Keene, NH – The CMCC Men's Hockey team had its bid for a second straight NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association championship ended on Sunday afternoon with a 4-0 loss to #1 seeded Colby College at the Keene Community Ice Arena. The Mustangs had a quick turnaround after their semifinal victory against WIT late Saturday night but could not find a way past goaltender Cooper Steinborn. It marked the team's first shutout loss in three years.
"The guys fought hard, we just couldn't capitalize," said head coach Jordy Knoren. "Give their goalie credit, he played well. I'm super proud of our team. We know in our locker room that we're a national level caliber team. Unfortunately, things didn't fall our way in the championship game."
The Mules pipped the Mustangs for the top spot in the Colonial North division standings. Both regular season meetings were one-goal thrillers with Central Maine winning 5-4 at Norway Savings Bank Arena in October and Colby taking a 3-2 victory at the Jack Kelley Rink in November. Both teams found themselves inside the top 15 national rankings heading into the game with Colby ranked #7 and CMCC #11 in the latest ACHA poll.
Colby peppered goaltender Sebastian Couturier with 17 shots in the first period. Mitch Ham opened the scoring late in the frame. The former Falmouth High School linemate of CMCC leading scorer Aaron Higgins made it 1-0 with 3:47 left on the clock.
Ham made it 2-0 under three minutes into the second. Brendan Bullock then scored a powerplay marker at the 5:14 mark to give the Mules a 3-0 lead. The Mustangs mustered 13 shots in the middle frame trying to find a route back into the game but could not beat Steinborn even with two power plays of their own.
Spencer Lee capped the offensive outburst with a goal with 6:13 left before the intermission, giving Colby a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the final period. Before the teams could make their way off the ice however, a shot by Bullock after the horn sparked a skirmish with Lukas Sargolini that led to offsetting roughing penalties and a ten-minute misconduct for the Mules forward.
Couturier stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third to give Central Maine a fighting chance. A penalty on Lee in the final 2:24 set up a frantic final stretch with the netminder pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage. But the Colby defense held firm to preserve the shutout for their goalie and cue the celebrations.
The Mules outshot the Mustangs 43-37. Leading scorer Higgins and Cody Ivey led the team with six shots apiece. Couturier finished with 39 saves in his final game in a Central Maine jersey.
Three different teams have now won the last three NECHA championships with CMCC participating in each one. The Mustangs reach the end of their conference campaign with a 22-7-0 overall record and an impressive six victories against ACHA teams ranked in the top 25 national poll.
