HARTFORD, Conn. – The #15 Trinity College Men's Hockey team used a five-goal third period to surge past visiting Williams College, 7-1, in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) clash at the Koeppel Community Sports Center Friday night. The Bantams move to 9-2 on the season and 5-0 in the NESCAC, while the Ephs hold a 1-6 mark in conference and a 2-9 record overall.
With less than a minute to play in the first period, Trinity senior Devan Tongue battled to keep a puck in the Williams zone, allowing junior Ricky Boysen to work the puck senior Ned Blanchard, who went back-and-forth with first year James Barbour at the point. Blanchard delivered a pass across the mouth of the goal to the far post, where Boysen tucked a shot past Williams junior goaltender Cal Sandquist, to hand the Bantams a 1-0 lead after the first period.
Just over ten minutes into the second period, the Bantams added to their advantage as senior John Campomenosi fought for a puck in the corner of the Ephs zone. The loose puck trickled up the boards to Boysen, who threaded a pass between a pair of Williams defenders to the stick of senior Christian Hayes, who lifted a backhand over the shoulder of Sandquist, making it a 2-0 game.
Less than three minutes later, Ephs senior defensemen Ben Lawrick found sophomore Trevor O'Brien at center ice, who skated into the Bantams zone and dropped a pass for classmate Ziv Deener-Chodiker, who wristed a shot past Trinity sophomore goalie Devon Bobak, to trim the deficit to 2-1.
The Bantams seized control in the third period, scoring five goals during the stanza. With 13:49 remaining, senior Devon Tongue pursued a puck behind the Ephs net and swiped it from a defender in the corner. Tongue delivered a pass to the front of the net, where first year Jame Barbour raised a shot over the glove of Sandquist to make it a 3-1 game.
Fifteen seconds later, junior Nicholas Siffringer intercepted a pass from behind the Williams net and sniped a shot to the back of the goal to set the score at 4-1. At the 12:07 mark, junior Eamon Doheny chipped the puck up the boards into the Williams zone, where senior Casey Rhodes played the puck to the front of the goal and first year Connor Sedlak delivered the finish to extend the Bantams lead to 6-1.
Trinity added a final goal as Haynes netted his second goal of the day with five minutes left to send the Bantams to the 7-1 victory.
"I didn't feel like it was a 7-1 game," said Trinity Head Coach Matthew Greason. "I feel like we got a like loose at times, they outworked us at times, but I'm proud of the guys for finding a way. The positive from tonight is that if you look our goals, they all came right at the top of the crease, going to the hard areas, and really dominating there in the third period. We have a lot of stuff to work on. We got a little disconnected and away from who we are but when you win a NESCAC game 7-1, there's not too much to complain about. Tomorrow, we need to be a little crisper, a little quicker in the box, a little quicker to make decisions. Middlebury is sneaky good, they're fast, their first line is explosive and Jin Lee is one of the best players in the conference, so we'll have our work cut out for us."
The Bantams outshot the Ephs, 40-23, and edged Williams in the faceoff circle, 32-28, during the contest. Bobak made 20 saves, while first year Michael Salvatore made his collegiate debut with two saves in relief of Bobak. Sandquist gave up six goals with 27 saves, while first year Harrison Fogel allowed one goal on seven shots for the Ephs.
Trinity will look to remain in the win column when they return to the ice to face Middlebury College Saturday afternoon. Puck drops at 4:00 p.m.
TRINITY ATHLETICS
