NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's ice hockey team wrapped up their season-opening three game home stand, falling to visiting Albertus Magnus College 4-2 on Sunday afternoon from Dayton Arena. With the loss, Conn falls to 0-3, while Albertus improves to 5-3 on the year.
Albertus (5-3) started quickly, firing off the first two shots of the contest, but Will McEvoy (Ottawa, Ontario) was up to the task. Conn (0-3) responded with the next four shots, but could not get past Albertus goalie Logan Bateman. The Camels thought they had opened the scoring with just under eight minutes gone in the period on a shot by Jack Luca (Milton, Mass.), however the goal was waved off, for the post being knocked off its bearing. Four minutes later the Falcons were given a power play, and on the man advantage took the lead, as Cameron Weitzman tipped home Harley Michaels shot, to make it 1-0. Four minutes later Sam Witt cleaned up a rebound in front of McEvoy to extend the Albertus lead to 2-0, which they took into the first intermission.
The teams traded opportunities throughout the first half of the period, but neither side was able to solve the other's goalie. With exactly seven minutes to play, Caden Pattison drove to the net, and the puck rolled off a Camel into the goal to extend the lead to 3-0. Just under two minutes later Zane Kindrachuk pushed the lead to 4-0 on an assist from Sam Anderson, a lead they took heading to the third period.
The Falcons started the final frame strong, but McEvoy continued his strong play, keeping Albertus at bay. With just over six minutes remaining in regulation, Michael DiMascolo (Cranston, R.I.) finally got the Camels on the board, firing a shot past Bateman on the power play, as Kareem Alazem (McLean, Va.) and Cole Eichler (King, Ontario) picked up the assists. Late in the period with time winding down, Conn picked up a second goal, as Pete Stanger's (Bathurst, New Brunswick) shot got through Bateman, where Quinn Kennedy (Silver Spring, Md.) was waiting to tap the puck into the open cage, cutting the deficit to 4-2. However, that was as close as the Camels got, falling 4-3.
Albertus outshot Conn 42-31, while the Camels held a slim edge in the face-off circle, winning 30 of 56 draws.
McEvoy was strong in goal in his collegiate debut, making 38 saves on 42 shots. Alazem led the way with two assists, while DiMascolo and Kennedy both notched a goal, while Eichler and Stanger both picked up assists. John Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) was strong in the face-off circle, winning 11 of 19 draws, with Seth Stadheim (Lyme, N.H.) winning 10 of 18, while Conn went 1-5 on the power play and 4-5 on the penalty kill.
Bateman earned the win in goal, stopping 29 of 31 shots. Three Falcons tallied two points, as Kindrachuk and Pattison both recorded a goal and an assist, as Sam Anderson notched two assists. Albertus went 1-5 on the power play and 4-5 on the penalty kill.
Conn heads out on the road for the first time, taking on Middlebury College on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in Middlebury, Vt.
