---Clinton, NY---The Williams College (4-0-2, 3-0-2 NESCAC) men's ice hockey team tied Hamilton (2-3-1, 1-3-1) tonight on the road at Russell Sage Rink to remain unbeaten on the season.
In a scoreless first period, the Ephs generated many chances to score with exceptional play at both ends of the ice. On the offensive side of things, Williams moved the puck well enough to generate 14 shots on net. However, senior Continental goaltender, Joseph Quattrocchi, turned away all 14 shots. Although not tested much, Sean Dougherty continued his lights out play between the pipes for the Ephs, stopping all 6 shots he faced in the period.
With outstanding play from both goaltenders, each team headed into the intermission with the score remaining 0-0.
Although the shot differential was small in the second period, Williams head hockey coach, Bill Kangas, expected more from his team, "In the second period we were not as sharp; we got beat to loose pucks and couldn't capitalize on the chances we produced. In order to win games on the road we need to play for a full 60 minutes, sometimes even 65 like tonight."
The lone goal scored in the second period was by Hamilton at the 14:50 mark. Hamilton had pressure in the offensive zone and junior defenseman, Marko Brelih fired a shot on net from the point. The shot deflected off of several people out front and found its way past Dougherty to put the Continentals up 1-0. The rest of the period remained scoreless with solid play from both teams.
The Ephs played much better in the third period, again, generating 14 shots. Junior forward, Craig Kitto, continued his stellar start to the season with his fifth goal in the first seven games. Kitto's goal occurred on the power play with commotion out front. After receiving a back door pass, Kitto finished on the doorstep for an easy goal. Assists were awarded to freshman, Tyler Young, and senior captain, Paul Steinig.
Sixty minutes of play did not prove to be enough and the score remained 1-1. The Ephs found themselves in their second overtime game of the season.
With emotions high, both teams came out gunning for that sacred overtime goal. The Ephs had one very quality chance to score during the five minute overtime period only to be turned away from Quattrocchi. While Quattrocchi was moving one way, he made a save on the opposite side of the net off of a shot from the slot. Quattrocchi finished the night with 38 saves on 39 shots.
Sean Dougherty stopped all three shots he faced during the overtime period, finishing the night with 25 saves on 26 shots.
The game ended in a tie, yet, Coach Kangas took positive things from his team's performance tonight, "It's real hard to get points on the road and we did that tonight. Anyone can beat anyone in this league on any given night. We're going to take positive things from tonight and apply them tomorrow at Amherst."
The Ephs face off against arch-rival Amherst (6-1-0, 5-0-0)tomorrow afternoon in Amherst at 3 pm. Williams is now second in the NESCAC while Amherst sits on top in first place in the NESCAC and are unbeaten this year against conference opponents.
