Conference Roundup 2/5/16

He Shoots, He Scores. Zander Massuci lists the Ephs past the Bantams in OT and in to 1st place.
Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Melnik/d3photography.com

Williams 5 Trinity 4 OT 
Box Score   Recap 
In Hartford, the main event of the evening between Trinity (14-4-1; 10-3-0 NESCAC)  and Williams (14-4-1; 10-2-1 NESCAC) lived up to the hype. The Ephs battled back from a 2-0 deficit, there were five total goals scored in the third and it culminated with a Zander Massuci tally 37 seconds into OT on a feed from reigning NESCAC player of the week Tyler Young to lift Williams into first place and earn the Ephs a sweep of the regular season series between the top two teams in the CAC.

The game featured the return of Trinity senior Mike Hawkrigg, who had an assist after been out since an ACL injury New Years weekend. Ephs freshman standout goalie Mike Pinios, who splits time with senior Noah Klag, gave up more than two goals for the first time in his short 11 game career, but I'm sure he won't mind with the final result. It's a ways off, but the loss for Trinity probably means the NESCAC has little to no hope of getting two teams in the NCAA tournament as they did last season. The extra tightness of an already historically tight league is exciting, but it also means NCAA Pool C bids are the collateral damage.

Colby 2 Hamilton 1 OT
Box Score   Recap
Colby (7-8-4;4-7-2 NESCAC)'s Devin Albert scored on a beautiful feed from Cam MacDonald 27 seconds in OT to lift the Mules past  Hamilton (12-4-2; 7-4-2 NESCAC) for the second straight year in a low scoring, extra frame game in Clinton.  The Conts end the night tied for third with Middlebury, while Colby remains tied for eight with Tufts. The last time nine teams had at least 10 points for the whole season was 2011-12, when Hamilton and Conn College tied for eighth with ten points. The difference this year is that all teams still have five games to play.

Middlebury 3 Wesleyan 3 OT
Box Score    Recap
In the only OT game of the night that ended in a tie, host Wesleyan (2-9-8; 2-4-7 NESCAC) - who didn't tie in 24 games last season (3-21) - overcame a 2-0 deficit in the first five minutes to battle back for their seventh tie in thirteen conference games this season. Jaren Tanaka, who had the goal that lifted Wesleyan past Amherst for the first time since 2008 last weekend, netted the equalizer in the third. The Cardinals are now tied with the aformentioned Purple and White with 11 points, so a team with two wins on the entire 2015-16 campaign is in sixth place because #ThisSeason.

For Middlebury (6-7-6; 5-2-6 NESCAC), starting goalie Stephen Klein gave up one goal in 28 minutes and left with what must have been an injury. Senior Liam Moorfield-Yee stopped 22 of 24 shots in relief. The tie moves Middlebury into a tie with Hamilton for the third spot. The Panthers brutal OOC has them in third place in the CAC with a losing record overall, because #ThisSeason.

Bowdoin 3 Amherst 1
Box Score  Recap
Unlike the last time these two met back in Brunswick earlier this year, someone actually scored! Spencer Antunez broke a 1-1 tie in the 2nd en route to Bowdoin (9-7-3; 5-5-3 NESCAC)'s fifth straight win and Amherst (6-9-4;4-6-3)'s fourth straight loss in conference. Sophomore Peter Cronin made 36 saves for the win while Air Force transfer Connor Girard fell to 1-6-0 on the season with 22 saves and remains winless in conference.

The Polar Bears, who picked up their first win outsideo f Maine, are in sole possession of fifth place and a win over Hamilton on Saturday would put them one point within a home playoff game. The Purple and White are tied for sixth, likely to finish without a home playoff spot for the first time since 2007. A loss to Colby on Saturday would also make a NESCAC playoffs without Amherst for the first time ever a real possibility heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Tufts 4 Conn College 1
Box Score 

In the first leg of a home-and-home this weekend between the travel partners, Tufts (7-7-5; 3-6-4 NESCAC) took care of business to put Conn College (3-14-2; 0-11-2 NESCAC) on the verge of elimination from playoff contention. Four different Jumbos scored and Mason Pulde once again needed to stand on his head with 50 saves, but the Jumbos kept pace with Colby to stay tied for the eight and final playoff spot. For the Camels, who hosted their first ever NESCAC playoff game last season, a sunken season would be officially lost with a loss at home to Tufts on Saturday.