The penultimate week of play leading into the conference championships certainly delivered tremendous hockey highlighted by No. 1 seeds in the CCC and SUNYAC losing in semifinal action and overtime games deciding several other critical matchups. Two more No. 2 seeds also saw their championship hopes come to an end in Bowdoin and St. Michael’s and the stage is now set for Championship Weekend next week with conference hardware up for grabs and national tournament invitations on the line. Here is the wrap-up of all the exciting play across the seven conferences in D-II/III in the East:
CCC
Following the elimination of Nichols and Wentworth earlier in the week, the top four seeds were matched up in the semifinals with Salve Regina playing top-seed Curry and defending champion Endicott hosting the University of New England.
The Seahawks and Colonels played a high-paced game from the opening puck drop as the teams combined for five first period goals including three tallies in a 41-second span in the first six minutes of play. Save Regina extended their first period advantage to 4-2 with Karston Kruska scoring the only goal of the period. Looking for a comeback, Curry pressed but the Seahawks extended their lead on goals by Walter Baumann, Parker Mabbett and Seth Benson to stun the Colonels, 7-2 and advance to the championship game. Cayden Bailey stopped 35 of 37 shots for Salve Regina in the win while Damon Zimmer and Benson each scored a goal and added an assist.
The Endicott vs. UNE game was a much closer contest that necessitated overtime to determine a winner. Neither team could score in the first two periods of play before Jayden Price gave UNE a 1-0 lead with a power play goal. Kevin Craig answered with a power play goal for Endicott to tie the game at 1-1 before Anthony Cinato gave the visitors the lead with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation time. With the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker Jimmy McIssac tied the score with just 26 seconds remaining in the third period and the game moved to overtime. Almost ten minutes into the overtime session, it was McIssac who delivered the game-winner to advance Endicott to the championship game. Billy Girard IV stopped 39 shots for UNE while Atticus Kelly picked up the win for the Gulls stopping 37 of 39 shots.
Endicott will look to defend their title against Salve Regina on Saturday at Raymond Bourque Arena in Beverly, MA.
MASCAC
The quarterfinal round saw Worcester State and Framingham State eliminated on Thursday night setting up a semifinal round that saw No. 1 Plymouth State hosting Westfield State and Fitchburg State playing Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday with the latter game needing overtime to determine a winner.
Plymouth State did not want to repeat their slow start against the Owls that led to their only loss in conference play over the past two seasons. They started fast and built a first period 3-0 lead on goals by Patrick O’Connell, Payton Schaly and Anton Jellvik. Gianluca Marini closed the gap for the Owls with the only goal of the second period, but PSU eased to a 5-1 win with two of their three power play goals. Schaly finished the game with one goal and two assists while Connor Tait chipped in with three assists to lead the Panthers to a title defense on Saturday.
The battle between No. 2 Fitchburg State and No. 3 Massachusetts-Dartmouth was a defensive battle with great goaltending by Daniel Davidson (UMD) and Frederick Soderberg (FSU) keeping quality scoring chances off the scoreboard. Hunter Dunn gave the Falcons a 1-0 first period lead that stood until Brandon Clark evened the score midway through the third period. With neither team able to score in regulation time, the game moved to overtime where Michael Macchioni sent the Falcons to the title game with his game-winning goal assisted by Toivo Kramer and Michael Imala. Soderberg finished the game with 36 saves to earn the win.
PSU will host Fitchburg State for the MASCAC title on Saturday at Hanaway Rink in Plymouth, NH.
NE-10
Following Wednesday’s elimination of Post and Franklin Pierce, No. 3 Southern New Hampshire traveled to face No. 2 St. Michael’s on Saturday while the past two NE-10 champions faced each other as Assumption hosted St. Anselm.
In the highest scoring game of the weekend, the top seed Greyhounds fell behind the Hawks 1-0 in the first period and saw the deficit increase to 4-0 as St. A’s scored three times in the opening five minutes of play in the second period. A pair of power play goals from Jonathan Surrette and Camron Roberts cut the lead to 4-2 after 40 minutes of play setting up a crazy third period. Jake Lavoie made the score 4-3 with a goal in the opening minute of the final period but the Hawks responded with max Burum’s second of the contest for a 5-3 lead and less than nine minutes remaining. Penalties would haunt the Hawks as Ryan Decker and Jake DiNapoli scored power play goals just 41 seconds apart to tie the score at 5-5. With just over two minutes remaining, Sean Corliss gave the Greyhounds their first lead of the game and Leo Piandes iced the 7-5 win with an empty-net goal in the final minute of the game. Surrette finished the game with a goal and two assists while Ronny Paragallo assisted on four goals as Assumptions scored four times with the man advantage. Callum Welch, who came in for Thomas McLarnon, earned the win in goal stopping 19 of 20 shots.
