By Michael Battista / @MichaelB_96

In the penultimate regular season weekend, CSCHC teams hit the ice in hopes of improving playoff seeding or finishing the season strong. The race for the final playoff positions heated up and we now have at least one game this upcoming weekend between two teams gunning for the same spot. The College of New Jersey and University of Pennsylvania, both teams that have playoff history against one-another, will have a mini-postseason game this weekend to determine a regular season champion. At the other end, Millersville University and West Chester University, the last two teams to clinch playoff spots, may have a do-or-die regular season final for 5th place.

TCNJ & UPenn Set on Collision Course for Friday Night

TCNJ and UPenn have been two of the top teams in The Colonial not only this season but since the Ivy League school joined the conference in 2016. Now with one weekend to go, the Lions only trail the Quakers by two points with a game in hand as both teams are set to meet on Friday night.

Both teams went into last weekend needing wins to keep their top seed hopes alive. For Penn, a crushing display over Monmouth, 12-2, on Friday night netted the team both confidence and crucial points. Meanwhile, following a non-conference loss to Drexel University last Friday, TCNJ rebounded with a comeback win over NJIT, 5-3, on Saturday.

This season the Quakers have dominated conference competition only failing to earn two points twice. Against Monmouth, the streak continued as the visiting team doubled their previous scoreline from their December 6th 6-3 win against the Hawks. With only two more games to go before the playoffs, any lead over TCNJ is critical if the Quakers want to win their second regular season title in three years. 

The Lions opened up Saturday night at the other end of the spectrum. Despite only facing four shots in the first period, goalie Nick Pontoriero was beaten twice with scores from James Lyle and Ted Lee. The second goal came on a power play after a long-shot by Highlander Jason Applin was blocked by Pontoriero, but the Bordentown, NJ native lost track of the puck as it sat in the crease on his left. Before he could act, Lee slapped it in to give his team its second lead of the night. This lead grew before the second period ended and NJIT general manager Bob McMorrow was impressed with how his team played despite being undermanned.

“When the first period ended It was no surprise that the Lions held 14-5 advantage in shots on goal,” McMorrow said in an email. “What was surprising is that NJIT was in the lead with a (1 goal) advantage on the scoreboard.  Even more surprising was that at the end of the second period the shots were 27-8 in favor of the Lions and they trailed 3-1. 

Despite being down, the home team remained in control of the game throughout. The Lions dominated in terms of puck time and shots taken and were able to rally midway through the first period when freshman defenseman John Green poked in a goal through the legs of NJIT goalie Martin Paro. After the visitors scored a third goal thanks to a goal by Dennis Sikorjak, TCNJ head coach Andrew Ducko had seen enough and replaced Pontoriero with his usual starter Michael Lojewski. From there it was lights out as the Highlanders went 0 for 7 for the remainder of the game.

“Unfortunately, 12 skaters against 19 eventually caught up with NJIT and so did TCNJ,” McMorrow said.

The third period saw four Lions goals from Travis Beni, Ryan Anderson, and two from Matt Lojewski. What’s more, in the final regular season home game of the season and on a night when the team honored its seniors, all three players that were honored contributed in the comeback. Anderson scored a goal and assisted on another, while Marc Tiejen and Kris Hastings both inched closer to 100 career points with TCNJ with one assist each (bring their totals to 97 and 94 career points respectively).

Earlier this season, TCNJ lost UPenn in regulation but the result was later overturned by the conference due to a rule violation by the Quakers. A win by UPenn at home on Friday would almost certainly clinch the top seed for the team.

Millersville and West Chester to Decide 5th & 6th Seeds This Weekend

The battle for the last two seeds in the playoffs may not seem like a big deal. However, when the outcome of one game decides which team will face a possible multi-time CSCHC finalist, it becomes more imperative to win.

With Scranton locked in as the third seed and Rutgers a win away from being fourth, their opponents have not been finalized. If the Rams win they will be locked in as the fifth seed and will play Rutgers in a rematch of a close game this past weekend. On the other hand, a Millersville win puts the Marauders ahead with a chance to clinch fifth place on Saturday vs Monmouth. 

