Golden anniversaries are usually special, and the one around Curry College hockey is no exception.
The Colonels beat Hamilton on Saturday, 4-1, to win their 17th game in a row and advance to their first Division 3 Frozen Four in the program’s 50th season.
Coach Peter Roundy’s team is now two wins from an NCAA championship, a quest it will try to further on Friday night when it faces host Utica.
Our takeaways from the milestone win — and milestone season.
Curry shakes off slow start to take control
Curry’s reward for a stellar regular season and Conference of New England championship was the double-edged sword known as a first-round bye.
While NESCAC champion Hamilton was dispatching the University of New England in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Curry was idle. The lack of sharpness was evident during a scoreless first period in which the Colonels (25-3) got outshot 18-7 and won just 9-of-32 face-offs.
“I think we just had to shake the rust off,” said Roundy. “Having the week off, we were a step behind. Got into some penalty trouble. Second period, we just wanted to play our game.”
Goals by junior forward Taurin Haddon-Harris and sophomore forward Nolan McDonough (Dorchester, Mass.) less than five minutes apart early in the second period changed the trajectory of the game.
Soderwall advances reputation as big-game goalie
Sophomore goalie Shane Soderwall wrote his name in NCAA history when he made 98 saves in the four-OT loss to Hobart in last year’s NCAA quarterfinals.
His progression has continued with another outstanding season. He ranks third nationally in both goals-against average (1.45) and save percentage (.945), in both cases only behind Hobert’s superb tandem of Mavrick Goyer and Damon Beaver.
Against Hamilton, he turned aside all 18 shots he faced in the first period to keep the game scoreless, and finished with 37 saves.
“We’ve had these games in the past where we’ve struggled in the first period,” said Soderwall. “Just going out there and having a strong second and third was what our focus was.”
So, who’s the favorite at the Frozen Four?
Put most followers on the spot and they’d likely say Hobart, the No. 1 team in the nation and winner of the last two NCAA championships.
But the goals are not flowing as freely as they were earlier this season. The Statesmen (27-1-1) needed to rally from two goals down entering the third period to force overtime against Trine in their quarterfinal, an eventual 3-2 win.
Their opponent, Geneseo (24-4-1), leads all of Division 3 in scoring with 4.90 goals a game. Its scoring punch was on display as it overcame a 3-0 deficit to win at Aurora, 7-4, in its quarterfinal.
Utica (23-4-2), in addition to skating in front of its home fans, is another offensive juggernaut, though it’s been susceptible defensively at times.
Short answer: It’s anybody’s trophy.
Roundy has built a top Division 3 program
Roundy took over at Curry following the pandemic-decimated 2020-21 season, following six years as an assistant at Division 1 Holy Cross.
Curry enjoyed success under previous coaches Rob Davies and TJ Manastersky, but Roundy’s gotten the program to a new level. This is the third straight season it’s reached at least the NCAA quarterfinals.
“We’ve got a pretty good thing going here,” said Roundy. “We’re doing something right but nothing really changes for us. We think we’ve got the recipe here. These guys come to the rink every day to work and compete and get better.
"I give them a lot of credit. It's been a long year. These guys started skating in early September in captains’ skates and we’ve had over 80 practices this year.”
@MikeZhe603
mzhe@hockeyjournal.com
