Like most of the regular season, there were ups and downs, twists and turns and surprises aplenty across all the title games this weekend with rare exception. There were overtimes, favorites upset and one Cinderella-run from a No. 6 seed all the way to the NESCAC title to name just a few things that happened on Saturday and Sunday.
Here is how championship weekend went down across all the conferences in D-II//III:
CNE
Endicott traveled to face UNE on Saturday night, and the Gulls skated off with a hard-fought on-goal win over the host Nor’easters.
After a scoreless first period, the Gulls struck fast and first with Noah Gibbs picking up his first goal on the night just one minute into the second period. Gibbs would add his second goal late in the period for a 2-0 lead with the final 20 minutes still to play. Goaltender of the year in the CNE, peter Sterling showed why he merited the recognition as the first-year netminder only yielded Drew Olivieri’s power-play goal late in the third period and the Gulls held on for the 2-1 championship game win. Sterling stopped 24 of 25 shots to backstop Endicott to the title.
With the NCAA bracket set, Endicott received the No. 2 seed and first round bye while UNE received and at-large bid and will face NCHA champ, St. Norbert in the first round on Saturday, 3/14.
Little East
In another battle between the top two seeds, Norwich hosted Babson on Saturday for the inaugural Little East Men’s Ice Hockey championship.
Norwich took advantage of goals from Nick Corfeiro and Zach Ophoven in the opening period for a 2-0 advantage after twenty minutes of play. Babson cut the deficit in half with Mike Stevens scoring midway through the second period setting up a winner-take-all third period at Kreitzberg Arena. Halfway through the period, Niko Benjamin gave the Cadets some breathing room with his goal and Cooper Bertrand sealed the win with an empty-net goal to give Norwich the LEC title. Sami Molu was outstanding in goal making 31 saves as Babson outshot the Cadets by a 32-21 margin for the game.
As LEC champions, Norwich will play at Salve Regina in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, 3/14. The Seahawks are the first independent team to qualify for the national tournament having recorded a 17-3-0 record against D-III competition this season. Saturday’s NCAA first round game will be the first game for Salve Regina since their season finale on February 10, an 8-1 win over D-II, Franklin Pierce.
MAC
The battle between Stevenson and Neumann for the MAC championship was a see-saw affair of biblical proportion that ultimately ended in a 5-4 overtime win for the Knights.
Neumann took a 1-0 advantage on Matt Dimaline’s first period goal and extended the advantage to 3-0 early in the second period with goals from Max Donohoe and Jake Barkley. Keenan Schneider got the Mustangs on the board midway through the second period and helped shift the momentum as a pair of power play goals just sixteen seconds apart from Matt Yeager and Matt Gough sent the game to the second intermission tied at 3-3. Caden Smith scored with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation to give Stevenson a 4-3 lead, but Dustin Patterson answered late for the Knights sending the game to overtime tied at 4-4. Zack Smith proved to be the home team hero netting the game and championship winning goal just over nine minutes into overtime for the 5-4 OT win. Smith, Dimaline and Barkley each scored a goal and added an assist in Neumann’s MAC title win.
With the MAC auto-bid, Neumann will travel to face Hamilton who received an at-large bid from the NESCAC conference. The teams face off in the first round on Saturday, 3/7.
MASCAC
Westfield State looked to do what no team had done this season in the MASCAC championship game, beat Anna Maria on their home ice. Unfortunately for the Owls, AMC’s Matthew Hennessey came to stand tall in the AmCat goal as he made 48 saves to earn the shutout in a 3-0 win for Anna Maria.
In a game that featured 93 total shots on goal, both netminders had to be sharp. After a scoreless opening period, the AmCats struck first with Dylan McElhinney slipping one past Westfield State’s Aidan Winslow. With less than eleven seconds remaining in the second period, Hayden Rynard gave AMC a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room. The third period saw Hennessey calmly stopping everything the Owls could throw at the AmCat goal and with just under two minutes remaining in regulation time, Braeden McKinnon sealed the win with a goal for the 3-0 final score.
The MASCAC title was the first for Anna Maria in just their second year in the conference. With the auto-bid, the AmCats will play in their first NCAA tournament when they travel to play the WIAC champions, Wisconsin – Stout on Saturday, 3/14.
