Who: Trinity (24-3-1) vs. UW-Stevens Point (23-6-1)
Where: Ridder Arena, Minneapolis, MN
When: 8 PM EDT Saturday 3/28/15 Video/Audio: NCAA GameCenter
Preview: NCAA
Stats (national rank)
Offense: 4.29 G/GM (6th)
Defense: 1.82G/GM (5th)
Power Play: 31/110 - 28.2 % (3rd)
Penalty Killing: 73/86 - 84.9 % (16th)
Penalty Minutes: 9.57/GM (64th)
Offense: 4.40 G/GM (5th)
Defense: 2.32 G/GM (16th)Power Play: 26/117 - 22.2% (16th)
Penalty Kill: 79/101 - 78.2% (56th)
Penalty Minutes: 10.20/GM (55th)
The Lowdown: All the Marbles
So it all comes down to this. On November 1, 2014, the 2014-15 Trinity Bantams men's hockey team officially convened for the first time as a squad to set out on a journey that they hoped would culminate in Minneapolis 148 days later. That dream has been realized, as the Bantams take on UW-Stevens Point tonight for the NCAA D-III men's hockey championship. It's the first men's hockey title game in school history for Trinity, as they become the first NESCAC team not named Middlebury to venture into this territory. For fourth year coach Matt Greason and his ten seniors (err nine, Liam McKillop is a transfer), they went from a 9-12-3 record in 2011-12 to this game.
The Bantams got here with a solid all around performance in a 5-3 win against Adrian in the semis. They'll take on UWSP, who scored six unanswered goals against Amherst in the other semi to reach SP's second straight national title game and the schools' eighth all-time. The Pointers are looking for their fifth title overall and their first since 1993.
There's alot of cliches you can throw out for a title game, from the importance of goaltenders (both teams have good ones), to experience (edge would be to UWSP), and all have validity. But it's one game against two good teams, so really, anything can happen. The West has dominated the tournament in recent years (4 straight titles), but the way Trinity skated against Adrian last night, the Bantams certainly won't be intimidated by UWSP and the are anything but longshots to win this game.
As for the fun stuff, let's watch to see if the announcer can pronounce the NESCAC (NES-CACK) correctly tonight. Every time he mentioned the conference on yesterday's two webcasts, he spelled out the conference name N-E-S-C-A-C. He also had the propensity to give a lot of narrative backstory, sometimes in lieu of calling the game at critical moments. We did learn some interesting tidbits about the opposing Pointers from the asides, especially about their senior blueliners. Kyle Brodie is happy just to be on the ice for this one, as he beat testicular cancer in the offseason, while captain Kevin Gibson is the son of former MLB player/manager and 1988 World Series hero Kirk Gibson.
Players to watch (other than the goalies)
Jackson Brewer (F, '15) It's the final collegiate game for the Bantams assistant captain, who went from eight points his freshman season to a Joe Concannon award last year.
Joe Kalisz (F, '17) Yesterday's player to watch showed off his impressive stickhandling against Amherst and put in one of the six Pointers' goals. In three Frozen Four games, he has four points (2-2-4).
Congrats to both teams for making it this far, but there can only be one champion. Here's 2008 First Team All-NESCAC men's soccer player and Trinity alum, Sam Wisner aka Sammy Adams with his music video for "Only One".
As for the fun stuff, let's watch to see if the announcer can pronounce the NESCAC (NES-CACK) correctly tonight. Every time he mentioned the conference on yesterday's two webcasts, he spelled out the conference name N-E-S-C-A-C. He also had the propensity to give a lot of narrative backstory, sometimes in lieu of calling the game at critical moments. We did learn some interesting tidbits about the opposing Pointers from the asides, especially about their senior blueliners. Kyle Brodie is happy just to be on the ice for this one, as he beat testicular cancer in the offseason, while captain Kevin Gibson is the son of former MLB player/manager and 1988 World Series hero Kirk Gibson.
Players to watch (other than the goalies)
Jackson Brewer (F, '15) It's the final collegiate game for the Bantams assistant captain, who went from eight points his freshman season to a Joe Concannon award last year.
Joe Kalisz (F, '17) Yesterday's player to watch showed off his impressive stickhandling against Amherst and put in one of the six Pointers' goals. In three Frozen Four games, he has four points (2-2-4).
Congrats to both teams for making it this far, but there can only be one champion. Here's 2008 First Team All-NESCAC men's soccer player and Trinity alum, Sam Wisner aka Sammy Adams with his music video for "Only One".
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