Elmira defeats Plattsburgh 1-0 in the First Round of the NCAA tournament. (Photo via Elmira Athletics)

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 Women’s side of things went down. The lower seed won in three of the four matchups we saw, so some upsets and exciting surprises with new teams getting in the mix on the national stage!

*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!

#12 Elmira (20-7-1) @ #5 Plattsburgh (20-6-1) – Elmira 1-0

A longtime rivalry continued, Elmira & Plattsburgh (yes NCAA Selection show, it has an h on the end) get to continue a historical rivalry as the two face each other a fair amount, not so much in the NCAA’s, but they’re very familiar with one another. The Soaring Eagles of Elmira are back in the dance, they made it to the national championship last season where they fell to the undefeated Wisconsin-River Falls squad, but they’re back, looking to get back where they left off under 2nd year Head Coach Greg Haney. Plattsburgh had their ‘worst’ regular season in program history, still managing to win 18 games and the SUNYAC championship, but nevertheless, the ‘worst’ regular season in their history, it speaks to the longtime dominance of Head Coach Kevin Houle who sits with 7 national championships.

This game was a tight one, with Plattsburgh dominating in shots and failing to capitalize on many prime opportunities, but that’s why we play the games. Elmira stood strong, freshman goaltender Sara Sevcikova had a 40 save shutout, incredible for the freshman, while her team was outshot 40-17.

Penalties in this game were one-sided, Elmira with five and Plattsburgh with a pair. The lone goal came on the powerplay, it was Erika Goleniak, the senior who leads the team in points this season with 39 (17G, 22A) at the 13:57 mark of the 1st period, after that, just a purely defensive battle…

Elmira gets the 1-0 win, they’ll fly out to a familiar spot, River Falls, WI where they appeared in the semifinals and national title game last year vs Middlebury & UWRF. If Elmira were to win vs River Falls in the quarterfinals, there’s a very-likely chance the team remains put in Wisconsin for an extra week as the Frozen Four is a predetermined site, Wisconsin River Falls… So there isn’t much of a logistical reason to leave early as they would have to fly right back on a very short turnaround, but we’ll see what the final call is.

*Update, it is now confirmed if Elmira wins, they’ll stay put in River Falls until the following Frozen Four weekend.*

#11 Nazareth (20-6-1) @ #9 Endicott (22-4-1) – Nazareth 4-2

Nazareth, a winner of the last four UCHC titles, make another appearance in the dance, coached by Chris Baudo who picked up a new program and has turned it into something great, just looking to make that next jump as a program, as prior to this game, Nazareth had never won an NCAA tournament game. They faced the Gulls of Endicott who’re in their fourth NCAA tournament in seven years under Head Coach Andrew McPhee, in those four years, they won the CCC/CNE in each.

Nazareth defeats Endicott 4-2, earning their first-ever NCAA tournament game win. (Photo by David Le)

In this game, Endicott came in as a slight favorite most would say, but Nazareth came out on top. The first period featured a goal by each team, it was started by Gracyn Kurrle early in the first five minutes (4:45), but Nazareth answered about 10 minutes later, Alexis Kindred tied it up.

The 2nd period, like the 1st, featured a goal from either team… once again, Endicott’s Jenna Seibold put the Gulls back up early in the period (5:10), but Nazareth’s Sophia Pittis answered right back, late in the period at 16:11. Very similar scoring patterns through two periods.

We go to the 3rd in a nail-biter, but Nazareth changed the tone of the game, they scored just past the midway point (13:36) on the powerplay, it was Amy Laskowski, putting the Golden Flyers up 3-2. Laskowski would then score again, sealing the game at the 18:43 mark, sending Nazareth to Vermont for more hockey.

Nazareth wins 4-2 and will visit Middlebury for a trip to the Frozen Four on the line, it would be the first-ever FF for Chris Baudo’s Golden Flyers.

#10 Wilkes (22-4-1) @ #8 Colby (17-6-2) – Colby 4-3

Wilkes, a fairly new program (started in 2018) now under 3rd year Head Coach Dave LaBaff, had a record season for the program in the newly created MAC conference, going 22-4-1, granted a poor SOS (strength-of-schedule), but nevertheless, an impressive season for the Colonels. Colby, a team who’s slipped in the final at-large spot the last three of four NCAA tournaments, taking advantage of the NESCAC’s alleged SOS (most wins ever in a season is 18), look to make a run after getting a favorable draw in the dance. Head Coach Holley Tyng is in her 9th year with the Mules, as mentioned making the tournament the past three of four years, going 1-2 (2-2 after this game).

