Hockey Brushes NESCAC Foes Aside

Author: Peter Yordan

The Middlebury men's hockey team withstood a hungry phalanx of in-league opponents over February break to clinch the number one conference spot and with it the right to host the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tournament. Entering the home stretch of the regular season, the Panthers played five games over nine days and came away with five difficult wins to cement its ranking as the best Division III team in the nation.

While most Middlebury students were off campus enjoying their week-long respite from the rigors of winter term, the hockey team stayed behind to take on the remainder of its NESCAC rivals. First for the team was Hamilton College on Feb 1. The Panthers took an early lead on Kevin Cooper's '04 quick goal two minutes into the period, but then allowed the Continentals to tie the score on a short-handed breakaway ten minutes later. The teams remained deadlocked until third period goals by Adam Foote '04 and Matt Snyder '02 gave Middlebury a 3-1 victory.

The next day the team played host to Amherst College. The Panthers flew out of the gate once again with senior defenseman Matt Dunn finding the net three minutes into the game. Cooper added another early goal to give Middlebury a comfortable two-goal cushion through the first period. Two minutes into the second period Senior J.F. Duchesne followed up with another goal to give the Panthers a seemingly secure 3-0 lead. The Lord Jeffs, however, were not prepared to concede the contest. Levi Doria '05 and Cooper committed two penalties in quick succession to give Amherst an extended five-on-three power play. Twenty seconds later they converted the chance to cut the lead to 3-1. Amherst retained a one-man advantage after the goal and continued to pressure the Middlebury net before scoring again on the power play a minute later to make it 3-2. The Lord Jeffs surged with new life, and the Panthers were unable to keep the team from scoring again 10 minutes later to tie the score at three a piece. Going into the second intermission Middlebury had allowed an easy victory to turn into a potentially grim situation.

The Panthers, however, displayed its resiliency in the face of adversity, coming out in the third period with a renewed commitment. It was first-year Patrick Nugent's day to be the hero, scoring the go-ahead goal eight minutes in to give the team a 4-3 lead. The Middlebury defense shut down Amherst, allowing only two shots on goal, and Cooper sealed the deal by scoring his second goal of the night with three minutes remaining.

History soon repeated itself as the Panthers turned to rival Williams for another back and forth affair. Cooper and Robert Chisholm '03 again gave Middlebury the early 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first period. Just as in the Amherst game, however, penalties soon stung the team. Williams converted a power play chance 12 minutes into the second period to cut the Panther lead in half and then scored a short-handed goal one second before the buzzer sounded to bring the score level at two a piece heading into the third period.

With a raucous home crowd cheering them on, the Ephs looked to poach a victory from their highly ranked opponents. Williams took the lead right away with a goal less than three minutes into the third period, leaving a flustered Middlebury to try to regroup or suffer their first loss since November. The team needed somebody to take the lead and spark the offense for the Panthers.

It turned out to be the goal scoring machine Cooper who bailed out the team with his second goal of the night a minute and a half later to tie the score again. Cooper continued to blaze red hot, getting his hat trick and fifth goal in two games nine minutes later to regain the lead. "Cooper's been pretty awesome," said Andrew Helming '04. "He's scored all the big goals this past month." With momentum back in its corner, Middlebury went to work silencing the Williams crowd. Snyder slipped a wrist shot past the goalie only seconds later to give the Panthers a 5-3 lead. Chisholm added his second of the night with an empty-netter to give the team a 6-3 win.

Coming off their rousing comeback victory, the Panthers refused to make things easy for itself against lower-ranked Trinity. "Because we're the number one team, everyone comes out flying against us," said Helming. Trinity took its shot at upending the Panther flagship. For the third time in as many games Middlebury took the early lead before giving it up due to a short-handed situation. This time it was Snyder who started things off with a goal four minutes into the game. The Panthers, however, put the Bantams on the power play 10 minutes later, and paid for it by allowing a game-tying goal. Once again it was Cooper who gave the team the lead with his 19th goal of the season. Co-captain Ryan Constantine '02 scored on the power play to give the team a 3-1 lead. Middlebury gave up another goal in the third period, but held on for the less than pretty 3-2 win.

Lowly Wesleyan was Middlebury's final league opponent of the season, and a victory would give them an undefeated NESCAC record, their only blemish being a 1-1 tie against Bowdoin. The team left nothing up to chance this time around, parlaying goals from Cooper, Dunn, Constantine, and Aaron Copeland '03 along with two from John Dawson '04, into a smooth and convincing 6-0 win.

Middlebury's winning performance earned it the number one berth in NESCAC, giving them the right to host the annual NESCAC tournament.

"I think it is a huge advantage being hosts," said Cooper. "We love playing at home in front of our fans." The team will need the support of its infamously vocal fan base for the tournament that begins on Saturday, Feb. 23, more than a week after their final game of the season. The NESCAC champion automatically claims a spot in the NCAA Championship, and Middlebury would like nothing more than to renew its claim to Division III supremacy, having won the NCAA title five times from 1995-99.