2012-2013 Record
10-10-4 Overall
6-8-4 NESCAC (6th in NESCAC)
Overall (Conference Rank) Conference Games (conf. rank)
Offense: 3.50 G/GM (2nd) Offense: 3.11 G/GM (4th)
Defense: 2.57 G/GM (5th) Defense: 2.72 G/GM (5th)
Power Play: 24/105 -22.9% (3rd) Power Play: 19/77 -24.7% (3rd)
Penalty Kill: 71/93 - 82.8% (4th) Penalty Kill: 59/73 - 80.8% (5th)
Preseason Predictions
Wesleyan entered this season off of a sixth place finish in the NESCAC last year (12-11-2; 7-9-2) and a 2-1 loss to Middlebury in the Quarterfinals of the conference tournament. USCHO prognosticated a fifth place finish for the Cards, while The WordPress Blog foresaw Wesleyan finishing in sixth. Both sites cited the solid senior goal-tending duo of Glen Stowell (G, Jr.) and Matt Hadge (G, Sr.) as a strength and the loss of 2011-12 leading scorer Nik Tasiopoulous (F, Jr.), who transferred to Babson, as a weakness.
Season Review
The Cardinals opened up the season on the road, beating Conn College, 5-2, opening night but then losing to Tufts,4-2, the following day. They then split a pair of non conference games at home, losing to UMass-Dartmouth, 5-4, in OT and destroying SUNY Canton 9-2. After a win on the road at Stonehill, they finished up conference play in 2012 with a 3-2 loss at home against Amherst and a disappointing 1-1 tie with Hamilton in which they gave up the tying goal in the final minute of regulation.
The Cards closed out 2012 with three non-conference games. On December 6th in Boston they became the first of three NESCAC schools to defeat ECAC-Northeast regular season champion Wentworth. In Plattsburgh's Cardinal Classic, they dropped the opening round to the hosts, 5-1, before beating the Elmira Soaring Eagles in the consolation game.
Wesleyan opened up 2013 with two tough one goal losses at home to Middlebury and Williams. The following weekend they traveled up to Maine for a pair with Bowdoin/Colby. Heading into the game, the Polar Bears owned the only remaining undefeated record in D-III men's hockey (12-0-1). After two period of play, Bowdoin was up 4-2 and seemed to be on their way to yet another victory. But the Cardinals outscored the Polar Bears 3-1 in the third to force OT, and won the game, 6-5, on a Keith Buehler (F, Jr.) goal in the extra frame. Buehler ended up with six points for the game (3-3-6).
After beating Colby on the second day of the Maine trip, the boys returned home to Middletown, where they beat Conn and tied Tufts to complete a (3-0-1) stretch. The Cardindals went (2-4-2) the rest of the season to finish up sixth in the conference. Despite the record, there were some highlights along the way. They exploded for 11 goals in a victory over Hamilton; Nolan Daley (G, Fr.) emerged as the goalie of the future in a 46 save shutout tie against Williams; the Cards tied Bowdoin in the re-match to end the season as the only team not to lose to the Polar Bears.
In a competitive conference where the final NESCAC playoff seedings weren't decided until the final game between Bowdoin and Trinity, Wesleyan had the unique position of knowing their playoff seeding (sixth) headed into the final three games. They dropped a Nemo postponed game against Colby hosted by Phillips Exeter Academy before heading into the final home and home with Trinity. After the Bantams ruined the Cards senior day on a goal to tie it with 4 seconds left in regulation and subsequent 3-2 OT win, the Cards returned the favor, beating Trinity,2-1,on two third period goals.
The loss cost the Bantams a chance at the two seed in the conference playoffs. A blowout win over a Bowdoin, a team that had already locked up the top spot ,gave Trinity the third seed, and set up the third game in nine days between the Bantams and the Cardinals.
The third seed Cardinals of Wesleyan will travel 20 miles north to Hartford to take on the third seed Trinity Bantams this Saturday, Febraury 23rd at 4PM in the Quarterfinals of the NESCAC men's hockey playoffs. Despite the proximity of the schools, they have never played each other in the playoffs.
High Point
The win over Bowdoin. Not only did the Cards beat the only undefeated team in the country in dramatic come from behind fashion, but it salvaged their season to a degree. To that point, Wesleyan was (1-4-1) in the conference and towards the bottom of the league in standings.
Low Point
The Tufts tie. Though it was part of the only four game undefeated stretch of the season, it stalled the momentum of the three-game streak and gave the Cards the dubious distinction of being the only team in the NESCAC to not beat the Jumbos this season.
MVP
Keith Buehler (F, Jr.) led the conference in scoring (19-18-37), and was named a semifinalist for the Joe Concannon Award. Nick Craven (F, Sr.), who won our mid(ish)-season NESCAC MVP poll, comes in at a close second.
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