If we all thought something like, the regular season was crazy but the playoffs will show the true championship pedigree teams, then I say the list just got a lot bigger as there were upsets aplenty, thrilling overtime games and surprises across many conferences as the playoff action unfolded this weekend. The CCC, NE-10, SUNYAC, and UCHC all see the top two seeds playing for the championship next weekend while the NEHC, NESCAC and MASCAC saw lower seeds earn their shot at the title. There is just one more week to earn conference glory and a shot on the national stage. Here is a recap of the exciting action that has us all in anticipation of championship hockey:
CCC
True to form, the top four teams played in the semifinals this weekend after the University of New England and Salve Regina won quarterfinal games earlier in the week. The Nor’easters needed a Jared Christy overtime goal to knock-off Wentworth, 3-2 while the Seahawks handled Western New England by a 5-2 score to set up the weekend’s semifinal round.
Salve Regina faced No. 1 seed Endicott who had been sitting for a week following their only conference loss in the season finale against Curry. It was the Gulls who took one-goal advantages first with a pair of goals from Cassidy “Cass” Bowes in the first period that were answered by Johnny Mulera and Logan Calder for a 2-2 tie after twenty minutes. Mulera gave the visitors a 3-2 lead after two periods of play and Mitch Walinski extended the advantage to 4-2 with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation. That is when the Gulls and Cass Bowes fired up the offense. Bowes scored his third and fourth goals of the game to tie the score at 4-4 with just two minutes remaining in regulation before Noah Strawn delivered the game-winning goal just 30 seconds after Bowes tied the game for an electric 5-4 come-from-behind win. Atticus Kelly made 21 saves to earn the victory while Anthony Del Tufo stopped 44 of 49 shots in a losing effort for Salve Regina.
The second semifinal saw Curry hosting the defending champions from UNE and the Colonels took advantage of two goals and an assist from Eelis Laaksonen and 30 saves from goaltender Reid Cooper to post a convincing 5-1 win over the Nor’easters. The penalty filled game saw Cooper at his best in helping the Colonels successfully kill all seven man advantages for the Nor’easters who had to settle for Alex Sheehy’s even-strength goal as the only puck to get behind Cooper.
The championship game will take place on Saturday, March 4 with Endicott hosting Curry.
MASCAC
Due to a mid-week snowstorm, Thursday’s scheduled quarterfinal games were re-scheduled for Saturday with the winners playing this upcoming Tuesday in the semifinals and the championship game still on the schedule for Saturday.
Fitchburg State hosted a resurgent Salem State team and jumped to an early lead on a goal from Toivo Kramer. Erik Larsson tied the score with just two seconds remaining on the clock for a 1-1 score at the first intermission. Jack Johansen gave the Falcons an early lead in the second period but the Vikings again scored late with Larsson setting up David Cicak to tie the game at 2-2 after forty minutes of play. The third period was all Salem State as they scored four unanswered goals on the way to a 6-2 win knocking off the No. 3 seeded Falcons who struggled offensively against goaltender Adam Mercer and his 23-save win.
The other quarterfinal game saw a re-match of the season finale between Westfield State and Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The Owls and Corsairs traded goals through the first 51 minutes of play for a 3-3 tie late into the third period. JoJo Carbone gave the Owls a 4-3 lead with a power play goal less than a minute after Sky Silverstein leveled the score for the visitors. An empty-net goal from Cory Morris provided the final cushion in a 5-3 win that was backstopped by Valtteri Valtonen who stopped 45 of 48 shots by the Corsairs.
The semifinal matchups find No. 1 seed Plymouth State hosting Westfield State on Tuesday night while Salem State travels to No. 2 Worcester State for an afternoon game on Tuesday, February 28.
NE-10
The quarterfinal round saw Assumption dispatch Post by a 7-2 score while Franklin Pierce downed Southern New Hampshire, 3-1 to earn their place in Saturday’s semifinal round.
The Ravens traveled to meet top-seed St. Anselm and ran into a hot goaltender and the offense of forward Matt Hayes. Hayes scored two goals and added two assists while goaltender Nick Howard stopped all 33 shots he faced in a convincing 5-0 shutout win for the Hawks. Andrew Andary also chipped in with a goal and two assists for St. Anselm.
