WILLIAMSTOWM, MASS. -- The Williams College Ephs (8-10-2, 5-7-1 NESCAC) were defeated by the #7 Middlebury College Panthers (11-6-3, 8-3-2 NESCAC) by a score of 1-0.
By the Numbers
- Both teams struggled on the power play: the Ephs were 0/3 and the Panthers were 0/4.
The face off battle was quite even, with 26 victories for the Ephs to the Panthers' 25.
While the Panthers' goalie Sophia Merageas recorded 28 saves and a shutout,
Erin Pye also impressed for the Ephs with 51 saves.
Game Recap
- 8:08 into the first period, the Ephs were penalized for checking, and the Panthers went on their first power play opportunity of the night. The Panthers' were able to get a number of shots off, but
Erin Pye stood strong in net and ensured the game remained at 0-0.
- After Pye made a save on a Cat Appleyard shot, the Panthers' Callia Ferraris crashed into the crease for the rebound and scored to put the Panthers up 1-0 (13:00).
- As the second period opened up,
Erin Pye made a number of phenomenal saves to prevent the Panthers from increasing their lead.
- A little bit after the midway mark of the 2nd period, the Panthers picked up two penalties a minute apart (12:23 & 13:34). Despite the 5v3 advantage, the Ephs were unable to capitalize.
- With under two minutes left in the period, the Ephs gave up a penalty and put the Panthers on the power play (18:18), giving the away side a man-up advantage that led into the 3rd period.
- The beginning of the third period was dominated offensively by the Panthers, with them firing off 9 shots between 3:29 and 7:39.
- The Ephs recorded back-to-back penalties, both for hooking (11:11) and (13:15). While this allowed the Panthers to rattle off a number of shots, Pye remained staunch in net and didn't allow a goal during the period.
- Offensive opportunity came in the form of a late power play for the Ephs (15:46).
Quinn Dawson and
Jaelyn Keiver were able to generate clean looks that were unfortunately unable to find the back of the net.
After the game, head coach of the Ephs, Megan Gillis, remarked "Erin did a phenomenal job keeping us in the game. We had chances we did not capitalize on tonight. We have to bring a new level of resilience and grit tomorrow."
Tomorrow the Ephs will once again face the Panthers this time in Middlebury, VT, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 PM.
