This one is a little bit sweeter.
The Massachusetts-Dartmouth Corsairs have punched their ticket to the NCAA D-III men’s ice hockey tournament after defeating Plymouth State in the MASCAC championship, 2-1, this past Saturday. This is the second title in four year for the Corsairs; however, their first title did not give the program an automatic berth to the tournament, but this one did.
Massachusetts-Dartmouth is coming off a pretty remarkable run this year. After hovering around .500 most of the campaign, the Corsairs turned up the heat and took second place in the regular season standings. With that, they eared an auto-bid to the semifinal game that saw them matched up against last year’s runner up, Salem State. The Corsairs needed three extra periods, as they finally defeated Salem State, 5-4, in triple overtime.
Waiting for Mass.-Dartmouth were the defending champs, the Plymouth State Panthers. This one was a close one, but the Corsairs didn’t need the extra time to decided it. It was sophomore defenseman Stephen Ginand netting the eventual game-winner in the third to give the Corsairs the tile and ticket to the dance.
Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs vs. Bowdoin Polar Bears
2012-13 NCAA First-Round Game
Wednesday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Sid J Watson Arena, Bowdoin State
Why Mass.-Dartmouth will win: The Corsairs are coming off a run that can see them feed off that heading into the first round of the NCAA tournament. Bowdoin though, handled the NESCAC pretty much the entire season, and has an offense that can find the back of the net like no other (four goals per game average). The Polar Bears are also looking to go far in this tournament, especially with the roster and talent they have. However, the Polar Bears seem to give up some goals time to time, and average just a bit shy of three goals against per game.
For Mass.-Dartmouth, they need to keep this train going, and not be worried or focused on the high-octane offense in Bowdoin. The Corsairs have to stay out of the box and limit the chances the Polar Bears get on the man-advantage, since they move the puck so well. Going back to the win against Plymouth State, they kept the Panthers off the board and got superb goaltending from senior goalie Ryan Williams, who stopped 37 shots.
Look for Williams to carry this team if they want to go deep into this tournament.
Best of luck to both teams!
Massachusetts-Dartmouth: By the Numbers
Tournament Qualification: MASCAC Champions — automatic qualifier
NCAA Tournament Profile: Fourth NCAA Tournament appearance
Last Appearance: 2008
Road to NCAA Tournament
W, 5-4 (3 OT), vs. Salem State, (MASCAC semifinals game)
W, 2-1 at Plymouth State, (MASCAC championship game)
Team Statistics
ECAC East Regular Season: 9-3-6 (Second)
Overall Record: 12-7-7
Power Play: 21.2 percent
Penalty Kill: 83.1 percent
Offense: 3.05 goals per game
Defense: 2.45 goals per game
Individual Leaders
DaveMcDonald —- 12 goals, 12 assists, 24 points
Phil Bronner —- 15 goals, 6 assists, 21 points
Shaun Walters —- 8 goals, 11 assists, 19 points
Nick Marquis —- 8 goals, 8 assists, 16 points
Zach Helper —- 2 goals, 11 assists, 13 points
Ryan Williams —- 2.48 goals-against average, .923 save percentage
