Clinton, NY – With everyone aware of the win-and-you're-in nature of this game, the Williams College Ephs (9-14-1, 6-11-1) headed to Hamilton College (16-7-1, 11-6-1) for their regular season finale. Despite throwing 46 shots on the Hamilton net, Williams would not be able to surmount the deficit and, ultimately, crashed out of the NESCAC playoff race.
It would not be an ideal start for the Ephs as the historically hard-hitting Continentals came out swinging on their Senior Night. Just five minutes into the contest, a generous deflection would find its way into the Ephs' net as Hamilton opened the scoring. It was a swift response from Williams, however, as
Sean Clarke would hunt down a loose puck and pass to
Connor Berg who hammered the puck home. Level at 1-1, Williams looked to grab a hold of the game on the road. Their plans were spoiled as a quick Ephs' penalty resulted in an even quicker Continentals' goal to make it 2-1 at the end of the first period.
The troubles would continue in the second period as Hamilton would add a third goal just three minutes into the frame. Down 3-1, Williams attempted to throw everything they could offensively at Hamilton, but to no avail. After a few huge saves from
Cal Sandquist in the Ephs' net, Hamilton's netminder would answer with a couple of his own. The back and forth action was entertaining to watch but resulted in no more goals for the period.
An all-important third period began with Eph dominance, a trend which would last the full twenty minutes. Williams threw the kitchen sink going forward as they desperately searched for any points to help sneak them into the playoffs. Midway through the period, their breakthrough would come off the stick of
Jared Lambright. On the power play, the Ephs zipped the puck around well with
Conner Fitzpatrick finding
Henry Muller who threw the puck at the net as it was banged home by Lambright. Down just a goal, all-out-attack continued to fuel the Ephs' pressure. Despite registering 20 shots on net to Hamilton's 6, the Ephs could not get the puck across the line. In need of points to win a playoff spot, the Ephs were eliminated from NESCAC playoff contention.
Eph head coach
Bill Kangas spoke after the loss saying, "We are very proud of the effort from our team tonight. Every player left everything out on the ice. We are sad to see the seniors go, those ten guys gave it their all each and every day. We have a bright future ahead of us and the returning group will be hungry to take us further next year."
