National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 10, 1997

Division III

Middlebury eyes third straight title

Event: 1997 Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

Overview: In the East region, two-time defending champion Middlebury (18-3-2) will try to become the first Division III school to win three consecutive championships since Wisconsin-Stevens Point accomplished the feat from 1989 through 1991. The Panthers started slowly but now have compiled a 13-game unbeaten streak. All three Middlebury losses have been by one goal--and two were in overtime. Senior all-American defenseman Sebastien Bilodeau leads the team with 29 assists and 35 points. In goal, Chris Farion (10-2-1 record, 1.97 goals-against average) and Francois Bourbeau (8-1-1, 3.15, 35-1-3 career record) have allowed only 2.5 goals per game ... The top-ranked team in the East -- Rochester Institute of Technology (20-4-2) -- leads the country in scoring (6.5 goals per game). Paving the way is junior right wing Steve Toll, who leads the nation with 79 points (36 goals, 43 assists). In addition to leading the nation with just over three points per game, Toll ranks second in goals and assists per game, and in game-winning goals. Playmaking line mate Cheyne Lazar ranks among national leaders as well, with 21 goals and 30 assists. Goaltender Jamie Morris has figured in every Tigers game (20-4-2) and ranks fourth with a .914 save percentage ... St. Norbert (20-6-1) has been ranked first in the West region for the past seven weeks. The Green Knights won their first Northern Collegiate Hockey Association title this year with strong special-teams play and great goaltending. St. Norbert led the NCHA in power-play percentage and killing penalties, which it has done quite frequently. The Green Knights have taken 292 penalties, or almost 11 per game. Goaltender Roby Gropp, the team's most valuable player last year, is 16-6-1 with a 2.98 goals-against average ... St. John's (Minnesota) (20-5) has had its most successful season ever and has won back-to-back Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. The Johnnies rank sixth in scoring per game (5.5) and have six players who have scored 10 or more goals. The two leading scorers are junior forward Nick Kulenkamp (17 goals, 20 assists, 37 points) and senior Jerr Johnson (12-25-37). In goal, St. John's sophomore Mark Rice (12-0, 2.20) is the only undefeated goaltender in Division III this season.

Field: Eight teams. Champions of the State University of New York Athletic and Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conferences and the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association qualify automatically; the remaining teams are selected at large.

Dates and sites: The four winners of first-round competition March 14-15 at campus sites will advance to the campus of one of the competing institutions for the semifinals and third-place and championship games March 21-22.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1423 for bracket/schedule, and 5124 (semifinals) and 5125 (championship game) for results. Championship results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Results will be published in the March 31 issue of The NCAA News.