<\/b><\/p>\n
St. Norbert hosting a NCAA Quarterfinal game has become about as big of a life certainty as death and taxes. As such, the Green Knights will be hosting yet another this Saturday as they face MIAC Playoff Champion St. Thomas in the NCAA Quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
The game will mark the seventh straight season the Green Knights have hosted a NCAA contest. In fact, in its 10 trips to the NCAA tournament, the only time St. Norbert has opened up on the road was in 1997 — its first tournament appearance ever.<\/p>\n
Though success at St. Norbert doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprise anyone, this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s edition of the Green Knights might have appeared more susceptible than in past years as 20 underclassmen help fill out the roster.<\/p>\n
There is not a Rob Smillie, Maris Ziedens, Jason Deitsch or Connor Hughes type of weapon on this team, but it hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stopped the Green Knights from rolling up wins –especially in close games.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve tried to do is not make too many comparisons to the past\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, said Green Knight head coach Tim Coghlin. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to do when you have the same group of guys but when you have a big swing of guys comparisons are being made to things the kids don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even understand.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just tried to keep it real simple and focus on the clich\u00c3\u00a9 \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcone game at a time\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve tried to stay on task and focus on what we need to do to stay successful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
St. Norbert is 7-0 this season in one goal games, including single-goal wins over St. Scholastica and Stout in the NCHA playoffs. Additionally, the Green Knights have won a school record three overtime games on the year and are 3-0-4 overall in games requiring the extra frame.<\/p>\n
Not bad for a young team.<\/p>\n
How are the Green Knights doing it? How about Kyle Jones?<\/p>\n
The Green Knights\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 senior goaltender has had another record-shattering season and has posted his best statistical season yet. Jones is currently 18-1-3 on the season with a 1.20 goals-against-average and .944 save percentage. <\/p>\n
What makes his numbers even more impressive is that compared to his first three seasons, Jones has been asked to carry a larger share of the load this year.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some days it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been Kyle Jones being forced to make 22 quality stops to force overtime to give us a chance and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been able to do that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Coghlin.<\/p>\n
Continuing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is the first time we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve exposed him where he has had to make multiple saves, or make critical backdoor saves and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s answered the bell. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done everything we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve asked him to do and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continuing to do that now with a young team.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Though Jones has been heavily relied at times, overall the Green Knights\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 defense has often been as stiff as ever, conceding only 21.5 shots on goal per game.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In other cases it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been shut-down, lock-down type defensive efforts by the forwards and<\/i> the d-corps and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been able to give up few quality chances per game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Coghlin.<\/p>\n
If there is one element about this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Green Knights that might give Coghlin cause for concern it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s their lack of scoring output. St. Norbert\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 3.83 goals per game this season is the lowest it has been in over six years.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The one thing we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been able to do is outscore teams,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d explained Coghlin. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So if it becomes a 6-5 game that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a game we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t played yet.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Coghlin has stated numerous times this season that a shootout is not the type of game the Green Knights want to get in to. Facing a team as offensively skilled as St. Thomas, however, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a possibility it could be the case this Saturday.<\/p>\n
Though St. Norbert hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t rolled it up on opponents this year quite like they have in the past, they certainly can still score. <\/p>\n
They are led up front by senior forward Marc Belanger who has a team high 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points on the year. Sophomore forwards Matt Boyd and Tyler Allen have registered 36 and 26 points on the season, respectively, while sophomore playmaker Shane Wheeler has posted 25 points despite missing seven mid-season games due to an ankle injury.<\/p>\n
Freshman defenseman Nick Tabisz has been a pleasant surprise, especially running the point on the power play, and has nine goals and 13 assists on the year. Six of his goals have been scored with the man-advantage. Sophomore blueliner Sam Tikka has also dotted the scoresheet with six goals of his own.<\/p>\n
St. Norbert hosted St. Thomas on January 12 and skated away with a 3-2 overtime victory, but Coghlin came away from that game fully aware of the dangers the Tommies present.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When we played them over here we were up 2-0 after two and normally that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pretty good spot for us. They had no problems battling back to force overtime.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Elaborating, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We know they are a veteran group; we know they are deep. This may be their deepest team since that \u00e2\u20ac\u212205 season. I think all the scuttlebutt around them as been how solid their defensive corps is and how much forward depth they have. They clearly have four lines that can play and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been a high-octane machine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Tommies are no newcomers to success and are in the midst of their twentieth consecutive winning season under head coach Terry Skrypek. The Tommies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 experience is something Coghlin feels will definitely serve to benefit them.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They are an experienced team and they are an experience tournament team,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been in that type of environment before.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Nowhere was this experience more prevalent than in 2005, when the Tommies skated into the Cornerstone for a NCAA Quarterfinal game and skated away with a 3-2 victory over what some consider the best St. Norbert team ever.<\/p>\n
