ECAC Northeast Tournament Pairings Set
Two-time defending champion Leopards seeded second and earn a first-round bye; Wentworth will host a semifinal game on Wednesday, March 5, at Salem State University
CENTERVILLE, Mass. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) announced today the seedings for the 2014 ECAC Northeast Hockey Tournament. After closing out the regular season with a conference record of 9-3-2, the Nichols College Bison earned the tournament's top seed, and will host a semifinal game on Wednesday, March 5, at 8:10 p.m. at Levy Rink. The 2014 ECAC Northeast Hockey Tournament begins on Saturday, March 1, and concludes on Saturday, March 8 with the Tournament championship at the highest remaining seed's campus.
Nichols enters the Tournament with the No. 1 seed for the first time since the 2008-2009 season. Nichols finished the regular season 16-6-3 overall and went unbeaten in five of its final six conference contests to solidify the top spot in the Tournament. The Bison enter the postseason with the league's best scoring offense, averaging over four goals per game and scoring 101 goals in total. Sophomore Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.) has registered 31 points thus far (11 g, 20 a), tops in the ECAC Northeast. Classmate Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) is tied for second in the Conference in scoring, compiling 30 points on 11 goals and 19 assists. Juniors Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) and Brett Jackson (Larchmont, N.Y.) have also been key contributors to the Nichols' offense, tallying 21 points and 20 points, respectively. Defensively, the Bison own the No. 3 scoring defense in the ECAC Northeast, allowing an average of 2.96 goals per game. Sophomore goaltender Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) has been the backbone of the defense corps, picking up 13 wins between the pipes and recording a 2.78 goals against average to go along with a .921 save percentage.
The two-time defending ECAC Northeast Champion Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards earned the No. 2 seed in the Tournament with a 9-5 conference record and an overall mark of 11-12-2. The Leopards closed out the season by winning seven of their final nine games to secure the second seed and a bye into the semifinals. Junior Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) has seen the majority of the minutes between the pipes for Wentworth and ranks third in the Conference in goals against average (2.52) and fourth in winning percentage (.600). Senior Andrew Yarber (Livonia, Mich.) has paced the Leopards' offense with 15 points (8 g, 7 a) and recorded multipoint outings in two of his final four regular season games. Junior Mike Domsodi (Kirkland, Que.) sits right behind Yarber with 14 points (3 g, 11 a), and his 11 assists are tied for tenth in the league rankings. Wentworth will host its semifinal contest at Salem State University on Wednesday, March 5 at 7 p.m.
The opening game of the 2014 ECAC Northeast Hockey Tournament is a quarterfinal matchup between No. 3 seed Salve Regina University and the No. 6 seed, Curry College. Salve Regina is the No. 3 seed as a result of a tiebreaker with Wentworth. The Seahawks and Leopards finished with identical 9-5 conference records, but Salve Regina dropped both its regular season meetings to Wentworth. The Seahawks went 11-14 through their first 25 games this season, including wins in four of their final five games. As a team, Salve Regina averages 3.12 goals per game, which is the third-best in the Conference. Sophomore Peter Gintoli (Monroe, Conn.) is fifth in the ECAC Northeast in scoring, netting nine goals and handing out 16 assists during the course of the regular season. Gintoli put forth one of his finest efforts of the season in Salve Regina's penultimate game, scoring once and dishing out two assists in a 3-1 triumph over Western New England University. Classmate Marc Biggs (Plano, Texas) also ranks among the league leaders in scoring, as his 22 points (8 g, 14 a) are good enough for No. 8 overall. Sophomore David Chiokadze (Langhorne, Pa.) earned the start in goal in the Seahawks' last five games and owns a 2.77 goals against average and .911 save percentage in 520:34 minutes this season.
The Curry Colonels used a 4-3 overtime victory in their final regular season game to qualify for the 2014 ECAC Northeast Tournament. Curry enters the Tournament after wrapping up its regular season with a pair of wins over Becker College and Johnson & Wales University to improve to 10-13-2 overall and 6-8 within the confines of the ECAC Northeast. Sophomore Brandon Gilmore (Quincy, Mass.) has been the leader of the Colonels' offense this season, racking up 19 points on nine goals and 10 assists, which ties him for the 11th best point total in the Conference. Junior defenseman Chris Mason (Monrovia, Calif.) scored the golden goal for Curry in its playoff clinching win over Johnson & Wales University, and both of his goals this season have proven to be game winning tallies. The Colonels boast the second-best scoring defense in the ECAC Northeast, thanks in large part to the play of junior goaltender Derek Mohney (Amherst, N.Y.). In 964:20 minutes of action, Mohney has the second-lowest goals against average in the Conference (2.12) and the second-highest save percentage (.932). The opening faceoff is slated for 4:05 p.m. at the Portsmouth Abbey School.
The second quarterfinal contest pits the No. 4 seed, Johnson & Wales, against No. 5 seed Suffolk University. The Wildcats are currently 17-7-1 and navigated through conference play with a record of 7-6-1. Led by freshman goaltender Joey Ballmer (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Johnson & Wales leads the ECAC Northeast in scoring defense at just 2.04 goals against per game. Ballmer has played a league-high 1440:59 minutes in goal and has turned aside 710 shots, which is also tops in the Conference. Ballmer ranks No. 1 league wide in goals against average (2.08), save percentage (.934) and winning percentage (.688). His .934 save percentage is the eighth-best mark among all goaltenders in NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey and the highest of any freshman in the nation. Offensively, sophomore Josh Obregon (Omaha, Neb.) has led the way with 30 points and has scored a league-best 16 goals. Freshman Stefan Brucato (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) and sophomore Cody Sarmiento (Sarasota, Fla.) finished the regular season in the ECAC Northeast top-five in points with 26 points (6 g, 20 a) and 25 points (12 g, 13 a) respectively.
The Rams garnered the No. 5 seed after a 6-7-1 record within the ECAC Northeast and an overall mark of 9-14-1. Suffolk finished its regular season schedule with victories in four of its final six games, including wins over Becker and Wentworth. Reigning ECAC Northeast Hockey Co-Player of the Week, senior Charlie McGinnis (Hanover, Mass.), leads the way on offense with 10 goals and has added nine assists to tie with freshman Simon Leahy (Milwaukee, Wisc.)(9 g, 10 a) for the team lead with 19 points. Sophomore Brandon Smolarek (Chesterfield, Mich.) has a 3.13 goals against average this season to go along with a .915 save percentage. Smolarek earned the most recent ECAC Northeast Hockey Goaltender of the Week honor after posting his first career shutout against Wentworth and recording 39 saves against Becker, helping Suffolk claim a playoff spot in the final week of regular season competition. The opening puck drop is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. at Lynch Arena.