Norwich, VT – This was a tough game for the Williams College Ephs (3-6-1) as they were looking to secure a consolation game victory in the Norwich Tournament against the Plymouth State Panthers (8-4-0). Unfortunately, this game took one bad turn after another, leaving the Ephs walking away with an 8-2 defeat.
The first period saw a lot of back-and-forth gameplay as
Harrison Fogel made his season debut in-between the pipes for Williams. This frame only saw one goal coming at the 19-minute mark to put the Panthers up by 1.
The second period saw numerous penalties on the Panthers as the discipline of the Ephs held strong and gave them a chance to capitalize on the power play. With a great face-off win from
Jake McManus,
Connor Berg would find
Logan Valkama down low who stepped out and took advantage of a fantastic screen from Grant Fuchen. Fucher would then battle in front to recover the rebound and give their Ephs their first goal of the evening, earning him his first goal as an Eph in the process. The frame would come to an end with the Ephs trailing by 2.
Unfortunately, the third period was mostly the Panther's as they scored 5 goals. The only Eph goal would come once again on the power play. The two leading scorers for the Ephs would connect for a fantastic goal.
Jake McManus would demonstrate fantastic patience to find
Jack Sabre in the high slot. Sabr did not waste any time picking the top right corner with a beautifully accurate shot. That would be it for the evening and the Ephs fell 8-2
Eph head coach
Bill Kangas had this to say after the game, "I'm sure the team is very disappointed in the way the game played out today. I think we made good progress from period one to period two, but credit Plymouth State for capitalizing on our mistakes in period three, stretching their lead and earning the win." Coach Kangas also had this to say about the upcoming home games this weekend, "We will take a lot from our first weekend series in 2025, and I'm sure we will be better from it going into league play versus Wesleyan and Trinity in Williamstown next weekend."
