PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Hobart beat the No. 1 team in the nation and previously undefeated Plattsburgh State 3-1 in the championship game of the Cardinals' Buck Supply Winter Classic. It's the third time in program history that the Statesmen have upset the No. 1 team in the country.
Previously, Hobart topped then No. 1 Oswego 5-2 on Dec. 11, 2010, and the Statesmen upset then No. 1 Manhattanville 5-2 on Jan. 22, 2005.
This year's Statesmen improve to 4-4-4 overall. Hobart advanced to the championship of the Winter Classic after handing No. 7 Williams its first loss of the season on Friday, topping the Ephs in overtime by score of 3-2. Plattsburgh State is now 10-1-2 overall.
Six different Statesmen earned a point in the victory and sophomore Lino Chimienti made a career-high 39 saves, playing all 60 minutes in goal for Hobart. Chimienti was named the tournament's most outstanding player. Sophomore Mac Olson and first-years Mitch Beyer and Carl Belizario joined Chimienti on the all-tournament team.
The Statesmen jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, scoring their two goals just 19 seconds apart. Beyer gave Hobart a 1-0 advantage at 7:58 finding the back of the net on a shot from the high slot. It was his first collegiate goal. Junior Peter Quigley earned the assist. Just 19 seconds later, sophomore Bo Webster chipped in his third goal this season on a turnaround shot in the left circle after a pass from junior Brad McBride.
No. 2 Adrian 4, Buffalo State 3
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Adrian held off a hungry Buffalo State squad on Saturday afternoon for a 4-3 win against the Bengals to sweep the weekend series and improve to 12-0-1 this season. The Bulldogs built a 4-1 lead early in the third period and saw the Bengals score twice to pull within a goal with 11:11 left in the contest. The Bulldog defense and goaltender James Hamby closed the door for the rest of the period to claim the road victory.
Adrian got on the board first at 1:40 of the opening period as Duston Hebebrand scored his eighth goal of the season with assists from Kevin Balas and Ryan Gieseler. Buffalo State tied the game heading into the first intermission at 13:02 as Brett Hope scored his first of the season on the power play.
Adrian scored both goals of the second period to lead 3-1 after 40 minutes. Rob Heath scored his first of the season at 9:51 on a five-on-five with assists from Brent Sauve and Pat George. Josh Ranalli scored his 15th goal of the season less than a minute later with assists by Chris Leone and Justin Basso.
Ranalli extended his nation-leading goal total to 16 tallies at 0:45 of the third period on the power play with assists by Basso and Ryan Lowe. Adrian finished with 1-for-3 on the power play while Buffalo State went 1-for-4. The Bengals did not fold, cutting the lead to 4-2 at 3:13 as Mike Zannella scored his fourth of the season on a four-on-four situation. Buffalo State got within a goal at 8:49 on a delayed-penalty goal as Jake Rosen scored his second of the season.
No. 3 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4, Lake Forest 3
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Joe Kalisz scored the game-winning goal in the third period as Wisconsin-Stevens Point came back from a pair of two-goal deficits to defeat host Lake Forest on Saturday night at Alumni Memorial Arena.
Kalisz scored his eighth goal of the season at the 7:21 mark of the third period off assists from Alex Brooks and Garrett Ladd. The goal also marked the third consecutive game in which Kalisz has scored for the Pointers (11-1-0, 1-0-1 WIAC), who were playing their first game in more than three weeks.
The Foresters (5-7-0, 4-4-0 NCHA) led 2-0 and 3-1 both in the second period but suffered its fifth loss in a row. Lake Forest's three goals were just the fourth time a UWSP opponent has scored at least three times this season.
UW-Stevens Point trailed 3-1 after Mark Essahki scored at the 13:58 mark of the second period. However, the Pointers got a pair of quick goals from Scott Henegar and Ladd 61 seconds apart to knot the score at 3-3 entering the third period, setting up Kalisz's game winner. Ladd's goal was his team-leading 13th of the season, while Henegar's was his seventh.
Earlier, goals from Zach Mudge and Mike Violette gave Lake Forest a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Evan Dixon got UWSP within a goal at 2-1 just more than four minutes after Violette's goal with a four-on-four goal.
