It’s an old cliché, but in rivalry games, you throw out the records.
On Saturday, Niagara traveled to Canisius for Part II of their annual “Battle of the Bridge” series between the rival schools, the last regular-season game of the season for each.
The night before, Canisius spotted Niagara a 1-0 lead in early in the third period before rattling off a quintet of unanswered goals for a 5-1 win, putting the Golden Griffins on the precipice of Atlantic Hockey’s West Pod regular-season title. Two out of three points on Saturday would seal it.
Niagara was already locked into the fifth and final seed in the West Pod and had only 17 players available due to COVID protocols.
But in a rivalry, pride is on the line.
“People who aren’t a part of this don’t understand how big this rivalry is,” said Niagara coach Jason Lammers.
“(Canisius) is Jesuit. Niagara is Vincentian. Even the priests are into it.”
Niagara again opened a 1-0 lead, but this time made it stick, going on to a 4-0 win to spoil Canisius’ chance at a title. Robert Morris is the top seed in the West Pod.
“We embraced the challenge,” said Lammers. “We actually played pretty well the night before. And we got the first goal like the night before but the difference was we scored earlier and to our credit, the guys believed in themselves.”
Goaltender Chad Veltri stopped all 16 shots he faced on Saturday. The sophomore was making his fourth straight start of the season after sharing time with senior Brian Wilson and junior Michael Corson, who transferred from Denver after two seasons. But Veltri has the hot hand right now.
“Chad’s got some experience in the postseason,” said Lammers. “Our goaltending has been a challenge with COVID protocols. It’s been all over the map. The guys have done a good job, but we wanted to get better.”
Niagara hopes to have all of its players back for a first round game at Mercyhurst on March 8. At full strength, Lammers has 19 upperclassmen on the roster.
“It’s great to have that experience this time of year,” said Lammers. “Experience is a great teacher.
“We need to get off to a good start (against Mercyhurst) and hold the line from there.”
Postseason’s greetings
In case you missed it, the final seedings for the Atlantic Hockey tournament are:
East Pod:
1. American International
2. Army West Point
3. Sacred Heart
4. Bentley
5. Air Force
6. Holy Cross
West Pod:
1. Robert Morris
2. Canisius
3. Rochester Institute of Technology
4. Mercyhurst
5. Niagara
Why is Air Force in the East Pod? Here’s the league’s explanation:
“Air Force was placed in the eastern region based on the point percentage of the third-placed team in each region. The playoff format was designed to protect the higher placed third seed by not having them play on the first weekend. Therefore, with RIT at 0.5897 and Sacred Heart at 0.5128, Air Force was placed in the eastern pod.”
The first round of the Atlantic Hockey tournament consists of single elimination games as follows:
March 7: Holy Cross at Sacred Heart
March 8: Niagara at Mercyhurst
March 9: Air Force at Bentley
The three survivors will advance to the best-of-three quarterfinals, which will stay within each pod. AIC and Army have byes in the East; Robert Morris, Canisius and RIT have byes in the West.
The highest surviving quarterfinal seed will host the remaining three, with a pod crossover in the semifinals I.e. the top seed from the East will face the second seed from the West and visa versa.
All games will be played on campus (or at the school’s designated off-campus rink).
Award season
With the postseason upon us, it’s time for Dan Rubin and I to hand out our awards, which for the past few seasons Dan has designated “The Lerchies” in deference to my seniority (advanced age).
Atlantic Hockey is changing things up this season. Due to a lack of play between the two pods, the conference will name all star and individual awards for each pod. So I’ll concede to calling my picks “The Lerchies” but we’ll also refer to Dan’s accolades as “The Rubies,” which actually sounds kind of cool.
Without further ado:
Dan’s East Team:
F: Colin Bilek, Army West Point
F: Chris Dodero, AIC
F: Luke Santerno, Bentley
D: Drew Bavaro, Bentley
D: Brennan Kapcheck, AIC
G: Trevin Kozlowski, Army West Point
Dan’s West Team:
F: Jonathan Bendorf, Mercyhurst
F: Will Calverly, RIT
F: Randy Hernandez, Robert Morris
D: Logan Gestro, Canisius
D: Nick Jenny, Robert Morris
G: Jacob Barzewski/Matt Ladd, Canisius
Dan’s Individual Awards:
East Player Of The Year: Colin Bilek, Army West Point
West Player Of The Year: Randy Hernandez, Robert Morris
East Coach Of The Year: Brian Riley, Army West Point
West Coach Of The Year: Trevor Large, Canisius
East Rookie Of The Year: Drew Bavaro, Bentley
West Rookie Of The Year: Randy Hernandez, RMU
Chris’ East Team:
F: Colin Bilek, Army West Point
F: Chris Dodero, AIC
F: Tobias Fladeby: AIC
D: Anthony Firriolo, Army West Point
D: Brennan Kapcheck, AIC
G: Trevin Kozlowski, Army West Point
Chris’ West Team:
F: Jonathan Bendorf, Mercyhurst
F: Will Calverly, RIT
F: Randy Hernandez, Robert Morris
D: Nick Jenny, Robert Morris
D: Dan Willett, RIT
G: Jacob Barzewski, Canisius
Chris’ Individual Awards:
East Player Of The Year: Colin Bilek, Army West Point
West Player Of The Year: Will Calverly, RIT
East Coach Of The Year: Brian Riley, Army West Point
West Coach Of The Year: Trevor Large, Canisius
East Rookie Of The Year: Drew Bavaro, Bentley
West Rookie Of The Year: Randy Hernandez, RMU
Good luck to everyone in the postseason. Fingers crossed that players will end things on their terms, where it should: on the ice.