Assumption traveled to Vermont and a semifinal matchup with St. Michael’s on Saturday. The Greyhounds took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on a goal from Jimmy McDermott, but the second period was an offensive show for the Purple Knights who scored five times in the final nine minutes of the period to take a commanding lead with just one period of play remaining. Assumption would close the deficit to 5-3 midway through the third period but that is as close as they would get with Jack Bavis and Brennan McFarland adding empty-net goals just eight seconds apart in the final two minutes to seal a 7-3 win. Marshall Murphy stopped 34 of 37 shots for the Purple Knights.
St. Anselm will host St. Michael’s for the NE-10 championship on Saturday, March 4 at 1:00 PM at Sullivan Arena.
NEHC
Last week’s Cinderella team, Skidmore traveled Hobart for semifinal action in what was expected to be a disciplined low scoring contest which is exactly what took place on the ice with goaltenders Tate Brandon (Skidmore) and Damon Beaver (Hobart) making things difficult for anyone to score a goal. The Thoroughbreds did not score on Hobart in two games during the regular season and Beaver was able to continue that streak with a 26-save shutout in a 1-0 Hobart win. Captain Zach Tyson scored the game’s only goal in the second period and Beaver made the tally stand up for the win.
The other semifinal found familiar foes facing off with Babson visiting Norwich on Saturday. Goals from Thomas Kramer, Egan Schmitt and Will Holland in each period gave the Beavers a commanding 3-0 lead before Wyatt George sealed the 4-0 victory with a late empty-net tally for Babson. Nolan Hildebrand was outstanding in goal for Babson stopping all 34 Cadet shots he faced.
Hobart will host the NEHC championship game for the first time when Babson travels to The Cooler for a 7 PM face-off against the Statesmen on Saturday.
NESCAC
Welcome to the crazy portion of the program where anything could happen in the quarterfinal matchups and pretty much did with only the No. 3 seeded Amherst being able to earn a victory on home ice – and barely in overtime. No. 5 Colby, No. 7 Bowdoin and No. 8 Williams all staged comeback wins against the host teams to set up a very interesting championship weekend hosted by the Mammoths.
Wesleyan took advantage of a weekend sweep of Trinity to earn the regular season title and a game against No. 8 Williams. Wiggle Kerbrat and Jake Lachance gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead after forty minutes of play and Kerbrat added his second of the game to make it 3-0 just over a minute into the third period. The Ephs would not go away quietly as Owen Stadheim got Williams on the board and Mac Carso scored a pair of goals in a two minute span to tie the game at 3-3. With just 50 seconds remaining in regulation, Jonah Gold gave the Ephs a stunning 4-3 win to upset the No. 1 seed. Evan Ruschil made 30 saves for Williams in the come-from-behind victory.
Trinity hosted Bowdoin and came hot flying peppering Alex Kozic with 19 first period shots but could not get anything past the Polar Bears netminder. Riley Prattson gave the Bantams a 1-0 lead after two periods of play and the scene was set for more drama beyond sixty minutes. Gabe Shipper tied the game at 1-1 with less than five minutes remaining in regulation time but neither team could find the game winner. In overtime, Chris Brown, with an assist from Cam Berube beat Devon Bobak and the Polar Bears skated off with a 2-1 upset of the No. 2 Bantams.
Amherst hosted Tufts in the only evening game of the quarter final round and certainly was aware of the upsets and their opportunity to host the championship weekend with a win. Greg McGunigle and Zachary Murray each gave the Mammoths a one-goal lead only to see Cole Dubicki and Mason Kohn answer for the Jumbos to forge a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation. The overtime session saw a back and forth game with both teams finding chances that were kept off the board by the excellent goaltending of Peyton Durand for Tufts and Dan Dachille for Amherst. With just 32 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, Taylor notched his second goal of the game and the game-winner to give the Mammoths a 3-2 win.
Colby also tasted an overtime victory on the road when they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Hamilton 3-2 on Dan Juzych’s goal just over nine minutes into the extra session. Ben Zimmerman and Sam MacBean had given the Continentals a 2-0 lead but the Mules responded with second period goals from Tyler Crist and Alex Bourhas to level the score. Neither team could score in the third period setting up Juzych’s overtime magic to advance the Mules to the semifinals.
