Amherst, Hamilton could not Skate with the Panthers Williams awaits in the quarterfinals

Author: Jeff Patterson

Moments before their Friday face-off with Amherst, the nine seniors on the Middlebury men's hockey team were honored at center ice. Photos were snapped and the P.A. speakers crackled as proud parents popped their heads out from the rink door to stand next to their sons.

Nine goals later, the Panthers' weekend sweep - they beat the Lord Jeffs 4-2 and Hamilton 5-2 the following afternoon - gave them the NESCAC's number-two seed.

"It was a seed," said Rob MacIntyre '08 as he recalled Jed McDonald's '08 blast that beat Amherst goalie Cole Anderson midway through the third period and turned out to be the game-winner. "It was a seed."

McDonald, who uses the same model of Warrior stick that two-time NHL's Hardest Shot champion Zdeno Chara plays with, said, "I got it as hard as I could have hit it."

Although the goal was unassisted, McDonald does not want to take all of the credit. "I think it's all in the stick," he joked. "There's a strong correlation there."

MacIntyre, whose mother Jean came all the way from Calgary to see the game - "She flew the red-eye that left Thursday night, flew all night to Ottawa and drove here with the Gilchrists," he said - woke up the somewhat-quieted crowd of 1,805 after scoring his second goal in as many games to tie the contest, 1-1.

MacIntyre, like McDonald, does not want to take all of the credit for the goal, though. A quarter of the way through a second-period power play, co-captain Tom Maldonado '08 dove to the ice to save a stray pass and got it to an open MacIntyre.

"I blew it at first by making a bad pass and Tom saved it," said MacIntyre. "Then I got [the puck] back and was looking to pass because I'm not much of a goal-scorer. I think the goalie thought I was passing too. I just shot it. I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while."

?In this case, the blind squirrel found a net rather than a nut. But, no doubt, it was equally as satisfying.

Both McDonald and MacIntyre will admit that their four years of playing college hockey have passed too quickly. "My first game ever happened to be the Amherst game freshman year," said McDonald. "Then last night, lining up against Amherst, it felt like a blink of an eye. That game was here [in Middlebury] too, so it was like déjà vu."????

It warrants repeating that the referees for the Dec. 11, 2004 game, Ryan St. Louis, Mike St. Louis and Mike Cross, were the same for Friday night's game, too.

A different crew of officials refereed Saturday's game with Hamilton. The Middlebury lineup, the result and the number of goals the Panthers allowed was, however, identical.

In both games the opposition scored first. And in both cases, the visitors were sent packing with a worse record.

"Both goals had been from bad bounces," said MacIntyre, when asked if the team ever got worried about being behind in both games. "Anyway, we're going to win by more than one goal, hopefully."

And that they did. Co-captain Scott Bartlett '08 had two goals and assisted on two others. The Pittsford, N.Y. native certainly has conquered the Continentals in recent years. The right-winger has had eight points in his last four games against the only NESCAC school from New York.

Maldonado, another New Yorker on the team, piled up point after point this weekend. His three goals - one of which was an empty-netter - and one assist helped ensure that Amherst and Hamilton would leave Vermont empty-handed.

There is more déjà vu on its way for McDonald and company, as Williams College is slotted as the Panthers' next opponent. Middlebury beat the Ephs 5-1 in the opening round of last year's NESCAC tournament. The most recent meeting between the two teams was much closer, as Mickey Gilchrist's '08 goal with 2:23 left in the third period gave Middlebury a 2-1 win.

The Panthers need to win on March 1 if they are going to march into the NCAA tournament.