The Division 3 hockey season reaches its peak on the sea-level campus of Endicott College this weekend.
Three conference champions – Endicott, Hobart and reigning NCAA champion Adrian – will be in semifinal action on Friday, along with the party-crashing University of New England, which is in the Frozen Four for the second straight year. The championship will be played on Sunday.
It’s the first time since 2018 that multiple New England teams are in the Frozen Four. The last national champion from our region was Norwich in 2017.
Let’s set up the weekend by answering some burning questions, including how Kimball Union Academy coach Tim Whitehead’s stamp is all over this event.
Is there a favorite to win the championship?
One favorite? Try three. Because you could make a case for each of them.
Start with the champs. Preseason No. 1 Adrian (24-4-2) brought back most of the talent from a team that won 31 straight games last year, except in goal. It thrashed its way through the NCHA tournament, winning four games by a combined score of 38-6.
Hobart (27-2) is the king of what many feel is the toughest conference of them all, the NEHC. Mark Taylor, the top assistant to Whitehead at UMass Lowell in the late 1990s, has spent the last two decades building one of D-3’s top programs, one that is in its fourth Frozen Four in his tenure and, this season, has been the best defensive team in the country.
“He was a defenseman in college, and a very good one,” said Whitehead. “He always worked with our ‘D’ (at Lowell). I think it’s very natural that as a head coach his teams have been very strong defensively.”
Endicott (23-2-2) won the Commonwealth Coast Conference regular season and tournament titles to earn a first-round NCAA bye. RJ Tolan’s team then scored three times in the third period to win a tough quarterfinal against Norwich, 3-0.
“I strongly believe we’re the best third period team in the country,” said senior forward Noah Strawn (Wareham, Mass.). “That just comes from believing in one another, everybody on the left and right, keeping it simple and keeping to our game plan.”
So it’s UNE facing the least amount of pressure, right?
Right. Coach Kevin Swallow noted after his team’s overtime quarterfinal win at No. 1 Utica that after losing in the CCC semifinals to Curry, there was no guarantee the Nor’easters (21-6-2) would even get selected for the 12-team NCAAs.
After winning their first-round game at Plymouth State, 2-0, they built a three-goal, third-period lead at No. 1 Utica, before seeing their opponents storm back and send the game to overtime tied 4-4.
Swallow needed to swing momentum back the other way and that’s what he talked about during the intermission.
“We were back on our heels,” he admitted. “I just said, ‘If I told you guys at the beginning of the year, if you had overtime in Utica to get back to the Frozen Four, would you guys take it?’ Every single guy said yes.”
After some key saves by goalie Billy Girard IV, sophomore Anthony Sciucco (Winchester, Mass.) won it when he flung a backhanded puck out of the corner toward the goal, and it deflected off the goalie and went into the net.
“Daniel Winslow got it on the wall and tried to find me backdoor,” said Sciucco. “I threw it out front, hoping a guy could get a stick on it. It hit the goalie’s back and went in.”
What does this latest intersection mean for Tolan and Swallow?
Tough to ignore the similarities between two of Division 3’s best coaches.
Both played in Hockey East for Whitehead – Swallow for two years at UMaine in the 2000s and Tolan before that at UMass Lowell, where he shared a blueline with future NHL veteran Ron Hainsey.
Swallow is in his eighth season at UNE after coming over from Nichols. He has a record there of 136-48-16 and has led the program to its first two Frozen Fours.
FINISHING STRONG: How Endicott overcame heartbreak to make the Frozen Four
Tolan is in his eighth season at Endicott after coming over from Wentworth. He has a record there of 142-42-11 and has the program in its first Frozen Four.
“They actually have a lot in common,” said Whitehead. “They were both hard-nosed players who were loved by their teammates and coaches alike. They’re both extremely driven to improve and excel, and as a result, they’ve become outstanding recruiters and coaches, and their players love playing for them.”
@MikeZhe603
mzhe@hockeyjournal.com
