Men's Ice Hockey Championship Field Announced

Tufts Hosts Quarterfinal for First Time Ever

HADLEY, Mass. – The field for the 2012 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship is set. Top-seeded Amherst College will look to win the program's second conference crown when the Lord Jeffs open tournament play on Saturday, Feb. 25 as one of four quarterfinal hosts.

Joining the Jeffs with a first round home match are Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Tufts, as the Jumbos posted their best finish in the NESCAC standings this season. If Amherst advances out of the quarterfinals, it will host the semifinals and final at Orr Rink on March 3-4. Ticket information for the quarterfinals shall be released by the hosts during the upcoming week.

Amherst (20-3-1, 17-1-0 NESCAC) left little doubt about where it would end up as the regular season entered the final stretch. A 3-1 win over Bowdoin on Feb. 3 gave the Lord Jeffs a nearly-insurmountable lead in the race for the number-one seed with five games left to play, and a week later Amherst cemented itself atop the standings with a convincing 8-0 decision against Tufts. Stellar defense, timely scoring, and impressive play on special teams are key ingredients for any successful squad, and for the Lord Jeffs appear to have the right mix this season. Amherst has suffered only three losses so far this year with just one coming in conference play, a 7-4 setback at Bowdoin on Jan. 6. Amherst, which won its first league crown in 2009 as the top-seeded team, will put its 10-0 home record on the line when it takes on eighth-seeded Hamilton (8-13-3, 4-12-2 NESCAC). A year ago, the Continentals marched into the playoffs with the best record in the conference for the first time ever. The 2010-11 campaign is but a distant memory for Hamilton, as it grabbed the last spot in the tournament over Connecticut College by holding a better record against the top four teams in the conference. If any team knows that upsets are possible, it's Hamilton. During last year's championship, the top-seeded Continentals were unceremoniously dispatched from the playoffs by eighth-seeded Wesleyan, 5-2. Hamilton also holds the distinction of being 6-2 all-time in the tournament as the lower-seeded team. While these travel partners have never met in the playoffs, Amherst is riding a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) over Hamilton, a figure which includes a pair of wins this winter.

A rough start to the season proved to be too much for Bowdoin (15-5-3, 12-3-3 NESCAC) to overcome in pursuit of the tournament's top seed. The second-seeded Polar Bears opened the year 1-2-1 in league play before winning seven of their next eight to keep pace with the Lord Jeffs. Bowdoin was unable to close the gap, though, falling at Amherst on Feb. 3 and then tying Hamilton the next night while the Jeffs continued to roll. The Polar Bears returned to form following that weekend series, winning their last four outings with a scoring average north of six goals per game. Bowdoin will begin its quest for the NESCAC title against seventh-seeded Trinity (9-12-2, 6-10-2 NESCAC). In the hunt for a home quarterfinal match a month ago, the Bantams went 2-5-1 over their last eight games and fell out of contention. Bowdoin won the season series between the two, taking the Feb. 11 match 4-1 after tying the Jan. 14 outing 4-4. There's a bit of tournament history between these two squads. The Polar Bears hold the advantage in the series, 4-2, however the Bantams won the most recent meeting in the first round of the 2008 championship as the lower-seeded team, going on to claim their second NESCAC title.

A month ago, Middlebury (12-9-3, 11-6-1 NESCAC) was stuck in neutral and appeared to be in trouble heading into the final weeks of the season with a 6-5-1 league record. The Panthers kicked things into gear when it mattered most and finished their conference slate 5-1-0, nearly going unbeaten in February if not for a pair of late goals by Amherst in a 2-1 setback on Sunday afternoon. When it comes to the NESCAC tournament, no team has had more success than Middlebury, as the playoff-seasoned Panthers have eight conference crowns to their credit. However, Middlebury had an uncharacteristic experience during last year's playoffs when it was bounced in the opening round for the first time ever, falling to Colby 2-1. The Panthers will look to return to the semifinals when they clash with sixth-seeded Wesleyan (12-10-2, 7-9-2 NESCAC). The Cardinals not only earned the program's first victory in championship play in 2011 but also became the first eighth-seeded team to oust the top-seeded squad, taking down Hamilton 5-2 before coming up short to Williams in the semis 3-2. If Saturday's quarterfinal is anything like the two regular-season meetings, then fans should be in for a treat. Both games were decided by a single goal, as Wesleyan won at Middlebury - only the Cardinals' second victory ever over the Panthers - in overtime on Jan. 6, 5-4, before Middlebury returned the favor at Wesleyan on Feb. 4, 3-2.

The final first round matchup pits fourth-seeded Tufts (12-10-2, 9-8-1 NESCAC) against fifth-seeded Williams (11-8-5, 8-8-2 NESCAC). After finishing 10th in the conference standings and missing out on the conference tournament last winter, the Jumbos put together one of the best seasons in program history as they not only posted their highest finish in the conference standings but also earned the right to host a tournament game for the first time. Tufts locked up the fourth seed on Saturday evening thanks to a 3-2 victory over Colby combined with Williams' 3-1 setback to Amherst. If the Jumbos hope to add another first to their list of accomplishments with a playoff win, then they will need to show some consistency. Tufts has scored three-or-more goals in each of its last four wins while holding opponents to two goals or less. In their last three losses, the Jumbos have been out-scored 23-2. The Ephs, meanwhile, will be looking to build off a much-needed victory in Sunday's finale, 5-1 over Hamilton, as it was their first in their last eight games (1-6-1). During the 2011 NESCAC tournament, Williams was the only higher-seeded team to survive the quarterfinals and advanced as far as the championship for the first time in over a decade. The Ephs and the Jumbos split the season series, as the visiting team recorded a win on their opponent's ice with Williams winning 4-1 on Dec. 2 and Tufts taking the Jan. 27 affair in overtime 3-2.

2012 NESCAC MEN'S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Feb. 25 at Higher Seeds
No. 5 Williams at No. 4 Tufts - TBA
No. 7 Trinity at No. 2 Bowdoin - 4:00 p.m.
No. 6 Wesleyan at No. 3 Middlebury - 4:00 p.m.
No. 8 Hamilton at No. 1 Amherst - 7:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, March 3 at Highest Remaining Seed
Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed - 1:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 4:00 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, March 4
Semifinal winners - 2:00 p.m.