2008 Woodie Awards
Men's hockey prepares to host Connecticut College as third seed
Todd Herrmann
Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: Sports
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The Colby men's ice hockey team concluded its regular season over the weekend, splitting a road trip with a victory at Saint Michael's College on Friday, Feb. 16 and a loss at Norwich University on Saturday, Feb. 17. The team moved into the final weekend of the season with a chance at winning the New England Small College Athletic Conference regular season championship, and hosting the NESCAC tournament.
On Friday, the team beat St. Michael's 3-1, with goals by Ryan Chrenek '08, T.J. Kelley '08 and Captain Greg Osborne '07. The victory put the team in first place in the league, needing a victory at Norwich, ranked eighth in the nation, to win the league. The team came up short, however, losing 4-2. Goals were scored by Matt Strickland '10 and Patrick Rutherford '07. Goalkeeper Ben Grandjean '07 saved 44 of 49 shots in the two games combined. The loss allowed Bowdoin College and Middlebury College to climb in front in the standings, dropping the Mules to third place in the league, with a 11-7-1 conference record, 13-8-2 overall.
However, the season was still a success, and an improvement on last year's fourth place finish. "The regular season for our league encompasses a lot of ups and downs, lefts and rights. We had some tough losses and some great wins where we could have packed it in or lost focus, but we were able to get through those difficult times and get into the playoffs, with home ice, and playing our best hockey," Head Coach Jim Tortorella said.
All of the first round NESCAC playoff match ups are now set. One seed and regular season conference champion Bowdoin will play eight seed Trinity College. Two seed Middlebury will play seven seed Williams College. Colby, as the three seed, will play host to sixth seeded Connecticut College. And fourth seed Wesleyan University plays five seed Amherst College. Hamilton College, finishing ninth in the league, and Tufts University, finishing tenth, did not make the playoffs.
"Any one of these teams could be the biggest threat. Our league is very strong in terms of who is playing well now. Whoever you are playing, you have to play your best hockey, anybody can beat anybody on any given night," Tortorella said.
Colby has numerous players leading the league in many statistics at the end of the season. Osborne, with 39 points, was first in the league. He was also first in goals, with 20, power play points, with 21, and power play goals, with 11. Kelley finished second in the league in goals with 15. Arthur Fritch '08 and Josh Reber '08 finished tied for third in assists, with 22. Fritch led all defensemen in the league in point scoring. Grandjean turned in a .913 save percentage, putting him at third in the league, and he had by far the most saves. The team as a whole was the highest scoring in the conference.
The Mules will take on the Connecticut College Camels Saturday, at 4 p.m. at the Alfond Rink. "Anytime you get in the playoffs, you tend to think about preparation, what you do well. We need to worry about us and what we do well, not the opponent. If we play our game, the outcome will be in our favor more often than not," Tortorella concluded.
On Friday, the team beat St. Michael's 3-1, with goals by Ryan Chrenek '08, T.J. Kelley '08 and Captain Greg Osborne '07. The victory put the team in first place in the league, needing a victory at Norwich, ranked eighth in the nation, to win the league. The team came up short, however, losing 4-2. Goals were scored by Matt Strickland '10 and Patrick Rutherford '07. Goalkeeper Ben Grandjean '07 saved 44 of 49 shots in the two games combined. The loss allowed Bowdoin College and Middlebury College to climb in front in the standings, dropping the Mules to third place in the league, with a 11-7-1 conference record, 13-8-2 overall.
However, the season was still a success, and an improvement on last year's fourth place finish. "The regular season for our league encompasses a lot of ups and downs, lefts and rights. We had some tough losses and some great wins where we could have packed it in or lost focus, but we were able to get through those difficult times and get into the playoffs, with home ice, and playing our best hockey," Head Coach Jim Tortorella said.
All of the first round NESCAC playoff match ups are now set. One seed and regular season conference champion Bowdoin will play eight seed Trinity College. Two seed Middlebury will play seven seed Williams College. Colby, as the three seed, will play host to sixth seeded Connecticut College. And fourth seed Wesleyan University plays five seed Amherst College. Hamilton College, finishing ninth in the league, and Tufts University, finishing tenth, did not make the playoffs.
"Any one of these teams could be the biggest threat. Our league is very strong in terms of who is playing well now. Whoever you are playing, you have to play your best hockey, anybody can beat anybody on any given night," Tortorella said.
Colby has numerous players leading the league in many statistics at the end of the season. Osborne, with 39 points, was first in the league. He was also first in goals, with 20, power play points, with 21, and power play goals, with 11. Kelley finished second in the league in goals with 15. Arthur Fritch '08 and Josh Reber '08 finished tied for third in assists, with 22. Fritch led all defensemen in the league in point scoring. Grandjean turned in a .913 save percentage, putting him at third in the league, and he had by far the most saves. The team as a whole was the highest scoring in the conference.
The Mules will take on the Connecticut College Camels Saturday, at 4 p.m. at the Alfond Rink. "Anytime you get in the playoffs, you tend to think about preparation, what you do well. We need to worry about us and what we do well, not the opponent. If we play our game, the outcome will be in our favor more often than not," Tortorella concluded.
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