In this one, it was closer than most expected, but Wilkes is a wildcard, they didn’t play any top-caliber teams this season other than Elmira in their first game of the year (lost 4-2), but they won the games in front of them, so you never know what you’re going to get from teams in this situation. Colby got the scoring going quite quickly, scoring just over a minute into the game (1:17) was Audrey Shirer, but answered just over midway through the period by Wilkes’ Megan Bell. Late in the 1st with just under five minutes left, the Mules’ Breanna Studley got the lead back, Colby led 2-1 after the opening period.

The Mules didn’t let off, they would score a pair of quick goals in the first five minutes of the period, scoring at 2:26 & 4:42 was Megan Martodam & Molly Lefebvre, respectively, they now led 4-1 after two periods.

The Colonels did not give up, Haylee Bouchard fired one in early in the first 30 seconds of the final period, making it a 4-2 deficit, her teammate Nina Hudakova then made it a one-goal-game, scoring on the powerplay in the final minute of the game, not leaving enough time for another. Wilkes dream season comes to an end, falling 4-3, while Colby moves on.

Colby will visit a familiar face in NESCAC-friend Amherst in the quarterfinals, a team they swept during the regular season (3-1 & 3-2, both games in Colby) and a rink they were just in for the NESCAC playoffs, where they fell to Middlebury in the semifinals 3-0.

#9 St. Norbert (24-4-1) @ #7 Gustavus (21-6-0) – St. Norbert 3-1

St. Norbert won their second-ever NCHA title, giving themselves their second-ever NCAA tournament bid, Head Coach A.J. Aitken has completely turned the program around and has been building this for some time now. The Green Knights have won more games each year of Aitken’s tenure, winning 8, 20, 20, 21, 25 in his five respective years, and year five isn’t over yet. Gustavus on the other hand, has dominated the MIAC for years and won a national title recently in 2023, longtime Gustie Head Coach Mike Carroll, nearing his retirement, looking for possibly another title.

In this game, it was a battle, like the Elmira/Plattsburgh game, a very one-sided result on the stat-sheet, but that’s why we play the games, Gustavus outshot St. Norbert 46-13, but as they’ve had all year, SNC continued their solid goaltending efforts by Keira Markell, only giving up one goal on the 46 shots she faced. Oddly enough in this game, it’s unknown why, but Gustavus only dressed 15 skaters… very peculiar…

Gustavus’ star Lily Mortenson started the scoring early in the 1st, giving the Gusties the early 1-0 lead a quick 2:18 into the game. This would be the last of the Gustie goals, St. Norbert’s Maddux Federici tied it up 10 minutes later on the powerplay, which would last the rest of the period, we headed to the middle frame tied 1-1.

St. Norbert would add a goal in both the 2nd and 3rd period, scoring their 2nd was Kelsey Ross (14:22) and in the 3rd was Emma Stebbeds (3:24). The Green Knights held on and roll out of Saint Peter with a massive victory.

St. Norbert will visit the #1 seeded Augsburg, who under first year (as a coach) Elizabeth Bauer, the UW-Eau Claire alum – ’20, who in her first ever season as a head coach at any level, won the MIAC regular & postseason titles, went 23-3-1, and earned the #1 overall seed… But according to her MIAC head coach counterparts, that wasn’t a good enough resumé to earn MIAC coach of the year. As I said, no disrespect to anyone involved, it’s not personal, but what the heck else could a first year (or any year for that matter) coach have done to earn the award? I’ll take questions & comments if you have any…

Looking Ahead

Graphic via Scott Huston – DIIIHockeyNews.com)

We were given an exciting weekend of hockey with three of the games being ‘upsets’ if you go strictly by seeding, this is what we have to look forward to this Saturday – March 22:

#9 St. Norbert (25-4-1) @ #1 Augsburg (23-3-1)

#8 Colby (18-6-2) @ #2 Amherst (21-5-1)

#11 Nazareth (21-6-1) @ #3 Middlebury (20-6-1)

#12 Elmira (21-7-1) @ #4 Wisconsin-River Falls (23-3-2)

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