2021-2022 SVC Polar Bearcats (Left to Right)
Kneeling: Taylor Hall, Joshua Hoffman, Shane Stone, George Reich, Logan Connelly, Mitch Fuchs, Jacob Holtzman. Standing: Coach Mike Ziemianski, Head Coach Brett Martz, Brandon Yatsko, Chris Miller, Mason Gage, Clark Josephson, Tristan Moyer, Colten McCutcheon, Anthony Rendulich, Mitchel Knecht, Devin Barrett, Zach Zapata, Coach Cam Roth, Coach Bob Martz.
Polar Bearcats Drop Final to Case 6-3
Saint Vincent lost in the finals for the second time in three years with a tough 6-3 set back against the Case Western Spartans. In the opening Saturday evening round, SVC surrendered a single early goal to Allegheny and never looked back ending with a 53-25 shot advantage and 6-1 victory. Jacob Holtzman dominated early with a natural hat trick as Logan Connelly contributed a 4 point night (1 goal 3 assists). Multiple points were also added by Tristan Moyer (1 goal 1 assist) and Anthony Rendulich (2 assists). Colten McCutcheon scored a power play goal from Clark Josephson.
In Sunday’s final against Case, SVC got into early penalty problems. Case took advantage of a 5:3 disadvantage and with two other minors, Saint Vincent could not find its bench rhythm and went down by a 3-0 margin after one period. A spirited effort drew the score to 3-1 as Holtzman bulled his way under a Spartan defender to score on a wing power drive to the net. But soon after Case added a 4’th to dampen a furious SVC charge that ended with a 15-7 shot advantage. The third period had a similar story line. The Polar Bearcats dominated play, outshot Case 19-6, but gave up two early goals. Efforts by Holtzman and Moyer closed the gap to 6-3, but not enough time remained to continue a comeback. Defenseman Devon Barrett was solid on the blue line, the only plus player at +2 and inspire of leading the team with 10 shots, Chris Miller could not score on the Case goaltender.
For the season SVC ended with a solid 13-9-0 mark and outshot their opponents 1,001 to 630. It was the first time in club history that two goaltenders recorded shutouts in a season (Shane Stone and Donovan Baxter). Chris Miller set a record for most points in a season by a defenseman with 34 (7 goals and 27 assists) breaking the 30 point mark previously held by Tim Legath.
SVC Bests RMU 3-0. Seniors Big Contributors. Team Preps for Playoffs.
Saint Vincent continued to pummel opposing net minders with shots using a 57 to 9 advantage over Robert Morris to gain a 3-0 win over the Colonials. RMU had zero shots in the 3’rd period. In spite of significant time in the RMU zone, the Colonial goaltender thwarted several early SVC chances until senior Zach Zapata scored a power play tally set up by Logan Connelly and Chris Miller. RMU continued to hang tough creating pressure for SVC until Zapata had his second of the game on a pass from fellow senior Clark Josephson with 6 seconds left in the first. Anthony Rendulich had the secondary assist. In spite of outshooting RMU 40 to 2 combined for the second and third periods, the colonial goaltender was almost impossible to solve until Colten McCutcheon flipped a shorthanded puck behind the RMU net minder to effectively end any hope of a comeback for Robert Morris as Chris Miller noted his second helper of the match to go along with several devastating checks against RMU. Senior Trent Stead, who missed the entire second semester with an injury returned to play the final home game and adapted to turn in a solid effort on the blue line. Although only facing 9 shots, Saint Vincent goalie Shane Stone came up big on two breakaways to earn his first career shutout. SVC ended its regular season with a 12-8-0 record.
Saint Vincent will square against Allegheny College in the first round of the CHE playoffs, on Saturday February 26 at 9:30 PM at Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont. The teams split the season series, each winning on the other’s home ice. The victor will face off against the winner of the Cleveland State Case Western game on Sunday, February 27 at 2:15 PM for the Division Championship.
