March Madness Indeed!

The madness of college championships has found its way to the ranks of college roller hockey, as the ECRHA held its Championship Tournament at the Feasterville Sportsplex March 26-29. Though final glances at the end results may say otherwise, each division was filled with hard-fought contests and edge-of-your-seat excitement. To add to the excitement or the competition was the addition of four gorgeous new perpetual Championship Cups.

The weekend of D1 hockey was full of upsets as SUNY-Binghamton, Northeastern, and Pittsburgh made impassioned runs toward the coveted swing bid for the National Championships (to be held April 14-18 Anaheim, CA).

The Binghamton Bearcats helped eliminate perennial contender RIT from advancing past round robin play as they moved on to a first round match-up against a tough Towson team.

Northeastern had to be the weekend?s Cinderella-team as the lowest seed to advance to Sunday play and a final four match against Maryland after a stunning win against Rhode Island.

Pittsburgh gave the most improbable play Saturday, posting a 2-0 record against Buffalo and Drexel, and earning another shot at year-long rival Maryland.

The #4 seed in elimination play, the Towson Tigers proved their dominance as they knocked off Binghamton, Buffalo, and Maryland to lay claim to the Division I championship cup. Towson now moves on to Anaheim for the 2004 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships along with Buffalo, Maryland, Penn State, and Rhode Island to represent the ECRHA.

Division II arguably saw some of the better games all weekend. Maine, Neumann, and Shippensburg all went undefeated in round robin play to take the top seeds into the elimination round.

Vermont delivered a double whammy, upsetting Millersville in both round robin and elimination play, only to fall to Neumann College in the semifinals.

Shippensburg failed to hold onto a lead and lost to Brockport, who in turn lost to Maine in the semifinals.

In arguably one of the tightest games all weekend, Neumann and Maine were stalemated at a 2-2 tie after two periods of play until Neumann finally broke through and opened up the gates to take the DII crown 8-2.

Neumann will be joined by Maine, Millersville, Shippensburg, and Vermont as the DII teams to advance to Anaheim and vie for the national title. In a surprise twist from the national level, St. John?s University received an invite to attend Nationals as the replacement team for Riverside California

The B division also saw some great games as Suffolk Community College beat Buffalo and Delaware beat Drexel. A talented Suffolk team then completed their run as they beat Delaware by a final of 4-3. Buffalo will have a chance to overcome this setback, as they are the ECRHA representative for the inaugural NCT B Division being held at the National Event in April.

Division III once again saw favorite Suffolk Community College take out Northern Virginia Community College, needing only two games to become back-to-back DIII Champs. Suffolk can now begin to gear up for their trip to Anaheim to represent the ECRHA at Nationals.

There isn?t much time for celebration, though. The 2004 Collegiate Roller Hockey National Championships takes place April 14-18 in Anaheim, CA where the very best teams from around the country will face-off for bragging rights as national champs of the 2003-2004 season.