Third Period Power Propels Pucksters to NCAA Semis

Author: Andreas Apostolatos

Making the best of its selection to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, the Middlebury men's hockey team put itself in the semifinals with a 5-1 quarterfinal win over Elmira on March 15. The Panthers will face Oswego this Friday at Norwich for a chance to play for the NCAA Division III Championship the following day. Oswego managed a 5-4 victory over Wentworth in its quarterfinal showdown.
"As a team we are happy to have the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Final Four," said interim head coach Neil Sinclair on Monday. "The team has worked hard all year for this opportunity. We look forward to a challenging game on Friday with a team that has a strong power play and the ability to put the puck in the net in 5-on-5 situations."
Against Elmira, the Panthers got off to a good start with a goal by defenseman Pat Nugent '05 with 12:02 remaining in the first period. Both teams were scoreless for a good stretch until Elmira struck back to level the score at 1-1, 8:25 into the second interval. With penalties racked up, Middlebury managed a goal by Kevin Cooper '04 during a power play four-on-three with 2:02 to play in the period. The goal, assisted by John Dawson '04 and Brian Phinney '05, was Cooper's 26th of the season and put the Panthers ahead by 2-1 going into the final 20 minutes.
In the third period Middlebury went on a scoring tear, and notched three goals while keeping the opponent scoreless. Nugent scored his second goal just 37 seconds into the period, which was followed by a goal by Rob Chisholm '03 11:52 later. Cooper, the recently-crowned New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Year, hit the two goal mark with 4:09 left in the contest.
While the abundance of goals did well to exhibit Middlebury's dominance over Elmira, the Panthers had first-year goaltender Yen-I Chen to thank for his 27 saves, while allowing only one puck to pass into the danger zone.
"We felt good about how we played on Saturday, especially in the third period when we were able to pull away from them," commented Chisholm. "Chen played an outstanding game and allowed us the opportunity to take advantage of our chances. The fans really helped us out Saturday and all year long. They were our sixth skater out there. We all appreciated having so many people and especially so many students out to support us. We hope to see a few of them in the stands Friday night in Norwich."
Norwich, which triumphed over Trinity 5-4 in its quarterfinal game, will host both the semifinals and the NCAA Division III Championship this Friday and Saturday. They will face St. Norbert, the top-ranked Division III team. Middlebury has not faced Oswego in the past two seasons. "We don't know a lot about Oswego," said Chisholm. "Obviously, they're a very good team who has been successful and consistent all year. We expect them to be big and physical. We won't worry about what they're doing all that much. All year we've focused on what we're doing rather than what our opponents bring to the table. That won't change as we prepare for Friday's game."