Happy New Year College Hockey Fans!!
The second half is officially underway and although not every team was in action around the New Year, there were a handful of tournaments that saw Hamilton, Oswego and Salem State winning from the east (Brian Lester will surely have the updates on Wisconsin-Superior and MSOE tournament wins) while other ranked teams including Curry and Hobart kicked off 2025 in grand style with decisive wins. For the teams just getting back to the ice, this weekend highlighted the need to be ready to go from puck-drop if your squad is looking for a positive outcome. The sprint to conference titles is underway and here is the recap for action in the east:
CNE
Curry took a pair of wins in the New Year starting with a decisive 5-2 win over a ranked Trinity squad on Thursday. The Colonels started fast scoring three goals in the first period and extended the lead to 4-0 in the second period. Karim Gayfullin led the way with two goals while Shane Soderwall was solid in goal stopping 23 of 25 shots in the non-conference win. On Saturday, the 5-2 result was repeated with a win over Anna Maria. Killian Rowlee scored the games opening goal and assisted on two others while Gage Dill added a goal and assist to help the Colonels to another decisive victory against a quality opponent.
Endicott returned to action with a road game against Amherst and special teams helped the Gulls to a comfortable 6-1 win over the Mammoth on Saturday. Two power play goals in the second period helped break open a one-goal game as the Gulls added to more tallies in the third period for the decisive win. Andrew Kurapov and Ryan Willett paced the offense with a goal and two assists apiece while Atticus Kelly stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn the win in net.
Suffolk participated in the Tampa College Hockey Invitational and opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over Albertus Magnus. CJ Hapward continued his exceptional goaltending for the Rams stopping all 34 shots he saw from the Falcons making Scott McManus’ first period goal stand up as the game-winner on Friday. In the championship game MSOE turned the tables on the Rams taking the title with a 3-0 win. Hapward again was outstanding stopping 24 of 26 shots in the loss.
MAC
Wilkes opened the second half with a conference game against Misericordia on Friday. The Colonels took advantage on the power play where they netted four goals in a 5-4 win over their league foe. Nick Swain scored a pair of goals for Wilkes who also saw Cole Jungwirth and Patrick Roglinski add three points apiece in the contest.
After dropping their opening round game at the Oswego State Classic to the host team 8-0, the Knights rebounded with a 5-2 win over Lebanon Valley in the consolation game on Saturday. Zack Smith scored a hat trick and PJ Demitrio added two goals to account for all the scoring the Knights would need to earn their first win in 2025.
Joey Arnold led the way for Alvernia with two goals and two assists in a 6-1 win over LVC in the opening round of the Oswego State Classic. The Golden Wolves scored twice in each period to earn their way to the championship game against Oswego.
MASCAC
Salem State won the Boston Landing Invitational tournament over the weekend with wins over Nichols and Middlebury to take the title. On Saturday, the Vikings rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to tie the score at 3-3. James Tatro’s goal pulled the Vikings within one before Zach Dill tied the game with just 26 remaining in regulation. Luke Harvie provided the game-winner just over two minutes into the extra session to send Salem State to the title game. On Sunday, the Vikings took a 2-0 lead over the Panthers on goals by Tatro and Ryan Barrett. Dante Palumbo cut the lead in half for Middlebury who kept pressuring the Viking goal and netminder Will Nepveu who was solid in goal. Late in the third period, Salem State produced a power play goal and a shorthanded tally just 40 seconds apart for a comfortable 4-1 margin and tournament win that extended their win streak to four games. Nepveu made 40 saves in the win and earned MVP honors having picked up both wins in the tournament for the Vikings while stopping 76 of 80 shots in the tournament.
Plymouth State lost their opening round contest of the Northfield Savings Bank Tournament hosted by Norwich to a red-hot Hamilton squad by a 4-0 score. The Panthers rebounded nicely with a blowout win over Williams in the consolation game where Will Redick scored a hat trick to lead PSU to a comfortable 8-2 win over the Ephs.
