All ten teams are in action with four conference games and Williams hosting Manhattanville (watch here) and Middlebury hosting third ranked Plattsburgh (watch here) in non-conference action.
Hamilton Continentals 3-7-1 (2-5-1 NESCAC) at Tufts Jumbos 3-9-0 (1-5-0 NESCAC)
Malden Valley Forum II Madlen, MA
7:00 PM Video
Hamilton comes into the game still looking for their first win of 2014 and their first road NESCAC points of the season. The Continentals are 0-4 since the turn of the calendar with two losses in the Buck Supply Classic and a pair of loses to Bowdoin and Colby in Maine last weekend. Tufts comes into the contest looking for their first home win of the 2013-14 season (0-4). It will be the first NESCAC contest of 2014 for the Jumbos as they lost to Southern New Hampshire in OT in the opening round of the Codfish Bowl before splitting a pair against Suffolk with a win in the consolation game of the Codfish Bowl followed by a loss at Malden Valley Forum.
The teams last met in February of 2013 at Conn College's Dayton Arena with the Jumbos downing the Conts, 6-4, for their last win of the 2012-13 season. The game was moved from Malden Valley Forum to Conn College due to the inclement weather of winterstorm Nemo.
Brian Phillips (G, '14) made 43 saves in that contest to earn the victory. Phillips has only played five minute this season since going down with a leg injury five minutes into the second game of the season on November 16, 2013. Freshman Ryan Kellenberger (G, '17) has played the vast majority of minutes since, though senior Greg Jenkins (G, '14) did make 33 saves and got a win in his first career start on January 5th against Suffolk. He then gave up five goals in the first five mintues in the rematch against Suffolk and was pulled after the first period for Kellenberger. With The Tufts Daily reporting that Phillips may be back soon, it's anybody's guess who will start between the pipe tonight for the Jumbos.
Hamilton has their own goalie concerns as well. Veteran work horse Joe Quattrrocchi (G, '14) was injured with a leg injury early in the loss to Bowdoin last Friday and was replaced by fershman Charlie Fennell (G, '14). The Conts third goalie, Zach Arnold (G, '15), had his season long recovery from injury expedited by the Quattrrocchi injury as Arnold dressed between the first and second periods. Fennell, who is 1-3-0 on the season with a .889 Save% and 3.06 Goals Against Average, should make the start tonight. Arnold is still looking for his first minutes as a collegiate goaltender.
Colby Mules 7-4-3 (4-3-1 NESCAC) at Wesleyan Cardinals 7-4-1 (2-4-0 NESCAC)
Spurrier-Snyder Rink Middletown, CT
7:00 PM
No video for this one, as Wescast won't do their first webcast of the season until tomorrow's game against Bowdoin. So you won't see the Mules enter the Nutmeg state after a big four point weekend at home with wins over Amherst and Hamilton. You won't see the host Cardinals, either, who have a respectable 7-4-1 record thanks to an undefeated mark in non-conference games (5-0-1). In conference, however, the Cardinals have lost four straight, including two last weekend to Williams and Middlebury. They were blanked, 5-0, at Middlebury, ending freshman Elliott Vorel (F,'17)'s 11 game point streak to start the season.
The teams last met in February of 2013 at Phillips Exeter Academy in a Wesleyan home game that was re-scheduled and moved due to winterstorm Nemo. The Mules took the game, 4-2, and Nick Lanza (F,'14) had two goals and an assist on the evening.
It will be interesting to see how Wesleyan fares in their first NESCAC home game since opening weekend. The four straight 'Cac losses have been on the road and Wesleyan has a 6-0-1 mark at Snyder overall. It's also Colby's first NESCAC road game since a November 22nd win at Bowdoin that silenced the Polar Bear faithful. Overall, Colby is 1-2-2 on the road and 1-2-1 in games outside of Maine.
Amherst Lord Jeffs 7-5-0 (5-3-0) at Conn College Camels 2-9-1 (1-5-0)
Dayton Arena New London, CT
7:00 PM
A trip to Connecticut and suburban Boston this weekend might be just the ticket for the once nationally ranked Lord Jeffs. After starting out the season 5-0, the Lord Jeffs have gone 2-5-0 in their last seven, including dropping their last three. Conn's trends have also been five and seven games, but the reverse. After starting the season 0-7, the Camels have gone 2-2-1 in their last five, including a big road win at Bowdoin in early December. This will be the first NESCAC game of 2014 for Conn College.
The teams last met in February of 2013 at Dayton Arena with the Lord Jeffs taking the contest 4-2. Conn College last beat Amherst on Thanksgiving weekend of 2008 at Dayton Arena in the opening game of the Douglas W. Roberts Tournament, named after Conn College program founder and former NHL player Doug Roberts.
This game features two of the lowest scoring teams in the NESCAC with Amherst coming in at 2.88 goals per game in conference (2.67 overall) and Conn College doing even worse with 2.67 per game (2.17 overall). Amherst's success has never been predicated on high scoring, but their once staunch defense and goaltending has fallen by the wayside recently with four or more goals allowed in their last three games.
The Lord Jeffs can live with the fact that no one on their team is in double digit points (though five five have seven or more) if Dave Cunningham (G, '16) can return to form. It hasn't helped matters that their two leading goal scorers (with 5 goals), sophomores Conor Brown (F, '16) and Brendan Burke (F, '16), have been limited to three games played between the two of them since the turn of the calendar. For Conn College, after JC Cangelosi F, '15)'s 15 points (6-9-15) and Keith Veronesi (F, '14)'s seven (4-3-7), no one on the team has more than five.
Bowdoin Polar Bears 8-3-2 (4-3-1 NESCAC) at Trinity Bantams 9-3-0 (4-2-0 NESCAC)
Koeppel Center Hartford, CT
7:30 PM Video
In the marquee conference matchup of the evening, the resurgent Polar Bears invade Hartford for their first game outside of the state of Maine since an opening weekend loss to Williams. Bowdoin left the Prine Tree State on a happy note, beating Hamilton and Amherst in conference play last week. Trinity enters the game after a two win weekend over Middlebury and non-conference Becker after blowing a 2-0 lead after two periods at Frozen Fenway to lose 4-2 to Williams.
The teams last met in February 2013 in a weird post-final-regular-season-weekend game at The Brooks School thanks to our good friend Nemo. Trinity, needing the game to secure the third in the NESCAC playoffs, beat an already first seeded Bowdoin team 10-5 for Bowdoin's third loss of the 2012-13 season.
On the injury front, Bowdoin is still waiting for Ollie Koo (D/F, '14) to play in his first game since a November 23rd loss to Colby. Expect Ben Coulthard (G, '14) in net for Trinity and Max Fenkell (G, '15) for Bowdoin as part of Coach Meagher's normal weekend rotation. Fenkell will have his hands full with the Bantams, the only team in the 'Cac to have three twenty point scorers in Jackson Brewer (F, '15), Mike Hawkrigg (F, '16) and Ryan Cole (F, '17).
After tonight, Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby and Hamilton will be halfway through their 18 game NESCAC schedule. In honor of this we present Soundgarden's "Halfway There," the tenth track off 2012's King Animal, the Seattle grunge band's sixth studio album and first since 1996. The music video for the song has Chris Cornell as an astronaut traversing what appears to be a wormhole because YOLO?
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