By Michael Battista / @MichaelB_96

The fall has come to an end in the Colonial and after 12 weeks of games the final standings are already coming into focus. The three top teams in the CSCHC (UPenn Quakers, Scranton Royals, and TCNJ Lions) have all clinched a spot in February’s playoff tournament. On the other end of things, both the Princeton Tigers and Monmouth Hawks are officially out of the hunt having been mathematically eliminated.

Every other team, from places 3rd through 8th, are all still in the hunt with varying chances of getting into the six team postseason. Of that group, the 7th seed Seton Hall Pirates have the best chance of any team on the outside looking in. The team will need to win at least three of its last four games if it wishes to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

The six teams currently in playoff position are also still in contention for a first round bye in the playoffs by finishing in the top two spots. TCNJ, having played more non-conference games than any other team, has the most points left to earn giving them a slight advantage in the hunt for the top seed.

In the final weekend of games, the top contenders were challenged heavily in ways the scoreline might not suggest. On Friday, UPenn went down 2-1 heading into the final period against Monmouth after Thomas Amen Michael Gauthier capitalized on scoring chances. Two goals in the first minute by Brett Rahbany and three more scores saved the squad as Monmouth failed to hold back the conference’s best offense. Likewise, Scranton went down two goals in the first period against Millersville on Saturday night but the Royals only needed 10 minutes to tie the game back up before taking control on the contest fully in the second period. Peter Cassidy was instrumental for the Royals in the game, scoring four goals including the team’s first three while  John Forlenza Ii had a four point night of his own (1 goal & 3 assists).

The Rutgers Knights may have taken the most out of the final fall weekend as the club split its two games and earned three crucial points as it continues to hold onto the fourth seed. A shootout loss to West Chester on Saturday night ties the Golden Rams with the team at 16 pts but Rutgers still holds the lead on tie-breakers.

Three conference teams took part in non-CSCHC games in Week 12 as well. While none were able to come away with a win, TCNJ battled local rival Rider University to a 4-3 loss in front of a packed Loucks Ice Center crowd that included the President of  the College, Dr. Kathryn Foster.

To close out the semester, two CSCHC teams earned spots in the ACHA Southwest Top 20. UPenn remains the highest ranked conference team and currently sits in 12th place thanks in part to a high Aggregate Goal Differential (4.2) which puts it ahead of other teams. Lower down, The College of New Jersey sits in 20th with its highest ranking so far this season. Here are the full listings for CSCHC teams in the rankings:

#11 - UPenn

#20 - TCNJ

#24 - Rutgers

#25 - Scranton

#33 - Millersville

#34 - Seton Hall

#35 - NJIT

#36 - Princeton

 

Conference Standings after 12 Weeks

1) UPenn             12-1-1 25 pts   (Max pts total = 33)

2) Scranton          11-2-1 23 pts   (Max pts total = 31)

3) TCNJ               10-0-1 21 pts   (Max pts total = 35)

4) Rutgers             7-2-2 16 pts    (Max pts total = 30)

5) West Chester    8-5-0 16 pts    (Max pts total = 26)

6) Millersville       7-6-1 15 pts    (Max pts total = 23)

7) Seton Hall         5-9-0 10 pts    (Max pts total = 18)

8) NJIT                  3-10-0 6 pts    (Max pts total = 16)

9) Monmouth         2-10-1 5 pts   (Max pts total = 15)

10) Princeton         2-15-0 4 pts    (Max Pts total = 6)

 

All Week 12 Scores

Friday, Dec. 6

University of Pennsylvania (6) vs Monmouth University (3)

UPenn Goals:

1. Hayden Stephan (Will Torgerson)
2. Brett Rahbany (Alex Beckert, Christian Rodriguez)
3. Brett Rahbany (2) (Alex Beckert)
4. Brian Begley (Will Torgerson, Andrew Lane)
5. Alex Beckert
6. Brett Rahbany (3) (Alex Beckert, Robert Blend)

    Monmouth Goals:

1. Thomas Amen (Robert Goehring)
2. Michael Gauthier (Aidan Kroncke)
3. Zachary Zamora (PP) (Michael Russ, Richard Sabbagh)

 

Rutgers University (5) vs Millersville University (2)

Rutgers Goals:

