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MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

Here are the comprehensive stats from last night's CSS-SSC game.
http://www.csssaints.com/custompages/mhockey/Stats/2009-10/1127salm.htm

Some telling stats:
Face-offs 49-30 CSS
Shots Attempted: 60-32 CSS
Shots in killzone: 27-16 CSS

I thought CSS had the better run of play, especially after the 1st period. Salem had a glorious opportunity to steal it early in the OT, but Kleiman stopped Nisula's point blank attempt. After that it was hang on harry and Salem did not quite hang on.

It was a good goal that won it, nothing cheap about it. Baird picked up a loose puck off a turnover on the left wing boards, took a couple of strides, and put the puck the only place that it had a chance of going in.

Today the #1 team in the USA is on the agenda. If Salem brought their A game last night, they will have to bring their AA game this afternoon.

Video from CSS
Sound from SNC. You'll have to synch the two.
 
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Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

A tremendous win for Salem State and the MASCAC today with the Vikings besting the #1 ranked St. Norbert Green Knights 3-0. Senior netminder James LaCour picked up his 4th win of the season and 1st career shutout.

Salem State got goal one on a nice short side shot by Freshman Nick Lampson and led 1-0 after 2. However, Lampson was sent off with 1:07 left in the 2nd for a (dubious) check from behind major. Salem managed to kill off the major with a lot of hard work by the penatly killers and iced the game with 3rd period markers by Chris MacInnis (rebound) and Jeff Tellier (rebound of own shot).

While LaCour will receive credit for the shutout, it was truly a team shutout. Salem constantly jammed the passing lanes and if LaCour gave up a rebound, it was instantly cleared. St. Norbert is a big, fast team that is probably an NCAA quarterfinalist. It was not their night, but it was Salem State's.

If Salem State does win the MASCAC, it remains to be seen how much this win influences the selection committee. It was an out of region game, but I was reminded over the weekend that secondary criteria can be used at any time by the Committee. Who knows? Curry's win over Manhattanville, coupled with Nichols win over Skidmore, should help the MASCAC big time in comparisons when the final bids come out in March. However, there are 20 games (+ tournament) to play, so any thinking that far down the road is premature (so why did I type it then?).

The Vikings resume league action Thursday night against a much improved Framingham State squad and then travel out to visit Westfield State on Saturday afternoon.

The Green Knights head home to face St. Scholastica (leading Lawrence 6-1 as I write this) for a pair this weekend.
 
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Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

Game stats for the SSC - SNC game: http://www.csssaints.com/documents/2009/11/28/thanks3.htm?id=470

Telling stats:
Face Offs: 42-21 SNC
Shots Attempted: SSC 48 SNC 58
Shots Blocked: 14 SSC 5 SNC (for the weekend, SSC blocked 26 attempts)
Shots wide: SSC 8 SNC 13
Power Play Shots: SSC - 10 shots/6:00; SNC 9/11:00. On the 5 minute PP, SNC managed 2 shots (+1 blocked shot) with only 1 shot from the "A" zone.
"A" Zone shots: SSC: 17 attempts/ 3 goals / 0 blocked / 0 wide; SNC: 17/0/4/3
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

Don't be surprised if this win by Salem State gives them a very high ranking in my first official computer rankings of the season.
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

NUProf said:
Don't be surprised if this win by Salem State gives them a very high ranking in my first official computer rankings of the season.
Click to expand...
Well, based on the last ranking, they've now beaten St. Norbert, Fitchburg, and UM Dartmouth -- all ranked teams.

I'm thinking that SSC will be "team receiving votes" in the national poll. They've been off the radar screen and for them to crack the top 15 is unrealistic. Was the win over SNC and the OTL to CSS a trend or a one-off? I hope it's a trend, but I've seen too many meteors to get too excited too early.

But it SURE feels GOOD! :D
 
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Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

This week in the MASCAC 11/30/09

After a week off from league play that saw two teams give the MASCAC a shot in the arm, the league resumes Week 2 of conference action with six conference games and two games that do not bear on the NCAA selection process..

Teams that helped themselves:

UMass - Dartmouth - after struggling out of the gate this season, the Corsairs scored an important non-conference win vs. the defending ECAC-E champion Babson Beavers. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead early in the 3rd, the Corsairs saw Babson tie the contest up with a trio of goals 4:08 apart. However, Jason Stahl's power play marker with just 2:17 left in regulation gave UM-D the lead for good.

Salem State -- Go west, young men; go west. The Vikings sailed into the Twin Harbors and almost came up with a 4 point weekend. The Vikings were within 2:12 of tieing the #8 team in the country when Jordan Baird gave the home standing College of St. Scholastica a 4-3 OT win. However, the next night Salem State shocked the college hockey world with a 3-0 blanking of the #1 St. Norbert College. The key for the weekend was the Viking's commitment to team defense. In 2 games they blocked 26 shots.

In the other cross-over game involving the MASCAC, much improved Framingham State clawed back to 3-4 in the third before the UMass-Boston Beacons pulled away for an 8-3 win.

Upcoming MASCAC D-III games this week -
Thursday 12/3/09
UMass - Dartmouth @ Worcester State -- if you had bet me that both teams would be winless in the conference after the first week, I would have taken that bet - and lost.

