Snowed out
Franklin Pierce’s series at Canton on Friday and Saturday was canceled due to the snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast this weekend. On Saturday, Nichols-Curry, Elmira-Manhattanville, Fitchburg State-Assumption, Bowdoin-Trinity, Colby-Wesleyan, and Worcester State-Framingham State were all pre-empted by continuing adverse weather conditions.
Deuces wild game-winners
Brad McBride scored twice, including the game-winner, as No. 5 Hobart raced out to a four-goal first-period lead and held on for a 4-3 win over No. 13 Manhattanville. Andrew Kolb had two goals and the winner in Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s 8-3 shellacking of Wisconsin-Stout.
Brandon Nowakowski scored St. Scholastica’s first two goals in its 3-0 blanking of No. 4 Wisconsin Eau-Claire, while Cody Keefer included the game-winner among his two scores in No. 6 St. Norbert’s 4-1 victory at Wisconsin-Stout. Dean Niezgoda scored two goals for No. 1 Norwich, including the third-period winner, in a 4-3 win over Skidmore on Sunday.
Buzzer beaters
Justin Basso recorded the game-winner with 1:15 to go on Saturday as No. 7 Adrian survived, 6-5, after host Concordia (Wis.) had rallied from a 5-1 deficit with four straight third-period scores.
Billy Pascalli assisted on the game-tying goal for host Potsdam with four seconds remaining in regulation against Brockport on Friday, before winning it 2:17 into overtime. Potsdam then withstood a tying goal by No. 14 Geneseo the next night with just 1:44 left in the third period, before the Bears’ Kenny Simon connected 40 seconds into the extra session for another 4-3 Potsdam win.
One-Two-Three
Zach Graham notched the hat trick, including the game-winning goal, for Adrian in the Bulldogs’ 6-1 triumph at Concordia (Wis.). Geoff Shewmake tallied three goals in Wisconsin-River Falls’ 7-5 win at St. Scholastica, while Jack Walsh did likewise for Gustavus Adolphus in a 5-2 win over Saint Mary’s. Jackson Brewer tallied three goals and added an assist in Trinity’s 7-2 win over Colby on Sunday, and Andrew White lit the lamp three times in Tufts’ 6-4 triumph over Hamilton.
Helping trios
Mike Montrose tallied three assists in Finlandia’s 5-1 triumph over Lawrence, while Mike Zanella equaled that feat in Buffalo State’s 8-1 win over Cortland, and Mark Lyons did the same as No. 13 Williams topped Middlebury, 6-2. Peter LaFosse followed suit in No. 8 Utica’s 7-1 win over Nazareth, while Daniel Hildebrandt did likewise in Augsburg’s 9-4 win over Bethel.
Zachary Lombardi’s three assists came in Trinity’s 7-2 win against Colby, while Andrew Kurlandski took part in three of No. 10 Amherst’s four goals in a 4-2 victory at Connecticut College. Dana Borges set up all three Stonehill scores in a 5-3 loss to Southern New Hampshire, while Ben Kravitz assisted on three of Babson’s six goals in a 6-4 victory at the University of New England.
Senior scoring prowess
There’s something to be said for experience, at least scoring-wise so far this season in the NCAA Division III men’s hockey ranks. The top six scorers in the nation heading into Sunday’s games were all seniors.
No. 2 Oswego’s torrid twosome of senior forwards Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie are both still ranked in the top 10 skaters in Division III scoring, but the overall points producer to date has been Branden Parkhouse, a senior forward at Becker (Mass.), which was idle this past weekend. The California native has tallied 22 goals and 16 assists for 38 points through his first 22 games this year with the Hawks, and also leads the nation in total goals, 17 of which have come at even-strength.
Rodrigues is second nationally with 14 goals and 37 points, and Moodie is sixth with 16 goals and 35 points. Parkhouse’s teammate David Graham is fourth with 16 goals and 36 points, and senior Kyle Stroh of St. Norbert is tied for second with 17 goals and 37 points. Fitchburg State senior Joseph Caveney, meanwhile, holds the national lead with 24 assists.
Chris Kaleta of Cortland and Frank Salituro of Hobart, both senior forwards, lead the nation with nine power-play goals apiece, while senior forward Adam Bevilacqua of Cortland is pacing all of Division III with four short-handed scores.
Man advantage, man down
As far as special teams, Adrian is first overall with a power play that is clicking at 32.5 percent (38-of-117). The Bulldogs are also averaging 5.04 total goals per game, also the best in the nation. Two-time defending national champion St. Norbert is second nationally with the man advantage, converting at 29.2 percent (38-of-130).
Amherst has the nation’s top penalty-killing unit at 90.4 percent (66-of-73), with No. 9 Plattsburgh just behind at 90.1 percent (73-of-81). Cortland has scored nine times while skating a man down, the best mark in the nation, along with Plymouth State. As for total goals against, No. 1 Norwich has allowed just 1.64 goals per outing.
The most heavily-penalized team in the nation so far is Johnson and Wales, which was averaging 25.05 penalty minutes per game (187-for-551) through its first 22 outings.
Focus on the gatekeepers
Sophomore goaltender David Jacobson of St. Norbert and senior Andrew Hare of Oswego lead all Division III netminders with five shutouts apiece, while junior Benjamin Coulthard of Trinity has the top save percentage (.942), and junior Scott Lewan of Wisconsin-River Falls is No. 1 in total minutes played (1500:45).
Junior goaltender Chris Czarnota of Norwich has the nation’s best goals-against average at 1.65, and was also 10-1-0 through his first 11 appearances. Junior goalie Nick Therrien of No. 8 Utica is 17-3-0 overall, and first overall in victories.
40-plus saves
Brian Phillips made 42 saves for Tufts in a 6-4 victory over Hamilton on Sunday, after Ed Zdolshek stopped 41 shots in Nazareth’s 5-2 loss to Utica on Saturday.
Still going strong
The only undefeated Division III team in conference play to date is Adrian, which has gone 15-0-3 in the MCHA. Concerning overall records, Adrian (19-1-3) has just one loss to date, and is undefeated in its last 10 outings (10-0-3). Norwich (20-2-0) and No. 3 Bowdoin (17-2-3) have just two setbacks apiece so far this season.
