Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Trinity at Williams Frozen Fenway 7:30 PM

For a preview of today's out-of-conference games scroll down or click here 

 Trinity Bantams (7-2-0; 3-1-0) at Williams Ephs (6-1-2; 4-0-2)
Fenway Park Boston, MA
7:30 PM  Video
Frozen Fenway 2012: Lawrence Academy team that included Trinity's
Nathaniel Heilbron (G, '16) and Williams' George Hunkele (F, '17) 

Lowdown: In the shadow of the Green Monster 
Trinity and Williams will return to their roots tonight. The Ephs and Bantams first squared off in intercollegiate men's hockey on a pond in Williamstown, MA in 1909. They'll be outside again tonight, though the pond has been moved across the state to the infield of the Boston Red Sox's historic Fenway Park. The game, which is an important league contest, is the second half of a D- III doubleheader at Frozen Fenway, a two week event of college and high school games as well as public skating at Fenway. The first half of the doubleheader at 4PM features UMass-Boston of the ECAC East vs Salem State of the MASCAC.

 For a preview of the game and a history of the Trinity/Williams men's hockey series, check out the Ephs Frozen Fenway preview. For Trinity's preview, click here.

Several of the players have played in outdoor games before, some even at Fenway. The picture above is of the Lawrence Academy team that defeated former NHL All-Star Tony Amonte's Thayer Academy, 6-0, at Frozen Fenway 2012. Trinity backup goalie Nathaniel Heilbron (G, '16) earned the shutout and Williams freshman George Hunkele (F, '17), who is currently second on the Ephs with nine points (4-5-9), scored one of the six goals. As he talks about in the Berkshire Eagle preview for Frozen Way, Williams Alex DaBaere (F, '15) played at the original Fenway games in 2010 a member of Belmont Hill. The NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day 2010 between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers paved the way for the annual event we now know as Frozen Fenway.

Trinity enters the game at 7-2-0 overall and fourth in the NESCAC with seven points (3-1-0). A win tonight would put them in third, only two points out of first and having played less league games than the Lord Jeffs and Ephs in front of them. The Bantams last played on Saturday when they drubbed Western New England, 10 -1. They have not played a league game since defeating Hamilton on the road on November 24th.

Williams enters the game at 6-1-2 overall and tied for first with Amherst in the NESCAC with 10 points (4-0-2). They lost their first game of the season over the weekend to Hobart, 3-2, in overtime of the opening round game of the Buck Supply Winter Classic hosted by Plattsburgh. They then followed it up with a 4-3 win in overtime vs Hamilton in the consolation game, which does not count as a conference game. The loss to the Statesmen dropped the Ephs from seventh to ninth in the USCHO poll and from fifth to seventh in the D3Hockey.com poll. A win at Frozen Fenway would put the Ephs alone in first place for the time being.

This is the first time the teams will meet since the 2013 NESCAC playoffs, when Williams defeated Trinity 4-2 in the semifinals.

Northeast Sports Network, the company that does Ephs home games (Bowdoin and Middlebury as well), is providing a high definition webcast for the game with Jack Healy and Jake Abrahams (Williams '14) in the booth.

Key to the game: The Great Outdoors
From the excitement of the game to playing outside to the winds,which might gust up to 35 miles per hour, this game is different than your average league contest. As Williams coach Bill Kangas said in the Ephs preview:
 "I want them to be mentally into every aspect of the game, because in an outdoor rink in a large stadium anything can happen. The ice will be a little different and there will probably be less passing in the game. And depth perception with the stands not right up close to the glass could also be a factor. We need to concentrate on taking care of the puck and playing our game."

In preparation for the game, the Ephs practiced at home on Sunday with one bank of lights off to simulate the spots on the ice because of the spotlights at Fenway. Not only will the ice be a bit dicy because of the outdoor setting, it is also the second game that will be played on the surface, back-to-back. For all of these reasons it might come down to a goalie duel between the reigning First Team All-NESCAC (Ben Coulthard)and Second Team All-NESCAC (Sean Dougherty) netminders.

Players to watch
Ben Coulthard (G, '14) Coulthard hasn't had any of the eye-popping performances he had last year, but the senior from the Nutmeg State still has a respectable .924 Save% and 2.3 Goals Against Average (GAA) in six games this season (5-1-0).

Sean Dougherty (G, '15) Dougherty has followed up his breakout season with an impressive 1.47 GAA (8th in nation) and .949 Save% (3rd in nation) in eight games (5-1-2).

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