Hobart Captures 2015 ECAC Men's West Hockey Championship
GENEVA, N.Y. – The Hobart College Statesmen captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Men’s West Hockey Championship on Saturday night, skating past Neumann University, 2-1 in an overtime thriller.
Hobart senior forward Sean Rudy (Long Sault, Ont.) was named the 2015 ECAC Men’s West Tournament Most Outstanding Player after wristing home the game-winning goal in overtime to clinch Hobart’s third ECAC Men’s West Championship title.
Hobart got on the scoreboard first, scoring the game’s opening goal 11 minutes into the contest. Sophomore Nick Bingaman (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) recorded his 11th goal of the season off a feed from senior Brad McBride (Lone Tree, Colo.) to give the Statesmen a 1-0 lead.
Neumann evened things up just under five minutes into the second when junior defender Steve Low (Haddonfield, N.J.) connected with freshman Doug Rose (Sewell, N.J.) for his eighth goal of the season to knot things at one.
The teams would remain scoreless for the remainder of the second period, despite several scoring opportunities for both sides. The Statesmen would threaten on a power play opportunity halfway through the period but the Knights’ defense held strong with Low and Matt Mazzarolo (Surrey, B.C.) each blocking a shot. Neumann senior goaltender Ben Curley (Dunrobin, Ont.) made 18 stops in the period, including a crucial save with less than three minutes remaining in the period. Not to be outdone Hobart’s freshman netminder and ECAC Men’s West First Team All-Conference selection, Frank Oplinger (Sewickley, Pa.), held strong on a Knights’ breakaway opportunity with two seconds left on the clock.
The third period proved to be much of the same with both teams holding strong on defense. The Statesmen outshot the Knights, 21-7 as Curley continued his strong performance in net finishing regulation with 58 saves. Oplinger stood tall again in the final seconds of the period as he stuffed Knights’ forward Anthony Pino (Glen Mills, Pa.) at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Overtime proved to be a thriller with each team having chances to seal the game. With less than nine minutes to go in the period, junior Statesmen Bo Webster (Aurora, Ont.) found Rudy in the high slot as he wristed the game-winner past Curley.
The Statesmen will await their fate until 10:30am on Monday morning when the NCAA announces their selections and pairings for the 2015 Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament.
2015 ECAC Men's West All-Tournament Team
Forward – Nick Bingaman, Hobart College
Forward – Mike Davis, Neumann University
Defense – Doug Rose, Neumann University
Defense – Ryan Michel, Hobart College
Goaltender – Frank Oplinger, Hobart College
Goaltender – Ben Curley, Neumann University
2015 ECAC Men's West Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Forward – Sean Rudy, Hobart College