Ephs Win Against Middlebury Panthers 3-2

Middlebury, VT- The Williams College Ephs (4-2-0, NESCAC 4-0-0) beat the Middlebury Panthers 3-2 on the road. The game winning goal came from senior forward Jack Forrest at 8:49 of the third period, who rushed toward the net after intercepting a Middlebury pass and fired a shot from the right faceoff circle past Panther goalie Adam Wisco.
 
In today's game, the Panthers were first to draw blood making a quick goal at 10:44. Middlebury's Andrej Hromic, assisted by Cole Joslin and Bentley Emack, slipped the puck through Eph goal tender Cal Sandquist, to put the Panthers up 1.-0
 
However, the Ephs were quick to respond with a goal of their own. At 14:26, the Ephs were down one skater but managed to post a shorthanded goal. Senior captain Niko Karamanis surged forward to win the faceoff and take control of the puck for the Ephs. Fellow forward Sean Clarke was the first to take a shot at the goal, but Karamanis was at the right place to slap the deflected shot in the net. His goal equalized the score at 1-1 going into the second period.  After 20 mins of play, the Ephs had outshot the Panthers 10-5.
 
In goal for the Ephs was freshman Cal Sandquist who made a total of 26 saves. Sandquist was a key player in the second period, making 13 crucial saves. In the goal for the Panthers was Adam Wisco, who made 22 saves in today's game.  
 
Searching to take the lead, the Panthers came into the second period with fire. They outshot the Ephs 13-9 but was unable to collect a point. Five minutes into the period, the Ephs were given a power play opportunity when Panther Bentley Emack was sent to the box for roughing. However, the Panthers were not willing to give the Ephs a larger lead and successfully killed the penalty off.
 
Two back-back goals in the third period solidified the Ephs fourth win of the season. At 8:41 freshman Jack Sabre, assisted by Jamie Cates, picked up the puck and fired it between the pipes. This was Sabre's first goal of the season and his Williams career. Just 8 seconds later, senior forward Jack Forrest single handedly scored the game winning goal with his shot from right faceoff circle.

Down by two, the Panthers were pushing to make up the deficient. They skated hard and aggressively, pressing on the Eph defense. At 13:19, Panther Tyler Capello, assisted by Bentley Emack and Antonine Belisle, was able to get one past Sandquist and put the Panthers down by one goal. With little less than 7 minutes left in the game, the Panthers fired several shots at Sandquist but to no avail. The  Ephs completed their weekend with two NESCAC wins.
 
Commenting on today's matchup, Eph head coach Bill Kangas said, "Middlebury played a good match. For us, I liked how we responded [to their first goal] and how we played in the second period. Back-to-back games are tough and to make two quick goals in the third period for the win was great. This weekend we grew as a team, and we hope to continue that growth next week."
 
The Ephs will be back at home next week on December 10^th at 7pm against Hamilton College.