{"id":105333,"date":"2020-03-13T17:00:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T22:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=105333"},"modified":"2020-03-13T15:55:16","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T20:55:16","slug":"ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_105334\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105334\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-105334 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg 450w, https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics-300x247.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics-150x124.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-105334\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Thomas opens the NCAA tournament as MIAC champions with a visit to Lake Forest on Saturday (Photo by Concordia Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the first round games where none of the pairings finds any prior game action between the combatants during the regular season. This should have made for some interesting action on the ice as well as spice up the regional battle between Brian Lester and myself in picking the winners throughout the now canceled D-III tournament. Mr. Lester had bragging rights from last year&#8217;s win by Wisconsin \u2013 Stevens Point but they weren\u2019t in this year\u2019s field meaning we would have had a new D-III champion crowned on March 28. There is now an especially long way to go between now waiting for next season and next year&#8217;s tournament. We of course wish everyone health and wellness but do want to extend our sincere appreciation and heartfelt feelings to all of the seniors who will not see their final college season play out on the ice for circumstances well beyond their control and the control of the institutions.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the week\u2019s picks for the NCAA first round action (assuming that games were being played) and the regional battle this year\u2019s bragging rights:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saturday, March 14, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>St. Thomas @ No. 12 Lake Forest [TC]<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nThe Tommies come in on an emotional high having won the MIAC conference while Lake Forest hasn\u2019t seen game action since their mini-game loss to Trine in February. This game figures to be a see-saw affair that probably needs some overtime play to settle \u2013 <em><strong>St. Thomas, 3-2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>No. 12 Lake Forest (18-6-3) vs. St. Thomas (15-10-3) [BL]<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThe Tommies are playing their best hockey and coming off an impressive MIAC tournament title run. They have won their last five and are making their 17th appearance in the NCAA tournament. Unranked heading into it, the Tommies are looking to pull off an upset of the Foresters. Lake Forest is in the tourney for the first time since 1991 and has struggled lately, going just 2-4-2 in its last eight games. The Foresters haven\u2019t played a game since Feb. 22. <em><strong>St. Thomas, 3-1<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Plymouth State @ No. 7 Endicott [TC]<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThe Gulls have all aspects of their game working right now especially in the all-important goaltending department. Conor O\u2019Brien gives the home team a chance to win every night and the home fans will leave happy moving on to the quarterfinal round &#8211; <em><strong>Endicott, 3-1<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>No. 7 Endicott (22-5) vs. Plymouth State (15-9-3) [BL]<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nEndicott is on a roll, and that\u2019s an understatement. The Gulls have won their last 15 games and are coming off their second CCC title in program history. Endicott is also 11-3 at home. They face a Panthers team that is unbeaten in its last seven games. But Plymouth State is just 6-6 on the road this season and 0-3 against nationally ranked opponents this season. <em><strong>Endicott, 4-2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>No. 15 Wesleyan @ No. 10 Babson [TC]<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThere are differing opinions on how much rest helps or hurts a team at this point in the season. The Beavers are hosting a hot Wesleyan team that has won three straight as the visiting team while Babson hasn\u2019t played in three weeks. Game legs matter early and the Cardinals get enough of a fast start to hold on and advance \u2013 <em><strong>Wesleyan, 3-2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>No. 10 Babson vs. No. 15 Wesleyan (15-10-1) [BL]<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nWesleyan has won its last three, including two over nationally ranked opponents, and hopes to keep that roll going this weekend. The Cardinals are in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history and are riding a wave of adrenaline into the tourney. They are facing Babson for the first time since 2010. The Beavers own the all-time series 20-8-1. Babson features one of the best goaltending duos in the country in Brad Arvantis and Aidan Murphy and that could be the difference. <em><strong>Babson, 4-3<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>No. 6 Hobart @ No. 5 Adrian [TC]<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThe powers that be in terms of seeding and enforcement of travel policy didn\u2019t do either team here any favors in this first round matchup. Unfortunately, one of these teams is going to see their season end in the first round and in this case that makes for a long trip home for the Statesmen who fall just short against the home-fueled Bulldogs \u2013 <em><strong>Adrian, 4-3<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>No. 5 Adrian (21-5-3) vs. No. 6 Hobart (20-5-3) [BL]<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nAdrian just ended St. Norbert\u2019s three-year run as NCHA champions and goes into the NCAA tournament with a 13-game winning streak. The Bulldogs are 12-3-2 at home and have been an offensive machine, cranking out 144 goals off 257 assists. They average nearly five goals per game. Hobart is 7-4-1 on the road and has been productive on offense, too, scoring 116 goals. This could be a shootout.