The quarterfinal round shaped up with the top two seeds joining the action in the tournament while three of the four contests featured east v. west matchups that was expected to and did create a lot of excitement. They say the worse lead in hockey is a two-goal lead and the teams from the west all held that advantage or more in their games that eventually saw the east teams rally for wins that make the Frozen Four a full east playoff featuring Curry, Geneseo, Hobart and Utica. Amazing and exciting hockey that included intense third period rallies and an overtime game to determine a winner. Here is the wrap-up for the full slate of NCAA quarterfinal action in chronological order from Saturday:
St. Norbert v. Utica
The Green Knights traveled to Utica for a 1 PM matinee game on Saturday and both teams showed up in full force for the early start in a contest that featured pace, physicality and amazingly, zero penalties.
It was the visitors who drew first blood early with Brock Baker’s unassisted goal giving St. Norbert an early 1-0 lead. Despite pressure by both teams at both ends of the ice, the score stood until the final minute of the period when Jakob Breault tied the score for Utica to level the game after one period at 1-1.
Like Baker, Calvin Hansen gave the lead back to the Green Knights just over three minutes into the idle period and Carter Hottman extended the advantage to 3-1 with a goal assisted by Logan Dombrowsky and Liam Fraser with less than five minutes remaining in the second period. Just over one minute later Breault setup Drake Morse for a goal to cut the deficit to one goal setting up an exciting third period of action.
Breault again solved St. Norbert netminder Hunter Garvey to tie the score at 3-3 at the eight minute mark of the final period with both teams applying sustained pressure looking for the advantage on the scoreboard. With over ten minutes remaining in regulation, Gabriel Lundberg gave Utica their first advantage of the contest and goaltender Ryan Piros and a stout defense held on with Aiden Hughes scoring an empty-net goal for the final 5-3 margin.
“It was an emotional win,” stated Utica head coach Gary Heenan. “So fun.”
Garvey finished with thirty-three saves for St. Norbert, including twenty in the second period while Piros stopped twenty-four St. Norbert attempts to pick up the victory. Utica will host the Frozen Four and has a semifinal date with top seed Curry who advanced with a win over Utica.
Hamilton v. Curry
Top seed Curry took to the ice against first round winner Hamilton and the visitors came out with jump and the advantage early on the shot count. Hamilton launched eighteen shots at Shane Soderwall in the opening period that saw the Colonels kill three penalties and escape the period tied at 0-0.
In the second period it seemed the action was all slanted towards the same end of the ice as Curry found some jump in their game and an aggressive forecheck led to a turnover that Tauron Haddon-Harris rifled a shot short side off the post in past Hamilton netminder Charlie Archer for a 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the period. Less than five minutes later Nolan McDonough skated into the zone cut across the slot and buried a backhand shot just over Archer’s pad on the glove side for a 2-0 lead that closed out the scoring in the second period.
Hamilton came out determined to score in the final period and NESCAC Player-of-the-Year, Luke Tchor finally solved Soderwall just over a minute into the third period with assists from Ben Zimmerman and James Philpott to close the gap to one goa at 2-1. The visitors continued to press but Soderwall and the Colonels held Hamilton at bay before Haddon-Harris extended the lead to 3-1 and Grady Friedman iced the contest with an empty-net goal and over three minutes remaining in regulation time.
“We really took advantage of the week off to get healthy and rest,” stated Crry head coach Peter Roundy. “We started out a little slow, a step behind and took some uncharacteristic penalties but Shane [Soderwall] was great and the penalty kill came up big to keep the game scoreless which felt like a win for us after the first twenty minutes. We got things going in the second period and held them off in the third period for a big win. It is special that this is our first Frozen Four at Curry in this our 50th season with college hockey.”
Curry skated off with the 4-1 win and advances to their very first Frozen Four and a date with Utica on Friday.
Trine v. Hobart
The NEHC and defending national champions were also coming off a bye week and facing a Trine team that took care of business on home ice against Oswego in the first round.
