New London, CT — A match up of bottom half teams looking for a playoff spot saw Williams College (6-11-1, 3-8-1) travel to Connecticut College (7-8-2, 5-7-0). A scoreless first period set up a two period sprint for the three points at stake. A huge second period burst from Conn College would be enough to distance themselves from the Ephs as the visitors fell 5-1.
These two teams do not like each other and it showed in the first period. Much of the opening ten minutes was hard-hitting hockey with little possession for either team. The Camels would accrue a majority of the early chances with
Cal Sandquist being equal to the task each time. The Ephs began to settle in towards the end of the first and threw their own curve balls at the Conn College defense. The Camels would get the only power play chance of the period and despite numerous good looks, failed to score on their advantage.
The second period belonged to Connecticut College. It would not take long for the home team to get the games' first goal as just a minute and a half into the frame they would bank a puck off Sandquist to go up 1-0. The Ephs were second best in many of the battles in the period as the game grew chippyr. Shortly after an Ephs' penalty, the Camels would capitalize and double their lead. Williams found themselves with three quick man-advantages in the latter half of the period with a great chance to get back into the game. During the third power play, however, it would be the Camels who found the back of the net off an odd-man break down the ice. Down 3-0 with playoff hopes on the line, the Ephs needed a quick response. They would find it in
Brady Welsch who collected a pass from
Trevor O'Brien and fired into the top corner to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The third period had massive implications for the Ephs' season. Unfortunately for Williams, their hopes for a win would be dashed early into the frame. Just four minutes into the third, Connecticut College would add a fourth goal to take a 4-1 lead. The Ephs were playing catch-up, finding themselves on the opposite end of their game last night. Despite several decent chances, Williams could not capitalize to pull themselves back even. Conn would add an empty net goal late in the period to win 5-1.
Eph head coach
Bill Kangas spoke after the loss saying, "It is a frustrating end to the weekend. We know how we played last night worked, but today we did not hit that mark. With only six games remaining we know each game means a ton so we'll need to be much better this weekend at home".
The Ephs host highflying #10 Trinity College next Friday night at 7pm in Lansing Chapman Rink.
