WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Connecticut College men's hockey team hit the road for the first time, falling to host Williams 5-3 on Friday night from Lansing Chapman Rink.
The opening period was high flying as the Camels opened the scoring just 1:41 into the game. Ryan McKenna (Garden City, N.Y.) recorded his first career goal as Logan Cleary (Mentor, Ohio) and Kareem Alazem (McLean, Va.) picked up the assists. Williams answered back just a minute and a half later, as Brady Welsch got the Ephs on the board.
The tie was short-lived as just 52 seconds later, Alazem and Pete Stanger (Bathurst, N.B.) teamed up to find Wade Volo (North Conway, N.H.) who fired home to make it 2-1 Conn. The scoring slowed down, but Williams answered again at 11:53 on Welsch's second goal to tie the game at two after one.
The early scoring continued into the second period as Welsch scored his third goal at 3:15 to make it 3-2. Williams extended the lead four minutes later on a marker from Logan Valkama. Conn slowly climbed back into the contest as Will Lawrence found the back of the net off assists from Steve Ardagna (Roswell, Ga.) and Matt Lewis (Pembroke, Mass.) to cut the deficit to 4-3 heading to the third.
The Camels had an early chance to even the score, earning a power play just two and a half minutes into the final frame. However, Conn was unable to capitalize on the man advantage, as Williams remained in front. The Camels continued to push, looking for the equalizer, but with six and a half minutes remaining, Conner Fitzpatrick added an insurance marker for the Ephs. Conn pulled the goalie with 2:15 remaining, but were unable to get any closer, falling 5-3.
Conn outshot Williams 35-29, while the Ephs won 36 of 64 face-offs.
Will McEvoy (Ottawa, Ontario) got the start in goal, finishing with 24 saves. Alazem paced the Camels with two assists, while Lawrence, McKenna, and Volo all tallied one goal, with Ardagna, Cleary, Lewis, and Stanger each chipping in one assist. Lewis led the way winning 10 face-offs, while Reid Shaffer (Coppell, Texas) had four blocked shots. Conn went 1-2 on the power play and 2-2 on the penalty kill.
Kael DePape got the win in net, making 32 saves. Welsch led the way with three goals, while Bobby Corkery added two assists, and six other Ephs chipped in one point. Williams went 0-2 on the power play and 1-2 on the penalty kill.
Conn (1-2, 1-2 NESCAC) wraps up the weekend road trip tomorrow afternoon as the Camels take on Middlebury at 3:00 p.m. in Middlebury, Vt.