1. Anthony Margiotta (PP) (Kyle Smith)
2. Joshua LoGiudice (PP)
3. Douglas Fischer (Branden Kushnir)
4. Anthony Margiotta (2) (Sean Murphy, Timothy Bizub)
5. Nicholas Monticchio (Douglas Fischer)

    Millersville Goals:

1. Dennis Kohajda (PP) (Tyler Browne, David Andrews)
2. David Andrews (PP) (Tyler Browne)

New Jersey Institute of Technology (1) vs Temple University (D1) (14) (Non-Conference)

NJIT Goals:

1. Michael Caufield

 

The College of New Jersey (3) vs Rider University (4) (Non-Conference)

TCNJ Goals:

1. Anthony DeAlto
2. JP Kelly (PP) (Andrew Summa, Anthony DeAlto)
3. JP Kelly (2)

 

West Chester University (2) vs Drexel University (7)

West Chester Goals:

1. Richard Brown (PP) (Grey Rumain, Joshua Stephenson)
2. Richard Brown (2) (PP) (Grey Rumain, Alex Marino)

 

Saturday, Dec. 7

University of Scranton (8) vs Millersville University (3)

Scranton Goals:

1. Peter Cassidy (PP) (John Foster, Marcus Gurega)
2. Peter Cassidy (2) (PP) (Matthew Piro)
3. Peter Cassidy (3) (PP) (John Foster, Kieran Regen)
4. John Forlenza Ii (SH)
5. Matthew Piro (SH) (Kieran Gruby)
6. Peter Cassidy (4) (Joseph Zani, John Forlenza Ii)
7. Matthew Piro (John Forlenza Ii, Owen Mueller)
8. Liam Feeley (John Forlenza Ii, Ryan Fitzmaurice)

 

Millersville Goals:

1. Christopher King (Dennis Kohajda, Tyler Poulin)
2. Tyler Browne (Christopher King, Dennis Kohajda)
3. Tyler Poulin (PP) (Christopher King, Pat McAteer)

 

University of Pennsylvania (8) vs Princeton University (0)

UPenn Goals:

1. Adam Merry
2. Alex Beckert (Brett Rahbany)
3. Brian Begley
4. Nicholas Eissler (Alex Beckert, Brett Rahbany)
5. Alex Beckert (2) (Brett Rahbany)
6. Brett Rahbany
7. Nick Jindal (Jesse Davis)
8. Brett Rahbany (SH) (Alex Beckert)

 

The College of New Jersey (6) vs Monmouth University (1)

TCNJ Goals: *not in order

1. Marc Tietjen
2. Kris Hastings
3. JP Kelly
4. Jameson Dugan
5. Jameson Dugan (2)
6. Not Reported

 

Monmouth Goals:

• Not Reported

 

West Chester University (7) vs Rutgers University (6) (Shootout)

West Chester Goals:

1. Alex Marino (PP) (Richard Brown)
2. Richard Brown (SH)
3. Dylan Storz (Nicholas Schuck, Trevor Yeager)
4. Gary Palmer (Nicholas Schuck)
5. Vincent Vetrano (Trevor Yeager, Richard Spor)
6. Alex Marino (2) (Vincent Vetrano, Richard Brown)
7. Richard Brown (2) (Listed as game winning scorer in ACHA records)

 

Rutgers Goals:

1. Branden Kushnir (PP) (Douglas Fischer, Ryan Hille)
2. Joshua LoGiudice (PP) (Kyle Smith, Anthony Margiotta)
3. Branden Kushnir (2)
4. Anthony Margiotta (PP) (Kyle Smith)
5. Douglas Fischer (Ryan Hille, Timothy Anzano)
6. Ryan Hille (Douglas Fischer, Nicholas Monticchio)

 

Sunday, Dec. 8

University of Scranton (6) vs Princeton University (3)

Scranton Goals:

1. John Forlenza Ii (Ryan Fitzmaurice)
2. Peter Cassidy
3. John Forlenza Ii (2) (Liam Feeley)
4. Peter Cassidy (2) (PP) (John Foster)
5. Joseph Zani (Benjamin Pawlak)
6. Cody Malyszek (SH) (John Forlenza Ii)

 

Princeton Goals:

1. Nicholas Cefalu (Maximilian Garlock)
2. Nicholas Cefalu (2) (Evan Majic)
3. Kevin Flahive