Hobart College junior Jonas Toupal (Vcelna, Czech Republic) was named the New England Hockey Conference Player of the Week as announced today. The Statesmen finished in second place in the NEHC standings in their inaugural season in the league.
Hobart also moved up to No. 9 in the nation in this week’s D3hockey.com poll and USCHO.com polls. As the No. 2 seed in the NEHC tournament, the Statesmen (15-5-5, 12-3-3) host the No. 7 seed Southern Maine (3-18-4, 3-12-3) for a tournament quarterfinal on Saturday, Feb. 17, in The Cooler at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. HWS students will be admitted free with valid ID courtesy of the Statesmen Athletic Association.
Toupal led the Statesmen with five points in a 2-0-0 NEHC road weekend for Hobart. He notched two assists in a 5-4 win over No. 12/11 Norwich on Friday night. Toupal logged a goal and two assists in a 4-2 victory over Castleton on Saturday. He leads Hobart with 28 points on 14 goals and 14 assists. Toupal is tied for third in the league in goals, ranks fifth in points and eighth in assists. It’s the second time this season Toupal has been named the league’s Player of the Week.
Norwich earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. The Cadets will host No. 8 Castleton. Babson is the third seed and will host sixth-seeded Skidmore. Fifth-seeded New England College will travel to No. 4 UMass Boston.
The winners of the four quarterfinal games will move on to the semifinals on Feb. 24, hosted by the higher seed. The NEHC tournament championship game will be held on March 3 at the highest remaining seeds. The winner of the NEHC tournament will receive an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
Fans unable to make it to Saturday’s quarterfinal can follow all the action online with Live Stats and All-Access Video.