Rivier split a pair of games to start the second half of the season. On Friday, Carter Poulin scored a goal and added an assist as the Raiders downed Franklin Pierce, 3-1. Luke Newell stopped 27 of 28 shots to pickup the win in goal. On Saturday, the Raiders fell to New England College 5-1 as Paul Waldhauser scored two goals and added an assist and Jesper Tarkiainen chipped in with a goal and two assists to lead the Pilgrims offense.
NE-10
St. Michael’s skated to a pair of overtime ties in a two-game series with Potsdam over the weekend with the games ending in 1-1 and 3-3 scores and each team taking a shootout win in the final result. On Friday, goals came at a premium as David Ciancio scored first for the Purple Knights only to see Ryan Mahlmeister finally solve Cole Manahan late in the third period for the 1-1 tie. Manahan stopped 40 of 41 shots in the game. On Saturday, it was Ciancio who found the back of the net midway through the third period and tied the game at 3-3 with neither team able to find a winner in overtime.
After getting blown out by D-I opponent LIU by a score of 10-1 (LIU defeated St. Anselm 14-1 on Saturday) on Friday, Assumption returned to face MCLA on Sunday and skated away with a 7-2 win. Daniel Lemanski (2G – 2A – 4 Pts) and Ronny Paragallo (1G – 3A – 4 Pts) each produced a four-point game to pace the Greyhounds to a big non-conference win.
NEHC
Southern Maine faced in-state rival Bowdoin on Saturday in a thrilling hockey game that saw a spirited Huskies comeback in the third period and game-winner in overtime. The Polar Bears had built early leads and were up 5-3 with just over eleven minutes remaining in regulation time. Marcus Torgner and Kayde Kinaschuk scored to tie the score at 5-5 and send the game to overtime where Kadin Ilott
Babson hosted Trinity on Saturday and skated away with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Bantams. Brendan Kennedy for the Beavers and Ty Broad for the Bantams exchanged goals in the opening period before Sean Senier scored what proved to be the game-winner for Babson in the second period. Goaltender Nate Mueller stopped 32 of 33 shots including 13 in the third period to preserve the one-goal win for the home team.
Skidmore earned a split of games on a trip west with a win over St. John’s and a loss to St. Olaf’s. Jack Strauss netted the game-winner against the Johnnies in the third period for a 2-1 win backstopped by Tommy Aitken’s 19 saves. On Saturday, St. Olaf’s took advantage of a three-goal second period on the way to a 6-3 win over the Thoroughbreds.
After downing Massachusetts-Dartmouth by a score of 5-2 in the opening round of the Codfish Bowl tournament, the Beacons dropped the championship game to Wisconsin-Superior by the same score on Saturday. Jazz Krivstov scored a hat trick in the opening round win, but the Beacon offense couldn’t recover from a 5-0 deficit the Yellowjackets built over the first two periods of play in the championship game.
Salve Regina skated to a 2-2 tie with Wesleyan on Friday before finding their offensive game in a 9-0 win over Framingham State on Saturday. Quinn Tavares scored a hat trick and added an assist while teammate Arvega Hovsepyan added a goal and four assists in the lopsided win over the Rams. Goaltender Selby Warren earned the shutout making 21 saves for the Seahawks.
NESCAC
Hamilton kicked off the second half with an impressive tournament win at the Northfield Savings Bank Tournament hosted by Norwich. In their opening round game, the Continentals took advantage of two goals from Ryan Sordillo and 20 saves from netminder Charlie Archer to record an impressive 4-0 win over the Panthers. In the championship game against Norwich, Sordillo scored the final goal in a 4-1 win over the Cadets. Jackson Krock scored a goal and added an assist to pace the offense while Archer was again very sharp in goal stopping 16 of 17 shots in the win.
