The Springfield NCAA Division I Hockey Regional Tournament features the nation's best defensive teams and the nation's top scoring teams.
Cornell University, the University of Maine's first-round opponent on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., is allowing 1.88 points per game, the lowest in the nation, while the University of Denver Pioneers are allowing 4.85 points per game. This is the most among 64 Division I schools.
Denver, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference champion and the tournament's top seed, will face host UMass in the opening game Thursday at 2 p.m. at MassMutual Center.
Denver has 11 players who have scored at least 10 goals, which is the same as the other three teams combined.
Cornell coach Mike Shafer, in his 29th year on the bench, led his young team to a 21-6-6 record and the ECAC Tournament title with a 3-1 victory over St. Lawrence in the championship game. lead. .
It was Cornell University's first Whitelaw Cup (ECAC tournament title) win since 2010.
Freshman center Jonathan Castagna scored two goals in the final and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Castagna was joined on the all-tournament team by two teammates: freshman defenseman Ben Robertson and center Gabriel Seager, the only senior on the team.
The game against Maine will feature two of the NCAA Tournament's youngest teams.
Thirteen of the 20 players who played in the University of Maine's 4-1 loss to Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals were freshmen or sophomores.
Cornell University picked up 11 players, including nine freshmen, in the win over St. Lawrence.
Schaefer said he's still trying to figure out his team.
“It's a little crazy to say that. But we have nine freshmen in our lineup, so you never know what you're going to get from them,” Schaefer said.
The Big Red has a good scoring balance, with four players scoring at least 11 goals and four others scoring at least seven goals.
Two of the players scoring in double figures were freshmen Ryan Walsh (12 goals, 10 assists) and Castagna (11 goals, 14 assists). Sophomore winger Dalton Bancroft has 12 goals and 19 assists the rest of the way, while Seager leads the team in goals (14), assists (28) and points (42).
“We have some good players. We don't have to rely on one guy like a Hobey Baker Award nominee to carry us. We spread the wealth, and that's a good thing. We don't have to rely on one guy like a Hobey Baker Award nominee to carry us. We spread the wealth, and that's a good thing. “Different players stepped up at different times to create,” he said.
Cornell ranks 12th in the nation offensively, scoring 3.36 goals per game.
Seager and junior goaltender Ian Schoen are 21-4-6, tops in the nation with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage, and were named to the All-ECAC first team, joining Castagna and Robertson (5 goals, 18). (assist) was selected to the All-ECAC first team. Selected to the ECAC All-Rookie Team.
Shane was named Goaltender of the Year.
Schaefer said rebound control is Shane's strength. He either defends the first shot and leaves no rebound, or directs the puck to safety or a teammate to initiate a breakout.
“He can make big saves when he needs to,” said Schaefer, who has 541 career wins.
Cornell, which has four freshman defensemen in its regular rotation, has allowed two or fewer runs in 27 of 33 games.
Schaefer said at the beginning of the season that their goal was to finish in the top three in the league standings, win a home ice series in the quarterfinals and have a chance to win the title.
They finished second and won a best-of-three quarterfinal round series against Harvard University. The Big Red then scored five points in the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit and defeated Dartmouth 6-3 in the ECAC semifinals in Lake Placid, New York, before defeating St. Lawrence in the title game. Broke it.
“And we were fortunate enough to be able to do that,” Schaefer said.
A tough battle with Yumain is expected.
“Ben Barr (University of Maine head coach) has done a great job. They're good defensively. They're well-organized and they don't let themselves get beat, so they had a very solid year. I was able to spend a lot of time there,” Schaefer said. “And they have the best power play in the country.”
Denver enters the tournament with a 27-9-3 record and a 10-1-1 record in its past 12 games.
The Pioneers include All-NCHC first-teamer Jack Devine (27 goals, 28 assists), a Hobey Baker Award finalist, and freshman defenseman Jeev Bouium (11 goals, 37 assists). He was unanimously selected for the first team. Junior winger Massimo Rizzo (10 and 34 years old) was selected for the second team, as was Zeev's older brother, junior defenseman Shai Bouium (7 and 27 years old).
Zeev Bouium was unanimously selected to the All-Rookie team, along with Denver forward Miko Matica (19 and 12 years old).
Denver has nine players with 30 or more points.
David Karl's Pioneers have scored at least five goals in 24 of 39 games.
The University of Massachusetts has lost to three of the final four teams entering the tournament, including an 8-1 loss to Hockey East regular season and tournament champion Boston College in the league semifinals.
But that one win was a key 3-1 victory over Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals, and that win, along with strong performances in other league tournaments, earned the Minutemen a tournament berth. I was able to.
They include third-year All-Hockey East first-team defenseman Ryan Ufko (10 and 16) and 6-foot-7 freshman Michael Hrabal (16-10) as second-team goaltender. 1 minute, GAA 2.46, save percentage .916). junior Scott Morrow (6 and 23) third-team defenseman;
Morrow shares the team scoring lead with freshman Jack Moussa (12, 17 points).
Denver won the national title in 2022, a year after UMass won its first NCAA championship.
