New London, Conn. - T.J. Sherman (Chesterfield, Mo.) sent the Trinity College men's hockey team home happy as he scored the game-winning goal just 2:42 into overtime against the Connecticut College Camels on Saturday afternoon. The win is Trinity's fifth in a row as they improve to 12-3-1 overall and 8-2 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) while the Camels fall to 3-11-2 on the season and 0-8-2 in league play.
Trinity struck first with 5:31 remaining in the first period when junior forward Ethan Holdaway (Glastonbury, Conn.) potted his team-high ninth goal of the season on assists from juniors Sean Orlando (Ivyland, Pa.) and Sam Johnson (Dallas, Texas). Connecticut College evened the score a little over eight minutes into the second period via a short-handed goal from freshman Jon Paris (Hailey, Idaho). Less than two minutes later however, the Bantams reclaimed the lead thanks to sophomore Tyler Whitney's (Wakefield, Mass.) second goal of the season. After roughing penalties by both teams late in the second period, Camel senior Tim DiPretoro (Philadelphia, Pa.) netted a 5-on-5 goal to tie the score at two as the game entered the second intermission.
The Bantams took a 3-2 lead less than four minutes into the final period of play when senior Ben Hjalmarsson (Stockholm, Sweden) put the puck past Connecticut College goalie Tom Conlin (Norwood, Mass.) however the Camels did not go quietly. With under ten minutes to play, Pretoro scored his second goal of the game to knot the game at three goals each, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Trinity was called for a hooking penalty less than a minute into the extra session, forcing the team to play a man down for two minutes. That did not matter as Sherman got a pass from Orlando and beat Conlin to lift Trinity to victory on this snowy afternoon.
Conlin finished with 25 saves on the day while Bantam goalie sophomore Alex Morin (St. Hubert, Quebec) finished with 24 saves. Trinity returns to the ice next Saturday, January 30, when they travel to Hamilton College to take on the Continentals at 7:30 p.m.
