It wasn’t a good final weekend for either the ranked or unbeaten as Hobart fell to a resurgent Trinity squad while Geneseo suffered their first loss to non-conference rival Elmira. MASCAC leaders Plymouth State found themselves with a pair of losses to Wesleyan and New England College and Williams suffered their first loss in NESCAC play. There was also lots of other excitement to finish the first half of the season. Here’s the weekend wrap-up:
CCC
Curry and Salve Regina both enjoyed winning efforts on Friday before facing each other to close out the first-half on Saturday in a matchup of top CCC contenders. After a seesaw first period that saw the lead change hands a couple of times, Salve took the lead for good on Mitch Walinski’s first of the night with under two minutes remaining in the opening period. Spencer Stanley and Walinski again scored in the second period for the final sore of 5-2 as the Seahawks shut down the Colonels offense and power play through a scoreless third period. Walinski finished with two goals and two assists as did Damon Zimmer while Seth Benson added four helpers to the scoresheet for Salve Regina who moved to 9-4-0 overall and 7-2-0 in CCC play.
Independents
Albertus Magnus continued their winning ways with a pair of victories to extend their winning streak to seven games. The Falcons downed Trinity 3-1 on goals from Alex Gagnon, Owen Allen and Jonathan Stein and superb goaltending from Logan Bateman who stopped 29 of 30 shots and added an assist on Allen’s game-winning goal.
On Saturday, the Falcons won yet another close non-conference game with a 3-2 win over Neumann. After a scoreless first period, the two teams exchanged goals in the second period setting up a dramatic third period. The Falcons used power play goals from Tyler Ignazzitto and Cameron Weitzman to skate away with the win. Bateman again was outstanding stopping 32 of 34 shots while the Falcons held the Knights power play to 0 for 5 on the night.
MASCAC
The league leading Plymouth State Panthers closed out the first-half with a pair of non-conference games that ended in a pair of 3-2 losses to Wesleyan and New England College. On Friday, Ethan Stuckless and Ted Austin gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead after the second period. The Cardinals answered back with goals from DJ Dixon and a late goal from Emmet Powell to steal the win.
On Saturday, in-state rival New England College built a 3-0 lead on goals by Connor Inger and a pair from Alex Laplante. The Panthers tried to rally back on goals from Jeromey Rancourt and JR Barone but could not score the equalizer behind Pilgrims’ goaltender, Andrew Kormos who made 52 saves in the win.
NE-10
On Saturday night, a hat trick from Cody Rumsey and a pair of power play goals from Brendan Shandley provided all the scoring the Ravens would need in a 5-3 win over Johnson & Wales. Adam Carman earned the win in goal stopping 22 of 25 shots. The power play was a key with Rumsey and Shandley tallying three times on the man-advantage to help the Ravens move to 3-8-0 on the season.
NEHC
The only conference game played on the weekend was between travel partners Castleton and Skidmore. The Thoroughbreds trailed 3-2 after two periods of play but leveled the score at 3-3 on a goal from Kaeden Patrick. Neither team could break through in the final eleven minutes of regulation and it took overtime to decide the contest. Skidmore’s Danny Magnuson gave the home team the hard fought 4-3 win midway through the extra session that leveled their NEHC record at 3-3-1.
NESCAC
The conference continues to battle COVID schedule impacts but the action that is happening on the ice has been exciting. Hamilton, behind two goals each from Matt Gellerman and Nick Hawkins, helped hand Williams its first conference loss in a 4-1 decision on Friday night.
On Sunday, it took an overtime goal from Jack Forrest for the Ephs to close out the first half with a 3-2 win over Amherst.
Colby saw goals from Alex Bourhas, Will Molson, Carter Breitenfeldt and Jake Klein support a 13-save shutout from Andy Beran in a 4-0 win over Tufts. For the game, the Mules outshot the Jumbos by a 48-13 margin.
After starting the season 3-0, Trinity had lost its last four games and looked to close out the season against the No. 5 ranked Hobart Statesmen at home on Saturday. Devan Tongue and Jax Murray helped the Bantams double up on Hobart in the first period and Casey Rhodes and Richard Boysen did the same in the second period giving Trinity a 4-2 lead after two periods. Hobart would not go quietly as Austin Mourar cut the lead to just one goal in the first two minutes of the third period. From there the Trinity defense and goaltender Patrick Pugliese made the score stand up for the upset win by a 4-3 score.
SUNYAC
Geneseo took care of business in SUNYAC play with a 3-1 win over Brockport on Friday night before facing off with Elmira on Saturday night. The Knights fell behind 2-1 entering the third period when Peter Morgan tied the game just 36 seconds into the third period. Elmira came right back with goals from Janis Vizbelis and Graham Denomme to re-build their two-goal lead with less than five minutes to play in regulation. Justin Cmunt brought the unbeaten Knights to within one goal with less than three minutes remaining but the aptly named Jeffrey Zero kept Geneseo at bay for the 4-3 upset win over the nation’s No. 1 team.
After shutting out Buffalo State on Friday behind Luca Durante’s 28 saves, Cortland continued their impressive play in the SUNYAC with a 4-2 win over Fredonia on Saturday. The Blue Devils built an early 2-0 lead over Cortland who still trailed y a goal entering the final period. Three unanswered goals from Shane Beaulieu, Sutter Donegan and Jona Hildreth in a span of less than six minutes gave Cortland the win that moved them to 5-2-1 in conference play.
UCHC
The non-conference battle between Adrian and Wilkes turned out to be a great game that needed overtime to settle. The Colonels took a 2-1 lead on goals by Donald Flynn and Tyler Dill before the Bulldogs tied the score at 2-2 on a goal by Zachery Heintz in the second period. Neither team could score in the third period as Cameron Gray and Michael Jones-Paterson were solid between the pipes. In overtime it was the Bulldogs who scored for the win off the stick of Zach Goberis.
Stevenson met Arcadia for the first time and came away with a 3-0 win behind 33 saves from Ryan Kenny. Seth Bergeron, Liam McCanney and Frank Vitucci provided all the scoring for the Mustangs who moved to 9-2-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the UCHC.
Three Biscuits
Shawn Kennedy – Elmira – scored four goals on Friday night to power the Soaring Eagles to a 10-0 win over Lebanon Valley.
Luca Durante – Cortland – stopped all 28 shots he faced to earn a shutout in a 1-0 win for the Red Dragons over Buffalo State on Friday night.
Mitch Walinski – Salve Regina – scored four points on a pair of goals and a pair of assists to help the Seahawks to a big conference win over Curry on Saturday night.
Bonus Biscuit
Jeffrey Zero – recorded his first shutout for Elmira in a 10-0 win over Lebanon Valley on Friday night. How can you not recognize the accomplishment based on his last name alone – wishing Jeffrey continued success and many more clean sheets in the future.
The teams have earned some time off for the semester break and focused on a strong finish to the season come January 2022. Best wishes to all for the Holiday Season. I know it is going to be a Happy New Year for D-III hockey fans far and wide!
