MIDDLEBURY, VT -- The Williams Men's Hockey team (10-7-5) scored two third-period goals to climb back from a 3-0 deficit but could not score the equalizer as the Middlebury Panthers (11-8-3) escaped with the 3-2 win on Saturday.
After the Ephs fell behind 3-0 with under fifteen minutes to go, Peter Mistretta '15 cut the lead to 3-1 with a score midway through the third period.
With less than a minute remaining, Bryden McGhee '14 found paydirt to narrow the Middlebury lead to 3-2, but the Panthers held on in the final minute to skate off with their fourth straight win.
After pouring in five goals against the Ephs on Thursday night, the Panthers picked up right where they left off in the opening minutes of Saturday's contest. Just two minutes into the game, senior defenseman Tucker Donahoe fired a shot from the right side past Eph goaltender Ryan Purdy '12 to give Middlebury the early 1-0 advantage.
The Williams defense settled down after the opening score, though, as Purdy made some key stops to keep Middlebury off the board. On the other end of the ice, the Eph offense mustered 11 shots on net but could not beat freshman goaltender Dan Fullam.
Purdy finished the night with 23 saves on 26 shots in 60 minutes of play, while Fullam recorded 26 stops on 28 shots in 60 minutes of play.
In similar fashion to the first period, the Panthers came out strong early in the second stanza and cashed after less than five minutes of action. With just 3:32 off the clock in the second, sophomore defenseman Tommy Freyre fluttered a wrist shot on net from the left point. The Middlebury front line was able to screen Purdy's vision, and the puck caromed off the right post and in to give the Panthers a 2-0 advantage.
Freyre's goal would be the only score of the period for either side, although Nick Anderson '14 had a great chance to score on a breakaway midway through the frame. Anderson was denied by Fullam, though, and the score remained at 2-0.
The Panthers appeared to put things out of reach with thirteen minutes to go in the third period. After Purdy made a nice save on a Middlebury one-time attempt, junior forward Trevor Pollock flipped in the rebound on the doorstep to give his squad a 3-0 advantage.
With just over ten minutes to play in regulation, the Ephs mounted their comeback attempt. Creating some offensive pressure in the Middlebury zone, David Jarrett '15 corralled the puck and flipped it on net. Fullam made a sprawling save for the Panthers, but the puck deflected to the right and onto the stick of Mistretta, who lit the lamp from a difficult angle to get the Ephs on the board.
With 46 seconds remaining in the game, McGhee made it a one-goal game when he batted in a rebound attempt amidst a handful of bodies in front of the net. John Wickman '13 was credited with the assist.
"We were down a couple goals, but I thought we played pretty well," noted head coach Bill Kangas. "We competed hard, and going into the third period we were down 3-0 [but] our guys kept battling. We knew if we could get one we might be able to get a second one."
The Middlebury defense held strong in the game's final 45 seconds, controlling the puck and preventing Purdy from vacating his post in exchange for an extra Eph attacker. The loss is the fourth in a row for the Ephs, who remain in fifth place in the NESCAC standings with just two games remaining.
Despite his team's recent skid, Kangas saw improvement in his team's performance on Saturday night and hopes to translate that into success next weekend.
"I thought our compete level was much better, especially after the poor effort we had on Thursday. I thought we played pretty well tonight, and when you have two good teams playing, that's going to happen," said Kangas.
The Ephs can earn a home game in the NESCAC playoffs if they move up one more spot in the standings, but they face no easy task next weekend. On Saturday, Williams will battle the NESCAC-leading Amherst Lord Jeffs at Lansing Chapman Rink at 7 PM. The Ephs then square off against the Hamilton Continentals at 3 PM on Sunday in their season finale.
