Hartford, CT – Despite taking an early lead on the road, the Williams College Ephs (6-12-1, 4-8-1) would be tied after two periods with the Trinity College Bantams (13-5-1, 10-2-1). The Bantams would pull ahead with a goal halfway through the third and add another just minutes later to down the Ephs 3-1.
On a frigid Friday night, the Ephs would manage to come out blazing against the high-flying Bantams. After relentless forecheck and heavy checking, the Ephs would wear down the Trinity defense. On a scrum in front of the Bantams net,
Jacob Monroe and
Owen Stadheim would find
Jack Sabre open who bundled one past the netminder. The Ephs kept up the attack late into the period but could not find a second goal.
The second period saw the Ephs continue their surge early, however, a seeing-eye shot from a Trinity forward would squeak through
Evan Ruschil to level the game. As the period wound on, Trinity began to take control of the momentum and Ruschil was called upon often to keep the Ephs in the contest. In the final minutes of the second, Trinity launched an attack on the Williams zone and Ruschil fought off each attempt, making 5 of his 39 saves during that phase.
The Ephs were on the defensive for much of the third, with Trinity outshooting the Ephs 13-4 in the final frame. The wall would finally crack midway through the period as Trinity would fire home a shot to put them up one. Chasing from behind, the Ephs would desperately try and find the equalizer, however, they would find themselves a man down two times in the final ten minutes. The Bantams would tack on a late goal to seal the game at 3-1.
After the game, Coach
Bill Kangas said, "We came out strong tonight, the first period was one of our best on the year. At the end of the day, we need to string together a full 60 minutes to beat a team like Trinity, and we failed to do so. Tomorrow is a great opportunity to bounce back against Wesleyan and end the weekend on a high note."
The Ephs will face Wesleyan tomorrow at 3PM EST.
