2025 Men’s Frozen Four Notes

After a chaotic quartet of games last weekend, we have finally reached the Frozen Four, and our surprise host is Utica, New York.  After the west teams played themselves out of the field, the NCAA could not enforce the rule that the Frozen Four must be put out west, with its last time hosting in 2019.  With Curry and Hobart’s bids to host being absent, and denied respectively, Utica got dibs on being next, and was granted permission to host the championship at the women’s rink, the Nexus Center.

Tickets have gone quick, with so many massive fanbases participating, and so close.  I’m thrilled to see these four teams play, as we have one school looking to three-peat, and everyone else searching for their respective program’s first national title.  Either way, we have a heck of a story developing.

Frozen Four Schedule

-all games held at Nexus Center of Utica University

Friday: 3:00 PM ET- #6 Geneseo (24-4-1) vs. #2 Hobart (27-1-1)

Friday: 7:00 PM ET- #4 Utica (23-4-2) vs. #1 Curry (25-3-0)

Sunday: 7:00 PM ET- Friday winner #1 vs. Friday winner #2

#4 Utica vs. #1 Curry

In a very intriguing storyline, we’ve got offense versus defense.  Utica’s high-powered attack has carried them through the regular season, and their first two NCAA Tournament wins, scoring 5 in back-to-back games.  Curry is no slouch in terms of lighting the lamp either, but the Colonels really make their hay on their own end.  Led by CNE Player of the Year and likely All-American Shane Soderwall, Curry has shut down some very good teams this year, and continued that last weekend.

Where this matchup gets so intriguing is the home ice factor.  You can argue that Utica has the best home crowd in the country, and many folks wouldn’t bat an eye.  The Pioneers are fortunate to have found a way to host this tournament, but give them some credit too.  They earned this spot, and now it’s up to them to take advantage of this. This matchup could be program-changing in either direction.  Both teams have experienced varied levels of success, but in 2025, these teams have as good of a chance to get the monkey off their backs and assert themselves as a power in the sport.

For the Pioneers, they have ascended as a program into becoming one of the perennial favorites, but haven’t had the levels of playoff success they desire.  Things appear to be on the mend though, as this marks the program’s 2nd consecutive Frozen Four, and 3rd overall, going 0-2 in national semifinals. They gave eventual champion Hobart a whale of a game last year, too, but fell short.  Now, the Pioneers are salivating at the chance of winning their first national title on home ice.

Curry, historically, has shown flashes of being a very strong program as well, and has put together a few very impressive runs.  Similar to Utica, they haven’t broken through in the postseason, though.  In their previous six NCAA appearances, they made it to the quarterfinals four times, and lost all four, including a 4OT heartbreaker against eventual national champ Hobart last year.  If that result was flipped, the Colonels and Pioneers would have met in last year’s semifinal, as well.  But finally, CC has broken through to the program’s first-ever Frozen Four, and this should be a tremendous experience for all the players and coaches.  In the eyes of Curry though, this is not the end of the road, and I know this team has its eyes set on a greater prize, not just the Frozen Four experience.

Historically, the Pioneers have the edge in this series, going 5-3 in the schools’ previous eight matchups.  The Pios have also won five in a row, after dropping the first three.  They haven’t played much at all as of late though, as they’ve only played each other once in the last eight seasons, with Utica defeating the Colonels 6-2 back in January of 2022.  Another fun fact, is that 7 of the previous 8 meetings have all taken place in Utica, with the lone exception being at the Oswego tournament.  So, in that realm, the home ice situation for Utica will just be more of the same.

Common Opponents:

In this CNE vs. UCHC matchup, we somewhat surprisingly only have one team that has faced both the Colonels and Pioneers:

• The Pioneers defeated UNE in an absolute barnburner at the opening round of the Utica Thanksgiving showcase, while CC went 2-1 against the Nor’Easters, including winning their lone game at home versus them.

