What the first semifinal game between Adrian and UNE displayed in firepower and goals on the scoreboard, the second game between Hobart and Endicott owned in intensity and physicality with two strong and fast teams trying to impose their will on the opposition. Hobart emerged victorious on the strength of relentless pressure and superb goaltending to play in their first national championship game on Sunday evening against the defending champions. Here are thoughts from two coaches who go back to the recruiting trail where then UMass-Lowell assistant Mark Taylor recruited current Endicott coach RJ Tolan to play for the River Hawks.
Mark Taylor – “We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth tight hockey game. I think it was a game of will and both teams have a lot of talent at each position. I thought we did a good job of staying relentless and tenacious – persevering through the full sixty minutes and I think that helped us.”
“In all positions they have good depth and good players. One of the areas of concern was their ability to score goals and certainly their offensive pressure that they can generate on the rush. I thought our forecheck did better as the game went on and not feeling the pressure that we were feeling from them in the first period. That was the game – they have a lot of good players and scored a lot of goals this year. They have some guys that can really snipe it. You can’t give those guys, like #7 [Kurapov] too many chances no matter who is playing goal is they are going to get one – definitely concerned with their potent offense.
On Mourar’s winning goal – “I have to give credit to Artem [Buzoverya] who said when we were ready to go with the first PP group to go with the 12-group. That is just the selfless player he is. Players have a good feel for the game and that was his feeling versus his group going out. He thought that group should go out – he saw the mojo they were starting to develop in the prior power play and when you have a kid on the bench that steps aside, if you don’t go with that as a coach – Artem gets credit for that goal.”
RJ Tolan – Tonight was the same as a lot of the last month – it was an amazing thing to be part of and to think of where we have come from. Thinking about the program after seven or eight seasons and for them to be hosting a Final Four in front of a capacity crowd, it was an amazing experience. As far as the hockey goes, they defend well. It was a slightly different game than the one that preceded – I think there were more goals than shots in the first couple of periods. They had a couple of swipes at it, we had a couple of swipes at it. It was a great game to be part of. When it gets to that point, you are managing emotions with young guys – they are doing all the work.
On power play opportunities – “Their goalie made a couple of big saves and I think they force you to make three passes under that duress. I think they had the same issues. It is hard to back someone off and they finally got a chance to do that. I thought we had a couple of stretches where we made a couple of plays and had a couple of looks at it, but you could go back and look at a million things that a guy fell down or the puck could have hit a stick or a guys ass – you are trying to provide structure in chaos – trying to provide coaching to free them to play because they love each other so much.”
In a game that featured limited Grade A chances and clean power play looks it was a game decided on skill and will with Hobart persevering to reach their first national championship game on Sunday night.