Conn College scored two goals in the third period to break a 2-2 tie with Johnson & Wales on the way to a 4-3 win over the Wildcats on Saturday. Rocco Testa-Basi scored on the power play in the third period before John Russo scored an empty-net goal which proved to be the game-winner for the Camels. Kayden Fennell’s goal with less than two seconds remaining on the clock provided the final margin in a very exciting hockey game that saw Conn College score twice on ten power play chances for the game.
Colby played St. Anselm to open the second half of play and skated to an early 2-0 lead in the opening period. The Hawks answered wit two goals of their own in the middle frame and the Mules responded with three unanswered markers in the third period for a 5-2 win. Tyler Crist scored two goals while Connor Gallagher added three assists in the Colby win.
SUNYAC
Oswego returned to the ice with a flourish as the Lakers outscored two opponents by a 13-0 margin in winning the Oswego State Classic tournament. Jesse Horacek produced a hat trick in the opening round win over Neumann where Lakers scored a season-high eight goals in the shutout win. Brandon Milberg earned the shutout making fifteen saves. Against Alvernia in the championship game, Milberg was again perfect while stopping all 29 Golden Wolves shots. Brandon Cohen paced the offense with a pair of goals as the Lakers skated off with the title and a 5-0 win. Milberg’s back-to-back shutout efforts earned him the tournament MVP honors.
Plattsburgh returned to the ice and captured a win at home over Keene State on Friday and a road tie with Wesleyan on Saturday. Aaron Catron scored twice for the Cardinals against the Owls while goaltender Jacob Hearne stopped all 26 shots he faced in a 3-0 Cardinals win. On Saturday, Luk Jirousek’s power play goal gave the Cardinals a one-goal lead in the third period, but Wesleyan’s Patrick Morrissey scored in the final two minutes of regulation to help the home Cardinals to the 2-2 tie. Plattsburgh took the shootout as Hearne stopped both Wesleyan attempts having made 34 saves during the game.
Buffalo state continued their winning ways in the New Year with wins over Post and Arcadia over the weekend. On Friday, all the scoring took place in the third period with the Bengals grabbing the first four goals against the Eagles in a 4-1 win. Jason Kwestel scored twice for Buffalo State as the visitors scored four times in the opening eight minutes of the final period. On Saturday, the Bengals started fast with four first period goals and cruised to a 6-3 win over Arcadia on the road. Kwestel added another goal on the weekend while Vadim Kiriakov chipped in with a goal and an assist.
UCHC
Manhattanville opened the second half hosting the nation’s #1 team in Hobart and true to form the Statesmen skated away with a 3-0 win over the Valiants on Saturday. One goal in each period backstopped by perfect goaltending from Damon Beaver was the Statesmen formula for the shutout win. Beaver made 22 saves to earn the shutout while Chris Duclair, Austin Mourar, and Khalil Fontana provided all the offense Hobart would need.
Three Biscuits
Will Redick – Plymouth State – scored a hat trick and added an assist for a four-point game in the Panthers’ 8-2 win over Williams in the consolation game of the Northfield Savings Bank Tournament at Norwich.
Kadin Ilott – Southern Maine – after assisting on the game-tying goal in the third period, Ilott netted the game winning goal in overtime to cap off a Huskies rally from a two-goal deficit earning a 6-5 win over Bowdoin.
Jesse Horacek – Oswego – recorded a hat trick in pacing the Lakers to an 8-0 opening round win over Neumann in the Oswego State Classic on Friday.
The second half also will see some roster changes for several teams looking to get better and deeper for strong runs to conference titles and national championship bids. Already we are aware of forward Colin Patterson moving from Massachusetts-Dartmouth to Utica; forward Tio D’Addario moving from Plattsburgh to Utica; Vlad Pshenichnikov to Plattsburgh and others to be announced as teams ready for action this week.
Virtually everyone will be back on the ice playing meaningful games this week with several key mid-week games of note to pay attention to. Lots of conference action heating up the rest of the way as the majority on non-conference and tournament action will be completed over the next couple of weeks. It should be a very exciting second half of the season with lots of reasons to be scoreboard watching for your won team and everybody else.
