For the first time in program history, the Florida Atlantic Owls were crowned the 2025 AAU Division 2 National Champions following their 5-2 win over the High Point Panthers on Sunday. With the win, the Owls became the third-consecutive College Hockey South team to win the Division 2 championship and the fifth to win a national championship in the last two years.
Here’s how they did it:
Florida Atlantic opened the scoring with a goal from Matt Beraldi just shy of the halfway mark in the first. A minute later, Ryan Brockett doubled the Owls lead with a goal of his own, assisted by David Israel and Jake Murphy. High Point’s Joe Di Martino got the Panthers on the board with a power-play goal at 17:11, slicing Florida Atlantic’s lead in half heading into the second period.
Carrying the momentum from the end of the first period forward, the Panthers tied the game at 2-2 with their second power-play goal, courtesy of Sean Kelley, at 8:57 of the middle frame. Unfortunately for High Point, Florida Atlantic reinstated its lead three minutes later with a goal from Hunter Litman and ultimately would not give up another goal for the remainder of the contest.
The Owls punctuated their win with two additional goals in the third: one from Murphy with 56 seconds remaining and another from Leon Biller with 33 seconds remaining.
And as those 33 seconds passed, the Owls watched their dream come true.
Congratulations to Florida Atlantic for winning its first-ever AAU Division 2 National Championship!
Final:
Florida Atlantic 5
High Point 2
– Kelly Kaelblein, AAU Hockey Beat Writer
Alvernia and Rowan University entered day 3 without a win at the AAU Nationals, but the Profs added an emphatic victory to their record by day’s end.
After a competitive first half of regulation with Rowan leading 2-1, the Prof’s offense exploded for four goals in seven and a half minutes to go ahead by a five spot. Rowan took care of business in the final frame to secure a 6-1 win in their final game of the season.
Connor Callahan led all skaters with three points, scoring twice and adding an assist.
Alvernia finishes 0-3-0 at the AAU Nationals. In their three games, the Golden Wolves were outscored by their opponents by 15 goals.
Final:
Rowan University 6
Alvernia 1
With Fairfield improving to 2-0-1 in the tournament earlier in the day, the game between Liberty and St John Fisher became a proverbial quarterfinal game to see who would claim Pool A.
The top-seeded Flames took control early, with Benjamin Semark scoring just two minutes and 56 seconds into the game. The Cardinals answered back, though, getting a goal late in the first period and early in the second to take their first lead. Matteo Torres assisted on both St John Fisher goals, bumping his point total to eight in three games.
This game was a classic battle of irresistible force against an immovable object, and no lead was safe due to the offensive firepower on the other bench. Liberty tied the game on a PPG from Jake Nole with six minutes to go in the second period. The score held at 2-2 through the intermission and deep into the final minutes of regulation.
Minutes after being down on the ice in agony, the Cardinal’s John Sharrino rushed from coast to coast, ripping a wrister past Liberty goalie Kyle Westbury to give St John Fisher the lead for the final time. The Flames furiously forced pucks at the Cardinal net in the final seconds but to no avail.
After not allowing a goal in its first two tournament games, Liberty has been eliminated from the AAU Nationals. St John Fisher advances to the semifinals, where they’ll play the Fairfield Stags at 1:00 P.M.
Final:
St John Fisher 3
Liberty 2
– Danny Baum, AAU Hockey Head Editor
Pool B
The University of Tennessee Ice Vols took the ice in their final game against the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Both teams tried to avoid going winless at the AAU National and took the ice with intensity. The Mountaineers controlled the majority of the first period. Robert Richter opened the scoring and scored his first goal in the tournament. The Ice Vols responded, with Bryce Herman tying the game with 1:18 left in the first.
The Ice Vols’ offense was rolling early in the second, with Seth Hagan giving them the lead. Unfortunately, the offense stalled, allowing the Mountaineers to rally. Chase Arnett and Jason Beck scored, giving Appalachian State a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
The Mountaineers held the lead for half of the third, but a mistake on the powerplay allowed Tennessee to tie the game. The Ice Vols forced a turnover, turning up ice for a two-on-one opportunity. Justin Dickinson fooled the defender before beating Lucad Weyer to even the score.
With three periods not enough to decide the winner, the game headed to three-on-three overtime. Each team had multiple chances to score, but one chance made the difference. In a race for the puck between Ice Vols goalie Ryan Farrell and Mountaineers Jason Beck, Beck got enough of the puck to win the game 4-3 in overtime.
