By John Syms, Staff Writer
Originally Published March 19, 2024
After finishing the regular season with 15 wins and three defeats, the Saint Vincent College (SVC) men’s ice hockey team needed two more victories to be crowned the College Hockey East (CHE) champions. Heading into the playoffs, the Polar Bearcats topped the conference as the one-seed. They scored 104 regular season goals, which was the most of any team. Nathan Loughner, freshman business administration major, led the team in goals as he scored twenty-one points during the regular season, four during the CHE playoffs, and two during the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) playoffs.
On Friday, Feb. 24, SVC competed against the fifth seeded Pitt-Johnstown at the Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont, Pa, in a semi-final match. They defeated the Mountain Cats with a score of 8-1, as Loughner led the team in scoring with three goals.
After a strong victory in their semi-final match, SVC faced off against Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) on Feb. 25 for the championship back at the same arena they defeated Pitt Johnstown. History would be made in Delmont as the hockey team managed to win the CHE conference title for the first time by defeating the Crimson Hawks with a score of 3-2.
The game started off 1-0, as Logan Connelly, senior psychology major, scored the first goal of the match. IUP managed to net a second period goal, but the Bearcats would retake the lead, as Loughner would score to make the game 2-1.Zachary Ridilla, sophomore environmental engineering major, would give the team an advantage by adding the winning goal, making the score 3-1. The Crimson Hawks added back another point, but it wasn’t enough to defeat SVC.
After the CHE championship game, the Bearcats qualified for the national ACHA tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was placed in a pool to face three other teams, and if they finished first in the group, they would advance to the final four. However, SVC lost to Lawerence Tech, the eventual winners of the ACHA tournament, 10-1, followed by another loss to the University of Arkansas with a score of 6-1. They pulled off one last win of the season against Colby College, beating the Mules with a score of 9-5.
Ridilla led the team in ACHA goals with three and finished off the regular season with thirteen goals and fourteen assists. He was additionally pleased with the way the team played all year, and already cannot wait for how next season will turn out.
“We worked so hard all year to accomplish our goals, and winning the championship was just part of it, and as for next year, we have most of the same core returning plus some new guys we know about already.”
Connelly would finish his last season with the Bearcats by reaching 100 career points in a year he will remember forever.
“Finally getting a CHE championship, going to nationals, and getting a win at nationals is an incredible accomplishment for the program and is only the building blocks on to more,” Connelly said. “Going to the championship two straight years and losing, I wanted this one more than any other game, and so we prepared as we did any other game and went out there and gave it our all against a good IUP team. Just the feeling of lifting that trophy with my hockey family is a feeling that I wouldn't trade for the world.”
SVC won’t play another game until the fall, but the future is looking bright for the Bearcats with the young talent they have now, as the team had over seven freshman players.
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