SUNDAY’S STORYLINE: Norwich (20-6-3) enters Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal fresh off a 8-2 first round victory over MASCAC champion Salem State on Wednesday. Geneseo (22-6-0) won its first-ever NCAA Tournament game on Thursday with a 3-2 victory over ECAC Northeast champion Nichols. The Cadets are making their 15th NCAA Tournament appearance after receiving an at-large bid for the second straight season, following a 2-1 loss to Babson in the ECAC East Championship.
Geneseo also qualified for the NCAA Tournament courtesy of one of the three at-large Pool C bids following a 7-6 loss to Oswego in the SUNYAC title game. This year marks the Knights’ fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and first since back-to-back appearances in 2005 and 2006.
Geneseo and Norwich had one common opponent this season in Plattsburgh. The Cadets lost 4-2 at home to Plattsburgh on Jan. 14, while Geneseo split with the Cardinals. Geneseo lost 4-1 on the road on Nov. 8, but beat Plattsburgh 5-3 at home on Jan. 31.
WHAT’S AT STAKE: The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to the semifinal round to face the winner of St. Norbert and Adrian in Lewiston, Maine, the host for the 2014 NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. Norwich has made 11 NCAA D-III Frozen Four appearances, including four straight coming into this season. Geneseo has never made the Frozen Four.
THE SERIES: Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between Norwich and Geneseo in men’s hockey. Geneseo will become the sixth SUNYAC team that Norwich has faced in its history. The Cadets have never played Buffalo State, Fredonia and Brockport.
THE HISTORY: Geneseo’s varsity program began in 1975-76 under Paul Duffy who served as the head coach all the way up until 2001. Norwich’s varsity program dates back to 1909 with the Cadets accumulating 961 all-time victories over that span.
THE COACHES: Norwich is led by Mike McShane, who is in his 19th year at the helm of the program and has compiled a 410-109-30 record. He recorded his 600th all-time victory two seasons ago on Jan. 27, 2012 in a win over Southern Maine becoming just the ninth coach at any level in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. He is 653-327-67 all-time in 33 seasons between Norwich, St. Lawrence and Providence.
Geneseo is led by 1997 alumnus Chris Schultz, who is in his eighth season at his alma mater. He won his 100th game earlier this season with a 4-1 win over Potsdam on Nov. 9. He has recorded a 119-84-7 record in his tenure at the helm of the Knights program. Schultz has won back-to-back SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors and three out of the last four seasons.
ABOUT THE CADETS: Norwich is led by a trio of seniors in Travis Janke, Shane Gorman and Chris Duszynski. Janke (16-22-38) and Duszynski (18-9-27) are each coming off scoring twice in the Cadets’ 8-2 win over Salem State. Janke also picked up his 100th career assist in the game, which ranks seventh in NU history. He has 154 points in his career, ranking him 13th all-time. Janke was also named to the ECAC East All-Conference 1st Team for the second year in a row. Gorman (8-23-31) has established a new single-season career high as well and leads the Cadets in assists.
Sophomore defenseman Ryan Whitell (4-21-25) was named to the ECAC East All-Conference Second Team and is tied for fifth nationally in points by a blue liner. Freshman William Pelletier (10-11-21) rounds out the Cadets’ top-five scorers. Rookie Nick Pichette (7-3-10) is also coming off a two-goal game against Salem State.
In goal, Chris Czarnota has emerged as NU’s go-to goalie, starting the last 13 games in net. He has compiled a 10-3-1 overall record with a 1.43 goals against average, .911 save percentage and four shutouts. In his career, he is 31-6-3 for a .812 winning percentage.
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS: Geneseo is led by the SUNYAC Player of the Year Zachary Vit. Vit leads the team with 18 goals and 11 assists for 29 points. He has scored 124 points in 107 career games.
The Knights also rely on a trio of junior forwards in Tyler Brickler (15-14-29), Justin Scharfe (10-19-29) and Ryan Stanmir (11-15-26). Brickler leads Geneseo with seven power play goals and four game-winning goals. Scharfe was named to the SUNYAC All-Conference Third Team and Stanmir is in the midst of a breakout junior season, doubling his career-point total from his first two seasons. Scharfe and Brickler each scored in Geneseo’s win over Nichols.
Freshman forward Michael Collins rounds out Geneseo’s top-five scorers with 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points on his way to earning SUNYAC All-Conference Second Team honors.
In goal, junior Bryan Haude and sophomore Nick Horrigan have split the time almost evenly. Haude is 9-5-0 with a 3.04 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. Horrigan is 13-1-0 with a 2.20 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. Horrigan made 31 saves in Geneseo’s 3-2 win over Nichols.
By the Numbers: (national rank)
SCORING OFFENSE-
Norwich: 3.86 (11th)
Geneseo: 3.82 (12th)
SCORING DEFENSE-
Norwich: 1.69 (4th)
Geneseo: 2.64 (24th)
PENALTY MINUTES PER GAME-
Norwich: 9.7 minutes (68th)
Geneseo: 13.9 minutes (35th)
POWER PLAY-
Norwich: 20.7 percent (18th)
Geneseo: 18.8 percent (32nd)
PENALTY KILL-
Norwich: 85.7 percent (17th)
Geneseo: 80.1 percent (43rd)
