Men’s D-II/III in general
No Longer A Quilt Quilts are great for keeping fans warm while sitting in cold rinks watching a hockey game. But a patchwork team is not the best recipe for success. This year is the first one where Geneseo can be considered Chris Schultz’s team instead of a Brian Hills/Jason Lammers/Chris Schultz quilt. The year … Read more
For many teams the first three weeks must seem like a blur. After all, the majority of schools’ first part of the season is complete before semester break even ends. With the late start to the season for these leagues most teams have crammed in two weekends of conference play along with a Thanksgiving tournament … Read more
The end of the first half of the season is already upon us with a few teams wrapping up their first semester schedules this weekend. However a majority of the D-III teams will have the weekend off as the players finish up and prepare for their finals before they head home for winter break. Out … Read more
As the boys in the ECAC NE get ready to shut it down for the holiday break, we’ll take a look this week at perhaps the biggest surprise of the first half: the Westfield State Owls. Winners of their last six games, the Owls own a 7-1-1 overall record and are tied for third place … Read more
For the third consecutive poll, the Plattsburgh Cardinals are the top team in nation. They again received 17 first place votes after edging then-No. 7 Oswego in overtime and skating past Cortland, 5-3. Likewise, the University of Wisconsin-Superior again garnered the other three first place tallies after registering wins over previously ninth ranked UW-Stevens Point … Read more
This Week in the NCHA/MCHA Returning from a two week hiatus, it’s easy to spot a bit of a shakeup for NCHA and MCHA teams on the national scene. The big mover has been University of Wisconsin-Superior. After defeating previous No. 1 St. Norbert two weeks ago, the Yellowjackets stand at 4-0 in the NCHA … Read more
An Early Statement in the NESCAC This past weekend while everyone was recovering from the turkey, mashed potatoes and grandma�s homemade stuffing, the Amherst Lady Jeffs made an impressive statement against previously tenth ranked Trinity. Amherst shut out the Bantams 3-0 at home at Orr Rink on Saturday night and then followed up the next … Read more
As condensed as the playing schedule has been this year with Thanksgiving coming in the very last weekend of the month, the regular season league play gave way to some of the traditional and new holiday tournaments featuring some of the regions best teams from all leagues playing against each other for bragging rights and … Read more
Turkey Tourneys Four SUNYAC teams competed in Thanksgiving weekend tournaments, and in all cases, the teams did a split. Sort of. Technically, Plattsburgh tied their first game, but were relegated to the consolation match due to losing the shootout against Norwich. Two of the strongest tournaments of the year — located in St. Norbert and … Read more
People hadn’t even carved their turkeys yet this year when the Johnson & Wales University hockey team had earned their fourth win. Last year, folks were making New Year’s Eve plans when the Wildcats finally garnered win number four. With his team 4-0 in league play, and 4-0-1 overall, coach Eric Noack can’t help but … Read more
While it may not have gone entirely as scripted, the Plattsburgh Cardinals nonetheless held on to the nation’s No. 1 ranking again this week, even adding seven converts to their supremacy along the way. Pitted against then-fifth ranked Norwich in the prestigious Primelink Shootout in Middlebury, Vermont, the Cardinals notched two third period power-play tallies … Read more
Hello Neumann! This past weekend the Neumann Knights notched their name into the ECAC West discussion with an impressive sweep of previously eighth ranked Utica. Just a few weeks after Utica asserted their name among the ECAC West elite after splitting with Plattsburgh, Neumann now must be considered a legitimate threat as well after taking … Read more
At last! With St. Norbert finally losing a hockey game — before falling to new-No 2. University of Wisconsin-Superior, 4-3, the Green Knights last defeat came on November 3, 2007 — there is a new top team in the country. The Plattsburgh Cardinals, proverbial also-rans for this entire season and much of last, have taken … Read more
Finally! Just a few days before Thanksgiving and the last of the D-III leagues get underway this weekend after three grueling weeks of practice and looking at players wearing the same color shirts. Surviving without sustaining any injuries to players anxious to start the season is only one of the areas of concern for coaches … Read more
Get Out The Brooms Fans of the MIAC were promised a league full of hard-fought games and parity: teams on the bottom improving against teams at the top. And they were promised a gobbled mess of league standings that would be an adventure to decipher every week. What a difference a week makes. The MIAC … Read more
The interlocking schedule between NESCAC and ECAC East provides hockey fans in the Northeast some of the best match ups anywhere on virtually every weekend between now and the end of February. In this the last season in its current configuration before the commencement of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) next year takes … Read more
Fast Start Fuels Colonels Off to the hottest start in the ECAC NE are the Curry College Colonels, with a 4-0 mark. All four wins have come against conference opponents. Coach Rob Davies is pleased with his teams’ fast start. “Obviously we happy at being 4-0,†coach Davies said, “especially with as many new guys … Read more
Another Wild One The game lived up to its billing. And instead of a one goal, low scoring affair, Fredonia and Buffalo State did one better — a high scoring deadlock. Just how wild was it? One team jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and couldn’t hold on. The other team scored four unanswered … Read more
Unfamiliar Territory Manhattanville finds itself in a situation that it hasn’t seen in a while. The Valiants were swept two weekends ago at Neumann, the first time that has happened since January 12 and 13, 2001 when they lost to Oswego and Cortland. As if that wasn’t enough, with a 1-2 record Manhattanville is off … Read more
Clearly voters in both camps are not easily swayed. For the second consecutive poll, the same number of voters gave perpetual No. 1 St. Norbert and proverbial bridesmaid Plattsburgh the exact same number of points — 295 and 285, respectively — as they did a week ago. The first place vote allocation, 15 and five, … Read more