Box Score
Rink Side Video
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - The Williams College men's hockey team scored three goals in the 2nd period to pull away from NESCAC opponent Connecticut College and notch their first win of the season.
The Ephs were led by senior forward Ben Contini '11, who had one goal and two assists on the night, and sophomore forward John Wickman '13, who contributed one goal and one assist. Junior defenseman Steve Maier '12 also tallied two assists.
The 2010-2011 season started out slow for both teams. The first period was dominated by defense and physical play, as neither side was able to get on the board in the first 20 minutes.
There were some opportunities, however, and the Ephs got the first one with a great scoring chance midway through the period when Contini took control of the puck on a 2-on-1 and made a nice pass to Wickman in front of the net. Wickman deked to his right and tried to flip it in, but Conn. College goalie Andrew Margolin made a nice pad save.
Williams got another golden opportunity late in the period with a 5-on-3 man advantage, but the Conn. College defense held their ground, blocking multiple shots from the Ephs to keep the score at 0-0 heading into the locker room.
The action picked up quickly after the first intermission, as the Ephs and Camels combined to score four goals in the second period. Contini scored the first goal of the season midway through the period off a redirected shot. After a solid Williams backcheck, the puck made its way to Wickman, who skated down the right side and fired a wrist shot from the right circle. Contini was positioned right in front of the net and got his stick on the shot, tipping it by the goalie to put the Ephs up 1-0.
Williams extended its lead to 2-0 several minutes when Maier made a nice cross-ice pass to Wickman, who blasted a slap shot from the left circle into the top left corner of the net.
Williams continued their relentless attack later in the period, when Contini skated toward the net on a breakaway. The Conn. College defender poked the puck free, but Contini corralled it and threw it in front of the net to a wide-open Eric Rubino '13, who put it in to make the score 3-0.
Conn. College fought back late in the second period, however. A series of penalties on both sides gave the Camels a 4-on-3 man advantage, and forward Dawson Luke capitalized with a wrist shot to make the score 3-1 heading into the locker room.
The Camels took this momentum into the third period, going on the power play early and bombarding goalie Ryan Purdy '12 with a flurry of shots. Purdy held strong though, making a series of nice saves including a sprawling stop on a Conn. College breakaway to kill the penalty.
The junior netminder finished with 22 saves and gave up 1 goal in 60 minutes of play, while Margolin had 34 stops and gave up 5 goals in 60 minutes for the Camels.
Coach Bill Kangas was pleased with Purdy's play in net: "Ryan made some nice saves to start the third period, and I thought that calmed our guys down and helped them focus on getting the win."
Purdy was also aided by a strong Eph defensive effort led by co-captain Ryan Scott '12 that helped keep the puck out of the defensive zone and create scoring chances for the offense. Conn. College was limited to only 5 shots in the first period and 7 in the third, finishing with only 23 shots compared to Williams' 39.
13 of these 39 shots came in the final period, as Williams scored two more goals to put the game out of reach. The first goal came on an athletic play from Cody Skinner '13, who was knocked off balance by a Camel defender but was able to redirect a pass from Ryan Young '11 into the net.
The final goal of the game came on another breakaway for the Ephs, this time by Masucci. The senior co-captain made a nice move to his backhand in front of the net and flipped the puck over the goalie's left shoulder for the goal.
The 1-0 Ephs hope to build on their strong start tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM, when they take on the Tufts Jumbos at Lansing Chapman Rink. The Jumbos are also 1-0 after beating Middlebury 3-0 Friday night.
