Men's Hockey Travels to Hobart for NCAA First Round Game Wednesday

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.--The NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Committee announced today the field of 11 teams for the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. Nichols College, which won the ECAC Northeast Hockey League championship title and the conference’s automatic bid to the tournament, will travel to Hobart on Wednesday, March 11, for a first round game.

Nichols (25-3) makes its first appearance in the NCAA Championship after posting a program-best 25 wins on the season. The Bison, currently ranked 13th in the latest USCHO.com DIII men’s poll, will face fourth-ranked Hobart for the first time since 1982. The Statesmen earned an at-large bid to the tournament after being edged in the ECAC West title game, 3-2, by Neumann on Saturday.

Tickets will cost $5 for general admission, and $3 for students with a valid ID. Advance sale tickets will be available in Bristol Gym Room 205 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Tues., March 10, and 10 a.m.-noon on Wed., March 11. Credit card orders can be made by calling (315) 781-3077 during sale hours. Only 900 tickets will be sold.

Fans unable to make it to Geneva Wednesday can follow the game live on the internet with live stats and live audio. Six conferences have been awarded automatic qualification. The remaining five teams were selected at-large by the committee.The championship playoff format involves three first-round games and four quarterfinal games that are played on the campuses of the participating institutions. All games in the championship are single elimination. The four quarterfinal winners advance to Lake Placid, New York, at Herb Brooks Arena at the Olympic Center for the semifinals and championship game, which will be conducted March 20-21.

Plattsburgh State University and the Olympic Regional Development Authority will host the championship. Tickets may be purchased by calling 518/523-3330.Conferences receiving automatic qualification are:ECAC DIII Men’s East Hockey League – Babson (13-13-1)ECAC DIII Northeast Hockey League – Nichols (25-3-0)Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Gustavus Adolphus (17-10-0)New England Small College Athletic Conference – Amherst (21-4-1)

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association – Wisconsin-Stout (22-5-2)State University of New York Athletic Conference – Plattsburgh State (24-1-2) Elmira, Hobart, Neumann, St. Scholastica and Wisconsin-Superior enter the field as the five at-large selections. The championship game will be televised live on CBS College Sports Network Saturday, March 21, at 5 p.m. Eastern.

In 2008, St. Norbert College claimed its first national championship title with a 2-0 win over Plattsburgh State at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.For more information about the Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, log on to

Nichols Gervais Named Joe Concannon Award Semifinalist

BOSTON, Mass. -- Nichols College senior forward Ryan Gervais (Chicago, Ill.) has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the ninth Joe Concannon Award, presented annually by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston to the best American-born college hockey player in New England playing at the D-II/III level. The list, announced Thursday by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Tim Whelan, is comprised of 11 forwards, three defensemen and two goalies, including two nominees from the D-II ranks.

Gervais is one of the Bison’s top scoring threats, posting 25 points on 10 goals and 15 assists in 21 games this season. The forward has registered a team-high 20 points in ECAC Northeast games with nine goals and 11 assists, posting three power-play goals and two game-winners, including his 100th career point – a power-play, game-winning tally against Salve Regina on November 24th. Gervais stands with 117 career points in 102 games with 58 goals and 59 assists.

A key member of the Bison’s successful power play unit, Gervais has scored four power-play goals this season, helping Nichols to a 36% power play (27-75) in conference games, where the Bison have built an impressive 13-0-0 mark.

“This season more than any other has showcased great competition and individual talents throughout the leagues across New England. It seems that each and every season gets a bit tighter and the level of play continues to improve. That makes it ever more challenging to single out worthy nominees for the Concannon Award,” said Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello. “Our committee believes this is a strong group of nominees, it’s going to take both remainder of the regular season and conference tournaments before we’ll be able to single out the most worthy nominee.”

The Gridiron Club plans to announce the finalists and winner of the 9th Joe Concannon Award in March, prior to the start of NCAA Frozen Four Tournament play and present the award during the New England Hockey Writers dinner in mid-April.

