Men's hockey snap three game losing streak Midd drops three in a row for first time since '99-'00, then rallies in next two

Author: Jason Lockhart

The men's ice hockey team hit the biggest bump of not only their season, but of this century. After disappointing losses in Maine at Bowdoin and Colby by the scores of 4-2 and 2-1 respectively, the team proceeded to lose on home ice for the first time in over a year to Williams 6-3.

The Panthers lost at Chip Kenyon '85 arena to the Ephs for the first time in their history, and dropped their first game to them since the 1993-1994 season. Middlebury also had not lost three games in a row since 1999.

"We didn't play with the determination that we are used to seeing out of ourselves, it didn't seem that we could get any of that emotional play started," stated Alternate Captain Levi Doria '05. The team was at a low point, dropping to fifth in the national ranking, and needed a shot in the arm in order to keep pace with the other NESCAC schools that had pulled ahead of them in the standings. That spark came in the form of Ross Cherry '08 who debuted in net against a potent St. Anselm team on Friday.

Cherry was just what the doctor ordered allowing only one goal on 27 shots as the Panthers escaped with a 3-1 win backed by two Mickey Gilchrist '08 goals. The Panthers trailed by one after the first, but scored just 14 seconds into the second frame as captain Brian Phinney '05 ripped a slap shot for his third goal of the season.

Just over seven minutes later the Panthers took the lead for good as Gilchrist found the back of net for his seventh of the season. Gilchrist finished off the scoring on the backhand with five minutes remaining in the third off a nifty feed from Justin Gaines '08

"We came out knowing we had to do what it would take to win, not only because of NESCAC standings and pride, but because we were sick of losing and knew we had to turn it around this weekend," said Jeff Smith '06. Cherry followed up his first career victory with another solid performance against New England College. The Panthers needed a late third period goal from Richie Fuld '07 to seal the game 4-3.

Fuld picked up a loose puck on the side of the net and fired it home after Jed McDonald '08 attempted a wrap-around with 1:53 left in the third period.

"We are basically playing play-off type hockey for the rest of the way, we have little margin for error now," admitted Doria.