2015 Atlantic Hockey men's ice hockey tournament

2015 Atlantic Hockey Men's ice hockey tournament
2015 Atlantic Hockey Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 6–21, 2015
Teams	11
Finals site	Blue Cross Arena; Rochester, New York
Champions	RIT (2nd title)
Winning coach	Wayne Wilson (2nd title)
MVP	Matt Garbowsky (RIT)
	Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 Atlantic Hockey Tournament was the 11th Atlantic Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 6 and March 21, 2015, at campus locations and at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. The tournament was won by the RIT Tigers. By winning the tournament, RIT earned Atlantic Hockey's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

The tournament format changed this year because the Connecticut Huskies left the league for Hockey East, leaving 11 teams. Under the new format, the top five (instead of four) seeds all receive a bye into the quarterfinals, but the fifth seed doesn't host a quarterfinal series.

The tournament features four rounds of play. In the first round the sixth and eleventh, seventh and tenth, and eighth and ninth seeds, as determined by the conference regular season standings, will play a best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The top five teams from the conference regular season standings receive a bye to the quarterfinals. There, the first seed and lowest-ranked first round winner, the second seed and second-highest-ranked first round winner, the third seed and highest-ranked first round winner, and the fourth seed and the fifth seed will play a best-of-three series, with the winners advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second-highest and second-lowest remaining seeds will play a single game each, with the winners advancing to the championship game. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

2014–15 Atlantic Hockey standings v t e
	Conference record							Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Robert Morris †	28	19	5	4	42	106	66	37	24	8	5	133	90
Canisius	28	15	7	6	36	78	60	37	18	12	7	95	82
#16 RIT *	28	14	9	5	33	90	62	40	20	15	5	121	96
Bentley	28	14	9	5	33	76	67	37	17	15	5	100	92
Mercyhurst	28	14	11	3	31	90	87	39	19	16	4	116	122
Holy Cross	28	12	11	5	29	68	61	37	14	18	5	84	87
Air Force	28	13	12	3	29	82	82	41	16	21	4	119	130
Sacred Heart	28	10	12	6	26	77	82	38	13	19	6	96	113
Army	28	8	16	4	20	60	84	34	8	22	4	68	108
American International	28	4	17	7	15	69	107	36	4	25	7	87	155
Niagara	28	5	19	4	14	65	103	39	7	28	4	85	157
Championship: March 21, 2015 † indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 23, 2015

Bracket

RIT and Bentley finished tied for third place; RIT is the third seed based on the third tiebreaker (head-to-head goal differential). Air Force and Holy Cross finished tied for sixth place; Holy Cross is the sixth seed based on the first tiebreaker (head-to-head results).

First round March 6–8					Quarterfinals March 13–15					Semifinals March 20			Championship March 21

					1	Robert Morris	4	6	—
6	Holy Cross	1	2***	3	11	Niagara	2	3	—
11	Niagara	2	1	5						1	Robert Morris	3
										5	Mercyhurst	4*
					2	Canisius	2	2	—
					8	Sacred Heart	0	1	—
													3	RIT	5
													5	Mercyhurst	1
					3	RIT	2	7	—
7	Air Force	6	10	—	7	Air Force	1	3	—
10	American International	1	3	—						2	Canisius	1
										3	RIT	2
					4	Bentley	0	5	2
8	Sacred Heart	2	5	—	5	Mercyhurst	1*	3	3
9	Army	0	2	—

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

First round

(6) Holy Cross vs. (11) Niagara

March 6	Holy Cross		1 – 2	Niagara	Hart Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period		No scoring
(Bolton, Barrett) Matt Scarth - PP - 12:04		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		04:29 - Kevin Patterson (Angiolella, Pietrobon) 10:10 - GW - Luke Edwards (Pietrobon, Angiolella)
( 28 saves / 30 shots ) Matt Ginn		Goalie stats		Jackson Teichroeb ( 31 saves / 32 shots )

