‘We are the champions.’
Those four words are what St. Olaf, St. Norbert and UW-Stevens Point could say proudly after their respective conference tournament championship games Saturday night.
Two teams won the title as underdogs, with the Oles winning the MIAC crown over nationally ranked Bethel as the fifth seed and the No. 2 seed Green Knights going into Adrian and knocking off the top-seeded and reigning NCHA Harris Cup champs in a battle of nationally ranked teams.
Then there was UW-Stevens Point, which held serve as the No. 1 seed and claimed the WIAC crown.
All three champions are bound for the NCAA tournament, which begins Saturday with the opening round of action.
Road warriors win again
St. Olaf has made it a habit of winning the MIAC championship on the road. It’s what the Oles did two years ago when they went into Augsburg and won the title.
This time, they played at Bethel, facing off against the No. 15 team in the USCHO.com poll Saturday, and they owned the night in a 4-1 win.
St. Olaf lost twice and tied the second-seeded Royals once in the regular season but won the only game that really mattered on their way to their third title in program history.
Try Bowditch, Sean Walsh, Kelijah McElroy and Matthew Pointer all scored for the Oles (14-11-3) while Thomas Lalonde won his 10th game of the year on the strength of a 27-save effort. Bowditch also tallied an assist in the victory.
The goal the Royals (18-6-3) scored was the first given up in the MIAC tournament by St. Olaf, which outscored its three opponents 11-1, all three games coming on the road.
Speaking of the road, it seems to be where St. Olaf thrives best in the playoffs. They are 7-1 away from home in the MIAC tourney over the last three years, their latest win not only delivering a championship but also spoiling a remarkable season by the Royals, who were hosting a conference final for the first time since 2007.
Lalonde went more than 200 minutes in goal without giving a score up, a stretch dating back to Feb. 17, before Joe Westlund tallied the lone goal of the night for Bethel in the second period.
St. Olaf led 2-1 after two periods of play and added two more goals in the third, including an empty netter by Pointer with just over a minute left in regulation.
The Oles will take a four-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament and look to keep this season going on the national stage.
Green Knights end title drought
The last time St. Norbert hoisted the Harris Cup it was 2019. The wait for another crown ended Saturday night as the Green Knights upset No. 1 seed Adrian on the road by a 3-1 score to win the NCHA tournament.
The title marks the 16th in program history for the eighth-ranked team in the country and gives second-seeded St. Norbert an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney for the 21st time, including the first since 2022.
The Green Knights are headed their having won seven in a row and 12 of their last 13 overall.
It was 1-0 after a goal by Curtis Hammond in the opening period. It was the fifth goal of the season for Hammond.
Adam Stacho then found the back of the net for the 19th time this season as the Green Knights extended their advantage to 2-0 over the No. 3 Bulldogs at the 3:54 mark of the second.
Jaden Shields cut the lead in half a little less than five minutes later but St. Norbert pushed its lead back to two on a goal by Carter Hottmann, the sixth of the season for him.
Hottmann and Stacho both added an assist to their stat lines while Hunter Garvey racked up 35 saves on his way to being named MVP of the tournament. He came up with a clutch save in the final minute of action to help the Green Knights seal the deal on the win.
Logan Dombrowsky, in the midst of a stellar freshman season, dished out a pair of assists.
Adrian held a 36-25 advantage in shots, including a 12-5 edge in the third. The Bulldogs’ goalie, Dershawn Stewart, made 22 saves.
St. Norbert (22-6) scored twice off the power play. Adrian (22-6-1) came up empty on all three of its chances.
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs could still make it to the postseason and they’ll learn their fate on Monday morning when the field is announced.
Pointers are champs again
For the fifth time in program history, UW-Stevens Point is the champion of the WIAC.
The title is the second in a row for the No. 6 Pointers, who dominated rival UW-Eau Claire in a 5-1 victory Saturday.
The tone was set early by the top-seeded Pointers (21-5-2). Just over five minutes into the action, Sean Bunting scored. Noah Finstrom made it 2-0 less than a minute later and David Hill pushed the lead to 3-0 after one period of action against the Blugolds (17-9-2).
UW-Stevens Point added two more goals in the second and UW-Eau Claire score its only goal in the period.
Bunting ended up scoring twice in the game and also dished out an assist on Fletcher Anderson’s goal, which capped the scoring.
Alex Proctor got the job done in goal, making 41 saves. He also came through with an assist on Bunting’s second goal, getting him the puck on a breakaway opportunity. The Pointers have scored four or more goals in four consecutive games and are now 13-1-2 at home.
Max Gutjahr racked up 20 saves for the Blugolds.
Kyler Grundy scored UW-Eau Claire’s lone goal on a power-play opportunity. UW-Eau Claire went 0-4 against UW-Stevens Point this season.
