#1 Hobart sweeps #11 Elmira (Photo by Kevin Colton)
We had one of our most intriguing weekends in terms of matchups thus far, featuring multiple top-five matchups and a ranked matchup between two NEHC rivals. We continue to learn more and more week after week about who’s potentially for real and who might be joking. Let’s get into this one!
*Records prior to series being played*
#1 Hobart (8-0-0) vs #11 Elmira (5-1-2) – Hobart 7-1 & 6-0
Hobart and Elmira go back a long time, since 1984 these two have seen each other quite frequently, Elmira leads the all-time series 61-37-3, but the Statesman have dominated as of late.
In the last 23 games, Hobart is 18-4-1… winning the last four matchups a combined 25-3…
This weekend was apart of that 25-3, as the Statesman rolled to a pair of blowout victories in “The Cooler”, 7-1 and 6-0.
Damon Beaver had a stellar game as per usual, making 25 saves in the victory on Friday. Meanwhile, backup goaltender Mavrick Goyer made 16 saves in the shutout victory Saturday.
Fun fact, in game one, it was only 2-0 Hobart after two periods of play. Then, in the 3rd period, Hobart lit it up, scoring six goals, five of them coming in the last 5:25 of the game… In game two, it was more even, scoring a pair in the 1st, a trio in the 2nd, and a single goal in the 3rd to win 6-0.
Hobart remains a perfect 10-0-0, looking to continue their winning ways en route to potentially their 3rd-straight National Championship.
#2 St. Norbert (11-0-0) vs #5 Trine (9-0-1) – SNC 2-1 & Trine 4-0
St. Norbert’s known for winning NCHA titles and more importantly, national titles. Meanwhile, Trine hasn’t made a national name for themselves just yet, although they’ve made great strides under eighth year Head Coach Alex Todd, going 19-9-0 in ’22, 18-9-1 in ’23, and 20-8-0 in ’24. Todd’s Thunder find themselves 10-1-1 after their weekend split with the Green Knights of St. Norbert, whole lead the all-time series between these two, 11-4-0.
#2 St. Norbert splits the weekend series with #5 Trine University, (Photo by Patrick Ferron)
In game one, the 1st period would go scoreless, we had to wait until the first minute of the 2nd period (00:46) for SNC’s Logan Dombrowsky to score a shorthanded goal, putting the Green Knights up 1-0. Dombrowsky’s been a top player in the country along with his teammate Liam Fraser, Dombrowsky has 24 points through a mere 13 games (9G, 15A), while Fraser has 19 (13G, 6A).
The 3rd period would feature some early action, Trine’s Jack Cooper tied it up at 1 a quick 23 seconds into the period, but two minutes later, Norbert’s Cameron Morris scored the game-winning-goal, giving Norbert the slim 2-1 victory.
In this one, tempers seemed to flare, Trine had two minors in the 1st period, Norbert had three (one in each period), and at the end of the game (20:00), Trine had a bench minor, a five-minute ‘abuse of officials’ penalty, and a ten-minute game misconduct.
In game two, Trine scored a pair of goals within nearly a minute of each other, Josh Wright scored at 12:26, then his teammate Sean Henry fired in a powerplay goal at 13:31, doubling the Thunder lead.
This score would hold until late in the 3rd period, the Thunder would add an empty netter and then a shorthanded goal with a mere second left on the clock. Trine takes game two 4-0. Goaltender Cristian Wong-Ramos made 29 saves in the shutout victory.
#4 Geneseo (9-0-0) vs #3 Utica (9-1-0) – Tie 1-1 (Utica SOW) & Geneseo 5-2
The Utica Pioneers are coming off a Frozen Four appearance and Geneseo is testing the waters in their first season in the UCHC. Utica entered this one with a pretty strong resumé, including a series split at Adrian. Geneseo entered with a strong undefeated record, but hadn’t been tested quite to the level of the Pioneers thus far, but this was there time to show everyone they’re for real. A battle of two fanbases who show out to support their team, Utica being the highest attended team in Division III hockey, while Geneseo is a normally a top-five team in this category.
Read our writer Tommy Berry’s series preview HERE.
Photo Credit: Kayleigh Sturtevant / Utica University Athletics.
In game one, it was a tight back-and-forth game with Utica winning in the long-winded shootout to gain the extra conference point. Jakob Breault scored the Pioneer goal on the powerplay at 6:27 of the 2nd, while Geneseo’s Alex Dameski answered six minutes later, tying the game for the last goal that would be scored.
Utica’s Bryan Landsberger made 29 saves, while Geneseo’s Adam Harris made 27.
In game two, it was Teddy Bear Toss night in a sold-out Utica Aud, 4,180 people recorded in attendance for this one.
Utica got on the board first to let the bears rain down, Drake Morse scored seven minutes into the game, which prompted a brief fight between the two teams as bears rained down onto the ice, quite comical.
Geneseo would add two goals in under a minute between each other to send them ahead 2-1 after the 1st period (Luke Panchisin – 16:21 & Peter Morgan – 17:01).
History would repeat itself in the 2nd period, Utica scored once, the Ice Knights scored twice, creating a 4-2 Geneseo lead entering the 3rd period. Peter Morgan capped off the game, scoring the fifth about seven minutes into the 3rd period, which held up to give Geneseo the 5-2 victory.
Ice Knights goaltender Adam Harris made an incredible 50 saves in the victory, while Landsberger made 18 in the loss.
Longtime Geneseo Head Coach Chris Schultz is off to another stellar start, an unbeaten 10-0-1, looking to get back to the Frozen Four as they were the national runner-up in 2022 to Adam Krug’s Adrian Bulldogs.
