Men’s Hockey Earns Home Ice in Playoffs

Middlebury (11-10-3) won big this weekend over Amherst and Hamilton to earn home ice advantage for the NESCAC quarterfinals, which will take place versus Bowdoin in Kenyon Arena this Saturday, March 1. Robbie Dobrowski ’15 fired in the late game winner to dispose of Amherst, and the seniors contributed five goals against Hamilton in their final regular season game. In the last ten years, only one other Middlebury player has scored as many goals in a season as Louis Belisle ’14 has this season. The captain has tallied 17 scores this year and garnered NESCAC Player of the Week honors for his achievements over the weekend.

The contest on the night of Saturday, Feb. 22 entertained the eight hundred fans in attendance as much as any of the weekend Carnival events. Belisle scored first on a second-period power play, gliding into his familiar position on the left point and punching a wrist shot into the twine behind Amherst goalie Dave Cunningham.  Middlebury worked its way to a 2-0 lead when Ronald Fishman ’16 buried an outside shot on another power play.

There were several juicy rebound chances that seriously tested Cunningham, but he battled to keep his team in reach. Sure enough, the Lord Jeffs would find a turnover in the Middlebury zone and move within one goal just past the game’s halfway point.

One minute into the third period, Liam Moorfield-Yee ’16 kicked out an initial save, but a fortunate Amherst forward evened the score at two.

It felt like a matter of time before Middlebury, who recorded nearly double the shots on goal as Amherst, would jump ahead again. When it did, Dobrowski did so in rousing fashion. John Barr ’14 charged hard out of the zone on the breakout and linked up with Belisle in the neutral zone. As he crossed the offensive blue line, Belisle slid the puck over to Dobrowski.  The Amherst defender poked and stiffened to block the shot, but Dobrowski curled the puck tight to his back leg and squeezed off a rising shot that split the defender’s legs and whizzed past the goalie’s ear before he could react. Dobrowski was overdue for his first goal of the season, but he could not have chosen a better time to score it.

“Honestly I just tried to put it on net,” Dobrowski said, “but it was a great feeling to get the lead. There’s nothing better than beating Amherst.”

Middlebury still needed to win against Hamilton on Sunday, Feb. 23 to gain a home playoff game, and the senior class stepped up to make sure of it. Surprisingly, despite going ahead on a nifty backhand goal from Thomas Freyre ’14, the already eliminated Hamilton Continentals battled back for two consecutive goals that put Middlebury uncomforably behind. Head Coach Bill Beaney called a timeout and shared some fervent words with the team.

Toward the end of the second period, emotions were running high and both teams began playing with some real bite. Michael Longo ’14, the physical leader of the Panthers, caused mayhem in the offensive corners and created his own chances in the dangerous area right on top of the goalies crease.

After every whistle gloves were thrust up into facemasks and players looked for any chance to inflict harm during the run of play. Jake Charles ’16 bowled over an off-balance Hamilton center shortly after an offensive zone faceoff and headed to the box for interference.

In the third period, Belisle looked to the sky in celebration after fluttering in a change-up shot from the blue line that fell above a screened goalie. With about eight minutes left in the game, Belisle would score again, assisted by Ben Wiggins ’14, to put Middlebury in front.

Hamilton went on the power play and threatened to tie the game once more, but Moorfield-Yee made a bogglingly quick snatch with the left hand and the arena sighed in collective relief.

After Hamilton committed two penalties off their own, Barr came charging through its zone, clapping a low shot of the goalie’s pads and clinically finishing on his own rebound. Longo would put a satisfying cap on senior night and the finally fruitful season by sliding the fifth goal into Hamilton’s empty net.

“This weekend we played like we were fighting for something. It is nice to see us finally coming together,” Dobrowski said. “We hope that it will translate into more good games in the playoffs.”

The upcoming matchup against Bowdoin this Saturday promises to be a real barnburner. Both of the Panthers’ games against Bowdoin this season have gone into overtime, with thirteen goals being scored between the two teams. Bowdoin is 4-4 since beating Middlebury on Friday, Jan. 24, and the Panthers are now riding a three-game win streak into the matchup.

This year’s team has played significantly better at home than on the road, so Middlebury fans should not underestimate the impact of a well-versed cheer to move the Panthers into the NESCAC semifinal.