The defending national champions from Hobart are rested following their first-round bye in the NCAA tournament and open their title defense against a disciplined Curry team that knocked off Geneseo to advance to the quarterfinal round. The 3-0 win over the Knights was the first road win on the national stage for the Colonels, who now look to repeat the event against a Hobart team poised to tie the consecutive home win streak currently held by St Norbert at 36 games.
“They are a very good hockey team,” said head coach Mark Taylor. “They are well-coached, have highly skilled guys in key positions and really play as a group of five on the ice which I thought was the difference in their beating Geneseo last week. We respect every opponent, and we are excited to get back to the ice to play one more game in The Cooler knowing we need to win to advance.”
Hobart (25-2-1) features a deep and skilled roster with a combination of size and speed that is difficult to match. Tanner Hartman (19G – 25A 44 Pts; +40) and Ignat Belov (16G – 21A – 37 Pts; +38) lead the team in scoring and have combined for nine game-winning goals between them. A mobile and versatile defensive group is led by Matthieu Wuth, Cooper Swift, and Bauer Morrissey in front of the best tandem of goaltenders in the nation, Damon Beaver and Mavrick Goyer. The group is largely intact from last year’s title run with a few new key contributors including forward Chris Duclair (14G – 10A – 24 Pts; +11) and defenseman Conor Lally (4G – 14A – 18 Pts; +25). The group is deep, rested, and ready.
“The rest was a good thing at this time of the year,” noted Taylor. “We are ready to go and excited to play with a chance of moving on to another Frozen Four. The leadership and the focus on this team has been outstanding. It is an exceptional group in the way that they are committed to team first and play a selfless game to gain a positive outcome and winning hockey. I think our experience from last year will definitely help us as we stay focused on the strengths of our team and Hobart hockey.”
For Curry (21-5-1), it all starts with their goaltender of the Year in the CCC, Shane Soderwall who stopped all 35 shots he faced in recording the shutout win over Geneseo. Timely goals from Tao Ishizuka on the power play as well as Jesse Galassi and Gage Dill helped seal the win while face-off dominance from Eelis Laaksonen helped Curry with crucial possessions during the game in both the offensive and defensive zones. Defenseman Matt Connor is a 200-foot player and key to quarterbacking the Colonels’ power play when the opportunities present themselves.
“We won’t have the students on campus this weekend, but we always draw an enthusiastic local crowd,” noted Taylor. “We obviously like playing in our building and making things difficult for our opponents. This time of the year you know you are going to be playing good hockey teams and as I said before we respect all but fear nobody.”
Opening puck drop at The Cooler between Curry and Hobart is set for 7 PM on Saturday, March 16 with the winner advancing to next week’s Frozen Four in Hartford, CT.
