Union College and Providence College each earned a spot in the second round of the 2014 NCAA hockey tournament thanks to wins over the University of Vermont and Quinnipiac University, respectfully.
The teams will play each other on Sunday at 3 p.m. for a chance to advance to the Frozen Four.
Union utilized its special teams to coast past Vermont in its opening game, winning by a final score of 5-2.
Junior Max Novak scored two goals to help propel his team to victory, the first of which broke a 1-1 tie in the first period. The Dutchmen are on a roll, winners of nine in a row with no losses in the past 14 games (13-0-1).
After Union opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first five minutes of the game, Vermont responded with a tally of their own at the 13:18 mark when senior Chris McCarthy’s centering pass was blocked and he put home the rebound.
That was the closest Vermont would come though, as Union scored two power play goals to build their lead and never let the Catamounts back into the game.
Providence won its first NCAA tournament hockey game since 1991 with a 4-0 shutout of Quinnipiac. Standout goaltender Jon Gillies made 37 saves en route to the win.
The Friars owned a 1-0 advantage after the first period before exploding for three goals in the second. Mark Jankowski, Shane Luke, Anthony Florentino and Trevor Mingoia were the goal scorers for Providence.
The opening round loss marks a disappointing end for Quinnipiac, who made it all the way to the NCAA national championship game last year. Its season ends with a record of 24-10-6.
