Box
Score
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams College men's hockey team
closed out a successful weekend with a 3-2 victory over visiting
conference foe Connecticut College Saturday. The Ephs previously
defeated Tufts on Friday in the season opener, and now sit with an
unblemished 2-0 mark.
The Ephs were out-shot (Williams: 31, Conn: 37) and committed
more penalties (Williams: 8, Conn: 6), but a solid day in the net
from Eph goal tender Marc Pulde (35 saves) and some big
performances from underclassman helped propel Williams to victory.
First-year Justin Troiani and sophomore Ryan Young led the Eph
attack, with Troiani notching the go ahead score and then assisting
on the game winner, and Young opening the scoring for the Ephs and
then assisting on Troiani's goal.
"We set a goal to get four points out of the weekend, and we
accomplished it. It is a great way to start the season." Remarked
Eph head coach Bill Kangas, "Our younger guys really played well
today and contributed. Guys like Justin Toriani and Ryan Young
really stepped up, and Ryan Scott did an excellent job
defensively."
The Ephs took the initiative early on in a very physical game
and capitalized when Young managed to navigate a scrum in front of
the Camel net and push it past Connecticut goal tender Greg Parker
(28 saves) just 3:21 into the game. Despite the early lopsidedness,
the Camels nearly made it all for not late in the period, but a
sensational stop by the outstretched leg of Pulde preserved the 1-0
Eph advantage into intermission.
The two teams traded power play scores just two minutes apart in
the middle of the second period. The Ephs first when Troiani
slapped home a perfect pass from Young for a picturesque score, and
then the Camels when Robbie Tesar put back a deflection in front of
the net.
However, the Ephs would once again go into the intermission
ahead. This time when Troiani connected with Andrew Lepore, who
rocketed it through the short-handed defense for the slap-shot
score and 3-1 lead.
The final period had a decidedly Camel bend as they determinedly
pushed to even things up. However, the Ephs were able to overcome,
despite being out-shot 14-7, in large part because of the excellent
work in goal by Pulde who notched 13 saves in the final stanza.
The Camels did finally get past Pulde with just 3:01 remaining
in the game to cut the score to 3-2, but it proved to be too little
too late as the Ephs would hold on for the win.
Next weekend the Ephs will travel to participate in the Skidmore
Tournament. Their first game is Friday, November 29, at 5:00 PM.
