Men's Ice Hockey Championship Field Announced

Colby Slips Past Bowdoin on Last Day of Regular Season for Number-One Seed

HADLEY, Mass. - Colby College has earned the number-one seed in the 2008 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. The top-seeded Mules, who recorded their best NESCAC regular season finish this year, slipped past Bowdoin thanks to a win and a Polar Bear loss and claimed first place in the conference standings. The 2008 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship begins on Saturday, March 1, with quarterfinal round action at the top four seeds.

Colby (14-8-1, 13-5-1 NESCAC) earned the top seed for the first time in tournament history on Saturday afternoon with a little help from Norwich, the team that dashed the Mules’ hopes of gaining the number-one seed in last year’s championship. Colby’s 5-1 win over St. Michael’s combined with a 6-4 victory by Norwich over Bowdoin put the Mules in sole possession of first place in the league standings. Colby completed the regular season on a three-game winning streak, stringing together a 5-2-1 record during the month of February. The Mules will begin their quest for the 2008 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey crown next Saturday when they host the eighth-seeded Cardinals of Wesleyan (8-12-3, 6-10-3 NESCAC). Wesleyan wrapped up its regular season campaign on the road over the weekend, falling at Castleton 6-0 on Friday and 5-4 at Skidmore on Saturday. The Cardinals head into their quarterfinal match having lost their last four games, going 2-5-2 in February. Colby won its only contest against Wesleyan this year in overtime on Feb. 16 by a 3-2 score in Middletown, Conn. This will be the second meeting between these two teams in playoff history, with Colby edging Wesleyan 4-2 in the first round of the inaugural NESCAC championship in 2000. Since that contest, the Cardinals have not scored a playoff goal in their last two tournament appearances (2006, 2007).

Four-time defending NESCAC champion Middlebury (16-6-2, 12-5-2 NESCAC) came away with the second seed for the second year in a row. Middlebury finished tied in the standings with Bowdoin, however the Panthers held the tie-breaker over the Polar Bears by winning the lone meeting of 2007-08. Although the Panthers finished the regular season on a high note by winning their last two contests, the season has been up-and-down for Middlebury. After reeling off 10-straight victories over the months of December and January and out-scoring opponents by a 45-20 margin, the Panthers went uncharacteristically cold in February with a 3-4-1 record and surrendering 25 goals. Against this year’s tournament field, however, Middlebury holds a 4-1-2 record, and the Panthers will face seventh seed Williams (9-11-4, 7-8-4 NESCAC) in the quarterfinals for the second-straight year. The Panthers scratched out a 2-1 win over the Ephs on Jan. 15 in Williamstown, Mass. Last winter, Middlebury put Williams out of the tournament with a 5-1 first round victory en route to the Panthers’ seventh NESCAC title. Saturday’s quarterfinal battle between travel partners will be the third in championship history, with Middlebury winning the previous two meetings.

Heading into the final weekend, Bowdoin (17-6-0, 13-6-0 NESCAC) knew it would host a quarterfinal game, but the Polar Bears did not know where they would finish in the NESCAC standings until the final day of the season. A setback to Norwich combined with a Middlebury win over Hamilton relegated Bowdoin to the third seed, and the Polar Bears shall take on sixth-seeded Trinity (12-10-2, 8-9-2 NESCAC). The Bantams ended the regular season tied with Williams in the standings but had the tie-breaker over the Ephs thanks to a 2-1 win on Feb. 1. Trinity went 5-4-0 during the month of February, which included a 7-1 loss to quarterfinal foe Bowdoin on Feb. 16 and a 3-1 setback at Castleton in the regular season finale. These two teams met in Brunswick during last year’s quarterfinal round. The Bantams held a 3-1 lead early in the second period before the Polar Bears scored six unanswered goals in a 7-3 victory. In the eight previous years the tournament has been held, Bowdoin and Trinity have faced each other five times. The Polar Bears own the all-time advantage in the playoffs with a 4-1-0 record, winning the last three meetings.

The final quarterfinal contest pits fourth-seeded Amherst (13-8-3, 11-6-2 NESCAC) against fifth-seeded Connecticut College (9-12-3, 9-8-2 NESCAC). Both teams come into Saturday’s first round action fresh off a win, as the Lord Jeffs skated to a 6-2 victory over rival Williams and the Camels handled UMass Boston by a 6-1 score. After making the tournament field last winter for the first time in championship history, Connecticut College returns this year as arguably one of the hottest teams in the conference. Since falling at Amherst by a 5-3 decision on Feb. 2, the Camels went on to win five of their last six outings, the lone loss coming in overtime to Babson on Friday. The Lord Jeffs were victorious in the only other meeting between these two squads this season, a 4-1 decision in the semifinals of the John Dunham Tournament on Nov. 24. Amherst will be looking to reach the NESCAC semifinals for the second consecutive year, while Connecticut College hopes to make the semifinals for the first time in program history.

2008 NESCAC MEN’S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, March 1 at Higher Seeds
No. 8 Wesleyan at No. 1 Colby - 4:00 p.m.
No. 7 Williams at No. 2 Middlebury - 4:00 p.m.
No. 6 Trinity at No. 3 Bowdoin - 4:00 p.m.
No. 5 Connecticut College at No. 4 Amherst - 4:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, March 8 at Highest Remaining Seed, 1:00 p.m./4:00 p.m.
Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed
Remaining quarterfinal winners

Championship - Sunday, March 9
Semifinal winners - 1:00 p.m.