The Florida Atlantic Owls are headed to the AAU Nationals Championship Game for the second straight season. In a highly anticipated semifinal matchup against Middle Tennessee State, the Owls trounced the Blue Raiders 8-2 to continue their dominant run in Jacksonville.
The first period was competitive, with FAU taking a 2-1 lead into the first intermission on power-play goals from Jake Murphy and Leon Biller. However, the Blue Raiders fell apart in the second period. Forty seconds into the middle frame, Brady Baehser scored to give FAU a multiple-goal lead for the first time.
Baehser’s goal sparked an offensive onslaught that produced six goals in the second period. Jake Murphy and Leon Biller picked up their second goals of the game on the FAU run. The Owls have scored at least five goals in each tournament game and haven’t allowed more than two.
Final:
Florida Atlantic 8
Middle Tennessee State 2
– Danny Baum, AAU Hockey Head Editor
With a finals berth on the line, the University of Tampa Spartans and the High Point University Panthers squared off in a late-night matchup. Both teams entered the game undefeated after winning their respective pools.
Alexander Valencia Mondragón broke the game open, redirecting a puck beating Matthew Carter, with 9:49 left in the first. Five minutes later, the Panthers tied the game, finding the puck as David Palandjian let it squeak through for a waiting Anthony Sasso to tap it in. And just two minutes and eight seconds later, Nick Sasso, with a slick pass, set up Liam Donahue in the slot, giving the Panthers a 2-1 lead into the second.
The Spartans battled early in the second period, looking to tie the game. Alan Weitzman would succeed in the battle. With Matthew Carter unable to cover the puck, Weitzman was able to jam at the puck before putting it into the back of the net. Similar to the first period, the Panthers answered back with two goals, as Joe Di Martino and Nick Sasso scored, giving them a two-goal lead into the final period.
With 20 minutes separating the Panthers from the finals and the opportunity to earn the title of champions, they looked to shut down the Spartans. And the Panthers did just that, forcing the Spartans to pull their goalie, allowing Jack Slayton to score the dagger. The Spartans’ lack of discipline was their downfall, as the penalties set up two goals that would be the difference.
With the 5-2 win, the Panthers secured a dance with the Florida Atlantic Owls, with the title of AAU Division 2 National Championship on the line. The puck drops at 1 P.M. EST, and the trophy will be in the building.
Final
High Point 5
Tampa 2
– Gavin Coker, AAU Hockey Beat Writer
Division 3
The St. John Fisher Cardinals scored the game’s first five goals, didn’t look back, and strolled to an 8-2 win.
Half of the Cardinal’s eight goals came on the power play, bumping their tournament total to six PPGs in two games. Matteo Torres led all skaters with four points, scoring a goal and adding three assists.
The Golden Wolves scored for the first time at the AAU Nationals when Bryan Pilpel tickled the twine short-handed. Alvernia was shut out in their first game against Liberty.
Final
St. John Fisher 8
Alvernia 2
For the second time in as many days, the Liberty Flames picked up a 4-0 win to improve to 2-0-0 in Pool A.
It took Liberty over half the game to break the ice against their conference foe, but once they did, the Flames started rolling. Zach Lemons scored first, then Josiah Martinez and Jake Nole added to the lead within three minutes.
Trey Thompkins made 35 saves in the shutout win for the Flames.
Liberty’s win sets up a win-and-in matchup with St. John Fisher tomorrow. The winner will be guaranteed a spot in the semifinals as the victor of Pool A, while the loser will have to hope that they will qualify as a wild card team.
Final:
Liberty 4
Rowan University 0
– Danny Baum, AAU Hockey Head Editor
It was a back-and-forth matchup between the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights and the University of Tennessee Ice Vols. The Scarlet Knights looked to improve to 2-0 and the Ice Vols were trying to rebound from a loss to Columbia University.
Rutgers took no time finding the back of the net, with Gavin Rieger finding the puck off a pass from Jamie Zimmerman,n giving them a 1-0 lead. The Ice Vols found two quick goals from Justin Dickinson and Dillon Segal to take the lead. Once again, excellent passing from the Scarlet Knights set up Gavin Rieger for his second goal, tying the game after the first period.
