Box Score Williamstown, MA -- Friday night, Williams College (9-2-2), squared off against Manhattanville College (9-6-0) for the Ephs' final weekend of non-conference play. The Ephs, coming off their second loss of the season last Saturday to Johnson & Wales (RI), were looking to get back to their winning ways in 2014.
Manhattanville capitalized on an early powerplay to open the scoring. After solid penalty killing to begin with, the Ephs surrendered a goal from the Valiants' Adam Young with one second left on captain Nick Anderson's minor infraction. Young beat Eph netminder Sean Dougherty on a dead play at 3:36 of the opening frame, with the assists credited to Mark Rivera and Jake Mooney.
Williams had opportunities to respond in the middle of the period, but was unable to cash in on consecutive minors to the Valiants' Phil Dinner and Kevin Struempfler, respectively. Freshman George Hunkele had the best chance on the Dinner minor when he received a slick cross-ice pass from classmate Frankie Mork near the faceoff dot. However, visiting goaltender Brian Fleming was up to the task, as he snared Hunkele's quick wrist shot out of the air with his glove hand on a nice cross-crease slide.
The two teams traded chances for the remainder of the period, but the score favored the visitors 1-0 at the intermission.
To begin the second period, Williams started furiously with good chances from Doyle and Werner 30 seconds into the frame, but Fleming was steady between the pipes to keep his team ahead by one.
The Valiants came back strong a few minutes later, as sophomore Matt Coleman gained speed though neutral zone and snapped off a quick wrister that Dougherty turned aside with his left pad.
The Ephs gained momentum at 8:27 of the middle period when Paul Sirignano was whistled for interference. On the ensuing advantage, Williams displayed great puck movement that resulted in a few quality chances. Finally, it paid off when Mork received a pass from Zander Masucci in the high slot. Mork's wrist shot found its way through traffic, and Hunkele was on the doorstep to deflect it artfully past Fleming to knot the game at one.
The next quality chance for either team came with just under four minutes to play in the period. Anderson won a faceoff cleanly, and the Eph defense hit a streaking Craig Kitto on a smooth pass, but Fleming was quick with his glove to deny the breakaway attempt.
With 11 seconds to go in the second Valiant senior Louie Balzano got penalized for roughing following an icing call, sending the Ephs on yet another powerplay. The period ended tied at one, however, setting up a pivotal third period at Lansing Chapman Rink.
Williams could never settle it down on the powerplay, which carried over from the period before, and the Valiants got back to full strength early in the third.
The Ephs took the lead at 6:57 of the third. Mork tiptoed around a sliding Valiant winger, moved into the mid slot, and rang a shot off the crossbar. Mork remained persistent, and put home the loose puck off a feed from Greg Johnson to give Williams its first lead of the game.
On the next Eph rush, Hunkele's holding infraction at 7:45 put the home team down a man. This did not last long, however, as on Manhattanville's first breakout, Fleming sent a pass near his own bench. Some confusion on the line change caused the Valiants to have six men on the ice, leading to a too many men bench minor.
The Ephs doubled their lead on the ensuing 4 on 4 skating situation at 9:14. Anderson took control of a loose puck at the middle of the blue line, and split the Valiant defense with speed through the neutral zone. He made a slick forehand-backhand move on the breakaway, and slid the puck through Fleming's five hole to double Williams' lead. Mork was credited with his second assist – and third point - of the game.
An offensive zone tripping minor to Sirignano – his second of the game for Manhattanville – at 12:28 gave Williams the chance to notch an insurance goal. With 21 seconds remaining on the minor, the Ephs did just that. Johnson took a feed on the left point, and fired a quick shot on goal. Matt Doyle, parked in front of Fleming, tipped home the fourth consecutive Eph tally. Johnson and junior David Jarrett assisted on the powerplay goal at 14:08.
The third ended with that same score, and the Ephs finished off a solid 4-1 victory to improve to 9-2-2. They outshot Manhattanville 28-22.
At the end of the game, Coach Bill Kangas had the following to say of his team's victory: "Overall, I thought we played well, and we got even better as the game went on. We were okay in the first and had some good chances, but after we got the tying goal I thought our shot selection was much better. This was a quality hockey team we played tonight, and it was a nice win for our team."
The Ephs will skate for their tenth win of the season tomorrow night at home against Plattsburgh St. The puck will drop at 7 PM.
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In support of breast cancer awareness
the Ephs went Pink in the Rink |
