ORONO — The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team hosts Merrimack in the Hockey East best- of- three quarterfinal series this weekend.

The two teams will play tonight, Saturday and Sunday, if necessary.

Maine clinched the fourth and final home playoff spot last Saturday afternoon with a 1- 0 win over New Hampshire. Maine is 20-11-3 on the season and finished 15-10-2 in Hockey East play.

Merrimack finished the regular season with a mark of 17-10-7 overall and were 13-9-5 in Hockey East play.

It is the second straight year that Maine and Merrimack will face each other in the Hockey East quarterfinals. A year ago, Merrimack swept the best-of-three series (5-4 and 6-2) at Lawler Arena in North Andover, Mass.

Maine is making its 26th Hockey East Tournament appearance. The Black Bears have a record of 49-28 in the tournament. Maine faced Merrimack in the Hockey East Tournament in 1992, 2004 and 2011. In 1992, the Black Bears defeated the Warriors 7-0 in a single elimination quarterfinal game. In 2004, Maine won the best-ofthree series 2-1 and 3-2.

Maine and Merrimack have met three times on the season with the Warriors holding a 2- 0-1 edge.

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