Middlebury posts 2013-14 roster

And now there are three. Middlebury posted their 2013-14 roster, joining Williams and Colby. The roster includes only 26 players (29 saw playing time last year for the Panthers) comprised of four freshman, two new non-freshmen and 20 returners.

Three veterans did not return to the roster that finished fifth in the 2012-13 NESCAC regular season standings: goalies Liam Moorfield-Yee (G, '16) and Dan Fullam (G. '15), as well as defenseman Zach Haggerty (D, '16). Longtime Middlebury coach Bill Beaney is known to go with a goalie carousel and last year four netminders saw playing time ranging from 333-528 minutes. Then freshman Moorfield-Yee played in seven games at the beginning of the season, only to fall out of the netminding rotation in January. 2011 New Jersey high school player of the year Fullam played in 13 games his freshman season of 2011-12, only to have that number drop to six last season due to some injuries and the numbers game. Vermont native Haggerty dressed for seven games last year, scoring his lone collegiate goal against Middlebury rival Norwich in January.

The Panthers only lost five players to graduation, with most of the loss coming at the blueline in 2012-13 co-captains Mathieu Castonguay  (D. '13) and Chris Steele (D, '13). The top nine scorers return from a Middlebury team that finished second in the NESCAC with 3.89 goals per game in conference play. That list is headed by 2013 NESCAC Rookie of the Year and Panthers leading scorer (11-13-24) Matt Silcoff. He's joined by second leading scorer and team leader in goals (13-10-23) Louis Belisle (F, '14).

Belisle will co-captain the team with 2013 2nd Team All-NESCAC defenseman Robbie Donahoe (D, '14), who led Panther blueliners with 16 points (6-10-16). The assistant captains will be junior forwards George Ordway (F, '15) and Derek Pimentel (F, '15).

The small group of newcomers includes a pair of defenseman with differing styles of play. Cameron Romoff (D, '17) is an offensive minded juniors d-man that was once a D1 commit to Brown Univerty (go Bruno!). Andrew Neary (D, '17), on the other hand, is a stay-at home blueliner from prep school. They will be joined by the sole freshman forward on the roster, Mike Najjar, who made the Boston Globe's All-Scholastic Team  and earned All-ISL (Independent School League) honors. Prep school goalie Drew Michals (G, '17) rounds out the class of frosh. The former Lawrenceville goalie's potential is respected enough that he made NHL Central Scouting's list of players to watch.

Two newcomers to the varsity squad come from the JV team (yes, Middlebury has JV sports) in PJ Falvey  (D, '16) and Chris Atwood (D, '14). Falvey was a 2012-13 prep school recruit that didn't make the varsity roster last year. Atwood, on the other hand, has played golf on Bill Beaney's Panthers golf team, and played it quite well. Along with Donahoe, Atwood made First Team All-NESCAC in golf this fall, but he has never been listed on the hockey roster. There's also the issue of his class status. On the golf page he is listed as a senior, but on the hockey roster he is listed as a junior.

In net, senior Nick BonDurant (G, '14) and junior Mike Peters (G, '15) join rookie Michals. At 528 minutes, BonDurant saw the most playing time of any Panthers goaltender last season, but most of those appearances were early in the season. Seldom used Peters came on late in the season to start the final five games of the season, including Middlebury's two playoff games.

Read More: Middlebury Athletics - - 2013-14 Men's Hockey Roster