Box Score CLINTON, NY – Hamilton (8-4/ NESCAC 4-4) defeated Williams (7-3/ NESCAC 4-3) 10-6. This was the third consecutive loss for the Ephs after starting the season winning seven consecutive games.
This game started off slow. Both teams were taking their time in the first quarter and really running their offense and waiting for the right shot opportunity. Williams even had a timer on call in the quarter. The first goal of the game came at 8:13 when Steve Kiesel netted a man up goal for Williams. That goal wasn't matched until 0:44 when John Zimmerman came around the crease to his left from behind the net and then spun over his shoulder and scored. Jack Lauroesch had a dangerous shot with only seconds remaining in the quarter that would have given Williams a lead but Will Driscoll was able to save the shot for Hamilton.
The second quarter provided more action than the first. The first goal occurred at 11:14, when Joe Ricciuti received a pass from behind the crease and shot it in low to score for Hamilton. Steve Kiesel answered that goal for Williams when he made a drive from the left wing and switched to his right hand and put the ball into the bottom of the net. The Ephs then scored another goal when Tanner MacIvor drew Hamilton's man defending the crease out and then passed the ball to Thomas Fowler behind the goal who was able to get to the front of the net and score before his man could recover.
Dan Cahill then scored the next two goals for Hamilton, one off of a shot from the right wing and the other from the left wing. Steve Kiesel then put an end to Hamilton's run by scoring another goal on a drive from the left wing; this time he was also fouled on the play and got a man up opportunity for Williams. On that man up play, Duncan Cummings scored for Williams to take a 5-4 lead into halftime.
In the first half Williams was having a lot of trouble penetrating Hamilton's zone. For the most part, Williams' success in the first half came through the tremendous play of Steve Kiesel.
In the second half the Hamilton defense seemed to figure out how to stop Williams and they were able to pull away. Hamilton scored the first goal of the quarter, passing to Connor Morgan in the middle of the restraining box and he was then able to dodge a man and score. The game was then held even at 5-5 for a while as neither team was able to score.
At 6:57 Hamilton got a one on one shot but Dan Whittam was able to come up with a big save for Williams. At 3:50 Whittam came up big again as Hamilton had a shot to the bottom right corner, which he saved but couldn't corral the rebound; Hamilton got the rebound and fired a shot to the top right but Whittam was able to recover quickly as well and save the second attempt too. Towards the end of the quarter Hamilton was able to end the drought when Patrick Donahoe had a drive from the right wing and bounced it into the left side of the net. Hamilton won the following faceoff and ran down the field with numbers and Sam Sweet was able to score another for Hamilton in transition to give the Continentals a 7-5 lead, which they carried through the end of the quarter. This was the first two-goal lead of the game.
In the fourth quarter Hamilton scored the first three goals with goals by Matt Hrvatin, Sam Sweet, and Connor Morgan. This was part of a six-goal run for Hamilton. With a minute and fourteen seconds left Riley Hoffman scored a man down goal for Williams to end Hamilton's run.
Williams won the first half 5-4 but in the second half they lost 6-1. When asked what was different in the second half, Williams coach George McCormack said, "I thought they really executed better both offensively and defensively."
Through the second half, Hamilton was much more effective in their zone. When asked how Williams was trying to beat that zone McCormack said, "You try to get good ball movement and good rotations and we did that some. We had some good shots against it."
A lot of shots just weren't going in for Williams. Additionally, they were getting unlucky on the bounces of shots. Four Williams shots hit the post so that instead of going out behind the goal, where Williams players would be nearest to the ball and they could get another possession, the shots went out on the sideline and Hamilton defenders were able to run out the shots; a combination of bad luck for Williams and effort and capitalization by Hamilton.
Steve Kiesel, who had three goals, led Williams. Riley Hoffman also played well for the Ephs with one goal and seven ground balls.
Williams' goalie Dan Whittam played 60:00 and allowed ten goals and had thirteen saves.
The next game for the Ephs is April 11th at 1:00 when they will travel to play against Wesleyan.
