Box Score
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Skidmore's Joe Hoeg found Richie Davis coming in on goal on the left of Eph goalie Sean Dougherty and Davis was able to rip a shot past Dougherty at 2:44 of the second overtime to give Skidmore a 9-8 win.
With the win Skidmore improves to 4-3 on the year and they claim their third NESCAC victim: Bates, Trinity, and Williams.
Williams falls to 0-3 with the loss.
When the game began it looked like it would be all Williams as the Ephs scored the first three goals of the game and held a 5-1 lead at the end of the first 15 minutes. The first two Eph goals were unassisted with Sam Hargrove scoring at 10:53 and Stephen Upton streaking out of the defensive end and going coast to coast to score at 8:42. Andy Grabowski netted the third Eph goal at 7:59 off a feed from Evan Dedominicis.
Skidmore's Matt Ohara stopped the Eph run with his own unassisted tally at 5:26, but the Ephs got unassisted scores by Will Stewart and Steven Kiesel to build the 5-1 lead after one period.
"We really came out on fire tonight, which was good to see," said Eph head coach George McCormack. "Although it was a tough loss I told the guys that I thought it was the first time this season that we played the way we practice."
Skidmore took control of the game in the second quarter when they rang up 6 unanswered goals to construct a 7-5 lead at the half. =
The Thoroughbreds tied the game in the first 4:12 of the quarter. Mike Holden, Joe Hoeg and JP Sullivan scored the first three goals and Matt Ohara's laser from up top from about 20 yards out tied the game.
A little over two minutes later Skidmore took the lead when Jon Hoeg from behind the cage found a streaking Mike Holden coming in from the left side to convert. Hoeg also assisted on the final Skidmore tally of the quarter when he combined with Mike Perlow at 6:20 to net a man-up goal.
At 12:31 of the third Skidmore went up 8-5 when Mike Perlow connected with Mike Holden who beat Dougherty to the right side. Eph senior Mike Acierno got that goal back when he drifted left across the top of the goal from 15 yards out and ripped a shot back to the right at 7:44. Skidmore led 8-6 after three quarters.
Williams netted the only two goals of the fourth quarter, while blanking Skidmore to force OT. Will Stewart scored unassisted at 11:36 and then it took the Ephs 9:16 more to get the equalizer.
Off a Skidmore turnover the Ephs advanced the ball and worked the clock finally getting a Sam Hargrove feed to Evan Dedominicis who got a window of opportunity on the left side and scored with 22 seconds left.
In the first overtime session both teams had limited chances as the defenses held their ground. Williams allowed one shot and Skidmore three, setting the stage for Richie Davis's heroics in the second OT.
Skidmore's Jon Hoeg was the game's leading point producer with 4 on one goal and three assists, while Mike Holden and Mike Perlow each netted three goals.
Will Stewart led the Ephs with two goals, while Evan Dedominicis and Sam Hargrove each had a goal and an assist.
Goalies Sean Dougherty for Williams and Connor Dowling for Skidmore recorded 11 saves on the night, while Dougherty allowed 9 goals and Dowling allowed 8 in 65:16.
Williams out shot visiting Skidmore 39-34 and had one more ground ball, 39-38. Skidmore had 24 turnovers to the Ephs' 19 and the Thoroughbreds won 12 of 22 faceoffs.
"I thought this was a good game for us, because we started to emerge as a team," stated McCormack. "Skidmore is a good team – they're 3-0 vs. NESCAC this year. We were very competitive, which is a good sign."
Next up for the Ephs is a four-game road trip that will find them playing once in Maryland, once in Virginia, and twice in Maine before playing again on Renzie Lamb Field.
Saturday the Ephs will take on NESCAC foe Connecticut College in a game that will be played at 3:00 PM on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Three days later the Ephs will be a little further south in Lexington, VA where they will play Washington & Lee on Tuesday March 27th before returning to New England for a March 31st game at Bates and an April 1st encounter at Bowdoin.
