Conference Finals 2/21/15 and playoff seeding

We finally have the field of eight and all the seeding set for the NESCAC Quarterfinals next Saturday. Find the leagues official seeding announcement here .  


FINALS 2/21
Middlebury  3
Hamilton       1
Box Score    


Middlebury, who had nothing to play for in terms of seeding mobility, swept the season series with the Continentals on the strength of  Brendan McGovern (F', '16)'s rebound heavy first ever collegiate hat trick. In 70 previous games, McGovern had scored six goals. Bill Beaney, forever in love with goalie switches, pulled Liam Moorfield Yee (G, '16) for Mike Peters (G, '15) after the second Middlebury goal for unknown reasons.  A melee near the Hamilton bench broke out in the later stages of the 2nd period which left three players in the locker room for the rest of the game (game disqualifications for Cam Romoff (Middlebury) and Brendan Willet (Hamilton) and a disqualification for Jake Charles (Midd).


Conn College  4
Colby               1
Box Score 

Joe Giordano (F, '17) scored twice as the Camels ended up with the three seed in the NESCAC  for the first time in their program's history (first home playoff game as well). A young Colby squad ends the season on the outside looking in on the playoffs for the first time since 2011-12 when the Mules finished last (but had a better record tan this season when they finished ninth).


Williams 3
Amherst  5
Box Score

Williams outshot Amherst 43-29 and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Jeffs scored five straight - including David White (F, '18)'s team leading 17th goal and Tyler Granara(D, '18)'s first collegiate tally - to drop Williams to the fourth seed and even the regular season series. Reigning First Team All-NESCAC goalie Sean Dougherty (G, '15) gave up 4+ goals on back to back days this weekend, both on less than 30 shots from the opponent. On the other end, Danny Vitale (G, '15), who took over full time starting duties mid-season after an injury to reigning Second Team All-NESCAC goalie Dave Cunningham (G, '16), ends the regular season as the conference leader in Save Percentage  (.942).


Tufts          0
Bowdoin    4
Box Score

 On senior day, Max Fenkell (G, '15) made 20 saves for his fifth collegiate shutout and Mike Schlagel (F, '15) scored his first two collegiate points (goal and assist) in just his ninth game in four years. The win leapfrogged the Polar Bears over Hamilton into the fifth spot, the same position that they made  run to the championship from last season.


Wesleyan  0
Trinity       6
Box Score 

Trinity jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period of play on senior day and let senior netminder Kevin Green (G, '15) closeout the final 40 minutes for a combined shutout with Nate Heilbron (G, '16). Want to get a glimpse of  why Trinity finished the season with a school record best regular season 'Cac mark of 16-1-1? Nate Heilbron leads the NESCAC with a 1.69 GAA and four of the five goal scorers from Saturday have double digit goals for the year. On the other side, Wesleyan closes out the season with a 2-16 conference mark, bad enough for the worst winning percentage (.111) in NESCAC men's ice hockey history, dating back to 1999-00.


Playoff QuarterfinalMatchups
All games to be played on Saturday, February 28th, times to be announced.

(8) Tufts at (1) Trinity
(7) Middlebury at (2) Amherst
(6) Hamilton at (3) Conn College
(5) Bowdoin at (4) Williams


The regular season has ended and for two sets of seniors (Colby, Wesleyan) their careers have as ewll. For four more (Bowdoin, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts), they've played their last college game at home (though theoretically Bowdoin could hold NESCAC championships if all lower seeds miraculously won). So, we present Thrice's "At the Last"