NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's hockey team scored four goals in the second period and held off a late push from Williams to earn a 4-3 win on Friday night from Dayton Arena.
Williams started strong, recording the first three shots of the game inside the opening two minutes, but Will McEvoy (Ottawa, Ontario) was sharp early. However, at 7:36, the Ephs opened the scoring as a loose puck bounced to David Vieten who fired home to make it 1-0. Conn grew into the remainder of the period, but still trailed 1-0 after one.
The Camels came to life in the middle frame, tying the game just 3:53 into the period. Quinn Kennedy (Silver Spring, Md.) found Jimmy Lyver (North Grafton, Mass.) in front who quickly fired home to make it 1-1. Two and a half minutes later, Conn jumped in front on a power play goal. Matt Lewis (Pembroke, Mass.) fed a pass to Pete Stanger (Bathurst, New Brunswick) at the point who fired towards goal, where Arty Mirante (Garden City, N.Y.) redirected the shot to make it 2-1.
42 seconds later, the Camels extended the lead as Will Lawrence (Bethesda, Md.) went coast-to-coast to score short-handed and make it 3-1. With two and a half minutes left in the period, Williams converted with a power play goal from Jack Kennedy to cut the lead to 3-2. However, with just a minute left Max Treppo (Shaker Heights, Ohio) buried a rebound to put Conn in front 4-2 heading to the third.
The Ephs upped the pressure in the final period looking to cut into the deficit, but McEvoy and the Camels defense held strong. With just over three and a half minutes left, Connor Berg got a breakaway and scored to make it 4-3. Williams pulled the goalie with a minute and half remaining for the extra skater, but McEvoy shut the door, as Conn earned the 4-3 win.
Williams outshot Conn 31-27, while the Camels held a 41-33 advantage on face-off wins.
McEvoy picked up the win in goal, finishing with 28 saves. Stanger paced the Camels with two points on two assists, as Lawrence, Lyver, Mirante, and Treppo each tallied one goal, and Kennedy, Lewis, and Rocco Testa-Basi (Ottawa, Ontario) all chipping in one assist. Mirante led the way with 11 face-off wins as Conn went 1-2 on the power play and 6-7 on the penalty kill, adding a short-handed goal.
Harrison Fogel got the start in net, recording 23 saves. Berg led Williams with two points on a goal and an assist, as seven other Ephs recorded one point. Williams finished 1-7 on the power play and 1-2 on the penalty kill.
Conn (8-8-1, 4-6-1 NESCAC) wraps up the weekend tomorrow afternoon as the Camels host Middlebury at 3:00 p.m. in Dayton Arena.
