Nichols Defeats Appleby in Three, Advances to CISAA Finals

For the first time since 2004, Nichols hockey is taking its game to the CISAA finals thanks to a 4-1 victory tonight to win the best-of-three series with Appleby 2 games to one.

Game 1 took place last Wednesday at Nichols, with Appleby leaving with the first game under their belt after a 2-0 victory. The Appleby goaltending was difficult to beat, but Appleby's defensive style paid dividends as they capitalized on two offensive zone turnovers for goals. Brandon Mueller finished the game with 24 saves.

Game 2 was do-or-die for Nichols, and they came to play. Nichols dictated the tempo in Oakville, and jumped to an early 1-0 lead on an Andrew Stein power play goal in the first period. It proved to be all Nichols would need as Brandon Mueller stopped all 21 shots he faced for the victory, sending the series back to Nichols for the deciding game three.

Nichols came ready to play in game three, but the Appleby goaltending continued to prove strong, frustrating Nichols forwards. Andrew Poturalski found the net midway through the second period on a power play, finishing a goalmouth scramble. The game entered the third with a 1-0 lead for Nichols, but just five minutes into the 20 minute frame, Appleby would get the bounce they needed as the shot from the point deflected by Brandon Mueller to tie the score at 1-1. With just over 5 minutes remaining, Andrew Stein scored on a power play to give Nichols the 2-1 lead, but a quick penalty on Nichols put Appleby on the power play just after the lead was taken. Andrew Poturalski would find his way behind the Appleby defense as he scored his second of the game; this one a shorthanded tally. Nichols would find their way in the box with a minute remaining, but Andrew Poturalski added his third of the game when he found the empty net. Brandon Mueller had 19 saves for the win.

The stage is set, and Nichols is in the finals against rival St. Andrew's College. Game 1 will be 1:00 on Wendesday, February 24 at St. Andrew's. Game 2 returns to Nichols at 5:00 on March 1, and Game 3 will be back at St. Andrew's at 1:00 on Wednesday, March 3 if necessary. The last time Nichols won the CISAA championship was in 2003.

Opportunity Lost

It was do or die for Nichols if they wanted a shot at first place in the CISAA. St. Andrew's had lost their game to St. Michael's College, so a tie or a win would give them first place for the regular season. Appleby had nothing on the line as they had clinched third place with no chance of moving up. However, Nichols could never seem to get things going as Appleby slowed down the play and waited for mistakes. Appleby was able to walk away with the 2-1 victory.

Matt Benedict scored the only goal for Nichols, and Peter Borgesi made 22 saves.

Nichols will now play Appleby in a best-of-three series in the semi-finals of the CISAA playoffs. Game 1 will start at 6:00 at Nichols on Wednesday, February 17.

Nichols Ties St. Andrew's, but Wins

Nichols traveled to St. Andrew's in a game that could decide first place in the CISAA. In order for Nichols to finish in first, they would have to win up in Aurora. The final score read 4-4, and Nichols came home thinking St. Andrew's had clinched first place. In a strange turn of events, it was learned the St. Andrew's had played an ineligible player, and as a result would have to forfeit the game. As a result, the Vikings are only one point out of first with 1 game remaining.

Although the score does not count, Matt Benedict had another strong game scoring in the first minute and last minute of the game. Randaccio and Stein added goals. Mueller had 22 saves.

Nichols Sweeps Ridley

For the second time in three days, Nichols defeated Ridley College to give Nichols the season sweep. This time was a nailbiter as Nichols won 3-2. The game had playoff implications for Nichols as they have clinched at least a second place finish with the win which will give them home ice for the first round of the playoffs.

Jordan Berninger opened the scoring for Nichols, finishing a 2-on-1 with Tom Mediak, but Ridley battled back before the end of the first period to tie the score at 1-1. James Randaccio put Nichols ahead 2-1, and Andrew Poturalski added his 27th of the season to give Nichols the 3-1 lead after two periods. Ridley would convert a 2-on-1 of their own, to close the gap. Nichols would stand tall in front of Peter Borgesi to secure the victory. Borgesi finished with 23 saves in the game.

Nichols will travel to St. Andrew's on Monday, February 8th, and they host Appleby to finish the regular season on Wednesday, February 10th.

Nichols Takes it to Ridley

Matt Benedict scored 3 goals and James Randaccio added a goal and 2 assists to pace the Nichols offense as they defeated Ridley College 7-2 in a CISAA league game. After going 1-2-2 in their last 5 league games, the Nichols Prep team was looking to get back on track, and Benedict got to work scoring his first goal just 17 seconds into the game. Nichols would control the play of the first period and finally solved Ridley ss James Randacio scored with just under 2 minutes to play in the period. Patrick Thompson added a goal with 16 seconds remaining to give Nichols a 3-0 lead.

The game settled down in the second but Andrew Stein scored a power play goal just four minuted into the period. Both teams traded power plays as the period saw the teams take a comnined 12 minutes of penalties during a 15 minute period.

The third was a new start, and Benedict gave Nichols a 5 goal lead after 6 minutes of play. Ridley would answer with a shorthanded goal ot close the gap, but Andrew Poturalski gave Nichols the 5 goal lead again. Ridley would asnwer one more time before Benedict completed the hat trick.

Brandon Mueller was in net to give Nichols their 19th win of the season. With the victory, Nichols has clinched a playoff birth and is guaranteed to finis in at least third place. Nichols has three league games remaining. Firday they will travel to Ridley. Monday will take them on the road to St. Andrew's, and Wednesday, Feb. 10 will feature a home game against Appleby.

Updated Scores

We have been falling behind on our blog updates, so I will give you the scores and highlights.

Since the last update, Nichols suffered a disappointing loss to Appleby 3-1 at home. It was the first league loss of the season. We rebounded fairly well two days later to defeat Upper Canada College 1-0. Brandon Mueller earned his first Nichols shutout, and it was the second shutout of the season for the team.

The next day, Nichols hit the road for the Northwood Tournament. Game 1 of the tournament was more difficult than expected as Nichols defeated Rothesay-Netherwood 5-4. Andrew Poturalski scored with 1:22 remaining to break a 4-4 tie. Game 2 put Nichols against Bridgton Academy, the all postgraduate school where Coach Printz spent his last 10 years. Nichols won 6-1 as freshman Nick Smith paced the offense with 2 goals. Game 3 would decide who moved on to the playoffs as Nichols faced the host Northwood School. Nichols would fall 3-2 in a hard fought game. Ryan Stayner and Andrew Poturalski scored for Nichols.

Nichols would return home in a first place showdown with St. Andrew's. Nichols held a 3-2 lead with 6 minutes remaining, but the inability to execute on a power play with four minutes left would prove to be costly. St. Andrew's scored two shorthanded goals to take the lead and add an empty netter to secure a 5-3 victory and hand Nichols it's second loss in the league.

Two days later, Nichols would face Upper Canada College. Again, Nichols had trouble holding the lead as UCC scored with 55 seconds remaining and the goalie pulled to tie the game at 3-3. The next day was a similar story as Nichols held a 4-2 lead with 14 minutes to play and opened the door by putting UCC on the power play. The game ended in another tie, this time 4-4.

Ridley College will be coming to town on February 3rd at 4:00.