MIAC
If a 2-0 lead is the worst advantage in hockey, then a 3-0 lead must be on the catastrophic level as Gustavus quickly established their game against the host Johnnies in the MIAC title game on Saturday night.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the first period, Jack Wineman scored just five minutes into the second period to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage. That would be their last goal and wasn’t enough as the Johnnies mounted a comeback. Chris Kernan got the home team on the board midway through the period on the power play and goals from Logan Lyke and Cam Boche tied the score at 3-3 sending the game to overtime. In the extra session, first-year defenseman Cashen Naeve sent the home fans into ecstasy scoring the OT winner just over three minutes into the extra session giving the Johnnies the 4-3 OT win.
St. John’s will travel to play NCHA at-large bid recipient Aurora in first round NCAA action on Saturday, 3/14.
NCHA
The match-up between the host Green Knights and Spartans from Aurora was expected to be a great playoff game and did not disappoint as the host team scored early and held on for a 3-1 win and the NCHA championship.
Blake Ulve and Calvin Hansen scored in the first period and Ryan Gingher extended the advantage to 3-0 for St. Norbert early in the second period. Goaltender Hunter Garvey was especially strong for the Green Knights on the penalty kill as St. Norbert and Garvey held Aurora scoreless on four power play opportunities. Lucas Sedlacek broke Garvey’s shutout bid in the final three minutes of regulation, but it was not enough for the Spartans.
St. Norbert receives the NCHA auto-bid and will host the University of New England, at-large bid recipients from the CNE in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, 3/14. Aurora, who also received an at-large bid, will host the MIAC champions, St. John’s on Saturday night.
NE-10
Assumption faced a resurgent St. Anselm squad on Saturday for the NE-10 title and skated off with a 5-4 win that was not as close as the final score would indicate.
After Brett Cunningham gave the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead in the first period, Justin Tremblay answered for the Hawks early in the second period. The Greyhounds then reeled off three unanswered goals including a shorthanded tally from NE-10 Player-of-the-Year, Jonathan Surrette for a 4-1 advantage. Cam Collins would pull the Hawks within two goals midway through the third period but Surrette answered with his second for a 5-2 advantage. The Hawks would not go away as Luke Linart and John Myers scored EAG in the final 30 seconds but Assumption completed the mission winning both the regular season and conference tournament titles.
Surette finished with two goals and an assist in the championship game to end his record- breaking season with 65 points on 34 goals and 31 assists.
NESCAC
The NESCAC tournament always sees surprises and this year’s final four grouping did not disappoint as Williams and Middlebury were poised to make things interesting for the top two seeds from Hamilton and Bowdoin.
In Saturday’s first semifinal, the Ephs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the host Continentals with goals from Jackson Krill and Brady Welsch. Hamilton bounced back with three unanswered goals including one in the final twelve seconds of the first period from Lucas Constantine and then one in the opening ninety seconds of the second period from Liam Varmecky for a 3-2 advantage. Krill and Welsch would respond again to give Williams a 4-3 lead early in the third period but Noah Leibl scored to tie the game at 4-4 where it would end regulation time tied. In the overtime Krill completed his hat trick after almost fifteen minutes of extra time sending the No. 6 seed Ephs to the title game.
The second semifinal saw Middlebury and Bowdoin square off looking for a chance to play for the NESCAC title on Sunday. After a scoreless first period, Bowdoin’s Bryce Bollman and Middlebury’s Reece Brednich exchanged goals in the second period. In the third period, James Schneid gave the Panthers a one-goal lead only to see Daniel Menyalkin tie the score for the Polar Bears with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Tied at 2-2, the second semifinal went to overtime where Cole Semeniuk rifled a shot short side under the crossbar past goaltender Jacob Osbourne to give Middlebury the 3-2 OT victory.
In Saturday’s title game the Ephs continued their strong play and received excellent goaltending from Harrison Fogel in a 4-2 win for their first NESCAC title.
Logan Valkama scored a pair of goals in the opening period for an early 2-0 lead. The teams exchanged goals in the second period for a 3-1 Ephs lead after two periods of play. Middlebury’s Jackson Morehouse cut the deficit to one goal but Fogel would let no more pucks past him and Simon Gaul scored late to seal the 4-2 victory for Williams. Fogel finished with 35 saves in the win.
