Box Score Box Score
Middlebury, VT - Middlebury's senior defenseman Louis Belisle's goal with 40 seconds left in overtime lifted the Panthers over the Ephs 2-1.
With the win the Panthers (9-10-3, 7-7-2) were able to jump to 5th place, surpassing Colby in the NESCAC standings. Although Williams (13-6-3, 9-4-3) still remains in third place with the loss, they have decreased their chances of catching Amherst (11-3-1 NESCAC), which is now sitting comfortably in second place.
Coming off a 1-1 tie at Williams Friday night, the two teams started where they left off in the opening frame. Both teams were evenly matched, exchanging a couple of solid opporunities at each end.
Williams was able to strike first on the power play after senior defenseman Ben Wiggins was called for tripping with just under 5 minutes left to play in the first. Senior assistant captain Paul Steineg was able to tip home a great feed from sophomore defenseman Greg Johnson. Junior David Jarrett was also credited with an assist on the play.
Despite being able to get on the board first, the latter half of the first period was dominated by Middlebury. The Panthers outshot the Ephs 14-8 in the first period, with their best opportunity coming from Belisle, who scooped up the rebound after senior forward John Barr's initial attempt. Dougherty was able to stop both threats as he stood on his head for much of the game.
The Panthers came out firing in the second, recording the first 6 shots of the second period while limiting the Ephs to 4 for the entire period.
Middlebury was able to notch the game at one after a pair of costly penalties for Williams. Around halfway through the second, senior assistant captain Tucker Dayton was called for holding and less than a minute later senior captain Nick Anderson was taken off for interference.
Lacking the experienced senior presence on the ice and being two men down, Middlebury's junior Derek Pimentel was able to put one past Dougherty with assists coming from sophomores Jake Charles and Ronald Fishman.
Despite Middlebury outshooting Williams 42-22, the two teams were still tied going into the end of regulation as junior goaltender Sean Dougherty was immense in net for the Ephs. Middlebury's sophomore goaltender Liam Moorfield-Yee also played exceedingly well, making two great glove saves in the period to keep the game knotted at one.
The overtime period was pretty quiet for both teams as each only registered one shot in the extra frame. Despite the even play, all the Panthers needed was one shot as Belisle was able to rifle a snap shot over the glove of Dougherty with 40 seconds left in overtime to beat the Ephs 2-1.
After the loss Coach Kangas had this to say about the game, "I thought it was another tough game, and we played hard defensively. They are a good team, and Middlebury's player made a great individual effort in overtime to win the game. We are obvioulsy disappointd with the result, but we need to refocus for another big weekend coming up."
Moorfield-Yee was credited with 22 saves in the win while on the other end Dougherty stopped 42 of 44. Belisle's goal was his team leading 14th of the season.
The Ephs will wrap up their regular season with two home games, Friday and Saturday, against Hamilton and Amherst respectivley.
