Any given weekend. That’s the theme of D-III West Hockey this season.
A team can go into a big weekend series ranked in the top 15 in the USCHO D-III men’s national poll and seemingly the favorite only to come away feeling the sting of defeat.
The lesson here is that while rankings are great and they look good on resumes, in the end, they don’t guarantee you a whole lot.
Last weekend alone proved as much.
Reigning national champion Adrian took on Lake Forest in a key NCHA series and lost the finale 5-3. Its the second time this season the Foresters have beaten a ranked team. They beat then No. 14 Aurora in early November.
Marian took care of business against nationally ranked St. Norbert and if you are talking biggest upsets of the year. Gustavus might have come away with one of the most surprising results, picking up their first MIAC win of the year against then nationally ranked Augsburg, a final four team a season ago.
Here’s the thing about the Gusties. They had dropped six consecutive games and had lost 4-1 to Augsburg the night before. Not to mention the Gusties had lost 22 consecutive MIAC games prior to that win over an Augsburg team that has consistently been one of the nation’s best teams.
Just goes to show you that records often don’t matter, and if you catch the right breaks, victory is possible.
Perhaps we should have seen this madness coming just before the start of the new year as the Concordia Cobbers closed out 2022 with a win over a ranked Aurora Spartans team.
The upsets haven’t slowed down since.
We’ve seen Saint John’s stun UW-Stevens Point, a team that might just be good enough to make a run at the national title this year. Hamline has even come through an upset of the Pointers this year. It was their first win over the Pointers since 2017.
Bethel has also handed nationally Augsburg a loss when the Auggies were ranked. So has UW-River Falls, which has dealt with its share of up and down moments this year.
The hits the Auggies have taken in a highly competitive region certainly don’t mean they are doomed. They could easily end up as the team to beat when it’s all said and done and play deep into the NCAA tournament.
You just never know how things are going to shake out.
But what we do know is these upsets are great for college hockey. They give fans a reason to believe their team has a shot to win even if the news and notes on paper tell you otherwise.
As far as we all know, though, a game has yet to be won on paper. Hockey games are still settled on the ice and that’s what makes this sport so much fun.
One team dominating a sport isn’t any fun. Having parity and the belief that anything is possible is so much better for everyone involved.
Don’t expect anything to change over the next few weeks leading into conference tournament play. There are going to be more upsets along the way and it would be great to see that theme carry into the national tournament.
Any given weekend aren’t just three words that people like to say to give them hope. They are reality. At least when it comes to D-III hockey in the west region.
