The first round of the NCAA tournament saw five games and ten teams seeking a chance to advance and play more hockey. While Adrian and St. Norbert advanced to a quarterfinal date with each other (fourth meeting in a couple of months between the two teams), Curry, Elmira and Plymouth State provided some drama in the East by taking out Geneseo, Endicott and Cortland respectively. Three teams that earned byes (Hobart, Utica and Trinity) enter the quarterfinals against the advancing teams in the East.
The battle between the writers with NCAA picks currently stands with Brian Lester (3-2) leading Chris Sugar (2-3) and me (1-4) with four great games to choose from this week. The battle continues on the way to the Frozen Four. Here this week’s picks from the USCHO D-III pundits:
Saturday, March 16, 2024
NCAA Quarterfinal Round
(12) Curry v. (1) Hobart
TC – The defending champions get back to work on Saturday against a Curry team that stunned Geneseo on the road last week, 3-0. The Statesmen have a lot in their favor being unbeaten on home ice, having depth and terrific goaltending in Damon Beaver. Shane Soderwall has been stellar for the Colonels in goal and was a big part of last week’s win over the Knights. He will need to be all that against a Hobart team that can score in bunches and in every situation. Tight game to start but home team has just too much talent upfront for the Colonels to knock off the top seed– Hobart, 3-1
BL – The reigning national champs are No. 1 for a reason and are up against the Colonels in the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year. Hobart won that game 5-1.
The Statesmen have scored 152 goals on the year an are led by Tanner Hartman, who has 19 goals to go along with 25 assists. Damon Beaver is allowing less than a goal per game (0.94) and has recorded six shutouts.
Curry has tallied 89 goals and has goalie Shane Soderwall on its side. He has four shutout wins and a 1.57 GAA.
Hobart comes in having won 11 in a row and is unbeaten in 16 home games. And Curry is 0-11 all-time against Hobart. The Statesmen will keep both streaks intact. Hobart, 5-2
CS – Hobart’s been rolling, I can’t see that stopping here. They’ve been the most consistent team in all the country this year. Goaltender Damon Beaver continues to have another season to remember as he leads the Statesmen from the back.
Give Curry all the credit in the world for what they’ve done especially with a relatively young team. I just can’t see Hobart losing this early on, especially at home. Hobart defeated Curry last year in the NCAA’s, I’ll take them again here. – Hobart 5-1
(9) Plymouth State v. (2) Utica
TC – The Pioneers have been in this position before over the past couple of seasons with losses to the University of New England ending their Frozen Four dreams. This year it isn’t a CCC team showing up in Utica but a more familiar Plymouth State team that Utica has seen already early in the season. Will Redick, Connor Tait and the Panther offense can match up skill with anyone and Kalle Andersson showed he is playoff worthy with a big game against Cortland in net. Home team has that advantage as well as depth and leadership from Brian Scoville and Kimball Johnson in front of Ethan Roberts in goal. May see an overtime result here but this time for the home team to exorcize some past demons in the quarterfinals – Utica, 3-2
BL – The Pioneers ride a 17-game win streak into this matchup while the the Panthers have won eight in a row. Brian Scoville is a playmaker for Utica, dishing out 23 assists to go along with nine goals.
Will Reddick is the offensive leader for the Plymouth State this season, racking up 58 points, including 27 goals. The last time these two teams played was Nov. 25, 2022. Utica prevailed 5-3. I give the Pioneers the edge being at home for this game. Utica, 4-3
CS – Plymouth State got their first ever NCAA win last weekend at home vs Cortland, but they now head to Utica who’s got one of Gary Heenan’s youngest rosters if not the youngest he’s ever had.
Will Redick will need to be a big factor in this one for the Panthers, Head Coach Craig Russell will need an all-time gameplan to beat the Pioneers of Utica. I like Utica here being that it’s a young team, less egos and individual efforts, more team-oriented and they don’t know what it’s like to be on this stage.
I like Utica here, a Gary Heenan Frozen Four will be a fun time, always a great personality to interact with. – Utica 4-2
(10) Elmira v. (3) Trinity
TC – The Bantams are the ultimate home team in this NCAA tournament having hosted their NESCAC Final Four weekend before moving to a quarterfinal game with Elmira which is just one win from hosting the Frozen Four in their barn next weekend. Lots to worry about with a Soaring Eagles squad that has a potent offense with Nicholas Domitrovic, Janis Vizbelis and Shawn Kennedy but the Bantams answer with a very balanced team and back-end strength from goaltender Devon Bobak and defensemen Ned Blanchard and Teddy Griffin that support the offense by committee approach Trinity has been successful with all season. Bobak has been a difference maker all season and continues his puck stopping mastery in an exciting one-goal win – Trinity, 3-2
BL – The Bantams are having one of their best seasons ever, with their win total tied for the second most in program history. Winners of 11 in a row, they now take aim at a spot in the Frozen Four. Richard Boysen leads the way for this team with 11 goals and 11 assists and this is a Trinity team with a defense that that allows just over a goal per game (1.26).
