NCRHA C2C #SelectionMonday Preview: Division II
Collegiate Roller Hockey teams find out tonight if they’re going to Nationals. Want some insight? Come along.
Division II Selection Monday Preview
By NCRHA C2C Editorial Team
ECRHA
(Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association)
This is likely the strongest conference in the nation, regardless of division, with 7–8 of these teams able to beat each other on any given day. There is one possible exception… the University of Massachusetts.
UMass finished with a 16–2 regular season record, going undefeated against other Division II teams all season long. They shut out a vaunted West Chester University team 3–0 in the ECRHA D2 championship game after suffering their first defeat earlier that day, a 4–3 loss to those same Rams of WCU. The Minutemen are led by John Carrol and Trevor Shea, who had 61 points apiece this season. This is a talented, experienced, deep team that goes into Nationals as the D2 favorites.
UMass finished with a 16–2 record and shut out a vaunted West Chester team 3–0 in the ECRHA D2 championship game. This is a talented, experienced, deep team that goes into Nationals as the D2 favorites.
Exemplifying the strength of this conference, Stony Brook and West Chester both pushed UMass to overtime at the ECRHA Championships. Both teams feature defensive stalwarts in between the pipes — Rory Buckley of SBU and John Whitman of WCU are two of the top goaltenders in the country. They both also appear to be deeper than they have in the past — no small feat for two historically strong programs.
Cortland, RIT, Robert Morris and Northeastern are all talented teams that are capable of giving any opponent a tough game. We will get more in-depth with these teams and the rest of the field leading up to Nationals.
GPCIHL
(Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League)
Kansas State is a better team than their record (which includes games against Division 1 powerhouses Bethel and Lindenwood) suggests. The Schulte brothers, Jacob and Sam, will rightfully get most of the attention, but Skyler Kring had a breakout year for the Wildcats as well, scoring 29 goals in 16 games. Dominic Legato gives the Wildcats stability in net, and their long bench features plenty of depth.
MCRHL
(Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey League)
Grand Valley State considered going D1 before this season, and their talent shows that the idea might not have been too far off. This team dominated their conference for much of the regular season. The Lakers, led offensively by Jesse MacIntyre and Cody Hagen, feature 9 (!) players who finished the season with better than a point-per-game average. Goaltender Anthony Bevenuti has been a solid option for the Lakers for years, and took advantage of his first year as GVSU’s starter.
Miami (Ohio) is a solid team that was able to push GVSU to overtime in the second game of their Conference playoffs and got a strong season out of Owen Benben and Ethan Clearfield. The Redhawks have a decent amount of top-end talent that can keep them afloat, but aren’t quite as deep of a team as GVSU or K-State. Western Michigan, who recorded 2nd Semester wins against both GVSU and Miami, is not a team to overlook. Their goaltender Eric Gadreau backstops a team of 9 skaters — 6 of which recorded at least 10 goals each in the regular season.
SECRHL
(Southeastern Collegiate Roller Hockey League)
Kennesaw State dominated their conference throughout the year, as the Owls went 11–2–1 on the season. The Owls boast some solid top-end talent in Brent Sweeney, Robert Roddy and Hunter Baynes. Hailing from Georgia, KSU beat Rhode Island 5–4 early in the year, but haven’t played many other meaningful out of conference games.
Florida State went 8–2 on the season and should be able to sneak into the field and make a run in Rochester. After a heartbreaking 4–3 OT loss to Kennesaw State in Game 1 of the SEC Conference Championships, the Seminoles were easily dispatched by KSU in Game 2, falling 8–2. Both of these two teams should make some noise at the National Championships.
WCRHL
(Western Collegiate Roller Hockey League)
One of the deepest divisions in the country, the WCRHL featured 6 quality teams. Case-in-point? Northern Arizona. The 6th place Lumberjacks defeated Saddleback College (JC) just a few weeks ago — Saddleback routinely beat powerhouses Arizona State (D1) and UC Santa Barbara (D1) throughout the year. Another deep team with a lackluster regular season, the Arizona Wildcats, joined the Jacks on the outside looking in, as only 4 teams made it to the Conference Championships.
Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) won the WCRHL Championships handily, beating CSU Fullerton 7–1 in the championship game. The Mustangs went 11–3–1 on the season and feature one of the most talented teams in the country. The core of this team have been playing together with the NorCal Extreme well before teaming up for Cal Poly. Goaltender Nicholas Leacox, and skaters Sam Blakewell, Joe Blakewell, alongside Daniel Kumata and Alex Waddell round out one of the most dangerous attacks in the country. Leacox might be one of the most athletic goaltenders in the division. The Mustangs enter Nationals as the dark horse favorites.
CSU Fullerton had an excellent season during which they finished just behind Cal Poly during the regular season and at the conference championship tournament. Goaltender Ron Best is one of the most experienced roller goalies in the country and will keep the Titans in most games. Dylan Kammer and Troy Yano led the Titan’s offense, which features a fair amount of top-end talent, although not as much as in years past when Fullerton routinely ripped teams apart en route to multiple NCRHA titles, as recently as 2017.
Chico State is an intriguing bubble team that boasts a lot of offensive talent. Zach Claunch, Will Robinson, Chris Fisher and Connor Jahn have all played together since childhood, and use that chemistry to play a well-rounded, disciplined game. Another bubble team, San Jose State, has found themselves on both sides of someclose games all year long. The Spartans have a smart group of roller hockey players, decent depth, a talented goal scorer in Jacob Hickey, and solid goaltending in Jack Robinson and Edward Berlin. Don’t sleep on the Spartans, or any of the WCRHL teams, for that matter.
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This article was written by our media team, made up of students and volunteers, and does not reflect the views of the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association or its board of directors. For official league news and updates, visit the NCRHA website at www.ncrha.org
