Middlebury at Amherst 3 PM Saturday 2/16/13

Who: Middlebury College Panthers (12-9-2; 11-4-2)  at Amherst College Lord Jeffs (14-6-3; 10-5-2)
Where: Orr Rink Amherst, MA
When: 3:00 PM Saturday 2/16/13
Video/Audio:  JeffCast (not on the schedule, but possible they provide coverage) Middlebury Radio 

Offense: 3.43 G/GM scored (3rd in NESCAC; 24th in Nation)
Defense: 3.04 G/GM allowed (6th in NESCAC; 35th in Nation)
Power Play: 27/102 - 26.47% (2nd in NESCAC; 8th in Nation)
Penalty Kill: 76/95 - 78.9% (6th in NESCAC; 36th in Nation)

 Offense: 3.22 G/GM scored (4th in NESCAC; 30th in Nation)

 Defense: 1.96 G/GM allowed (2nd in NESCAC; 8th in Nation)

 Power Play: 19/85 - 22.35% (4th in NESCAC; 16th in Nation)

 Penalty Kill: 72/79 - 91.1% (1st in NESCAC; 1st in Nation)

The Lowdown: Playoff Battle

Amherst lost last night to fall into fifth, while Middlebury won to keep pace with Williams and stay in second. The two through five seeds are still pretty up in the air, but one thing is clear, if Amherst doesn't win this game, they will be the fifth seed and will have to travel in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs. When the teams first met on December 8th, Amherst came out of Vermont with a 4-2 victory. 

Key(s) to the game: Goaltending

Mike Peters (G, So.) has played the last two games (and won) on the goaltending carousel for Middlebury. The normally steady Nathan Corey (G, Sr.) gave up four goals in only 16 shots last night in the loss to Williams. In a close game, the hotter goalkeeper could dbe the difference.

Players to watch

 Matt Silcoff (F, Fr.) In a weekend full of senior days, the freshman standout scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season and added a helper (2-1-3) last night to move into a tie for the team lead in goals and points (11-10-21).

Johnny Van Siclen (F, Sr.)  The Lord Jeffs leading scorer (12-10-22) plays on Senior Day in what could be his last home game if Amherst doesn't take care of business. Has three career points (1-2-3) in four games against the Panthers, including in the December win at Middlebury this season. 

In the final day of the regular season for these two teams, we present an encore of the orchestra backed cello performance of glam metal band Europe's 80s hit "Final Countdown". When else will you see cello players in suits headbanging?