Hamilton Wins Men's D3 Hockey Title

Curtiss Sturgeon connected just under 17 minutes into overtime to lift Hamilton College to its first-ever NCAA Division III men's hockey national title on Sunday, a 2-1 victory over Hobart in Utica.

Kahlil Fontana gave Hobart a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal midway through the first period, before Luke Tchor tied the game for the Continentals early in the second stanza. The score remained unchanged until Sturgeon finished off a 2-on-1 in the extra session with just his second goal of the season.

Aksel Reid made 39 saves in goal for sixth-ranked Hamilton (23-5-2), while Damon Beaver made 23 stops for No. 1 Hobart (30-1-0), which was seeking its fourth straight NCAA title along with an undefeated season. The Statemen outshot the Continentals, 40-25, and also won 42 of 81 faceoffs.

 

Yale Blanks Princeton on Road, 4-0

Princeton University's home postseason hopes took a bit of a hit with a 4-0 loss to visiting Yale University on Saturday evening, in the Tigers' regular-season home finale at 100-year-old Hobey Baker Rink.

Ian Carpentier notched the game-winning goal for Yale on a 5-on-3 power play in the first period, before closing out the scoring with just over a minute remaining in regulation on an empty-net goal. His two scores were sandwiched around a second-period tip-in by Niklas Allain, and a third-period partial breakaway converted by New Jersey native David Chen.

Yale improved to 6-17-4 overall, and 5-13-2 in ECAC Hockey, in gaining the season series split with Princeton, after a 3-0 loss to the Tigers three months prior in New Haven. Nathan Reid stopped all 40 shots he faced on Saturday in recording his second shutout of the season for the Bulldogs, while Aidan Porter made 22 saves on 25 shots against for the Tigers.

Princeton (12-15-0, 8-13-0) is in seventh place in ECAC Hockey, three points ahead of both Rensselaer and Union. The Tigers will visit both schools next weekend to close out the regular season. 

The top four teams in the conference will receive a first-round playoff bye, while the fifth through eighth seeds will host the ninth through 12th seeds, respectively, in the new single-elimination ECAC Hockey first round that will take place the first weekend of March. The first-round winners will advance to the best-of-three quarterfinals on March 10-12, also on campus sites, before the four quarterfinal survivors advance to the ECAC Hockey championship in Lake Placid on March 17-18. The ultimate winner in Lake Placid will receive ECAC Hockey's automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA tournament.