MIDDLETOWN, CT -- The Williams Men's Hockey team (10-5-5) allowed four unanswered goals on Sunday afternoon as the Wesleyan Cardinals (11-8-1) handed them their second straight defeat.
Craig Kitto '15 gave the Ephs a 1-0 lead with a power play goal in the first period, but it was all Cardinals in the second and third stanzas as Wesleyan scored two goals in each of the final two periods en route to a 4-1 victory.
Kitto's goal came near the end of a strong period for the Eph offense, which put 15 shots on net in the game's first twenty minutes. With eight minutes remaining in the period, Wesleyan's Nick Craven was called for tripping to give Williams its first power play. Just before the man-advantage ended, David Jarrett '15 found Kitto for his seventh goal of the year to put the Ephs up 1-0.
The Cardinals came soaring back, however, as forward Tom Salah tied the score at 1-1 just two minutes into the second period. Two minutes later, forward Tommy Hartnett notched the eventual game-winning goal on a Cardinal power play to put Wesleyan up 2-1.
Eph goaltender Ryan Purdy managed to keep the Cardinals at bay for the remainder of the second period, but the Williams offense could not find a way to beat Wesleyan netminder Glenn Stowell.
Purdy finished the afternoon with 27 saves on 30 shots in 58:39 minutes of play, while Stowell recorded 32 saves on 33 shots in 60 minutes of action.
The Ephs fought hard to mount a comeback, but the Wesleyan offense would not be denied. Seven minutes into the third period, Cardinal defenseman Chris McDonald deposited his first goal of the season to extend the Wesleyan lead to 3-1.
The Cardinals added one final empty-net goal with under two minutes to play off the stick of forward Nik Tasiopoulos to bring the score to 4-1. Tasiopoulos led all scorers with one goal and two assists.
The Ephs generated some solid scoring chances after their first period goal but were stymied in the final two periods. "I thought we moved the puck really well and we had good opportunities, but again, we weren't able to get any puck luck," said head coach Bill Kangas after the game. "We had some good offensive chances, but the puck just didn't go into the net."
As a result of their back-to-back losses, the Ephs now sit in fifth in the NESCAC standings with a 7-5-2 conference record. They will have a great opportunity to improve their ranking next weekend, however, as they play a home-in-home doubleheader with Middlebury on Thursday and Saturday. The Panthers sport an 8-5-1 conference record after their 3-0 victory over Trinity this Sunday.
"Obviously you want to win every game you play, but that's just the way this league is," added Kangas. "We've got to be ready because obviously we don't have much time. We play Thursday night now, so we've got to get ready for Thursday."
Thursday's game will be played at 7 PM at Lansing Chapman Rink. On Saturday, the Ephs will travel to Vermont to take on the Panthers again at 7 PM.
