CLINTON, N.Y. – Hamilton College's
Charlie Archer '25 made 32 saves and lifted the Continentals to their first conference title with a 3-0 win against the Tufts University Jumbos in the 2025 NESCAC Men's Hockey Championship final inside Hamilton's Russell Sage Rink on Sunday afternoon, March 9.
Season Update
- The nationally ranked No. 8 Continentals (20-6-1 overall) were the No. 1 seed for the championship. Hamilton, which is ranked ninth in the NCAA Power Index rankings, earned the conference's automatic bid for the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Championship. The Continentals tied a team record with their 20th win this season.
- Tufts (12-13-1) was the fifth seed for the championship. The Jumbos entered the day with a three-game win streak.
Next Game
Hamilton finds out who its NCAA championship first round opponent will be at 10 a.m. on Monday March 10. The selection show can be watched on NCAA.com.
How It Happened
- Neither team scored in the first period, but Tufts' Marcus Sang had a partial breakaway that was denied by Archer with about 1:40 left.
- The Continentals broke the ice exactly eight minutes into the second period. Defenseman William Neault '25 moved with the puck along the blue line from right to left and put a wrist shot on goal that Jumbos goaltender Gustave Bylin stopped but didn't hold. Grisha Gotovets '25 was there to stuff the rebound into the back of the net.
- Tufts nearly tied the score a little more than a minute later. Hamilton was making line changes when Max Resnick lofted the puck from his defensive zone into the neutral zone and the lead pass caught Tyler Sedlak in stride in the Jumbos' offensive zone. Sedlak skated in all alone on Archer, but he stymied Sedlak and the Continentals were there to control the rebound.
- Hamilton scored an all-important, power-play goal after a Tufts player was sent to the box for cross-checking with 5:00 to go. Devon de Vries '27 rushed up ice with the puck into the right faceoff circle near the boards. He whipped a pass through the low slot and Luke Tchor '27 redirected it past Bylin with 3:42 left.
- The Continentals clamped down defensively in the third period as they blocked 10 shots in the final 20 minutes.
- The Jumbos called their timeout and pulled Bylin for a sixth skater with 2:16 remaining, but one of their players was sent off for interference just 33 seconds later. Bylin briefly returned to his net but went back to the bench with about 1:25 to go.
- Justin Biraben '27 poked the puck away from a Tufts player near center ice and Ben Zimmerman '26 picked it up. Zimmerman skated into the attacking zone without resistance and scored into the empty net with 39.1 seconds left.
- Archer made one last save with about 10 seconds remaining and threw the puck into the left corner where it stayed as the final seconds came off the clock.
- Hamilton players on the bench spilled out onto the ice and threw sticks, helmets and gloves into the air as they mobbed Archer near the net and celebrated their historic title.
Notes
- Archer is ranked in the top three in Division III with a 1.37 goals against average and is in the top five with a .943 save percentage. He has a 16-3-1 record with five shutouts in 20 starts.
- Tchor, who is the conference's player of the year, leads the NESCAC with 16 goals and 33 points.
- Gotovets scored his eighth goal this season.
- Zimmerman scored the second time in as many days and recorded a point in all three postseason games.
- Neault had an assist in both games during the weekend.
- Devon de Vries has an assist in five of the last six games.
- Biraben has at least a point in seven of the last eight contests.
- Nick Kent '27 picked up an assist and is third in the conference with 19.
- Lucas Constantine '27 had four of the Continentals' 19 blocked shots.
- Jackson Krock '26 won 10-of-16 faceoffs.
- Bylin made half of his 24 stops in the second period.
- Hamilton was 2-for-4 on the power play. The Jumbos had just one opportunity.
- The Continentals were playing in the NESCAC final for the second time (2017).
