Former 18U Star’s Defenseman Captures NCAA Division III National Championship Title

Former Pittsburgh Stars standout defenseman Liam Varmecky helped lead the Hamilton College men’s hockey team to a 2–1 overtime victory over Hobart College on Sunday, March 29, capturing the program’s first-ever NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

After advancing to the title game, Hamilton battled back from an early 1–0 deficit midway through the second period to tie the game at 1–1.

The score remained deadlocked until 3:16 into overtime, when Curtiss Sturgeon netted a breakaway goal to secure the championship for the Continentals.

Hamilton College, located in Clinton, N.Y., earned four consecutive victories en route to the national title. The team opened its run with a 6–2 win over the Neumann College Knights (Wichita, K.S.) in the first round of the 15-team bracket. In the quarterfinals, the Continentals defeated the Norwich University Cadets (Northfield, V.T.) 2–1 in overtime. Hamilton College then defeated Aurora University Spartans (Aurora, I.L.) 6–3 in the semifinals to move on to the championship game.

The Continentals finished the season with an impressive 23–5–2 record, while Hobart (Geneva, N.Y.) suffered its first loss of the season, finishing at 30–1–0.

Varmecky, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore defenseman from Gibsonia, P.A., appeared in all 29 games for Hamilton this season.

Prior to joining Hamilton, Varmecky played for the Pittsburgh Stars AAA Hockey organization. He skated with the U18 team during the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons. He helped lead the team to two Mid-American District Championships. Varmecky was also part of the Stars’ U16 team that captured a Mid-American title in 2019–20. Previously, Varmecky also competed at the U15 (2018-19) and U14 (2017-18) levels with the Stars.

During his second year with the Stars Midget Major team, Varmecky earned a North American

Hockey League (NAHL) tender contract with the Danbury Hat Tricks (Danbury, C.T.), where he would play over 100 games across three seasons and record 26 points. Part-way through the 2023-24 season Varmecky was traded to the Rochester Jr. Americans (Rochester, N.Y.), where the defenseman would finish his junior hockey career.