The NCAA News - News and Features

March 9, 1998

Division III Men's Ice Hockey

Middlebury seeks fourth crown

Event: 1998 Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

Overview: Can anyone unseat three-time champion Middlebury? The Panthers are undefeated in championship competition (12-0) and appear ready to extend their victory streak to 16. Middlebury (20-2-2 overall, 16-1-2 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference East Division) is unbeaten in its last 21 games (19-0-2). Ranked No. 1 in the East region, Middlebury is led offensively by Mark Spence (22 goals) and Curt Goldman (24 assists). The goaltending tandem of Francis Bourbeau and Chris Farion steady the Panthers' No. 1-ranked defense, which has recorded eight shutouts. Bourbeau led the nation in goals-against average (1.12) and save percentage (.944), while Farion was tops in winning percentage (.909) .... St. Norbert (23-4 overall, 19-4 in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association) is the No. 1-ranked team in the West region. The Green Knights are solid at both ends of the ice, ranking second in scoring (6.22 goals per game) and defense (2.00 goals against per game). Offensively, Rob Smillie (29 goals, 23 assists, 52 points) and Scott Jewitt (21-25-46) pave the way. Goaltender Roby Gropp leads the team defensive-ly (17-3 record, 1.95 goals-against average) .... Rochester Institute of Technology and Wisconsin-River Falls rank No. 2 in the East and West regions, respectively. RIT (18-2-5 overall, 7-1-2 in the ECAC West Division) closed the regular season with a 10-game unbeaten streak. Peter Bournazakis (24 goals, 61 points) and Luke Murphy (10 goals, 46 assists) are the squad's offensive leaders. Wisconsin-River Falls (21-5-1 overall, 14-5-1 in the NCHA) is led by Jesse Sampair (19 goals, 16 assists, 35 points) and Mike Schauer (13-21-34).

Field: The championship features eight teams, including the champions of the State University of New York Athletic and Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conferences and Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. The other five teams are selected at large.

Dates and sites: First-round competition (featuring two-game series with minigame tiebreakers) system will be March 13-14 at campus sites. The four winners will advance to the campus of one of the competing institutions for the semifinals and third-place and championship games March 20-21.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1422 for dates and sites, 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 30 issue of The NCAA News.