No. 13 Nichols (19-2-0, 13-0-0 ECACNE), which is one game away from tying the program record for wins in a season, travels to Suffolk for a 3:15 p.m. game Saturday before hosting Assumption in an 8:30 p.m. game Sunday at June Rockwell Levy Rink in Harrisville, R.I.

The Joe Concannon Award

The Gridiron Club established the Joe Concannon Award in 2001 to honor Joe, a lifelong devotee of college hockey, former member of the Walter Brown Award Selection Committee and, as a journalist, a staunch advocate for the amateur athletes he knew and covered. A native of Litchfield, Connecticut, Joe graduated from Boston University in 1961. He served as sports information director (SID) at Holy Cross before joining the Boston Globe in the late 1960’s to cover college sports. Joe declined frequent invitations by his editors to write about Boston’s major professional sports teams, preferring to concentrate on the colleges, distance running and golf. He wrote the book Marathoning with Bill Rodgers and established the highly successful Litchfield Road Race in his hometown. Joe was a world traveler and was especially proud of his Irish heritage, frequently sojourning to the Emerald Isle. He passed away in 2000.

Nichols Women's Hockey Falls to Southern Maine, 4-1

PORTLAND, Maine -- Led by two goals from Katie Paradis, the University of Southern Maine women's hockey team defeated Nichols College, 4-1, in ECAC East action Friday evening.

The Huskies improve to 12-6-4 overall and 11-3-2 in conference play, while the Bison slip to 2-19-1 overall and 1-15-1 in ECAC East games.The Huskies took a quick 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of tallies just over a minute apart in the first period, with Nani Jacobs lighting the lamp at 6:19 before Paradis potted her first of the night 1:08 later.

First-year defender Brittany Nardone (Billerica, Mass.) brought the Bison within one with her third goal of the season, picking up a power-play score on Nichols' first attempt, with assists coming from Ashley Parker (West Jordan, Utah) and Courney Carey (Belmont, Mass.) at 16:41.

Danielle Ward struck quickly for the Huskies in the second frame, putting the home team up, 3-1, just 1:39 into the middle stanza, but Nichols netminder Melissa Mansfield (Medford, N.Y.) stood tall the rest of the period, making 11 saves.

In the penalty-filled third, Mansfield kept the Huskies at bay, but Paradis struck on one of Southern Maine's 14 shots in the period, picking up her second score of the night for the 4-1 lead at 6:13.

Mansfield finished with 37 saves, while Kristen Gresko earned the win turning aside nine Bison shots. Nichols held Southern Maine scoreless in four power-play opportunities while scoring once in four power-play chances.

The Bison are back in action in a 2 p.m. game at Plymouth State Saturday.

Englebright, Rinn Earn ECAC Northeast Weekly Awards

DUDLEY, Mass. – Nichols College men’s hockey players Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) and Brett Englebright (Pekin, Ill.) have been named the ECAC Northeast Goalie and Rookie of the Week, for play ending Sunday, February 1, 2009. The tandem helped the Bison remain perfect in conference play with a 3-2 win over then-number 15 Curry, and to Nichols’ first-ever national ranking in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, where the Bison are currently 14th.

Rinn, a first-year goaltender, made 25 saves against the Colonels, improving to 4-0-0 in four collegiate starts with a 2.00 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. He made nine third-period saves to keep Curry off the board in the final frame, a feat not achieved by any other league netminder against the Colonels since the opening game of the season.

Englebright scored the game-winning goal against Curry, netting his fourth power-play tally of the season with 21.4 seconds left in regulation to snap the Colonels’ seven-game unbeaten streak. The forward stands with seven points on four goals – all power-play – and three assists in 20 games.

Nichols (18-2-0, 12-0-0) continues ECAC Northeast play with an 8:30 p.m. home game against Framingham State Saturday at June Rockwell Levy Rink. The Bison then play two of their final four regular season games at home, ending with a 3:30 p.m. game against Western New England College on Saturday, February 22.