With both teams eliminated from advancing to the semi-finals, this matchup was for bragging rights. The Mountaineers closed their season with a win, while the Ice Vols went home winless.
Final/Overtime:
Appalachian State 4
Tennessee 3
It was a matchup between the titans of Pool B, in which the winner advanced to the semifinals. The Columbia University Lions looked to continue their dominant season, with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights standing in their way.
The Lions’ offense made its presence felt early, forcing a turnover that set up a Christopher Lerner goal. Rutgers goalie Aaron Rodriguez recovered despite facing a multitude of shots. But the Lions’ pressure broke through again, with Ronan Robinson extending the lead to two after the first period.
The Lions never let off the gas, and the second period followed a similar pattern. Dylan Bott increased the lead, receiving a pass from Lerner and firing a snapshot that snuck into the back of the net. With 4:33 left in the period, Brandon Avezov found one of his own after assisting on the first three goals. After taking the puck in the neutral zone, Avezov skated up ice before making a toe-drag move to beat Rodriguez, giving the Lions a 4-0 lead into the final period.
With the Lions twenty minutes away from the semifinals, they looked to close the door and give Michael Cullen his second shutout of the tournament. The Scarlet Knights had other plans, as Alexander Angress could strike twice.
Rutgers University pulled their goalie to force overtime with the game in reach. Despite chances to score, the Lions were able to find the puck, with Dylan Bott sealing the deal on the empty net. Once again, a penalty against the Lions gave the Scarlet Knights a chance to rally, as Rodriguez was pulled a second time. It was a similar result as Ronan Robinson fired the puck into the empty, sealing the 6-2 win for Columbia University.
The Columbia University Lions will face the undefeated University of South Carolina Gamecocks, and a berth in the AAU Division 3 finals is on the line.
Final:
Columbia University 6
Rutgers 2
– Gavin Coker, AAU Hockey Beat Writer
The Fairfield Stags defeated the Stony Brook Seawolves, 4-2, to finish with a 2-1-0 record in pool play. The win — the Stags’ second comeback of the weekend — brought them within striking distance of a wildcard spot.
Fairfield went down 2-0 to begin the contest: the Seawolves tallied the first goal with just 4:05 left in the opening period, courtesy of Daniel Sorkin, then doubled their lead with a goal from Brett Kitograd less than two minutes into the second. A minute and a half later, Willem Donnelly got the Stags on the board with the first of what would ultimately be four unanswered goals. Ryan Smith found the back of the net while on the power play three minutes after Donnelly’s tally to tie the contest at 2-2 heading into the third.
Fairfield’s leading point scorer of the tournament, Jonathan Vitka, netted both the go-ahead and insurance goals for the Stags. His first came with 7:04 left to play, and his second — recorded with just 1:10 on the clock — crushed Stony Brook’s last-minute comeback hopes.
Due to tiebreakers with the other two second-place finishers, Fairfield will advance to the semifinals as a wildcard. The Stags will play St John Fisher tomorrow in the semifinals.
Final:
Fairfield 4
Stony Brook 2
The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 4-3, in Pool C’s second comeback win.
Coastal Carolina’s Owen O’Brien opened the scoring with a power-play goal less than four minutes into the first period. Despite starting the action early, neither team scored again in the opening frame until the final three minutes, when O’Brien doubled the Chanticleers’ lead heading into the second.
O’Brien collected his third of the night to open the middle frame and extend Coastal Carolina’s lead to 3-0. Less than one minute after O’Brien, South Carolina’s Liam Forrest got the Gamecocks on the board with help from Michael Whalen. The ‘Cocks added two more goals before the end of the second, both scored by Lukas Tafe and assisted by Matthew Baxter, to tie the game at three a side ahead of the final period.
Just 2:02 into the third, Owen Newnam unknowingly netted the game-winner for South Carolina. The Chanticleers failed to respond to any of the Gamecocks’ four goals and ultimately fell short, 4-3.
With the win, the undefeated Gamecocks’ quest for the national championship continues: they will take on the Columbia University Lions in the tournament’s semifinal round tomorrow at 1:15 P.M.
Final:
South Carolina 4
Coastal Carolina 3
– Kelly Kaelblein, AAU Hockey Beat Writer