So, in the very small sample size, Utica went 1-0 against common opponents, whereas Curry went 2-1.

Final Look:

Last week, Curry was tested against a lethal Hamilton team, but did what they do best: make the opponent earn their chances, and keep the puck out of their own net.  Curry was able to build a lead through 2, and rely on Soderwall and an opportunistic attack to keep the game at an arm’s length.  An empty-netter sealed the 4-1 win, and made history for the CC program.  The game was pretty evenly-played across the board, but this team knows how to win close games, and has a ton of clutch performers.

Utica, on the other hand, won a wild and wacky quarterfinal game against #5 seed St. Norbert.  The game had all the hype in the world, featuring an east power versus a west power in the quarterfinals.  The game lived up to the hype, and then some.  Despite a 1 PM puck drop, the energy was palpable, and the Pioneers battled back from a 3-1 deficit to take down the powerful Green Knights, in what was a statement win for this program.  UU scored 4 straight goals to take down SNC, which in turn set up a strong possibility for Utica to host this weekend’s championship, which ultimately came to fruition.

In this contest, special teams might be something to keep your eye on.  With how physical and strong Curry is defensively, they’re prone to take quite a few penalties, being one of the more penalized teams in Division III.  Utica’s power-play is absolutely lethal, and they’ll be testing the Colonels with quick passing and heavy shots, should they get opportunities on the man advantage.  On the other hand, Curry is solid at both their PK and PP, but Utica’s penalty kill has been plaguing them this season.  There’s a good chance that if Utica wins the special team battle, they’ll win the game.  If Curry can play even on special teams, I like the Colonels due to their excellent 5v5 play.

Friday night should be an absolute zoo at the Nexus Center, and a sellout crowd should make for a raucous environment, with many rooting for the orange and blue.  However, there will be droves of purple throughout that crowd as well.  Both teams can play very physical, and I expect tempers to flare at times.  However, these teams are both so well-coached, I think the players will be getting the message to not pull anything stupid.  These coaching staffs are both amazing, and they’ll have their guys prepared.

The fact of the matter is that both teams are extremely skilled, have great players and coaches, and have been battle-tested throughout the season, while racking up tons of wins.  I would give the slight edge to Curry’s consistency down the stretch, while Utica has been a little more up-and-down.  But when you factor in the home ice, and the monster win last weekend over a blue blood program, I think that levels the playing field (or rink) a little more.  I think this is a one-goal game, and whoever makes a trip to their first-ever national title game will have earned it, and then some.

#6 Geneseo vs. #2 Hobart

The opening game at the Nexus Center Friday afternoon will be between two big names in the sport that will have traveled just a combined 255 miles to get to Utica.  The two New York schools have large fan bases that will be following them, in what should be a crazy environment, that I would think results in a roughly 50/50 crowd.  These two schools have a history as well, located only 50 miles apart from one another.

Dating back to 1978 when these schools first met, the teams have met 70 times to date, with Friday serving as meeting #71.  Due to conference realignment, they haven’t played nearly as much lately as they did back in the day, but elder fans will most likely be very excited for this one.  Heck, any age of fan should be excited for it.  Anyways, Geneseo leads the all-time series, 40-27-3, with the last matchup coming in 2018.  Coincidentally, that last-played matchup was the only prior NCAA tournament appearance between the Knights and Statesmen.  In that game, Geneseo pulled off the first round upset at the Cooler, winning 4-2.

The big story in this one is Hobart’s attempt at achieving (further) history, as the Statesmen have emerged as the dominant program in Division III men’s hockey, winning back-to-back national championships under long-time head coach Mark Taylor. Now, Hobart is back again looking for the rare threepeat.  The Statesmen are looking to become the first program since Middlebury in the mid-2000’s to achieve this, and what would be only the fourth instance of any program ever winning three straight national titles.  This will mark Hobart’s 6th Frozen Four as a program, going 2-3 in their previous 5 semifinal games.  Obviously, the two wins coming in the prior two years.

