Congratulations to the teams that have already clinched the regular season title and with it the top seed for the upcoming conference tournament. Those teams include Assumption, Curry (hold tiebreaker over Endicott), Geneseo, Hobart, Plymouth State, Trinity, and Utica. While these teams have earned their just rewards in home-ice advantage there have been some terrific battles across all the conferences for teams looking to improve their position in the standings and playoff seeding or in some cases, just get in to the post-season. Here is this weekend’s wrap-up in the East:
CCC
With just one game remaining on the conference schedule, Curry has secured the top spot regardless of the outcome of their remaining game based on holding the tiebreaker over second place Endicott. Third place finds Salve Regina ahead of UNE with one game remaining for each.
Curry sealed the top spot with wins over Wentworth and Western New England over the weekend by scores of 4-1 and 3-2. On Friday night, Ben Biester and Tao Ishizuka broke a 1-1 tie with second period goals and Tauron Haddon-Harris sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the third period to down the Leopards. Saturday was a battle with the Golden Bears who rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the middle period with a shorthanded tally from Justin Sullivan and a power play goal by Kyle Knight to send the game to the final period knotted at 2-2. Gage Dill scored the game-winner for the Colonels who sent 57 shots at WNE’s Anthony Aureliano who finished the night with 54 saves in the losing effort.
Endicott secured second place in the CCC standings despite an overtime loss to UNE by winning on Saturday over Suffolk. Friday night saw a playoff style thriller as the Gulls took a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals by Collin Kleiser in the second period before Ryan Kuzmich leveled the score for the Nor’easters to close out the middle stanza. Neither team could find the back of the net in the third period leaving overtime to decide the contest off the stick of UNE’s Garrett Devine just 69 seconds into the extra session and a 3-2 win over the Gulls. On Saturday on home ice, Endicott took advantage of two goals and an assist from Jackson Sterrett and a goal and an assist from Andrew Kurapo vina 4-2 win over the Rams.
With UNE managing just a 3-3 overtime tie with Nichols on Saturday (won the shootout), Salve Regina had the opportunity to take sole position of third place in the standings and did so with wins over Suffolk and Wentworth. On Friday, the Seahawks scored three goals in the first and third periods to earn a 6-4 win at Suffolk. Matthew Fawcett led the offense with a goal and three assists. Playing on Sunday afternoon at hoe against the Leopards, Walter Baumann led the Salve attack with a hat trick as the Seahawks cruised to a 7-1 win. Johnny Mulera also chipped in with two goals and an assist in the Seahawks tenth conference win.
Independents
Anna Maria downed Post on Tuesday, 5-3 before closing out their 23-24 season against Rivier on Saturday. The scoring was at a premium as goaltenders Cole Johnston (AMC) and Will Augustine (RC) were outstanding in net for their respective teams. Liam Hennessy’s late first period goal was answered in the final 30 seconds of the period by the AmCats’ Guillaume Coulombe. Jon Tavella gave the Raiders a one goal lead with a power play goal only to see Derek Raposo respond for the visitors sending the contest to the third period tied at 2-2. Johnston (39 saves) and Augustine (41 saves) made sure the contest finished that way as the teams skated off with a 2-2 overtime tie.
Anna Maria finished their season with a 14-9-1 record while Rivier stands at 10-11-3 with one game remaining against Franklin Pierce on Tuesday.
MASCAC
While Plymouth State has comfortably been ensconced in the top spot in the MASCAC standings, the battles for position for the remaining playoff spots have been intense with surprises and upsets coming each Thursday and Saturday without exception.
While the Panthers won both contests over Fitchburg State, 7-2 and Framingham State, 3-1, the battles for position below kept things tight entering the final week of the season. Massachusetts-Dartmouth remains in second place following a pair of much needed wins over Worcester State and Salem State. On Thursday, Michael Perrone (2 goals, 1 assist) and Collin Patterson (1 goal, 2 assists) paced the Corsairs to a 5-3 win over the Lancers. On Saturday, Perrone and Patterson repeated their out put in the opening period of a 5-2 win over the Vikings.
Fitchburg rallied back from their loss to PSU with a hard fought 3-1 win over Worcester State on Saturday. Tied at 1-1 entering the third period, Michael Imala gave the Falcons the lead and Hunter Dunn sealed the win with an empty-net goal for a 3-1 final score. Frederick Soderberg was outstanding in goal stopping 31 of 32 shots for FSU.
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has found their game in February in their first season in MASCAC and won back-to-back games for the first time this season, while picking up their third win in their last four games. On Thursday, Cade Herrera and Charlie Addesa scored third period goals to break a 1-1 tie and help the Trailblazers to a 3-1 win over Salem State. Matthew Gover made 40 saves to earn the win. Saturday, the Trailblazers used the same formula to upset Westfield State. Easton Moore scored a pair of goals in the final period to help MCLA to another 3-1 win. Gover was solid again recording 21 saves in MCLA’s sixth win of the season.
