By Michael Battista / @MichaelB_96

The top seeded College of New Jersey beat the (#2) University of Pennsylvania, 3-2, on Sunday to win its fourth straight Colonial Cup. In the process, the Lions became the first ACHA Southeast team to win four conference titles in as many years and tied a regional record for consecutive conference final appearances (5). The team is also the first Colonial States College Hockey Conference member to win both the regular season and playoff championship in the same year.

Finally, the win was also the 100th win for TCNJ head coach Andrew Ducko and assistant coach Paul Batcho since joining the program.

The Lions have met the Quakers in the semifinals of the previous four playoffs. In these games TCNJ has always come out on top, outscoring UPenn 25-12. Both teams had byes into the semifinals this year, where TCNJ beat (#4) Rutgers University, 4-0, and UPenn outlasted the (#3) University of Scranton’s comeback, 8-5.

TCNJ’s senior assistant captain Kris Hastings bookended his team’s win with goals, including a successful power-play with just a few minutes left to play in the second period. James Dugan rounded out the scoring midway through the second, assisted by Travis Beni and Matt Lojewski.

The Quakers tested sophomore goalie Michael Lojewski in net all game. By the end of regulation, he had faced 40 shots and had stopped 38 of them in the process. After the game, Lojewski was awarded the title of “Best Goalie in the CSCHC” for his work this past season. Defenseman Jameson Dugan repeated his performance from the previous night against Rutgers as well, blocking shots and pressuring the Quakers mercilessly all game.

For their part, UPenn entered the weekend missing one of its best players. Forward Alex Beckert was unable to play due to a lingering injury. The player who finished runner-up in total points across all-players in the conference, and also led all players in assists, was sorely missed as UPenn’s office could not find the back of the net. The rest of the team rallied and in the semifinal against Scranton it took the team less than a minute to score, however the Lions proved to be too much to overcome.

The team’s other standout and conference MVP, Brett Rahbany, helped push the offense and assisted on the team’s first goal late in the second period that cut into TCNJ’s two goal lead. His shot bounced off Lojeski and dribbled to the left side, where Robert Blend slapped in the goal on a nearly open net.

Penn’s Will Torgerson cut the lead back down to one early in the third period off an assist from Hayden Stephan but it was not enough.

The Lions are now eagerly awaiting the results of the Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League playoffs this weekend. If either the University of Louisville or the University of Dayton pull-off an upset and win the tournament, they will make the ACHA Southeast Regional Tournament as a 12 Seed. This would push TCNJ up to #11 in the regional seeding due to these schools being ranked lower in the final ACHA SE Rankings, setting up a Loucks Ice Center clash between the Colonial champs and #10 Rider University (MACH). If any other team wins the TSCHL cup, the Lions remain #12 in the region and will face #9 Wake Forest University (ACCHL).

2019-2020 CSCHC Regular Season Awards

Most Valuable Player: Brett Rahbany - University of Pennsylvania

Most Goals: Brett Rahbany (29) - University of Pennsylvania

Most Assists: Alex Beckert (26) - University of Pennsylvania

Most Points: Brett Rahbany (48) - University of Pennsylvania

Best Goaltender: Mike Lojewski - The College of New Jersey

Best Defenseman: Travis Beni - The College of New Jersey

Team Sportsmanship: Princeton University

2019-2020 Colonial Cup Playoff Awards

Playoff Most Valuable Player: Jameson Dugan - The College of New Jersey