The St. Thomas Aquinas College Ice Hockey team (13-7-1 Overall, 9-3-0 MCHC) clinched its first Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference Regular Season Championship in program history on Sunday evening.
The Spartans, having played their final MCHC regular season contest the night before at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy - Kings Point (Win, 3-2), had to await the late night outcome of Columbia University's Sunday finale with Kings Point, which would ultimately determine playoff seeding and the regular season crown. A 3-3 tie between the teams going into the third period, suddenly became a 6-3 Columbia lead with just under half a period to go. However, Kings Point would rally to push the score to 6-5 with just over two minutes left in regulation. A late power play goal by the Mariners would knot things a 6-6, forcing sudden death overtime.
In the extra session, Columbia would have an early power play, but fail to capitalize. Kings Point would then come down the ice and hit the goal post with about 1:30 left in overtime, before ultimately scoring the game winner with only seconds remaining to give USMMA the 7-6 OT victory, and St. Thomas Aquinas College the 2019-2020 MCHC Regular Season title.
The final MCHC standings are as follows:
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | |
| 1 | STAC | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 62 | 47 |
| 2 | Columbia | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 90 | 76 |
| 3 | Suffolk | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 56 | 30 |
| 4 | Kings Pt. | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 43 | 43 |
| 5 | Stevens | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 54 | 53 |
| 6 | Maritime | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 56 | 67 |
| 7 | W. Conn. | 12 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 47 | 72 |
The MCHC Playoff Matchups are as follows:
(All Games Played at Dix Hills Ice Rink in Dix Hills, NY)
Saturday, February 22nd - Semifinals
#1 St. Thomas Aquinas College vs. #4 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) - 1:30pm
#2 Columbia University vs. #3 Suffolk County Community College - 4:30pm
Sunday, February 23rd - Final
Winner of STAC/USMMA vs. Columbia/Suffolk - 4:00pm
Note: Admission to All MCHC Playoff Games is $5 Per Person, Each Day for all Fans.
For updates on the Spartans' postseason run, log onto STACAthletics.com and for more information on the MCHC playoffs, check out methockey.com.