NE-10
Assumption has owned first place since the first half of the season and clinched the top seed in the upcoming NE-10 playoffs but the battles for positions below are heating up with three teams looking to get hot at the right time of the season separated by just one point entering the final week of play. The Greyhounds split a weekend series with one of those challenging teams, St. Michael’s. On Friday, Assumption needed a third period rally to down the Purple Knights, 3-2. Leo Piandes and Luke Evers scored goals early in the third period to give the Greyhounds the come-from-behind win. On Saturday, the visitors got their payback as Quinn McCarthy, Case Kantgias, David Ciancio and TJ Beaver helped the Purple Knights to a 4-1 lead after two periods which goaltender Cole Manahan made stand up for the win making 55 saves to upset the Greyhounds.
Southern New Hampshire holds just a one-point edge for second place following a weekend split of games with St. Anselm. Kurt Watson and Anthony Marchant provided the scoring and goaltender Collin Berke stopped 46 of 47 shots in a 2-1 win for the Penmen over the Hawks on Friday night. The Hawks bounced back in a big way on Saturday, securing the split with an 8-3 romp over SNHU. Luke Linart scored a pair of goals and added an assist while Will Christensen and Alec Grace each chipped in with a goal and assist apiece in the comfortable win.
Franklin Pierce remained just one point behind the Penmen, tied with SMC following a weekend sweep of Post. Devin Rohrich scored a goal and assisted on another to help pace the Ravens to a 5-2 win on Friday night. On Saturday, the Ravens needed a third period rally to erase a 4-2 deficit and earn a 5-4 win over the Eagles. Power play goals from Trevor Lawler and Douglas McGuire tied the game at 4-4 setting up the dramatic finish for John Sterling who netted the game-winner with just eight seconds remaining in regulation time.
NEHC
Hobart finished off their NEHC schedule on home ice remaining unbeaten in The Cooler on the season while also securing coach Mark Taylor’s 400th career win with a weekend sweep of VSU-Castleton and Skidmore by scores of 6-3 and 5-1 respectively.
Norwich (hold the tiebreaker with Skidmore) secured second place in the standings as they rebounded from Friday’s loss at Babson with a 5-2 win over Southern Maine on Saturday. Second period goals from Ben Van waterschoot, Patrick Del Vecchio and Bryan O’Mara broke open a 1-1 tie sending the Cadets on to the win.
Babson followed up their 2-1 win over Norwich on Friday with a 4-3 win over New England College to extend their win streak to three games. Nolan Dion scored his first goal of the season in the final minute of regulation to help the Beavers to the win and weekend sweep. Despite being tied with Elmira in points, the Soaring Eagles hold the tiebreaker and will take the final home-ice position following their win over VSU Castleton on Saturday.
Skidmore ends up in third place following their split with Elmira and Hobart over the weekend and the quarterfinal round shapes up like this for Saturday. No. 1 Hobart will host No. 8 VSU-Castleton; No. 2 Norwich will host No. 7 Southern Maine; No. 3 Skidmore hosts No. 6 Massachusetts-Boston and No. 4 Elmira hosts No. 5 Babson.
NESCAC
Trinity has clinched the top seed in the NESCAC tournament with just one week remaining on the schedule following their weekend sweep of Colby and Bowdoin. Following a 5-3 win over Colby that featured five different goal scorers, the Bantams squeaked out a 2-1 playoff-style victory over the Polar Bears on Saturday, 2-1. Devan Tongue and Nicholas Siffringer provided the scoring and Devon Bobak stopped 17 of 18 shots in the win.
While Bowdoin remains in second place, Tufts, Hamilton, and Amherst are all battling for position separated by just five points entering the final weekend after playing some head-to-head action this weekend.
Tufts found some needed points over the weekend but lost contests to Amherst and Hamilton in overtime over the weekend. On Friday night, the Mammoth rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the third period and downed the Jumbos with Josh Burke’s game-winner just 26 seconds into the extra period. The Continentals also needed overtime against Tufts as Sam Miller’s power play goal late in the third period tied the game for the Jumbos before Devon De Vries shocked the Jumbos just over a minute into overtime for a 3-2 win.
Williams and Middlebury played a pivotal home-and-home series to stay in the playoff fray with each team winning on the opponent’s home ice. On Friday, Cal Sandquist was brilliant in goal stopping all 33 Panther shots in a 1-0 win for the Ephs. Saturday’s game saw many more goals and momentum swings as the Ephs nearly rallied back from a 6-2 deficit before losing to Middlebury 7-5. Jackson Morehouse scored a hat trick for the visitors who needed Andrej Hromic’s empty-net goal to seal the win.
