Saturday, March 3, 2018

NESCAC Semifinal Preview

Championship weekend from Hartford!  All stats are regular season

 #6 Colby vs #5 Wesleyan    1 PM   Video                                                                                                                            Colby (13-10-2; 9-7-2 NESCAC)

 Offense - 3.17 G/GM (1st)
Defense - 2.39 G/GM (6th)
PIM - 7.8/GM (8th)
Power Play - 18.1 % (4th) 
Penalty Kill - 87.0% (4th)
Special Teams Net - +6 (2nd)

Wesleyan( 13-7-5; 8-6-4 NESCAC)
Offense - 2.78 G/Gm (4th)
Defense - 2.28 G/Gm (3rd)
PIM- 7.3/GM (10th)
Power Play - 8/76 10.5 % (8th) 
Penalty Kill - 47/57 82.5% (7th)

Special Teams Net -  0 (5th)




Lowdown: First Timers Club
While Trinity will be looking for their third straight conference title, one of these two teams will be lacing them up in the NESCAC title game for the first time in their respective program's history. Colby has had more success in the NESCAC tournament than Wesleyan overall, losing in the semis seven times to the Cardinals twice, but the Cards have had more success recently with their second straight trip to the semis. Colby last played in the semifinals in 2011, the only other time that Wesleyan made it to the final four. 

Wesleyan has won two of the three last meetings between these squads, including last year's upset of the second seeded Mules in the NESCAC Quarterfinals. This season the Cards easily handled the Mules in Connecticut, 5-1, while Colby scored three third period goals to earn a 3-3 tie up in Maine last month. Neither goalie made the All-NESCAC squad but both have shown flashes of being the top of goalie that can take over a game. Colby's Sean Lawrence, selected as a Joe Concannon Semifinalist (best American born player playing DIII hockey in New England (enough qualifiers for you?) ), ranks third in the conference with a .936 save percentage and Tim Sestak comes in right behind with a .933 %.

The younger statesman, Sestak, who is in his first year in the 'CAC after transfering from Hobart, has had the better of the senior Quinnipiac transfer this season. The Mules have absolutely peppered Sestak, amassing 95 shots and only scoring four goals, while Lawerence has allowed in eight on 69 shots. Lawrence was pulled from net in the game at Wesleyan after he gave up the fifth tally. 

Both teams can light the lamp with the upperclassmen laden Mules leading the league in conference scoring. Last week at Amherst four of the five goals came from '18ers in their 5-1 victory over the Mammoths, including two points from Mules leading scorer and World Ball Hockey Championship competitor Phil Klitirinos. Senior Michael Decker followed Jack Burton ('17) footsteps by assisting his way on to the All-NESCAC team on the blueline. Burton made first team in 2017 but Decker made the still respectable Second Team. 

The Cardinals are lead by NESCAC leading scorer and late bloomer Dylan Holze as a First Team All-NESCAC selection (and Concannon Award semifinalist). Skilled blueliner Chad Malinowski made his second straight All-NESCAC Second Team. 

In terms of the matchup today, it's single elimination playoff hockey, so anything can happen! Fire up the trite saying machine and throw out the record books, give 110%, clear those eyes, fill 'dem hearts, and have at it! And let's see if the WesTech crowd makes the short trip up I-91 to support their team.




Did you know that a team will make the NESCAC finals for the firs time for the second straight time, following Hamilton's lead last season? Did you know that this will occur in the same season as the NESCAC's top two all-time teams (Bowdoin, Middlebury) failed to make the playofffs? Did you know that Andrew WK is still putting out new music? 







#7 Williams at #1 Trinity   4:30 PM  Video



Williams (14-10-1; 9-8-1 NESCAC)
Offense - 2.67 G/GM (6th)
Defense - 2.50 G/GM (7th)
PIM - 10.1/GM (4th)
Power Play - 21.9% (2nd)
Penalty Kill - 80.3% (9th)
Special Teams Net - +1 (3rd)


Trinity (18-5-2; 14-3-1 NESCAC)
Offense - 3.11 G/GM (2nd) 
Defense - 1.72 G/GM (1st) 
PIM - 12.4/GM (2nd)
Power Play - 10.9% (7th)


Penalty Kill - 88.8% (2nd)


Trinity Preview  Williams Preview   Berkshire Eagle Preview

The Lowdown: You, Again
The Bantams and Ephs will meet in the NESCAC semifinals for the first time since...last year, when the third seed Trinity defeated the fourth seed Williams 4-2 on the strength of four unanswered goals and a solid performance by Alex Morin. While the fist matchup of the afternoon is NESCAC final neophytes, neither of these teams are strangers to the finals. Trinity is looking for their third straight title, something only Middlebury has done, and Williams, while they have never won, has been to three title games, as recent as 2015. (techincally one of those title games never happened in the record books with Bowdoin vacating after a hazing incident, but the game happened, so we are counting it). 

 While Williams is the second to last team to make the NESCAC playoffs the chasm between one and seven does not feel as large as one might think. For starters, the Ephs handed the Bantams their worst loss of the season, 5-1, in Williamstown in December, thanks to five different Ephs scoring, including All-NESCAC second team member David Italiano, and 30 saves from Stephen Morrisey. Morin, who went through a rough patch early-to-mid season, let up five goals on only 22 shots. The Ephs also played the Bantams tight in Hartford last month with this Morin save  in the final minute protecting the 4-3 victory for Trinity. 

 While Italiano made the second team, two Bantams made All-NESCAC first team this week. Stud scorer Anthony Sabisky made his second straight First Team and third overall All-NESCAC team, while smooth skating sophomore blueliner Liam Feeney makes his first All-NESCAC appearance. 

 One thing that is almost certain is that Matt Greason's squad will outshoot their opponent for the 25th time in 26 games this season. Who will be facing that barrage of shots is another story. Mike Pinios (who like Klitrinos from Colby played in the World Ball Hockey Championship last summer) got the start last week but senior Morrissey had the 30 saves in the victory over the Ephs. 

 Whomever gets the nod in net, as we said above for the other semi, anything can happen. Last week, it was Trinity's fourth line that came through. The Bantams won the last time they hosted championship weekend back in 2016, but that was as a 2 seed. The last time they hosted as a 1 seed, back in 2014, they were upset by fifth seed Bowdoin in the semis despite the Polar Bears giving up seven power play opportunities to what was then the best PP unit in the D3 nation. So bottom line, expect anything and have fun! 




To win in the playoffs, you gotta find your inner muse, dig down, and get the job done. 
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)