All games are on NSN. LPfan2004 with the Middlebury/Wesleyan preview. Stats are for conference games.
#7 Middlebury at #2 Wesleyan 3 PM
Middlebury (8-12-4; 5-9-4)
Offense - 2.44 G/GM (7th)
Defense - 2.83 G/GM (7th)
PIM - 9.8/GM (3rd)
Power Play - 15.5% (6th)
Penalty Kill - 80.3% (7th)
Special Teams Net - 8 (9thh)
Wesleyan 15-7-52 13-3-2 NESCAC)
Offense - 3.11G/Gm (1st)
Defense - 2.28 G/Gm (1st)
PIM- 8.6 /GM (7th)
Power Play - 20.3% (3rd)
Penalty Kill - 90.5% (2nd)
Special Teams Net - + 10 (1st)
The Lowdown: Welcome Back The seventh seeded Middlebury Panthers will face off against second seeded Wesleyan Cardinals, the first time in four years that both teams have been in the playoffs. In their first matchup of this season, Wesleyan cruised to a 5-1 win at home. In their second matchup at Middlebury, the Cards won 2-0. These two have not crossed paths very often in the playoffs with only two matchups (Middlebury won both), the last coming in 2012. Wesleyan had a great season, including notching the most wins in program history and going undefeated in the NESCAC until the final two weekends of regular season play. They are on a three game losing streak, which could lead to their downfall in the upcoming game. The Cardinals have been lead by junior goalie Tim Sestak, who saves 95% of shots, allows 1.69 goals per game, and has a 13-4-2 record with 7 shutouts. Their leading scorer is junior Walker Harris with 18 goals and 12 assists and a league high 12 goals in conference games. Junior Tyler Wyatt had 19 points and Spencer Fox, Vincent Lima, and Tyler Levine all had 17. Wesleyan is strong on both sides of the puck, averaging 3.29 goals a game and giving up 1.92 goals a game in all games (conference stats above).
Middlebury did not have as strong a season, and also did not have a strong finish, going 0-4-2 in their last six games. The Panthers, however, have improved considerably after their worst season in program history in 2017-18. Neil Sinclair's charges only scored 18 conference goals last season but rebounded for a respectable 44 goals in conference this season. This year, they played junior Brian Ketchabaw and freshman Adam Wisco in net. Ketchabaw had a 92 save percentage with a 4-7-2 record and 2 shutouts, while Wisco had a 91 save percentage with a 4-5-2 record and 0 shutouts. Offensively, they were lead by senior Kamil Tcakzuk and sophomore Michael Fahie with 21 and 20 points respectively. Owen Powers, Jimmy Mckee, and Cole Joslin all had 11 points. They were around average on offense and defense, averaging 2.46 goals a game and giving up 2.79 goals a game.
The game tomorrow looks to be in Wesleyan’s favor, but they are on a three game losing streak and anything can happen in the `Cac. Thanks for reading, we will be at the game tomorrow so keep your eye out. -LPfan2004 Pre game Tweet/'Gram
#6 Colby at #3 Amherst 6 PM Colby (10-9-5; 7-7-4 NESCAC)
Offense - 2.78 G/GM (6th)
Defense - 2.50 G/GM (5th)
PIM - 8.6/GM (8th)
Power Play - 19.4 % (4th)
Penalty Kill - 79.4% (8th)
Special Teams Net - +2 (6th)
Amherst (13-6-4; 10-4-4 NESCAC)
Offense - 3.06G/GM (3rd)
Defense - 2.00 G/GM (3rd)
PIM - 8.8/GM (6th)
Power Play - 18.1% (5th)
Penalty Kill- 91.2% (1st)
Special Teams Net - +8 (2nd)
The Lowdown: Revenge is like serving cold cuts
These two have met only twice in the NESCAC playoffs - 16 years apart - but in both encounters the Mules reigned victorious, first over the Lord Jeffs in 2003 then again over the Mammoths last season with a 5-1 win in the same 6/3 matchup in the quarterfinals (hence the Sopranos malapropism above). The win would be the first of a magical playoff run for the Mules that would carry them to a NESCAC title all the way up to a trip to Lake Placid for the DIII Phrozen Phour.
But what was yesterday was yesterday and the Mules lost the 36 save goalie (Sean Lawrence) and four of the five goals (Justin Grillo scored an empty netter) from that game to graduation. In regular season play this season, the Mammoths downed Colby 6-3 in Amherst while the two teams fought to a 2-2 tie in Waterville earlier this month.
Momentum wise, Amherst enters the game on a seven game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) while Colby has also been solid in February with a 3-1-2 record including handing Wesleyan their first conference loss of the season a few weeks ago.
Junior Andrew Tucci has become the netminder of choice for coach Blaise MacDonald, posting a .924 save percentage and 2.27 GAA in 21 games. Tucci has shown signs of why he was the starter before Sean Lawrence transferred from Quinnipiac, holding all teams not named Trinity to less than three goals in the month of February. His season high for goals allowed (6) came against these Mammoths at Orr Rink.
Jack Arena has gone with an international platoon in net, featuring sophomore Canuck Mike Cullen (1.90 GAA and .920 save percentage in 12 games) and junior Giancarlo Ventre (2.24 GAA and .923 save percentage in 12 games) from upstate New York. While they had been rotating NESCAC games, Ventre got the nod for the Mammoths in both of last weekend's games to close out the regular season.
Up front, junior Joey Lupo has been stellar for Amherst with 19 (7-12-19) of his 22 points (10-12-22) coming in conference play. Reigning first team All-NESCAC blueliner Phil Johannson leads all defenseman with 16 points (6-10-16) in conference and the Saint Zotique, Quebec native has 18 total on the season (6-12-18). The Mammoths had a small rookie class but forward Sean Wrenn has chipped in with 13 points (8-5-13) in conference play.
Senior Nick O'Connor has had a star season with 27 points (14-13-27) including 21 in conference play (8-13-21). Linemates Justin Grillo (the hero in Geneseo) and rookie Logan Clarke have chipped in with 14 (7-7-14) and 13 points (2-11-13), respectively. Senior Thomas Stahlhuth has 14 points (7-7-14) along with anchoring a lowerclassmen heavy blueline corps.
Pre game tweet/gram
Looks like the #miraclemules are gearing up for another run at this thing. Good luck boys! @colbyhockey #muletrain https://t.co/SwrTdiELkQ— Chris Hall (@chall4431) February 17, 2019
You thought Papa Roach was too much 90s redux with the last preview? Hold my Zima, cause you may du hast us after this. When the buzzer sounds in these two games we will have only 1,2,3, 4 teams left vying for a NESCAC title next weekend. Here's Ramstein side project Emigrate with "1234" featuring Billy Talent's Benjamin Kowalewicz for a little Canadian flair for all y'all Canucks.
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