Record-holding goalie and high expectations: Curry College men's hockey atop NCAA bracket
CANTON — The banner of Division 3 NCAA tournament bids looms over its home rink at Canton Ice House.
The Curry College men's hockey team has now made the cut seven times since 2004.
This trip, though, has a different feel than the others. The Colonels have an unfamiliar vantage point from the top.
Curry (24-3) is the top seed in the bracket for the first time in program history. The Colonels open in the quarterfinals against No. 9 Hamilton at Canton Ice House on Saturday at 3 p.m. Tickets sold out by Thursday night.
“I think it’s probably the biggest game in Curry College athletics history," head coach Peter Roundy said. "Our football team has in the past played some big games in the tournament, maybe first or second round. To be at this point in the national tournament, to play at home, it’s really special.”
The Colonels are riding a 16-game winning streak into tournament play. On the season, Curry is outscoring opponents by a 112-40 margin, netting 4.15 goals per game in the process.
Last year, Curry was the No. 12 seed in the bracket and finished 21-6-1 overall. The season ended with a 4-3 heartbreaker to top-seeded Hobart in four overtimes as goaltender Shane Soderwall, then a freshman, tied an NCAA record with 98 saves. The previous school record of 69 saves was set in 1996.
Hobart won the NCAA championship two rounds later.
“It was fuel to the fire," said sophomore forward Nolan McDonough, a Dorchester native via Winchendon School. "It made us play harder and train harder. It’s in the back of our minds that we’re one of the best teams in the country and we deserve that status and ranking. We can play with the best.”
“It gave our group a ton of confidence," Roundy said. "It was tough in the moment because your season ends so abruptly, but we left it all on the ice. Heading into the spring and summer last year, we knew the expectations were going to be even higher going into this year.”
The team lost just two players to graduation in the offseason and brought in the first Division 1 transfer in Roundy's four-year tenure: top 4 defenseman Casper Söderling, a junior from Sweden, via AIC (American International College) in Springfield.
The first line of McDonough (10 goals, 5 assists), senior Eelis Laaksonen (14 goals, 11 assists) and junior Gage Dill (6 goals, 15 assists) remained intact to unite with the defensemen Söderling and sophomore Ryan Prewitt (4 goals, 12 assists), an Abington native who attended Worcester Academy in high school.
“We talked about it as a leadership group with the captains – all eyeballs were going to be on us," Roundy said. "Not just externally, but internally. There were more expectations because we were so close.”
In that 4-OT finale, Curry commanded a 2-0 lead late in the second period until Hobart piled on three consecutive goals before the Colonels responded and knotted things, 3-3, with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
In regards to the four overtime frames, Laaksonen chuckled at the game in hindsight, saying "We were all mustard and pickle juice on the bench," referencing hockey-player remedies to muscle cramps after grueling, extensive shifts.
But all in all, “It could’ve been anyone’s game," he said.
“It showed us that we can play with any team," Laaksonen said. "I think we took that into this year. We had a lot of guys returning so I think coming in with that confidence knowing that we’ve played with the best, we competed and we can be the best.”
That concluded the program's ninth straight winning season since 2015.
“It’s definitely been a progression," Roundy said. "We’ve been through a lot as a program over this time and played a lot of big games. When you gather all of those experiences and add them up, you learn some hard lessons during those times, and you also learn how to win.”
The 98-save outburst propelled Soderwall into a breakout sophomore season this winter, as the Illinois native enters tournament play with a 94.4 save percentage and 1.47 goals-against average (37 goals allowed in 26 starts).
As a freshman last year, Soderwall appeared in 21 games, and made 18 starts, after earning the starting job in a competition battle against two seniors. A well-played captains practice was the early indication that Soderwall had standout potential, Roundy said. A 33-save shutout on the road vs. Wesleyan over Thanksgiving weekend proved it.
“He’s been the best goalie in the country," Prewitt said. "I think that’ll be big, hopefully, on this run that we have.”
This marks the Colonels' third straight NCAA tournament berth. Prior to the streak, Curry made consecutive appearances in 2004-05, and 2010-11.
This postseason journey opens with one of the most highly anticipated games in program history. The sold-out stage at Canton Ice House is set.
“There might be some nerves, but we’ve been doing this all year," Prewitt said. "It’s the same (sport) we’ve played all our whole lives. Just gotta keep doing what we’ve been doing to make us successful.”
“Hopefully we don’t have to go four overtimes this year," Laaksonen said with a laugh.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Curry College men's hockey is NCAA Division 3 tournament's top seed
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