SUNYAC
With just a week remaining on the schedule, the only things confirmed are Geneseo as the top seed, Cortland as the No. 4 seed and Morrisville eliminated from playoff contention. After that it sets up a crazy final week for team looking to earn a playoff spot and improve their seeding.
Geneseo clinched the top seed with a pair of wins over Fredonia and Buffalo State. Alex Dameski’s hat trick helped ease the Knights to a 7-4 win over the Blue Devils on Friday night. On Saturday, the Bengals proved to be a much tougher out in a tighter game. Zach Rehbaum and Peter Morgan provided the two goals that goaltender Jacob Torgner would need in a 2-1 victory that clinched the regular season title.
The battle for second place is still open with contenders Oswego and Plattsburgh facing off on Saturday in a great rivalry game with a lot at stake. The Lakers routed Potsdam 9-0 on Friday night while Plattsburgh eked out a 5-4 win on the road against Cortland setting up the battle for second place on Saturday. The game had all the intensity on would expect from these two longtime foes as the third period would ultimately decide the contest. After Ryan Butler tied the game at 2-2 early in the third period for the Cardinals, AJ Ryan and Matt McQuade would score less than a minute apart, late in the third to open a two-goal advantage for the Lakers. Bennett Stockdale would cut the lead in half with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, but Cal Schell and the Lakers held on for the exciting 4-3 win.
A tie with Buffalo State on Friday and win over Fredonia on Saturday helped Brockport move into fifth place just ahead of the Bengals entering the final week of the regular season. On Saturday, three second period goals from Chase Maxwell, Nick Serafin and Spencer Flansburg erased a 1-0 Blue Devil lead. Connor Galloway sealed the 4-2 win with an empty-net goal as Brockport, Buffalo State and Fredonia are separated by just one point with the Bengals and Blue Devils having a game in hand over the Golden Eagles.
UCHC
Utica clinched the regular season title and top seed with a weekend sweep of Alvernia. The Pioneers built a 3-0 lead on Friday and skated away with a 4-1 win over the Golden Wolves. Four different goal scorers chipped in for Utica with Jakob Breault contributing a pair of assists. On Saturday, it took four unanswered goals to erase a 2-1 deficit on the way to a 5-2 win for Utica. Matt Wood led the offense with a goal and an assist while Ethan Roberts earned the win in goal making 30 saves.
While Stevenson, Wilkes, Alvernia and Manhattanville have all secured playoff positions the seeding is still very much up in the air from No. 4 to No. 8 as teams enter the final week looking to move up or secure a position.
Chatham helped their playoff chances while keeping Manhattanville from moving up the standings with a two-game sweep over the Valiants. On Friday, the Valiants rallied from a 4-3 deficit to tie the score in the third period on a goal from Lane Paddison in the first minute of play. Neither team could score in regulation and the Cougars found overtime magic off the stick of Milan Cermak with just under 40 seconds remaining in the bonus period for a 5-4 OT win. On Saturday there was no overtime drama as goals by Liam Murphy, Lucas Rothe, and Kadsen Johnson helped the Cougars to a 3-0 lead on the way to a 3-1 final score. Goaltender Cameron Kuntar was exceptional in goal stopping 52 of 53 shots to earn the win.
Stevenson closed out their regular season schedule with a series against Wilkes and the two teams split the weekend series with each winning a one-goal game. On Friday, Nick Swain scored a hat trick, including the overtime winning goal as the Colonels upended the Mustangs 4-3. On Saturday, Stevenson earned the split with a 3-2 win. Liam McCanney broke a 2-2 tie in the third period and Ty Outen made 29 saves in the one-goal victory for Stevenson.
Three Biscuits
Chris Alexander – Johnson & Wales – scored a pair of goals and added assists on two more to help pace the Wildcats to a 5-2 win over Massachusetts-Boston on Friday.
Nick Swain – Wilkes – scored a hat trick including the overtime winner in the Colonels’ 4-3 upset over Stevenson on Friday night.
Walter Baumann – Salve Regina – scored a hat trick to lead the Seahawks to a comfortable 7-1 win over Wentworth on Sunday afternoon.
Bonus Biscuits
Matt McQuade and Shane Bull – Oswego – both recorded hat tricks in the Lakers’ 9-0 win over Potsdam on Friday night.
Cal Sandquist – Williams – stopped all 33 shot attempts by Middlebury in backstopping the Ephs to a 1-0 road win over the Panthers on Friday night.
Jackson Morehouse – Middlebury – recorded a hat trick in Saturday’s exciting 7-5 road win over Williams to help the Panthers stay in the NESCAC playoff hunt.
This is a big week as the regular season closes out and final positioning in the conferences is established while over in the NEHC, the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament will kick-off with some intriguing matchups and upset potentials on tap. Approaching the “win or go home” portion of the season – isn’t this great?!
