www.BobcatsD3Hockey.com The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Bobcats are the second best division III club ice hockey team in the nation! Once the 2014-2015 regular season had come to an end, the Pitt-Greensburg Bobcats set their eyes on the 2015 National Collegiate Hockey Association National Playoff Tournament, held in Newark, OH, March 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2015, at the Lou & Gib Reese Ice Arena. The Bobcats entered the NCHA playoffs as the number 1 team in the nation. Only the top four teams in the nation entered the tournament: Pitt-Greensburg, the University at Buffalo, St. John Fisher, and Le Moyne College. The first three games of the tournament on Wednesday and Thursday were strictly for seeding purposes for the two semifinal games, which were held on Friday of that week. The Bobcats entered the semifinal game as the #3 seed, and battled against the #2 seed University at Buffalo. The boys spent over 55 minutes of hockey playing catch-up with the Bulls. With less than two minutes remaining in the game, it appeared that the Bobcats would be going back to Greensburg a day early. In traditional Pitt-Greensburg style, the the team never gave up! They pushed themselves and scored two goals back-to-back. The tying goal came from Nico Vecchio on a penalty shot after a Bull covered the puck in his own net minder’s crease. The winning goal came from Dan Merz after veteran net minder Ryan Palonis was pulled and an extra attacker was sent on the ice with only 7.5 seconds left in the game. The boys rallied together, got the win, and went to the finals! The championship game was held on Saturday, March 7th, 2015, at 1:00 PM. The Bobcats took on the St. John Fisher Cardinals. After a hard fought game filled with ups and downs, the boys fell to St. John Fisher, and the Cardinals took home the 2015 National Title. The boys were honored to be named the 2015 NCHA National Playoffs Second Place Runners Up. The Pitt-Greensburg Division III Club Ice Hockey Team finished as the second best team in the nation. This was the second season in a row that the Bobcats had gone to the national playoffs, and the second season in a row that the Bobcats finished as one of the top two teams (during the 2013-2014 season, when the Bobcats were crowned the 2014 College Hockey East Champions and the 2014 National Collegiate Hockey Association National Champions). The Bobcats started their playoff streak in 2012, but lost in the first round to Carnegie Mellon University. In the 2012-2013 season, the Pitt-Greensburg boys of winter finished second overall in the 2013 College Hockey East Championship, after losing to California University of Pennsylvania in overtime in the final game, the night after one of the team’s top point getters, Tom Barchesky, had gotten his neck sliced open with the blade of a skate. Tom made a full recovery, as did the team, and boys knew they had to work even harder if they wanted to wanted to bring back their first championship. The 2013-2014 season, which was arguably the best season in the history of the program, ended with a team record of 24-6-0, with 285 goals for (average of 9.500 goals per game) with only 123 goals against (average of 4.100 goals per game). The boys concluded the 2014-2015 season with another set of impressive stats. They had one overtime win against California University of Pennsylvania and one shootout win against West Virginia University Division II. The lone shutout of the season came from veteran linchpin goal tender, Ryan Palonis against the Community College of Allegheny County on November 14th, 2014. At the end of the season, the Bobcats scored a total of 236 goals (average of 7.867 goals per game), while only letting up 114 goals against (average of 3.800 goals per game). They have outscored their opponents 2:070 to 1.000. The boys finished with a win-lose-draw record of 24-6-0. The team would like to thank the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg for all the funding, support, and patience that has been allotted to the program over the past six season. Without the tremendous support from our university, we could not have been successful in the least. The Bobcats would also like to thank Mr. Al Thiel and Ms. Linda Wagner for all their tireless effort in making this season another great year of hockey. Lastly, the team would like to thank all of our fans for supporting us throughout the seasons, especially the fans who take time out of their schedule to come watch us play live. We play for you, and we hope many of you will consider being life-long Pitt-Greensburg hockey fans. Thank you for your support. The Bobcats are still welcoming player applications for the 2015-2016 season, which starts in the fall of 2015. Please contact us here with any and all questions you may have. We would love to have you on our team! Visit our Recruitment page for more information. Once again, thank you for a great season! Song: "Warriors" by Imagine Dragons.

• published: 05 Apr 2015
• views: 31