From Latrobe Bulletin
By Mike Ziemianski
Despite being the smallest school in the tournament, the St. Vincent Bearcats certainly proved they belonged over the course of the American College Hockey Association in St. Louis.
St. Vincent previously punched its ticket after getting an auto bid by winning the College Hockey East title. Still, SVC ranked 22nd in the country, and the Polar Bearcats faced tough competition in pool play, facing off against second-ranked Lawrence Tech, seventh-ranked Calvin University and 11th Sacred Heart University.
In the opener against Lawrence Tech, St. Vincent stunned the crowd for 12 minutes as the Polar Bearcats outshot the defending national champions 7-3 with a disciplined positional game controlling the center of the ice. St. Vincent had four prime scoring opportunities but failed to convert what could have been a significant momentum sustainer. It took two bad bounces to shift the advantage to the defending champions. In the SVC zone, a cross-ice pass was properly defended, but as goaltender Vinny Amatucci attempted to move post to post, the pass deflected off one of his defenseman’s skates and into the net.
Not long after, Vinny Amatucci made every effort to freeze a puck with a full extension while lying on his stomach but the puck slowly rolled across the line.
It was ultimately a momentum shift that SVC could not recover from. Two power plays ended in disaster for St. Vincent as bad puck management created two short-handed scores by Lawrence Tech. The game was probably closer than the 8-0 final and although SVC struggled against the heavier opponent, it was only outshot 15-12 in the first and 10-7 in the third period.
Calvin brought a very different style of play to the second game, with more speed and less physicality than Lawrence Tech. It proved difficult for the Polar Bearcats to keep up, and whenever SVC lost structure, the Knights were ready to take advantage.
The third period emphasized the high level of competition as odd combinations of penalties thwarted any potential comeback attempts by SVC, allowing Calvin to secure the 5-0 win with a 44-21 shot advantage.
Last up in pool play, Sacred Heart, a team SVC beat 2-1 in the Wilkes-Barre Showcase earlier in the year.
Sacred Heart, like SVC, was looking for its first win. For 20 minutes, each school traded blows, but neither team could solve the other’s goalie, with the first period ending 0-0 and just one shot separating the two teams.
In the second period, St. Vincent managed to find some separation. Zach Ridilla went wide on a Sacred Heart defender, using his speed and reach to gain enough separation to get a solid shot on goal from the wing. The Sacred Heart netminder made the initial save but pushed the rebound to the back door where a streaking Zach Motil was driving hard to the far post.
Motil found the back of the net, scoring the first goal of the tournament. Following the first score of the game, the Polar Bearcats had to withstand a furious push by Sacred Heart.
Eventually, a save by Vinny Amatucci resulted in the puck darting up the ice to a speeding Tyler Shigo, who was breaking through the defense. After a quick move, Shigo deposited the puck into the back of the net for goal number two for SVC.
The remainder of the second period saw odd combinations of penalties but St. Vincent found legs and resolve, ending the period with a 2-0 lead and a 21-9 shot advantage.
The break seemed to hurt the Polar Bearcats more than it helped, with momentum draining in between periods. That quickly proved to be the case, as with less than one minute gone in the third, Sacred Heart scored.
It took less than a minute for SVC to find its answer and for Motil to score again from the front of the net on a play set up by Zach Ridilla and Jacob Holtzman. From there, penalties for both sides forced play into seldom-practiced sets. It turned into an advantage for St. Vincent, and Sacred Heart eventually pulled its goalie, but it was too late as Sacred Heart ran out of time and the Polar Bearcats took the win 3-1.
While St. Vincent’s run ended, the tournament continued on, eventually culminating in Hope College winning the title, beating the Air Force Academy 6-3 in the finals after downing Lawrence Tech 5-0 in the final four.
SVC actually played Hope College twice during the season, losing 3-2 in overtime in their second meeting
FINAL STATS
Team-leading goal scorer Zach Motil recorded two against Sacred Heart in a 3-1 St. Vincent triumph over Sacred Heart in the 2025 ACHA Division III National Tournament in St. Louis. The team had a deep lineup with seven players collecting 10 or more goals and 12 players recording 10 or more points. Motil collected 18 goals, while leading scorer Shigo had 12 goals with six game-winners to go along with 29 assists. Captain Jacob Holtzman led all forwards with a plus-29 rating. Blue liner Anthony Rendulich was on the ice for 52 goals, 43% of all scores. Zach Ridilla paced the penalty kill with three short-handed goals. Nik Manolakos took top honors for best defensive forward as he was only on the ice for six even-strength goals against in 30 games and ended the year with a plus-22 final rating. Louie Amatucci grabbed defenseman scoring honors with five goals and 14 assists. Vinny Amatucci shattered almost every single season goaltender record with 18 wins, a 2.41 goals against average, a .933 save percentage and an incredible seven shutouts. Teamed with freshman Owen Burmeister, the tandem recorded 20 wins and a 2.39 GAA.
(Originally published at https://www.latrobebulletinnews.com/sports/local_sports/svc-faces-tough-competition-at-acha-d-iii-national-tournament/article_bd525847-6e49-4689-b652-bb0f72ad4881.html)
