MEN'S HOCKEY

This article, written by Pete Hartt, appeared in the Times Argus on March 7, 2008 

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - A No. 3 rated strength of schedule and a top five ranking in the national Division III men's ice hockey polls may be enough to get Norwich into the NCAA playoffs regardless of the outcome of this weekend's ECAC east tournament.

The Cadets would rather get there on the ice, however, which means two more wins.

"There are no guarantees we would go (if we didn't win the tournament)," Norwich coach Mike McShane said. "Scenarios have happened .... You also want to have home ice."

The Cadets meet UMass-Boston in the opening game of the four-team, two-day finals at 3 p.m. Saturday while Salem State and New England College meet in the nightcap at 6 p.m. The winners will face off at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The Beacons will come into the semifinals with a head of steam after upsetting Babson last week at about the same time Norwich was hammering Skidmore in Northfield. The Beacons skated into that game with a 5-12-2 league record, an 11-13-2 overall record and not a sniff of a national ranking.

The statistics are one thing, the reality is another.

The Beacons took the Cadets to overtime at their home rink before Norwich won 3-2 and the Beacons also have a win against Middlebury this year.

"They are a well-coached, well-disciplined team," McShane said of Saturday's foe. "Their top line is very good and Ryan Donovan is one of the best goalies in the league. At this time of year a good checking team with good goaltending can do very well."

Donovan, a sophomore, finished the regular season with a 3.81 goals against average and a .901 save percentage before allowing just one goal in the 4-1 victory over Babson.

Freshman Eric Tufman leads the Beacons attack with 18 goals and 18 assists while fellow first-year skater Matt Atsoff (12 goals) is the only other Beacon with more than 10 goals. Sophomore Kris Kranzky leads the team with 19 assists.

Whatever the outcome of the weekend's games, McShane is most concerned with one thing; that his team is playing well as they hopefully head to the NCAA's.

"You want to be playing good hockey," McShane said. "That's the biggest thing. I think we are playing well right now. We've been scoring goals lately after we went through a little drought. I think our defense is better and I think we are moving the puck well."

Leading the Cadets offense is senior Rick Cleaver with 27 goals and 17 assists. The totals put him in the top 15 in the nation for points and goals, but the senior has plenty of support. Junior Nakita Kashirsky has 18 goals and 16 assists while DJ Famiani has a startling 27 assists to go with five goals. Eric Lauriault and Chad Anderson have 12 and 10 goals.

The Cadets, unlike the Beacons where Donovan has played in all 26 of the team's regular season games, have been alternating between sophomores Ryan Klingensmith and David Thompson with Thompson likely getting the nod on Saturday. Thompson has a 2.13 goals against average in 15 games while Klingensmith's is 2.02. Both goalies have saved 9 of every 10 shots they have seen.

In the nightcap Saturday 16-10-1 (9-9-1 ECAC East) Salem State will skate in as the underdog against 17-7-3 (10-6-3 ECAC East) New England College.