D-3: Burning questions for Norwich, Babson, UMB as playoffs begin

The NEHC becomes the first New England league in Division 3 to begin its postseason tournament, which it does on Saturday with four quarterfinal games on campus sites.

It will be top-seeded Hobart vs. No. 8 Castleton, second-seeded Norwich vs. No. 7 New England College, third-seeded Babson vs. No. 6 UMass Boston and fourth-seeded Elmira vs. No. 5 Skidmore.

It took preseason favorite Hobart until the last weekend of the regular season to cement first place, which it did by scoring three first-period goals Friday and holding on to beat Norwich, 3-2.

But after being picked for fourth place in the preseason, Norwich has played excellent hockey, almost from the outset. The team is 18-5-2 overall and ranked No. 5 in the current USCHO.com poll.

“I like the group,” said Norwich coach Cam Ellsworth. “When we play our best brand of hockey I think we’re a pretty difficult matchup for teams.”

Here are some burning questions to answer as the puck drops for the NEHC playoffs.

Why has Norwich taken such a big step forward?

Ellsworth can trace last year’s disappointing (by their standards) fifth-place finish and quarterfinal exit to the pandemic. When so many players exited after the abbreviated 2020-21 season, he leaned heavily on recruits he thought could replace the departed production.

“I was fixated on who was going to score goals,” he said.

This year’s team, while not scoring at last year’s rate, has defended superbly in front of goalies Drennen Atherton (1.36 GAA, .947 save percentage) and Andrew Albano, allowing the third-fewest goals per game (1.40) in Division 3.

The leader of that defense is senior Callum Jones, whom Ellsworth calls “the single most competitive kid I’ve ever met and he has a motor like I’ve never seen in my life. Maybe (Joseph) Gambardella when I was at (UMass) Lowell.”

Seniors Keegan Mantaro and John Banovetz, playmaking junior Joe Nagle (Weymouth, Mass.) and big sophomore Jason Galotti (Hanover, Mass.) have also been key players on the blueline.

“We’ve been more of a hard-working, goal-scoring team,” said Ellsworth. “Last year, goals came easier for us but we weren’t as committed defensively. I’ll take this over that.”

Can defending champ Babson make another run?

The Beavers (15-8-2) had a few things going for them when this tourney began a year ago. First, they were playing good hockey, especially on the defensive end, with wins in seven of their last eight regular-season games.

They’d shown an ability to skate with the best team in the league, collecting a tie and a win against Hobart. And they benefited when sixth-seeded Skidmore upset Hobart in the tourney semifinals, allowing them to dispatch Skidmore in the championship and reach another NCAA tournament.

This year? The form’s not the same. It’s been win one, lose one since early January, and the two meetings with Hobart both produced 4-1 losses.

What can the Beavers build on? They’ve been largely good defensively in front of first-year starting goalie Nolan Hildebrand (1.69 GAA, .937 save percentage), allowing the third-fewest goals in the league. And the penalty kill has been excellent, at better than 87 percent.

So it comes down to scoring. Junior forward Thomas Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) leads the way (8-16-24), but many of the other top point producers are freshmen. That bodes well for the future, which the Beavers would like to see arrive sooner rather than later.

Is UMass Boston playing well enough to make any noise?

The Beacons (11-14) have been a tough team to pin down this year. Coach Pete Belisle, in the preseason, worried about a lack of elite offensive players – “We’re gonna have to score by committee,” he said – and that was borne out during the team’s 2-8 start.

Things got better after Thanksgiving, with UMB scoring at least three goals in eight of nine games – and winning most of them. But the regular season ended with a thud, home losses to Skidmore (2-1 in overtime) and Castleton (4-1).

Now it gets to face local rival Babson, a team it’s always been competitive against and one it’s beaten three of four times over the last two seasons.

But this is one of the least imposing offensive teams in recent memory for UMB. Its two leading scorers, freshman Mike Manzo (4-11-15) and Norwich transfer Evan Googins of Braintree, Mass. (7-7-14), have produced point totals that past team leaders would have reached by Christmas. (Colin Larkin would have had it by Thanksgiving.)

So there will be little margin for error against Babson or any other opponent going forward. The Beacons will need to be tight in the defensive end and find a way to manufacture multiple goals to win.

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