Beginning tomorrow, the top eight teams in NESCAC men's hockey will square off in their own version of March Madness.
The four games will feature No. 8 Wesleyan (6-10-3) at No. 1 Colby (13-5-1), No. 7 Williams (7-8-4) at No. 2 Middlebury (12-5-2), No. 6 Trinity (8-9-2) at No. 3 Bowdoin (13-6-0) and No. 5 Conn. College (9-8-2) at No. 4 Amherst (11-6-2).
While the team records show a clear disparity between the top and the bottom of the conference, this single-elimination setting can be volatile in terms of upsets.
For the Trinity Bantams, who dropped their regular season matchup with Bowdoin on Feb. 16 by a score of 7-1, the one-game format is to their advantage.
"This is the fun part," Trinity coach Dave Cataruzolo said. "You work so hard to get this opportunity. We earned it, and we're going to go out and enjoy it. In this one-game scenario, goaltending becomes a huge factor. A bounce of the puck here or there and you never know what will happen."
While Trinity has the experience of winning the NESCAC championship once in the eight years since the tournament's inception, the Polar Bears have been runner-up the past three years and seem to be primed for a championship run. In addition, this is the second year in a row that the Polar Bears have faced off against Trinity in the first round of the conference championship. Last year, Bowdoin took it with ease in a 7-3 win but lost in the finals to Middlebury despite being the top seed.
This year, the Polar Bears again boast the best overall record of the teams in the conference at 17-6-0 but are hoping for a different result.
"We just want to continue what we've been doing," Bowdoin assistant coach Bill Riley said. "We've been working hard each and every period, shift by shift. We've played lots of solid games, and we just need to score more goals."
In the first matchup between these two teams, Trinity took an early lead at 6:51 into the game, but from that point on Bowdoin unleashed a stealthy offensive attack that the Bantams' defense simply could not impede. However, both coaches acknowledge the fact that Trinity played well all game but simply could not put the puck past sophomore goaltender Chris Rossi, who had an impressive 36 saves in the game.
"We played extremely well for a good portion of the game," Cataruzolo said. "But we didn't put enough in the back of the net. We need to tighten up defensively and stay out of the box."
"Trinity did a great job in that game," Riley added. "They're a good skating team, and they move the puck well. At times, they outplayed us, but we just played consistently and put more shots in."
Offensive consistency is a staple of a Bowdoin team that scored at least four goals in 16 of its 17 overall victories, including two 10-goal games. Confronted with such a potent offense, the Bantams will be focused on tightening up the holes in their defense.
"Being on the road against a team like Bowdoin, who's skilled, strong and extremely aggressive, we need to slow them down," Cataruzolo said. "We have to minimize the time the puck is in our zone with good clearing. They have great team speed, and we need to negate that any way possible and make sure not to give them many transition opportunities."
Bowdoin will have the home-ice advantage, which has proven to be a significant help to the Polar Bears' success. They are 9-2 overall at Dayton Arena this season and 4-1 in NESCAC play, including a big 5-3 victory over top-seeded Colby. However, if Bowdoin does advance, it will likely have to face either Middlebury or Colby on the road.
"We need to keep focused by continuing to have our competitive drive," Riley said. "We're trying to do something Bowdoin has yet to accomplish in the short history of the championship. It would be a wonderful experience for the players to win."
The other matchups have the same potential to be hard-hitting, aggressive games. Colby squeaked out a 3-2 overtime win against Wesleyan on Feb. 16 and Middlebury took down Williams in a tight 2-1 game on Jan. 15. Amherst seems to have a steady grip on Conn. College, having beaten the Camels twice this season.