<em><strong> Adrian, 5-3<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Only one game difference in first round picks but that can be the difference but we won&#8217;t ever know how it would have played out. It was all about winning a NCAA championship but not this season &#8211; \u201cDrop the Puck!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the first round games where none of the pairings finds any prior game action between the combatants during the regular season. This should have made for some interesting action [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":105334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[934],"tags":[820],"coauthors":[822],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been... - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105333\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been... - College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105333\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"Tim Costello\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-13T22:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-13T20:55:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"371\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Costello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@d3pucks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Costello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/\",\"name\":\"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been... - College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-13T22:00:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-13T20:55:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1de4c45122ef23fe626ce6aa69ac2123\"},\"description\":\"The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":371,\"caption\":\"St. Thomas opens the NCAA tournament as MIAC champions with a visit to Lake Forest (Photo by Concordia Athletics)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been&#8230;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\",\"name\":\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"description\":\"Men&#039;s and Women&#039;s D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1de4c45122ef23fe626ce6aa69ac2123\",\"name\":\"Tim Costello\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/7233ce172a4aafc254798353f7be40ca\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e264b952c785b8e2ec0a4a32d1c6ec35?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e264b952c785b8e2ec0a4a32d1c6ec35?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Costello\"},\"description\":\"Division III Columnist Tim Costello joined USCHO as a correspondent in 2003. A former collegiate goaltender, he covers D-II and D-III conferences in New England and provides features spanning D-I and other special interest stories.\",\"sameAs\":[\"Tim Costello\",\"costello9301\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/@d3pucks\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/costello\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been... - College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105333","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been... - College Hockey | USCHO.com","og_description":"The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105333","og_site_name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/","article_author":"Tim Costello","article_published_time":"2020-03-13T22:00:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-13T20:55:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":371,"url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tim Costello","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@d3pucks","twitter_site":"@USCHO","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tim Costello","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/","name":"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been... - College Hockey | USCHO.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg","datePublished":"2020-03-13T22:00:45+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-13T20:55:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1de4c45122ef23fe626ce6aa69ac2123"},"description":"The 12-team field was set and besides the seeded teams awaiting to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be, there was a lot of suspense for the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TSt-Thomas-Hockey-Concordia-Athletics.jpg","width":450,"height":371,"caption":"St. Thomas opens the NCAA tournament as MIAC champions with a visit to Lake Forest (Photo by Concordia Athletics)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2020\/03\/13\/ncaa-college-hockey-game-picks-d-iii-march-13-2020\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NCAA college hockey game picks, D-III: What might have been&#8230;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/","name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"Men&#039;s and Women&#039;s D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1de4c45122ef23fe626ce6aa69ac2123","name":"Tim Costello","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/7233ce172a4aafc254798353f7be40ca","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e264b952c785b8e2ec0a4a32d1c6ec35?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e264b952c785b8e2ec0a4a32d1c6ec35?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tim Costello"},"description":"Division III Columnist Tim Costello joined USCHO as a correspondent in 2003. A former collegiate goaltender, he covers D-II and D-III conferences in New England and provides features spanning D-I and other special interest stories.","sameAs":["Tim Costello","costello9301","https:\/\/x.com\/@d3pucks"],"url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/costello\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105333"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105370,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105333\/revisions\/105370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105333"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=105333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}