Southern New Hampshire skated to a 3-0 lead with goals from Anthony Marchant, Matt Amante and Kurt Watson through two periods of play against the Purple Knights. Quinn McCarthy scored on the power play for St. Mike’s but that is all the offense the Penmen would allow as they added two empty-net goals to secure a 5-1 win. Watson finished the game with two goals while goaltender Collin Berke made 30 saves to send SNHU to the title game on Saturday.
Assumption will host SNHU in the NE-10 title game at Worcester Ice Center on Saturday.
NEHC
The NEHC semifinals featured surprising No. 7 seed Southern Maine facing No. 1 Hobart while Skidmore hosted Elmira on Saturday.
The Statesmen got the early jump on the Huskies as Chris Duclair opened the scoring in the first minute of play giving the home team a 1-0 lead. Shane Shell extended the lead in the second period and Austin Mourar made it 3-0 early in the third period. Cole Ouelette scored late to break Damon Beaver’s shutout bid and Tanner Hartman padded the final score with an empty net goal and a 4-1 final score. Beaver finished the game with 21 saves and the Statesmen extended their home win streak to 15 games.
Skidmore hosted Elmira in the other NEHC contest and Jaden York and Tate Brandon made sure the Thoroughbreds would be playing in the title game with a 4-1 win over the Soaring Eagles on Saturday. York scored a pair of goals while Brandon made 23 saves. Defenseman Danny Magnuson added three assists as the Thoroughbreds secured their second championship game appearance in the past three seasons.
Hobart will host Skidmore at The Cooler in Geneva, NY on Saturday, March 2. The matchup between the two teams is the third year in a row the teams have faced each other in the playoffs.
NESCAC
The quarterfinal round took place on Saturday with No. 1 Trinity winning a close contest and the defending champions from Bowdoin being upset by Middlebury. Tufts and Hamilton also advanced as home-ice seeds to next weekend’s Final Four to decide the NESCAC champion.
Trinity hosted Colby and the respective goaltenders (Devon Bobak and Andy Beran) made sure that this contest was going to be low scoring. James Barbour gave the Bantams a first period lead and Colby’s Jayden Grier tied the score at 1-1 setting up a winner-take-all third period. Just past the ten-minute mark, Theodore “Teddy” Griffin netted the decisive goal in a 2-1 win over the stubborn Mules. Bobak finished with 26 saves in the win while Beran stopped 27 of 29 shots for Colby.
The No. 2 seed and defending champions from Bowdoin played No. 7 Middlebury and were stunned by the Panthers, 5-1 on home ice. Andrew Seaman and Michael Fairfax gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead before Issac Abbott scored a power play goal with just six seconds remaining in the period to halve the deficit. The Panthers extended the lead with Wyatt Pastor’s power play goal in the second period and closed out the upset win with a pair of third period goals. Jake Horoho made 32 saves including 18 in the third period to secure the win for Middlebury.
Tufts enjoyed a home-ice quarterfinal matchup with travel partner Connecticut College and skated away with a come from behind 5-3 win over the Camels. The visitors took a 2-0 advantage to the locker room after one period of play, but the second period was all Tufts as the Jumbos scored four times, including two from Tyler Sedlak for a 4-2 lead after two periods of play. Conn College closed the gap with Michael DiMacolo’s goal, but Sedlak added one more for a hat trick in the 5-3 Jumbo win. Peyton Durand earned the win stopping 32 of 35 shots.
The No. 4 v. No. 5 game also featured a battle of travel partners as Hamilton hosted Amherst in a matinee affair on Saturday. The game was No. 1000 for Amherst head coach Jack Arena, but the Continentals were not hospitable to the Mammoths as they skated to 3-0 and 4-1 leads before Amherst staged a late rally in the third period. Goals from Josh Burke and Ryan Tucker closed the score to 4-3 with over a minute remaining in regulation but goaltender Jack Grant (33 saves) kept the visitors at bay and secured the one-goal win for the Continentals. Jackson Krock scored two goals and Grisha Gotovets chipped in with a goal and an assist for Hamilton’s offense.
