Williamstown, MA – With this being the first game back in Lansing Chapman Arena of the new year, the Williams College Ephs would take hold of the opportunity and prevail over the Wesleyan University Cardinals. Take hold they did as the Ephs controlled the pace of this game from start to finish.
The first period started with the Cardinals scoring the first goal. Despite that, the Ephs were in full control of the game leading up to that point and responded soon after.
William Yee found his first assist of the night with
Brady Welsch finding the top right corner and beating the Wesleyan goalie. That was it for the first frame, but there was little concern as to what would happen by the time this game came to an end.
The second seemed to be a battle of will. There were no goals scored, but there were plenty of penalties. Williams demonstrated their effort during the week on practicing their penalty kill as they didn't let up any goals against the Cardinal's power play.
The third period was where this game opened up. The Ephs started the scoring as
Jake McManus continued his superb first year with another goal from
William Yee and
Liam Jones. 40 seconds was all it took for the 3
rd goal of the night for the Ephs. Connor Fitzpatrick banged one home from the paint with assists going to
Grant Fuchsen and
David Vieten. There was a short period of push back from the Cardinals, but once again the Ephs determination to win at home shown through.
Rowan Heithoff, with his first career goal in NESCAC hockey, with an assist from
Trevor O'Brien, sealed the deal on this game, putting the Ephs up 4-2.
Eph head coach
Bill Kangas had this to say after the game, "It was a very good team win tonight. Wesleyan pressured us with their stretch breakouts and kept us hemmed in our zone for parts of the game. I liked how poised we were with the puck, how hard we worked, and how connected we played the entire 200 feet." Kangas also had this to say about the Ephs game against Trinity tomorrow, "Our team play off the puck is improving each game, and while we are going to enjoy this victory, we know we have to be at our best against a very strong Trinity team tomorrow afternoon."