It was a slower start for both offenses in the second, but once again, Gavin Rieger had no trouble finding the back of the net. Jamie Zimmerman continued to pile up the assists as he found Rieger in the middle of the ice for a one-timer to give the Scarlet Knights the lead. The Ice Vols responded quickly, with Bryce Herman tying the game off a pass to the slot from Dillon Segal. Neither could find the lead heading into the final period of action.
The Ice Vols took a short lead, with Dillon Segal scoring his second goal. The Scarlet Knights stormed back, scoring three unanswered goals with Christian Hoppeler tying the game, followed by two goals from Jamie Zimmerman as they improved to 2-0, winning 6-4.
Rutgers University will battle for Pool B tomorrow, taking on Columbia University, which is also 2-0 in the tournament.
Final:
Rutgers 6
Tennessee 4
The Columbia University Lions’ matchup with the Appalachian State Mountaineers was the highest-scoring matchup of the Division 3 Tournament. Both teams traded blows throughout the game.
It only took under a minute to see the game’s first goal. Riley Brady forced a turnover in front of Ryan Tveter and capitalized with his tournament’s first goal. The Lions showed their offensive prowess, with Ronan Robinson and Troy Daniels scoring, giving them a 2-1 lead after one.
App State’s Lucas Tremont scored ten seconds into the period before Jason Beck struck twenty-three seconds later. Luckily for the Lions, AAU’s leading scorer, Brandon Avezov, lit the lamp on the power play to spark momentum. Another penalty set up a goal for Dylan Bott a minute later. The momentum continued to roll as Brandon Avezov scored his second goal. Jason Beck spoiled the party for the Lions, finding a goal thirty seconds later. The Lions found two more goals to close the period up 7-4.
If anyone was going to pull the Mountaineers back into the game, it was Jason Beck. Halfway through the final period, he completed the hat-trick to bring them within two. It wouldn’t be enough, as Zhongqi answered for the Lions. The Mountaineers battled until the final buzzer, with Jack Beatson scoring with nineteen seconds left.
With the win, the stage is set for the winner-takes-all match between the Columbia Lions and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Final:
Columbia University 8
Appalachian State 6
– Gavin Coker, AAU Hockey Beat Writer
The Fairfield Stags upset the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers with a 4-3 comeback win, collecting their first tournament win thus far.
The Stags opened the scoring less than three minutes into the contest, as Jonathan Vitka found the back of the net with help from Tyler Poulin to establish an early lead. Unfortunately for Fairfield, the Chanticleers tied the game a minute and a half later — courtesy of Cadin Booth — then took a 2-1 lead halfway through the first.
Coastal Carolina’s Sawyer Tantleff increased his team’s lead to 3-1 with 6:50 left in the middle frame; unbeknownst to the Chanticleers at the time, Tantleff’s goal would be their last of the day. Just 37 seconds later, Fairfield’s Ryan Smith cut the deficit in half with help from Vitka to bring his team within striking distance heading into the final period.
The Stags needed two miracles in the third to remain in contention for the National Championship. The first came in the form of the game-tying goal from Jack O’Connor halfway through the period, and the second was the go-ahead from Kyle Dillon, who found the back of the net with just 2:17 on the clock to keep his team’s hopes alive.
Final:
Fairfield 4
Coastal Carolina 3
The South Carolina Gamecocks dominated the Stony Brook Seawolves, posting an impressive 9-2 win to remain undefeated in pool play.
Following their narrow 1-0 overtime win yesterday, the Gamecocks needed an offensive spark to revive their bench, and this matchup did not fall short. South Carolina collected three goals per period, beginning with tallies from David Winslow Deboy, John McAdams, and Seamus Murphy in the first to take an early 3-0 lead. Three more in the second — two from Sean Miller and another from Murphy — doubled the Gamecocks’ lead to 6-0 entering the final frame.
Aaron Borsuk collected the seventh goal for South Carolina just 2:09 into the third. Fifty seconds later, Stony Brook got on the board with a goal from Michael Rocco. Brandon Gerstein added to the Seawolves’ side of the score sheet shortly after. Still, South Carolina’s Jacob Kaliberda collected two more goals 15 seconds apart to ensure the Gamecocks’ lead was too significant to overcome.
South Carolina will look to close its pool-play slate with an undefeated record against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers tomorrow at 4:15 p.m.. In contrast, Stony Brook will look to improve with a win against the Fairfield Stags at 10 a.m.
Final:
South Carolina 9
Fairfield 2
– Kelly Kaelblein, AAU Beat Writer
