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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass - Benefiting from a raucous
playoff-like atmosphere, the Williams men's hockey team came
out firing against stunned Norwich University (16-4), recording two
goals in the games first 1:44 en route to an impressive 5-3 victory
Friday night. In a season that has shown both promise and heartache
for the inconsistent Ephs (7-9-3), the win easily marks their most
impressive victory of the season - if not because of who they beat,
but because of how they played.
Playing a fast and physical brand of hockey rarely seen this
season, the Ephs controlled possession and dictated play in the
early goings of the first period. They didn't have to wait
long for their new aggressive style to be vindicated, as freshman
Matt Masucci's blast and junior Octavian Jordan's stick
side-winner just 21 seconds later, set the tone and gave the Ephs
an early lead at 2-0.
However, the lead was hardly comfortable as the Cadets, who came
in boasting a #4 national ranking while holding the top spot of the
ECAC East and had won 14 of their last 15 games, began to slowly
but surely push the Ephs back towards their net. The increased
pressure coupled with an untimely foul on the Ephs, ultimately cut
the deficit in half for Norwich when Rick Cleaver exploited the
power play and beat Eph goaltender Marc Pulde (41 saves) making it
2-1 with 6:17 remaining in the period.
The goal reinvigorated the Ephs, who pushed back and drove the
Cadets out of Eph ice before settling into a back-and-forth affair.
Both teams threatened in the periods final five minutes, but the
Ephs held tough and ensured that they would go into the 2nd period
with a one goal advantage.
Norwich looked to emulate the Ephs first period start and drove
Williams back in the early minutes of the 2nd period . The Cadets
nearly did pull even on a Nikita Kashirsky shot only three minutes
in, but an acrobatic diving stop by Pulde narrowly avoided a tie
game. The Ephs defense also did its part in the first half of the
2nd period - as their increasingly in-your-face physical style
helped them kill two power plays without surrendering a goal. Eph
junior Ben Fields distinguished himself in the 2nd with his
physical and aggressive play.
However, the Ephs weren't just content to play defense and
in one of the seasons most dramatic sequences, the Ephs turned a
Norwich power play into a short handed goal, when Andrew Lepore
fielded a Cadet rebound and raced the length of the ice before
beating Cadet goaltender Ryan Klingensmith (18 saves) making it 3-1
with 5:10 remaining in the 2nd period.
Not to be outdone, the Cadets quickly responded with a goal of
their own only 1:37 later when CJ Viso beat the Eph defense -
eliciting a deafening cheer from the Norwich faithful and cutting
the deficit to one goal. But the Ephs resilience silenced the
Cadets 1:25 later, when Brian Malchoff slashed through the Norwich
defense before dumping it off to Will Bruce who knocked it through.
The goal restored the Williams advantage to two goals and made the
score 4-2 - where it would remain till the end of the period.
The Ephs refused to rest in the early portion of the third period,
as they relentlessly swarmed the Cadet net and created multiple
scoring opportunities. The pressure eventually wore through the
Norwich defense, and the Ephs were there to exploit it when Alex
Smigelski dumped a short pass across the face of the Cadet net to
the waiting stick of Brandon Jackmuff who promptly converted,
making the score 5-2 with just 8:19 remaining.
Norwich would respond with a goal of their own with 8:29
remaining, but it proved to be too little too late for the Cadets
as they could never recover from the Ephs early blitzkreig, and
ultimately lost 5-3.
“We really came out and for the first time this season
played three full periods.” remarked Eph coach Bill Kangas,
“This week we really focused on starting fast and playing a
complete game - which the kids really did a great job of
today.”
The Ephs look to carry their momentum into tomorrow's game
against St. Michael's, which is scheduled for 3:00 PM in
Williamstown.
