Conn College at Wesleyan 7 PM Friday 1/18/13

Who: Connecticut College Camels (4-6-3; 1-4-3) at Wesleyan University Cardinals (7-6-1; 3-4-1)
Where: Spurrier-Snyder Rink  Middletown, CT
When: 7 PM Friday 1/18/13
Video/Audio: Wescast




Conn. College Stats :   2.62 G/GM scored (7th in NESCAC; 56th in Nation)
                                    3.54 G/GM allowed (8th in NESCAC;49th in Nation)






Wesleyan Stats :           3.64 G/GM scored (2nd in NESCAC; 16th in Nation)
                                    2.64 G/GM allowed (5th in NESCAC; 23rd in Nation)






The Lowdown: Marathon Men 
The NESCAC season is a marathon, not a sprint. Just ask the Wesleyan Cardinals, who only a week ago were one point out of the cellar in the 'CAC. In one magical Maine weekend, they changed their fortunes and more than doubled their point total from three to seven in league play. Now they sit at a turning point, in seventh place but only three points behind Middlebury for a home NESCAC playoff birth.

The Conn. College Camels come off an undefeated week, which included blowing a late lead to tie Hamilton, a  pleasant surprise in a tie at Amherst, and a decisive 5-1 victory over non-conference Curry. In the CC marathon, the Camels sit in the precarious position of eighth, in the playoffs but one bad weekend from being out of them. They could also go the other way, tying Wesleyan in the standings with a win tonight.

The team's first played each other at Conn College on November 16th in the opening game of the season. The Cardinals won 5-2, their only NESCAC win until last weekend.

Key(s) to the Game: Kill the Penalties
Wesleyan enters the game third in the 'CAC in  power play efficiency (23.8%) and Conn. College at last in penalty kills ( 70.9%).  In their first matchup, the Cardinals went 2-3 on the power play to the Camels 0-5. Conn. College needs to limit the penalties if they want a chance at two important points on the road.

Players to watch
Conn. College - Mike Petchonka (G, Jr.) How will the Taft School product handle the formidable Cardinal attack? Not having a great statistical season, but did have good games in the ties against Hamilton and Amherst last weekend.

Wesleyan - Keith Buehler (F, Jr.) He didn't have any points against Colby and the six points against Bowdoin story line will eventually get old; but for now, back to back weekends with hat tricks against the top of the league (Middlebury, Bowdoin) is still quite the story for the reigning NESCAC player of the week.


And in honor of the marathon of the NESCAC season, here is the preview to one of our favorite movies.