Williamstown, MA---After ending the 2012-13 season with a loss in the NESCAC championship against Bowdoin, the Ephs were back at it to open up the 2013-14 season at home against the Mules of Colby College (Waterville, ME).
After the initial drop of the puck, both teams went back and forth for a couple of minutes with no real possession. The game's first real scoring opportunity came just under two minutes into the period by Williams forward, Matt Doyle '14, on a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.
After several minutes of back and forth hockey, the Ephs found themselves on their first power play of the season after, Alex Walsh '16, was called for elbowing. Colby goaltender, Sam Parker '15, was able to turn away any chances Williams generated.
Later in the period during a 4 on 4 situation, junior forward for Williams, Craig Kitto '15, took a snap shot from the slot but just barely caught Parker's shoulder for a save. Later in the period, Kitto again found himself on the doorstep following a great opportunity by senior forward, Peter Mistretta.
At the close of the period with just fewer than three seconds remaining, Colby defenseman, Brendan Cosgrove '14, committed a holding penalty. The Ephs headed into the locker room on the power play with the score remaining 0-0.
Starting the period off on the power play, the Ephs were eager to get the puck on net. Sophomore defensemen Zander Masucci '16 and Greg Johnson '16 proved to hold great poise at the point and were able to generate multiple scoring possibilities as a result. Despite generating chances, Colby goaltender, Parker was still able to keep the Ephs off the scoreboard
Just over six minutes into the period, Sean Dougherty flashed leather, making a highlight glove slave off a wrist shot directly following a faceoff.
After over half of the game played its course, the scoreboard remained 0-0. At the 14:04 mark, senior captain, Nick Anderson '14, found the back of the net for his first goal of the season to put the Ephs up 1-0. Anderson squeaked the puck past Parker after putting a shot on net from the right hand side.
During the waning moments of the period, Williams showed great strength on the penalty kill, fending off a formidable Colby attack to keep the score at 1-0 going into the 2nd intermission.
The Ephs came out for the 3rd period with vengeance, producing several scoring chances early on. Senior captain, Paul Steinig '14, ripped a shot from the slot only to be stopped by Parker. Minutes later, freshman forward, Tyler Young '17, nearly finished on a redirect out front near the crease.
After of minutes of Williams offense, Colby head coach, Blaise McDonald, was forced to call a timeout to calm down his team.
Strong play from the Williams starting forward line that consists of Anderson, Mistretta, and Kitto were able to produce scoring chances all game long with a formidable fore check that led to control of the puck down low behind the net and in the corners.
The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Ephs until Colby forward, Ray Zeek, was able to finish on a one-timer in the slot, assists going to forwards Ben Chwick and Nick Lanza. Lots of commotion and bodies out front provided a screen that blocked Dougherty of sight from the puck.
With the score 1-1, the final minutes of the game proved to be competitive. The Ephs had several shots on net in the final minutes; however, Parker stopped each and every one.
Sixty minutes of hockey did not prove to be long enough to crown a winner and the game headed to the five most exciting minutes in college hockey, a five minute overtime period.
Overtime began with back and forth attack from both squads. Colby generated several chances off of offensive rushes, all only to be turned away from Eph goaltender, Sean Dougherty.
After a couple of minutes of constant transition hockey in the neutral zone, neither team was able to find the back of the net during the overtime period and the game came to a close with a tie.
After the game, Williams head coach, Bill Kangas had to say of his team's efforts, "It was a typical first game of the season for us, some really good things happened and we now have an idea of what we need to work on going further. This a tough league and we play every team a lot. Tomorrow we have another tough matchup with Bowdoin and we're looking to correct our mistakes while also continuing to do what we were able to do well tonight."
Both teams improve to (0-0-1, 0-0-1 NESCAC). The Ephs take to the ice again tomorrow at 3 pm at home in a rematch of last year's NESCAC final against reigning champion Bowdoin.
