What a great championship weekend across the East! More than half of the nine games played were one-goal affairs that included a couple of overtime thrillers and one double-overtime marathon played. More surprising was the continued “upset bug” that saw Cortland take the SUNYAC with an overtime win over defending champion Plattsburgh. Hobart (NEHC), Plymouth State (MASCAC), and Trinity (NESCAC) won comfortably while Endicott (CCC), Utica (UCHC), and Assumption (NE-10) won nail-biters that also included some bonus hockey in D-II. Monday’s NCAA tournament announcement will be interesting based on at-large bids and seeding for this week’s first round games but here is the recap of some thrilling action that decided championships in the East:
CCC
The defending champions from Endicott played host to Salve Regina, who knocked off top seed Curry last week, looking to capture a CCC title in their final season in the conference.
The first period saw the Gulls break the ice with a goal from Cass Bowes for a 1-0 advantage after twenty minutes of play. Both goaltenders, Endicott’s Atticus Kelly and SRU’s Cayden Bailey showed they were on top of their game making key saves to keep goals off the scoreboard.
The second period saw the Seahawks tie the score off the stick of Damon Zimmer and the game looked like it would be tied at 1-1 after two periods of play before Endicott scored in the final minute to take a 2-1 lead. Andrew Kurapov’s one-timer from the top of the circle beat Bailey with just 57 seconds remaining in the period. Jackson Sterrett fed Kurapov beautifully after Zach Mazur had won puck possession deep in the Seahawk zone to start the play.
Kelly earned his keep in the Gulls goal in the final period stopping all 11 Seahawks shots on the way to thirty-two saves as the game ended with the 2-1 final for Endicott who became the first team in CCC history to repeat as conference champions.
Endicott receives the auto-bid to the NCAA tournament and will find out their opponent on
Monday during the NCAA selection and bracket show at 10 AM EST.
MASCAC
The top seed Plymouth State Panthers hosted No. 2 Fitchburg State as the Panthers were seeking a fifth straight MASCAC championship against the team other than them that last won the title in 2018.
In a dominant performance, PSU limited the Falcons to just three shots on goal in each of the first two periods of play while Payton Schaly, Connor Tait and Jeremey Rancourt scored all the goals Kalle Andersson would need in a 3-0 win. Andersson finished the contest with thirteen saves (7 in the final period) to earn the shutout while Schaly’s first period goal proved to be the game-winner for the Panthers who successfully extended their championship streak to five with the win.
Plymouth State takes the auto-bid with he MASCAC title and await the outcome of the selection show for their opponent in the NCAA tournament.
NE-10
The only game on championship weekend that extended beyond a single overtime featured No. 3 seed Southern New Hampshire looking to upset top seed Assumption for the only title available for D-II teams playing in the NE-10.
The Greyhounds scored first with Leo Piandes netting the first goal of the game on the power play in the opening four minutes of play. Ten minutes later, the Penmen leveled the score at 1-1 when Connor Ball beat Assumption’s Thomas McLarnon.
The second period saw power play goals from both teams with Shane Sullivan once again giving the advantage to the Greyhounds before Matt Amante scored just a couple of minutes later to level the score at 2-2 after two periods of play.
Both teams were seeing great scoring chances thwarted as McLarnon and SNHU’s Collin Berke were outstanding in goal turning back several Grade A opportunities. The shot totals mounted with both netminders stopping everything they saw in the third period to send the game to a full 20-minute overtime. Assumption held a 54-33 shot advantage at the end of regulation. In overtime both teams had several chances turned away as the Penmen held a 15-9 shot advantage but could not solve McLarnon for the game winning goal. A second overtime was needed to decide an NE-10 champion and in the seesaw battle of chances, first-year Jonathan Surrette took a breakout pass from Sean Corliss and rifled a shot high over Berke’s blocker for the game-winner just over thirteen minutes into the second overtime period.
Berke finished the game recording seventy-two saves while McLarnon made fifty-six saves for the champion Greyhounds who finished their campaign with a 25-7-0 record and their second NE-10 title in three years.
NEHC
The NEHC title game saw No. 3 Skidmore travel to “The Cooler” to face top seed and the nation’s No. 1 team Hobart who has been unbeaten on home ice this season.
After a spirited opening nineteen plus minutes of play that saw Hobart dominate the shots on goal statistic, Tanner Hartmann gave the Statesmen a 1-0 lead in the final ten seconds of play in the first period. In the opening minute of the second period, Khalil Fontana extended the lead to 2-0 as the Statesmen scored twice in just over 40 seconds of game time not including the first period break.
Hartmann netted his second goal of the game with a shorthanded gem to send Hobart to the second break leading 3-0. Just 26 seconds into the final period, Artem Buzoverya gave Hobart a 4-0 lead and Chris Duclair closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal in a comfortable 5-0 win over the Thoroughbreds. Tate Brandon finished the contest stopping 51 of 55 Hobart shots while Damon Beaver earned his sixth shutout of the season stopping all 21 Skidmore attempts on goal.
“I thought from the drop of the puck our guys were locked in, playing the type of hockey we can play, and I couldn’t be happier,” said head coach Mark Taylor. “We came out and we played Hobart hockey. We played with real purpose and real focus and played together and win or lose that is all you can ask for – but it is nice when you win.”
Hobart earned their second consecutive league title and the NEHC auto-bid and likely will be the top seed in the NCAA tournament earning an opening round bye while Skidmore awaits and hopes to extend their season with an at-large bid in the national tournament.
NESCAC
The semifinal and championship game were hosted by top seed Trinity who opened semifinal action on Saturday against No. 7 Middlebury while No. 3 Tufts faced No. 4 Hamilton.
