The Division 3 season gets a little more real this week, the schedule a little more complete.
NESCAC hockey is back.
On the ice practicing since Oct. 15, the 10 teams from one of Division 3's strongest leagues all open their seasons with games on Friday, their first competitive hockey contests since March of 2020 after the league canceled its season last winter over COVID concerns. Nine of the teams are back at it Saturday as well.
“For us it’s been terrific,” said Amherst coach Jack Arena. “We were really limited with what we were able to do last year.”
The start of NESCAC play is one big takeaway from the weekend. Here are some others.
Conor O’Brien hits milestone for Endicott
No. 8 Endicott took the ice for its first varsity game on Halloween night 2015, skating to a 1-1 non-conference tie with Stonehill at the Foxboro Sports Center.
Since then, no goalie has won more games than Conor O’Brien.
It was another statement weekend for O’Brien and the Gulls (3-1), who took three of a possible four points from No. 10 University of New England, tying the Nor’easters on Friday and winning at UNE on Saturday, 3-1.
O’Brien, a 6-foot-2 senior from Florida who played for the Conn. Jr. Rangers, stopped 26 shots on Saturday to improve to 37-13-3 in his career. The 37 wins match Kevin Aldridge (Class of '18) for the most in program history.
The NEHC could be even more fun than we thought
Entering the weekend, three teams from the conference -- No. 2 Norwich, No. 4 Hobart and No. 6 Babson -- were ranked among the top six teams in Division 3.
None made it out of the weekend unscathed.
Norwich (3-0-2) gave up a two-goal lead in the third period, conceding a power-play goal in the final minute of a 4-4 tie at Skidmore on Friday, before bouncing back to beat Castleton a night later, 5-2.
Hobart’s loss Saturday was out of conference, 2-1 to Cortland, while Babson (3-1-1) was fended off by UMass Boston, 4-3, despite peppering goalie Sam Best (Woburn, Mass.) with 42 shots.
Fitchburg State is making up for lost time
One week after practice began in October, a COVID outbreak hit the Fitchburg campus, shutting down hockey activities and ultimately postponing the Oct. 30 opener at New England College.
The Falcons became the region’s final non-NESCAC team to open when they hosted Salem State on Thursday -- and left no doubt how excited they were to be back in action by rolling to an 8-0 win.
Junior forward Rece Bergeman led the way with a hat trick. Standout goalie Brian McGrath (Worcester, Mass.) made 38 saves to record his eighth career shutout.
The Falcons (2-0) closed out the week by winning at Framingham State on Saturday, 3-1.
“We’ve got good strength down the middle and our goaltending should be excellent,” said longtime coach Dean Fuller. “Our ‘D’ are not flashy but they’re very solid.”
Bring on that NESCAC hockey
Finally, it’s back.
On March 8, 2020, Wesleyan closed out its first NESCAC championship by beating Trinity, 7-2, in the final.
Some 622 days later, there is action in the league again. A new season kicks off with five games Friday: Williams at Colby, Wesleyan at Tufts, Trinity at Conn. College, Middlebury at Bowdoin, and Amherst at Hamilton.
It couldn’t come any sooner for those who were robbed of any sort of competitive season in 2020-21.
“No one was doing what they were hired to do last year,” said Trinity coach Matt Greason (North Bridgton, Maine). “You weren’t a coach; you were a contact tracer or a psychiatrist.”
@MikeZhe603
mzhe@hockeyjournal.com