SUNYAC
Following the quarterfinals that eliminated Brockport and Potsdam, the SUNYAC semifinals featured the top four teams with Geneseo and Oswego looking for a third consecutive win against a conference opponent to advance to the championship game. It is always difficult to beat any team three straight times and Cortland and Plattsburgh proved that with upset wins over the higher seeded opponents on Saturday.
Geneseo hosted Cortland having defeated them twice in the regular season by the same 3-2 score. The Knights opened the scoring with Sean Melso’s goal in the second period, but the Red Dragons responded with a pair of goals from Stephen Krykostas and Colby Seitz to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. After Geneseo’s Teddy Purcell tied the score early in the final period, Anthony Bernardo answered for Cortland with what proved to be the winning goal in a 3-2 final. Goaltender Jack Riedell stopped 35 shots to help the Red Dragons advance to the championship game.
Long-time rivals Plattsburgh and Oswego played for the other championship berth, and it took overtime to decide the contest in favor of the defending champion Cardinals. The Lakers got on the board first as Tyler Flack scored on the power play for a 1-0 advantage after one period of play. The second period saw the Cardinals respond as Jack Ring and Ryan Hogg scored to give the visitors a 2-1 lead after the second period. As expected, the third period was spirited in the action on the ice with the Lakers pressing for the tying goal which Shane Bull delivered with an assist from Flack late in the period to tie the score at 2-2 and send the game to overtime. Just over three minutes into the extra session, Hogg delivered his second goal of the game that earned PSU a 3-2 win and right to host the championship game on Saturday against Cortland.
Geneseo is likely to earn an at-large berth in the upcoming NCAA tournament based on the Pairwise, but Plattsburgh or Cortland will take the auto bid for SUNYAC based on Saturday’s outcome.
UCHC
Quarterfinal action earlier in the week eliminated Nazareth, Chatham, King’s and Manhattanville meaning the UCHC tournament also featured the top four seeds in semifinal action with Utica hosting Alvernia and Stevenson playing against Wilkes.
The Pioneers, who shutout Nazareth in the quarterfinals, continued their strong defense with another Ethan Roberts shutout in a 4-0 win over the Golden Wolves. Three power play goals from Chris Carroll, Matt Wood and Aiden Hughes helped pace the offense for Utica. Roberts finished the game with 30 saves to record back-to-back shutouts for Utica.
In the battle between the No. 2 Stevenson and No. 3 Wilkes, a seesaw affair saw both teams take and surrender leads through the first 40 minutes of play. The Colonels scored first with Patrick Roglinski giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Evan Beers and Kyle Lightfoot rallied the Mustangs to a 2-1 lead before Jimmy O’Kane tied the score at 2-2 with a power play goal. John Musella gave the Mustangs another one-goal lead, but Roglinski answered back before the end of the second period to set-up a dramatic finish with a 3-3 game in the third period. Goaltenders Jack Perna for Wilkes and Ty Outen for Stevenson were perfect in the third period sending the game to a winner-take-all overtime session. In the extra session, Lightfoot scored an unassisted goal just over two minutes into the extra session to give Stevenson a 4-3 OT win.
Utica will host Stevenson for the UCHC championship at “The Aud” on Saturday, March 2.
Three Biscuits
Jimmy McIssac – Endicott – score the game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation and the overtime winner to lead Endicott to a 3-2 win over UNE in CCC semifinal action.
Max Macchioni – Fitchburg State – scored the game-winning goal for the Falcons in a 2-1 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the MASCAC semifinal action on Saturday.
Tyler Sedlak – Tufts – scored a hat trick to pace the offense for Tufts in a 5-3 win over Connecticut College on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuits
Max Burum – St. Anselm – led a dynamic Hawks offense with two goals and two assists in an 8-2 rout of Franklin Pierce in NE-10 quarterfinal action on Tuesday and added two more goals in a 7-5 loss to Assumption on Saturday.
Kyle Lightfoot – Stevenson – scored a pair of goals, including the overtime winning goal against Wilkes in UCHC semifinal action on Saturday.
Bennett Stockdale and Ryan Hogg – Plattsburgh – Stockdale scored his second goal of the game in overtime to help the Cardinals advance in the SUNYAC playoffs with a 3-2 win over Potsdam on Wednesday night while Hogg delivered his second goal of the game, the overtime winner, against Oswego on Saturday.
Championship weekend is upon us and with the drama already having taken place in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, there could yet be some results that have bigger impacts for bids to the national tournament just over a week away. Lots on the line when conference hardware is up for grabs.
