While Hobart added their name to the list of regular season winning teams with a big win over Norwich on Friday night and Endicott and Plymouth State also secured the top seeding for the upcoming CCC and MASCAC tournaments respectively, SUNYAC, NESCAC and the NE-10 are all going to see the races and final positions resolved in the final week of the regular season. It really doesn’t get much better than this heading into the “win-or-go-home” season on the horizon as this past weekend’s results continued to create chaos in several conferences with multiple teams getting statement wins. Here is the wrap-up for a most interesting weekend of hockey in the east:
CCC
In a battle of ranked teams on Friday night, the University of New England tried to remove Endicott from the ranks of the unbeaten in CCC play. While the Nor’easters secured a shootout win, the 2-2 overtime tie kept the Gulls unbeaten at 16-0-2. In the game the Gulls took one-goal leads twice only to see UNE respond with Daniel Winslow’s shorthanded tally late in the third period proving to be the game-tying goal. Billy Girard IV stopped 46 of 48 shots for the visitors who dropped a point to Curry in the race for second place. On Saturday the Gulls dispatched Suffolk 9-2 behind two goals each from Noah Strawn and Jackson Sterrett. The Nor’easters also secured a lopsided win with a 7-0 shutout of Nichols. Joe Stanizzi made 15 saves in the shutout while Jayden Price led the offense with two goals.
Curry did what they needed to do to stay in the hunt for second place with a pair of wins over Wentworth and Western New England. On Friday night, Kevin Pitts scored twice while Eelis Laaksonen and Gage Dill each chipped in with a goal and an assist in a 6-0 shutout of the Leopards. Reid Cooper stopped all 23 shots he faced to pick up his 15th win of the season. On Saturday, Dill scored two goals, including an empty-net goal to provide the final margin in a 4-2 win over the Golden Bears. Curry has a slim one-point lead for the second spot over UNE with just two more games on the regular season schedule.
Independents
Rivier faced a pair of local rivals on the weekend starting with Southern New Hampshire on Friday night. The teams exchanged goals in both of the first and second periods before Jon Tavella and Cormac Hayes gave the Raiders a two-goal cushion that goaltender Andrew LoRusso made stand up for a 4-3 win over the Penmen. LoRusso stopped 37 shots of 40 shots. On Saturday, the Raiders faced another cross-state rival in a game against St. Anselm. The Raiders took a 2-0 lead into the third period only to see the Hawks answer with a pair of power play goals to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of regulation. In the extra session, Luke Mix gave the visitors a 3-2 overtime win.
MASCAC
Plymouth State remained unbeaten in MASCAC play by knocking off second place Worcester State, 5-1 on Saturday. The Panthers were paced by freshman Wil Redick’s hat trick and senior Myles Abbate’s three assists as PSU moved to 16-0-0 entering the final week of the regular season.
Salem State extended their win streak to three games with a pair of one-goal wins including an overtime thriller over Westfield State on Thursday night. Cooper Board’s goal in the third period gave the Owls a 4-1 lead before the Vikings rallied with three unanswered goals to force overtime. Erik Larsson took just 29 seconds to give the visitors a dramatic 5-4 win. On Saturday, Larsson again was the offensive star, scoring two goals including the game-winner early in the third period of a 3-2 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
NE-10
St. Michael’s rebounded from last weekend’s sweep at the hands of St. Anselm with a pair of home-ice victories over Assumption. On Friday, the Purple Knights four different players found the back of the net while goaltender Marshall Murphy was outstanding with 41 saves in a 4-0 shutout win over the Greyhounds. On Saturday, Murphy was again terrific in goal making 41 saves on 44 shots and Zach Taylor’s shorthanded goal midway through the third period broke a 3-3 tie for the 4-3 win that moved St. Michael’s to 10-7-1 in NE-10 play.
NEHC
In the final weekend of conference play, the marque matchup was at The Cooler on Friday night where Hobart hosted Norwich, looking to clinch the regular season title in a battle of top-five ranked teams. Luke Aquaro, Brenden Howell, and Tanner Hartman got the Statesmen going with a three-goal first period and Damon Beaver made the offense stand up in a 3-2 win to secure the regular season title. On Saturday, Aquaro again got the Statesmen off to a fast 2-0 start over New England College on the way to a 4-1 win. The win over NEC moved Hobart to 23-2-0 on the season establishing a new season best for victories.
Norwich bounced back with a 3-2 overtime win over Elmira on Saturday with Joe Nagle’s goal providing the Cadets with a split of the weekend games in New York. The Elmira loss combined with Babson’s 6-2 win over Southern Maine helped decide the final seeding next week’s quarterfinal NEHC tournament games. The Beavers held the tiebreaker with Elmira and earned the No. 3 seed.
