HADLEY, Mass. – Trinity will host the remaining rounds of the 2024 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship at Koeppel Community Sports Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Semifinals are set for Saturday, March 2 with the first game featuring No. 7 Middlebury versus the host Bantams at 1 p.m. In the second semifinal, No. 4 Hamilton takes on No. 3 Tufts.
Tickets for the semifinals are on sale through Saturday, March 2 at Noon. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for students/children 3 and older, and children under 2 are free. One ticket is good for admission to both semifinal games.
Trinity (21-3-1) earned a 2-1 win over No. 8 Colby to advance to the semifinals for the sixth time in eight tournaments. Theodore Griffin netted the game-winner at 10:48 of the third period to lift the Bantams to the victory and Devon Bobak made 26 stops in the Trinity net.
Richard Boysen leads the Bantams in scoring with 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists and is one of 14 Trinity players reaching double-digits in the points column this season. Christian Hayes has scored the most goals for Trinity (9) and defenseman Ned Blanchard has handed out a team-best 15 assists. Bobak has started all 25 games in net for Trinity and carries a .939 save percentage and 1.26 goals against average, both numbers lead the NESCAC goalies. Trinity enters the semifinal having won nine straight games.
Middlebury (8-13-4) is the second No. 7 seed to advance to the NESCAC Semifinals in as many years. Five different Panthers scored in a 5-1 upset at No. 2 Bowdoin to propel Middlebury into the semifinals for the first time since 2016. Goalie Jake Horoho made 32 stops, including 18 in the third period in the victory.
Jin Lee leads Middlebury in points (20), goals (10), and is tied with Wyatt Pastor for the team lead in assists (10). Andrej Hromic is the second leading scorer for the Panthers with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists. Horoho has played the majority of minutes in net for the Panthers and owns a 2.47 goals against average with a .918 save percentage and recently eclipsed the 1,600 career save milestone.
Trinity defeated Middlebury, 3-2, on January 6 in Hartford, Conn. and picked up a 3-2 overtime win at Middlebury on February 3 to sweep the regular season series. However, Middlebury owns a 3-2 edge in the NESAC Tournament series after posting a 4-2 victory over the Bantams in the 2010 semifinals, the last time the teams played in the NESCAC Tournament. Trinity has won six NESCAC titles (last: 2022) and has played in four of the last eight championship games. Middlebury has won the most NESCAC titles of any program (8) and is looking to win its first conference title since 2010.
Tufts (13-9-3) advanced to the semifinals with a 5-3 victory over No. 6 Connecticut College, marking the Jumbos first ever NESCAC Tournament win on their home ice. The Jumbos, who were hosting their first conference quarterfinal since 2012, were led by Tyler Sedlak’s hat trick, the 10th hat trick in NESCAC Championship history.
The Jumbos are having their best season in over 20 years. The program’s 13 wins are the most since Tufts joined the NESCAC in the 2001-02 season. The Jumbos' top line of Tyler Sedlak (14 goals – 16 assists – 30 points), Max Resnick (9-18-27), and Harrison Bazianos (10-14-24) all rank in the top five for overall points in NESCAC. Senior Peyton Durand has played 23 games while logging a 2.16 goals against average and .937 save percentage.
Hamilton (17-7-1) reached the semifinal round for the second time in three years following a 4-3 win over No. 5 Amherst. Jackson Krock scored twice to give the Continentals a 3-0 lead. Matt Gellerman’s goal at 11:05 of the third period pushed Hamilton’s lead to 4-1 and the Continentals held off a late comeback effort by the Mammoths. Jack Grant finished the game with 33 saves to earn the win in the Hamilton net.
Hamilton newcomer Luke Tchor is the league's leading scorer with 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists. Krock also ranks in the conference's top five in goals (11). Classmate Max Bulawka (8-15-23) is another weapon for the Continentals while defenseman James Philpott (3-16-19) is among the top 10 scorers in the league. Grant leads the team in goalie minutes, having played 14 games with a .913 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average.
The Continentals erased a 3-0 deficit in the third period to earn a 3-3 tie against Tufts on January 13 in Clinton, N.Y. in the first game of the series. On February 10 in Malden, Mass. Devon de Vries scored in overtime to lift Hamilton to a 3-2 win. The semifinal matchup marks the first meeting between the two teams in the NESCAC Tournament. Both squads are in the hunt for their first NESCAC trophy. Hamilton’s only appearance in the championship game came in 2017 while Tufts made back-to-back trips to the title game in 2015 and 2016.