Coghlin even pointed out that in somewhat of an ironic twist, that was the first career loss for Kyle Jones. Additionally, the senior leaders on the current St. Norbert and St. Thomas were freshmen in that game.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost three years later now, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s d\u00c3\u00a9j\u00c3\u00a0 vu all over again as the Green Knights once again host the Tommies in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n
Kyle Jones remarkable career has only seen nine losses since that 2005 game against St. Thomas. Will his final career loss resemble that of his first, or will the Green Knights be headed to Lake Placid for yet another Frozen Four?<\/p>\n
To be determined.<\/p>\n
Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 10 teams in 2006, the committee has handed down a 7-3 East-West split, meaning one play-in game has been held in the Western region in each of those years. <\/p>\n
Every time, a MIAC tournament champion has faced an NCHA team for the right to play perennial power St. Norbert. And for the past two years, the MIAC champion has won that battle, as St. Thomas defeated Wisconsin-Stout 4-1 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Stout scored first as Derek Hanson beat Tyler Chestnut at 7:08 of the first period, but the Blue Devils wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find the back of the net for the rest of the night. The game slipped away from Stout halfway through the third period as the Tommies scored twice in a 10 second span to take a 3-1 lead. Nate Ryan scored his team leading fifth game-winning goal, assisted by Nick Penula, who notched his 100th career point in a Tommie sweater. <\/p>\n
In all, nine different Tommies netted a point in Wednesday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s win. St. Thomas also continued their recent dominance on the penalty kill. They have now killed 17 of 18 power plays in the postseason (MIAC and NCAA) and outscored opponents 15-3 in that span. St. Thomas has held its opponents to one goal or fewer in five of the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s last seven games.<\/p>\n
The win sends St. Thomas to Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s matchup at the Cornerstone Community Center. <\/p>\n
The Green Knights haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lost since Nov. 3, when Gustavus Adolphus gave St. Norbert their only blemish of the season. The Tommies may be an impressive 10-4-1 on the road this season, but they are coming off Wednesday night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contest while the Green Knights have rested for a week since defeating Stout in the NCHA Championship game.<\/p>\n
St. Thomas coach Terry Skrypek isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t able to determine whether the first round game is a benefit or detriment to a team, especially one that has been playing as well as the Tommies have of late.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some people say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it have been nice and to our advantage to just go down to Norbert and be done with it?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Maybe. But it could be an advantage to play a tough game and keep it rolling here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
This is the Tommies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 second trip to Cornserstone this season. In January these two teams played an overtime contest that St. Norbert was able to secure 4-3. St. Thomas battled back from an early 2-0 deficit in a physical, hard-fought game. A late goal by Nate Ryan forced the extra frame, where Matt Boyd was able to secure the win for the Green Knights.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153[We played] a game we very easily could have won down there.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Skrypek said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our guys are anxious to play them again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
However, in 2005 St. Thomas was able to defeat the Green Knights 3-2 in a quarterfinal game at the CCC. That was one of the steps for the Tommies on their way to the national championship game. Six seniors remain from that season, and one in particular remembers that game very specifically.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ryan Hoehn for example score a big gal against Norbert that year and he says \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI can still remember that goal and how I scored it.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 That was one that put us up 3 to 1 against them, and eventually we won 4 to 3.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Skrypek recalled. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think the tournament experiece [our seniors] had has helped our team and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s showed with the leadership of our veteran players.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
In the game earlier this year, neither team was able to convert on the man advantage. Given St. Thomas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 recent success on the penalty kill, the Green Knights may find it difficult to gain an advantage. Expect another defensively-minded hard-hitting game as two outstanding goaltenders try to get their teams to the Final Four. <\/p>\n
It is games like this the make Western fans lament the NCAA process in Division III. <\/p>\n
In a properly-seeded tournament UST and SNC would almost assuredly not be playing in this round and fans of D-III hockey could see both face off against Eastern foes for a right to play in the final four. <\/p>\n
Instead they will have to settle for what should be an outstanding game to effectively crown the western region champion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
St. Norbert (24-1-4 overall record, 10-0-4 in NCHA) St. Norbert hosting a NCAA Quarterfinal game has become about as big of a life certainty as death and taxes. As such, the Green Knights will be hosting yet another this Saturday as they face MIAC Playoff Champion St. Thomas in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The game will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n