Hamilton Men’s Hockey Crowned National Champions

UTICA, N.Y. — Freshman Curtiss Sturgeon scored the biggest goal in Hamilton College history with 3:16 left in overtime as the #6 Continentals defeated the #1 Hobart Statesmen 2-1 to claim the first national title in program history.

“I don’t know where to start,” Hamilton Head Coach Rob Haberbusch said. “It was a great game, I thought Hobart played amazing, as did these guys. We battled all night and found a way. I’m just super proud of these guys for staying in the fight for that full four periods.”

“Thought it was a great hockey game,” Hobart Head Coach Mark Taylor remarked. Thought we did a lot of things that we’re good at doing. I thought they did a lot of things that they were good at doing, and came down to one play, and they got it.”

To win that championship, the Continentals had to overcome the steepest of all obstacles, the three-time defending champion and undefeated Statesmen. Hobart entered Sunday’s matchup as the number one team in the nation, with the top-rated offense and defense in Division III, as well as the second most prolific power play. Their roster boasts six All-Americans, including four on the First Team.

In the opening period, the defending champs came out firing on all cylinders. Hobart kept the pressure on the Continentals and took advantage of a power play to score the game’s first goal with 12:28 remaining. Defenseman Conor Lally deked a Hamilton defender at the blue line and wired a shot at Continentals goaltender Aksel Reid. Reid made the save but Kahlil Fontana was right there to put the rebound in the back of the net.

“Lally (Conor) made an incredible play at the top, got around his guy, and put a puck on net. “(I) knew if it wasn’t going to go in, there was going to be a rebound, saw the puck and put it in,” Fonatna said of his goal. “Hats off to the incredible players I’ve had the privilege to play with.”

Reid was under fire for most of the period, as the Continentals were outshot 12-4. The Fontana goal was the only one he allowed, however, as Hamilton went into the first intermission down 1-0.

A hallmark of the Hamilton hockey mentality under Haberbusch has been an even keel attitude, and after a first period that didn’t go the way they wanted, that mindset stayed intact.

“After the first period, I think we just kind of looked around and thought that this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before,” Haberbusch pointed out. “We can certainly play with these guys, and we needed to forecheck better.”

All-American Luke Tchor echoed those sentiments. “We were harping on the forecheck in the intermission, saying we gotta get on them.”

The talk during the intermission worked, as it took the Continentals only 15 seconds into the second period to tie the score. Tchor tipped Noah Leibl’s shot from the left circle past Hobart netminder Damon Beaver and in as a packed Adirondack Bank Center erupted.

Hamilton would be outshot again in the second period, but the forecheck that Hamilton is known for was back as Reid continued his solid play. After 40 minutes, the score was tied at one.

“That might be my first tip goal all year,” Tchor joked about his 18th marker of the season.

Goaltending took center stage in the third period as both teams opened up on offense. Beaver turned aside all 13 Hamilton shots he faced, while Reid stopped all ten shots Hobart threw at him – including two Grade A chances for the Statesmen. For the second season in a row, overtime would be needed to determine the national champion, and the score would be 2-1.

Reid continued his heroics in overtime, as he stopped Fontana on a point-blank chance a minute in. He would make another huge save with just under nine minutes remaining on Hobart’s leading scorer, Arvega Hovsepyan. With just over three minutes remaining, the Continentals finally got the break they were looking for. Zach Walsh lifted the puck out of the Hamilton zone, springing Luke Tchor and Curtiss Sturgeon on a two-on-one. Tchor fed a pass to Sturgeon, who was breaking into the slot. Sturgeon snapped a shot over Beaver, going bar down and sending his team into the history books.

For his efforts, Reid was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

“Right now, it feels unbelievable. There’s no other group I’d rather do this with. The biggest reason I decided to transfer here was the culture,” Reid said of his team (he transferred to Hamilton from Union in 2024). Just talking to guys while I was in the transfer portal, I could tell this was already a tight group. There’s a lot of love here, there’s a lot of commitment to getting better. When I came in last year, I was welcomed like a long-lost brother immediately; it was unbelievable. Yeah, I just love these guys. They’ve been there for me no matter what ups and downs nd I’m so happy to have this moment with them.”

Reid also gave credit to last season’s starting goaltender, Charlie Archer.

“I think coming here last year and being behind him was one of the best things for my development. Just taking note of how he approached games, how he played, and how he took care of his body. He was a big mentor for me, really set the foundation, and just use that this year, built off that, and try to translate that into success for my first starting job.”

The National Championship win on Sunday is the culmination of a Hamilton program that has been on the rise for the past three seasons. In the 2023-24 season, the team was made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores, but they still went 17-8-1. Haberbusch knew he had something special.

“I fully expected we were gonna take a ton of licks that year (2023-24) and we had a great season,” Haberbusch commented. “So many of that class you referenced (the Class of 2027 players) had amazing seasons and transitioned to college hockey way ahead of schedule. We brought so many people back that next year, we brought back almost all of the forwards, and I think at that point, we knew we could build off that. Last year, obviously, we won the NESCAC title, and then this year we had really high hopes again. So yeah, you could see it coming, that we have this potential, that I think we could pull it off.”

Captain Jackson Krock came to Hamilton in 2022, and after the game, he reflected on what made his team so successful.

“I mean, the one thing that’s been a staple of this program for my four years has been the culture,” he pointed out. This is by far the closest team I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ve said that every single year that I’ve been here. We’ve always stuck with it, we’ve always believed in ourselves. That was the message throughout today, and like I said, just the culture has been a big driver of our success – just unbelievably proud of these guys. It’s a special feeling, and that’s something we haven’t lost sight of here.”

One-Timers: Hobart outshot Hamilton 40-25…Hobart was 1/1 on the power play, while Hamilton was 0/1…Hamilton’s Luke Tchor led all scorers with two points (one goal and one assist)…Tchor and Zach Walsh led Hamilton in shots with four each, while Conor Lally led Hobart with seven…Jackson Krock led Hamilton in faceoff wins with 16, while Arvega Hovsepyan led Hobart with 15.

All-Tournament Team

• G Aksel Reid (Hamilton) – MOP
• D Conor Lally (Hobart)
• D John Wojciechowski (Hamilton)
• F Luke Tchor (Hamilton)
• F Kahlil Fontana (Hobart)
• F Justin Biraben (Hamilton)
• Curtiss Sturgeon (Hamilton)