West Virginia, Kent State Use 5-goal Strings to Advance to CHMA Semifinals
- Edward Major II
- Feb 20
- 4 min read
MORGANTOWN, Wv. – West Virginia University played host to the 2026 College Hockey Mid-America playoffs Friday, February 20 through Sunday, February 22, 2026 at the new Hope Gas Ice Pavilion at Mylan Park.
Behind a dominant weekend from goaltender Wyatt Sloetjes and a third-period surge in each of their three games, the Mountaineers rode home ice all the way to an automatic bid to the ACHA National Tournament.
TOURNAMENT RECAP
The top six teams from the seven-team conference qualified for the postseason. The first and second place finishers, IUP and John Carroll, respectively, received a first-round bye into the Saturday semifinals. That set up two exciting quarterfinal matchups Friday. #4 West Virginia versus #5 Robert Morris and #3 Kent State versus #6 Duquesne.
Friday Quarterfinal No. 1: West Virginia 7, Robert Morris 3
As the host of the tournament, West Virginia created an atmosphere to open the playoffs like none other. The Mountaineers packed their home rink to the brim — the brand-new Hope Gas Ice Pavilion — and did not disappoint.
Team points leaders Nicholas Bruno and Leonard Haban each scored twice as the #4 Mountaineers took down the #5 Robert Morris Colonials, 7-3. Trailing 3-2 at the start of the third period, West Virginia rattled off five straight goals, including Haban’s game-tying goal less than four minutes in and Bruno’s game-winning power play goal at 7:11.
In what felt like the turning point of the game, Haban added his second goal — also a power play goal — just over a minute later to give West Virginia a 5-3 lead. Colby Sims added an insurance goal with less than six minutes left, and Marcus Barber sealed it with an empty-netter with just over a minute remaining.
“Going into the third, there was always belief that we could do it,” Bruno stated after the game. “Our power play has been hot all year, so when we got those two power plays, we just knew.”
It wasn’t all Mountaineer hockey, though. The two teams had split their regular season series, and Robert Morris started fast to try and silence the home crowd, in order to take this “rubber match” and advance in the playoffs. Just 34 seconds in, Zachary Blevins made it 1-0. Corbin Ragno extended the lead to 2-0 at 16:14 of the first period as the Colonials controlled much of the early puck possession.
The second period proved the ice was tilted toward the home bench. Bruno got West Virginia on the board just 44 seconds in, igniting a crowd that wrapped around the boards behind the Colonials’ goaltender.
“Yeah, we had some fans show up, we played for them, too. Hopefully they’re gonna show up tomorrow as well,” said Haban after the game.
The crowd only got louder when the Mountaineers tied the game 2-2 on a goal by William McLaughlin, but the Colonials regained the lead, 3-2, via Trevor Colberg with just under three minutes left in the period. That was all they could muster, however, as the Mountaineers five-goal third period propelled them to a semifinal date with IUP on Saturday at 3 p.m., a team they had beaten just two weeks earlier in a thrilling road overtime game.
West Virginia goaltender Wyatt Sloetjes made 19 saves on 22 shots faced in the win, while his counterpart Reno Patrick saved 34 out of 41 in the loss.
Friday Quarterfinal No. 2: Kent State 7, Duquesne 2
If any fans stuck around hoping for another dramatic comeback, they left disappointed. The #3 Kent State Golden Flashes cruised to a 7-2 victory over the #6 Duquesne Dukes, led by two goals each from Jules Jardine and Kornel Kaibas.
Jardine opened the scoring at 1:53 of the first on a goal that wobbled its way into the net behind Dukes’ goaltender Colin Thurnau. While Duquesne responded with a goal by Jared Smith at 10:41, Kaibas scored just over a minute later to give Kent State the lead for good.
The Golden Flashes rattled off five straight goals, including Jardine’s second, a goal by Brady Hall, a shorthanded goal by Chaseton Sieling, Kaibas’ second, and the final Golden Flashes tally by Kyle Holmes.
Holmes’ goal was the straw that broke the camel’s back – or rather, the Dukes’ back. Duquesne head coach Conrad Waite called a timeout halfway through the third period to replace Thurnau with rookie goaltender Ethan Sensenig. Thurnau was visibly upset, heading to the locker room briefly before rejoining his teammates on the bench, understandably frustrated with how the game had played out. For his part, Sensenig was solid in relief, stopping several high-danger chances. Alex Golden did manage a second Duquesne goal with just under four minutes to play, but the damage had already been done as the Dukes fell, 7-2.
Kent State advanced to face John Carroll in a “Battle of Ohio” semifinal on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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