The Fairfield University Men's Ice Hockey team has made a historic run in the 2023 National Tournament! 

The team entered the tournament as the #6 seed in a pool with Quinnipiac University (#11), SUNY Cortland (#19), and University of South Florida (#27). They started the tournament with a 6-1 win over USF with goals from Chris Mangiacapre, Carlton Lee, Connor Momrow, and a hatrick from Assistant Captain Vin Spaziante! Game 2 came with a 6-4 win over SUNY Cortland with goals from Captain Mike Pitocchelli, Brendan Cullen, 2 goals from Ned Malolepszy, Carlton Lee, and another goal from Vin Spaziante. The Stags finished pool play with a hard fought battle against QU that ended in a 3-3 tie with goals from Luca Mandato, Mike Pitocchelli, and Brendan Cullen, which sent the Stags to the next round.

Onto the Quarterfinals, the stags had a matchup against division rival, #5 seed Farmingdale Rams, where they won 4-3 with goals from Zach Fijol, Connor Momrow. Chris Cummings, and Vincent Spazinate. Senior Captain, Vin Spaziante was tripped on a breakaway at the end of the 3rd period and instead of electing for the penalty shot, Head Coach Mike Silva took the power play to finish out the game with a man advantage. 

Their next stop was a matchup against #2 seed Niagara University. The Fairfield Hockey team kept everyone on their toes with a game that entered the third period tied 1-1 with a goal from Brendan Cullen. Connor Momrow scored a clutch goal in the third period and the team was able to fight off the Purple Eagles for the remainder of the game to win their semi-final game 2-1.

For the first time in program history, the stags made it to the National Championship game. They took on the #4 seed Binghamton Bearcats, who were out for revenge after finishing in second place in the 2022 championship game. Binghamton came out on fire and fighting tooth and nail. The stags fought them off, but a few bounces went in the Bearcats favor to put them up 1-0 at the end of the first period. The stags came out in the 2nd period to tie the game 1-1 with a goal from Mike Pitocchelli. The Bearcats sent the game into the 2nd intermission with a 3-1 lead over the Stags. Vin Spaziante scored a shorthanded goal 2:30 into the 3rd period. The Bearcats added another goal, but the stags were not going to give up. Ned Malolepszy scored to make it 4-3 with 10 minutes left in the game. The Stags fought long and hard for 60 minutes, but fell to the Binghamton Bearcats with a final score of 6-4. 

The Stags take home the Silver and we are extremely proud of their accomplishments, their fight, and determination. We are excited to see what next season has in store!