March 7	Holy Cross		2 – 1	3OT	Niagara	Hart Center	Recap
(Moore, Barrett) Matt Scarth - PP - 05:56		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			01:00 - Stanislav Dzakhov (Sarcona, Smith)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
(McNamara, Pooley) T. J. Moore - GW - 11:40		Third overtime period			No scoring
( 50 saves / 51 shots ) Matt Ginn		Goalie stats			Jackson Teichroeb ( 58 saves / 60 shots )

March 8	Holy Cross		3 – 5	Niagara	Hart Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period		03:48 - Larry Smith (unassisted)
(Moore, Pooley) Mike Barrett - 01:30 (Nagy, Youso) Tommy Dwyer - 13:34 (Beckman) Brett Lubanski - 15:15		Second period		04:54 - PP - Kevin Patterson (Sarcona) 12:28 - PP - Keegan Harper (Sarcona, Patterson)
No scoring		Third period		02:03 - GW PP - Chris Lochner (Muto, Smith) 19:10 - EN - Hugo Turcotte (Kolenda)
( 21 saves / 25 shots ) Matt Ginn		Goalie stats		Jackson Teichroeb ( 47 saves / 50 shots )

Niagara won series 2–1

(7) Air Force vs. (10) American International

March 6	Air Force		6 – 1	American International	Cadet Ice Arena	Recap
(Baskin, Ledford) A. J. Reid - 04:32 (Himley, Vosejpka) Ben Kucera - GW - 12:02 (Demers, Weissenhofer) Scott Holm - 12:47		First period		16:22 - Austin Orszulak (May, MacMillan)
(Hartner, Kucera) Ben Carey - 05:59 (Gunner, Rostenkowski) Scott Holm - 06:37		Second period		No scoring
(Reid, Ledford) Phil Boje - PP - 01:20		Third period		No scoring
( 24 saves / 25 shots ) Chris Truehl		Goalie stats		Alex Murray ( 28 saves / 34 shots ) / Jacob Caffrey ( 2 saves / 2 shots )

March 7	Air Force		10 – 3	American International	Cadet Ice Arena	Recap
(unassisted) Chad Demers - 01:11 (Carey, Holm) Cole Gunner - 17:06 (Gunner, Weissenhofer) Chad Demers - 18:32		First period		No scoring
(Kucera, Weissenhofer) Cole Gunner - GW PP - 00:54 (unassisted) Ben Carey - 12:05 (Reid, Ledford) Cole Gunner - 14:22		Second period		01:08 - Johno May (Orszulak)
(Hartner, Abood) Ben Carey - 01:37 (Ledford, Abood) A. J. Reid - 02:17 (Ledford, Baskin) Phil Boje - 06:51 (Carey) Cole Gunner - 08:57		Third period		13:11 - Nathan Sliwinski (May, Debrincat) 16:51 - Johno May (Gandara)
( 21 saves / 22 shots ) Chris Truehl / ( 8 saves / 10 shots ) Connor Girard		Goalie stats		Hunter Leisner ( 15 saves / 19 shots ) / Alex Murray ( 23 saves / 28 shots ) / Jacob Caffrey ( 9 saves / 10 shots )

Air Force won series 2–0

(8) Sacred Heart vs. (9) Army

March 6	Sacred Heart		2 – 0	Army	Milford Ice Pavilion	Recap
No Scoring		First period		No scoring
(Luczyk, Doerksen) Alec Butcher - GW - 06:16		Second period		No scoring
(Sabatini, Butcher) Evan Jasper - 16:05		Third period		No scoring
( 20 saves / 20 shots ) Alex Vazzano		Goalie stats		Parker Gahagen ( 26 saves / 28 shots )

March 7	Sacred Heart		5 – 2	Army	Milford Ice Pavilion	Recap
No Scoring		First period		No scoring
(Brightbill, Minello) Ben Lake - 04:27 (Nylen) Brian Sheehan - 05:54 (Rayner, Kennedy) Alec Butcher - GW - 09:40		Second period		No scoring
(George, Doherty) Justin Danforth - 03:03 (Kennedy, Nylen) Jordan Minello - EN - 18:17		Third period		02:34 - PP - Mac Lalor (Alvarez, Pham) 15:07 - Brendan McGuire (Llaurado)
( 23 saves / 25 shots ) Alex Vazzano		Goalie stats		Parker Gahagen ( 31 saves / 35 shots )

