As my fellow writer covering D-III men’s hockey, Brian Lester noted, the word of the season on the schedule has been and continues to be ”postponement.” Again, this weekend there were a host of games postponed, tournaments reconfigured, and adjustments made to new opponents based on changes in teams’ availability. If nothing else the teams and players have displayed amazing flexibility and resilience to continue to play meaningful games. Here’s hoping that continues in the second-half to when the games matter most. Here’s the weekend wrap-up:
CCC
Due to a host of postponements and cancellations including the Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational Tournament hosted by Nichols, only Curry saw action this weekend in a matchup of ranked teams at Utica. The No. 3 Pioneers and John Moncovich got off to a fast start scoring twice in the opening period to sandwich a shorthanded goal from Curry’s Mark Zhukov for a 2-1 lead at the break. Jamie Bucell and Brandon Osmundson scored for Utica in the second period and goals by Buster Larsson and former Colonel Mic Curran sandwiched Curry’s Timmy Kent’s marker for the 6-2 final. The Colonels were out-shot 28-17 and surrendered a pair of power play goals to Utica.
Independents
Albertus Magnus had their seven-game win streak snapped by Post earlier in the week but rebounded to capture two wins and the title in the WB Mason Winter Classic hosted by Plattsburgh over the weekend. On Friday, against the host Cardinals, the game built up in excitement. Following a scoreless first period, the teams exchanged a pair of goals in the second period setting up a dramatic final twenty minutes. Plattsburgh scored early in the third, but Alex Gagnon answered back on the power play quickly to tie the game at 3-3. Sam Anderson then scored twice within one minute on the man advantage to give the Falcons a 5-3 lead. Thomas Maia brought the Cardinals back to within one goal before Ryan Colwell sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final two minutes of regulation. Goaltender Logan Bateman was outstanding for the Falcons making 42 saves in the 6-4 win.
On Saturday, against King’s in the re-formatted tournament, the Falcons needed overtime to take down a determined King’s team, 4-3. The Falcons raced to a 3-0 lead on goals by Gagnon, Colt Corpse and Tyler Ignazzitto but the Lions roared back in the third period scoring three unanswered goals to send the game to overtime. At 2:16 of the extra session, Gagnon sealed the win and tournament title with his second goal of the game.
MASCAC
Due to a large number of postponements across MASCAC team schedules, the Westfield Owls were on of the few teams to play a game this past week. The Owls earned a tough non-conference win over Franklin Pierce by a 3-2 score on Thursday.
Westfield took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by John-Michael DeGregorio and Cory Morris. After a scoreless second period the Ravens drew even on a power play goal by Vito Carlo midway through the final period. Just under two minutes later, Tristan Theriot scored the decisive goal on a setup by Jason Diamond and Jake Ratcliffe. Valtteri Valtonen made 27 saves to pickup the win for Westfield who moved to 7-4-2 on the season.
NE-10
Assumption leveraged a late goal from Dante Maribito to break a 2-2 tie for a big 3-2 NE-10 win on Friday night. On Saturday, the Greyhounds left no doubt of the outcome with a six-goal first period on the way to an 8-2 win and weekend sweep over St. Michael’s. John Piggott scored two goals and added an assist in the opening stanza to set the pace for the Greyhounds in the runaway win that leveled their record in conference play at 3-3-0.
Post took advantage of three power play goals and five different players lighting the lamp in halting Albertus Magnus’ seven=game win streak. The 5-3 win on Tuesday saw goaltender Brandon Brown make 34 saves while Niko Grollman picked up three assists for the Eagles.
NEHC
Hobart and Elmira vaulted to the top of the NEHC standings with weekend sweeps of Norwich and New England College over the weekend. In Friday’s overtime thriller between Norwich and Hobart, the Cadets rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game on Clark Kerner’s goal with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Less than a minute into the extra session, Hobart’s Aaron Maguyon scored the game-winner to snap a six-game losing streak against the Cadets dating back to November 3, 2018.
Elmira also found a way to down Norwich on Saturday in a contest that wasn’t fully decided until the final horn. The Soaring Eagles took a 3-2 lead at the second intermission and expanded the lead to 4-2 on a goal from Jared Smith. Norwich answered back before Ryan Reifler’s second of the game gave the hosts a 5-3 lead in the final minute. Norwich kept coming back and Devon Becker cut the deficit to one goal with just 17 seconds remaining on the clock. Elmira held on for the 5-4 win that moved them into second place in the NEHC standings.
After winning the Codfish Bowl last weekend, Massachusetts-Boston continued their winning ways with a pair of shutout victories over Skidmore and Castleton. Goaltender Sam Best extended his shutout streak to three games making 59 saves in the back-to-back wins. Corey Clifton scored twice in the 5-0 win over Skidmore while ten different Beacons tallied in the 11-0 win over the Spartans on Saturday.
