The Hamilton College men’s hockey team scored a pair of goals in less than two minutes after host Middlebury College took a 3-0 lead but the Panthers scored the final three goals to post a 6-2 NESCAC win at Kenyon Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Box score
The Continentals are 3-3-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the NESCAC. Middlebury improves to 2-4-2 with a 2-2-2 NESCAC mark.
Scott Vazquez ’16 and Robbie Murden ’17 scored in a span of 1:42 that bridged the first and second periods to pull Hamilton to within 3-2. Middlebury, which scored three times in the first 13 minutes, followed Murden’s goal with three more to seal the win.
Middlebury took a 1-0 lead 5:10 into the game with a short-handed goal. A shot by George Ordway ’15 was saved by Hamilton goaltender Charlie Fennell ’17 before Paul Falvey ’16 scored his first career goal on the rebound. Fennell finished with 18 saves.
The Continentals nearly tied the game following the ensuing faceoff, but a shot by Tyler Bruneteau ’18 hit the pipe. The Panthers had another great short-handed opportunity on the other end of the ice, but the puck was cleared after a scramble in the crease.
The Panther lead doubled at 9:34 when Vincent Gisonti ’18 snapped a shot home from the left faceoff circle after a feed from Evan Neugold ’16.
Middlebury took a 3-0 advantage with a power-play goal at the 12:36 mark. Max Greenwald ’16 centered the puck from the left side before Jake Charles ’16 redirected it into the back of net.
Hamilton got on the board late in the period when Vazquez wristed a shot into the top left corner of the net from the high slot with eight seconds remaining. The Continentals made it a one-goal game when Kenny Matheson ’16 fed Murden for a slap shot on the power play.
Middlebury regained a two-goal cushion at 8:49 when Neugold picked off a pass and found Mike Najjar ’17, who scored with a wrist shot to the top left corner of the net.
Ronald Fishman ’16 intercepted a pass and quickly found Ordway for a goal that gave Middlebury a 5-2 lead 2:54 into the third period. The final goal came on a 4-on-3 power play at 6:57. Derek Pimentel ’15 centered a pass to Charles, who scored on a one-timer. Stephen Klein ’18 made 23 saves to earn his first collegiate win.
Hamilton closes out the first semester portion of its schedule on Friday, Dec. 12, hosting SUNY Cortland at 7 p.m. The Panthers are idle until Jan. 2 and 3 when they host the New Years College Hockey Classic in Lake Placid, N.Y.
