Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

[SteveP]

The Icers rolled over NCAA D-II Southern New Hampshire 5-2 in the opening round of the PAL Stovepipe Tournament in Manchester NH. The Icers outshot the host team 42-18.

Penn State faces D-III U-Mass Boston in the final game Sunday afternoon at 4:30. The Beacons beat Stonehill College 7-2 in Saturday's opening game.

[hockeyfan69]

Re: Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

Nice win, but nothing to get particularly excited about. First of all Div 2 is Div 2 in name only - most of the Div 2 schools are bottom of the pack in their Div 3 conferences. Secondly, all it does is reinforce what everyone has seen repeatedly, top club teams can compete with lower level Div 2/3 teams on any given night, but they wouldn't be able to do it on a game in game out basis, and they would have major problems in games against middle to top end Div 3 teams. Just look at the score of the Mass-Boston game, UMB is at best a mid-level Div 3 program (which is being generous) and the score indicates they got handled pretty well.

[ShooterF]

Re: Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

Hockeyfan pretty much hit the nail on the head. From all the talk we here about how good the top club teams are I was expecting Penn State to win this tournament because the competiton was weak. They beat SNHU 5-2 which is all well and good, but this same SNHU team just lost to Stonehill 6-0 and was crushed by Curry 8-1.

[spwood]

Re: Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

Hockeyfan pretty much hit the nail on the head. From all the talk we here about how good the top club teams are I was expecting Penn State to win this tournament because the competiton was weak. They beat SNHU 5-2 which is all well and good, but this same SNHU team just lost to Stonehill 6-0 and was crushed by Curry 8-1.

UMass-Boston is off to a great start in Div III and was an OT loss away from the NCAA tournament last year, so I wasn't expecting Penn State to win this weekend. I thought they could, but I wouldn't have considered them the favorites. The Beacons are a much better team than Southern New Hampshire (as the Icers found out on Sunday). I don't think we learned anything about the age-old ACHA vs. NCAA debate. ACHA teams are probably, at best, a middle of the pack Div III team.

I still miss the Friday and Saturday nights at Greenburg, though!

[ShooterF]

Re: Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

They are off to a good start with a split in the Bowdoin/Colby series but they were 10-16-1 last year and 4-14 in the interlock but pulled out a couple of very impressive wins in the playoffs before losing a heartbreaker to Babson. I actually think they will be a better team this year but have a feeling they may not sneak up on teams. I'd argue your point and say the very best ACHA teams are a middle of the pack DIII team at best. I could see Penn State going something like 6-12 in the interlock.

[ballgame]

Re: Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

I played NCAA and now coach ACHA. Top ACHA DI can compete with bottom NCAA DIII. Not all ACHA teams, just a couple top teams. NCAA is better than ACHA for now. There is a short history of ACHA teams beating NCAA teams. Doesn’t matter what the reasons are, its fact.

It’s a big win for PSU and ACHA. Why a NCAA plays an ACHA team is beyond me though.

I know a player on this PSU team. They carry 18 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goalies along with practicing Monday to Friday. Their players come from strong Jr and Prep schools.
PSU, Lindenwood, Illinois are legit programs.

Having said all this I HATE when ACHA people (not saying anyone here is doing it) try to make ACHA into something its not. They use these games to show the world theyre good. ACHA is not NCAA.

[joeyc3402]

Re: Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

I played NCAA and now coach ACHA. Top ACHA DI can compete with bottom NCAA DIII. Not all ACHA teams, just a couple top teams. NCAA is better than ACHA for now. There is a short history of ACHA teams beating NCAA teams. Doesn’t matter what the reasons are, its fact.

It’s a big win for PSU and ACHA. Why a NCAA plays an ACHA team is beyond me though.

I know a player on this PSU team. They carry 18 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goalies along with practicing Monday to Friday. Their players come from strong Jr and Prep schools.
PSU, Lindenwood, Illinois are legit programs.

Having said all this I HATE when ACHA people (not saying anyone here is doing it) try to make ACHA into something its not. They use these games to show the world theyre good. ACHA is not NCAA.

100% spot on with your assessment (at least in my mind).

[Snipe]

Re: Penn State 5 - Div. II Southern New Hampshire 2

Agree with this assessment. While these games seem to be a big deal to the ACHA team they are not very meaningful to the DIII team. DIII can use them to give everyone some ice time, experiment.