NESCAC Quarterfinals: #6 Colby at #3 Williams 4:30 PM Saturday 3/1/14

Who: #6.Colby College Mules (11-10-3; 8-9-1)  at #3. Williams College Ephs (14-7-3; 10-5-3)
Where: Lansing Chapman Rink  Williamstown, MA
When: 1 PM Saturday 3/1/14
Video/Audio: NSN Sports


Overall  (Conference Rank)                       Conference Games (conf. rank)
Offense: 2.92 G/GM (6th)                              Offense: 2.50 G/GM (7th)

Defense: 3.33 G/GM (8th)                              Defense: 3.44 G/GM (7th)

Power Play: 9/94 - 9.6% (10th)                      Power Play: 3/73 -4.1% (10th) 

Penalty Kill: 73/89 - 82.0% (5th)                     Penalty Kill: 50/65 - 76.9% (7th)

Overall  (Conference Rank)             Conference Games (conf. rank)
Offense: 2.67 G/GM (7th)                                 Offense: 2.44 G/GM (8th)

Defense: 1.92 G/GM (1st)                                Defense: 1.83 G/GM (1st)
Power Play:  20/103-19.4% (6th)                        Power Play: 14/72 -19.4% (4th) 

Penalty Kill: 70/82  - 85.4% (3rd)                     Penalty Kill: 59/67 - 88.1% (2nd)

The Lowdown
The seeding has changed slightly, but the location and teams of last year's #2/#7 NESCAC quarterfinal are the same. The Ephs survived the Mules, 2-1, in that game to advance to the semis. Colby got hot down the stretch last year, going 4-1-1 to move up from last place and into a playoff spot

This year it is a different story, as both teams are cold heading into the playoffs. In the last seven games of the regular season, Colby went 2-5-0 while Williams went 2-4-1.  The two wins for each team came against Tufts and Hamilton, the only two teams in the 'Cac not playing today because they didn't qualify for the playoffs.  Colby won the regular season series with Williams. The Ephs and Mules played to a hard fought tie, 1-1, in the season opener and then Colby defeated Williams, 2-1, in the matchup in Waterville.

While Williams has struggled recently, most of their travails have come while traveling. The Ephs are 8-1-2 at Lansing Chapman this year with the only loss coming to Amherst in the season finale last weekend.

Key(s) to the game 
The Mules need to keep the game tight and low scoring.  Colby has a knack for winning in close games, going 5-1 in one goal games and 3-0-3 in OT contests. In their recent 2-5-0 stretch they have given up 4+ goals in each game. Sam Parker (G, '15) will need to be the Parker that made 41 saves to earn a 1-1 tie the last time the Mules were in Williamstown and not the Sam that gave up three goals in a minute to Wesleyan on Valentine's Day.

 For Williams, they are likely to get a good showing out of Sean Dougherty (G, '15), but scoring is a major question for the Ephs right now. Kangas' crew has scored only one goal in four of its last five games. They have had only three goals combined in the last eight games from their two leading goal scorers, Craig Kitto (F, '15) and George Hunkele (F, '17).

Players to watch 

Craig Kitto (F, '15) Kitto had a goal and an assist in last year's playoff win against Colby but has been quiet in the tally department down the stretch in the regular season this year. The Ephs will need their only double digit goal scorer (11) to produce if they want to make a run in the NESCAC playoffs.

Ben Chwick (F, '14) Chwick has upped his game since representing Team USA at the Macabiah Games this summer.  If you take his 16 goals and combine them with Nick Lanza (F, '14)'s 15, the senior duo has accounted for 31 of the 70 Mules goals on the season.

It's always hard to score on Dougherty and the Ephs have had trouble scoring recently, so the little red light at Lansing Champman Rink might not be going off often. Note: Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Scelsinger is a Williams alum Fountains of Wayne "Little Red Light"