Playoff hungry Panthers make bacon of Beacons

Author: Jeff Patterson

I ate nothing for dinner last Friday night. Instead I was treated to an 8-0 barbecue of UMass-Boston. It was an A-1 performance by the Panthers men's hockey team in a game with important playoff postion at stake.

While the appropriate chants of "Tiny Bubbles" came from a tinier than usual crowd of 1,250, the effort in the stands and on the ice was commendable. It was Senior Night and everyone from the veterans to the first-years displayed tremendous energy.

"We were hungry," said Charlie Townsend '10. "We outskated them the entire game. I was talking with my buddy who played for UMass-Boston and he was talking about how fast we were the whole game. You could see, we were just skating around guys."

Forward Eric LaFreniere '07 was very forward about providing the appetizer in the first period, scoring 1:15 into the game off a cross-ice pass from fellow senior Yev Saidachev. LaFreniere cradled the pass on his backhand, switched the puck to his forehand and beat Beacon goalie Ryan Donovan to the stick-side, before falling over to the ice.

"For the first time everything was on the table and we knew what we had to do," said Casey Ftorek '08.

A five-course meal was served in the second period, as Ftorek scored twice and Sam Driver '08, Scott Bartlett '08 and Brett Shireffs '07 each scored once.

"Everything was clicking for me, said Ftorek '08 who also assisted on Driver's and Bartlett's goals. "I was skating really well and working really well with Charlie Townsend."

John Sales '07 scored 1:06 into the third period after banging home a rebound, and Mickey Gilchrist '08 put the icing on the cake, from the ice no less, as he beat his defender to the right, cut in behind him, and after falling down, lifted the puck inside the right post past Chris Testa, the second Beacon goalie of the game.

"We haven't really put three periods together all year," said Justin Gaines '08, who played on Gilchrist's line most of the night. "Friday night we finally did that. It was probably the first time that we really played sixty minutes and moved the puck."

Middlebury netminder Ross Cherry '08 was the cherry on top. Despite facing only 14 shots, as compared to Middlebury's 51, Cherry was on top of his game. His finest save came when he stuffed a streaking Rocco Dabecco, who had just come out of the penalty box. The shutout was Cherry's second on the season and the seventh of his career.

Before the game the six seniors were introduced, presented with a rose to pin on their mothers and had a photograph taken with their parents on the ice. While last year's senior night game against Amherst came down to the wire, this one was not close. "We were just tired of losing the tight games," said Townsend.

Babson, though, proved to be a tougher team on Feb 10. Goals were harder to come by in a 2-2 tie. The Beavers built a 1-0 lead in the first and contained the potent Middlebury offense. The Panthers did not register a shot on goal until 8:46 into the game. However, when Middlebury did get going they scored two goals in a 1:48 span late in the second period to take the lead. But the Panthers failure to clear the zone led to a Chris Wood goal and a 2-2 game with only 23 seconds left in the second.

LaFreniere scored the first Middlebury goal of the game, just like he did against UMass-Boston, before Driver drove home a pass on the power play. These two goals would not have been possible early in the year. LaFreniere missed the first seven games of the season with pneumonia and Driver missed six games after leaving the season-opener against Tufts with a knee injury.

"We have a really good team, but it's always good to have everyone healthy," said Gaines. "Eric Lafreniere and Sam Driver are two big assets to the team and having them back definitely gives us a real push."

Still, the Panthers are without defenseman Rob McIntyre '08 who slightly tore his MCL against Trinity. "There's been so many injuries this year," said Darwin Hunt '07. "It's just hard to keep them all straight."

Middlebury currently stands in fifth in the NESCAC, with two road games left. "We're within striking distance," said Ftorek. "These are huge games. Amherst has had a good season and Hamilton the same way. They'll set the tone for the playoffs."

An emotional Hunt said he did not want to see the season end prematurely. "I'm pretty confident in our team," he said. "I really think we're pulling together. I really believe in this group. We've had a really tough go this year and it hasn't gone according to plan, but it's not over 'til it's over. It wasn't what we wanted this weekend, it wasn't what we we've wanted this year, it wasn't what we've wanted so far, but it's not over yet."