NEC Edges Nichols Women's Hockey, 5-3

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – The New England College women’s hockey team defeated Nichols, 5-3, in ECAC East action Saturday evening at June Rockwell Levy Rink. Freshman forward Chelsea Torrico led the Pilgrims with two goals and an assist.

Nichols falls to 1-16-1 overall and 0-13-1 in league action, while NEC improves to 9-8-2 overall and 7-5-2 in conference play.

The Bison, who finished 2-for-3 on the power play, were paced by a goal and an assist each from first-year forward Mandy Manopla (Wellington, Fla.) and classmate Hannah Tardif (Laconia, N.H.).

Also recording multiple points for the Pilgrims were senior defenseman Emily Tanguay, who recorded three assists, and freshman forward Allison Roy and senior forward Sarah Tracey, who each picked up a goal and an assist.

New England College jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, lighting the lamp on the second shot of the game as Torrico tapped in a rebound from Tracey just 30 seconds into the game. A minute and a half later, Roy carried in a pass from Tanguay to the right circle before pulling up and firing past Nichols netminder Melissa Mansfield (Medford, N.Y.).

Haylie Carter (Forney, Texas) got one back for the Bison, netting a power-play score at 14:32, deflecting in a shot from the blueline by Manopla past NEC goaltender Teraysa White’s glove.
The Pilgrims attacked early again in the second period, striking twice in the first three minutes for a 4-1 lead. Tracey opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the frame off assists from Alicia Michonski (Southwick, Mass.) and Roy before Courtney Kerslake fed Torrico for a breakaway goal at 3:00.

Manopla cut the Pilgrims’ lead to two with a power-play goal at 6:19, picking the right corner from the high slot, with assists from Tardif and first-year defenseman Kayla Robidoux (Cumberland, R.I.) before Tardif brought the Bison within one at 15:08 with her first goal of the season.

Kerslake added a power-play goal in the third period, deflecting a shot by Tanguay into Mansfield. The Nichols goalie made the save, but the puck came loose and dribbled over the goal line at 6:46.

Mansfield finished with 42 saves, while White made 26 in the win.

Nichols continues its homestand with a 5:30 p.m. game against Norwich on Friday, February 6. New England College travels to Plymouth State for a 6 p.m. game Friday.

Men's Hockey Ranked 14th in Nation, Makes Program's First Appearance in USCHO.com Poll

DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College men’s hockey team made its first-ever appearance in the USCHO.com Division III Men’s College Hockey Poll, as announced Monday, February 2, 2009. The Bison, ranked 14th in the national poll with 47 votes, stand with an 18-2-0 record and atop the ECAC Northeast standings at 7-0 after a 3-2 victory over Curry on Saturday.

The Bison had received votes for four-straight weeks before jumping into the national rankings, first receiving four votes in the January 5th poll.

Nichols has won 11 of its last 12 games, including its last four-straight and is closing in on the program record for wins, set last season when the team finished the season with a 20-7-1 record after making its first-ever appearance in the ECAC Northeast Championship game.

Sophomore forward Will Munson (Corona, Calif.) and senior defenseman Cole Ruwe (Pekin, Ill.) lead the Bison with 24 points each. Munson, last week’s ECAC Northeast Player of the Week, has recorded 11 goals and 13 assists on the season. With 20 assists to go with four goals, Ruwe ranks sixth nationally and leads the league among defensemen averaging 1.20 points per game.

First-year netminder and last week’s ECAC Northeast Goaltender of the Week Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) has earned the last four wins for the Bison, posting a 2.00 goals against average to go with a .925 save percentage.

Nichols returns to action at June Rockwell Levy Rink in Harrisville, R.I., on Saturday, February 7, in an 8:30 p.m. game against Framingham State.

The USCHO.com Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 20 voters, including 15 coaches of Division III programs and five men's hockey writers. USCHO.com provides in-depth coverage of college sports, including hockey, lacrosse, soccer and others.