Sacred Heart won series 2–0

Quarterfinals

(1) Robert Morris vs. (11) Niagara

March 13	Robert Morris		4 – 2	Niagara	84 Lumber Arena	Recap
(Cope, Denham) Scott Jacklin - 08:17		First period		16:47 - Patrick Conte (Edwards, Turcotte) 17:37 - PP - Kevin Patterson (Kohls, Harper)
(Jones) Timmy Moore - 03:05		Second period		No scoring
(Wilson, Jones) Spencer Dorowicz - GW - 02:48 (Gibson, Cope) Brandon Denham - EN - 18:44		Third period		No scoring
( 38 saves / 40 shots ) Dalton Izyk		Goalie stats		Jackson Teichroeb ( 36 saves / 39 shots )

March 14	Robert Morris		6 – 3	Niagara	84 Lumber Arena	Recap
(Rey, Lynch) Greg Gibson - 03:33 (Jacklin, Wilson) Zac Lynch - PP - 18:44 (Wydo, Wilson) Scott Jacklin - PP - 19:34		First period		14:10 - Hugo Turcotte (Kolenda, Harper)
No scoring		Second period		01:46 - Matt Chiarantano (Lochner, Turcotte) 09:05 - Keegan Harper (Conte, Nasca)
(unassisted) Zac Lynch - GW SH - 04:30 (Denham, Rey) Greg Gibson - 07:48 (Ferguson) David Friedmann - EN - 17:08		Third period		No scoring
( 30 saves / 33 shots ) Dalton Izyk		Goalie stats		Jackson Teichroeb ( 38 saves / 43 shots )

Robert Morris won series 2–0

(2) Canisius vs. (8) Sacred Heart

March 13	Canisius		2 – 0	Sacred Heart	Harborcenter	Recap
(Murray, Sheeran) Jack Stander - GW - 14:58 (Stander, McCrank) Ralph Cuddemi - 19:15		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
( 19 saves / 19 shots ) Keegan Asmundson		Goalie stats		Alex Vazzano ( 16 saves / 18 shots )

March 14	Canisius		2 – 1	Sacred Heart	Harborcenter	Recap
(Roe, Murray) Cody Freeman - 01:22		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
(Freeman, Cuddemi) Chris Rumble - 02:40		Third period		05:03 - Drew George (Danforth)
( 32 saves / 33 shots ) Keegan Asmundson		Goalie stats		Alex Vazzano ( 12 saves / 14 shots )

Canisius won series 2–0

(3) RIT vs. (7) Air Force

March 13	RIT		2 – 1	Air Force	Gene Polisseni Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period		No scoring
(Norrish, McGowan) Matt Garbowsky - PP - 15:19		Second period		14:14 - PP - Chad Demers (Rostenkowski, Holm)
(Abt, Kuqali) Josh Mitchell - GW PP - 04:57		Third period		No scoring
( 25 saves / 26 shots ) Jordan Ruby		Goalie stats		Chris Truehl ( 22 saves / 24 shots )

March 14	RIT		7 – 3	Air Force	Gene Polisseni Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period		No scoring
(Garbowsky, Norrish) Brad McGowan - PP - 00:49 (Norrish, Mitchell) Matt Garbowsky - PP - 13:57		Second period		09:02 - PP - Ben Kucera (Reid, Baskin)
(Skirving) Brad McGowan - 00:27 (Mitchell, Norrish) Brad McGowan - GW - 08:17 (Kuqali, Garbowsky) Josh Mitchell - EN - 14:34 (Mitchell, Norrish) Brad McGowan - EN - 16:24 (Kuqali, Golberg) Myles Powell - PP - 18:01		Third period		16:05 - PP EA - Cole Gunner (Weissenhofer) 19:52 - Max Hartner (McDonald, Michalke)
( 24 saves / 27 shots ) Jordan Ruby		Goalie stats		Chris Truehl ( 36 saves / 41 shots )

RIT won series 2–0

(4) Bentley vs. (5) Mercyhurst

March 13	Bentley		0 – 1	OT	Mercyhurst	John A. Ryan Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			04:46 - GW - Ryan Misiak (Bahntge, Shiplo)
( 27 saves / 28 shots ) Jayson Argue		Goalie stats			Brandon Wildung ( 40 saves / 40 shots )

