Courtesy of Middlebury Sports Information
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The third-ranked Amherst men's hockey team netted a pair of third period goals to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win over Middlebury in its regular season finale.
Amherst, now 20-3-1 overall and 17-1-0 in NESCAC play, will enter the upcoming conference championship as the top seed, playing host to eighth-seeded Hamilton on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Panthers (12-9-3, 11-6-1) have locked up the third seed in the league tournament and will host Wesleyan in a quarterfinal game next weekend.
Hoping to get off to a fast start, Middlebury generated some quality chances midway through the opening period, but Amherst goaltender Jonathan La Rose '12 (Boyle, Alberta) initially turned away a shot from Michael Longo '14 before making a big save on the follow up attempt by Thomas Freyre '14.
Middlebury's Charlie Strauss '12 later tested La Rose with a wrist shot from the left wing at 13:00, before Dan Fullam '15 came up big on Amherst sophomore Erik Hansen's (Deephaven, Minn.) breakaway chance as the period ended with the Panthers holding an 11-4 shots advantage.
Looking to set the tone in the middle period, Middlebury jumped on the board just 3:05 into the frame when Trevor Pollock '13 scored his fourth of the season with a power play goal from the right point. With the Panthers continuing to pepper the Amherst net, Freyre nearly netted his second of the contest after a scramble at the 11:05 mark, before junior Chris Brown's blast from the right point was denied by LaRose. Brown had another great chance with 2:55 to go, driving to the goal from the left side, but La Rose would smother the first shot and the rebound to keep the Jeffs within one.
Trying to regain the momentum, Amherst came out charging in the third period, holding a 9-0 shots advantage in the first 10 minutes of play. Continuing to go on the offensive, the Lord Jeffs took advantage of their 10th shot, tying the game at 1-1 when Mike Rowbotham '15 (Stittsville, Ontartio) spun away from a defender behind the net before banking a shot in off Fullam from behind the goal line.
The Panthers had a chance to regain the lead on a power play at the 12:44 mark, but instead gave up a shorthanded tally at the tail-end of the man-up advantage, when Andrew Kurlandski '14 (Kirkwood, Mo.) skated up the right wing and cut to the cage before lifting a shot into the top left corner for a breakaway goal.
Wanting to get an extra skater on the ice, Middlebury pulled Fullam at the 18:40 mark, with Charles Nerbak '12 getting a good look from the point, but a nice glove save from LaRose helped preserve the lead.
The Panthers got one final chance on six-on-four power play with just 30.7 seconds remaining, but the game ended with a scramble in the crease after La Rose covered up a Longo shot as time expired.
Amherst held an 11-3 shot advantage in the third period, with Middlebury outshooting the Jeffs 31-21 in the game. Fullam finished with 19 saves, while La Rose made 30 stops to improve to 15-1-1. The Jeffs finished 0-for-2 on the power play, while holding Middlebury to a 1-for-6 clip with the man-up advantage.
