Top-seeded CSS men’s hockey excited to skate into MIAC semifinals
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The College of St. Scholastica (CSS) men’s hockey team will drop the puck on the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) semifinals on Sunday.
Last Friday the Saints tied Augsburg 5-5, winning the shootout, to earn both their program’s and school’s first regular season MIAC title and the number one seed with a first round tournament bye.
“We got some time to celebrate after, obviously it was pretty short lived having to come back and play the next night, but it was great,” head coach Dave Williams said. “We only needed a tie to do it but it was great to get the shootout win too so we can fully take it all in. It was a great moment for the guys and a great moment for the program.”
It’s also their program’s first conference title since 1975. CSS moved to the MIAC from the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) in the 2021-2022 season.
“Right when we got here we all made it a goal to win our conference in the regular season,” junior forward Carsen Richels said. “Now we’re working on putting that past us and going into the playoffs and try to win that too and continue on to the national tournament.”
CSS celebrates Nick Lanigan's (15) first period goal putting them up 2-0 Friday.
Richels came to CSS this season from the Division I University of New Hampshire. He is tied for second on the team in points with 40 with Filimon Ledenkov, sitting behind Arkhip Ledenkov with 46. They all sit in the top four in NCAA DIII for points this season.
CSS sits 16-6-3 overall and 13-1-2 in the MIAC entering the postseason.
They will either host No. 4 Concordia Moorhead or No. 5 St. Olaf in the semifinals Sunday at 7 p.m. at Mars Lakeview Arena.