ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University men's hockey team will travel to Hobart College for an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) West semifinal matchup on Saturday.
 
Neumann, the No. 4 seed, defeated No.5 seeded Nazareth College on Wednesday 2-1 to advance to the semifinals.
 
In the first period, the Golden Flyers struck first at the 11:56 mark and took that lead into the second period. Shane Topf tied the game at one at the 11:55 mark of the second period. Liam Board and Steve Low tallied the assists and the teams went into the third period tied at one. At the 12:46 mark, Johannes Sallila scored his first goal of the season with a redirected pass from Doug Rose to give Neumann the win. Mitch Wiebe made 34 saves in net.
 
Hobart enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed and received a bye in the first round. During the regular season, the Knights went 1-2 against the Statesmen.
 
In early November, Hobart defeated Neumann 4-1. Neumann's only goal by Collin O'Neil came in the first period. Hobart tied the game at one at the end of the second period. The Statesmen went on to score three additional goals in the third period.
 
The two teams met again in early February for a pair of conference games. In the first game, Neumann blanked Hobart, winning 2-0. The Knights' first goal and the eventual game winner by Casey Rogers came with 4:15 left in the first period. Nick Perruccio added an insurance goal 4:53 into the second period. In the second game, Neumann dropped a 7-1 decision to Hobart. Hobart took a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes, and led 6-0 after two periods. Jon Low spoiled the shutout with a goal in the third period.
 
The winner of Saturday's contest will take on the winner of the other ECAC West semifinal contest between No. 2 Manhattanville and No. 3 Utica. The Championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed next Saturday.