Since the regular season was not enough of a roller coaster ride for results, upsets and drama, enter the conference playoffs where form fell apart over the weekend in many areas including seven overtime games, top seeds bowing out in MASCAC (Plymouth State) and SUNYAC (Cortland), and No. 2 seeds exiting in the CNE (UNE), MASCAC (Anna Maria), NEHC (Babson) and NESCAC (Trinity). Add in the top seed loss in the NE-10 where St. Anselm fell at home to rival St. Michael’s and the plethora of surprise games is pretty astounding overall. Sure, Hobart, Utica, Geneseo, Curry, Wilkes, Stevenson, Oswego, and Hamilton took care of business but there is that sense still that any game’s outcome is up for grabs now when the stakes are highest. For many the season is now over and those on the NPI bubble are rooting for outcomes that are unlikely to change their fate for playing on the national stage. Crazy week for sure – so here is the recap of an extremely exciting week of playoff action in the east:
CNE
Thursday’s quarterfinals saw No. 3 Endicott eke past No. 6 Wentworth, 3-2 in overtime as the Gulls needed Michael Casey’s late third period goal and Cade Baker’s overtime winner to move past the Leopards and earn a date against UNE on Saturday. In a regular season finale re-match, Suffolk left no doubt scoring four goals with Nick Liatino assisting on three and getting forty-six saves from CJ Hapward in goal for a 4-0 win that advanced the Rams to face No. Curry on Saturday.
Curry was ready from the opening puck drop against the Rams on Saturday as Karim Gayfullin scored twice in the first ten minutes of play to give the Colonels and early lead that they extended to 4-1 in the second period. Gayfullin completed his hat trick in the middle stanza and the Colonels cruised to their fifteenth straight win with a 4-2 decision over the Rams. Shane Soderwall stopped sixteen of eighteen shots to earn his twenty-second win of the season.
Endicott traveled to UNE on Saturday and the comeback Gulls did on the road what they had done at home on Thursday. Trailing the Nor’easters 3-1 in the third period, Jackson Sterrett quickly halved the deficit just over a minute after Cam Bergman had given the home team a two-goal advantage. Michael Casey then became the hero for the visitors as he netted the game-tying goal in the final seventy seconds of regulation before scoring the game-winning goal in the opening minute of overtime for a 4-3 Gulls victory.
No. 1 Curry will host No. 3 Endicott on Saturday, March 8 for the CNE championship.
MAC
The MAC playoff semifinals were played on Saturday, March 1 with No. 1 Wilkes hosting No. 4 Alvernia and No. 2 Stevenson playing No. 3 Neumann.
The Colonels were far from gracious hosts as they took advantage of two goals in each period to skate away with a 6-0 win over the Golden Wolves. It was the visitors who came out firing in the first period, peppering Colonels’ netminder Jack Perna with twenty-two first period shots but could not score. Perna finished the game with thirty-nine saves while Cam Lowe scored two goals and Carter Jordan assisted on three goals in the shutout win.
The Mustangs vs. Knights contest was far closer as expected with an overtime session needed to determine the team that would advance to the MAC title game against Wilkes. Blake Benson broke the scoreless deadlock in the final minute of the opening period with a goal for Stevenson and Luke Croucher tied the score for Neumann with a goal early in the third period. Goaltender Cole DeFazio was keeping the Mustangs at bay with Ford DeLoss fending off Neumann’s threats. In the extra session, it was Matt Yeager who solved DeFazio for a 2-1 OT win for Stevenson.
On Saturday, March 8, No. 1 Wilkes will host No. 2 Stevenson for the MAC championship and the conference’s first NCAA auto-bid.
MASCAC
The MASCAC tournament saw a one-through-eight tournament format for the first time and No. Plymouth State looking to capture an eighth straight title in their final season in the league. MCLA had other plans for the Panthers as Thursday’s quarterfinal game saw the Trailblazers stun the top seed, 2-1 with goaltender Matthew Gover and his forty-three saves making goals from Luke Rhoss and Sam Zis stand up to upset the Panthers.
No. 2 seed Anna Maria had no such upset demons in their arena as the AmCats dispatched No. 7 Westfield State by a score of 8-2. Matthew Gilbert, Matthew Byrne and Brandon Della-Paolera each scored two goals with Della-Paolera providing the game’s highlight goal with a “Michigan” tally to help the AmCats to an early 3-0 advantage. Five unanswered goals in the final forty minutes helped put away the Owls and advance Anna Maria to a semifinal with MCLA.
Fitchburg State knocked off Worcester State, 4-1 on Thursday with Max Macchioni making thirty-three saves and Alexandre Bauvais scoring a pair of goals to advance the Falcons to a semifinal matchup with Salem State. The Vikings punched their ticket with a 3-1 win over Massachusetts-Dartmouth with goaltender Will Nepveu stopping thirty-seven Corsair attempts and Landyn Greatorex sealing the win with an empty-net goal just seconds after the Corsairs hit the post trying the tie the score in the final minute of regulation.
