For the third year in a row, The College of New Jersey is the Colonial State Colleges Hockey Conference champion. The No. 3 Lions upset No. 1 University of Scranton on Sunday, 3-2, in front of a packed crowd at Loucks Ice Center.

The rematch of last year’s championship game, in which TCNJ won, 14-5, did not follow the same script as both teams kept it close throughout. Lions’ goalkeeper and Tournament MVP Michael Lojewski stopped 23 of 25 shots on goal (SOG) against the Royals. This included a perfect 11-for-11 third period that ended with him holding off a six on three during the last minute of the game after TCNJ took two penalties.

The game itself was fast and rough, with each period swaying the momentum back and forth.

The Lions had complete control of the game during the first, outshooting the Royals 13-4, getting consistent chances on three power plays and killing off the two they faced with clearances out of their own end. Despite this the team couldn’t net a goal in the first twenty minutes even with some of its best chances, something that would come back to haunt them later in the game.

Scranton began to pull TCNJ out of its comfort zone late in the first and into second period as penalties racked up as emotions rose. In total, 18 penalties and 44 penalty minutes were handed out by the officials. Five minutes into the second, both teams were charged after Scranton defenseman Cody Malyszek was called for hooking a TCNJ player to stop an open net goal. As play continued, Lions defenseman Matt Kimak was seen near the downed Malyszek and while he was initially called for roughing him an additional 10-minute misconduct was added on forcing him off the bench for most of the period while someone else served his two minutes.

The higher seed continued to take full advantage of the seemingly off its game Lions, as the latter’s defense finally gave way to Royal forward Ryan Kelly as he sunk a long slap shot from the left side past Lojewski at 11:17.

Both teams would take advantage of power play opportunities in the second period. A high stick call against Royal’s forward Ryan Fitzmaurice allowed TCNJ’s captain Will Dimock to score just eight seconds into the man advantage off a faceoff to tie the game. Later on as the period wore down, Lion’s center Kris Hastings was called for a trip after a series of down players hit the ice. Despite Lojewski stopping a hard slap just prior, Royal’s defenseman Christopher Marsman scored from the high slot on a feed from the ensuing faceoff. Heading into the third period, the Lions were facing their second goal deficit of the game.

Scranton’s defense became one of the game’s most prominent aspects, as it continued to shield goalie Dylan Euvino by putting bodies between him and the puck. The Lions shots were being picked up of rebounds almost immediately and speed kept any offensive players from getting serious breakaway opportunities.

The game would be determined by one of two things: Could Scranton continue to force TCNJ into a rough game and take them out of focus, similar to what happened against No. 5 Rutgers University in the semifinals? Or would TCNJ recapture the same dominance it displayed in the first period to try and even the score?

The third turned out to not be as one-sided as both teams slowly shifted. The Lions started by taking penalties as they had, but ended with the same high presence offense it had begun with. The Royals’ overall presence went from suffocating TCNJ and drawing them out into racking up too many penalties of their own.

It was this change that helped the Lions tie the game at two each, when forward Andrew Summa scored a rebound that had past multiple Royal players and onto his stick in the center at 7:47. Every minute following that goal, a new Scranton penalty was called until about the 15th minute. TCNJ’s JP Kelly drove into the Royal’s zone and in front of Euvino before sliding the puck to a waiting Dimock, who slammed home his second goal of the night and the game winner.

TCNJ held on despite both teams giving up late game penalties, including two on the Lions which when added on by a pulled goalie on Scranton’s part made it a 6 on 3 for the longest minute in the program’s history. Though according to head coach Andrew Ducko, it was “just like (they) did it in practice.”

The Lions now advance to the ACHA Southeast Regional Tournament that will be hosted by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia during the weekend of March 1-3. They’re opponent will be made known within the next few days.

- By Michael Battista