SVC Heads into Final Weekend with at 11-8-0 – Senior Day This Sunday
The Polarbearcats posted two consecutive wins over Gannon 8-2 and Duquesne 6-3 before dropping a disappointing contest to Allegheny 7-5. Each contest saw SVC pepper opposing net minders, outshooting each team 79-23, 54-25, twice. Donavan Baxter picked up the win in goal over Gannon, while Shane Stone split the other two games. Seven different players had goals against Gannon with Logan Connolley (2 goals 1 assist) and Jacob Holtzman (1 goal 3 asissts) lead the way. Duquesne was a see saw affair. SVC opened quickly when at the 30 second mark Zach Zapata finished a 2:1 with Colten McCutcheon for an early 1-0 lead, but Duquesne scored late to end the first at 1-1. In spite of a 20-8 shot advantage in the second, the result was similar with a 3-3 deadlock after two. The Green and Gold finally came through in the third as Duquesne tormentor Chris Miller, scored on an early power play for what would end up being his 3’rd game winner over the Dukes. Zapata put SVC up by two and Holtzman finished the game with an empty net goal scored from his own defensive zone. With second place in the league on the line, Saint Vincent opened the scoring early against Allegheny with three goals in the first, including a stunning short handed score by Logan Connelly who deked three Allegheny defenders to score. But two thirds period Allegheny power play scores, defensive zone give aways and lack of puck support marred an otherwise dominating third period as the Allegheny goaltender made 19 saves on 21 shots.
Sunday, February 20 marks the final home game of the 21-22 season. Chris Miller, Zach Zapata, Clark Josephson and Trent Stead will participate in pre-game recognition as they look forward to graduation and becoming alumni of the ice hockey program.
Four Games in Three Days Yields a Split Weekend
A rare 4 game weekend, including two games on Sunday, demonstrated the ability of SVC to skate with any team, but also ended with mixed results. With starting goalie Shane Stone unable to play in the UPJ tournament, new back up goaltender Donavan Baxter became the surprise of the weekend shutting out Cleveland State in the opening game, making 15 saves, including stopping a breakaway in his first ever collegiate game. SVC swarmed a depleted CSU squad, opened an early lead and scored 10 times against the Vikings as Zach Zapata (2), Jacob Holtzman (2), and Logan Connelly (3) had multiple goals. Tristan Moyer had his first of the season while also adding an assist while Mitchel Knecht had a nice tip in for his first college goal. Clark Josephson and Chris Miller set up multiple scores with 4 and 5 assists respectively. Chris Miller was plus 8 and Devon Barrett a plus 6 in the game. The second contest against WVU was a thriller. Much deeper than CSU, the Mountaineers had a full bench and a wealth of skilled players. Great puck possession, well timed passing and a passion to protect rookie goaltender Baxter, enabled SVC to manage the game away from WVU. In spite of a huge shot advantage, the Mountaineer goaltender held SVC in check as each team traded goals in a see saw affair It was 1-1 at the end of period one, 3-3 at the end of period two and the scoreless third sent each team into a 4:4 overtime period. With barely 20 seconds played, Logan Connelly was able to steal a puck deep in the WVU zone. He put his 11’th shot of the game on net, but the puck ended behind the opponents goalie and Logan was able to nurse it across the goal line for an incredible 4-3 win. Final shots were SVC 51 WVU 19. In a true team effort, 4 different SVC players had goals with Zach Zapata, Colten McCutcheon, and Jacob Holtzman adding to the Saint Vincent score sheet.
Sunday saw SVC face off against one of the top National D3 schools, Rowan University from New Jersey. With 16,000 students, The Owls brought a very quick team with a full bench. Although SVC more than held their own, had some great attack sequences, and had a fairly equal time of possession, Rowan was able to exploit the lack of experience in goal and was able to take advantage of rebounds and bad angle scores ending the two game win streak for Donavan Baxter with a 10-1 win.
