Men’s NCAA Tournament First Round Weekend Recap!

We were treated to another weekend of playoff hockey, but the weeks are coming to a close, the First Round is now complete for both Men’s & Women’s D-III hockey, but we’ll review how the Men’s side of things went down. Not too many shockers unlike the Women in terms of ‘upsets’ based on the seeding, but that’s why we play the games! Here’s your Men’s NCAA Tournament First Round Review!

*Make sure to check DIIIHockeyNews.com under the ‘Scores‘ tab for the daily scores including STREAMING LINKS to each NCAA-Tournament game! No need to search around, it’s all right here!

#13 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (14-15-1) @ #3 Aurora (23-4-1) – Aurora 3-2

The Blugolds entered this game playing with house money after going below .500 and shocking their way into the NCAA tournament after upsetting UW-Stevens Point in the WIAC semifinals. The Spartans on the other hand, are looking to continue their stellar season, really making strides this season. In previous seasons, they’ve defeated the teams they should, but have struggled when it came to the top talent of the NCHA, that changed this season, starting with their early on sweep of Adrian on the road and then Trine late in the year. They’ve been led all year by their two stars in Hassan Akl (13G, 39A) & Landry Schmuck (30G, 13A).

In this game, both teams were given plenty of chances to score, but most chances amounted to a save or good defensive play. The Spartans started the scoring on the powerplay, their only PP of the game, scoring at 15:51 of the 1st was Jakson Kirk, giving Aurora a 1-0 lead after the 1st period.

We would be scoreless after the opening goal until the 3rd period, Keaton Lipsett doubling the lead a quick three minutes into the final period of play. This would be answered shortly after (5:15) by Leo Bacallao to cut the Spartan lead in two. We would then see a pair of goals in the final minute of the game, Aurora added an empty netter with 40 seconds left, while the Blugolds’ Jadon Reimer got the deficit back to one, but it was too late. The Spartans move on.

Aurora will host SUNY Geneseo & Head Coach Chris Schultz next Saturday as the Ice Knights look to make it back to the Frozen Four, while Aurora looks to continue their first ever NCAA tournament run.

#14 Fitchburg State (15-12-1) @ #4 Utica (21-4-2) – Utica 5-1

For this game, please refer over to my full recap of this game as I attended this past weekend. Please click here for the full recap!

#12 Gustavus (16-9-2) @ #5 St. Norbert (23-5-1) – St. Norbert 3-2

Gustavus has had a remarkable turnaround this season under First Year Head Coach Tyler Walsh, the son of longtime Univ. of Maine (NCAA D1 Men) Head Coach Shawn Walsh, who took over the Gusties at the helm after most recently serving as an Assistant at Colby College over in the NESCAC from 2018-2023. Gustavus went 11-12-2 last season (6-9-1 in the MIAC) and this season made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012 after winning the MIAC, going 16-10-2 (10-4-2 in MIAC).

Meanwhile, St. Norbert is back at it, winning their second-straight NCHA tournament, they seem to be back to their NCHA dominance after the departure of Adam Krug, who won it five times during his ten year coaching career at Adrian College, leaving D-III with the highest winning % by any head coach, second would be the legendary Head Coach Tim Coghlin of St. Norbert. The Green Knights are this season 24-5-1, looking to win their sixth national championship, currently one title behind Coach Coghlin’s alumnus Wisconsin-Stevens Point, standing third all-time with five rings, simply an incredible career with possibly more to come…

In this game, it was closer than many would’ve expected, you never know how a first year coach will fare against Tim Coghlin, especially in an NCAA playoff game, but we were in for a treat from the get-go. The Green Knights got on the board first, tallying his 50th point of the season was Logan Dombrowsky just over the midway mark of the opening period (10:11). St. Norbert was called for a five minute major (elbowing, 16:49), but it was killed off and Gustavus couldn’t capitalize.

Jack Christen would double the lead late in the 2nd period, scoring at 14:01, giving St. Norbert the 2-0 lead headed into the final period of play.

An odd turn of events would take place, Gustavus had arguably their best chances of the game shorthanded on this penalty kill, they would cut the deficit in half as Wilmer Svensson scored a shorthanded breakaway goal a rapid 34 seconds into the period. The Gusties had another breakaway shortly after, but goaltender Hunter Garvey kept it out and another great shorthanded opportunity for the Gusties, a very uncharacteristic series of play for the Green Knights, potentially costing them.

Similar to the Aurora/UWEC game, St. Norbert scored an empty netter to make it 3-1, while Gustavus scored a regular goal late in the last minute, leaving little time to get another, thus ending the game 3-2.

St. Norbert travels to Utica to square off in a battle of two of the biggest brands in Division III, looking like it’ll be one of the most anticipated matchups in D-III history. For those out west, it’s a ‘Big Noon’ puck drop (12pm CT) and for the east it’s a 1pm ET start time due to the Utica Comets (AHL) game at 7pm ET. I will be 100% in attendance for this one… a can’t miss opportunity to see a matchup such as this.

#11 Stevenson (18-7-1) @ #6 Geneseo (22-4-1) – Geneseo 3-1

Geneseo entered this game looking to get back to the Frozen Four in their first season after leaving the SUNYAC. In their new home, the UCHC, they won the league title 7-4 over Utica and ended Utica’s run of conference titles (five in eight years). Head Coach Chris Schultz is no stranger to big games, nor is Stevenson Head Coach Dominick Dawes, a national championship HC at Neumann in 2009. Dawes has the Mustangs in their first ever NCAA tournament, his first since departing Neumann for Stevenson. Stevenson also had a new conference this season, the MAC teams separated from the UCHC, creating a separate league with an auto-bid, allowing them to avoid Utica’s UCHC dominance as of late.

