College Hockey South Division 1 & Women’s Playoffs

College Hockey South (CHS) crowned its Division 1 and Women’s Division champions this weekend from Akins Ford Arena in Athens, Georgia. 

Division 1 

For the third consecutive season, the Tampa Spartans skated off the ice with a conference championship in tow. 

The Spartans entered this year’s tournament as the third seed; they collected wins over the Alabama Frozen Tide, 7-2, and the Tennessee Volunteers, 4-3, in the first two rounds of the tournament to advance to the championship game, where they went head-to-head with the South Carolina Gamecocks and came out on top, 5-3. 

This was far from the first postseason meeting for these two teams. The Gamecocks ended the Spartans’ run for the AAU National Championship in the semifinal round of the national tournament last season, 6-4, and ultimately went on to become National Champions. For Tampa, it seems last weekend’s win was for more than just a trophy.

The Spartans came out with energy, netting two goals within the first half of the initial period to establish an early lead. The first came off the stick of Braeden Guiterman, and the second from Michael Schmelzer while on a power play. 

With six minutes left in the first, South Carolina’s Carson Skove got the Gamecocks on the board with help from Benjamin Riccitelli. Skove later tied the game at two with his second of the contest late in the middle frame to keep the Gamecocks within striking distance.

The Spartans reclaimed the lead less than three minutes into the final frame with a power-play goal from Nicholas Fontaine. Less than a minute later, Joey DeAngelis unknowingly tallied the game-winning goal that would ensure Tampa walked away with its third straight conference championship.

Though South Carolina fought back in the final period, even adding a third goal from Tommy Marvin on the power play, Tampa’s lead seemed too great to overcome. And with 43 seconds on the clock, Holden Havolvic punctuated the Spartans’ victory with their fifth and final goal.

Schmelzer was named MVP of the game for his multi-point performance, tallying a goal and an assist in the 5-3 win.

Womens Division

For the first time in program history, the Alabama Frozen Tide was crowned the CHS Women’s division champions after defeating the Tampa Lady Spartans 3-2 on Sunday. 

Both Alabama and Tampa received first-round byes. The Frozen Tide dominated the South Florida Bulls, 11-6, to advance to the championship game, while the Lady Spartans — the reigning conference champions — sent home the South Carolina Gamecocks with an impressive 7-2 win. 

Alabama got on the board halfway through the first period on Sunday, courtesy of Anna Zahorchak, but Tampa quickly remedied the deficit with a goal from Laura McGregor. With 2:28 left in the opening period, Molly McDowell found the back of the net to claim the lead for Tampa heading into the second. 

But the Frozen Tide didn’t take long to even the score. Less than seven minutes into the middle frame, Alabama’s Claire Carson — this season’s CHS Women’s division MVP — collected the only goal of the period with help from Zahorchak to tie the game at 2-2. Early in the third, Frozen Tide forward Morgan Grzybowski tallied the game-winner and secured Alabama’s historic win.

Zahorchak was named MVP of the game for her multi-point performance, tallying a goal and an assist in the 3-2 win.

– Kelly Kaelblein, CHS Beat Reporter

NEIHC Feature Game: Quincy(D3) @ Anna Maria(D2)

It was an exciting weekend in the New England Independent Hockey Conference (NEIHC). Division 3 Quincy College (5-9-0) squared off with Division two Anna Maria College (15-1-0). 

It was a strong defensive effort for both teams early, with neither team scoring in the first. Quincy College opened the scoring as Aidan Flynn (3) scored on the power play with 1:55 left in the second. Anna Maria College battled back in the third, with Benjamin Giovanella (10) scoring two goals to give the Amcats the lead with 5:40 left. Quincy College found a spark forty-five seconds later, with Aidan Burke (11) netting a short-handed goal. 

With the game tied at the end of regulation, the two teams headed to overtime. With the game on Anna Maria’s Nick Levasseur (17) stick, he scored the winner on the breakaway, his 26th of the season. Levasseur has led the way this season with 43 points in 15 games. 

Anna Maria will face off against Babson College on February 15 for their final game of the season heading into the NEIHC playoffs. Quincy College closes its season with games against Stonehill College and Nichols College on February 21st and 22nd.

– Gavin Coker, NEIHC/DVCHC Beat Reporter

ECHC Division 1: Fairfield vs Quinnipiac 

The Fairfield University Stags played an absolutely explosive game against the Quinnipiac Bobcats this past Friday night. The Stags came out on top with a 9-3 victory in their second consecutive win over the Bobcats.

The first period started slowly, with Quinnipiac’s Benjamin Cohen scoring the first goal of the game with 13:49 on the clock. Fairfield answered this with back-to-back goals from Brendan Cullen and Chris Mangiacapre late in the period. The stags also led the penalty minutes for this period, with six minutes spent in the box. 

The Stags came into the second period hot and kept the momentum throughout. Robert Sharfstein scored within the first thirty seconds, which was followed by two additional Fairfield goals by Patrick Heslin and Casey Kelley. The Stags allowed just one Quinnipiac goal from Alex Umbro before ending the period with their sixth point of the night from Zach Lee.

Fairfield continued to dominate in the third with an immediate goal by Brendan Cullen and another by Chase Mckenna. Zack Raposa attempted to return the Bobcats to the game with the third and final Bobcat score. Ned Malolepszy then cemented the Stag victory with a final goal with 11:28 on the game clock. 

– Caroline Delaney, ECHC Beat Reporter

UNYCHL Division II: St. Bonaventure vs SUNY-Cortland

The UNYCHL featured an intriguing matchup between St. Bonaventure and SUNY-Cortland. As expected, the Bonnies were able to figure out the opposing defense rather quickly, even scoring two short-handed goals in just over two minutes. Both teams played a chippy game with a combined 10 penalties, three of them being for unsportsmanlike conduct. The rest of the game saw a lot of hooking, cross-checking, roughing, boarding, and slashing calls across both teams. 

Aside from the penalties, St. Bonaventure’s offense dissected the defense of SUNY-Cortland. Presley Shultz (27) scored three goals with assists from Michael Robertson (11) and Owen Hughes (17) on all three. A pair of unassisted goals came from Carson Schlager (61) and Francis Zaklukiewicz (44) early in the second period to get things going for the Bonnies. 

SUNY-Cortland tried to swap out goaltenders in the third period, hoping to slow down the St. Bonaventure offense. Unfortunately for the Red Dragons, the damage was already done, and the game ended with a 9-4 victory for St. Bonaventure. 

– Preston McAlhany, UNYCHL Beat Reporter

ACCHL Division 2(Interleague): Denison vs Indiana University (ACHA M2)

The Denison Big Red had a humbling weekend, dropping two games to Indiana 8-1. Denison entered the series on a four-game winning streak and scored at a high rate. The good vibes for the Big Red went out the window as soon as the Hoosiers came to town.

Indiana didn’t waste time to enforce their will, scoring four goals by the halfway point of the first game and a 7-0 lead into the second intermission. The Hoosier power play was a difference-maker in game one, scoring on four of their six opportunities.

To redeem themselves the following day, Denison opened the scoring early in the second period after killing off two Indiana power plays. The Big Red’s first lead of the weekend lasted only 34 seconds, and the floodgates opened again. Indiana answered Denison’s goal with six straight to end the second period with a commanding lead. The Hoosiers added insult to injury with two more tallies in the third, winning both games by 8-1 finals.

Indiana’s Colin Ruffner had five points in the series, including two goals and three assists. Hoosier goalie Aidan Flanagan won both games, stopping 33 of 35 shots on the weekend.

– Danny Baum, AAU Head Editor