March 14	Bentley		5 – 3	Mercyhurst	John A. Ryan Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period		19:35 - Chris Bodo (Misiak, Shiplo)
(Eiserman, McDonald) Alex Grieve - 01:16 (Gladiuk, Blomquist) Max French - PP - 02:17 (Buchanan, Maher) Kyle Schmidt - 03:57 (McDonald, Grieve) Kyle Schmidt - GW - 11:59		Second period		No scoring
(unassisted) Kyle Schmidt - EN - 18:24		Third period		06:10 - PP - Kyle Just (Bahntge, Zay) 19:54 - EA - Chris Bodo (Bahntge, Just)
( 26 saves / 29 shots ) Jayson Argue		Goalie stats		Brandon Wildung ( 25 saves / 29 shots ) / Spencer Bacon ( 7 saves / 7 shots )

March 15	Bentley		2 – 3	Mercyhurst	John A. Ryan Arena	Recap
(Gladiuk, McDonald) Matt Blomquist - 05:25		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
(Switzer, French) Andrew Gladiuk - 03:23		Third period		12:12 - Matthew Zay (Bahntge, Todd) 12:26 - Chris Bodo (Nagtzaam, Frischmon) 19:54 - GW - Nardo Nagtzaam (Frischmon, Bodo)
( 32 saves / 35 shots ) Jayson Argue		Goalie stats		Brandon Wildung ( 35 saves / 37 shots )

Mercyhurst won series 2–1

Semifinals

(1) Robert Morris vs. (5) Mercyhurst

March 20	Robert Morris		3 – 4	OT	Mercyhurst	Blue Cross Arena	Recap
(Jacklin, Wydo) Zac Lynch - PP - 08:12		First period			04:47 - PP - Kyle Just (Mastrodicasa, Bahntge) 06:50 - PP - Ryan Misiak (Nagtzaam, Shiplo)
(Gibson, Wilson) Cody Wydo - 19:19		Second period			No scoring
(Rey, Denham) Scott Jacklin - 14:41		Third period			19:25 - EA - Chris Bodo (Zay, Just)
No scoring		First overtime period			03:04 - GW - Zac Frischmon (Nagtzaam, Mastrodicasa)
( 25 saves / 29 shots ) Dalton Izyk		Goalie stats			Brandon Wildung ( 59 saves / 62 shots )

(2) Canisius vs. (3) RIT

March 20	Canisius		1 – 2	RIT	Blue Cross Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period		19:37 - Brad McGowan (Garbowsky)
(Jessey, Cuddemi) Shane Conacher - 10:07		Second period		15:15 - GW - Danny Smith (Miller, Abt)
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Keegan Asmundson		Goalie stats		Jordan Ruby ( 27 saves / 28 shots )

Championship

(3) RIT vs. (5) Mercyhurst

March 21	RIT		5 – 1	Mercyhurst	Blue Cross Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period		No scoring
(Golberg, Cameron) Matt Abt - 02:03 (Garbowsky, McGowan) Josh Mitchell - GW - 09:51		Second period		No scoring
(Norrish, Kuqali) Andrew Miller - 14:55 (Mitchell, Garbowsky) Brad McGowan - 17:21 (Mitchell, Norrish) Brad McGowan - EN - 18:42		Third period		02:55 - Stephen Hrehoriak (Gettinger, Sienerth)
( 27 saves / 28 shots ) Jordan Ruby		Goalie stats		Brandon Wildung ( 31saves / 35 shots )

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

G Brandon Wildung (Mercyhurst)
D Brady Norrish (RIT)
D Matt Abt (RIT)
F Matt Garbowsky* (RIT)
F Brad McGowan (RIT)
F Andrew Miller (RIT)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

^[1]

References

^ "RIT defeats Mercyhurst to claim second Atlantic Hockey Championship". Atlantic Hockey Association. March 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.

[1] "RIT defeats Mercyhurst to claim second Atlantic Hockey Championship". Atlantic Hockey Association. March 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.

[1]