Hartford, Conn. - Three second period goals made the difference in a dominant, 5-2, win by the Trinity College men's hockey team over the visiting Middlebury Panthers on Saturday afternoon at the Koeppel Center in snowy Hartford. The win is Trinity's fourth straight after a 3-0 victory yesterday against Williams, as they improve to 8-3-1 overall and 4-2 in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play. Middlebury falls to 0-12-1 on the year as the Panthers remain winless at the season's halfway mark. 

Senior captain Sean Orlando (Ivyland, Pa.) kicked off the afternoon's scoring just five minutes into the first period when he picked off an errant Panther pass near Middlebury's blue line, deked Panther goalie Stephen Klein (Saskatoon, Sask.) and fired a wrist-shot into the back of the net to put Trinity up, 1-0 early. After 12 minutes without a score, Middlebury struck when first-year Trevor Turnbull (Hartsdale, N.Y.) sent a shot towards net that re-directed off the stick of classmate Mitchell Allen (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and waffled over the outstretched blocker of Trinity junior goalie Alex Morin (St. Hubert, Quebec) and into net. 

The Bantams broke the game open in the second period, ignited by junior forward Anthony Sabitsky's (Sicklerville, N.J.) third goal this weekend. After a Middlebury hooking penalty, junior Tyler Whitney (Wakefield, Mass.) fed Orlando in the slot who slipped a pass across the front of the net to Sabitsky who knocked it in on the one-timer. Orlando assisted senior Ryan Cole (Anchorage, Ak.) with 10:39 to go in the second period for his second assist on the afternoon before senior Brandon Cole (Anchorage, Ak.) opened up a 4-1 lead with a goal via helpers from Sabitsky and rookie Andy Chugg (Mesa, Ariz.). 

5:39 into the final period brought Trinity's fifth and final goal when Charlie Zuccarini (Shelton, Conn.) buried the puck into the back of the net off assists from classmate Liam Feeney (Foxboro, Mass.) and Brandon Cole. Middlebury tallied its second goal of the day with 4:16 left to play when senior captain Andrew Neary (Milton, Mass.) fed Turnbull on a 2-on-1 who beat Morin just inside the near-side post.

Trinity outshot the Panthers by a staggering 49-17 margin and converted 1-of-2 power plays on the afternoon. Morin finished the day with 15 saves while Klein tallied 44 saves. The Bantams return to action next weekend when they travel to Maine for games against Colby on Friday and Bowdoin on Saturday. Middlebury hosts Norwich University on Tuesday in their next game.