Middlebury College's Matt Silcoff '16 posted two goals and an assist and the Panthers defeated Hamilton College 6-1 in a NESCAC game at Hamilton's Russell Sage Rink on Feb. 15.
Middlebury (12-9-2 overall, 11-4-2 NESCAC) led 4-0 before the midway point of the first period. The Panthers have won six of their last seven games. Middlebury is tied for third place with Williams College in the NESCAC standings with one game left in the regular season.
Silcoff leads all NESCAC rookies with 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists). Evan Neugold '16 chipped in one goal and two assists. Robbie Dobrowski '15 added one goal and one assist, and Connor Frick '16 and Ben Wiggins '14 scored one goal apiece. Tom Freyre '14, Louis Belisle '14, Ronald Fishman '16 and Brendan McGovern '16 were credited with one assist each. Mike Peters '15 stopped 20 shots in his second start in goal this season.
Brian Ferrell '16 notched the goal for the Continentals (6-14-3, 4-11-2). Patrick Sen '15 and Tyler Lovejoy '16 had the assists, and Joe Quattrocchi '14 stopped 25 shots.
Middlebury grabbed a 1-0 lead 1:04 into the first period. Terrance Goguen '16 took a shot from the left circle that was deflected by a defender to Neugold, who kicked the puck out to Fishman at the top of the right faceoff circle. Fishman smacked a shot that was stopped but not controlled by Quattrocchi. The rebound went to Silcoff and his initial shot was denied, but the puck came right back to him and he flicked it in.
Just 21 seconds later, Wiggins added his sixth goal. A shot by Freyre missed the net to the left and caromed to Wiggins, who skated to the right post and tapped the puck in for a 2-0 lead. McGovern was also credited with an assist.
The Panthers made it 3-0 at 8:31 of the first during a 4-on-4 situation. