Mercyhurst Dropping Men's Ice Hockey

Mercyhurst University, which has iced a varsity men's hockey team since 1987-88, is apparently putting that program on ice. The university administration announced last week that it will discontinue men's ice hockey at the conclusion of the current academic year.

The Lakers have competed at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels since their inception. After spending their first five years in Division III, they elevated to Division II in 1992-93, one year after moving into the on-campus Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa. They made the jump to Division I in 1999-2000 with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), winning two conference titles and making two NCAA tournaments, before moving to Atlantic Hockey (now Atlantic Hockey America) in 2003-04, winning the conference playoff title and earning an NCAA tournament bid the following season.

Head coach Rick Gotkin, who retired following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, had led the Lakers since 1988-89, fashioning a record of 617-579-114 overall. He also compiled 23 winning seasons, the last coming in 2017-18 when the Lakers claimed their second of two Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships. Although men's hockey moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 2003, the entire university athletic program did not did so until 2024. The Mercyhurst women's hockey team, which began play in 1999-2000, will continue to play on.

Mercyhurst becomes the third Atlantic Hockey America men's program to leave Division I in the last several years. AIC dropped back down to Division II following the 2024-25 campaign, and did not compete this past season. Robert Morris eliminated its men's and women's programs in 2021, but both were reinstated in 2023-24.

RIT's Wilson Wins 400th Career Game

Head coach Wayne Wilson of the Rochester Institute of Technology has joined college hockey's 400 club.

Wilson, 60, a graduate of Bowling Green State University who was a senior captain on the Falcons' 1984 NCAA title team as a player, earned his 400th career victory as a college head coach, all at RIT, following the Tigers' 1-0 overtime victory at Princeton University on Saturday that completed a two-step sweep. Jake Hamacher scored the only goal of the game 35 seconds into overtime on a power play, while Tommy Scarfone made 21 saves in net for his first career college victory and shutout.

A native of Montreal, Wilson took over as RIT's head coach in 1999-2000, after serving as an assistant at both BGSU and New Hampshire. He led the Tigers to the NCAA Division III championship game in his second season at the helm, which earned him the Edward Jeremiah Award as the nation's top Division III coach. He guided RIT to 116 victories in all, a combined seven ECAC West regular season/postseason crowns, and three NCAA Division III tournament berths before overseeing the program's transition to NCAA Division I beginning with the 2005-06 campaign. 

He has since directed the Tigers to four Atlantic Hockey Association regular-season championships, three Atlantic Hockey playoff titles, and three NCAA Division I tournament appearances, including a run to the NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit in 2010 that earned him the Spencer Penrose Award that year as the top Division I coach. Wilson, whose overall career record now stands at 400-279-75 (.580), is the only coach to win both the Jeremiah and Penrose awards.

RIT is currently 9-5-2 overall, and tied for first in Atlantic Hockey at 5-3-2-1. The Tigers will return to action on Dec. 11-12 with two league games against visiting Army West Point.

2012-13 USCHO Division III Teams

The 2012-13 NCAA Division III All-USCHO Teams were announced earlier this month at USCHO.com. ECAC West players are listed in bold.

First Team
G - David Jacobson, St. Norbert
D- Ollie Koo, Bowdoin
D - Scott Farrell, Neumann
F - Paul Rodrigues, Oswego State
F - Luke Moodie, Oswego State
F - Kyle Stroh, St. Norbert

Second Team
G - Brandon Stephenson, Wisconsin-Eau Claire
D - Shaun Jameson, Wentworth
D - Jack Callahan, Wisconsin-Eau Claire
F - Joe Caveney, Fitchburg State
F - Branden Parkhouse, Becker
F - Zach Graham, Adrian

Third Team
G - Nick Broadwater, Hobart
D- Rob Florentino, Massachusetts-Boston
D - Jesse McConney, Oswego State
F - Keith Buehler, Wesleyan
F - Jordan Singer, Wisconsin-Eau Claire
F - Louie Educate, Utica

All-Rookie Team
G - Saxton Soley, St. John's
D - Donny Olivieri, Utica
D - Marko Brelih, Hamilton
F - Shaquille Merasty, Adrian
F - Peter MacIntyre, Massachusetts-Boston
F - Kevin Emmerling, Plattsburgh State

Utica One of Four Left for Division III Men's Frozen Four This Weekend

The final weekend of the NCAA Division III men's campaign is here, with just four teams left to compete for the national title.

The semifinals will be held tomorrow in Lake Placid, N.Y., with No. 2 Norwich taking on No. 3 Oswego, and No. 4 Wisconsin Eau Claire facing fellow Frozen Four rookie No. 7 Utica. The championship game will take place on Saturday.

Norwich has won three national titles in its history, while Oswego won it all in 2007 and was runner-up to St. Norbert last year. Eau Claire topped both St. John's (Minn.) and No.1 St. Norbert to open this year's tournament, while ECAC West regular-season champion Utica ousted No. 5 Bowdoin last weekend in its NCAAs debut.

More on Utica and its quest for its first national title can be found here.

ADDENDUM: Utica fell to Wisconsin Eau Claire on Friday by a 5-1 score. The Blugolds will now take on Oswego, a 6-3 winner over Norwich, in the NCAA Division III title game on Saturday. Utica finishes the campaign at 21-6-1 overall.

Pioneers Last Team Left in ECAC West This Season

It's up to Utica to carry the ECAC West banner into the 2013 NCAA Tournament, in the Pioneers' first-ever appearance in the nationals.

Team captain Evan Chlanda and company get back to work after winning the league regular-season title, but falling to Manhattanville in the conference semifinals. The Pioneers will face the winner of Mass-Dartmouth and Bowdoin on Saturday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Neumann, which went 14-2-1 overall down the stretch, claimed the 2013 ECAC West Tournament title with a 3-0 victory over visiting Manhattanville on Saturday. The win wasn't enough to get the Knights into the NCAA Tournament, however, as the league does not have an automatic bid for its postseason champion.

Full story can be found here.

Neumann to Face Manhattanville for ECAC West Crown

 

Manhattanville College will drop in on Neumann University on Saturday night when the two schools meet for the 2013 ECAC West title.

No. 3 seed Neumann (18-6-3 overall) defeated No. 2 Hobart (19-5-2) on Feb. 23 as Braely Torris made 43 saves for the Knights in a 2-0 win over the sixth-ranked Statesmen, 2-0, with senior blueliner Scott Farrell notching the game-winning goal in the second period.

No. 4 seed Manhattanville (15-9-3) ousted top-seeded and seventh-ranked Utica (20-5-1) that same night, as Paul Sirignano scored in sudden-death overtime to give the Valiants a 2-1 victory while Alex Scola made 40 saves. 

Neumann, now ranked 12th nationally, and Manhattanville (14th) went 1-1-1 against one another this season, and previously met for the 2007 ECAC West crown in a game won by the Valiants, 5-4, in OT.

Playoff Time in the ECAC West

The post-season has finally arrived in NCAA Division III college hockey, and it kicks off tonight in the ECAC West when sixth seed Nazareth visits third seed Neumann, and fifth seed Elmira drops in on fourth seed Manhattanville.

Tonight's winners advance to Saturday's semifinals against either second-seed and defending champion Hobart, or first seed Utica.The semifinal winners will play in the league title game on March 2 at the site of the higher seed.

This week's full ECAC West column and playoff preview at USCHO.com can be found here.

Torris Backstops Neumann Back into Top 15

My latest ECAC West column talks about Neumann junior goaltender Braely Torris, pictured here with Southern Maine prior to his transfer last year.

Torris recently earned ECAC West Goalie of the Week honors after stopping 59 of 62 shots last weekend. He made 27 stops in a 6-2 win over Elmira, and had 32 saves in a 3-1 victory against then-No.5 and ECAC West frontrunner Hobart.

Neumann (14-6-3 overall, 6-6-1 ECAC West ) is now ranked 14th in NCAA Division III, and just one point behind Manhattanville for third place in the conference as the regular season comes to a close this weekend with two games against newcomer Nazareth.

Story can be found here.

Olson Powering Hobart Towards ECAC West Title

Hobart freshman forward Mac Olson is profiled in this week's ECAC West column for USCHO.com. Olson had the game-winning goal last Friday in the Statesmen's 4-3 OT triumph over second-place and eighth-ranked Utica.

Olson, 21, has collected eight goals and 21 points in 22 games so far this season, and is the Statesmen's second-leading scorer. The Grosse Pointe, Mich. native spent three full seasons playing junior “A” hockey with Chicago and Des Moines of the United States Hockey League, Wichita Falls of the North American Hockey League, and Carleton Place of the Central Canada Hockey League.

Fifth-ranked Hobart (17-3-2 overall, 9-2-1 ECAC West) will attempt to keep its hold on first place in the league standings when it visits No. 13 Manhattanville on Friday and Neumann on Saturday.

Nazareth Claims First-Ever ECAC West Win

The wait is finally over for Nazareth College.

The Golden Flyers earned their first-ever ECAC West conference win on Friday night when they defeated visiting Manhattanville, 6-4, at The Sports Centre at MCC in Rochester, N.Y.

In a season of firsts for the nascent Division III program, this may have been one of the best.

Sophomore forward Julius Tamasy scored twice and set up another goal to garner ECAC West Player of the Week accolades.

Entire column can be found at USCHO.com.

Pioneers in Second Place

This week's ECAC West column at USCHO.com looks at Utica College and its rise to second place in the conference. The Pioneers are 14-3-0 overall and ranked eighth in NCAA Division III, and last week beat league frontrunner and No. 3 Hobart, 5-3, to improve to 5-2 in ECAC West play. Story can be found here.

Manhattanville's Swedish Connection

This week's ECAC West column focuses on Manhattanville College and its pipeline from Purchase, N.Y, to Sweden, which has supplied the school with more than a half-dozen skaters over the past several seasons. Story is located here at USCHO.

The now-No. 11 Valiants improved to 11-4-2 overall with a 9-2 shellacking of host Suffolk on Tuesday night, and will visit conference foe Neumann tomorrow evening.

Neumann's Knights on the Rise



Wrote about Neumann University topping No. 1 Norwich last week for USCHO.com and my ECAC West column. The Knights are now 7-4-2 overall on the season, and got two goals from sophomore foward Chris Bournazos in the win over the Cadets in the championship game of the Northfield Bank Tournament in Northfield, Vt., including the game-winner. Story can be found here.

Broadwater Backs Hobart to Top of ECAC West

Recently profiled Hobart College senior goaltender Nick Broadwater for USCHO.com. He's 8-1-2 so far this season, and has led the Statesmen to the No. 4 ranking in NCAA Division III. Story can be found here.

Farrell Pacing Neumann from Knights' Blueline

I recently profiled Neumann University senior defenseman Scott Farrell for USCHO.com, who is tied for the Knights' team scoring lead with eight points, with all four of his goals coming on the power play

The Farrell story can be found here. Neumann skated to a 2-2 non-conference tie at Morrisville on Friday, and is now 4-4-2 overall (2-4-0 ECAC West). The rematch between the Knights and Mustangs (1-11-2 overall) is Saturday afternoon.

Educate Schooling Utica's Opponents

Recently profiled sophomore forward Louis Educate of Utica College for USCHO.com. He leads the 10th-ranked Pioneers with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points so far following his off-season transfer from Nichols College, and is also one of the top scorers in NCAA Division III.

Story can be found here, in the ECAC West section.

Utica (6-2-0 overall, 3-2-0 ECAC West) will host Buffalo State on Saturday night at the 4,000-seat Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Pioneers defeated No. 8 Amherst, 4-3, in their most recent game on Nov. 24.

New Beginning at Nazareth

Recently spoke to head coach George Roll and one of his captains about the new NCAA Division III varsity men's hockey program at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y.

Nazareth won two of its first three games under Roll, who previously coached at both Oswego State and Clarkson. The Golden Flyers, who are still seeking their first victory in ECAC West play but won't have another conference game until January, are at the Skidmore Invitational this weekend.

Story can be found here.

Fleming Backstops MVille to Top of ECAC West

Manhattanville College has a new No. 1 netminder in sophomore Brian Fleming, and so far he's led them to a 2-1-1 record and first place in the ECAC West. More about Fleming and the Valiants here at USCHO.com.

2012-13 ECAC West Preview

Covering the ECAC West this year for USCHO.com - the 2012-13 season preview can be found here.

2012 ECAC West Tournament champion Hobart (shown above) is the favorite to make it two league titles in a row, while Elmira is seeking its sixth straight NCAA Division III Tournament berth.

My predicted order of finish: Hobart, Utica, Neumann, Elmira, Manhattanville, and NCAA newcomer Nazareth.