Wesleyan at Williams 3 PM Saturday 2/2/13

Who: Wesleyan University Cardinals (9-8-2;5-6-2)  at Williams College Ephs (12-5-2;9-3-1)
Where: Lansing Chapman Rink  Williamstown, MA
When: 3 PM Saturday 2/2/13
Video/Audio: Teamline Video 

                  

Offense : 3.95 G/GM scored (2nd in NESCAC; 11th in Nation)

Defense : 2.79 G/GM allowed (5th in NESCAC; 30th in Nation)

Power Play : 23/84 - 27.38% (3rd in NESCAC; 7th in Nation)

Penalty Kill: 58/71 - 81.7% (5th in NESCAC; 29th in Nation)

Offense: 3.11 G/GM scored (4th in NESCAC; 36th in Nation)
Defense: 2.05 G/GM allowed (3rd in NESCAC; 9th in Nation)
Power Play: 11/62 - 17.74% (7th in NESCAC; 46th in Nation)
Penalty Kill: 56/65- 86.2% (2nd in NESCAC; 13th in Nation)

The Lowdown: Salvage the weekend

Both teams are coming off of losses last night, with Wesleyan losing 6-3 at Middlebury and Williams losing 3-1 at home against Trinity.  Williams needs this game to keep alive any hopes they have of catching Bowdoin for the first spot in the NESCAC and thus gaining home-ice advantage throughout the NESCAC playoffs. With Trinity playing Middlebury, a Williams loss would assure they fall out of second place. For Wesleyan, the Cardinals need to win to keep alive the slim chance of a first round home game in the playoffs. The teams first met in Middletown on January 5th, with the Ephs taking the game 2-1. 

Key(s) to the game: Stop the two headed monster

The past two Fridays Wesleyan has lost to Middlebury and yesterday to Trinity. In those games, Keith Buehler (F, Jr.) and Nick Craven (F, Sr.) have had a combined two points (1-1-2). If the Ephs can shut down Buehler and Craven, they should be well on their way to earning a W.

Players to watch

Tommy Hartnett (F, Jr.) While Buehler and Craven command all the attnetion, the junior from the suburbs of New York City  is quietly in the midst of a seven game points streak. 

Sean Dougherty (G, So.) Dougherty had 33 saves in the loss to Trinity last night, and has now made 30+ saves in his last three games. The Cardinals will likely improve on their 17 shots against the Panthers last night, and the sophomore from Long Island will likely need to be on top of his game to stop them. 

With Williams trying to stop the Cardinals' two headed scoring monster and both teams trying to stop themselves from going 0fer the weekend, we present Against Me!'s "Stop!" as performed lived on Letterman.