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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – There are no
undefeated teams left in division 3 men's
hockey. The Williams College men's ice
hockey team bested the only remaining undefeated team in the
country, #2 Norwich, 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Senior captain Alex Smigelski scored with just under ten minutes
left in the game to give the Ephs their second lead of the game,
and Williams hung on down the stretch for the
victory. Sophomore goalie Ryan Purdy had an
unbelievable game, shutting the door on one of the top offensive
teams in the country while turning aside 48 shots.
Despite being out shot 18-4 in the opening
frame, the Ephs managed to keep the game tied after twenty
minutes. The Eph
penalty killers played well, killing off three penalties including
a brief 5 on 3. Purdy
played phenomenal, making a number of huge saves, including a pad
stop on point blan
k one-timer from inside the circle. Williams
managed only a handful of shots but was able to relieve pressure
when needed and keep the Cadets from getting too many wide open
looks.
The second period began much like the first
period with Williams relying on Purdy and their penalty killers,
but slowly the Ephs began to create opportunities of their own.
Smigelski nearly got the Ephs on the board when he went on a
breakaway shorthanded, but the puck went just wide as he tried to
backhand it past the goalie. Williams finally
opened the scoring with less than five minutes to go in the period
on freshman Mark Lyons' first career goal.
Junior Matty Masucci knocked the puck out of the air at the blue
line and gained control of the puck as he skated around the top of
the zone. He drew two Norwich defenders to him
as he neared the hash marks where he fired a pass backdoor to Lyons
who knocked it out of the air and into the open
net. Williams killed off another penalty just as
the period expired to maintain the 1-0 lead entering the third.
Williams came out firing to start the third
period, but Norwich goalie Ryan Klingensmith kept the Cadets in
it. Norwich regained
control as the period wore on and evened the score near the midway
point of the period.
Craig Serino took a viscious slapshot from the top of the circle
that snuck under the arm of Purdy and landed a few inches outside
the line. The puck
lay there for a few seconds as Purdy searched for it before
freshman Colin Mulvey tapped it in to tie the
game. Shortly after that, junior Ryan Young drew
a huge penalty when he was knocked down behind the
play. Less than a minute into the powerplay
junior Brian Malchoff led a 3 on 2 rush, skating down the far
boards. He fed the puck to a trailing Smigelski
who ripped a one-time slap shot from the high slot past
Klingensmith. Purdy
and the Eph defense played stellar down the stretch, turning aside
the Cadets and preserving the win.
Head Coach Bill Kangas was pleased with the
win and his team's effort on the weekend: “We faced
some adversity today, but did a great job of battling through
it. We had to kill
off seven penalties until we got a power
play.” Kangas also noted the importance of
the win: “Norwich is a good team. It was a
big win for us, but we have to keep it in
perspective. We will celebrate the win today,
but we have to get right back to work and prepare for Middlebury on
Tuesday.”
Kangas praised the play of Purdy and
Friday-night starter Marc Pulde as well: “It was great to
have Pulde back last night for his first game since
December. Marc played great and it gave Ryan a
chance to sit back and refocus for today's
game. It's a credit to the pair of them,
only giving up two goals on the weekend.”
Kangas also acknowledged the play of his captain, Smigelski:
“Alex is playing great. He got two game
winners this weekend, four points last night, and two
today. It's always good to have your best
players play well and that definitely helped us this
weekend.”
Williams improves their unbeaten streak to 8
games, winning their fourth game in a row. The
win is also a statement that the Ephs can play with the best teams
in the country, having tied then #3 Plattsburgh and beaten then #4
Manhattanville earlier in the season. Williams
will look to carry their momentum into
a midweek game against rival Middlebury who comes to Lansing
Chapman Rink on Tuesday night.
