Box Score
Williamstown, MA -- Looking for their seventh with of the season and second win of the new year, the Williams College en's Hockey team (7-1-2) found the back of the net seven times in a win over the Trinity College Bantams (4-6). of Hartford CT.
The Ephs tied the game and took the lead all in the same minute and never looked back. After back to back goals from Eric Rubino and Matt Doyle in the second period, the Ephs led by one. Rubino and Doyle's goals gave the Ephs enough momentum to coast to victory.
The Ephs drew first blood in their first home game after the holiday break. The Williams College goal came only a minute into the game on a slapshot from the high slot by junior forward Mark Lyons. Classmate Cody Skinner set up Lyons after he won the puck behind the Trinity net.
"We really got off to a slow start. We didn't compete on the puck or defend as well as we were capaple of," Eph head coach Bill Kangas said. "I give Trinity a lot of credit. They had a lot of mojo and out worked us early in the game."
Although the Ephs were the first to find the back of the net, Trinity College controlled most of the first period out-shooting the Ephs 17 to 5. Aggressive play from both teams led to a high scoring first period.
After the initial Williams College goal, the Trinity Bantoms responded with 3 unanswered goals.
The first Bantom goal came from Jackson Brewer only 20 seconds after the Ephs scored their first. Shortly after Michael Flynn found the back of the net again for the Bantoms.
The third and final Trinity goal came at the end of the first period from senior defenseman Mike DeMayo and was assited by Menard and Flynn.
Nick Anderson of the Ephs was able to cut the gap to one after a power play goal with under two minutes to go in the first period. Anderson's goal was assisted by two defenseman, Justin Troiani and Stephen Maier. Trinity led 3-2 at the first intermission.
The second period was even paced until the back to back Eph goals that came half way through the period. Rubino scored the Ephs' third goal shortly after Williams failed to capitalize on their third power play and his goal came off a rebound from Troiani's slapshot from the high slot.
Less than a minute later the Ephs found the net again after Ephs forward Matt Doyle took the puck end to end and tucked it inside the near post right by Calahan, Trinity's freshman net minder.
Despite constant pressure, the great play of Eph senior goalie Ryan Purdy and the Williams penalty kill kept the Bantoms off the scoreboard for the entire second and third periods.
"We played a lot better in the second," Kangas said. "I thought we had a solid third period. We have been in some close games and we know how important it is to finish the game strong."
After giving up 17 shots in the first period, the Ephs kept the Bantams to only eight in the second. Williams also tallied eight shots in the second and were able to score twice, taking a 4-3 lead into the locker room.
The Ephs came out strong in the third period scoring twice in the first five minutes. Cody Skinner scored the first of the Ephs three third period goals. Skinner found a loose puck in front of the net after Evan Dugdale's shot was knocked down and put it home to increase the Ephs lead to two goals.
Frshman Craig Kitto added on a goal of his own with a wrist shot from the left wing that was assisted by Troiani and Patrick Morressey. Anderson sealed the deal with an empty net goal in the final minutes of play, his second goal of the game.
The Ephs hope for their third win of the new year tomorrow afternoon. They will be hosting Weslyan University (8-3-0). Wesleyan will enter Lansing Chapman Rink with a five-game win streak. The puck will drop tomorrow 3:00 pm.