Geneseo is looking for the type of breakthrough that Hobart achieved in 2023 with the program’s first national championship. Head coach Chris Schultz has made this program a perennial power over his nineteen years, with the program really taking off the last decade or so.  This is Genny’s 4th Frozen Four as a program, as the Knights have gone 1-3 in semifinal games in their history.  The lone win came three years ago, in 2022 over UNE.  They fell short in the title game to an amazing Adrian team, but in 2025, Geneseo has the team that finish the deal.

It’s easy to see the parallels between these two programs.  Two legendary coaches who have taken their programs to heights they hadn’t seen, and built them into incredibly smart and fast hockey teams that are now annual contenders.  Geneseo looks like they could be on a similar path to Hobart, just a couple years later.  In 2023, Hobart beat defending champ Adrian to win the national title.  If Geneseo can defeat the defending champion, they may be able to build something even greater than what they already have going.

Common Opponents:

Although they each beat a NCHA team last weekend, they haven’t played any other similar west teams.  In this UCHC vs. NEHC matchup, there is a small bit of crossover play.

• Hobart blew past Elmira in a pair of home wins, while Geneseo suffered a less-than-stellar road upset at the hands of the Soaring Eagles.
• Geneseo defeated new-UCHC rival Manhattanville all five times, with one coming in OT, and two coming away from home.  Hobart shutout the Valiants on the road, 3-0.
• Each team handled Fredonia in a singular road game.

Against a few common opponents, Hobart went 4-0-0, while Geneseo went 6-1-0.

Final Look:

Both teams earned extremely hard-fought wins last weekend, both coming against NCHA teams, which in turn helped their own fans, by giving them a much shorter distance to travel with a much smaller budget this upcoming week.

Hobart rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the Cooler against #7 seed Trine.  Trine was the best team the Statesmen have seen all season, and they gave them a solid test.  Hobart had been dominant all season long against a schedule that’s not quite as strong as it has been.  The Thunder played them as tough as anyone has all year, but it still wasn’t enough.  Hobart still was the better team throughout the game, and a big third period saw the Statesmen force OT.  Then, a familiar face ended it with a wicked wrister, as captain Luke Aquaro kept the dream at another title alive.  Aquaro has a knack for big goals, so don’t be surprised to hear his name this weekend in a big spot.

Geneseo had a wild comeback of their own last weekend, but unlike Hobart, it came in enemy territory.  The Knights got off to a slow start against a dangerous squad in #3 seed Aurora.  The Knights were down 3-0 early in the second, before Genny quickly struck for two goals to get them back into the game.  After Aurora got one back early in the third, Geneseo fended off the rowdy crowd to get one right back.  Then, Alex Dameski’s second of the night put the Knights up for good with just over four minutes remaining.  Two empty netters sealed the deal for the comeback victory.  It was a galvanizing win for the Knights, and one that I could definitely see being the turning point for a championship run.

While the first game was definitely a matchup of offense vs. defense, you could make the argument for this one being very similar.  We have the top scoring offense in Geneseo going up against the lowest-scoring defense in Hobart.  What that means, who knows?  I will say that Hobart has quite a strong offense themselves, and although the Knights’ defense isn’t quite as good as some of the other teams left in this tournament, Geneseo’s offense is so good that it can make up deficits in a hurry, as last weekend showed. Keep in mind, while Trine was the best team Hobart played up until last weekend, there’s no doubt that Geneseo is another team right in that tier, if not above it.

If the Knights can hit up stud goalie Damon Beaver for 3 or more, I think they can pull it off.  If Hobart holds them to 2 or less, give me the Statesmen to advance to their third straight title game.  What do I predict happens?  I haven’t the slightest idea, but I’m hoping for a nail-biter, fit for the crazy environment that’s in store for Friday at 3 PM ET.  Look for an even amount of orange and navy in the crowd.