Knights return to defend RH Invitational title
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Neumann University scores a goal against Castleton State College in the championship game of the Rutland Herald Invitational last year. The Knights, the defending NCAA Division III champions who have won both previous RHI tournaments, look to make in three in a row when the tournament gets under way today. FILE / CASSANDRA HOTALING / RUTLAND HERALD |
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By Carleton Laird Staff Writer - Published: November 28, 2009
The third annual Rutland Herald Invitational is set to get under way and the two-time defending champ is back with an even more impressive title: national champions.
The Neumann Knights reached the pinnacle of Division III hockey last spring with a 4-1 win over Gustavus Adolphus at Herb Brooks Arena Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., for the first national title in any sport at the small Catholic and Franciscan university located in Aston, Penn., just outside of Philadelphia.
Head coach Dominick Dawes is a name familiar to Vermont hockey fans as he won a national title as a player with Norwich and became the second coach to win a national championship as both a player and a coach. The other was Tom Coughlin of St. Norbert.
The Knights, who play in the ECAC West, will meet Tufts out of the NESCAC in the tournament's first game today, which begins at 3 p.m. at Spartan Arena. The host Castleton Spartans, who represent the ECAC East, will meet Becker College from the ECAC Northeast at 6 p.m.
"I like the mix of young coaches and young teams getting together on Thanksgiving," Castleton coach Alex Todd said. "I think the Rutland Herald Tournament is sporting up-and-coming powers. The people that have come the last couple of years have seen Neumann go from a team that never made the playoffs to a championship-caliber team."
The tournament will conclude Sunday with the consolation game at noon and the championship contest at 3 p.m.
"We want to win our own tournament but we also want to play the best teams we can," Todd said.
Castleton (0-1-1)
Castleton has the disadvantage of having played just two games, while Tufts comes in with three in the books, Becker has played six and Neumann eight.
The Spartans got off to a rough start, dropping a 4-3 decision on their home ice to St. Anselm and then coming back on Saturday to tie New England College 2-2. Todd has admitted that his team is a notoriously slow starter but has always peaked after the first of the year.
Castleton struggled on special teams the first weekend, going 1 for 15 on the power play while surrendering two shorthanded goals. On the plus side, the Spartans have killed of 13 of 15 man-down situations.
Stuart Stefan scored two of the Spartans' five goals, with Kirk Bolduc, Omar Pacha and Lindsey Gullett getting the others. Sophomore Cody Ayers and freshman Josh Harris have two assists each.
The Spartans have 10 freshmen on the team and Todd has used many of them liberally. So far only sophomore Seth McNary has seen time in the net, but freshmen Justin Roethlingshoefer and Arthur Hollinger are waiting in the wings.
McNary turned in two very strong outings, keeping his team in both games. He made 57 saves for a .907 save percentage with a goals-against average of 2.88.
Castleton has reached the championship game both years, only to fall to Neumann.
Becker (2-3-1)
The Hawks are coming off an 11-14-1 year. They began this season at home with a 3-1 loss to Wentworth and a 3-3 tie with Stonehill. A 3-2 win over Suffolk was followed by a 5-3 loss to UMass-Dartmouth. Then came a 3-1 win at Nichols before a loss 4-2 to unbeaten Curry last Saturday.
Senior defenseman Jim Geglarek leads the team in scoring with five assists, but sophomore Robert Johnson (3-1-4) is the goals leader. Senior Jared Kersner has two goals and two assists while sophomores Jeremy Norducci, Patrick Bellew and Trevor Peltak have two goals apiece.
Sophomore Jake Rosenthal has logged most of the time in net and has a .919 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average. Senior Tony Stoehr is the backup, stopping 91.7 percent of the shots he's faced with a 2.77 GAA.
The Hawks have converted 17.6 percent (6-34) of their power plays and have killed off 84.6 percent (22-26) of their penalties.
Neumann (3-2-2)
The Knights, who were ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com preseason poll, slipped out of the top 15 this week by a point. They opened with a pair of wins against Geneseo and a tie at Utica. They then lost games at Utica and at Elmira before tying Hobart and beating Utica at home. They are coming of a 4-2 loss to Manhattanville.
A pair of sophomores, Marlin Gardner (5-3-8) and William Lacasse (2-6-8), lead Neumann in scoring, followed closely by freshman Aaron Keaney (5-2-7) and senior Matt Ward (2-5-7).
Sophomore Ross McKinnon has done the bulk of the goaltending and sports a .866 save percentage and a GAA of a beefy 4.00. Classmate Matt Tendler has numbers of .870 and 3.69 in 113 minutes.
The Knights have really struggled on special teams, converting a fairly respectable 17.6 percent (9-51) of their power-play opportunities but have killed a lackluster 63.2 percent (36-57) when they are a man down.
Tufts (0-2-1)
The Jumbos are coming off their best year since 2003-2004. They won 11 games last season and one of their victories came at Norwich's Kreitzburg Arena.
They began this season with an encouraging 3-3 tie at Middlebury's Kenyon Arena but then dropped a 2-0 decision to Williams the next night and fell to Curry 4-3 on Tuesday.
Only sophomore Matt Amico has scored more than one goal — two — and junior Tom Derosa, last year's leading scorer, paces the team in scoring with a goal and two assists.
Scott Barchard, a sophomore, has spent every minute in the Tufts net, making 137 saves for a .942 save percentage with a GAA of 2.62.
The Jumbos are just 2 of 19 on the power play and have killed 8 of 11.
carleton.laird@rutlandherald.com
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