NEW LONDON, Conn.– The Connecticut College men's ice hockey team fell to visiting Wesleyan University 6-3 on Saturday night from Dayton Arena. With the loss, Conn falls to 6-9-1 overall and 4-6 in conference play, while Wesleyan improves to 4-9-3 on the year and 3-6-1 in NESCAC play.
Wesleyan came out of the gates flying, opening the scoring just 1:01 into the contest. Ethan Davidson threw a pass across the goal crease where Andrew Haxton tapped it home to make it 1-0. Five and a half minutes later, the Cardinals doubled their lead on a near replica of the first goal, as Haxton once again finished off a pass from Davidson in front of goal at 6:47. Conn slowly built back into the game, getting on the board with two and a half minutes left. Devan Newhook (St. John's, Newfoundland) had his initial shot stopped, but Matt Lewis (Pembroke, Mass.) followed up to make it 2-1 after one.
The Camels had a strong start to the middle frame but were unable to even the score. At 7:44 Wesleyan pushed the lead back to two goals on a marker from Owen Sweet. However, Conn answered just 11 seconds later, as Wade Volo (North Conway, N.H.) buried a shot to make it 3-2. The Cardinals came right back, restoring the two goal advantage just two and a half minutes later as Troy Maldonado converted on the power play, as Wesleyan led 4-2 heading to the third.
Conn opened the third period, with a great chance to cut the deficit, as the Camels earned an early power play. Andrew Eberling (Mount Laurel, N.J.) found Will Lawrence (Bethesda, Md.) at the top of the circles, who fired over the blocker of Patrick McDevitt to make it 4-3 at 2:57. Conn continued to push, trying to tie the game, eventually pulling Will McEvoy (Ottawa, Ontario) for the extra skater with 1:41 to play. However, Wesleyan scored twice in the empty cage to come away with the 6-3 win.
Conn outshot Wesleyan 27-24, while winning 36 of 56 draws.
McEvoy got the start in goal, finishing with 18 saves. Lawrence, Lewis, and Volo all recorded one goal, while both Eberling and Newhook chipped in one assist. John Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) led the way in the face-off circle winning 13 draws, while Conn finished 1-4 on the power play and 1-2 on the penalty kill.
McDevitt picked up the win in goal, tallying 24 saves. Troy Maldonado paced the Cardinals with three points on one goal and two assists, while Haxton and Sweet both notched two goals. Wesleyan finished 1-2 on the power play and 3-4 on the penalty kill.
Conn heads back out on the road on Friday night, as the Camels travel to Williamstown, Mass. to take on Williams at 7:00 p.m.