Westfield State @ Fitchburg State -- Fitchburg State enjoys a high ranking in NUProf's computer and is always tough at home.

Salem State @ Framingham State -- This is not the easy two points that one could have expected in the past. Rookie Framingham mentor T.J. Brown has his charges playing very good hockey coming out of the gate. Salem State cannot rest on last week's results, otherwise they will be surprised.

Saturday 12/5/09
Worcester State @ Fitchburg State -- Worcester's 3rd game of the week against a team that defends home ice well.

Salem State @ Westfield State -- The Vikings first trip to Westfield. The Owls are 2-0 on home ice and tied UMass-Dartmouth on the road. Last year Salem eeked out a one goal win at home. This could be interesting.

Framingham State @ Plymouth State -- The 2nd place Panthers play a non counter on Wednesday against Southern New Hampshire. This team has talent to spare and good goaltending. Tough road test for the Rams.
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

Interesting indeed. #1 Salem travels out to #2 Westfield today. Not sure if Salem has ever played at Westfield ever...maybe 20-something years ago, but not in this new rink.
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

Well those MASCAC muckity mucks must really be smiling these days with the latest KRACH D2/3 rankings showing 5 MASCAC teams in the top-25, including Salem St #4, Westfield St #11, and Plymouth St #13.

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/?data=krach23m

A very long way to go but a nice start for this new league nonetheless!
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

Having seen a few MASCAC Games this year, including Westfield - Salem, I have a feeling that the league is going to beat each other up by the end of the 18-game slate . . . 6 losses might win it.

(Though, might not be enough for a bid).
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

CenteringPass said:
Having seen a few MASCAC Games this year, including Westfield - Salem, I have a feeling that the league is going to beat each other up by the end of the 18-game slate . . . 6 losses might win it.

(Though, might not be enough for a bid).
Click to expand...
Winner cannot lose more than 4 points in the standings and have a good/great OOC record. Even then it may not be enough to grab a bid.

Having seen a few on TV, while there may a clear case of haves and have nots at the end of the season, every win will be hard earned. We complete cycle 1 this weekend and so far nobody has won by more than a 3 goal advantage.
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

I think that third pass through the league will be pretty interesting, with some double-revenge scenarios.

Salem would likely have the best shot at a bid, since they have the best out of conference schedule, and that win over St. Norbert will likely carry serious weight come tourney time . . . the Bowdoin game could be another big out of conference win.

Westfield will likely need to beat Amherst to get a strong out of league win to help establish NCAA Credentials - unless the Owls roll through the league with 1 or 2 losses.

It is interesting that there have been so many close games, but that there are still two unbeatens . . .
 
Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

CenteringPass said:
Salem would likely have the best shot at a bid, since they have the best out of conference schedule, and that win over St. Norbert will likely carry serious weight come tourney time . . . . . .
Click to expand...

It would only make sense that the victory over St. Norbert should carry weight in the selection process.........but the selection process is a little short on common sense ......and it won't !

.....results of games out of region just don't count.
 
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Re: MASCAC Season 1 - Pool B or not to Pool B, we'll C.

NorthernLite said:
It would only make sense that the victory over St. Norbert should carry weight in the selection process.........but the selection process is a little short on common sense ......and it won't !

.....results of games out of region just don't count.
Click to expand...
Current Standings:
Code: 
                                  OOC Losses     OOC Wins
Salem State       5-0-1    6-2-1  (CSS, USM)     (SNC)
Westfield State   4-0-2    6-1-2  (TRN)          (WNE, [I]FRP[/I])
Fitchburg State   4-2-0    6-2-1                 ([I]FRP, ASM[/I])
Plymouth State    3-3-0    6-3-0                 (SUF, [I]STO, SNH[/I])
Mass-Dartmouth    1-4-1    4-5-1  ([I]STO[/I])          (BEK, SUF, BAB)
Worcester State   1-5-0    3-7-0
Framingham State  1-5-0    1-8-1

BTW, if the season ended today:
Salem State vs. winner of Plymouth St. / UMD
Westfield State vs. winner of Fitchburg / Worcester

Quality OOC Wins: Salem State over St. Norbert; Mass-Dartmouth over Babson.
Quality OOC Losses: Salem State to St. Scholastica (OT) and Southern Maine; Westfield State to Trinity.

Teams that have a whiff of an NCAA bid are probably Salem State, Westfield, and Fitchburg. With 4.5 conference losses, UMD may have shot themselves in the foot with their weak start. Plymouth State's weak OOC may have hurt them already.

Key OOC's
Salem St.: Colby, @NEC, @Bowdoin
Westfield St.: @Amherst, @Fredonia (2x)
Fitchburg St.: @Amherst, @NEC

Salem St.: 2-1 in the remaining 3 games MAY squeak them into the NCAA's providing one of the 2 wins is Colby.
Westfield: Anything less than 2-2 against the power conferences will hurt big time.
Fitchburg: needs to sweep.

I still think we're looking @ 7/4 split. Right now I think we're looking at:
SUNYAC: 2 bids
ECAC-E: 1 bid
ECAC-NE: 1 bid
NESCAC: 1 bid
ECAC-W: 1 bid
1 bid left -- who gets it? I would think the odds favor the ECAC-W, but if they keep beating each other and funble a bit more on the OOC, then maybe the MASCAC champion can snag it.
 
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