The last hurdle in the NCAA D3 men’s hockey tournament was intriguing by way of being both fast-paced and quickly burning, yet also low-event. A game where the puck dropped at 7:00 PM was over before 9:00 due to both the defending champions, the Hobart College Statesmen and the hosts, the Trinity College Bantams, playing uptempo but low mistake hockey while maintaining solid discipline. A grand total of five penalties would be assessed during the game, with four called on Hobart and one on Trinity, with neither team finding the back of the net on any of those opportunities. There were times where Hobart effectively appeared to be on a John Tortorella/Brad Shaw-esque power kill when down a man, which was some of the biggest stimulation that special teams play provided to the audience. However, despite the game being largely calm, there was an air of tension in the high speed first period which culminated in a bit of an altercation along the end boards upon its conclusion. Devon Bobak would be particularly impressive in the opening stanza in between the pipes for the Bantams, utilizing his exciting hybrid goaltending style to stop all 12 shots on net (vs. Damon Beaver’s respectable but less demanding 8 in the opposing net).

Ultimately, play would continue in this manner all the way up until 18:59 of the second period, when Luke Aquaro would bring the score to 1-0 in favor of as he buried a backhander past Bobak on a terrific feed by Jonah Alexander. The second period would conclude with this advantage on the scoreboard, as well as a 13-8 SOG advantage for Hobart.

The final period would play out in much the same manner, though it was more level (as reflected by the narrow 9-8 Hobart edge in SOGs) in contrast with Hobart seeming to have the advantage territorially in the first two frames. The status quo was maintained up until Bobak was pulled with approximately two minutes remaining. The Statesmen would take this opportunity to ice the game, as Matthew Iasenza launched one into the empty net to increase the lead to 2-0 with just 25 seconds remaining in regulation. The Mark Taylor era has been a massive success since it commences at the beginning of the new millennium, but the last two seasons have finally brought this program the payoff they have been looking for, as the Statesmen now have two national titles to their names. This very well-rounded squad was a force all season long and it only feels right to see them cap it off with yet another national championship.