Hobart wins 2nd-straight NCAA Division III hockey national championship

By Hobart Athletics

The top-ranked Hobart hockey team defeated third-ranked Trinity 2-0 on the Bantam’s home ice to win the NCAA Division III men’s hockey championship for the second year in a row.

Sophomore Damon Beaver stopped all 25 shots he faced as he recorded his seventh shutout of the season, matching his Hobart season record set last season.

Juniors Luke Aquaro and Matthew Iasenza scored the goals for the Statesmen (28-2-1). Senior Jonah Alexander added an assist.

Devon Bobak played just over 58 minutes in goal for the Bantams (25-4-1). He made 32 saves and kept Trinity in the game for most of the night, making several saves.

Hobart is the first team to win back-to-back national championships in Division III men’s ice hockey since St. Norbert in 2011 and 2012.

Hobart extended its winning streak to 14, matching a program record, and its unbeaten streak to 25 games, tied for the 10th longest in Division III history. The Statesmen were 24-0-1 after losing to Babson in November.

Hobart killed off four power plays. For the season, the Statesmen killed 92 of their opponent’s 95 power plays (.968), breaking the NCAA season record (.946) set by UW-River Falls in 2015-16.

Hobart’s 28 wins this season are second-most on the Statesmen’s single-season wins list, trailing last year’s 29 wins. The Statesmen’s 13 shutouts this season matched an NCAA Division III record.

The opening 20 minutes went as expected with the top two goaltenders in the country squaring off.

Bobak made 12 saves in the opening frame and Baver stopped eight.

The goalie duel continued until the final minute of the second period. Jonah Alexander forced a turnover in the neutral zone and fed a pass to Aquaro. He deked around a defender and slipped a backhanded shot past Bobak for his 17th goal of the season.

Aquaro’s goal was his 100th career point. He is the 12th player in program history to hit the 100-point plateau and first since Craig Levey did it in 2005.

Iasenza iced the game with an empty-net goal with 25 seconds remaining in the game. It was his second goal of the season.

Following the game, senior Austin Mourar was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, junior Luke Aquaro, sophomore Tanner Hartman and Beaver were named to the all-tournament team.