Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
Following Saturday’s NCAA quarterfinal win over Utica, 2-0, the University of New England is heading to their first ever Frozen Four in Lake Placid this weekend. Key in the win was sophomore goaltender Billy Girard IV who made 38 saves in shutting out the high-powered offense of the nation’s No. 2 ranked team. Girard and … Read more
Ranked No. 1 in the country most of the season, Adrian moved one step closer to finishing the season on top after putting away Hobart 7-4 Saturday night in an NCAA Division III quarterfinal game at home. The Bulldogs scored four goals in the second period to take control and punch their ticket to the … Read more
The top four seeds finally got to host the quarterfinal round this past weekend. While Hobart traveled west to face the No. 1 seed from Adrian, No. 2 Geneseo and No. 3 Utica hosted Babson and the University of New England respectively in two exciting contests that determined half of the Frozen Four field headed … Read more
For Geneseo’s senior forward and captain Dan Bosio, this season has been one filled with a number of new accomplishments including a 20-goal season and being the first player in program history to win four SUNYAC titles in his career at Geneseo. With all that success Bosio and his teammates are now focused on the … Read more
Sam Ruffin has been waiting his entire college career for the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament. His first year at Adrian after transferring in from Alaska ended with a tourney opportunity being taken away by the COVID-19 pandemic. And last season there was no tournament because of the ongoing pandemic. The wait is … Read more
Last week saw some great hockey including an overtime game at St. Norbert and a double-overtime thriller at the University of New England. All of the home teams won setting up a quarterfinal round with the top eight seeds remaining in the tournament. In the battle between the two USCHO writers, the east has a … Read more
This overtime thing isn’t anything new for St. Norbert. Which is why the Green Knights responded to the pressure of an OT game in the NCAA tournament Saturday night. Instead, the sixth-ranked team in the nation in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll remained poised, needing less than a minute of extra hockey seal … Read more
The action of the first-round games in the NCAA tournament did not disappoint in any way shape or form in the first D-III national tournament played in three years. If you were a wise predictor, and went with all of the home teams, you went 4-0 on the weekend as the higher seeds managed to … Read more
Two years ago this week hope for an NCAA tournament in NCAA Division III hockey was dashed as the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up and shut down the sports world. We wondered when sports would return and when life would get back to normal. Last season we saw some normalcy. Sort of. Hockey teams in Division … Read more
It is finally here! After an absence of two seasons, the D-III NCAA Tournament is back and what a great field of 12 teams that will contend for the title. The bracket did seem pretty straight forward this time around and the Selection Committee did a great job in keeping the integrity of the top … Read more
It was a long time coming but the Utica Pioneers celebrated their UCHC championship win with over 3000 excited fans that filled the Utica Memorial Auditorium for the first time in a very long time. In a season where the program has matched or set a new standard with statistics like wins, there is just … Read more
With Geneseo’s fourth consecutive SUNYAC title wrapped up with a 6-1 win over Oswego last weekend, senior forward Dan Bosio became the first Knight in program history to win titles in all four of his seasons as a player. While his play on the ice has spoken volumes for the Knights all season long, Bosio … Read more
While the body of work included wins over other NCAA tournament teams like Geneseo and Babson, Elmira finds a very familiar opponent from their current conference and dating back to the days of the old ECAC West in Saturday’s first round NCAA matchup. It’s their biggest and oldest rival, Hobart on the schedule and the … Read more
The Hobart Statesmen have established a new record for consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament with their seventh coming this year on an at-large bid. While the consistency has been remarkable, Hobart is looking to payoff their place in the tournament with a national championship and their coach Mark Taylor knows how hard that is … Read more
The NESCAC champions from Trinity are riding an eight game win streak to close out the regular season and conference tournament. During the NESCAC playoffs, the Bantams surrendered just one goal in three games playing stifling defense and scoring early and opportunistically to advance into the NCAA tournament. The early part of the season did … Read more
With three teams from the NEHC in the NCAA tournament, the quality of the league overall and schedule of tough games found every weekend tests the resolve of every team. The conference champions from Babson feel like they are battle-tested and appreciate the opportunity to take the next step in the 12-team field selected for … Read more
For the fifth time in program history, the Plymouth State Panthers will play an opening round NCAA game in the 2022 tournament bracket looking for their first win on the national stage. With a core group of returning seniors and graduate students, PSU won their third consecutive MASCAC title to earn the conference auto-bid and … Read more
After Saturday’s thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Endicott to win the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), the University of New England enters the first round of the D-III NCAA tournament with a lot of momentum and excitement as they will host Plymouth State on Saturday in first round action. The Nor’easters have been hot at the … Read more
Junior forward Evan Shoemaker had a feeling this season could be special for St. Olaf. To those on the outside of the program, that didn’t seem possible. Not for a team that played only two games a year ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic and had won a total of four games the year before … Read more
The prize was there for all to see and no matter how your team got to the semifinals or finals of the conference tournament, there was everything to play for in this ultimate week of conference action. So, congratulations to Assumption, Babson, Geneseo, Plymouth State, Trinity, University of New England and Utica who played great … Read more