3/29 Recap: New foursome booked; Gerbe, Gragnani, groovin'

At the NCAA Northeast regional, Nathan Gerbe scored a goal and an assist as Boston College dominated Minnesota, 5-2. While on a first period power play, one of Gerbe's game-best seven shots was directed out to Ben Smith to set-up the first Eagles goal. The 5'5 winger later sealed the game with an empty netter. Andrew Orpik, again playing at the center spot, went pointless for BC. National runners-up the past two seasons, the Eagles will look to punch their ticket to Denver when they play Miami tomorrow. As one USHL product (Gerbe/Omaha) carries on in the tourney, the end of the road came for three others. In Colorado Springs, Michigan State forward Tim Kennedy (Sioux City) assisted on the only Spartan goal in their 3-1 loss to upstart Notre Dame. Kennedy finishes his junior year as the Spartans leading scorer (20-23-43), tied for 16th in the NCAA, and has scored 104 points through his three seasons in E. Lansing. LW Corey Tropp (Sioux Falls) posted two shots and a team-low -2 to close out his freshman campaign with 17 points. With graduation and the possible early departures by Kennedy and Justin Abdelkader (DET), he could enter the fall as the fifth-leading scorer among returning players. Defenseman Chris Butler (Sioux City) saw his junior season come to an end as Denver got housed by Wisconsin, 6-2. Also playing in what is likely his final collegiate game, Butler was -2 with three shots on goal. The Midwest regional loss was the first ever NCAA tournament game for the 2005 fourth rounder. Joining the three collegians in the bag line this week is Baie-Comeau C Benjamin Breault, who went pointless in the Drakkar's 5-2 loss to Rimouski. The Pembroke, Ontario native carved out three assists while the opposing Oceanic easily polished off one of the QMJHL's strongest regular season clubs, four games to one. In current USHL action, D Drew MacKenzie followed his best statistical game of the season (1-1-2) with two shots on goal in Waterloo's 3-1 win over first-place Indiana. With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Black Hawks look poised for a deep playoff run. They are 12-3 in their last 15, and currently hold the league's third-best record. AHL rookie Marc-Andre Gragnani scored a pair of goals as the Amerks won their second straight in a 5-2 defeat of Grand Rapids. Playing defense, Gragnani's shorthanded and power-play goals give the 6'1, 197-pounder a team-best 50 points. He has scored ten points in his last seven games, and 15 in the 12 games since returning from his two-game NHL stint. Dylan Hunter added an assist for Rochester in the win. The Rundown: Gragnani - two goals, +1, 5 SOG Hunter - assist MacArthur - +1 Mancari - 0-0-0 0 0 Zagrapan - 3 SOG, -2 Funk - out Whitmore - DNP Kostka - DNP