Well, that was a lot of excitement stuffed into the first weekend of competitive play in D-III action. Ranked teams won and lost and maybe with that growing trend I will stop calling games upsets seeing how the competition level across all D-III continues to get better and better. There were some thrilling overtime games along with some masterful shutouts and while there was little conference play, those games set the tone for some great races this season as well. Here is the weekend recap for week one of what is going to be a great 2022-23 season.
CCC
Nichols gave new coach Alex Gacek his first wins as they repeated as Woo Cup Tournament champions with wins over Anna Maria and Assumption to capture the title. In Friday’s first round win over the AmCats, goaltender Tyler Boat stopped 57 of 58 shots and four different players scored in a 4-1 win. Sunday’s title game against Assumption was a battle as neither team could gain more than a one-goal edge found the game in a 3-3 tie through regulation. In overtime Nichols took advantage of an early power play to win the game and tournament championship off the stick of Nathan Carl. Carl was also named the tournament MVP.
Curry opened the season with a non-conference game against Massachusetts-Boston and the Colonels came out flying racing to a 3-1 first period lead on goals by Kevin Pitts, Timmy Kent and Gage Dill on their way to an easy 5-1 victory over the Beacons.
Endicott earned a split in their opening two games with a win over Salem State and a loss to Norwich. In the season opener, a five-goal second period including two shorthanded tallies from Connor Amsley led the Gulls to a 7-1 win. On Saturday, the Gulls ran into a hot goaltender in Norwich’s Drennen Atherton and fell 3-0 to the Cadets.
Independents
Canton played Stevenson in a two-game series and came away with a split. On Friday night, the Kangaroos stunned the hosts with a 4-3 win in the final 10 seconds of regulation. Zac Sirota opened the scoring in the first period and provided the game-winner on the power play just before the final buzzer. Filip Schlyter made 30 saves in the win for the Roos who lost the second game 4-0 to Stevenson completing a 1-1 weekend.
MASCAC
The post-Brian McGrath era began successfully for the Fitchburg State Falcons as goaltender Max Macchioni earned his first win and shutout in a 3-0 win over New England College. Cole Archambeault, Wyatt Wilmshurst and Toivo Kramer for all the scoring in front of Macchioni and his 27-save effort.
Massachusetts-Dartmouth scored a pair of goals in the third period to break open a 2-2 tie and down Massachusetts-Boston, 4-2 on Friday night. The Corsairs were led by Michael Mania’s two goals and 52 saves from goaltender Daniel Davidson.
NE-10
St. Anselm had a strong opening weekend with a pair of victories. The Hawks downed cross-town rival Southern New Hampshire on Friday by a 5-1 score. Five different goal scorers found the back of the net for the Hawks with Max Burum and Jack Murphy having two-point nights. On Saturday, there was a bit more drama against Southern Maine where Matt Hayes scored to tie the game late in the third period before Tommy Schwartz scored the game-winner in overtime for a 6-5 for the Hawks.
NEHC
Hobart hosted a ranked Oswego squad on Friday night and took advantage of three power play goals in route to a 5-2 win over the Lakers. Five different players scored goals for the Statesmen in the win. On Saturday, Matthew Iasenza led the way with a pair of goals as Hobart downed Potsdam 7-2.
Norwich opened their season on the road at Endicott and in typical Cadet fashion won an efficient 3-0 game over Endicott. Drennen Atherton made 25 saves to earn the shutout win while Brendon Jones, Clark Kerner and Noah Williams provided all the scoring.
A young Babson squad hosted Plymouth State on Saturday night with the first period played scoreless. The next two periods saw the teams exchange goals leaving the score deadlocked at 2-2 and sending the game to overtime. In the extra session, first-year forward Egan Schmitt scored the overtime winner to give the Beavers a dramatic 3-2 win.
SUNYAC
Geneseo opened their season 2-0 on the strength of wins over Neumann and Nazareth. On Friday night, the Knights took advantage of 25 saves from goaltender Matt Petzian and goals by Tyson Gilmour, Peter Morgan and Justin Cmunt for a 3-0 win in their home opener. On Saturday, two first period goals were enough in a 2-1 win over Nazareth.
Cortland opened the season with a solid 7-2 win on the road against Lebanon Valley on Friday night. Seven different goal scorers supported a 28-save effort from Luca Durante in the win.
After the opening night loss to Hobart, Oswego returned home on Saturday to face another NEHC team in Elmira. The Lakers built a 4-0 lead on goals from Shane Bull, Connor Sleeth, Daniel Colabuto and Tommy Cahill on the way to a 5-2 victory to finish the weekend at 1-1.
UCHC
After dropping a 6-1 decision to Brockport on Friday night, King’s found answers to all of Wilkes’ challenges on Saturday earning a hard-fought overtime win over the Colonels. Jack Cooper twice gave the Monarchs the lead only to see Wilkes answer on goals from Joe Johnson and Cam Lowe. In the extra session, Aaron Frenkel won the game for King’s giving them a lot of momentum for the UCHC/MAC schedule.
Utica traveled to face the nation’s number one ranked team and dropped a pair of games to Adrian to open the season. Know that my counterpart in the West will be covering in his weekend wrap-up but kudos need to be shared for the Bulldogs’ Matus Spodniak who scored five goals in the series including the overtime winner in Friday’s 4-3 OT thriller and a hat trick in the 8-3 win on Saturday.
Three Biscuits
Nathan Carl – Nichols – scored the overtime winner in the Woo Cup Tournament win over Assumption that also earned him Tournament MVP honors.
Emil Normann – Buffalo State – backstopped the Bengals to a 4-0 win over Lawrence stopping all 36 shots he faced.
Max Macchioni – Fitchburg State – made 27 saves in his first collegiate start to earn his first win and shutout in a 3-0 Falcon win over New England College.
Bonus Biscuit
Matus Spodniak – Adrian – was the dominant player in the weekend series with Utica scoring five goals including the opening goal both games, the overtime winner on Friday and a hat trick in Saturday’s 8-3 win to sweep the Pioneers. (Have to give the extra biscuit here even though Matus doesn’t play in the East)
Week one is in the books and teams were definitely ready to play games with real results. Expecting more and better as we progress through the first half sprint to the semester break.
