Sports
Men’s and women’s hockey set to finish seasons strong against NESCAC opponents
By Patrick Malin ’18
February 20, 2015
With the upcoming final weekend of the regular season, the men’s and women’s hockey teams prepare to end their seasons on positive notes heading into the NESCAC playoffs. Both teams scored huge victories in the past few weeks to strengthen their regular season record and improve their playoff seedings.
The men’s hockey team traveled north to Maine, taking on Bowdoin and Colby back-to-back. After a scoreless first period, Bowdoin was able to notch two goals in the second. Just a minute into the third period, Robbie Murden ’17 cut the deficit to one goal, but the Continentals were unable to finish the comeback—losing to the Polar Bears 2-1.
The next day, the men’s team took on Colby, who previously defeated the Continentals by a score of 1-0. After an early Colby lead, Pat Curtis ’15 scored in the second period to level the game at 1-1. Colby took control of the game again late in the second, but Neil Conway ’18 scored in the third period to force the game into overtime. Tim Nowacki ’18 stopped two shots on goal in overtime, preserving the 2-2 tie.
On Feb. 6 and 7, the women’s team hosted Wesleyan at Sage Rink. Despite outshooting Wesleyan 34-28, the Continentals saw two unlucky rebounds slip past goalie Sam Walther ’18 and end up in the back of the net. The Continentals were unable to come back from the two goal deficit, falling to the Cardinals with a final score of 2-0. The next day, the Continentals avenged the previous night’s defeat, beating Wesleyan 2-1. Goals by Steph DiPietro ’18 and Katie Parkman ’17 and a shutdown performance by Walther gave the Continentals a victory over a tough NESCAC opponent
This past weekend, the men’s team hit the road again, traveling to Massachusetts to take on Tufts, followed by a game against the Connecticut College Camels. In the first period, after an early Tufts goal Nick Vassos ’15 scored his first goal of the season to even the score at 1-1. Tufts stormed back after Vassos’s goal, scoring two consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead late into the second period. Tyler Bruneteau ’18 quickly scored his fifth goal of the year, reducing the deficit to one goal. With only 27 seconds left in the third period, Marko Brelih ’15 scored the game tying goal after Nowacki headed to the bench to get an extra skater on the offense. The Continentals could not capitalize on any of their four shots in overtime, leaving the final score as a tie at 3-3.
The game against Connecticut College started off poorly for Hamilton as they fell behind quickly 2-0. But the Continentals came screaming back. Scott Vasquez ’16 scored late in the second half followed by goals from Vassos, Curtis and Brandon Willet ’18 in the third period. Zach Arnold ’15 recorded his second win of the season with a total of 40 saves.
“The team has really come together this season as a family and all the guys want nothing but the best for the team,” captain Kenny Matheson ’16 said.
The women’s team was also away this past weekend, playing a doubleheader at Bowdoin on Feb. 13 and 14. On Friday night, the Continentals trailed early after Bowdoin scored a power play goal mid-way through the second period. With only 21 seconds into the third period, DiPietro notched her fifth goal of the season, sending the game into overtime with the score tied at 1-1. Each team’s goalie made one save during overtime as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
The next day, the women’s team played an excellent 60 minutes of hockey, shutting out the Polar Bears 2-0. Megan Fitzgerald ’16 scored in the second period and Teal Gosselin ’17 added another goal in the third period. Goalie Walther stopped all 25 shots she faced, completing her third shutout of the season. Walther’s performance over the weekend won her the NESCAC Women’s Ice Hockey Player of the Week award.
“We have a great team dynamic and I’m really optimistic about what the next weeks hold,” said Head Coach Emily McNamara.
Both the men and women’s teams will play on Friday Feb. 20 and Saturday Feb. 21 at Sage Rink. The women’s team will host the Colby Mules, and the men’s team will face off against NESCAC opponents Williams and Middlebury on Friday night and Saturday afternoon respectively.