MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The seventh-ranked Trinity College Men's Hockey team defeated host Middlebury College, 3-2, in overtime, during a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) clash at Kenyon Arena Saturday afternoon. The Bantams improve to 16-3-1 overall and 12-1-1 in conference action, while the Panthers drop to 4-7-3 in the NESCAC and 6-10-4 on the season.
With just over seven minutes to play in the first period, the Bantams broke a scoreless tie as junior Eamon Doheny battled to get a puck out of the Trinity zone and found senior Christian Hayes in the neutral zone. Hayes skated the puck into the Panthers zone and found junior Alexander Mozian at the far post. Mozian snuck a low shot past the outstretched leg of Middlebury goaltender Jake Horoho to give the Bantams a 1-0 lead.
After the Panthers evened the score at 1-1 following a power play goal, the Bantams took back the lead on a power play opportunity of their own. With 11:14 to play and a man advantage, senior Devan Tongue played a puck from the goal line back to the point for Doheny. Doheny tried to wrist a shot through an open lane, but his attempt slid off his stick and the loose puck trickled to first-year James Barbour, who sniped a shot into an open net, putting the Bantams on top 2-1.
In the final seconds of the third period, the Panthers pulled their goal for a man advantage and capitalized on the opportunity as Andrej Hromic found the back of the net with less than 14 seconds to play, forcing overtime.
The Bantams wasted little time in the 3-on-3 overtime period as senior Kyle Tomaso went coast-to-coast, took an angled approach at the net, and ripped a shot past Horoko to send Trinity to the 3-2 overtime victory.
The Bantams outshot the Panthers, 35-28, while Middlebury won the faceoff battle, 40-24. Trinity sophomore Devon Bobak made 24 saves, while Horoko stopped a game-high 32 shots for the Panthers.
Trinity returns to the ice when they host Colby College in NESCAC action Friday night. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
TRINITY ATHLETICS
