LIVE STATS
BABSON PARK, Mass. – Fresh off a thrilling run to the program's first NESCAC Championship, the No. 15 nationally-ranked Wesleyan men's hockey team is set for its first-ever NCAA Tournament Game with a First Round matchup at No. 10 Babson. The opening puck drop is set for Saturday at 7:00 PM from the Babson Skating Center. Wesleyan heads into this showdown with an overall 15-11-1 record while the Beavers secured an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament with a 18-6-1 mark on the season.
Wesleyan heads into the NCAA Tournament following a thrilling run to the program's first NESCAC title over the weekend. Earning the No. 5 seed following an 8-9-1 regular season record in the NESCAC, Wesleyan needed three wins away from home to secure their first league title. The postseason run started with a 4-2 win at fourth-seeded Middlebury wherein the Cardinals outscored the Panthers 3-0 in the third period to overcome a 2-1 deficit. In the semifinals, Wesleyan took down top-seeded Williams, 3-2, in overtime as Jake Lachance's first career goal won it for the Cardinals in OT. Finally, the title game saw Wesleyan score a NESCAC title game record seven goals in a span of just over 30 minutes of play as the Cardinals put on a captivating performance in a 7-2 win over the two-seed Trinity.
These two once-annual foes will be meeting for the 30th time on Saturday but it'll be the first matchup between the two sides since 2010. Babson owns the lead in the all-time series with a 20-8-1 record against the Cardinals and come in with a six-game win streak against Wesleyan. The two sides had met once in the regular season for 16 straight years (1995-2010).
The winner of this First Round matchup will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals where No. 3 Utica (25-2-2, 15-2-1 UCHC), champions of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference, waits for a matchup on Saturday, March 21 at 12:00 PM.
CARDINALS AT A GLANCE:
- Head coach Chris Potter's group continues to pile up the wins as the Cardinals have double-digit regular season win totals in four straight seasons and eight of the past 10 seasons overall. In the 10 years prior to this current 10-year run, Wesleyan had just one double-digit win season (11 in 2006-07). The Cardinals' 15 wins so far on the season is the second-highest single-season win total in program history, just one win behind Wesleyan's 16 wins from the 2018-19 campaign. With 31 combined wins over the last two seasons, Wesleyan is in the midst of their winningest two-year run in program history.
- A Third Team All-American last season Walker Harris followed up an incredible 2018-19 campaign with a standout senior season that has seen him total 33 points across 27 games. Recently named 2019-20 First Team All-NESCAC, Harris' 33 points are tied for second-best in the NESCAC while his 13 goals are tied for the second-highest and his 20 assists rank third. He heads into the NCAA Tournament having recorded his 100th career point at Trinity on Feb. 21 as he has 108 career points (50 goals, 58 assists) in 105 games played. Harris tied his career-high and matched the NESCAC title game record with four points (one goal, three assists) in the 7-2 championship victory over Trinity.
- Named to the 2019-20 All-NESCAC Second Team, Tim Sestak has started all but one game this season in-between the pipes for the Cardinals and he's put together another tremendous campaign with a 2.16 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. Sestak was stellar in the 2020 NESCAC Tournament, allowing just two goals in each postseason win while stopping 78-of-82 (.951 save percentage) across the semifinal and championship games combined.
- Depth comes in the form of Tyler Levine (9-14-23), Spencer Fox (6-17-23), Cam Peritz (9-9-18), Tyler Wyatt (9-4-13), Matt Zandi (2-10-12) and Jordan Rose (3-7-10) as all six skaters sport double-digit point totals in 2019-20.
- For the season, Wesleyan committed the fewest penalty minutes in the NESCAC at 226 including just 8.4 per game. Wesleyan also sports the sixth-best penalty kill unit in the nation, checking in at 88.3 percent.
BEAVERS AT A GLANCE:
- No. 10 Babson received one of the four at-large berths to the Division III NCAA Tournament as the Beavers suffered a 3-2 loss to Southern Maine in the NEHC Quarterfinals back on Feb. 22.
- Ryan Class leads the team with 32 points (12 goals, 22 assists) to go along with five power play goals while Matt Wiesner (11-16-27) ranks second on the team in assists and Mike Egan (14-12-26) is tied for first in Div. III with six game-winning goals.
- Babson has the top goaltender duo in the country as Brad Arvanitis (8-3-1, 1.33 GAA, .954 SV%) and Aidan Murphy (10-2-1, 1.64 GAA, .942 SV%) own the second and fourth-best goals against average and save percentage in the nation, respectively.
- The Beavers average 3.65 goals per game while sporting the nation's third-best scoring defense (1.73 goals allowed per game), eighth-best scoring margin (+1.92 per game), second-best power play (33.3), eighth-best penalty kill (87.8) and take the fewest penalty minutes of any team in the nation (6.9 per game).
- This is the Beavers' first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014, 17th in program history and sixth under 16-year head coach Jamie Rice.
<< NCAA DIV. III TOURNAMENT CENTRAL >> | << TOURNAMENT BRACKET >>
First Round – Saturday, March 14
Plymouth State at No.7 Endicott – 4:00 PM
No. 15 Wesleyan at No. 10 Babson– 7:00 PM
No. 6 Hobart at No. 5 Adrian – 7:00 PM
St. Thomas (Minn.) at No. 12 Lake Forest – 8:00 PM
Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 21
Wesleyan/Babson at No. 3 Utica – 12:00 PM
Plymouth State/Endicott at No. 1 Norwich – 7:00 PM
Hobart/Adrian at No. 2 SUNY Geneseo – 7:00 PM
St. Thomas (Minn.)/Lake Forest at No. 4 Wiscosin Eau Claire – 7:00 PM
Semifinals – Friday, March 27
Championship – Saturday, March 28
