The outcomes of the Division III tourney have been fairly predictable so far with only one upset to speak of, but the quality of play has been outstanding as you would expect from a league that has been on an upward climb for a number of years now and may become a legitimate professional dev system long-term. Let us take some time to catch up on what has occurred to this point, particularly in the latest round as all four quarterfinal matchups were played last night (March 16th).

On one half of the bracket, Trinity College were granted a “bye” into the quarterfinals. They would face Elmira, who had arrived via a 5-2 victory in a penalty-filled, chippy matchup with the Endicott Gulls. Trinity would emerge victorious 2-0, with notable performances coming from RW James Barbour (2 assists), RW Gerard Marretta (1 goal, 6 SOGs), and G Devon Bobak (35 save shutout). Beneath them was Adrian College’s matchup with St. Norbert. This was a matchup that pitted the squad with the highest ranking in both the Pairwise and the USCHO polls going into the tournament (3rd and 4th, respectively) to not receive a bye, with Adrian having bumped off Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4-0 in round one to punch their ticket into the quarters, against a St. Norbert team that had defeated MAC playoff champs St. Olaf (the tourney’s only unranked team by USCHO, though they did receive 15 votes and were 29th in the Pairwise) 5-2 in the first round to make their way to the QF. In a very competitive matchup where the shots on goal were nearly identical (Adrian winning this battle 33-32), Adrian would come forward 5-3 victors. RW Riley Murphy would have himself a day via his 2 goals and 1 assist performance, asserting himself with 5 shots on goal. C Jacob Suede also made a mark via his 3 assists, including Murphy’s eventual GWG. This books Trinity vs. Adrian in Hartford for Thursday, the 21st in what should be a solid semifinal matchup.

On the other half of the bracket, the Hobart Statesmen, the “undisputed kings” of D3 hockey, took on Curry College, the only school to pull off an upset in round one (having defeated higher ranked SUNY Geneseo 3-0 in their own barn). This quarterfinal was quite the drama with plenty of Sturm und drang, as Curry jumped out to a 2-0 lead within a few minutes of the second period started. As has been the case across several leagues this year with the adage about 2-0 being the worst lead seeming to hold true, this would be erased as Hobart would take a 3-2 lead in the early stages of the third period. However, Curry would force overtime as LW Tao Ishizuka would find the back of the net with a little under seven minutes to play. Three full extra frames would pass before this was resolved. Curry netminder Shane Soderwall would put in a performance to remember, as this 4OT epic saw him make 98 saves. However, Hobart would win the war of attrition, as D Bauer Morrissey would eventually end this game and Curry’s magical run which saw them push the best program in Division III to the brink. LWs Jonah Alexander and Tanner Daniels would have multi-points to their name for the Statesmen, with both having 1g+1a, as would RW Kahlil Fontana (2 assists). Yet another solid individual performance was had by D Conor Lally, as he tallied one assist and a +3.

On the other side of this half, Plymouth State took to the road to face Utica, after the former achieved their historic first ever victory on the national tournament stage via a win in a chippy contest against SUNY Cortland that was covered in this series’ most recent installment. This game had some wonderful individual performances and narratives for the Panthers, as G Kalle Andersson exhibited the heart of a lion by making 30 saves. Senior and traditionally stay-at-home defenseman Colin Tracy also tallied his first goal of the season (accounting for just the 3rd of his NCAA career overall, as well as the 24th point in 72 games played) to bring the score to 2-1. However, PSU would ultimately be just a bit overmatched by the 4th ranked team in the Pairwise/2nd ranked USCHO squad, as Utica would prevail 4-1. Chris Carroll was the man of the day for Utica, via his 2 goals, 1 assist, +3 performance, with other notable showings coming from Aiden Hughes (2a, +2), Andrew Della Rovere (1g+1a, +2), and netminder Ethan Roberts’ reliability in the crease (34 saves). Therefore, it’ll be an all-New York-based schools semifinal on this side of the tourney bracket, as Utica will head to Geneva to take on the Statesmen. While there have not been many surprises, we have seen some great matchups, and with the clear four best schools making up the D3 Frozen Four, the quality of play on Thursday should be very obvious and a sight to behold.