After a scoreless first period that saw both teams feeling out the game and each other, it was the visiting Thunder that scored first on a power play goal by Logan Furstenau less than four minutes into the game action. Despite chances at both ends that goaltenders Ronnie Petrucci (Trine) and Damon Beaver (Hobart) held out of the net, Sam Antenucci scored for a 2-0 Trine advantage that stood as the margin entering the third period.
Hobart’s Luke Aquaro wasted no time scoring just twenty-seven seconds into the third period and Dominic Schimizzi leveled the game at 2-2 just three minutes later to get the “Cooler Crazies” back into the game as both teams challenged the opposition netminders with great chances in the second half of the third period. No one could net the deciding goal sending the contest to overtime.
Last season it took Hobart four overtimes to win over Curry in the quarterfinal round, but this year the winning goal was found in the first overtime with Luke Aquaro taking the puck off a defensive turnover and firing the winning goal past Petrucci over his shoulder on the short-side for a 3-2 win just under ten minutes into bonus hockey.
“Luke stepped up in a big way for us,” said Hobart head coach Mark Taylor. “Not the way we planned it but hopefully will add to us moving forward.”
Petrucci finished the game with thirty-eight saves for Trine while Beaver recorded twenty-three to earn the win for the Statesmen.
Hobart will face Geneseo in the second semifinal on Friday, March 28.
Geneseo v. Aurora
In the final quarterfinal game hosted by Aurora, Geneseo fell behind by a 3-0 margin with Chase Broda, Luciano Santalucia and Landry Schmuck pacing the Spartans to an early lead with less than four minutes remaining in the second period. Alex Dameski and Luke Panchisin answered late in the middle period to close the gap to 3-2, setting up a dramatic third period between two offensive powerhouse teams.
“I think the two quick goals at the end of the second period was a turning point for us,” said Geneseo head coach Chris Schultz. “I liked the way we were playing even when we got down 3-0.”
In the third period, Aurora extended the advantage to 4-2 as Andrew Schultz scored just over four minutes after the puck drop of the final period. Panchisin wasted no time in answering just forty-three seconds later and Jack McDonald tied the game at 4-4 midway through the period. Dameski, with an assist from MacDonald gave the Knights their first lead of the night and two empty net goals from Filip Wiberg closed out the scoring for a 7-4 Geneseo win.
Dameski, Panchisin and Wiberg each scored two goals while goaltender Adam Harris recorded twenty-six saves to earn the win. JaCob Mucitelli stopped twenty-eight shots for Aurora in the loss.
Three Biscuits
Luke Aquaro – Hobart – the senior forward scored two goals including the overtime winner to rally Hobart to a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Trine on Saturday night.
Tauron Haddon-Harris – Curry – scored a pair of goals to pace the Colonels’ attack in a 4-1 win over Hamilton on Saturday leading Curry to their first Frozen Four.
Jakob Breault – Utica – paced the Pioneer attack in a 5-3 comeback victory over St. Norbert on Saturday. Breault scored two goals and added an assist in the win over the Green Knights.
Bonus Biscuit
Alex Dameski – Geneseo – scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner as the Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to post a 7-4 win over Aurora on Saturday night.
Two-goal leads are the most dangerous lead in hockey and we saw three of four such leads slip away on Saturday leading to an all-east Frozen Four this upcoming weekend hosted by Utica and including fellow New York State teams Geneseo and Hobart to challenge top seed Curry. That should be a great finale to what has been a truly amazing season.
While I have given past kudos to the NCAA for setting up a terrific tournament bracket this year, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the challenge that a non-pre-determined host for the Frozen Four creates on the eventual host with less than a week to plan. No team or their coaching staff should have to be challenged by the short timeframe, availability of hotel accommodations actually with proximity to the event location or the stress of trying to do what is best for the student athletes who should be enjoying the accomplishment and thrill of playing on the ultimate national stage for a championship. Here’s hoping that soon we get the complimentary great bracket and pre-determined site to eliminate external distractions from what has been a terrific post-season on the ice – just like all the fans hoped it would be!