Two Pointers had multi-point games, as Brooks recorded two assists in addition to Ladd's goal and an assist. UW-Stevens Point outshot Lake Forest 45-35 in the game but was outshot 10-9 in the third period.
No. 4 St. Norbert 5, No. 6 St. Thomas (Minn.) 3
DE PERE, Wis. -- St. Norbert opened the second half of the regular season with an impressive 5-3 win against St. Thomas (Minn.) in a non-conference game at the Cornerstone Community Center.
The Green Knights (11-2) trailed 2-1 in the first period before scoring three of the game's last four goals. St. Thomas dropped to 8-2-2.
St. Norbert grabbed the early lead on a Cullen Bradshaw goal at 5:05 of the first period with Tyler Zepeda assisting. St. Thomas scored the next two goals when Alex Niestrom and Michael Krieg scored at 6:35 and 12:04, respectively, with Kreig's marker coming on the power play.
Michael Hill knotted the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal at 18:35 of the first period, with Erik Cooper assisting.
St. Norbert dominated the second period, outshooting the Tommies 8-1 en route to grabbing a two-goal lead. Bradshaw scored his eighth goal of the season at 9:54, with Cooper and Blake Thompson assisting. Joe Perry put the Green Knights ahead 4-2 at 16:58.
Perry scored again with a power-play marker for his ninth of the season at 1:28 of the third period, with Zepeda assisting. Krieg scored with 5:15 remaining for the game's final goal.
No. 5 Norwich 5, No. 15 Amherst 1
NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- Norwich played arguably its best game of the season on Saturday night with a convincing 5-1 win against Amherst in the 2014 Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament championship game at Kreitzberg Arena.
The Cadets got goals from five different players as Nevin Lawler, Paul Russell, Ryan Whitell, William Pelletier and Shane Gorman all found the back of the net as Norwich (9-1-2, 6-0-1 ECAC East) rolled to its fourth consecutive victory.
Matic Marinsek made 18 saves to pick up the victory and improve to 8-1-2 on the year. He was named to the all-tournament team.
Dave Cunnginham took the loss for Amherst despite an impressive 34-save performance to drop to 5-3-0 on the year.
No. T7 Williams 4, Hamilton 3 (OT)
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Williams and Hamilton squared off in a non-NESCAC contest in the consolation game of the Buck Supply Winter Classic and the Ephs claimed a 4-3 overtime win.
With the win Williams improved to 6-1-2 on the year and Hamilton fell to 3-5-1 Hamilton (3-4-1). While this was a game between two NESCAC teams it does not count in the NESCAC standings.
It took the Ephs less than a minute to settle things in OT – 56 seconds to be precise. The game winner was netted by freshman George Hunkele, whose shot deflected off a player out front and eluded the efforts of Hamilton netminder Charlie Fennell.
The Ephs opened the scoring in the contest with a goal late in the first period with freshman Frankie Mork being set up by senior captain Nick Anderson for his third goal of the season at 19:43. Mork scored on a blast from the left face-off circle on Anderson's third assist of the season.
Hamilton tied the game with a second period-power play goal by Robbie Murden with Conor Lamberti and Michael DiMare assisting.
Hamilton re-gained the lead in the third period as Robbie Murden struck again. This time Murden's tally was a short-handed unassisted effort.
For the second consecutive night freshman Sam Gray scored the Ephs' second goal of a game and tied the score at 2. Gray's goal at even strength was an unassisted score.
No. 13 Oswego State 3, No. T9 Utica 2 (SO)
OSWEGO, N.Y. -- Oswego State won its second consecutive PathFinder Bank/Oswego State Hockey Classic championship with a 2-1 shootout win against Utica after playing to a 2-2 tie through overtime. Senior captain David Titanic scored the game winner to earn his team the title. With the tie, Oswego moves to 6-2-2 on the season.
Mike Montagna was named the most outstanding player of the classic after scoring a goal and an assist in the tournament as well as burying the team's first shootout goal on Saturday.
Also being named to the all-tournament team from Oswego were goalie Matt Zawadzki and Kenny Neil. Zawadzki posted a shutout against Curry in the opening round with 15 saves before stopping 25 Pioneer attempts on Saturday. He also turned away two of Utica's one-on-one opportunities during the shootout to secure the championship.
Neil had an assist against Curry before scoring both of Oswego's goals in the tie against Utica.
