Trinity Falls to St. Thomas in NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Semifinals, 4-1
Courtesy Trinity Sports Information
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Senior goaltender Zach Sikich (Eveleth, Minn.) made 31 saves in goal to lead the St. Thomas University Tommies to a 4-1 win over the Trinity College Bantams in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Tournament this afternoon at Middlebury College’s Kenyon Arena. The Bantams, ranked No. 5 in the nation, close the season with a 21-4-2 record, while St. Thomas, ranked No. 6 nationally, improve to 20-5-5 with their eighth straight win.
Trinity completed its best season since the 1987-88 campaign and played their way into the NCAA Division III Final Four for the first time in their second appearance in the tournament. The Bantams qualified for the NCAA Championship Tourney two years ago, earning the automatic bid from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and lost a 5-4 game at Norwich University in the quarterfinals. The Bantams, which had beaten St. Thomas in 2002-03, 4-3, won at Geneseo State, 4-0, on March 12 to advance to today’s game.
The game was played in Trinity’s defensive end for the first part of the opening period, as the Bantams recorded their first shot on goal 6:18 into the period. The Tommies broke the scoreless tie at the 9:38 mark when junior forward John Bottoms (Hibbing, Minn.) smacked a slapshot past Bantam senior goalie Doug Kisielius (Park Ridge, Ill.) on a St. Thomas power play. Trinity increased its offensive pressure as the period wore on, eventually evening the shots at 8-8 by the first break, but were stopped on all eight by Sikich. Trinity Head Coach John Dunham had to leave the bench in the first period when he was struck just above his eye by the puck, but returned for the second period.
St. Thomas extended its lead to 3-0 in the second stanza, scoring twice over 2:18 in the later stages of the period. Freshman forward Ryan Hoehn (Waseca, Minn.) redirected a shot from the right face-off circle by classmate Garrett Gruenke (Plymouth, Minn.) over Kisielius’ right shoulder and into the upper left corner of the net 11:06 into the second frame. Tommie junior forward Brady Fougner (International Falls, Minn.) scored from close on the left side, one-timing in a nice feed by freshman forward Nick Nelson (Duluth, Minn.) with 6:36 left in the second stanza.
Trinity nearly got on the scoreboard in the first two minutes of the third period, when sophomore forward Adam Ladd (Keene, N.H.) found junior forward Cameron Finch (Acton, Mass.) streaking down the middle, but Finch’s flip of the puck was barely stopped by a diving Sikich. Ladd and Finch finally beat Sikich a few minutes later, when Finch wristed the puck in off Ladd’s pass from behind the net by at the 4:37 mark. Trinity put several shots on net over the next few minutes, including one that appeared to light the lamp but did not actually break the plane of the goal, but Sikich made 10 saves in the first 10 minutes and 16 in all in the third frame to protect St. Thomas’ two goal lead. The Tommies added an empty ney goal in the final two minutes to account for the final score.