In this game, Stevenson came in as the underdog, struggling at times this season, while Geneseo never seemed to really have issues other than a few hiccups. It was a close game with goaltending becoming a major factor. The 1st period was scoreless, but the Ice Knight star, the fastest player it seems like every time he’s on the ice, Senior – Peter Morgan ended the drought, scoring at 14:34 of the middle frame. We would enter the final period with Geneseo leading 1-0.

Stevenson would capitalize on the powerplay, it was Evan Beers, unassisted at the midway mark of the period, tying it up. However, that wouldn’t last long as Zach Purcell scored, making it a 2-1 lead, capped off by an empty netter by the Ice Knights with just under two minutes left.

Geneseo wins 3-1 and will visit the 3-seed Aurora as mentioned earlier.

#10 Oswego (16-8-3) @ #7 Trine (20-6-2) – Trine 4-1

This game was a fun one, the NCAA breaking their 500-mile barrier, letting the Lakers drive the extra 22 miles to face the Thunder of Trine. Trine had a brutal schedule this year as most NCHA teams did, they managed to slip in the dance at the end after a little NPI scare near the end. The Lakers, with 22 new players on the roster (all first-year) struggled early and midway through the season, but got things figured out near the end of the year and won the SUNYAC title over their mega-rival Plattsburgh, after the Cardinals came back down 3-0 and won in overtime against Cortland with less than nine minutes left in the game. Head Coach Ed Gosek gets back on top of the SUNYAC for the first time since 2014 and Alex Todd leads Trine to their first-ever NCAA tournament.

In this one, the styles of play matched up fairly well, Trine rolling four lines all game and grinding out opponents, Oswego, playing with house money and when they score, it tends to be early in bunches, coming out very fast in the early and late portions of the period. We would be scoreless through the first, with the Thunder scoring a rapid pair of goals in the 2nd period, Drew Jeffers at 14:52 & Brendan Finn two minutes later, giving the Thunder a 2-0 lead that would hold until the 3rd period.

Trine didn’t let off the gas, Sean Henry scoring in the first minute of the final frame (00:34), making it a commanding 3-0 lead. Jesse Horacek of the Lakers would cut the lead by a third, scoring on the powerplay at 13:42 of the 3rd, but it wouldn’t be enough as Trine capped off the game with an empty-netter in the final minute.

Trine get the 4-1 win, they’ll visit the back-to-back defending national champion Hobart Statesman next Saturday at 7pm ET. The Thunder’s grinding style and four line dominance will matchup very well with Hobart, many have said they matchup the best of anyone in the field, we’ll see how this one goes at ‘The Cooler’, where Hobart has a win streak of 52 games, a running NCAA D-III record, while holding an overall record for the past three seasons of 83-5-2.

#9 Hamilton (20-6-1) @ #8 Univ. New England (18-7-1) – Hamilton 4-2

This game was a hard one to predict or figure out. Hamilton, a very defensively solid team, solid goaltending. Then Univ. New England, a high powered offense and solid goaltending that’s been iffy at times this season. Head Coach Kevin Swallow of UNE wins wherever he coaches, he’s been to two Frozen Four in the past four years with the Nor’easters, but Hamilton under Head Coach Rob Haberbusch (watch / listen to a recent interview Coach Haberbusch had with Scott Kinville of the CNYHockeyReport.com <CLICK HERE>) has won the NESCAC for the first time ever in program history, making their second NCAA tournament appearance (first was 2017).

This game was very close as expected, the Nor’easter rink with an electric atmosphere as per usual in big games. Ryan Kuzmuch, the co-point leader for UNE, scored the first Nor’easter goal of the night, 7:13 into the game.

Things would get interesting at the end of the period, the Continentals scored at 17:26 (Devon de Vries) and then with a mere 30 seconds left on the clock, Ryan Sordillo gave Hamilton the 2-1 lead after the first period of play. They wouldn’t stop there, Justin Biraben doubled the lead, scoring the lone middle frame goal, making it 3-1 Continentals entering the 3rd period.

Jayden Price made it a one-goal game once again, this time on the powerplay at 3:19, making it 3-2. Hamilton however, would answer right back, scoring a late empty-netter, sealing the game, sending Hamilton to the next round of the playoffs. Their last NCAA tournament win came on the road at Oswego State back in 2017.

Hamilton will visit the #1 seed Curry next Saturday who’s rolled along all year, won the CNE, and looking to head to their first ever Frozen Four.

Looking Ahead

What a great weekend of hockey we were given, now here’s the quarterfinal matchups we can look forward to this Saturday – March 22, 2025:

#9 Hamilton (21-6-1) @ #1 Curry (24-3-0) – 3pm ET

#7 Trine (21-6-2) @ #2 Hobart (26-1-1) – 7pm ET

#6 Geneseo (23-4-1) @ #3 Aurora (24-4-1) – 7pm CT

#5 St. Norbert (24-5-1) @ #4 Utica (22-4-2) – 1pm ET

Check DIIIHockeyNews.com for all scores and stream links to games.