Panthers Riding Biggest Win of Season into NESCACs

Author: Andreas Apostolatos

With the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) regular season title already clinched, the Middlebury men's hockey team traveled to Norwich and St. Michael's during the weekend of Feb. 21 to 23 to close out the season with two non-league games. While the games played no part in determining Middlebury's NESCAC playoff picture, they were crucial in terms of the Panthers' overall NCAA Division III placement. A 3-2 overtime victory over Norwich placed Middlebury into second place in Division III play, according to the latest United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll.
Going into the Friday night nail-biter in Norwich, the Panthers were undoubtedly fueled by memories of their recent experience playing the Cadets. Middlebury (19-3-2 overall) has lost a total of only five games in the past two seasons, three of which have been at the hands of Norwich. Earlier this season, the Panthers faced the Cadets in the first round of the Primelink Great Northern Shootout during the weekend of Nov. 29, 2002. While Middlebury seemed positioned to pull out the win with a 4-3 lead in the middle of the third period, Norwich ended up with a 5-4 triumph.
In Friday's game the circumstances were reversed: Middlebury was the team that pulled out the win during crunch time. With both teams in a 2-2 deadlock after regulation, Kevin Cooper '04 managed his second goal of the contest just 41 seconds into the extra period to give the Panthers the overtime victory.
Middlebury struck first with two goals in the first period. Cooper scored his first goal off assists by Tim Schneider '06 and Andrew Helming '04 three minutes into the game. Defenseman Scott Ward '05 then added to the lead with a crucial goal just 10 seconds before the first period horn.
In the second period Norwich kept the Panthers scoreless while equalizing the score with two goals of their own. Both teams then remained without a goal until Cooper's game winner in overtime.
"We were happy to get the win at Norwich," said Captain Rob Chisholm '03 after the game. "It was good for us to play in that kind of environment to get us used to what we're going to see throughout playoffs. However, we felt that we did not play particularly well for the first two periods and were lucky to get the win. Yen-I was really the difference in the game. He made some huge saves and gave us a chance to win the game."
The Panthers were caught off guard the following day in a 4-4 tie with St. Michaels. The Purple Knights, a team that came into the contest with a meager 9-13-2 record, scored two goals early in the third period to erase its two-goal deficit and level the score at 4-4. Both teams remained scoreless thereafter, and the Panthers returned to Middlebury wondering how they let the game slip away.
Despite the tie, Middlebury concludes the regular season with an astonishing 18-game undefeated streak, a run that can only bode well for the Panthers as they enter postseason play. Middlebury will face eighth-place Tufts in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs this Friday at Kenyon Arena.
"We need to refocus for the playoff," Chisholm asserted. "Since playoffs are a one-game elimination format we have almost no room for error. We need to head into next weekend playing our best hockey and feeling confident in ourselves. As far as we're concerned, the regular season is over and everyone is on equal footing now. We can not afford to take a day off."