2025 Division 1 Playoffs

Playoffs season is officially here. College Hockey South (CHS) will host their second-ever Women’s Division playoffs at Akins Ford Arena, 155 Hickory St., Athens, GA. This tournament will span from February 7-9, 2025.

The seven-team Division 1 has been competitive and intriguing to watch this season. However, only six teams will secure a spot in the playoffs. 

The No.1 and No. 2 seeds advance to the semifinals, while seeds three through six battle it out in the quarterfinals on Friday, Feb. 7. The No. 3 seed will face the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed will take on the No. 5 seed. Semifinal matchups are set for Saturday, Feb. 8, while the championship game and third-place showdowns are scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9.

The final seeds for the tournament are as follows:

#1 University of Georgia

#2 University of Tennessee

#3 University of Tampa

#4 University of South Carolina

#5 University of Florida

#6 University of Alabama

Tickets for this season’s playoffs can be purchased here.

Traveling in and need somewhere to stay? Book your stay in Athens here.

The game schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 7, 2025

5:30 PM ET - Game 1 - University of Tampa vs. University of Alabama

8:00 PM ET - Game 2 - University of South Carolina vs. University of Florida

Saturday, February 8, 2025

11:30 AM ET - 5th Place Game - University of Florida vs. University of Alabama

5:00 PM ET - Semi Final Game 1 - University of Tennessee vs. University of Tampa

7:30 PM ET - Semi Final Game 2 - University of Georgia vs. University of South Carolina

Sunday, February 9, 2025

11:30 AM ET - 3rd Place Game - University of Georgia vs. University of Tennessee

3:30 PM ET - Championship Game - University of Tampa vs. University of South Carolina

Fans can catch all the playoff action live on the College Hockey South YouTube channel.

Day 1 Recap

Quarterfinal #1: (3) Tampa vs (6) Alabama

The defending champs played like defending champs and rolled the Frozen Tide 7-2. The Spartans opened the game with a goal from captain Danny Griffin 30 seconds in, and it was like someone waved raw meat in front of a tiger. Tampa swarmed Alabama, overwhelming the Tide in all three zones, taking a 2-0 lead to the first intermission.

Maybe the tiger got sleepy because Tampa sure played like it in the second. The crisp and connected play style had gone by the wayside, and Alabama snuck back into the game. The Frozen Tide stunned the Spartans with two goals in a minute to draw even. 

The second goal served as the proverbially smelling salts for Tampa because the Spartans picked up their game from that point forth and ran away with it. The Spartans finished off the Frozen Tide with five unanswered goals, including Danny Griffin’s second of the game. The Tampa captain finished with three points on the night.

Tampa advances to the semifinals to face second-seeded Tennessee on Saturday at 5:00 P.M. EST.

FINAL

(3) Tampa 7

(6) Alabama 2

Quarterfinal #2: (4) South Carolina vs (5) Florida

The Gamecocks vanquished a rival on their way to advancing to the semifinals, where they will meet another rival. 

After playing to an even first period, South Carolina rode an early second-period surge to victory. Thomas Lokken and Jake Puskar scored 91 seconds apart to give South Carolina a 3-1 lead nearly three minutes into the second. Florida cut the lead to one and threatened to even the game in the dying minutes of the third on the power play.

The Gator power play came up dry, and the ‘Cocks made them pay. Division 1 leading scorer John Riggins ripped home a short-side PPG to put the game out of reach. The goal was Riggins’ 23rd of the year in 22 games. 

With the win, South Carolina punches their ticket to the semifinals against the host team, Georgia. The second Division 1 semifinal will occur at 7:30 P.M. EST on Saturday.

FINAL

(4) South Carolina 4

(5) Florida 2

Day 2 Recap

5th Place Game - Florida vs Alabama

Alabama overcame seven minor penalties and 61 Florida shots to win fifth place in the College Hockey South tournament.

Frozen Tide captain Nick Reiniger led all Alabama skaters in points, tallying a goal and two assists. The star of the game was the man between the pipes for ‘Bama, Luc Haggitt. The big man made 57 saves for the Frozen Tide, including 48 in the first two periods. 

