The Division 1 Team Wins the Crab Pot Tournament! – By Michael Battista
On Saturday, February 14, The College of New Jersey won the 2026 Crab Pot Tournament down in Annapolis, Maryland. The Lions took home the oldest, non-NCAA college ice hockey trophy for the first time by beating the University of Maryland, 4-3 in overtime, thanks to a goal from forward Josh Kushnir with 18 second left in OT.
On Friday, February 13, the 2026 Crab Pot Tournament kicked off in Annapolis between four ACHA college ice hockey teams; The College of New Jersey, Towson University, the University of Maryland (Division 2), and the host United States Naval Academy – aka Navy.
TCNJ beat Towson University, 4-3, in the semifinals thanks to two goals from Daniel Yakub and one each from Josh Kushnir and Kyle Gregory. In the second game Maryland shocked Navy, 6-1. That result meant two things; for the first time since 2018 Navy wouldn’t play in the championship and for the first time since 2018 there would be a non-Navy champion (breaking a six-tournament Navy winning streak).
For Maryland, it meant a chance to win the trophy for the first time since 1992, and try to avenge runner-up performances in 2023 and 2025.
On Saturday, following Navy’s 8-0 win over Towson in the Consolation Game, Maryland and TCNJ battled in the championship game, finishing the first period tied 1-1 off a Kyle Gregory goal. The Terps surged to a lead in the second period but the Lions equalized to end the second period tied 3-3 thanks to goals from Josh Kushnir and Logan May. A scoreless third led to overtime, where TCNJ’s Kushnir earned the brace when he scored with 18 second left in overtime.
Lions goaltender Christian Esposito and Nathan Mayer faced a combined 33 shots, with Mayer securing the win 20 saves through two periods and overtime.
The win marked the first time a team from New Jersey hoisted the Crab Pot since Ramapo College won in 1979 in the second edition of the tournament. It is also the first time a non-Maryland area local team won the trophy since the University of Central Oklahoma in 2015.
In 1978, former Northeastern University goalie and then Navy head coach Steven Gordon created the Crab Pot Tournament, his own version of the Beanpot, for his players at Navy. Every year since, minus 2021 because of COVID, the Midshipmen have hosted a four team tournament in January/February with a trophy on the line.
As of now, it is the longest-running college ice hockey tournament run outside of the NCAA. It is also one of the longest running tournaments overall in college ice hockey.
TCNJ’s participation in the tournament as a non-Maryland team is not uncommon. While usually Mid-Atlantic schools like Towson and Maryland participate, it isn’t uncommon for other teams to fill in the ranks. For example, future NCAA member Penn State won the title four times in the 1980s, including a three-peat between 1985 and 1987. Other interesting competitors over time include the Royal Military College Saint-Jean (Canada) in 1994, Saint Louis University in 2001, and the University of Central Oklahoma in 2015.
One more important fact is that the Crab Pot’s history is front and center. The trophy holds the names of every school to ever win it, from military academies to community colleges to future NCAA members and everything in-between. A banner hangs above the ice at McMullen Hockey Arena that has the name of every school to ever win.
Of course, Navy has won it 21 of 46 times. But now, TCNJ will join the special group of winners who will be immortalized at the United States Naval Academy forever.
Those looking to read more about the Crab Pot Tournament can read its Wikipedia page below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_Pot_Tournament