ECRHA Champions Crowned

Sunday evening, after the action had stopped and the celebrations had begun in earnest, four of the thirty-six teams that had descended upon the Sportsplex in Feasterville, PA for the annual Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA) Championship Event had earned the distinction of being named the champion of their respective division.

The Division III Championship was determined first as Suffolk County Community College beat Northern Virginia Community College by a score of 9-6 to win game two of their best-of-three series and clinch their third consecutive ECRHA Division III Championship winning the series two games to none.  Suffolk CCC won game one earlier Sunday morning by a score of 10-2 before securing their third consecutive run to the NCRHA National Championship Tournament.

Next, the B division championship was awarded to Suffolk County Community College B when they defeated Towson University B by a score of 5-4 to finish the double-elimination tournament undefeated in their championship run.  Suffolk CCC B entered the tournament as the second seed, earning them a bye in the first round of the tournament before they defeated Rochester Institute of Technology B in the second round by a score of 7-6.  Suffolk CCC B defeated Towson B in the third round of the tournament by a score of 6-3 prior to advancing to the championship game by defeating Penn State University B by a 4-3 score.  It is the second consecutive ECRHA B division championship for Suffolk CCC B in their three years in the league.

The third championship game of the weekend pitted defending ECRHA Division I Champion Towson University against a past champion in Rochester Institute of Technology.  Despite the best efforts of Rochester IT, Towson defended their ECRHA Division I Championship beating Rochester IT by a score of 5-2 in the championship game.  The Tigers defense began in round-robin action against Drexel University and the University of Pittsburgh.   The Tigers defeated Drexel 12-3 in the first game and beat Pittsburgh by a score of 7-0 in the second game of pool play.  Towson defeated Pittsburgh again in the first round of single-elimination play by a 9-3 score before coming back from a two goal deficit with under two minutes to play to beat the University of Rhode Island by a score of 5-4 in regulation play.

The final championship game of the weekend was the most dramatic of the four and found defending ECRHA Division II Champion Neumann College against Hofstra University.  Neumann College entered the tournament undefeated in regular season play and had made relatively quick work of their first four opponents in the tournament entering the championship game.  Hofstra on the other hand had entered the tournament having won six of their last eight games, but after dispatching their first two opponents in round-robin play during regulation, they had gone to overtime in both their quarterfinal and semi-final games to advance to the final.  After 36 minutes of high scoring, back-and-forth action, Neumann and Hofstra were tied at 7-7 heading to sudden-death overtime to decide the ECRHA Division II Championship.  But with Hofstra on a power play, Jay Becker scored the game-winning goal to clinch the ECRHA Division II Championship for the Hofstra University Pride just fourteen seconds into overtime.

Hofstra had defeated SUNY-Brockport and Duquesne University 5-3 and 12-2 respectively during round-robin play before going to overtime to beat Shippensburg University by a score of 7-6 in the quarterfinals and the University of Maine 4-3 in the semi-finals to advance to the finals. This was Hofstra?s second ECRHA Championship.  In 2002-2003, Hofstra won the ECRHA Affiliate Division Championship before joining the league as a full-member club the following season.

Congratulations to all the teams on a great weekend.  Spectators were treated to the very best in collegiate roller hockey action throughout the weekend.

The four divisional champions have earned automatic bids to the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association National Championship Tournament in Fort Collins, CO the week of April 13^th-17^th to compete for a national championship in their respective division.  For more information on the NCRHA National Championship Tournament please visit http://www.ncrha.org/championships.

 

Late Monday night, the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCRHA) announced bids for the annual National Championship Tournament to take place at OD?s Sports Crossing in Fort Collins, CO the week of April 13^th-17^th.

The Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA) will be well represented in the tournament after receiving fourteen bids across the four divisions.

In Division I, Towson University received the automatic bid after winning the Regional Championship and will be joined in Colorado by Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Rhode Island, SUNY-Buffalo, and the University of Delaware.

In Division II, Hofstra University received the automatic bid with their overtime championship performance.  Joining Hofstra will be Neumann College, the University of Maine, SUNY-Brockport, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the University of Vermont. 

Suffolk County Community College won their third consecutive ECRHA Division III Championship and the right to be the sole representative of the ECRHA in the division. 

In the B division, Suffolk County Community College B team earned their second consecutive bid to the National Championship Tournament by winning the ECRHA B division Championship and will be joined by the runner-up Towson University B team. 

Congratulations and good luck to the teams that were selected as you take part in the NCRHA National Championship Tournament.