Brunswick, Me. -  Junior Ken Suchoski (Bear Creek Township, Penn.) tallied a goal and an assist and sophomore goaltender John Yanchek (Hillsborough, N.J.) made 26 saves to lead the No. 2-seeded Middlebury College Panthers to a 4-2 win over the No. 5-seeded Trinity College Bantams in the semifinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championship Tournament this afternoon at Watson Arena.  Trinity finishes their season with a 15-9-2 record and league mark of 11-7-2.  Middlebury moves to 18-4-4 (13-3-4 NESCAC) and earns a ticket to the Championship Final tomorrow at 2 p.m. against the No. 1-seeded Bowdoin College Polar Bears on Bowdoin's home ice.

Middlebury put the Bantams in an early hole, 7:33 into the match, on a goal by junior Ken Suchoski (Bear Creek Township, Penn.), assisted by junior Bryan Curran (Wilmette, Ill.) and senior tri-captain Charlie Townsend (Pennington, N.J.).   

Middlebury opened the second period in similar fashion, as sophomore Martin Drolet (Lachine, Quebec) found the back of the net on a breakaway, assisted by classmate Jak Knelman (Edina, Minn.).  Minutes later, Middlebury would add to their lead with the eventual game-winner, courtesy of freshman Mathieu Dubuc (Blainville, Quebec), assisted by sophomore Charlie Strauss (Easgel River, Wisc.).  The Panthers would add a third goal in the second period, coming off the stick of senior John Sullivan (Delmar, N.Y.), assisted by freshman Tom Clayton (New Canaan, Conn.) and Suchoski, giving the Panthers a 4-0 lead.

Trinity would keep their chances alive with a third period goal 6:10 into the third period, scored by junior Adam Houli (Howell, N.J.), assisted by senior co-captain Richard Hollstein (Pembroke, Mass.).  Down 4-1 with just over ten minutes remaining, Houli nearly added his second goal of the afternoon, but Yanchek would come up with a big stop, leaving Trinity battling the clock.  With 3:31 remaining in the game, Trinity freshman Jeffery Menard (Burlington, Mass.) would cut the Middlebury lead to two with a goal assisted by sophomore Joseph Tierney (Reading, Mass.).  The only roadblock to Trinity's momentum was time, as the clock expired with the Panthers on top 4-2, sending Middlebury to their eleventh straight NESCAC Championship Final. 

Trinity junior goaltender Wesley Vesprini (Lexington, Mass.) finished the game with 36 stops for the Bantams.  Middlebury outshot Trinity 40-28.  Trinity ends their season in the semifinal round for the second consecutive year, having made semifinal appearances in eight of the last nine seasons.  Trinity had tied Middlebury 2-2 in overtime earlier this season and topped Middlebury 3-2 in double overtime for the league crown in 2008. 

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