2009 ECAC West Tournament

The 2009 ECAC West Tournaments will take place in February and March 2009.

=Men=

The final regular season standings were extremely close, with two teams having 9 conference wins and two more with 8 conference wins. The Elmira Soaring Eagles took the top seed by just one point. The Manhattanville Valiants took the second seed over the Hobart Statesmen based on the head-to-head tiebreaker (1-0-2).

The seeds for the tournament are:
 * 1) Elmira Soaring Eagles
 * 2) Manhattanville Valiants
 * 3) Hobart Statesmen
 * 4) Neumann Knights
 * 5) Utica Pioneers

The Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen failed to win a single game all season, conference or otherwise, and did not participate in the tournament.

Play-in round
The play-in round was held on Wednesday, February 25 at the home of the fourth seed.

Utica at Neumann
Neumann advances to face Elmira in the semifinals.

Semi-finals
The semifinals were played on Saturday, February 28 at the homes of the higher seeds. In both games, the visiting teams upset the hosts.

Neumann at Elmira
Neumann advances to face Hobart for the championship.

Hobart at Manhattanville
This was the fourth meeting between the teams this season. On December 6, Manhattanville defeated host Hobart 3-1, and the teams tied twice (with identical 1-1 scores) in Rye just one week before their playoff game. With the two teams tied in conference points, Manhattanville's 1-0-2 record head-to-head gave them the right to host the semifinal game.

Hobart will host Neumann for the championship.

Neumann at Hobart
Neumann scored with just 4.2 seconds left in the game to break a 2-2 tie, spoil Hobart's home-ice championship bid, and win their first ECAC West championship.

The ECAC West does not have an autobid to the NCAA Tournament, so no team is guaranteed to get in, although the conference champion has never failed to make the tournament.

There is one Pool B bid available only to teams in conferences without autobids. Hobart, despite losing in the conference final, was selected for that slot. Also available are four at-large Pool C bids, of which Neumann and Elmira took two. Neumann's win in the ECAC West conference final likely pushed them ahead of the defending national champion St. Norbert Green Knights of the NCHA for the fourth Pool C slot.

Neumann will travel again to Elmira in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a rematch of their ECAC West semifinal game, giving the Soaring Eagles another shot at the upstart Knights.

All-Tournament Team
=Women= The regular season champions are the Elmira Soaring Eagles.

The seeds for the tournament are:
 * 1) Elmira Soaring Eagles
 * 2) RIT Tigers
 * 3) Plattsburgh Cardinals
 * 4) Neumann Knights
 * 5) Utica Pioneers
 * 6) Oswego Lakers

The Buffalo State Bengals, Chatham Cougars, Potsdam Bears, and Cortland Red Dragons failed to qualify for the tournament.

Quarterfinals
Elmira and RIT received byes into the semifinals, leaving #3 to host #6 and #4 to host #5 on Saturday, February 28. Interestingly, both quarterfinal games were won by the home team, 6-1.

Oswego at Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh advances to play RIT.

Utica at Neumann
Neumann advances to play Elmira.

Semi-finals
The teams would have been reseeded for this round if necessary. The championship weekend will be March 7 and 8 at Elmira.

Neumann at Elmira
Elmira advances to play Plattsburgh on Sunday.

Plattsburgh vs. RIT
Plattsburgh advances to face Elmira on Sunday.

Plattsburgh at Elmira
Elmira receives the conference's autobid into the NCAA tournament. Plattsburgh received one of two at-large bids; RIT, which was ranked #1 in the East by the NCAA coming into the weekend, was passed over in favor of the Amherst Lady Jeffs of the NESCAC.