SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's hockey team gears up for New England Hockey Conference Tournament action after a hot finish to the regular season. The Thoroughbreds, seeded sixth, will take on third-seeded Babson in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Last weekend, Skidmore (6-17-2, 4-12-2 NEHC) picked up three crucial points on the road, defeating Castleton Friday by a 3-2 score, finishing the regular season with a 2-2 draw against NEHC regular season champion Norwich. At Castleton, the Thoroughbreds recovered from a 2-1 third period deficit, with freshman forward
Kayser Raei netting a pair of goals to complete the comeback. Sophomore goaltender
Brandon Kasel was solid in net with 23 saves. On Saturday against the defending NEHC and NCAA champions, the Thoroughbreds spoiled the Senior Day crowd with a game-tying third period goal by freshman forward
Matt Muzyka, his fifth of the year. Freshman goaltender
Brian Kowalski set a new career-high with an impressive 45 saves, earning NEHC Rookie of the Week honors on Monday.
The weekend gave the Thoroughbreds a 4-1-1 record to finish the season, shooting past Castleton and Southern Maine to nab the sixth seed. Many little things contributed to the turnaround, including timely goal scoring, solid defending and goaltending in key spots down the stretch, and strong play on special teams.
During the six-game run, the Thoroughbreds have nearly doubled their scoring average, netting 2.83 goals per game. Skidmore has also tallied goals in the third period of every contest, with that streak extending to the last seven games. On the other end, the Thoroughbreds have allowed two goals per game, with both Kasel and Kowalski coming up with crucial stops down the stretch of these games. Against Southern Maine on Jan. 26, Kasel made 27 saves, including 13 in the final period, to begin the run with a 2-1 home win. Kowalski was big for the Thoroughbreds in a pair of starts, first with 41 saves in a last minute start against a ranked UMass Boston squad, a 3-2 overtime victory on Feb. 2. He followed that up with the aforementioned 45 saves against Norwich last Saturday.
On Thursday, the NEHC released its yearly awards, with senior defenseman
Connor Pelkey earning second team All-NEHC honors. The senior led all Skidmore defensemen with three goals, adding four assists for seven points.
Leading the team in scoring is freshman forward
Brandon Borges, who has 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists. He leads the team in goal scoring and shares the assist lead with fellow rookie forward
Paul Vella. Rookie forward
Matt Muzyka is second with 13 points on five goals and eight assists, with Vella and sophomore forward
Tim Allen tied for third with 11 points. Vella has one goal to go along with the 10 assists, while Allen has three goals and eight assists in 20 games played.
In net, Kasel sports a 3.24 goals against average and a .907 save percentage in 22 games, while Kowalski has a 2.74 goals against average and a .929 save percentage in six appearances.
Babson (14-8-3, 12-4-2 NEHC) comes into the quarterfinal matchup as the three seed, winners of its last three games and 4-0-1 in its last five. The Beavers scored 11 goals last weekend in victories against Southern Maine and New England College.
As a team, Babson is disciplined, having tallied the least amount of penalty minutes with 8.0 per game, a mark that is second best in the nation. Individually, Matt McMorrow leads the senior-laden group with 23 points on eight goals and a team-leading 15 assists. Ryan Gouveia is the leading goal scorer with 12, sitting second in total points with 21. Bobby Hall also has 21 ponits, on 11 goals and 10 assists. Five of their top-six scorers come from the senior class. In net, Matt Pompa is the likely starter, with a solid 2.14 goals against average to go along with a .926 save percentage in 20 games.
The Thoroughbreds are looking for their first victory against Babson this season, as the Beavers swept the season series, 3-0. In their last matchup, Skidmore played well on home ice, but fell in a close 3-2 overtime battle on Feb. 3.
