Conference Roundup 2/6/16

The NESCAC might be jam packed in the middle, but this weekend ended up separating Williams and Trinity from the pack as the clear top two seeds. 

Tufts 8  Conn College 11
Box Score   Recap

In New London, Tufts (8-7-5; 4-6-4) demolished Conn College (3-15-2; 0-12-2) to finish off the weekend sweep of the home-and-home and eliminate the Camels from playoff contention. The win moved Tufts into seventh heading into the final two weeks.

Trinity 4 Middlebury 1
Box Score   Recap 

Trinity (15-4-1; 11-3-0) outshot Middlebury (6-8-6; 5-3-6) 43-18 en route to a comfortable victory to rebound from their OT loss to Williams on Friday night. The win keeps the Bantams a point behind Williams for first and Middlebury remains tied for third with Hamilton as the Conts lost as well on Saturday.

Williams 4 Wesleyan 3 
Box Score   Recap

Williams (15-4-1; 11-2-1) overcame a 2-0 1st period deficit for the second day in a row to come back and defeat Wesleyan (2-11-8; 2-6-7). Ephs frosh Roberto Cellini had two goals and an assist along with his goal against Trinity to earn NESCAC Player of the Week honors. If the playoffs started after this game, the first seed Ephs would have played the eight seed Cardinals, who are looking to return to the playoffs after finishing last in the conference in 2014-15.

Amherst 2 Colby 1 
Box Score  Recap

Max Roche's first collegiate goal turned out to be the difference, as Amherst (7-9-4; 5-6-3) held on to defeat visiting Colby (7-9-4; 4-8-2 NESCAC) for goalie Conor Girard's first NESCAC win. The Mules appeared to tie it at the buzzer, but the refs ruled that the puck went in after the clock had struck zero.   The Purple and White end the weekend one point ahead of seventh place Tufts and two points behind fifth place Bowdoin. Colby is one point behind Wesleyan for the final playoff spot.

Bowdoin 6 Hamilton 2 
Box Score  Recap 

After an 11 game winning unbeaten streak, Hamilton (12-6-2; 7-5-2)  has now lost three of its last four. Bowdoin (10-7-3'6-5-3) is trending the opposite direction with six straight, including its first two wins outside the friendly confines of Maine on this roadtrip. With 79 as the official attendance, many of which were Continentali hockey alumni, the shots on goal (35 for Bowdoin, 32 for Hamilton) nearly matched what the Box Score had for butts in seats. The convincing win for the Polar Bears moves them one point behind Middlebury and Hamilton for the third spot and a home playoff game in Terry Meagher's last hurrah as Bowdoin's coach for 30+ years.