By sweeping Bethel this weekend, No. 7 St. Thomas was the first team in the West Region to clinch its conference. St. Thomas wrapped up the MIAC regular season title and home ice advantage in the MIAC playoffs. No. 6 St. Norbert and No. 8 Wisconsin-River Falls grabbed their own home ice advantage, but no … Read more
Well if we learned anything from another terrific Super Bowl between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, it is that it may not be that the entire of body of work over a season that counts, but that the team that gets it right when it matters most. The Giants, deservedly, won the … Read more
The MASCAC shuffle continues, and by virtue of a pair of wins over the weekend, Plymouth State finds itself in first place in the conference, as three weeks remain in the regular season. The Panthers earned four points with a pair of home wins: a 4-2 win Thursday over Westfield State and a 4-3 win … Read more
Some settled, some unsettled in SUNYAC Here are the quick facts: — Oswego and Plattsburgh have clinched a bye. Who finishes first will most likely be settled when they meet on February 17. — Buffalo State, Fredonia, Potsdam, and Geneseo will be fighting it out for a home spot in the play-in round. Potsdam with … Read more
Neumann continued its slide last weekend as Hobart came into Aston, Pa., and took three of four points. The Knights climbed back into Friday’s contest twice, the second time when Cory Park scored his 10th goal of the season with less than four minutes remaining to tie the game 2-2. Neumann had a power play … Read more
Finlandia and Wisconsin-River Falls each scored overtime goals on the road that knocked my predictions under .500 for the week. Wis.-River Falls broke a 0-for-18 streak at St. Norbert with a 4-3 victory on Friday, and Finlandia came through with its own overtime goal at Marian for an identical 4-3 win on Saturday. Officially, I … Read more
February is here, and the leap year that is 2012 isn’t going to help team that can’t get it going in the next three weeks. Last week I finished 3-1-2 for the weekend, which takes my season record overall to 41-16-8 (.692). Still not quite at that 70 percent success rate, and time is running … Read more
From here on out, it will be imperative to keep an eye on both the ECAC Northeast and MASCAC standings. Entering this weekend’s slate of games, three points separate first place (Curry) from second (Johnson and Wales) in the ECAC Northeast, while two points separate first place (Salem State) from third (Plymouth State) in the … Read more
Game of the Week Had Brockport not let two points slip through its fingers last week against Cortland, this week’s contest against Geneseo would have been an even bigger deal. Nonetheless, I’m still selecting the Geneseo at Brockport game as the game of the week. It is still a huge game for both teams, coupled … Read more
Last week was a disaster for my picks. I called the Manhattanville split with Elmira, but the games were reversed. Oops, failed on those picks. At least I got Utica’s win over Hobart Saturday, but missed Friday’s contest to make the worst week of picks all season long. Let’s see if I can redeem myself … Read more
This past weekend saw the top two teams play each other and the bottom two teams face off, each in a pair of games. Manhattanville hit the road to Elmira to battle the Soaring Eagles for first place. Ronnie Smith scored first to give the Valiants a 1-0 lead in the opening period Friday, but … Read more
It was a good weekend to pull the goaltender at the end of the game. In at least four games, the extra attacker proved to be the difference, as the teams that were behind used the extra man to score a goal in the final minutes of the games. In the conference races, Milwaukee School … Read more
Here we go again! Doesn’t seem to matter that the interlocking schedule between the ECAC East and NESCAC is over this year — it’s still getting too close to call at a lot of different levels in the standings. We are all in for some fun scoreboard watching as we wind down the final three … Read more
Brockport drops heartbreaker to Cortland To say the Golden Eagles dropped a golden opportunity on Friday would be an understatement. All puns intended. Brockport outshot Cortland, 51-38, led 2-0 in the first and 5-2 in the second, yet dropped the game, 6-5, in overtime. Brockport could have been in a playoff spot right now, and … Read more
As the season gets shorter, the proximity in the standings gets closer. Consider both the MASCAC and the ECAC Northeast. While not secure, Salem State is on top of the MASCAC standings, in part due to a seven-game unbeaten streak that includes five conference wins and one tie, including Saturday’s 4-2 win at Worcester State. … Read more
A 5-2-0 record last week saw a great start and a couple of Connecticut schools ruin the hopes for a perfect weekend slate — curse you Trinity and Wesleyan for both winning and losing respectively. Or since Tufts was the common opponent, I should look to Brian Murphy’s team as the cause for the miss … Read more
Game of the Week Outside of the obvious — points are points — there is no game that sticks out as a key game in the standings. So, I’ll go with the Pink the Rink game between Morrisville and Potsdam. The Mustangs have participated in this game before, and their coach Brian Grady is looking … Read more
Here comes crunch time. The final few weeks of the regular season are upon us, and teams from both the ECAC Northeast and the MASCAC are going to begin fighting it out for playoff positioning. Three weeks remain in the ECAC Northeast schedule, and entering Thursday’s games, a point separated first-place Curry from second-place Johnson … Read more
There were some upsets last weekend that knocked the standings around. St. Scholastica’s sweep of Wisconsin-River Falls helped St. Norbert gain control of the NCHA. Three teams are jammed in second place in the MIAC, with St. Thomas coasting out to a comfortable lead. Adrian will battle with Milwaukee School of Engineering for control of … Read more
I managed to go 1-1-1 in league play last week but swept the non-league contests on Saturday. It is a good thing I usually pick the ECAC West over the SUNYAC teams (grin). Neumann is idle this week after a very busy stretch since the holidays but the rest of the teams are in tough … Read more