NESCAC
Trinity finally took to the ice in 2022 following a pair of postponed games against Babson and New England College last weekend. On Friday, the Bantams used two goals from Gerard Maretta in the first period and 29 saves from Patrick Pugliese in goal to earn a 5-0 shutout win over Middlebury.
On Saturday, the Bantams continued their solid defensive game with a 2-0 win over Williams. Riley Prattson’s first period power play goal proved to be all Pugliese would need as the goaltender made 22 saves to earn his second consecutive shutout. Casey Rhodes added an insurance goal in the third period for the Bantams.
After opening 2022 with a thrilling 2-0 win over nationally-ranked Endicott, Colby returned to NESCAC play and earned a road split with Hamilton and Amherst. On Friday against Hamilton, Alex Bourhas gave the Mules a 1-0 lead after two periods of play, but the Continentals would score a power play goal, a 5-on-5 goal and a shorthanded goal in the final period to take the 3-1 win. Sean Storr made 23 saves in the win while Nick Rutigliano’s shorthanded tally put the game in the Continentals’ win column.
On Saturday, the Mules rebounded with a 3-0 win at Amherst. Abdoul Diouf’s first collegiate goal and a goal by Quinn Doyle gave the Mules a 2-0 first period lead. Andy Beran made 36 saves for Colby to pickup his third shutout of the season and Carter Breitenfeldt provided the final score in the third period.
SUNYAC
Geneseo returned to the ice against a red-hot Stevenson squad on Friday with the Mustangs riding a 10-game unbeaten streak. True to form it was Stevenson who pressured early forcing goaltender Matt Petizian to make four quality stops early to keep the game scoreless. Justin Cmunt broke the ice for the Knights midway through the opening period and Petizian would have all he needed to earn a 3-0 shutout win. Stefan Miklakos and Dan Bosio would each score in the second and third periods respectively for the final margin of victory.
Brockport added to the Mustang’s weekend misery with a 5-1 win on Saturday. The Golden Eagles opened up a 1-0 game with four goals in the second period including two by Jacob King and cruised to the easy victory.
After a blowout win over Rivier on Tuesday by an 11-2 score, Cortland found themselves in an early 3-1 hole against Nazareth on Friday. Six unanswered goals in the final 25 minutes of action, including a pair of shorthanded goals from Shane Beaulieu and Sutter Donegan in the final two minutes of regulation helped the Red Dragons cruise to a 7-3 win in advance of the newly scheduled game against Utica on Sunday (replacing Oswego due to COVID protocols).
UCHC
In what proved to be a goaltender duel between Utica’s Sean Dickson and Cortland’s Luca Durante, Utica eked out a 2-0 victory in a fast-paced Sunday matinee. Dickson, who finished with a 30-save effort in the shutout win, was just a hair better than Durante who stopped 44 of 45 shots against the Pioneers. After a scoreless first 40 minutes of play highlighted by stellar goaltending and physical play, Buster Larsson’s power play goal early in the third period proved to be the decisive goal with Brett Everson’s late empty-net goal sealing the win.
Arcadia split a two-game series with Canton over the weekend which included an overtime thriller on Friday. After the visitors took three different one goal leads, the host Knights rallied to tie the score with just 33 seconds remaining in regulation. Dustn Florit tied the game with an assist from Halen Cookston that setup Justin Song as the overtime here for Arcadia. His goal just 35 seconds into overtime was the difference in a 4-3 win.
On Saturday, the Kangaroos rebounded with a 4-0 win to earn a split of the weekend series. After taking an early 1-0 lead, the Kangaroos scored two goals just 22 seconds apart in the second period to create an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the Knights. Matthew Headland and Sam Martin scored the two quick goals to help Canton to their fourth win of the season.
Three Biscuits
John Moncovich – Utica – scored two goals and added a pair of assists in the Pioneers’ 6-2 win over No. 14 ranked Curry on Saturday.
Sam Best – Massachusetts-Boston – extended his shutout streak to three games (four including Codfish Bowl exhibition win over URI) with back-to-back shutouts over Skidmore and Castleton.
Alex Gagnon – Albertus Magnus – scored a pair of goals including the overtime winner in the Falcons 4-3 win over King’s on Saturday that earned the team the Cardinal Invitational title.
Bonus Biscuit
Patrick Pugliese – Trinity – recorded back-to-back shutouts in 5-0 and 2-0 wins over Middlebury and Williams this weekend.
The schedule for January has become professional league-like with many teams adding Tuesday makeup games to their regularly scheduled weekend events. Hoping that the COVID protocol impacts start lessening as the second semester action heats up.