Florida added a trio of goals in the final period to taint Haggitt’s stat line, but the goaltender’s day was still superb. Matthew Brkljacic and Noah Horowitz both had two points for Florida in the loss.

FINAL

Alabama 7

Florida 4

Semifinal #1 - (2) Tennessee vs (3) Tampa

Tampa’s quest to repeat rolled through Hockey Top, downing the second-seeded Tennessee Ice Vols. 

Emotions ran high in a penalty-filled battle between the two UTs; seriously, we almost ran out of room on our scorer’s sheet. One major and eight minor penalties were assessed in the second period, which saw Tennessee cut into a Tampa multi-goal lead in the final minute. Tennessee’s Henry Cohen bookended the period with goals. 

The Spartans shrunk the ice in the final frame, taking a defensive posture to maintain their lead. After surviving a nearly two-minute two-man advantage, Tampa shut down the Ice Vols and held on for a 4-3 win. 

Kyle Myer made 26 saves in the Spartan’s win, and Michael Schmelzer scored the game-winner on the power play. 

The Spartans advance to the championship game tomorrow, where both Tampa’s men’s and women’s teams can repeat as conference champions.

FINAL

Tampa 4

Tennessee 3

Semifinal #2: (1) Georgia vs (4) South Carolina

Saturday’s nightcap saw South Carolina send a partisan Georgia crowd home blue after the Gamecocks dominated the Ice Dawgs 5-1.

Georgia fed off the energy from their home crowd early, taking a 10-3 edge in shots late in the opening period. But a slick individual play by Sevario Marcella gave South Carolina the lead with a few minutes to go in the first, and the air came out of Akins Ford Arena for Georgia.

The Gamecocks took the final 10 shots of the period, including their second goal, this one from Carson Skove. The Ice Dawgs would get within one halfway through the game, but South Carolina stretched the lead soon after and cruised to victory.

Division 1 MVP John Riggins scored a goal and had two assists in the Gamecocks’ victory. Tyler Temoyan stopped 25 of 26 for South Carolina.

South Carolina moves on to play Tampa in the championship game tomorrow at 3:00 P.M. EST.

FINAL

South Carolina 5

Georgia 1

Day 3 Recap

3rd Place Game - Georgia vs Tennessee

Coming into this weekend, Georgia had lost one game in regulation. After the playoffs, Georgia’s regulation loss total has tripled. 

Tennessee scored the game’s first three goals, including two from Matthew Pavek. The Ice Dawgs ramped up the intensity in the third period as they looked to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time this season.

Josh Mesaros and Jack Gannon scored two minutes apart to bring Georgia within one, but that’s as close as they got. 

Patrick Green made 36 saves in the Ice Vols victory.

FINAL

Tennessee 3

Georgia 2 

Championship Game - Tampa vs South Carolina

The tournament so nice, they won it thrice.

Tampa entered the tournament as the third seed, and needed to win three times in three days to win their third straight conference championship with College Hockey South. It sounds like three was indeed the magic number for the Spartans.

Tampa controlled the early portion of the game, bagging a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes in. South Carolina fought their way back in, tying the game with two goals from Carson Skove. 

Much like the Women’s championship game, the play was very even and tight. Both teams had their moments on the attack and on the back foot. The game went to the final period tied at 2.

The Spartans gained the lead back with a PPG from Michael Schmelzer. Less than a minute later Joey DeAngelis delivered a dagger into the hearts of South Carolina, putting Tampa up two. The ‘Cocks clawed back to within one with six minutes to go, but Tampa’s suffocating defense held down the fort to secure the championship.

Michael Schmelzer was named championship game MVP with a goal and an assist. 

Congratulations to Tampa on winning the Division 1 College Hockey South conference tournament for the third straight year (D2 - 2023, D1 - 2024, D1 - 2025)!

FINAL

Tampa 5

South Carolina 3

ABOUT College Hockey South: Founded in 2008, College Hockey South is a 30-school, 50-team intercollegiate hockey conference spanning eight southeastern U.S. states that competes in AAU College Hockey. College Hockey South is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization.