WILLIAMSTOWN -- The Williams Men's Hockey team (10-6-5) dropped a highly physical contest to a strong Middlebury squad (10-8-3) on Thursday night, extending their winless streak to five games.
Taking a 1-0 lead into the second period, the Panthers poured in three goals in the middle frame to put the game out of reach. Scoring the lone goal for the Ephs was David Jarrett '15 on assists from Paul Steinig '15 and John Wickman '13.
The loss is the Ephs' fourth in their last five games. They remain in fifth place in the NESCAC standings with a 7-6-2 conference record, as Middlebury improves their league record to 9-5-1.
"They were able to execute; they made plays and they just won the battles," said head coach Bill Kangas of the Panthers on Thursday. "All the points that you emphasize during the game, whether it's blocked shots or power play scoring chances or penalty kill, they beat us at our own points of emphasis."
Hoping to snap out of their recent losing streak, the Ephs came out with a sense of urgency in the first period, establishing a fast, highly physical pace. Both teams traded interference penalties within the first ten minutes, but both squads' penalty kill units held strong to keep the score tied at 0-0.
The Ephs received the first good scoring chance of the night when Eric Rubino '13 brought the puck down on the right side. Rubino flipped the puck to Stephen Maier '12 on the left side, who made a nice move to his backhand but was denied by Panther goalie Dan Fullam. Maier then lost an edge and slid hard into the end boards, injuring his wrist on the play. He returned briefly to action in the first but did not return for the final two periods.
With 4:13 remaining in the first, Middlebury broke the tie with a rebound goal from senior forward Charles Nerbak. Eph goaltender Ryan Purdy '12 stopped an initial shot from forward George Ordway on the left side, but Nerbak pounced on the rebound in front of the net to put Middlebury ahead 1-0 heading into the first break.
The Panthers came out firing in the second period, putting several shots on net and cashing in on rebound opportunities. Their first strike came at the 17:31 mark off a faceoff win in the Eph defensive zone. Following the faceoff win, defenseman Thomas Freyre found Ordway in front of the net. Ordway drifted to the left slot and fired a wrist shot past Purdy's right pad to extend the Panther lead to 2-0.
The Ephs got a chance on the power play three minutes later, but a strong Middlebury penalty kill limited Williams to zero shots on the man-advantage.
With five minutes left in the frame, freshman defenseman Alex Walsh took a pass from defenseman Robbie Donahoe and deposited a wrist shot from the right circle to put Middlebury up 3-0.
Less than three minutes later, the Panthers took advantage of yet another rebound opportunity when senior forward Martin Drolet stuffed in an open puck on the left side of the crease.
Trailing 4-0 at the end of two periods, the Ephs had their work cut out for them in the game's final twenty minutes. Just one minute into the third period, Jarrett cut into the lead with the Ephs' lone goal of the night. Assisting on the play was Steinig, who found Jarrett in the left slot for a wrist shot goal to make the score 4-1.
The Panthers would not be denied, however, stamping out any chance of a comeback with a goal at the 13-minute mark. Ryan Purdy made the initial save on a shot from senior Charlie Strauss, but forward Michael Griffin corralled the puck and flipped it over a diving Purdy to settle the score at 5-1.
Purdy finished the night with 13 saves on 18 shots in 60 minutes of play, while Middlebury goalie Dan Fullam stopped 16 of 17 shots in 60 minutes of play.
"They did all the little things necessary to win, and our guys know it," added Kangas. "The only thing we've got to do is work on some things tomorrow and hopefully have a better showing on Saturday."
After practice on Friday, the Ephs will travel to Middlebury take to take on the Panthers yet again at 7 PM on Saturday night.
