Poll: Biggest surprise in the NESCAC so far this year

The last NESCAC game for 2013 was a week ago and by the end of this week all NESCAC players will have finished finals or at least gone home for break. So while the season is only a month old, let's take this time to reflect on what have been the biggest surprises in the 'Cac so far this year. There's a poll on the left sidebar and below is a primer to help you vote. 

Bowdoin's lukewarm start 

It hasn't been smooth sailing for Steve Messina (35)
and Bowdoin so far this season. 

Bowdoin entered this season as the prohibitive favorites to repeat as NESCAC champions. After returning  the bulk of a roster that went 23-4-2 and went to the NCAA Quarterfinals last year, the Polar Bears had hopes of making the NCAA D-III men's ice hockey Final Four that they will be hosting in Lewiston this upcoming March. 

But the game is played on the ice and not paper. The Polar Bears' front-runner image took a hit with a 0-1-1 opening weekend that included a manhandling by Williams, the team Bowdoin beat in last year's conference finals and the only NESCAC team still undefeated heading into the calendar turn. Things got worse the second weekend of the season as the Polar Bears dropped their home opener to arch-nemesis Colby. Injuries, inconsistent play and lineup changes have plagued newly minted 500 career win coach Meagher's squad, and the Bowdoin players return to their respective homes with a 5-3-2  record overall and more importantly, a 2-3-1 record in the 'Cac.

There's still plenty of time left in the season and the Brunswick bunch could very well end up winning the NESCAC. But the 2013-14 season thus far has been disappointing no matter how you measure it. 

Williams undefeated start

Williams entered the season as a legitimate contender for the NESCAC title, but no one thought they would lead the conference in the regular season. You, dear readers, selected the Ephs to finish fifth (as did USCHO) while USCHO and the WordPress blog had coach Kangas' crew coming in at third. With Middlebury, Bowdoin, Amherst and nationally ranked Babson on the early season schedule, most observers would have prognosticated at least one loss in the first seven games.

The 5-0-2 is not without its blemishes with ties against Colby and Hamilton, but in such a competitive conference those are bound to happen. The Ephs have ridden rocksteady goal-tending from Sean Dougherty (G, '15), a solid defense and scoring from a strong recruiting class ( eight of the twelve Ephs goals are from rookies) to a national ranking of seven and five in the USCHO and D3Hockey.com polls, respectively. 

Wesleyan freshman Elliot Vorel's torrid start 

Milton product Elliot Vorel (F, '17) started off his collegiate career in about as auspicious a manner as one could imagine, netting five points (2-3-5) in Wesleyan's opener against Tufts, including the game winner with four seconds remaining. Sure there was some luck involved with Vorel being moved up to the first line alongside 2013 NESCAC Player of the Year Keith Buehler (F, '14), but luck is par for the course in a five point game.

Vorel hasn't kept up the five points per game clip, but he has had at least a point in ever one of the Cardinals'eight games. The Garden State product has nineteen points (10-9-19) in eight games and leads the country with 2.38 points per game. While Vorel will likely slow down as the sample size increases, he is currently on track to score 57 points in the regular season. No NESCAC player has had 50 points in a season since Mickey Gilchrist (F,'06) did it for Middlebury in 2005-06 (24-26-50). Gilchrist only had 37 points in the regular season and needed the 2006 NCAA championship game against St. Norbert to reach the 50 point plateau. 

Amherst sophomore Dave Cunningham's brick wall in net 

Dave Cunningham entered this season as the Lord Jeffs starting goaltender after a solid seven game stint as a backup in his freshman campaign. But with only two NESCAC games under his belt it was impossible to tell how he would do as a full-time starter. 

So far, the Bellmont Hill product has been up to the task. Through seven games, Cunningham has Amherst tied for first place thanks in large part to his 1.29 Goals Against Average (7th in nation) and .946 save% (8th in the nation). He hasn't let up more than two goals in any game and went toe-to-toe with Williams' Dougherty. The Jeffs lost, 1- 0, but Cunningham out-saved Dougherty, 27-18, and looked impressive throughout. 

Trinity's Liam McKillop not scoring a goal as a Bantam 

Liam Mckillop (F, '15) transferred to Trinity after playing for St. Anselm's of the ECAC East the past two seasons. In 59 games with the Hawks, the NYC native had 56 points (27-29-56). An adjustment to a new system and team might explain a drop in production, but not one point and no goals (0-1-1) through eight games. Mckillop hasn't been hurt and he has seen good ice time, making it even more surprising. 

Middlebury's Matt Silcoff (F, '16) -- the reigning NESCAC Rookie of the Year - - has also seen a precipitous drop in production, garnering only two points (0-2-2) in eight games after a 24 point (11-13-24) rookie season. Silcoff's been a bit dinged up and Mckillop has an extra year on his resume, so we'll give the nod to the Bantam transfer as the more surprising of the goal-less wonders. 

While still surprising, McKillop's drop isn't unprecedented. 2011-12 1st team All-NESCAC forward Nik Tasiopoulos (F, '14) made the opposite jump from McKillop when he transfered to ECAC East's Babson last year. In two seasons at Wesleyan, Tasiopolous put up 57 points (31-26-57) in 50 games, including 19 goals and 15 assists in 2011-12. In his first season as a Beaver, Tasipolous had just eighteen points (5-13-18) in 30 games, and only one of those goals came in the first eight games. This season, Tasiopoulos has 10 points (6-4-10) in 11 games for Babson.

Hamilton's three-point weekend against Williams and Middlebury 

Entering the December 6th and 7th match-ups against Williams and Middlebury, Hamilton hadn't had three points in a weekend against the Panthers/Ephs since January of 2011 at Sage, when they tied Middlebury and beat Williams. Since the end of the NESCAC/ECAC East interlock in 2011, Hamilton has only mustered two points in eight games against the duo thanks to a 3-0 win over Middlebury in December of 2011.

This season, the Conts entered the weekend at 2-3-0 overall and only 1-3-0 in conference. Williams entered the weekend undefeated and ranked in both the USCHO (9th) and D3Hockey.com (6th) polls, while Middlebury appeared in the D3Hockey.com poll as well at 15. Hamilton earned a hard fought tie against Williams, thanks in large part to senior goaltender Joe Quattrocchi (G, '14) making 39 saves. The next day, the Continentals  survived a back and forth third period to vanquish the Panthers 4-3. Middlebury's goalie carousel had started spinning again, but even with that in consideration most observers wouldn't have predicted an undefeated weekend in Sage for the home team.