The Rams swept the regular season series against Rutgers this season and lost both meetings against Scranton, including a 5-4 loss in its second game. Millersville has lost to the Royals by 3+ goals in both its meetings this season and is also winless against Rutgers, with last weekend’s overtime loss being the closest of the series.

Both teams are coming into the Friday night showdown off CSCHC loses last weekend. While the Rams impressed against Penn State University Harrisburg of the Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference (DVCHC) on Friday, the team ran into Scranton on Saturday. Both Marcus Gurega and John Forlenza II earned two points during the game, each scoring a goal and assisting another, as the Rams were held scoreless until midway into the final period.

“They did a really good job at taking away time and space and played a physical game,” West Chester head coach Patrick Wilson said in an email. “We had opportunities to capitalize but unfortunately didn’t take advantage of them.”

His team put up 25 shots against Dylan Euvino during the 60 minutes and had five power play opportunities, including three in the first period, but failed to make them count.

Royals head coach Stephan Fusco said after the game that both teams kept it close throughout knowing playoff spots were on the line.

“(It) was hard fought until the end,” Fusco said. “Some good defensive plays and goaltending by both teams kept it interesting.”

Millersville left last weekend with two losses but kept things interesting by earning a point in their lone conference game against Rutgers. Dennis Kohajda, who scored a goal on Friday night, knows that while the team has to play better if they want results he and his teammates can see they are improving.

“I feel good, and the boys feel good,” he said. “These past few weeks of the semester we've been playing some good hockey. This past weekend we've played two solid games and we look to build off that going into West Chester and Monmouth.”

The team started the weekend against the University of Delaware where the team came back from an early deficit only to let in four unanswered goals in the second period on route to a loss.

Goalie Mat Schroeder, who went 45 for 50 against UDel, knows while these games don’t count for conference they do matter for a whole lot more for his team.

“Every game matters whether it’s a non league or league match-up,” Schroeder said. “As a team we take every game seriously no matter who or where we are playing.”

Against Rutgers the next night the Marauders once again found themselves down after the first period, this time by two goals thanks to scores by Sean Murphy and Nicholas Monticchio. After a brief talk from head coach Scott McGillivray, the team came out quick and despite going down a man ten second in David Andrews was able to get his team on the board a minute later. By the end of the period, Millersville had completely swayed the momentum scoring two more goals from Tyler Browne and only allowing the Knights to keep the game level after Joshua LoGiudice netted a goal midway through.

A scoreless third where goalie Garret Baldacci and his defense had to endure three penalty kills forced overtime. Despite being up a man, Millersville was unable to stop Douglas Fischer from rushing up the ice and scoring the game winner to keep the Knights in the hunt for the third seed.

Despite the loss, Kohajda knows every point matters this late in the season.

“Points are points and, we'll take them however we can get them at this time of the year,” he said. “Losing isn't fun (and) we want to win every game. It kinda makes it feel a little better knowing we got a point out of Saturday's loss.”

Full Scores

Friday, Jan. 31

University of Pennsylvania (12) vs Monmouth University (2) (CSCHC Game)

Monmouth Goals:

- Not Reported

UPenn Goals:

- Not Reported

 

Rutgers University (9) vs New Jersey Institute of Technology (1) (CSCHC Game)

Rutgers Goals:

1: Anthony Margiotta

2: Joshua LoGiudice (Ryan Hille, Douglas Fischer)

3: Thomas Bruckman (Sean Ely)

4: Anthony Margiotta (2) (Kyle Smith, Brian Mazur)

5: Ryan Hille (Kevin Mccoy)

6: Paul Stryker (Thomas Bruckman)

7: Ryan Hille

8: Robert Proko

9: Nicholas Monticchio (Sean Ely , Paul Stryker)

NJIT Goal:

1: Dalton Smith (Michael Caufield)