The second contest on Sunday was a game to challenge CHE D4 first place Case. Starting goaltender Shane Stone was able to make the start and showed no signs of being unready making several early saves including a smart glove that should have been a Case goal. But the team failed to provide enough in zone support and watched the Spartans score three times in the first 7 minutes. Coach Martz smartly used a timeout to regroup the team and what was once a 3 goal lead and a 7-1 shot advantage turned into a 3-2 Case lead and a 19-13 SVC shot advantage as Logan Connelly scored twice, each time set up by Colten McCutcheon. Saint Vincent lost rhythm in the second as four minor penalties disrupted momentum and gave Case the opportunity to extend its lead to 4-2 at the end of 40 minutes. SVC regained some advantage with a Holtzman goal (helpers by Connely and Miller) to close the gap, but a questionable offside call enabled Case to counter and ended the game with a 5-3 advantage and a 48-41 shot total over SVC.
Polar Bearcats Enter UPJ Tournament – Games at Cambria County War Memorial January 29, 30 and 31
With California University cancelling games for their ice hockey team because of school driven COVID restrictions, Saint Vincent was invited to take their place at the UPJ Invitational Tournament to be held the weekend of January 29. SVC will face off against Cleveland State On Friday at 5:45 PM, West Virginia University at 5:45 PM Saturday and 9:00 AM versus Rowan on Sunday. Saint Vincent will then face off against Case on the same Sunday at 2:00 PM at home.
SVC Starts Spring Semester with a Home Win and Road Loss
SVC opened at home to start the spring semester with an exciting goaltender dual coming away with a 4-2 win over Pitt Johnstown. Each goalie made a number of stellar saves with SVC netminder Shane Stone and the UPJ keeper each making 32 saves. Logan Connelly had a hat trick for SVC including an empty net score while Colten McCutcheon had a two point game with a goal and an assist. Mason gage and Tristan Moyer picked up key assists by hustling to pucks and taking hits to set up scores.
On Friday, January 21, SVC travelled to Gannon to face off against the Golden Knights at Erie Insurance Arena. A sluggish start put SVC down by 3 goals at the end of one as Gannon held a 15 to 11 shot advantage, but the remainder of the game was largely controlled by Saint Vincent. In the second period , Saint Vincent outshot Gannon 23 to 4, hit several posts and had another significant number of shots that went wide, high, or were blocked by Gannon. Other than a 4minute Gannon power play, the SVC intensity continued into period three with an 18 to 13 shot advantage, but enough blue line turnovers were converted by Gannon for them to hang on to a 5-3 win over the Polar Bearcats. Jacob Holtzman lead the way with a 2 goal one assist evening, Logan Connelly picked up two assists and lead the team with 12 shots on goal, Chris Miller increased his point total by two assists, Anthony Rendulich added a power play goal and Colten McCutcheon added an assist. The final shots on goal were SVC 52, Gannon 32.
SVC Ends Semester at 6-4-0 with Loss to UPJ
Inspite of outshooting the UPJ team 50 to 27, numerous giveaways and lack of rebound conversions saw the Polarbearcats drop a 3-2 decision at the Cambria County War Memorial. Saint Vincent failed to connect on a significant number of passes and although the team consistently got the puck behind the UPJ defense, pucks were not recovered with enough frequency to make a difference in the outcome. The Ice Cats goaltender deserved credit for making a number of stellar saves and what a appeared to be a late score by SVC was waived off by the officials in a decision on whether the puck was kicked into the net. Mason Gage continued his strong play scoring in his second consecutive game directing a point shot by Anthony Redulich by the opposing netmider and a smart passing play enabled Logan Connelly to gain his 9’th of the campaign with assists to Colten McCutcheon and Jacob Holtzman. It was the last game for senior December grads Taylor Hall, Mitch Fuchs and George Reich.
