Headed into championship weekend out east after all teams officially began conference tournament play this past weekend, whilst others continued with their respective tournaments. We’ll take a look back and highlight some of the main events that occurred, and I’ll give my picks for this weekend’s conference games.
The NEHC’s top-two narrowly advance
Elmira defeats William Smith 4-3
Elmira found themselves in a close one. It was a busy 1st period as both teams scored a pair of goals including a William Smith shorthanded goal and an Elmira powerplay goal. William Smith would then take the lead back at the 5:10 mark of the 2nd period and hold it until 6:49 of the 3rd when Morgan Mordini tied it up. Elmira’s Holley Riva would proceed to score the winner at the 12:56 mark of the 3rd. In this game, WS had 6 penalties for 12 minutes, whilst Elmira had 2 for 4 minutes. Shots were 45-19, heavily in favor of Elmira which is surprising considering the close score line.
Norwich defeats Southern Maine 2-1
This game was interesting, because like the previous NEHC game, the lower seed led most of the way, except Southern Maine was pitching a shutout until the 3rd period. USM scored at the 2:16 mark of the 2nd period and led all the way until Norwich tied it up at the 2:11 mark of the final period and then Ally Lague scored the winner at a late 14:35 to give the Cadets just enough to move on. Penalties in the game were 2 for 4 minutes against USM, whilst Norwich wasn’t called for any. Shots were 46-17 in favor of the Cadets, USM goaltender Haley McKim had a great performance, making 44 saves on the night despite the tough loss.
Double Overtime x2
Two goaltenders that need to be highlighted this week are Oswego State’s Lexi Levy & Trinity’s Hannah Leclair for their performances in both of their respective team’s games. Levy made 61 saves during her 89:01 in net in the 2-1 double-OT loss to Cortland, whilst Leclair made 53 in her 90:33 minutes of play during the 2-1 double-OT loss to Colby. Neither goalie was exactly helped out by their team in terms of shots, Oswego losing the shot battle 63-25 & Trinity losing the shot battle 55-29. Both goalies are the only reason either of these games weren’t decided inside the first 2 periods of play.
Remaining east playoff results
CCC
Suffolk shutout University of New England 6-0.
Endicott shutout Western New England 2-0.
NESCAC
Amherst shutout Wesleyan 2-0.
Middlebury shutout Connecticut College 4-0.
Hamilton defeated Williams 3-1.
Colby defeated Trinity 2-1 in double-OT.
NEWHL
Plattsburgh defeated Canton 7-1.
Cortland defeated Oswego 2-1 in double-OT.
This Weekend’s Conference Championship Picks
CCC
Endicott at Suffolk: March 4, 2023 – 4:50 pm EST
My Pick: Suffolk 3-2 OT
I’ve liked Suffolk all year and I won’t stop now; the Rams will win their first ever conference title, but it’ll be a close one. In the three games these two teams played this season: Endicott 2-1 OT, Suffolk 2-1 OT, & Endicott 3-1. The series has leaned Endicott, but has been close every time, no game has been decided early and I don’t believe that changes here either. Give me the Rams to win a close overtime game which would mean 3/4 games these teams played versus each other this season were decided via overtime.
NEHC
Norwich at Elmira: March 4, 2023 – 3:00 pm EST
My Pick: Elmira 4-2
Both of these teams have battled it out this season, but Elmira’s been the more consistent team (which I would’ve been surprised to say a month or so back considering the rough patch they hit mid-season), but they recently handled Norwich in the season finale and have ended the season on an extremely high note. Both struggled last week as mentioned vs lower seeded opponents, Elmira hasn’t lost in conference play yet, so they’ll have to remain perfect. Norwich has been able to win some impressive games this year and could pull off an upset, just not sure if I can see it happening in Elmira. If it was in Norwich, I may lean that way. Goaltending has been solid on both sides and both have been relatively evenly-matched thus far. With that being said, I’ll go with Elmira to get the (highly-likely) lone NEHC NCAA tournament bid.
NESCAC (Hosted by Amherst)
Colby vs Hamilton: March 3, 2023 – 3:30 pm EST
My Pick: Hamilton 5-3
I’m going with Hamilton here, if you asked me before the season began, I would’ve taken Colby, but Hamilton has looked strong all year especially in their stretch of games where they played six-straight games vs ranked opponents, winning them all, including two over Colby. Obviously, the previous matchups don’t mean a whole lot in the conference playoffs especially in this conference, but I like how Hamilton has been tested all year and played more hockey unlike Colby. Hamilton as of late has just been the better team on the ice and records-wise.
Middlebury vs Amherst: March 3, 2023 – 7:00 pm EST
My Pick: Amherst 3-2
This one is tough because it’s still Middlebury, possible memory bias seeing them hold up the national title trophy last year makes me inherently want to pick them, but Amherst has been rolling this year and I’m going with the Mammoths. Amherst won the first two matchups handily, outshooting Middlebury in both games and holding them to a low 12 shots in the second matchup. Middlebury gets lots of late game powerplays which have resulted in goals this season, so who knows what could happen. It’s a toss-up, but I think Amherst stays hot.
*Hypothetical* Hamilton vs Amherst: March 4, 2023 – 7:30 pm EST
My Pick: Hamilton 2-1
Hamilton upsets Amherst, I know in terms of rankings it’s not a huge upset, but relatively speaking Amherst has been near the top longer than Hamilton and winning the #1 seed in the NESCAC usually speaks volumes about your season. Ultimately, these two teams haven’t played since opening weekend when they split the series, they’re both (very-likely) in the NCAA tournament via at-large bid at worst, but I think Hamilton pulls this one off. Amherst has the best freshman goaltender in the country at the moment in Natalie Stott, she’ll have a great game, but Hamilton pulls it out and wins the NESCAC.
NEWHL
Cortland at Plattsburgh: March 4, 2023 – 3:00 pm EST
My Pick: Plattsburgh 3-1
Cortland always plays Plattsburgh tough and even beat them this season 1-0, they also took Plattsburgh to overtime last season in this same spot, the NEWHL finals, in which the Cardinals won. Only reason I have this by a two-goal margin is because I think Plattsburgh adds an empty net in the last few minutes, otherwise, it’ll be a tight game and it wouldn’t be a shock to me if Cortland gets the win. However, I can’t bet against Plattsburgh here, they’ve won every NEWHL conference tournament that’s taken place and I don’t know if Cortland can end that streak at the moment.
UCHC
Utica at Nazareth: March 4, 2023 – 4:00 pm EST
My Pick: Utica 3-2 OT
This is a pick I’m not confident in at all because if there were a betting line it would be -115 to -115 for the money line, possibly -125 to -105 in favor of Nazareth. These two teams just got done playing a few weeks ago in which the regulation game tied, and Nazareth won the shootout, the next game Nazareth won in overtime to win the UCHC regular-season title. It’s no surprise they’re both back here again in the championship after battling it out for the regular season, but I think Utica can get it done here. Being on the road will be difficult, but the Pioneers I believe will win their first this season vs Nazareth and win their first-ever UCHC title & earn the NCAA tournament automatic-bid. I can’t see this game being decided by anything other than overtime or one goal maximum (outside of a possible empty netter, but don’t count on it).
