Two Dutchmen on ACHA All-Tourney Team
Two Hope players have been named to the all-tournament team for their play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) nationals which were held in Holland from March 9-12. First team honorees were junior forward Chris Kunnen of West DeMoines, Iowa (Valley HS) and freshman defender Caleb Digison of Midland (Midland HS). This marks the third straight year that Kunnen has been honored.

Championship Game
College of the Canyons 5, Hope 3
Playing in the national championship game for the third time in nine years, the Flying Dutchmen fell short in bowing to the College of the Canyons, Calif. 5-3 on Saturday night before a standing-room-only crowd at The Edge Ice Arena in Holland.

College of the Canyons won its first national championship in the American Collegiate Hockey Association behind a flurry of second period goals over a five minute period. Tied 1-1 after the first period, College of the Canyons scored three goals over a five minutes early in the second period. Hope cut the spread to 4-2 after two periods. Each team scored a goal in the third period.

It marked the second time this season that College of the Canyons defeated Hope by a 5-3 margin. Hope ends its season with a 27-5-1 record.

Hope goals were scored by Riley Hoernschemeyer, Andrew Haggerty and Chris Kunnen. Assists came from David DeVries and Michael Bazydio. Hope goalkeeper David Nowicki had 24 saves.

Championship Round Semi-Finals
Hope 5, Central Florida 2
The Hope College Flying Dutchmen will play for a national championship on their home ice tonight (Saturday) after posting a 4-2 semi-final victory over the University of Central Florida earlier today in the Division III American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) tournament.

Hope advances to the championship game for the second consecutive year and will meet either College of the Canyons, Calif. or California University of Pennsylvania who are playing in the other semi-final game. The national championship game will begin at 8:30 p.m. at The Edge Ice Arena in Holland.

A day ago Hope was on the brink of elimination from the tournament after suffering a 1-0 loss in a pool play game on Thursday and then trailing by two goals in the third period of a Friday game only to rally and win 4-3 in overtime.

Hope (28-4-0) will be bidding for its first ACHA national title. The Flying Dutchmen have finished second twice, 2003 and 2010.

The Flying Dutchmen scored twice in both the first and second periods to gain a 4-0 advantage. Central Florida made a game of it scoring twice to the cut the lead to 4-2 midway through the third period. Hope clinched the win on Cory Gowman's second goal of the game with six minutes left to play.

Other Hope goals were scored by Justin Johnson, Riley Hoernschemeyer and Chris Kunnen. Jake Green had two assists while credited one apiece were Kevin Deane, Will Guerin, Brett Kopinski, Kaleb Skinner and Michael Bazydlo. Hope ended with a 36-24 advantage in shots on goal.

Hope Schedule/Results in National Tournament
Pool Play - Friday, March 11, 2011
Hope 4, Univ. of Colorado 3 (ot)
The Flying Dutchmen scored an amazing come-from-behind overtime victory to advance to the championship round of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) national tournament being played in Holland. Trailing 3-1 in the third period against the University of Colorado on Friday night, the Flying Dutchmen rallied to tie the score and then won the game in overtime, 4-3.

Three teams - Hope, Robert Morris and Colorado - finished with 2-1 records in Hope's pool with the championship round qualifier determined on goal differential.

Saturday's semi-final games at The Edge will have Hope playing Central Florida (9:30 a.m.) and College of Canyons meeting California University of Pennsylvania (9:45 a.m.). The winners will advance to the national championship game at 8:30 p.m.

The winning goal was scored by freshman Caleb Digison on a blast from the blue line four minutes into the overtime period. Other Hope goals were scored by Christian Leathley (from Riley Hoerschemeyer and Jamie Haak), Jake Green (from Chris Kunnen and Brett Kopinski), and Kevin Deane (from Eric Cox and Justin Johnston). Goalkeeper Dave Nowicki stopped 31 of 34 shots.

The Flying Dutchmen have a 27-4-1 season record.

Pool Play - Thursday, March 10, 2011
Robert Morris 1, Hope 0
The Flying Dutchmen suffered a tough 1-0 defeat to Robert Morris University in a second round game of pool play on Thursday at the Division III American Collegiate Hockey Association national championships being held in Holland.

The setback puts Hope in a must-win situation when the Flying Dutchmen face unbeaten University of Colorado on Friday. The Buffalos have four points behind a 2-0 record to lead the pool standings while Hope shares second place with Robert Morris behind a 1-1 record.

The game's only goal came with 4:50 remaining in the third period. Hope had a goal disallowed in the second period and ended with an overwhelming 48-16 advantage in shots-on-goal.

The loss was only the fourth in 31 games for Hope and the first time this season that an opponent held the Flying Dutchmen scoreless.

Pool Play - Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Hope 5, Florida Atlantic 1
The Flying Dutchmen got off to a good start in the national tournament they are hosting by topping the University of Florida Atlantic Owls 5-1 on Wednesday.

The victory came in the first of three games of pool play in the 16-team Division III American Collegiate Hockey Association tournament being held thru Saturday at The Edge on Holland's north side.

The second game of pool play comes Thursday night (7 p.m.) with the Flying Dutchmen meeting Robert Morris University. The Robert Morris Owls were defeated by the University of Colorado 5-2 in another Wednesday game.

Hope scored three first period goals and was still ahead 3-0 after two periods. Hope's goals were scored by five different players -- Riley Hoernschemeyer (from Eric Cox), Will Guerin (from Kevin Deane and Caleb Digison), Kevin Deane (from Justin Johnston and Caleb Digison), Brett Kopinski (from Chris Kunnen) and Jake Green (from Chris Kunnen and Anthony Gasparotto). Goalkeeper Dave Nowicki was credited with 23 saves.

American Collegiate Hockey Association Website