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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Men's Hockey Ices Colby, Draws Bowdoin

Middlebury rang in the 2013-2014 season with two impressive performances in front of a home crowd, tying Bowdoin by a score of 2-2 on Saturday, Nov. 16 and shaming Colby by a score of 7-1 on Sunday, Nov. 17. Derek Pimentel ’15 and Connor Frick ’16 buried the key goals in the first contest, and 12 different players combined for points on Sunday.

Assistant coach Jamie McKenna praised the hustle the team demonstrated right from the opening faceoff and credited the offensive success to the quick learning curve of the younger players.

“We are definitely faster now than we were last year — we outskated both teams this weekend and moved the puck very well,” McKenna said. “We had a lot of young guys last year and now they know our system better.  I think that was really on display in both games.”

On Saturday, Bowdoin struck first on a 3-on-1 rush that formed suddenly on a blocked Middlebury shot from the point.  The Bowdoin winger rushed up the left wing and zipped a low shot off the pad of Middlebury goalie Mike Peters ’15 before a teammate capitalized on the rebound opportunity.

The lead held through the first intermission, but with two minutes gone in the second period Pimentel sounded the familiar goal horn for Middlebury’s first of the season.  Matt Greenwald ’16 earned the assist with a quick pass off the side boards.

After killing off two Bowdoin power plays in the second period, Middlebury earned an advantage of their own and Frick electrified the 1500 fans packed into Kenyon arena. Breaking to his left past a defender at the blue line, Frick changed hands at the last moment and found space high on the right side of the net for the goal.

Midway through the third period, a rash of four penalties within two minutes opened up the ice for a 3-on-3 situation that lasted 19 seconds.

“I’ve never seen that in all my time here,” McKenna said. “But we were told to expect a lot more calls this year, so we need to be good on the power play and killing off penalties.”

Middlebury survived the odd-man situation but with only seven minutes left in the game, the Polar Bears stymied a Panther breakout and Bowdoin’s

John McGinnis deked to open up the legs of Peters and slide in a five-hole goal.

The Panthers urgently doubled the pressure and controlled the rest of the game, but a determined Bowdoin goaltender repeatedly denied the golden chances coming from the sticks of last year’s top scorers Louis Belisle ’14 and Matt Silcoff ’16.

“I felt good about the way we played,” said forward Ben Wiggins ’14. “Some of us were disappointed because there were really good opportunities to end that game, but that really just made us more hungry to get back out and win against Colby.”

Middlebury came out sticks ready on Sunday versus Colby, outshooting the Mules 41 shots to just 13.  The offense cycled hard in the corners and worked the puck out to the perimeter for dangerous low shots into traffic.  Many times it seemed like the Panthers held a power play advantage, positioning three shooters in a flexible umbrella atop the zone and patiently creating quality chances.

Pimentel delivered twice in the first nine minutes of the game, stuffing one rebound on the right post and nimbly lifting another into the net above a sprawling goaltender.

Peters held tight at his end to keep Colby at bay. During one sequence, Peters stretched out the right pad, then used the blocker athletically on a high rebound shot to kill off a Colby power play near the end of the first period.

The Panthers found a rhythm on the man advantage, scoring three power play goals on the night. With a 5-on-3 advantage just expiring, Evan Neugold ’16 drifted backwards to the left faceoff circle and clapped a one-timer off a pass from Ronald Fishman ’16 into the top corner. Jake Charles ’16 then joined on a rush behind Pimentel and sang a hard snapshot off the inside left post for his first Middlebury goal. On the power play again, Robbie Donahoe ’14 slapped a hard pass down low to Wiggins, who one-timed a second pass to Belisle for a bang-bang goal.

In the third period, Charles added another goal to his resume on a tipped shot from the point, and Mike Longo ’14 bore down toward the net on a three-on-one opportunity, flexing a lightning snapper over the goalie’s glove.

Just like his coach, Wiggins expressed contentment with the pace Middlebury brought.

“It was a great start,” he said. “Our pace of play really impressed me, especially for just the first two games of the season. We moved the puck and stayed focused well, so that all points in positive direction for the season.”

The Panthers hit the road next weekend, looking to carry on their fast-paced game and scoring success against Tufts on Saturday, Nov. 22 and Conn. College on Sunday, Nov. 23.


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