From Student Life Newspaper
By Elias Kokinos
The national championship tournament for non-NCAA collegiate ice hockey teams has been one of the primary goals for the WashU men’s ice hockey team since the start of last season. Despite a 5-0 loss to third-ranked Arkansas in playoffs the previous year, the team has rebounded with a vengeance and commitment to return to the playoffs and compete for a spot at Nationals.
When the players arrived at preseason this year, they approached it with an attitude of making amends, as sophomore goalie Jake Friedman noted. He had an expectation that the team would be competing at Nationals this year. This expectation was shared throughout the locker room, as teammates committed to each other with promises to fight together every time they stepped onto the ice.
And they did.
The Bears hockey team has had a standout regular season. They clinched their regional division title, the MACHA south division, secured the Forest Park Cup in a head-to-head match against St. Louis University, and were ranked a historically high #3 in the nation by the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). Much of this success is a testament to their cohesive play and trust in each other as teammates. As Head Coach Chris Nikonovich bluntly put it, this group is “adaptive” to different scenarios, which he cites as one of the foremost reasons for the team’s success this year.
After winning the first six games of the season, with a memorable comeback against rivals SLU for their first piece of silverware, the Bears were ranked #3 in ACHA rankings— their highest result ever. However, their ranking would tumble down to 26th with two consecutive shutout losses to Missouri State.
The 26th ranking wasn’t good enough for the goals of the team, mainly because that low ranking pragmatically put them out of national contention. For nationals, the top 16 seeded teams receive automatic bids to participate in the tournament—a national ranking that is heavily based on their regular season record. These teams are known as the “auto-bid” teams.
However, if a team is outside the top-16 but still ranked highly, they can compete in the single-elimination regional playoffs for a national spot. If they perform well within these regional playoffs, it will positively affect their national rankings. They were banking on strong playoff performance.
So, with six regular season games left on the calendar and a series against Marian University, Maryville University, and Kansas University, the Bears realized that it was necessary to win as many games as possible to boost their national hopes. Sophomore Noah Raimi stated that “when the team is down, they try to build each other back up:” a mindset the team has adopted to take each game one at a time.
Echoing these statements, Nikonovich remarked that the team had been “able to adapt to different strategies, roll with the punches of the regular season, and excel in positions they wouldn’t normally be in.” This approach ultimately led the Bears to persevere, winning 5 out of their last 6 games, ending the season with a 12-3 record, and rising as high as 12th in the rankings before settling at 19th after a very close win against Kansas.
With just 3 spots separating them from the coveted auto-bid, the Bears charge into their playoff season with an unbreakable spirit and momentum. Brimming with confidence and poise, the team is ready to unleash its full potential and skate its way to glory. On Friday, they will face the formidable 12th-ranked Mizzou in a single-elimination regional showdown. The team is determined to win this crucial game to secure their place among the top 16 contenders for Nationals. As Friedman puts it, the team feels extremely “confident and good” about overcoming this hurdle. With that confidence and poise, the team is determined to make its way to nationals.
(Originally published at https://www.studlife.com/sports/2023/02/08/chasing-the-dream-washus-mens-ice-hockey-fights-for-a-spot-at-nationals/)
