advanced to the quarterfinals with a sweep of Niagara in its first-round series this weekend at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. The Yellow Jackets took the opener by a 4-1 margin on Friday before recording a 4-3 victory over the Purple Eagles in double overtime in game two on Saturday.
The quarterfinal round series between Canisius and AIC marks just the second time the two schools will face each other in postseason play. The Yellow Jackets claimed the inaugural postseason matchup with a 2-1 victory over the Golden Griffins in the first round of the 2007 Tournament at Buffalo State.
The teams split their only series of the regular season in mid-January at HARBORCENTER. AIC took the opener with a 3-0 shutout before Canisius responded with a 6-1 victory in the series finale.
