We’re getting closer and closer to playoff time! This weekend marks the start of various conference tournaments while some begin next weekend, but we’ve made it. It seems once the first semester break ends, the regular season goes extremely quick and before you know it, it’s over. We look back at this past weekend where more teams clinched home-ice and others are battling away.
Elmira goes undefeated in the NEHC
Elmira’s season (19-5-0 overall) has been an interesting one as I’ve alluded to and pointed out on various occasions. I’m sure Head Coach Jake Bobrowski wouldn’t mind me saying that after their 7-0, 6-0, & 6-3 losses (non-conference) midway through the season, there was some cause for concern in terms of where this season was headed and what the team was capable of. Well, they answered the bell and here we are, they’ve gone undefeated in the NEHC regular season to claim the #1 seed and host #8 Salem State this upcoming Saturday (2/18) in the quarterfinal round. Before we move on, take a gander at the photo below, not many can pull off a suit like Coach Bobrowski, a truly dapper display from the prized Minnesota native.
Finishing with a perfect record of 17-0-0 (game vs Plymouth State on 2/4/23 was canceled, so only 17/18 conference games were played) they lead 2nd place Norwich by 7 points (51-44) even with one less game played. The Soaring Eagles ended the season on a 10-game winning streak including big wins over (USCHO rankings) #7 Norwich twice, winning 3-2 & 3-1, and #12 Nazareth 3-2 in OT. This team has really come together after some rough losses and struggles faced throughout the season, which is understandable with such a young team.
Most recently, they won a pair of road games at New England College 8-1 & Norwich 3-1. Point leaders on the weekend were Morgan Mordini (2 goals, 2 assists), Holley Riva (1 goal, 2 assists), Katie Manning (3 assists), & Erika Goleniak (1 goal, 2 assists). Goaltender Leonie Kuehberger made 27 saves on the weekend allowing only one goal, she played the full 60 minutes vs Norwich and only 40 minutes vs New England College as the team had a 5-0 lead entering the 3rd period.
It’ll be an interesting NEHC tournament. By the looks of it in terms of pairwise, there’s only going to be one team coming out of this conference for the NCAA tournament and it’ll have to be by the automatic bid granted to the conference tournament winner. Elmira could possibly slide in with an at-large, but it’s not likely, Norwich doesn’t have any chance at an at-large bid, their only way in is via the auto-bid.
Cortland’s Mia Hlasnick makes program history
Sophomore Forward Mia Hlasnick of Cortland made program history this past weekend, setting the record for single season assists as she tallied her 19th (previous record was 18, set by Julie Ellis, back in 2004) in the 5-0 win over Potsdam on Saturday 2/11. Mia currently has 31 points on the season, 54 for her career total as she had 23 her freshman year. She’s off to an impressive start midway through her college hockey career and on pace to join the 100-point club.
Cortland most recently picked up a pair of shutout wins over Oswego and Potsdam, winning 2-0 & 5-0. They face Canton on the road this weekend and host Potsdam to conclude their regular season in which they’ll then host Oswego next weekend 2/25 in the NEWHL semifinal matchup. Sitting with a record of 17-6, ranked #10 pairwise, they’re in an interesting spot. Sitting just outside of the at-large bid window, there’s a chance they could receive one if they do not win the NEWHL conference tournament (Plattsburgh has won every NEWHL title since being established) depending on what happens above them. If they pull off the upset and win the NEWHL, then the NCAA tournament will feature two NEWHL teams for the first time ever as Plattsburgh will receive a bid no matter what occurs from here on out.
UCHC Showdown this weekend
This weekend we’ve got the biggest UCHC matchup so far, what a way to end the regular season than with a two-game series between #1 Utica & #2 Nazareth (UCHC Standings). Utica sits atop the conference holding a record of 17-0-1 (53 points), whilst Nazareth is creeping behind in 2nd place at 17-1-0 (52 points), the next closest is Manhattanville with 36 points.
This series is a massive one for both teams as Utica only needs to win one game out of the two to win the UCHC conference title for the first time ever. This would mean both the Utica Men’s & Women’s teams would win the regular-season conference titles and receive home-ice throughout their conference tournaments. Both teams have been dominant in and out of conference, here’s an impressive stat starting with Utica: GF-GA (goals for – goals against) in-conference: 104-11, overall: 118-19, for Nazareth: 91-9 in-conference, 100-24 overall.
This weekend and the UCHC tournament in general will have huge NCAA tournament implications because Nazareth needs to win the UCHC conference tournament if they want to be in the NCAA tournament as they currently sit at 17th in pairwise, which is too low at this point in the year. Utica on the other hand, is in an intriguing spot, sitting at #12, hypothetically, one-two wins over Nazareth this weekend and then a loss in the UCHC finals, they may still have an at-large bid chance, but an outside one. It would be a real shame to see Utica not receive an at-large bid with the amazing record and season they’ve had thus far, but they can fix that by winning the UCHC title.