Lack of Consistency Plagues SVC – 3 Game Losing Streak
When a Zach Zapata score on a brilliant behind the net pass from Clark Josephson was quickly followed by a Colten McCutcheon goal, it seemed as if SVC was off to the races against WVU. Then the team stopped playing and allowed the Mountaineers to score the next 6 tallies until Mason Gage started a furious comeback with his first of the season early in the 3’rd period. The final, WVU 9 SVC 5. It was a game of contrast for Saint Vincent. Deadlocked at 2-2 at the end of one period, SVC managed only two shots in the second frame while WVU scored 4 times on only 8 shots in the period. Saint Vincent dominated the third, outshooting West Virginia 22 to 9, possessing the puck for long periods of time, and missing three opportunities for goals when Mason Gage failed on an open net backhand, Jacob Holtzman did not complete a short handed breakaway, and Zach Zapata had a shot barely deflected on a desperation dive by a WVU defender. Those misses combined with a converted penalty shot by the Mountaineers essentially were the game. The highs: freshman Mason Gage scored his first collegiate goal, added an assist, and along with Colten McCutcheon, who had a two goal evening, were the only two players who were a plus in the game. Devon Barrett continued his quiet competent defense and in spite of an otherwise pourous night, was never on the ice for any WVU goals. Taylor Hall played even and logged his second career goal. The lows: sustaining movement that otherwise smothered WVU, failure to convert on opportunities, and ill timed penalties.
SVC plays its final game of the semester Wednesday evening at 7 PM against Pitt Johnstown at the Cambria County War Memorial. The question, can the potential be delivered over a full 60 minutes?
After Dropping Two Consecutive Games SVC Preps for Rematch with WVU Saturday at Home at 7:00 PM
After a 6-0 start that included an incredible end of game short handed goal by freshman Jacob Holtzman to drop WVU 5-4, the Polar Bearcats struggled in two consecutive road losses against Case and RMU. In spite of playing the CWRU Spartans to a 3-3 tie by the end of two, SVC lost its composure in the third period. With penalties shortening the bench, the final ended 8-3 in the Spartan’s favor, turning an exciting contest into a route. The altercations created numerous disqualifications for both squads some of which were overturned by the league office. The lack of depth because of suspensions was apparent against the Robert Morris Colonials. Although SVC had a significant 42 to 14 shot advantage critical defensive lapses and the lack of desire to play in traffic in front of the RMU goalie resulted in an ugly 6-3 loss for the Polar Bearcats. With two games left in the semester the rematch with WVU gains significance in whether or not the team will finish the semester with momentum and end strong in its final game of 2021 against UPJ. That contest will be a rare weekday game on Wednesday, December 8 at 7:00 PM at the Cambria County War Memorial.
SVC 6 Cleveland State 3
In spite of disinterested play in the third period, when Saint Vincent failed to get a shot on goal during a 5 minute power play, strong efforts through the first 40 minutes were enough to secure a win for the Polarbearcats. Devin Barrett had a strong defensive effort on the blue line, Colten McCutcheon turned in a Selke like performance with back checking, and Shane Stone made several key saves on defensive zone breakdowns. SVC scored twice on face-offs as Clark Josephson opened the scoring with a wrist shot after a draw by Mitch Fuchs. Joshua Hoffman and Chris Miller replicated the Josephson-Fuchs connection when Hoffman’s clean face off win enabled Chris Miller to score the eventual game winner. Jacob Holtzman continued his scoring touch with 2 goals, including a power play tally. The most impressive score came on SVC’s second goal when all three forwards, Holtzman, McCutcheon and Connely knifed through center ice, each touching the puck with precision passing, ending in a Logan Connelly goal.
SVC faced off against Duquesne last Friday night and after an opening score by Mitch Fuchs, surrendered a goal to go to the locker room 1-1 holding a slight 13-11 shot advantage after one. The second period had a completely different feel. Saint Vincent started to check with heavy open ice hits and strong wall play by Chris Miller, Tristan Moyer, Mitch Fuchs and Mitchel Knecht. Although the hitting resulted in 5 SVC minor penalties, the Duquesne power play was unable to score and surrendered short handed goals to Fuchs and Zapata. Meanwhile, SVC scored on all three of its powerplays and added an even strength tally to burst out with a 6 goal period and an 18-6 shot advantage in the second 20 minutes. Saint Vincent added two more goals in the final period and although Duquesne had regained some momentum leading to a 15-9 shot advantage in the third, the visitors could not push a puck behind the Saint Vincent keepers. Final score, SVC 9 Duquesne 1.