 

Drexel University(D2) (3) vs The College of New Jersey (1)

TCNJ Goal:

1: Kristopher Hastings (SH) (Travis Beni, Marc Tietjen)

 

University of Delaware (5) vs Millersville University (2)

Millersville Goals:

1: Dennis Kohajda (Christopher Henn)

2: Tyler Browne

 

West Chester University (9) vs Penn State University - Harrisburg (6)

West Chester Goals:

- Not Reported
 

Saturday, Feb. 1

Rutgers University (4) vs Millersville University (3) (OT) (CSCHC Game)

Millersville Goals:

1: David Andrews (SH) (Christopher Henn, Dylan Nassoiy)

2: Tyler Browne (Christopher Henn)

3: Tyler Browne (2) (Travis Tuson, Michael Carrelli)

Rutgers Goals:

1: Sean Murphy (SH) (Kyle Smith)

2: Nicholas Monticchio (Ryan Hille)

3: Joshua LoGiudice (Trevor Smolsky)

4: Douglas Fischer (SH) (Overtime Winner)

 

Rutgers University-Camden (D3) (5) vs Monmouth University (4)

Monmouth Goals:

- Not Reported

 

The College of New Jersey (5) vs New Jersey Institute of Technology (3) CSCHC Game)

TCNJ Goals:

1: John Green (Kevin Broskie, Michael Hannigan)

2: Travis Beni (Kristopher Hastings)

3: Ryan Anderson (Jameson Dugan, Dan Martin)

4: Matt Lojewski (Anthony DeAlto, Jameson Dugan)

5: Matt Lojewski (2) (PP) (Ryan Anderson, Marc Tietjen)

NJIT Goals:

1: James Lyle (Robert Mcmorrow, Michael Caufield)

2: Ted Lee (Jason Applin, Michael Caufield)

3: Dennis Sikorjak (Matthew Sendecki)

 

West Chester University (1) vs University of Scranton (4) (CSCHC Game)

West Chester Goal:

1: Richard Spor (Gary Palmer)

Scranton Goals:

1: Kieran Regen (PP) (John Foster, Marcus Gurega)

2: Marcus Gurega

3: Liam Feeley (John Forlenza II)

4: John Forlenza II

 

Sunday, Feb. 2

University of Scranton (7) vs Seton Hall University (2) CSCHC Game)

Scranton Goals:

1: Benjamin Pawlak

2: Michael Laforte (Thomas Delgaizo)

3: Cody Malyszek (John Forlenza II)

4: Kieran Gruby (SH) (Marcus Gurega)

5: John Forlenza II (Kieran Gruby)

6: Thomas Delgaizo (Thomas Murphy, Cody Malyszek)

7: John Foster (John Forlenza II)

Seton Hall Goals:

1: Benjamin Bala

2: Keegan Sullivan (PP) (Tanner Purcel)

 

Conference Standings after 15 Weeks

Playoff Notes

• A TCNJ win over UPenn on Friday and a win over either West Chester or Seton Hall over the weekend will earn the Lions the regular season title and the first seed in the Colonial Cup playoffs

• A UPenn win over TCNJ on Friday and NJIT on Saturday will earn the Quakers the regular season title and the first seed in the Colonial Cup playoffs

• Any TCNJ win will officially eliminate Scranton from contention for a Colonial Cup Playoff bye

• A West Chester win over Millersville on Friday night means the Marauders will be locked as a sixth seed for the Colonial Cup Playoffs

• If Millersville wins out (beats both West Chester and Monmouth this weekend) the team will be a fifth seed for the Colonial Cup Playoffs

CSCHC Teams in the ACHA Southeast Rankings

* Updated with latest ACHA Rankings from February 6th, 2020

• 18) UPenn

• 23) TCNJ

• 29) Rutgers

• 32) Scranton

• 36) Millersville

• 40) NJIT

• 41) Seton Hall

• 43) Princeton

• N/A) West Chester

• N/A) Monmouth