With the auto-bid, Williams will open NCAA tournament play on Saturday, 3/14 against the UCHC champions, Utica.
SUNYAC
The Oswego Lakers were up against a juggernaut in the SUNYAC title game where they faced a Hobart team that was unbeaten on home ice and had not surrendered a goal in the two prior games of conference tournament. Same formula continues to work as Hobart won the title with a hard-earned 4-0 shutout of Oswego on Saturday.
Dominic Schimizzi scored his first of two goals to give Hobart a 1-0 lead after one period of play. Neither team scored in the second period as Oswego’s Michael Manzi and especially, Hobart’s Damon Beaver were outstanding all night. In the third period Schimizzi scored early in the third period to expand the advantage to 2-0 before Tanner Daniels added a power play goal for a 3-0 lead. Tamas Toth added an empty-net goal for the 4-0 final with Beaver recording 30 saves in Hobart’s third consecutive playoff shutout win. Schimizzi finished with two goals and an assist in Hobart’s first SUNYAC championship in this, their first year in the league.
“I thought it was a great game.,” said Hobart coach Mark Taylor. I thought we played the first the way we wanted to play the first and thought we were able to hang on there in the second – they gave us a big push in the second period. Then the puck came our way in the third and I think that helped change which way things were flowing after that. We knew we had to play really good, they’re good offensively and we had to make sure not to give them much at our end. They certainly had some good chances in the second and “Beav” was spectacular which is why he is All-tournament team and why he is who he is.”
Hobart received the top seed in the NCAA tournament and first round bye as they seek their fourth consecutive national championship. The Statesmen will host a quarterfinal matchup with the winner of Saturday night’s game between St. Norbert and UNE.
UCHC
Saturday was an opportunity for Geneseo to repeat as UCHC champions or Utica to find redemption and take the title they lost last year to the Knights.
The Pioneers came out flying and immediately pressured Geneseo, but it wasn’t until the final five minutes of the period before John Gutt gave Utica a 1-0 advantage for the first period. Utica dominated the shots 16-2 in the opening period and 40-10 for the game but couldn’t solve Knights’ netminder Jacob Torgner. Filip Wiberg tied the score in the second period setting up a dramatic final twenty minutes for the title. With just over five minutes in regulation, Utica’s Nicholas Rogers made an exceptional individual effort to beat Torgner on a wrap-around goal for the 2-1 lead. Drake Morse and Aidan Hughes would add empty-net goals for the final margin and breathing room in a 4-1 title win for Utica.
With the UCHC auto-bid, the Pioneers will host upset-minded Williams from the NESCAC on Saturday, 3/14.
WIAC
Wisconsin – River Falls traveled to play the Blue Devils for the WIAC title and jumped ahead of the host team on a goal from Cole Teleki midway through the opening period for a 1-0 advantage at the break.
Stout then reeled off five unanswered goals over the second and third periods to take a commanding 5-1 lead, but no lead is really safe in college hockey. River Falls did not quit and scored three times in a four-minute span to cut the deficit to tone goal but could not get the equalizer as Stout held on for a 5-4 win and the WIAC championship. Sebastian Monaco picked up the win in goal while Kullan Daikawa scored a goal and added two assists to pace the blue Devils offense.
With the WIAC auto-bid, the blue Devils will host a first round NCAA tournament game as MASCAC champions, Anna Maria will travel west for a game on Saturday, 3/7.
USCHO Game Pucks
Jackson Krill – Williams – recorded a hat trick, including the overtime winning goal in the Ephs 5-4 OT, semifinal upset of No. 3 Hamilton on Saturday.
Zack Smith – Neumann – netted the overtime winner as the Knights rallied late in regulation to force the extra session before Smith provided the winning goal in a 5-4 OT win over Stevenson in the MAC championship game.
Cashen Naeve – St. John’s – completed the Johnnies comeback from a 3-0 deficit to Gustavus with the game-winning goal early in overtime for a 4-3 OT win and MIAC title.
Titles have been one and at-large bids earned (although there seems to be some debate around the NPI). NCAA action begins Saturday as thirteen teams look to earn a national title while Hobart seeks a four-peat!
Thanks to Russell Jaslow for post-game comments from Hobart’s mark Taylor following the SUNYAC championship game.