In the most unusual play of the game, Coach Martz changed goaltenders on the fly with 3 minutes to play providing back up George Reich with his first career minutes that included two saves. Freshman Brandon Yatsko also saw his first game action against the Duke. Mitch Fuchs (4 goals), Jacob Holtzman (3 goals, 1 assist), Zach Zapata (1 goal 2 assists), Logan Connelly (1 goal 2 assists)and Chris Miller (5 assists) led the way with multiple point games. Assists were also picked up by Trent Stead, Anthony Rendulich, Devon Barrett, and Mason Gage, a freshman who tallied his first collegiate point. Shane Stone made 29 saves to record the win.
The next two games will be on the road against Cleveland State and Allegheny College.
SVC Upsets IUP and Defeats Cleveland State to Open the Season at 2-0-0
Saint Vincent won both games this past week-end in two contrasting efforts. In the season opener, SVC started slow and fell behind early as IUP converted on two Polarbearcat mistakes in the defensive zone. What could have been a rout quickly changed when SVC’s Logan Connelly scored on the front end of a 5:3 power play followed by two Zach Zapata goals. On another mistake IUP tied the game at 3 just before the end of the period. As the game progressed, the Polarbearcat squad began to realize that their speed and mobility could thwart the IUP attacks and gain possession in battles for loose pucks. Goals by Connelly and Miller negated a power play score by IUP and some key saves by Shane Stone enabled Saint Vincent to head to the third period with a 5-4 advantage. In the third period SVC tilted the ice to a 3-1 goal advantage as Jacob Holtzman scored the eventual winner as Miller added his second score of the game. Zach Zapata made an empty net deposit for a hat trick and an 8-5 win.
In the home opener against the Cleveland State University Vikings, SVC raced to a huge first period shot advantage but had its opening goal by Jacob Holtzman negated by two CSU scores. The Green and Gold seemed unable to support attacks and continually backed off pressuring the Cleveland State defense, providing them way too much time to move the puck up ice. Shots continually came from outside the house, and a lack of traffic in front of the CSU goalie made the low percentage shots easy to keep from going into the net. The only life was a score on one of the few battles in traffic when Clark Josephson tucked in a point shot from Trent Stead with another assist to Colten McCutcheon. It looked bleak when a 5:3 CSU power play goal moved their advantage to 4-2 earl in the final period. SVC had life when Jacob Holtzman took a feed from McCutcheon to close the gap to 4-3. Then with less than a minute to play after an ill timed Viking penalty, Coach Martz pulled goaltender Shane Stone to create a 6:4 advantage that enabled Zach Zapata to tie the game with 57 seconds remaining. Then it happened. Mitch Fuchs won the center ice face-off and Chris Miller rushed from the point and placed a shot on goal. The save was made but the rebound popped back to Miller who did not miss. At 46 seconds, SVC won 5-4.
The next contest will be Friday night, October 8 against Duquesne at 7 PM at Palmer Arena.
Home Opener Cancelled Due to Lack of Referee Availability
The SVC home opener against IUP previously scheduled for 7:00 PM on Saturday September 25 has been cancelled due to a shortage of referees. It is not yet determined if it will be rescheduled. The first game of the season will now be an away contest on Friday, October 1 with IUP at 8:00 PM. It will be the 41’st meeting of the two schools. Saint Vincent has faced off against Indiana more than any other team in its history. The Indian/Apache/Crimson Hawk teams hold a 25-14-1 mark against the Polar Bearcats all time.
The home opener will now be against Cleveland State on Sunday, October 3, at 2:00 PM.