On Saturday, the Falcons were looking to end the Vikings’ month-long win streak and advance to the MASCAC championship game. The teams exchanged goals three times leaving the score tied at 3-3 at the end of regulation time. Overtime was required and neither team could score in the first two overtime periods. In the third overtime, Christian Halbig tallied an unassisted goal past Nepveu to give the Falcons a 4-3 3OT win over Salem State. Netminder Macchioni made a total of seventy-six games to help the Falcons advance to the championship game.
In the other semifinal, Anna Maria hosted the upset-minded Trailblazers with a spot in the title game on the line. No. 8 MCLA used the same formula from Thursday’s upset as Cade Herrera and Easton Moore goals in the first two periods helped the Trailblazers to a 2-0 lead. Matthew Byrne cut the lead to one goal for the host AmCats but exceptional shot blocking and sixty-three saves from Matthew Gover gave MCLA a second upset in the playoffs with a 2-1 win to stun Anna Maria.
No. 4 Fitchburg State will host No. 8 MCLA for the MASCAC title on Saturday, March 8.
NE-10
The championship game between St. Michael’s and St. Anselm saw the host Hawks trying to win their fifth game in a row this season against the Purple Knights with the NE-10 title on the line. Two goals and an assist on the game’s opening marker from defender David Ciancio helped pace the Purple Knights to a 3-0 advantage on the way to a 5-1 championship win for the Purple Knights over the No. 1 seeded Hawks which avenged their title game loss to the Hawks two seasons ago by the same 5-1 score. Goaltender Evan Plunkett stopped twenty-seven of twenty-eight shots to backstop St. Michael’s to their sixth NE-10 title.
NEHC
Hobart started their NEHC title defense hosting the team that handed them their only loss of the season, Albertus Magnus. Domenic Schimizzi and NEHC Player-of-the-Year, Tanner Daniels gave the Statesmen an early 2-0 lead in the first period. That was enough for goaltender Damon Beaver who stopped nineteen of twenty shots in a 3-1 win over the Falcons. Shane Shell provided the final margin with an empty-net goal as Hobart outshot AMC by a 43-20 margin.
New England College traveled to No. 2 Babson and first-year sensation Anthony Beaulieu backstopped the Pilgrims to a 2-0 upset win over the Beavers. Beaulieu made thirty-one saves while Gunnar Sibley scored what proved to be the game winner in the second period. Ike Tarazewski iced the game with an ENG late in the third period.
No. 3 Norwich hosted Elmira for the third time in three weeks and the Cadets skated off with a 3-2 win over the Soaring Eagles. Johnny Johnson and Clark Kerner staked the Cadets to a 2-1 lead in the first period with Bryan O’Mara extending the advantage to 3-1 in the middle period. Ryan Reifler scored in the final minute for the final score as goaltender Sami Molu was outstanding making twenty-seven saves and surrendering just two power play goals to Elmira.
No. 4 Skidmore played No. 5 Salve Regina in quarterfinal action and the see-saw affair needed overtime to determine a winner. The Thoroughbreds started fast taking a 2-0 lead only to see the Seahawks rally for a 2-2 tie. Cooper Rice’s second goal of the contest gave Skidmore a 3-2 lead in the third period, but Quinn Tavares tied the game in the final two minutes to send the game to sudden victory. Rice completed his stellar game by scoring the overtime goal that completed his hat trick and sent the Thoroughbreds on to the semifinals with a 4-3 OT win.
Next Saturday, Hobart will host the final four teams. No. 1 Hobart will face No. 7 New England College in one semifinal while No. 3 Norwich will play No. 4 Skidmore. The winners will advance to the title game on Sunday, March 9.
NESCAC
Hamilton played host to Connecticut College and red-hot goaltender Will McEvoy on Saturday in a No. 1 v. No. 8 match-up. The Continentals took advantage of two goals from Jackson Krock to race to a 3-0 lead on the way to a comfortable 5-2 win that means Hamilton will host the final four weekend on March 8-9. McEvoy finished with forty-three saves for the Camels while Charlie Archer stopped twenty-one shot attempts.
No. 2 Trinity played host to No. 7 Middlebury who had played the Bantams tough in their two prior meetings. In what proved to be a very defensive battle with few great offensive chances, the visiting Panthers made a single goal by captain Jin Lee and nineteen saves from Andrew Heinze be enough to take down the defending conference champions, 1-0 in Hartford.
No. 3 Colby was hosting an Amherst team that had discovered their scoring touch in recent games. The Mules took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Matthew MacDonald before the Mammoth answered with two third period goals from Oliver Flynn and Jacob Pohl to lead midway in the final period. Massimo Gentile tied the game at 2-2 for Colby and neither team could find the winning goal in regulation. Maz Abene proved to be the OT hero scoring just over two minutes into the extra session advance Colby to the NESCAC final four weekend.
