By Johnny Alexandre '22

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In a game that came down to the final moments, the Connecticut College men's ice hockey team held on for a 3-2 victory over SUNY Brockport in the opening round of the Skidmore Thanksgiving Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Seth Stadheim (Lyme, N.H.) netted two goals and a total of four Camel skaters registered two points apiece in the tight victory.
 
The crisp Camel passing set up several quality scoring chances early on. Then at the 15:01 mark in the first period, Stadheim shot a pass from teammate Anthony Quatieri (Peabody, Mass.) into the top right corner of the net, giving Connecticut College the 1-0 lead. Senior goaltender Michael McHale (Needham, Mass) stopped all 15 first-period Brockport shots he faced. 
 
Early into the second period, Quatieri escaped a forecheck, puck handling behind the Brockport net, and found his linemate Paul Capozzi (Lake Forest, Ill.) by the opposite faceoff circle. Capozzi was able to take advantage of the favorable angle and find the back of the net for the 2-0 Camel lead. 
 
Later in the second period, while on the power play, senior captain Kyle Shero (Westwood, Mass) passed to an open Stadheim by the left faceoff circle. Stadheim, an excellent skater, walked it in towards the net and fired, nailing the puck home off the far post for the 3-0 lead. 
 
The second period, however, wouldn't end before Brockport (5-3) hammered home a rebound off a McHale save to make the score 3-1 
 
With four minutes to play in regulation, and the second of two Camel penalties expiring, and McHale's vision blocked by screens, Brockport was able to find the back of the Camel net to tighten the score at 3-2. However, McHale and the Camel defense stood tall for the remainder of the game to allow the team to escape with the one-goal victory despite being outshot by a 44-20 margin.
 
McHale was the winning goalie for Connecticut College by making an outstanding 42 saves in the winning effort, while Brockport's Aidan Curry stopped 17 shots he faced. 
 
Connecticut College (1-2) will next face off against host Skidmore in the championship match of the weekend tournament tomorrow at 4 p.m.