On Saturday, No. 3 Amherst will play No. 8 Williams and No. 5 Colby will play No. 7 Bowdoin with the two winners playing for the championship on Sunday afternoon.
SUNYAC
The quarterfinal round saw Geneseo hosting Fredonia and Cortland hosting Buffalo State. The Knights used goals by Bryan Zurowski, Peter Morgan and Alex Wilkins and 21-saves from Matt Petizian to advance with a 3-0 win over the Blue Devils. In the other game, goaltender Emil Normann outdueled Luca Durante making 39 saves and helping the Bengals to a 3-2 upset over the Red Dragons.
On Saturday, the Knights traveled to face No. 2 seed Plattsburgh and the Cardinals jumped out to 2-0 lead on goals by Bennett Stockdale and Brendan Young. Dominic Garozzo would trim the deficit to one-goal setting up an exciting third period. In the final twenty minutes, Plattsburgh would score three unanswered goals from Luk Jirousek, Jake Lanyi, and Carson Gallagher to seal a 5-1 win and end Geneseo’s hopes of a fifth straight SUNYAC title. Eli Schiller stopped 41 shots for Plattsburgh in the win.
Top-seeded Oswego hosted Buffalo State and two goals by Tyler Flack and Alex DiCarlo just fifteen seconds apart in the first period helped the Lakers to a 2-0 lead. Connor Gatto extended the lead to 3-0 in the first minute of the second period and Cal Schell made 15 saves as the Lakers cruised to a 4-1 win and opportunity to host the SUNYAC title game on Saturday.
“I just thought we got off to a good start,” said head coach Ed Gosek. “The two goals in fifteen seconds, back-to-back there was a big momentum boost for us and put them back on their heels. It allowed us to maintain a lot of offensive zone time and then the penalty kill was huge with the five-minute major. Cal [Schell] played well and kept us in it with mistakes we made. They are a good team. There is a reason why their top three guys are leading the league in scoring. They are very creative, fast and their statistics back it up.”
Oswego will host Plattsburgh for the SUNYAC championship on Saturday, March 4 at 7 PM.
UCHC
The top four seeds all won their quarterfinal games on Wednesday with Utica taking a third game in five days from Arcadia, 5-2; Nazareth skating away from Alvernia, 5-1; Stevenson doubling up Chatham, 6-3 and Manhattanville downing Wilkes, 4-1 to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.
The Pioneers, led by Lucas Herrmann, left no doubt in their game against Manhattanville as the hosts scored six goals in the first period including a hat trick by Herrmann on the way to a lopsided 11-0 win. Herrmann would finish with four goals including two on the power play and one shorthanded goal. The Pioneers scored five power play goals and six special team goals with Herrmann’s shorthanded tally.
In the other semifinal, Stevenson visited Nazareth and the two teams exchanged goals in both the first and second periods for a 2-2 tie after forty minutes of play. In the third period, Blake Frost gave the Golden Flyers a 3-2 lead and Henry McKinney iced the game with an unassisted goal in the final minute for a 4-2 win. Goaltender Richard Provencheur was outstanding, making 25 saves for Nazareth.
Utica will host Nazareth for the UCHC championship game at “The Aud” on Saturday night.
Three Biscuits
Cassidy Bowes – Endicott – scored four goals to spearhead a Gull comeback in a 5-4 win over Salve Regina in the CCC semifinals on Saturday.
Lucas Herrmann – Utica – scored a first period hat trick on the way to a four-goal game in the Pioneers’ 11-0 shutout win over Manhattanville on Saturday.
Zachary Murray – Amherst – scored two goals including the overtime winner with less than thirty seconds remaining to give the Mammoths a 3-2 win over Tufts on Saturday.
The action was terrific this past week and there is still more to come with the MASCAC semifinal round and championship action slated for next weekend. It is what everyone has been playing for all season and now the focus comes down to just one week and for most one game.
Ed Gosek quotes supplied by Mr. SUNYAC, Russell Jaslow – many thanks for the continued support.