The Soaring Eagles beat Endicott 5-2 in the opening round and are averaging over four goals per game (4.18) while converting on the power play better than 31 percent of the time. Shawn Kennedy leads the team in points with 13 goals and 26 assists. Could there be an upset here? Of course. But we’ll go with the home team. Trinity, 4-2
CS – This game is interesting as it’s the Frozen Four predetermined site. Trinity hosts Elmira in their home rink, where if Elmira wins, they’ll be traveling back in a few days for the pending semifinal matchup vs St. Norbert/Adrian.
Trinity has been strong all year in NESCAC play, but non-conference play has been suspect at times. Elmira has been very good in the non-conference with some huge, ranked wins and NEHC play which has once again shown why it’s one of the best conferences in D3.
I like the “upset” here from the Soaring Eagles. We’ll have both Men’s and Women’s Elmira teams in the Frozen Four, one in Wisconsin and the other in Connecticut. – Elmira 5-2
(5) St. Norbert v. (4) Adrian
TC – The two teams are likely tired of facing each other as this is the fourth such occurrence in the last month. Both teams won big first round games last week to set up this re-match of the NCHA title game won by St. Norbert just a couple of weekends ago. The Bulldogs have been on a Final Four run that includes a title in 2022 and championship game loss in 2023. They would love to avenge the conference loss and extend that Frozen Four streak at the expense of the Green Knights who know all about playoff hockey from head coach Tim Coghlin. Home ice will matter in this one as it did for the Adrian women’s team that advanced to their Frozen Four. The men double down on the Bulldog presence – Adrian, 3-2
BL – It’s unfortunate to west region teams have to meet up at this point in the tournament, but what is more unfortunate is that the NCHA rivals are forced to play each other again this soon in the postseason.
The Green Knights won the NCHA title a couple of weeks ago by beating the Bulldogs and will be playing their rival for the fourth time this season. St. Norbert is 2-1 in those games.
Both teams have balanced offenses, averaging more than four goals per game, but the Bulldogs showed how good they can be defensively with a 4-0 win over UW-Stevens Point last week. Dershahn Stewart owns a goals against average of 1.73 and has six shutout wins.
St. Norbert is one of the nation’s top teams, winning eight consecutive games. Hunter Garvey boasts a goals against average of 1.81. Expect this one to be tightly contested throughout. Adrian, 3-2
CS – Adrian shutdown Stevens Point last weekend in Arrington, which was a game of pure violence, St. Norbert handled St. Olaf in their house. The Green Knights will be headed back to Adrian for a fourth matchup between the two.
St. Norbert Head Coach Tim Coghlin had quite the postgame press conference after St. Olaf on Saturday night. His team will be ready to run over anything in their path, especially if they get by Adrian and face an eastern team. This game should be a Frozen Four game and I don’t care what anyone tells me, absolute disgrace.
St. Norbert won the Harris Cup Championship at Adrian 3-1 and it’ll be an absolute war Saturday night. If this game had eastern referees, neither team would have enough players left as they’d all be thrown out by the start of the 3rd period. Whoever wins this game in my opinion, will win the National Championship. If my pick is wrong, I’ll take whoever wins this game to win the title handily.
Adrian coming off a loss to Norbert and being the home team gives them a slight edge. An individual I look up to, respect, and know is reading this right now, Head Coach Adam Krug. Who’s hoping he can tell his team I don’t believe in them once again, who also felt the need to let me know his thoughts on me picking against him last weekend vs UW-Stevens Point in the postgame press conference, so that means I should take Norbert to win 4-2 with an empty-netter right? No, I’ll take Adrian in double-overtime. – Adrian 4-3 2OT
There are just seven games remaining in the season. Four quarterfinal games on Saturday, two semifinal games next Thursday and the national championship game on Saturday. Big hardware is so close and yet so far. Focus, focus, focus on the task at hand and maybe there is more hockey in Hartford next week – “Drop the Puck!”