Next week’s quarterfinals find No. 1 Hobart hosting Castleton; No. 2 Norwich hosting New England College; No. 3 Babson hosting Massachusetts-Boston and No. 4 Elmira hosting Skidmore.
NESCAC
The battle for the top spot and placements all down the standings is going to come down to the final weekend but Trinity helped themselves immensely with a pair of road wins over Colby and Bowdoin this past weekend to extend their unbeaten streak to 13 games and their point lead over rivals Amherst and Wesleyan. On Friday, second period goals from Paul Selleck and Kyle Tomaso broke a 2-2 tie and goaltender Devon Bobak made eleven third period saves in a 4-0 win over the Mules. On Saturday, a goal from Andrew Troy and two from Riley Prattson broke open a one-goal game en route to a 4-0 shutout win over the Polar Bears.
Tufts rebounded from last week’s losses against Connecticut College with a pair of wins over Amherst and Hamilton. On Friday, Tyler Sedlak and Clark Bolin provided all the scoring that goaltender Durand Peyton needed making 41 saves in a 2-0 shutout win. On Saturday, the Jumbos took a 2-1 win over the Continentals with Harrison Bazianos breaking a 1-1 tie in the third period. Peyton was terrific again between the pipes stopping 36 of 37 shots.
Travel partners Middlebury and Williams played a home-and home series and Friday’s game may have been the craziest finish of any game this season. With the score tied at 2-2, Bret Pastor fired a shot from the top of the left face-off circle that found its way through a crowd and past Evan Ruschil in goal for the winning tally with one-tenth of a second remaining on the clock. On Saturday there was much less drama as the visiting Ephs scored four unanswered goals to break open a 1-1 game in a 5-1 win to earn a split of the two game series.
SUNYAC
While Plattsburgh has clinched one of the two top spots, first place remains to be decided heading into the final weekend of the SUNYAC regular season. On Friday, the Cardinals earned their position with a 5-3 win over Potsdam. Mitchell Hale, Paul Bryer and Jake Lanyi’s second of the game broke a 2-2 deadlock to help down the Bears.
With Oswego’s 6-0 win over Morrisville earlier in the week, Geneseo was looking to take advantage of their game in hand with games against Buffalo State and Fredonia. On Friday, the Knights came out flying and surged to a 4-0 lead in the first period on the way to a big 6-0 win over the Bengals. Justin Cmunt was the offensive star scoring two goals and adding an assist. On Saturday. The Knights were looking to sweep the Westen New York trip but Fredonia had other ideas. Ryan Bailey, Brendan Dempsey and Jake Blackwell scored all the goals goaltender Logan Dyck would need in a 3-2 upset for the Blue Devils. Dyck made 34 saves including 24 over the final two periods to help Fredonia secure a playoff berth.
UCHC
Utica remained undefeated in conference play with a weekend sweep of Alvernia by 6-0 and 4-1 scores. A Lucas Herrmann hat trick led the way in the Friday night win over the Golden Wolves while late goals from Remy Parker and Buster Larsson helped break open a 2-1 game in Saturday’s 4-1 win.
Stevenson and Wilkes played an important weekend series with the Mustangs earning some valuable points. On Friday, Liam McCanney provided all the offense in a 2-1 overtime win. McCanney’s goals helped move Stevenson to 12-6-1 in UCHC play. The win also secured the 2022-2023 MAC title for Stevenson and earned head coach Dominick Dawes his 200th career victory. On Saturday, McCanney netted the game-tying goal that established a new season record for the Mustangs with his 21st of the season in a 3-3 deadlock with the Colonels. No winner was decided in overtime, but the Mustangs did take the shootout 1-0 for the extra point.
Three Biscuits – overtime edition
Erik Larsson – Salem State – scored the overtime winner in a 5-4 come-from-behind win over Westfield State on Thursday night. Larsson also scored the game-winner in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday.
Joe Nagle – Norwich – scored the overtime winner for the Cadets in a 3-2 win over Elmira on Saturday afternoon.
Luke Mix – St. Anselm – scored the overtime winner for the Hawks in a 3-2 win over in-state rival Rivier on Saturday.
Overtime biscuit
Liam McCanney – Stevenson – scored both goals including the overtime game winner in a 2-1 win over UCHC rival Wilkes on Friday night.
It is almost playoff time and that means some probable overtime decisions coming soon that advance one team and send the other guys home for the season. Have to clutch with the biscuit on your stick in overtime and we are already seeing guys that want the puck in that setting. More great hockey ahead.
