Thrilla in Manhattanvilla It may not have been Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, but those who walked into Playland Ice Casino last Saturday saw more fighting than hockey. Friday’s game actually set the stage for the donnybrook that occurred late in the second period Saturday evening. Manhattanville built a 4-1 lead on Neumann by midway … Read more
Breaking Records Hobart is the hottest team in the ECAC West at the moment, riding a four-game winning streak into second place as other teams continue to knock each other off. The Statesmen snuck out two tough one-goal wins against Utica at The Cooler this past weekend, setting several school records in the progress. On … Read more
In the Hunt Elmira went into Neumann’s Ice Works rink last weekend and accomplished exactly what it needed to remain in the playoff hunt by sweeping the Knights. “Breaks that we didn’t get early on in the year, we definitely got this weekend,” said Elmira coach Tim Ceglarski. “They were two pretty well-played games. Neumann … Read more
Back On Top With a pair of wins this past weekend over Lebanon Valley, Manhattanville has re-staked its claim to the top of the league in the ECAC West. But getting past the Flying Dutchmen certainly wasn’t a cakewalk for the Valiants. Friday night pretty much went by Manhattanville’s game plan. The Valiants played a … Read more
Still Climbing Neumann continues its climb up the league standings and national rankings. The Knights are currently tied for second in the league with Manhattanville, although the Valiants have two games in hand. Neumann also edged closer to making the cut in this week’s USCHO.com national poll, coming in second in the “Others Receiving Votes” … Read more
Finally Progress It’s no secret that Elmira has been struggling all season. The Soaring Eagles only managed to win one of five league games in the first half of the season, and despite two early wins against Plattsburgh and Oswego lost six of their next nine games. But there are signs that Elmira is turning … Read more
Alternating Current In an unusual quirk of scheduling, Utica and Neumann played three straight games against each other over the last two weekends. The string began in the championship game of the St. Michael’s Tournament over the holidays and culminated with a pair of league games at the Utica Aud this past weekend. But despite … Read more
Still Rolling Neumann continued its roll from the first half of the season into the second, posting its first-ever tournament championship at the Saint Michael’s Tournament over New Year’s weekend. The Knights started out on Friday putting a hurt on host St. Michael’s right from the opening faceoff. Neumann tallied six goals in the first … Read more
Turnaround As the saying goes, “Who’d of thunk it?” If Las Vegas took bets on college hockey, how many people would have plunked down their hard-earned money to wager that Neumann would be 8-4 at the mid-season break? Or have conference wins over Utica at home and Elmira on the road? Or have non-conference sweeps of … Read more
Tossing Teddys Utica head coach Gary Heenan believes that an essential ingredient to a successful hockey program is building ties with its surrounding community. Last season, while on the road recruiting, he watched as local fans threw teddy bears and other stuffed animals onto the ice following the team’s first goal, all meant to benefit a … Read more
Hats Galore There is something special about a hat trick in college hockey. First of all, they aren’t all that common in Division III, unless the game is a blowout where one team puts up a double digit score. Second, the diffusion of talent across all of Division III has also resulted in scoring being … Read more
A Different Team Since joining the ECAC West four seasons ago, it is no secret that Neumann has struggled. Over that time span, the Knights have a combined total of 10 wins and haven’t been competitive in many of the other games. However, with an infusion of new blood, this year might represent the tipping … Read more
Hobart’s (lack of) Power Play Last weekend wasn’t quite what Hobart coach Mark Taylor was hoping for. The Statesmen hit the road for games at Utica and Manhattanville, and Hobart was swept. “The games weren’t what we wanted outcome-wise,” said Taylor. “We wanted to come out of there with some points, and didn’t. So we … Read more
Several teams around the ECAC West are flooded with new players this season. As seen in my season preview last week, the coaches are cautiously optimistic about the season but realize that getting the freshmen up to speed may take a while. If the start that Elmira and Utica have gotten off to is any … Read more
In the second half of his D-III season previews, Chris Lerch takes a look at teams 9-15 in the USCHO preseason poll, and some other teams to watch.
Gary Heenan, just one week after accepting the job, has resigned as an assistant coach at Union to return as head coach at Utica College. Gary began his duties as assistant coach at Union College at the beginning of this week and he decided that Union was not the right fit. Head coach Nate Leaman … Read more
Utica head coach Gary Heenan resigned Monday to become an assistant coach at Division I Union. Heenan started the Utica program four years ago, and has continually stressed to his players the importance of having goals. His personal career goals included progressing to the Division I coaching ranks, and perhaps into the NHL someday, so … Read more
Alex Todd has been named head coach of the Castleton State men’s ice hockey team. Todd, a native of Wisconsin, was an assistant at Utica College last season. Todd takes over a Spartans program that is looking for its first win. Castleton State began play two seasons ago under former coach Greg Stone, and joined … Read more
Utica Coach Dave Clausen has stated that one of his team’s goals coming into the 2004-05 season was to defeat at least one nationally-ranked team. The Pioneers have already thrown scares into both No. 1 Elmira and No.3 Plattsburgh in dropping one-goal decisions to each. This weekend, Utica gets two more opportunities against No. 2 … Read more
This February, USCHO will be presenting its first live Internet broadcasts of Division III Women’s Hockey. The USCHO Game of the Week schedule has added the Sunday Feb. 20 doubleheader hosted by Williams College. Headlining the action is a 1 p.m. EST showdown between No. 1 Middlebury and No. 3 Elmira, the two programs that … Read more