Sports
Springfield NCAA hockey regional features the best defensive and offensive teams in the country
The Springfield NCAA Division I hockey regional features the nation's best defensive team and the team that leads the nation in goals scored.
Cornell University, the University of Maines' opponent in the first round Thursday at 5:30 p.m., has given up a nationally low 1.88 goals per game, while the Denver University Pioneers have scored 4.85 goals per game, making it highest among the 64 Division I schools.
National Collegiate Hockey Conference champion Denver, the top seed for the tournament, will take on host UMass at the MassMutual Center on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Denver has eleven players who have scored at least ten goals, which is the same total for the other three teams combined.
Cornell University coach Mike Schafer, who is in his 29th year behind the bench, has led his youthful team to a 21-6-6 record and the ECAC tournament title thanks to a 3-1 win over St. Lawrence in the championship game.
It was Cornell's first Whitelaw Cup (ECAC tournament title) since 2010.
Freshman center Jonathan Castagna had two goals in the final and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Castagna was joined on the tournament team by two of his teammates, freshman defenseman Ben Robertson and center Gabriel Seger, the team's only senior.
The game with UMaine features two of the youngest teams in the NCAA tournament.
Thirteen of the 20 players who played in UMaine's 4-1 Hockey East semifinal loss to Boston University were freshmen or sophomores.
Cornell had 11 in its win over St. Lawrence, including nine freshmen.
Schafer said he's still trying to figure out his team.
It's a bit crazy to say that. But we have nine freshmen in the lineup, so you never know what you're going to get from them, Schafer said.
The Big Red has a good scoring balance: four players have at least eleven goals and four others have at least seven goals.
Two of the players with double-digit goals are freshmen: Ryan Walsh (12 goals, 10 assists) and Castagna (11 goals, 14 assists). Sophomore winger Dalton Bancroft has 12 goals to go with 19 assists and Seger leads the team in goals (14), assists (28) and points (42).
We have some good players. We don't have to rely on one man, like a Hobey Baker Award candidate, to carry us. We spread the wealth, which is good. Different boys have risen up at different times to cause offense, he said.
Cornell ranks 12th in the nation in offense, producing 3.36 goals per game.
Seger and junior goaltender Ian Shane, who is 21-4-6 with a nation-leading 1.70 goals against average and .922 save percentage, were first-team All-ECAC selections, while Castagna and Robertson (5 goals , 18 assists) were named to the ECAC All-Rookie team.
Shane was chosen as Goalkeeper of the Year.
Schafer said rebound control is Shane's strength. He hangs on to the first shot and doesn't leave a rebound, or he sends the puck to a safe spot or to a teammate to start the breakaway.
He can also make big saves when we need him to, said Schafer, who has 541 career wins.
Cornell, which has four freshman defensemen in its regular rotation, has allowed two goals or fewer 27 times in 33 games.
Schafer said at the start of the season that their goal was to finish in the top three of the standings, gain a home ice series for the quarterfinals and give themselves a chance to win a title.
They finished second and hosted Harvard for a best-of-three quarterfinal round, which they won. The Big Red then used a five-goal third period to erase a 3–1 deficit, defeating Dartmouth 6–3 in the ECAC semifinals in Lake Placid, NY before defeating St. Lawrence in the title game.
And we were fortunate enough to make it happen, Schafer said.
He expects a tough battle against UMaine.
Ben Barr (UMaine head coach) has done a great job. They are good defensively. They are well structured and don't beat themselves, which has allowed them to have a very consistent year, Schafer said. And they have one of the best power plays in the country.
Denver, 27-9-3, will enter the tournament with a record of 10-1-1 over its last 12 games.
The Pioneers have a Hobey Baker Award finalist in All-NCHC first teamer Jack Devine (27 goals, 28 assists) and a unanimous first team selection in freshman defenseman Zeev Buium (11 and 37). Junior winger Massimo Rizzo (10 & 34) was a second team choice, as was junior defender Shai Buium (7 & 27), Zeev's older brother.
Zeev Buium was a unanimous choice for the All-Rookie team, as was Denver forward Miko Matikka (19 and 12).
Denver has nine players with at least 30 points.
David Carles Pioneers scored at least five goals in 24 of their 39 games.
UMass has lost three of the last four entering the tournament, including an 8-1 drubbing against regular-season Hockey East and tournament champion Boston College in the league semifinals.
But that one win was a key 3-1 win over Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals and that win plus some favorable results in other league tournaments allowed the Minutemen to claim a tournament spot.
They have a first-team All-Hockey East defenseman in junior Ryan Ufko (10 and 16), a second-team goalie in 6-foot-4 freshman Michael Hrabal (16-10-1, 2.46 GAA, . 916 save percentage) and a third-team defenseman in junior Scott Morrow (6 and 23).
Morrow shares the team lead with freshman Jack Musa (12 and 17).
Denver won the national title in 2022, a year after UMass claimed its first NCAA championship.
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