Happy New Year!
By all indications the excitement and manner in which anything can happen in any game in D-III has continued on into the second half where Hobart still remains unbeaten; Adrian came east to win the Oswego tournament and Curry upset No. 8 Norwich to take the Northfield Bank Tournament title. Lots of other tournament action and exciting non-conference play to recap so here we go:
Codfish Bowl
The oldest of D-III tournaments had lots of excitement including the overall win by host Massachusetts-Boston in the 57th edition of the tournament. In the first round, the Beacons faced Fitchburg State and came out flying. The first period ended at 1-1 but UMB had a clear edge in the play which they expanded over the final 40 minutes on the way to a 4-1 win. Evan Coogins scored twice for the Beacons and Sam Best stopped 18 of 19 shots in the win.
The other matchup saw Albertus Magnus facing Tufts and the Falcons got out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period including JJ Berdahl’s goal just 25 seconds after the opening face-off. Tufts would come back on two goals by Mason Kohn in the second period and Sam Miller’s power play goal in the third period to tie the game at 3-3. Both teams had great chances in overtime but Tim Manning won it for the Falcons on a rebound past Gustave Bylin to send the Falcons to the championship game.
In the title match-up, the Beacons again came out fast and built a 3-0 lead after two periods of play. Blake Colman would score a pair for UMB who took the title by a 4-1 score over the Falcons. Sam Best was tremendous, making 35 saves in the win. Corey Clifton earned tournament MVP honors for the Bacons.
Northfield Bank Tournament
Norwich played host to Canton in the opening round and took advantage of two goals from Bryan O’Mara in a 5-1 win over the Kangaroos. Andrew Albano made 15 saves to earn the win for the Cadets who outshot Canton by a 31-16 margin.
The other first round game saw Curry play Trinity. The Bantams took leads three times including a 3-2 lead in the third period on a goal from Richard Boysen. The Colonels kept coming back and goals from Nick Favaro, to tie the score, and Kevin Pitts, with the game-winner happened less than 30 seconds apart late in the third period to propel Curry to the title game.
In the championship game, Norwich struck first on a goal from Clark Kerner. Curry again would take advantage of third period goals to earn the win. First Timmy Kent tied the game at 1-1. Gage Dill gave the Colonels a 2-1 lead with a power play goal and Mark Zhukov iced the game with an empty-net goal to give Curry the tournament title. Dill earned tournament MVP honors for Curry.
Western Clarion Oswego State Hockey Classic
Everyone hoped to see an Oswego v. Adrian final but the road there was not an easy one for either team. Oswego faced a determined St. Anselm squad that played things very close with the Lakers. A goal by Max Burum midway through the third period tied the game at 2-2 and that’s when Oswego got things going. Over the final seven minutes, the lakers would score four times with Noah Bull picking up a goal and two assists in that span for a final score of 6-2.
Adrian played an always tough Williams team and the two teams ended the first period tied at 1-1. Adrian scored the only goals of the second period off the sticks of Austin Clyne on the power play and Sam Ruffin at even strength for the final of 3-1 to the Bulldogs who outshot the Ephs by a 45-20 margin. Evan Ruschil made 42 saves to keep William in the game.
In the championship game, Oswego jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals from Ryan Dickinson and Daniel Colabufo. Adrian’s Ty Enns would score twice with the man advantage to level things at 2-2 after two periods of play. In the third period it was Sam Ruffin again scoring a big goal for the Bulldogs on the power play with assists to Enns and Jaden Shields in a 3-2 win for the tournament title.
“I thought it was one of our better games of the year,” said Oswego coach Ed Gosek. “They are a quality team. I liked the way we played. It was a playoff game tonight against a very good team. There is a reason they won the national championship last year. They do a lot things that we need to do and learn from them and be better.”
Middlebury Classic
The host Panthers faced Manhattanville in the first round of the tournament and the Valiants surrendered the first goal to Middlebury’s Tucker Lamb. The next three tallies came off Manhattanville sticks as they closed the first period with a 3-1 lead. Cole Joslin closed the gap to 3-2 in the second period before Josh Fletcher and Jin Lee exchanged goals in the third period for a 4-3 Manhattanville win.
In the second game of the tournament, Cortland faced the University of New England and it was the Nor’easters that had the offense in high gear. UNE raced out to a 5-0 lead and cruised to a 10-4 win behind two goals each from Mike Tersoni, Ryan Kuzmich and Jayden Price.
In the championship game, there were not a lot of goals to be had due to the outstanding goaltending by Billy Girard IV for UNE and Sebastian Woods for Manhattanville. Jayden Price for UNE and Tristan Frese for Manhattanville, exchanged goals late in the second period but that would be all the scoring in a 1-1 overtime tie. Needing a tournament winner, the game moved to a shootout where Woods was the difference stopping Jared Christy and Daniel Winslow while Glynn Robitaille and AJ Bella scored for the Valiants who took home the title. Woods earned tournament MVP honors with his 79 saves in the two games.
NEHC
Hobart and Elmira hosted Colby and Salve Regina in a round-robin tournament over the weekend with the Statesmen remaining undefeated with a pair of hard-fought 2-1 wins. On Friday, Zach Tyson’s first period goal and Matthew Iasenza’s shorthanded goal in the second period was all goaltender Damon Beaver would need in a 2-1 win over Colby. On Saturday, it took some extra time as the Statesmen overcame 46 saves from Seahawks goaltender Anthony Del Tufo with an overtime goal from Shane Shell to take another 2-1 victory.
After dropping a 4-3 decision to Salve Regina on Friday night, Elmira bounced back with a 3-1 win over Colby. Nathan Young, Chance Gorman and Kerfalla Toure provided all the scoring for Elmira and earning a weekend split.
Babson returned to action facing on old-time rival in St. Michael’s and skated away with a 9-1 win over the Purple Knights. Ryan Murphy scored two goals and added an assist while Thomas Kramer scored twice and added a pair of assists in the runaway win for the Beavers.
NESCAC
Bowdoin downed in-state rival Southern Maine in non-conference action by a score of 5-1 on Sunday. Five different Polar Bears scored goals as Alex Kozic picked up the win making 22 saves.
Hamilton faced Trine in a two-game series and lost both games by 4-2 and 7-4 finals. Fred Allaire recorded a goal and an assist on Friday’s game, which was ensured with a late Trine goal in the 4-2 final. Logan Greene scored twice for the Continentals in the 7-4 loss.
Three Biscuits
Shane Shell – Hobart – scored the overtime winner to keep the Statesmen undefeated in a 2-1 win over Salve Regina on Saturday night.
Sebastian Woods – Manhattanville – the freshman goaltender made 79 saves on 83 shots in earning tournament MVP honors and helping the Valiants to the Middlebury Classic title.
Gage Dill – Curry – scored the game winning goal for Curry in their come-from-behind win over Norwich to win the Northfield Bank Classic.
The second half is already off to a flying start with great action, close games, surprise results and expectations that this season is one where everything right up to the playoffs and national tournament is up for grabs.
Coach Gosek quotes provided by Russell Jaslow (Mr. SUNYAC) – thanks Jas!
