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.

 

Canada Wins 2024 Women's Worlds

Danielle Serdachny (Colgate) scored on the power play just over five minutes into overtime Sunday night, to lift Canada over the rival United States, 6-5, in the gold medal game of the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, N.Y. The victory marked a record 13th WWC title for Canada, while the host U.S. was seeking its 11th such crown since the tournament began back in 1990.

Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin) tied the contest at five apiece on her goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, after Canada had taken the lead with two consecutive goals. Harvey also had an assist for a two-point night, as did teammate Laila Edwards (Wisconsin). Hilary Knight (Wisconsin) tallied a power-play goal to put the U.S. ahead, 4-3, while Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) made a total of 24 saves in net for the Americans.

Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin (Boston University) led all players in the game with two goals, while teammate Erin Ambrose (Clarkson) notched a goal and an assist. Ann-Renée Desbiens (Wisconsin) finished with 19 stops in goal for Canada in the win.

Next year's WWC will be held in the Czech Republic.

U.S. Blanks Canada at Women's Worlds

Kirsten Simms (Wisconsin) scored the only goal of the game as the United States edged Canada, 1-0, in overtime in the preliminary round of the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, N.Y.

Simms connected on a wrist shot less than four minutes into the extra session at the Adirondack Bank Center. Assisting on the goal was Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin), while Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) earned the shutout for Team USA with 26 saves, and was also named Player of the Game.

The U.S., which is seeking its second straight Worlds gold medal, finished 4-0-0 in the preliminary round, the best record in Group B. The Americans will begin quarterfinal play on Thursday against an opponent to be named.

U.S. Wins 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship

The United States rules the women's hockey world once more—for now, at least.

Powered by a hat trick from Hillary Knight (Wisconsin), including her 100th career point in international play, the Americans upended host Canada, 6-3, on Sunday in the gold medal game of the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship in Brampton, Ont.

Brianne Jenner (Cornell) scored twice to helped stake Canada to a 3-2 lead after two periods, but Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin) tallied early in the third stanza to tie it before Knight connected twice to put the U.S. up, 5-3, with her first goal serving as both the game-winner and her 100th career international point. Cayla Barnes (Boston College) then closed out the scoring to lift Team USA to its 10th world title overall, and first since 2019. Either Canada or the U.S. has won gold in each of the 22 Women's World Championships contested to date.

Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) made 24 saves in goal for the Americans, while Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) had 16 stops for the silver-medal Canadians. Desbiens was named the tournament's Best Goalie, while Harvey was tabbed as Best Defender and Sarah Fillier (Princeton) earned Best Forward accolades. Czechia won the bronze medal for the second straight year, after again defeating Switzerland.

Next year's Women's World Championship will be contested in Utica, N.Y.

More NCAA Coaching Changes for 2021-22

More coaching changes have occurred recently as the 2021-22 NCAA hockey season draws nearer.

Andy Murray has stepped down at Western Michigan after 10 seasons, and has been succeeded by associate coach and Broncos alumnus Pat Ferschweiler.

Mike Levine (Utica) is now the associate head coach at Northeastern, which has also hired former NHL goaltender Mike Condon (Princeton) as assistant coach.

Jason Fortier has been named an assistant coach at Maine, while Daniel Paille, a forward on the Boston Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup championship squad, has been elevated from volunteer to assistant at Canisius.

Lastly, former Air Force forward Chad Demers has been named director of hockey at his alma mater.

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.

Utica Earns NCAA Division III Tournament Berth

Utica, which finished second in the ECAC West this season, has advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time ever. The Pioneers were one of three schools that earned an at-large-bid when the selections were announced tonight, along with Norwich and Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Earning automatic bids to the national tournament were Adrian, Babson, Bowdoin, Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Oswego State, St. John's (Minn.), Wentworth, and two-time defending champion St. Norbert.
 
No. 9 Utica (20-5-1 overall) fell in the ECAC West semifinals in overtime to No. 14 Manhattanville, which ultimately lost to No. 12 Neumann, 3-0, in the league title game on Saturday night. The ECAC West champion, however, does not receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Eighth-ranked Hobart, which won the ECAC West regular-season title but fell to Neumann in the conference semifinals, was also denied an NCAA bid.

Utica will now host the winner of Bowdoin and Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The semifinals and championship game will be held on March 15-16 at Herb Brooks Ice Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.

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.

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.

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.

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.