In a re-match of the final game of the regular season, Bowdoin and Tufts faced off with the Polar Bears playing host this time. In what proved to be another overtime thriller, the Jumbos skated off with the big road win, 2-1. Harrison Bazianos and Luke Wheeler exchanged first period goals but that would be all the scoring in regulation as Gus Bylin (Tufts) and Jacob Osborne (Bowdoin) were stellar in net for their respective teams. In overtime, Trace Norwell with assists from Jon and Brennan Horn gave the Jumbos scored to send Tufts to the final four weekend.
Hamilton will face Middlebury in one semifinal on Saturday, March 8 while Colby and Tufts will play in the other semifinal game. The championship game will take place on Sunday, March 9.
SUNYAC
Thursday’s quarterfinals saw Buffalo State take advantage of three points each from Austin Micale and Vadim Kiriakov help the Bengals to a 6-4 win over Canton. In the other quarterfinal game, Potsdam jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and led 3-1 entering the third period. Four unanswered goals rallied the Cardinals to a 5-3 win with Lonan Bulger scoring two goals and adding two assists in the comeback victory.
No. 2 Oswego played host to Buffalo State on Saturday and after surrendering the opening goal to the Bengals’ Sutton Murray before reeling off four unanswered goals, including two from Brandon Cohen for a 4-1 lead on the way to a comfortable 5-2 win. Brandon Milberg picked up the win in goal making twenty-four saves.
The comeback kids from Plattsburgh traveled to face No. 1 seed Cortland and continued their playoff magic with a stunning 4-3 overtime win over the Red Dragons. Nate Berke scored early in the third period to give the host team a 3-0 lead before Plattsburgh rallied with three goals, including Aaron Catron’s game-tying goal with less than five seconds remaining in regulation. The Cardinals kept the momentum going in overtime taking just twenty seconds to score the game-winner off the stick of Jake Sacratini.
Oswego will host Plattsburgh for the SUNYAC championship on Saturday, March 8.
UCHC
Thursday quarterfinal action saw Manhattanville skate off with a 4-1 win over Brockport. Four different players scored, and goaltender William Billequey stopped twenty shots to advance the Valiants to a semifinal game with Geneseo. In the other quarterfinal game, Chatham hosted Nazareth and after forty scoreless minutes, the Cougars broke through with goals from Tyler Samodral, Nick Cyprian, and Evan Mitchell to post a 3-0 win over the Golden Flyers. Goaltender Geno Pichora was stellar in the crease stopping all forty-eight Nazareth attempts on goal.
Top seed Utica hosted Chatham on Saturday in semifinal action and the Pioneers exploded for nine goals in a 9-0 rout of the Cougars. Tio D’Addario paced the attack with one goal and three assists for Utica while Brian Scoville added three assists and Shane Murphy added two goals. Ryan Piros picked up the shutout making nineteen saves.
No. 2 seed Geneseo played Manhattanville and raced to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Zach Purcell and Peter Morgan. The Valiants answered with two goals of their own off the sticks of Artem Mateichenko and Parker Chadwell. The final three goals of the game belonged to the host team as Morgan added a second goal and Filip Wiberg iced the contest with an ENG in the final two minutes of regulation time for a 5-2 win.
Utica will host Geneseo on Saturday, March 8 for the UCHC championship in one of the most anticipated conference title games next week.
Three Biscuits
Matthew Gover – MCLA – stopped 106 of 108 shots as the Trailblazers eliminated the top two seeds in MASCAC with 2-1 victories over Plymouth State and Anna Maria to earn a spot in the championship game.
Cooper Rice – Skidmore – scored a hat trick including the game-winning goal in overtime as the Thoroughbreds downed Salve Regina, 4-3 in the NEHC quarterfinals.
Jake Sacratini – Plattsburgh – completed a three-goal comeback for the Cardinals with the overtime winning goal in a 4-3 OT victory over top seed Corland on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuits
David Ciancio – St. Michael’s – paced the Purple Knights to a fast start in the NE-10 championship game by assisting on the opening goal and then scoring two of his own in the 5-1 win over St. Anselm on Saturday.
Matt Yeager – Stevenson – scored the overtime winning goal as the Mustangs eked out a 2-1 win over Neumann in the MAC tournament semifinals.
Michael Casey – Endicott – netted the game-tying goal late in the third period before scoring the overtime winner in Endicott’s 4-3 comeback win over UNE on Saturday.
Incredible team effort, sensational goaltending, a never-say-die attitude were all on display across the conference playoff games this week sparking incredible upsets and drama through regulation and overtime sessions that created sudden victory and agonizing defeat. So much more at stake next weekend so look for next-level action and intensity. Seriously, does it get any better than this?
