NEWS

With three quarterfinal games on Friday, the Super East began its first playoff series since 2020. In the first game, Sacred Heart was able to defeat Montclair State 6-1 in a game that appeared to be lopsided but was anything but. Red Hawk goaltender Ondrej Smalec allowed Montclair State to remain in the game until the 3-minute mark of the third period. With the score 3-1 late in the game, Montclair State received back-to-back power-play attempts when the Pioneers led by 2 goals midway through the third period. The Red Hawk's failure to convert then put the Pioneers in the driver's seat over the last few minutes. Sacred Heart made the score 4-1 on a power-play goal of their own. The Pioneers then tacked on two goals in the last minute to pull away completely. 

In the second and closest contest of the evening, Clarkson took on Central Connecticut State. Clarkson predominantly led the entire game and had a 2 goal lead most of the game. However, the CCSU Blue Devils received 2 goals from Anthony Romano and another from Billy Mckinley to make the game interesting. Clarkson's Jordan Willis would score the Knight's 4th goal and allowed them to hold off the late surging Blue Devils.

The final quarterfinal matchup was held between two longtime rivals, Siena and Marist. In the weekend prior to the playoffs, Siena was able to take both games but needed overtime to do so. However, this game would be all Marist as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Siena could find the back of the net. The teams would add one more goal apiece and Marist would skate to a 7-2 victory.

Saturday's semifinal matchups would feature Sacred Heart against Clarkson in a very spirited matchup. Both teams exchanged several opportunities with neither squad really seizing control. Clarkson would strike first to take a 1-0 lead only to have the Pioneers answer on a beauty of a goal by Justin Bernhard. Jordan Willis and Ty Hlywa would capitalize later on to stretch the Clarkson Lead to 3-1 and Willis would put the final stamp on a 4-1 victory in the third period to send Clarkson to the championship on Sunday.

In the other semifinal game, Army came off their first-round bye to host the highest-scoring team in the playoffs after day 1, the Marist Red Foxes. The Army defense would be able to shut down the Marist attack and held a  2-0 lead after two periods. Marist would try to get something going late, but the Black Knights held them off the board and received the 3rd goal by Mark Lehman to punch their ticket to the finals.

Sunday's championship game proved to be the best of the bunch featuring two teams that battled for 60+ minutes as the game would need overtime to be settled. After a scoreless, yet action-packed 1st period, Clarkson's Evan Turner would net the game's first goal. Army's Matt Moellering would tie the game late, only to see that deadlock broken by who else but Clarkson's Jordan Willis. With a 2-1 lead and a dominating 3rd period Clarkson looked like they were going to hold off the Army attack. A controversial goal by Calvin McKee would tie the game with 1:04 remaining in the third period. McKee was able to chip the puck through Clarkson goaltender Kevin Rose and it appeared the momentum of McKee forced Rose into the net with control of the puck. After the officials deliberated, it was called a good goal sending the game into overtime. Mark Lehman would score off of a clean Caleb Kaiser faceoff win late in the first overtime to seal the game for Army.

The league would like to thank Montclair State Arena and the Montclair State Men's program for hosting another SECHL playoff tournament. Also, due to Clarkson's performance in the playoffs, they were able to join Sacred Heart and Army as a qualifying team in the Northeast Regional Tournament in 2 weeks. Each team will vie for an opportunity to play their way to the National Tournament in March. We wish all of our teams the best of luck.