Frozen four - here we come Midd wrecks Curry in 6-0 quarterfinal win

Author: Jason Lockhart

In what was touted to be a back and forth game between two highly skilled and fast men's hockey teams, there was no disappointment, as Middlebury and Curry combined for 73 shots. However, Curry was unable to keep pace with the speed and skill of Middlebury as the Panthers cruised to a 6-0 win backed by Ross Cherry's '08 shutout and a three goal outburst in the second period.

After fighting their way to get into the NCAA Tournament by taking out Colby and Bowdoin in the NESCAC tournament, Middlebury earned a berth into the NCAA Semifinals, and the right to host the NCAA Division III Championship for the fourth time in 11 years.

In their run of 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the Panthers have advanced to the semifinals in nine of the 11 years, losing only to Plattsburgh in the quarterfinals in 2000 and 2001.

Middlebury has faced the ECAC Northeast Champion three out of the last four seasons in the NCAA Quarterfinals, twice defeating Wentworth in that span, in 2002 and 2004.

The Panthers almost repeated last year's performance in the NCAA quarterfinals when Evgeny Saidachev '07 buried one past Wentworth just 45 seconds into the game. This year Mickey Gilchrist '08 streaked in with linemate Justin Gaines '08 and fired one past Curry goaltender Lenny Mosca just seconds into the game. However, Gaines was called for a crease violation only moments before Gilchrist shot the puck.

"Right from the start I thought we moved the puck well, made good decisions and played with a lot of energy and emotion," reflected Middlebury Head Coach Bill Beaney. The goals would come eventually though, and in bunches.

The Panthers opened the scoring as Tim Graham '05 forechecked hard to free the puck in the offensive zone. Jocko DeCarolis '07 picked the puck up, drove to the net and put one past Mosca on his backhand with 8:23 remaining in the first period.

After being frustrated by unlucky bounces and desperatation plays by Curry defenders, the Panthers found their stride in the second period.

Shady Young '06 drew the puck back off a face-off in the offensive zone. Rob MacIntyre '08 then threw the puck towards the net, and Eric LaFreniere '07, who was streaking towards the net was able to deflect it between the pads of Mosca, to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead with 8:09 remaining in the second period.

From there, special teams took over, as Curry came into the game as the most penalized team in the nation and did not disappoint, giving the Panthers 13 power play opportunities on the evening. Middlebury entered the game as the sixth least penalized team, but still committed eight infractions during the game.

As Rob Sequeira was off for two minutes for a contact to the head penalty, the Panthers finally scored on their seventh power play advantage. Brett Shirreffs '07 fired a shot from the point that was deflected in front by a Curry skater before going just under the crossbar for a Panthers 3-0 lead with 7:14 left.

Middlebury's power play advantage was not done, however, as Nathaniel Robie was called for a high-sticking penalty immediately following Shirreffs' goal. This time Saidachev, from behind the net, found Doria streaking into the slot and fed him for a pass. Doria found an opening high over the blocker side of Mosca to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead with 6:16 remaining in the second period.

After MacIntyre missed a golden opportunity in the first period to score on a breakaway, he got a second chance in the third period. MacIntyre rushed in all alone, deked to the forehand and then backhanded one past first-year goaltender Michael Ronan as the Panthers went up 5-0. Ronan replaced Mosca at the beginning of the third period

Middlebury put the icing on the cake as Curry was on its eighth power play of the game. Ronan came way out of his net to play the puck away from Driver, but Gaines intercepted the pass. Gaines lost the puck in his skates, but Driver picked it up and buried it past a couple sliding Curry defenders to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead with 3:54 remaining in the third period.

The Panthers will now move on to face New England College, who upset the No. 1 east seed Manhattanville.

Curry, however, could not muster many opportunities. Their best chance came as Sam Driver '08 fell down in the first period as Bret Adams came streaking down the left-wing side. Adams made a move on goal, but Cherry aggressively came out of his net and poked the puck away. It was one of very few odd-man rushes that the nation's second leading defense gave up the entire game.

"It's always nice to get a shutout, but the big story was our guys getting six goals, to make it a lot easier on me," said Cherry who earned his second shutout of the season. "It's a lot less pressure when it's a four or five nothing game compared to one nothing."

One of the biggest disappointments of the game for Curry had to be their captain Brian Doherty. He came into the game third in the nation in points, but was a non-factor in this game, only generating a few chances on the power play.

Cherry attributes the win to the intensity of his teammates, stating "These guys are playing hard every night. We win games because these guys play hard, going down to block shots and winning battles."

Middlebury will host the NCAA Championship for the second time at the Chip Kenyon '85 Arena. Beaney admitted that, "People on the outside might think it's an advantage to host, but there's lot of extra pressure that goes on with hosting. We're hopefully going to be able to deal with those distractions and continue to play at the level we've been playing at over the last three weeks."