Middlebury Earns Top Seed in Men's Ice Hockey Championship

HARTFORD, Conn. – Middlebury lost only one game in conference play and earned the top seed for the 2001 NESCAC Men's Hockey Championship. The Panthers (16-1-0 conference, 21-2-1 overall), who captured the inaugural tournament title last year, will host the semifinals on Friday, March 2 and will host the championship game on Saturday, March 3.

Second-seeded Amherst (12-2-3 conference), third-seeded Colby (12-4-1), and fourth-seeded Trinity (12-4-1) earned home games in the opening round of the tournament, which begins on Saturday, Feb. 24. Amherst will host seventh-seeded Williams (7-9-1) in a rematch of the regular season finale won by Amherst 3-2. Colby plays at home against sixth-seeded Hamilton (10-7-0). The two teams met the opening weekend of the regular season with Colby prevailing 3-2. Trinity hosts fifth-seeded Bowdoin (11-6-0), which defeated the Bantams 6-2 in the next-to-last weekend of the regular season.

The top seven teams in regular season conference play qualify for the NESCAC championship tournament. The top-seeded team hosts the semifinal and final rounds, while the next three seeds play home games in the first round. The top seed faces the lowest remaining seed in one semifinal and the other two first round winners face off in the other semifinal. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Hockey \Championship tournament.

2001 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship
First round - Saturday, Feb. 24 at Higher Seeds
No. 7 Williams at No. 2 Amherst - 3:00 p.m.
No. 6 Hamilton at No. 3 Colby - 4:00 p.m.
No. 5 Bowdoin at No. 4 Trinity - 4:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Friday, March 2 at Middlebury
Remaining first round winners - 4:00 p.m.
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Middlebury - 7:30 p.m.

Championship - Saturday, March 3 at Middlebury
Semifinal winners - 7:00 p.m.