By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

Four wins.
That’s what separates a half dozen of the Blackstone Valley’s boys’ hockey teams from state championship glory next weekend at Providence College’s Schneider Arena.
Six of the eight best-of-three semifinal-round series features local teams in search of their division’s ultimate prize, and the puck drops for them tonight at four arenas in this chunk of the state.

Adelard Arena and the Smithfield Ice Rink will host doubleheaders that are sure to pack both buildings, as Adelard’s twinbill features Division II foes Cumberland High and North Kingstown High in a 7:30 p.m. showdown and Mount St. Charles Academy taking on Division I rival La Salle Academy at 9 p.m.
At Smithfield, undefeated Smithfield High entertains Portsmouth High in a Division II contest at 8 p.m., and North Smithfield High hosts Mount Hope High in Division III play at 6.
In Division I-A action, second-seeded Burrillville High hosts third-seeded Cranston West High at 7:30 p.m. within the friendly confines of Levy Arena, while fourth-seeded Lincoln High buses to Portsmouth Abbey’s rink to duel top-seeded Barrington High at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, it will be Cranston Arena and Portsmouth Abbey that will host Game 2 doubleheaders. Cranston’s twinbill pits the Mounties and the Rams in a 7:30 p.m. meeting and the Broncos and the Falcons at 9 p.m., while in Portsmouth, it’s the same two games as the Smithfield doubleheader -- NS vs. Mount Hope at 6 p.m. and Smithfield vs. Portsmouth at 7:30 p.m.
The Clippers will continue their series with the Skippers in a 7:30 p.m. duel at URI’s Boss Arena, and the Lions will face the Eagles at 9 p.m. at Adelard Arena.
If a third and deciding game is needed in any of these series, they will take place on Monday night at the venue of the opening game and at a time to be announced.
Here’s a brief look at the six series of local interest:

Division I
Mount St Charles (16-1-1) vs. La Salle (8-10-1)
Most folks view this series as merely a bye with exercise for the top-seeded and defending champion Mounties, but the fourth-seeded Rams played them awfully tough in their last regular-season affair, a close 3-2 MSC victory at Adelard Arena, and enter this series with six wins and a tie in their last nine games. 
But since battling Bishop Hendricken High to a 3-3 tie back on Feb. 20, the Mounties have shifted their game into another gear and thrashed their next four foes by a combined 33-0 score.
One MSC player who has come on strong in the past couple of weekends is senior Tim Coffey. He has scored 11 goals in the Mounties’ last five games, increasing his season output to 22. Coffey also leads the division in assists (24) and is tied with Hendricken’s Noel Acciari for first in total points (46).
The Rams, who beat Toll Gate by a 5-3 score in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, were swept by the Mounties in their four-game regular-season series, losing the other three contests by scores of 5-0, 7-0, and 4-1.
The victor of this series will face the survivor of the series between second-seeded Bishop Hendricken and the Moses Brown School in the best-of-three title series that is slated to begin on Thursday, March 12.

Division I-A
Lincoln (6-11-2) vs. Barrington (9-8-1)
Of the four divisions, this league is clearly up for grabs, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the fourth-seeded Lions skate off with a berth in the finals at the expense of the regular-season champion Eagles, who had been swept in the last two finals.
The Lions own their regular-season series with the Eagles, winning the first two meetings, 5-2 and 7-6, before losing their Feb. 21 affair by a 5-1 score. And they will be busing into Portsmouth with the momentum they got from Wednesday’s thrilling 6-5 overtime victory over East Greenwich High.
The Eagles, who got off to woeful 0-5 start, have won six of their last seven contests and boast a balanced scoring attack that’s led by junior Rui Pereira (12 goals, 10 assists). Like Coffey, Pereira has sparkled over the past two weekends and netted seven goals, including three in the win over the Lions.
The Lions’ top gun this season has been senior Nate Duquette, who led the division in goals (15) and total points (26). He had a hat trick in the victory over the Avengers and two huge goals in the final 2:08 of play that sent the game into OT.

Burrillville (9-8-1) vs. Cranston West (6-8-4)
After notching their second four-game win streak of the year, the defending champion Broncos have concluded their regular season with three straight losses, but hope to turn the tide against a team they played evenly through the season.
Both squads skated to a 1-1 tie in their season opener, and after the Falcons netted a 2-0 triumph in their rematch, the Broncos responded with a 4-3 win in their next meeting.
The Falcons, like the Broncos, are also entering this series on somewhat of a skid, with just one win and two ties to show for their last seven games. The Falcons have also been snakebit in overtime contests this year, going 0-2-4, and they have totaled just 35 goals.

Division II
Smithfield (18-0) vs. Portsmouth (10-6-3)
The Sentinels take their unbeaten record into their series against a team that has been known for its postseason collapses. The fourth-seeded Patriots had been the No. 1 seed in two of the last three playoffs, yet were stunned in the semifinals, and they haven’t won a playoff series in seven years.
Smithfield won its regular-season meetings with Portsmouth, 5-2 on Feb. 6 in Smithfield and 6-2 in last weekend‘s regular-season finale in Portsmouth. Fifteen of the Sentinels’ victories have been by three or more goals.
Despite that, the Sentinels will clearly be focused on their opponent and not look ahead to next weekend’s finals. Last year, they entered the playoffs as the two-time Division II champs, but lost in the semifinals to Cumberland.
The Patriots defeated St. Raphael Academy, 4-1, in their quarterfinal-round game on Wednesday night at Portsmouth Abbey, as the hosts broke open a very tight game by scoring a pair of empty-net goals in the final 90 seconds. That was their fifth victory in their last six games.
 
Cumberland (12-3-3) vs. North Kingstown (13-4-2)
If there’s a series that promises to go three games, it’s this one. These teams have played some very tight games in recent memory, none tighter than this year’s regular-season series, which saw the second-seeded Clippers exit URI with a 3-2 overtime victory and then battle the Skippers to a 1-1 draw.
The third-seeded Skippers, who are in their second season in the division after claiming the Division III state title two years ago, are known for their physical play and have one of the league’s premier players in junior Ryan Merz (21 goals, 15 assists).
While the Skippers played twice last weekend and needed to defeat Pilgrim High in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, the defending champion Clippers have been off since defeating Tolman High in their regular-season finale on Feb. 21. This rest should definitely help them should this series extend to three games.

Division III
North Smithfield (15-2-2) vs. Mount Hope (12-5-2)
Instead of a showdown with third-seeded Warwick Vets, the second-seeded Northmen will face off against the fourth-seeded Huskies, who beat Rogers High, 4-0, in the quarterfinals, but have stumbled a bit down the stretch and won only two games in the month of February.
Both teams only faced each other once during the regular season, and it was a memorable duel that saw the Huskies posting a 5-2 triumph that ousted the Northmen from the unbeaten ranks.
In that game, the Northmen turned in a poor performance that saw them take just 17 shots on goal, but you can bet that they will have the sting from that loss on their minds when they renew acquaintances this weekend.
Senior Kyle Gasior (31 goals, 18 assists) is the Huskies’ marquee player, but it was sophomore Eddie Botelho (nine goals) who torched the Northmen for a hat trick. The Northmen’s attack is fueled by the Naradowy brothers, Nick (14 goals, 15 assists) and Connor, who teamed up to score six goals in their team’s 7-1 quarterfinal-round win over Cranston East High on Wednesday.
The winner of this series will nxt contest the survivor of the series between unbeaten defending champion Narragansett High and the sixth-seeded Prout School.