Middlebury Panthers (3-1-2; 3-0-1) at Amherst Lord Jeffs (5-1-0; 4-0-0) 7 PM Orr Rink; Amherst, MA
Video Middlebury Audio
The marquee matchup of the evening features a rematch of the 2013 NESCAC Quarterfinals at Orr Rink. Middlebury jumped out to a 4-1 lead in that contest, but late Lord Jeffs goals made the final score 4-3. All seven tallies were scored by players on the 2013-14 rosters, including two each from Amherst's Andrew Kurlandski (F, '14) and Middlebury's Louis Belisle (D/F, '14).A win for the Jeffs keeps them in first place and a win for the Panthers assures them at least a tie for first place. Both teams enter the game having lost last weekend to ranked opponents for their respective first loss of the season. Amherst fell, 2-0, to then seventh ranked Babson, while Middlebury lost, 3-1, to Plattsburgh, now the number one team in the nation, in the finals of the annual PrimeLink tournament. The night before Middlebury tied ranked rival Norwich, advancing to the finals in a shootout.
After a great performance against Norwich, Mike Peters (G, '15) gave up three goals on seven shots to Platty and was yanked in favor of senior Nick BonDurant (G, '14) in the first period. It will be interesting to see if Bill Beaney goes back to Peters or if the Panther goalie carousel has started turning.
Williams Ephs (4-0-1; 3-0-1) at Hamilton Continentals (2-3-0; 1-3-0) 7 PM Sage Rink; Clinton, NY
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The Ephs and Continentals last met in the 2013 regular season finale at Sage. Hamilton appeared to have the upset in the bag, up 3-0 with six minutes to play. But then the wheels came off and Williams scored three goals in less than five minutes to force an OT period in which they scored with 12 seconds remaining to win, 4-3.
Williams holds a 67-47-12 edge in the all-time series that dates back to 1920. The Conts last beat the Ephs, 6-3, in January of 2011 at Sage when Norm Bazin, current coach of D-I UMass-Lowell, was the Hamilton bench boss. Current Wiliams senior Nick Anderson (F, '14) scored two goals, including the game-winner in that contest for Hamilton. Anderson transferred to Williams after the 2010-11 season.
Williams remains the only unbeaten team overall in the 'Cac, but still trails archrival Amherst by a point in the all-important NESCAC standings. The Ephs face off against the Lord Jeffs tomorrow afternoon after the longest travel partner bus-ride in the 'Cac from Clinton, NY to Amherst, MA (206 miles). This has all the makings of a trap game, but Coach Kangas' disciplined Ephs, who take a NESCAC low 8.5 penalty minutes per game, will likely be prepared.
Tufts (1-6-0; 0-4-0) at Colby (1-2-1; 3-2-2) 7 PM Alfond Rink; Waterville, ME
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Colby swept last year's season series with the Tufts, including a 6-2 victory in the season finale that earned the Mules the seventh spot in the NESCAC playoffs. Colby is looking to keep pace with Bowdoin, who will likely beat Conn College, while Tufts is looking for their first points in NESCAC play.Colby is on a bit of a hot streak at 3-1-1 in their last five games, including a big win at Bowdoin. The Mules came in at 14th out of 79 D-II/III schools in the first installment of D3Hockey.com's computer rankings this week while Tufts, who won their first game of the season last week, came in at 66th.
Conn College (0-7-0; 0-4-0) at Bowdoin (4-2-1; 1-2-1) 7 PM Sidney Watson Arena; Brunswick, ME
Bowdoin Preview Video Live Stats
The last time these two met in February, Bowdoin came away with a rare empty-net, overtime goal to knock the Camels out of NESCAC playoff contention. The Camels, knowing they needed a win to beat out Hamilton for the eighth and final playoff spot, pulled the goalie in OT with the game knotted at 1.It seems like a long time since Bowdoin entered the season as the unanimous favorite to win the NESCAC, but it was less than a month ago. After a shaky 1-1-1 start in conference play, Bowdoin has gone off on out-of-conference opponents in three games to the tune of a + 15 goal differential (19-4). Now it's time to see if that offensive fire power carries back over into conference play. The other question comes in net, where Max Fenkell (G, '15) hasn't played since the second period of the November 26th game against UNE. Will Fenkell be back in the two goalie rotation, or will his injury give Steve Messina (G, '14) a third straight start in net?
Conn College is looking to right the ship on all fronts. After starting the season 0-4-0 in conference, the Camels scored only one goal in three non-conference games. JC Cangelosi (F, 15) has nine points (5-4-9) but no one else on the team has more than three. Defensively, Conn College has given up five or more goals in all but one of their games. It's been dreadful for them so far, but a win or even a tie in Brunswick could be a huge confidence booster for the Camels.
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