In the first semifinal, the Bantams got a late goal from Gerard Marretta and a power play goal from Spencer Korona in the final minute of play to post a 2-0 lead after the first period of play where Trinity outshot Middlebury by a 14-3 margin. The Panthers responded in the second period and two goals from Paddy Bogart sent the teams to the locker room tied at 2-2 after the second period. The Third period was all Trinity as Kyle Tomaso scored an unassisted goal to give the Bantams a 3-2 lead and Marretta and Connor Sedlak would add insurance tallies for a 5-2 win to earn their spot in Sunday’s title game.
In the other semifinal, opportunities were plentiful between Tufts and Hamilton as the teams combined for eighty-three shots on goal. Tyler Sedlak’s second period goal for the Jumbos proved to be the only goal of the game as Jack Grant (37 saves) and Peyton Durand (45 saves) were stellar in the crease for the respective teams. Durand stopped all eighteen chances sent his way by the Continentals in the third period and Tufts earned their first championship game appearance with a 1-0 victory.
In the championship game, Trinity took a lead on a goal by Richard Boysen assisted by Spencer Korona with just under five minutes remaining in the opening period. Boysen was not finished with his offensive contributions as he added his second of the period with just four seconds remaining on the clock and a 2-0 lead. There would be no other scoring until the final two minutes when Devon Tongue scored an empty-net goal and Boysen added another for a hat trick to ice a 4-0 win for Trinity. Tufts netminder Peyton Durand was outstanding in goal making thirty-four saves while Devon Bobak, supported by strong defense and shot blocking, made twenty-eight saves to earn the shutout win.
SUNYAC
The SUNYAC championship featured defending champion Plattsburgh hosting No. 4 seed Cortland fresh off their upset win of top seed Geneseo last weekend.
Both teams had their skating legs in the opening period but neither team was able to get a puck past the opposing netminder in a scoreless first period. Just over the midway mark of the second period sophomore Colby Seitz gave the visiting Red Dragons a 1-0 lead that they took to the locker room after forty minutes of action.
A Cortland penalty right after the opening face-off in the third period gave Plattsburgh a power play and Ryan Bonfield made it count to tie the score at 1-1. Nate Berke, who assisted on Seitz’s earlier goal gave Cortland a 2-1 lead with under four minutes remaining, but Bonfield netted his second of the period with the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker to tie the score at 2-2 and just 31 seconds remaining in regulation time sending the game to overtime. In the extra session, last week’s hero at Geneseo emerged again for the Red Dragons as Anthony Bernardo took a pass from Cameron Knowlton and slipped a backhand shot through Jacob Hearne at 9:13 of overtime to give Cortland their first-ever SUNYAC championship with a 3-2 win. Goaltender Jack Riedell stopped forty-one shots in for Cortland who awaits their NCAA match-up on Monday earned with heir SUNYAC auto-bid.
UCHC
The UCHC championship game featured top seed Utica hosting No. 2 Stevenson in a game loaded with skill and two teams that like to play fast.
In the opening period, Eric Vitale found the back of the net behind the Mustangs’ Ty Outen for a 1-0 lead that held up until the final two minutes of the period when Kyle Lightfoot scored a power play goal to tie the score at 1-1 at the end of the first period.
The second period saw the Pioneers engineer a pair of goals from Griffen Barr and a power play tally from Jakub Breault to take a 3-1 lead into the final period. Stevenson was in full attack mode and fired eighteen shots at Utica’s Ethan Roberts looking to equalize the score. Frank Vitucci’s goal midway through the period was the only shot to get by Roberts as the Pioneers held on for the 3-2 win and their third consecutive UCHC championship. Roberts stopped seventeen of his twenty-eight saves in the final period and earned tournament MVP honors surrendering just two goals in three games.
Utica earned the UCHC auto-bid and while ranked nationally at No. 2 await their placement in the national tournament on Monday, 3/4.
Three Biscuits
Anthony Bernardo – Cortland – scored his second overtime winning goal in the SUNYAC tournament to give the Red Dragons a 3-2 win over Plattsburgh and their first conference title on Saturday night.
Richard Boysen – Trinity – scored a hat trick to pace the Bantams to a 4-0 win over Tufts to earn their seventh NESCAC championship on Sunday afternoon.
Jonathan Surrette – Assumption – netted the game-winning goal in the second overtime period as the Greyhounds took the NE-10 title with a 3-2, 2OT win over Southern New Hampshire on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuits
Andrew Kurapov – Endicott – scored the game-winning goal for the Gulls in their 2-1 championship win over Salve Regina on Saturday afternoon.
Kalle Andersson – Plymouth State – stopped all seventeen shots he faced in the Panthers 3-0 championship win over Fitchburg State on Saturday.
Tanner Hartmann – Hobart – scored a pair of goals, including one shorthanded to pace the Statesmen to the second consecutive NEHC title with a 5-0 win over Skidmore on Saturday.
Ethan Roberts – Utica – stopped twenty-three shots including seventeen in the final period as the Pioneers downed Stevenson, 3-2 to earn their third consecutive UCHC championship.
What a great weekend of hockey with action from the opening puck drop to the final horn or in some cases “sudden-victory goal.” Just thirteen teams now remain in D-III in pursuit of a national championship starting on Saturday, March 9. The East will have Hobart, Utica, Trinity, Endicott, Plymouth State, Cortland entering the tournament auto-bids while Geneseo, Curry, and Elmira appear to be competing for any of the at-large selections.
Thanks to Russell Jaslow for post-game audio from the Hobart-Skidmore game.
