We dissect four teams' outlooks, revealing whether it's time to exhale or sound the alarm before each of their conference tournaments.
Conference Tournaments are around the corner all over the NCAA. Certain teams have had ups and downs, leading to a lot of question marks. We tell fans of these schools whether they should remain patient or panic going into their respective conference tournaments.
Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers: Panic
RIT is on shaky ground heading into the Atlantic Hockey America tournament as the No. 5 Seed. The Tigers have lost their past three games, including the final two contests against their tournament opponent Holy Cross. In those two games, RIT was outshot 58-42 and outscored 8-3. What concerns me most about the Tigers' losses is who wasn't involved. In those three defeats, leading scorer Evan Konyen has been held without a goal and top assist getters Zach Wigle and Austin Brimmer combined for just one helper. Unless RIT's best players get back involved right off the jump, I'd be panicking.
Colgate University Raiders: Patience
Despite finishing six games below .500, Colgate is in good shape for their first round ECAC meeting with Yale. The Raiders are a well balanced team, relying heavily on depth scoring while not neglecting their top performers. In any playoff situation, this scenario is ideal. Two sophomores have especially caught my eye. Max Nagel, Colgate's first place scorer has 5 points (2 goals + 3 assists) in his last four outings. Meanwhile, Michael Neumeier has impressed on the blue line. He holds second place amongst his mates with 41 blocked shots and has 5 points ( 2 goals + 3 assists) through his past four games. Across the aisle, Colgate won both games against the Bulldogs in the regular season who currently are on a four game skid. The Raiders should win this opening round handily.
St. Cloud State University: Panic
It's not that the Huskies are a bad team. Rather, they're an average squad going up against a rising Bulldog roster whose disappointing January took them out of the top three seeds. St. Cloud has a lot of talent in their top three offensive producers, Tyson Gross, Austin Burnevik and Barrett Hall. However, after Hall's team third 28 points in 34 games, there is a significant drop off in production. The next player in line, Gavyn Thoreson, has just 18 points in the same span. This shows me that Huskies don't have the depth going toe to toe with a high octane offense like the Bulldogs.
Augustana University Vikings: Patience
Viking fans should breathe a sigh of relief, despite playing the same Bemidji State Beavers that knocked Augustana out last year. Even after winning one of four games of the season series against the Beavers, there is no reason to sound the alarm. Augustana has an electric, yet deep offense made up of upperclassmen and freshmen alike. Five players on the Vikings roster have 20 or more points on the season, with Easton Young and Cole Burtch each sitting one point from that milestone. Goaltending has been elite this season as well. Joshua Kotai has the nation's second highest save percentage at .938 and fifth with 18 wins. If the Vikings play their game and stay out of their own heads, they will be just fine