Nichols Out Shoots Curry

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – With 21.4 seconds remaining in game Freshman Forward Brett Englenright scored a power play goal to put Nichols on top of Curry 3-2 in and clinched the ECAC Northeast Title. Taking on 15th ranked Curry at the Levy Arena on Saturday night. The Bison remain undefeated in the ECAC Northeast with a record of 12-0-0.

The Curry Colonels moved out to a two goal lead in the second period with a shot by Ross Enmark assisted by Michael Guzzo and Jonthan Miller. Curry’s Second Goal came at 14:17 when Freshman Forward John Williams took a breakaway shot. Nichols scored 18 seconds latter with Matthew Sayer’s unassisted goal.

Bison Freshman Forward JoJo Bojanowski put a shot at the right post past the Curry net minder for Nichols second goal. Bojanowski was assisted by Senior Defenseman Cole Ruwe.

Jeff Bieber picked the upper right corner of an assist from Freshman Forward Zach Hendrickson and Senior Andrew Ella with only 1:20 left in the third period to score the winning goal for Nichols and clinching the first place birth.

Nichols net minder Jacob Rinn ECAC Player of the Week made 25 saves for 4-0-0 record on the season while Curry net minder Steven Jakiel who made 23 saves drops 8-2-2 on the year.

Nichols vs Curry

The 17-2 Bisons of Nichols College Men's Hockey team takes on the 13-3 Colonels of Curry College tonight 5:30 at June R. Levy Rink425 East Ave., Harrisville, R.I. You can listen to the play by play on Nichols College Radio WNCR.

I will post a game wrap up after the game.

Saint Anselm Skates Past Nichols 7-2

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – The Saint Anselm College women’s ice hockey team scored three goals in the second period en route to a 7-2 ECAC East victory over Nichols College at June Rockwell Levy Rink Friday evening. The Hawks were led by a pair of goals from freshman forward Aly Zappen (Huntington Beach, Calif.).

Nichols (1-15-1, 0-12-1 ECAC East) took a 1-0 lead at the 6:07 mark when junior forward Candice Ellis (Gloucester, Mass.) found a loose puck among a scrum of players at the right post and snuck a backhander into the upper corner.

The Hawks (12-5-1, 10-4-0 ECAC East) responded with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Zappen evened the score at 9:42 when she tapped in a loose puck past Nichols netminder Christine Rigosi (Ridgewood, N.Y.), who was sprawled out to cover the puck. Kelsey Johnson (Byfield, Mass.) pushed Saint Anselm ahead with her seventh goal of the season at 15:29, flipping in a pass across the crease from Cierra Romaldo (Chuluota, Fla.) into the left side of the net.

Bridget Sylvester (Randolph, N.J.) started the Hawks’ three-goal second period just 1:03 in the frame with assists from Marissa Serafino (Rutland, Vt.) and Kathleen Twomey (Londonderry, N.H.). Romaldo added a power-play tally 2:08 later when she one-timed a centering pass from behind the net by Johnson from the doorstep. Molly Corl (Danvers, Mass.) fired a short-handed wrister from the high slot past Rigosi at 7:39.

The Hawks added a pair in the third courtesy of Zappen and Michelle Lacombe (Delafield, Wisc.) before the Bison’s Cheryl Winter ( Cupertino, Calif.) recorded her first goal of the season with just over four minutes to play when she tucked a backhander into the upper right corner from the right netfront. Allison Peters (Westford, Mass.) and Mandy Manopla (Wellington, Fla.) earned assists on the play.

Rigosi made 34 saves in just under 47 minutes before giving way to junior goaltender Melissa Mansfield (Medford, N.Y.), who allowed one goal and made six saves in the remaining 13 minutes. The Hawks’ netminder Carley Berry (Danvers, Mass.) stopped 25 shots.

Nichols is back in action against New England College Saturday at 8:30 p.m.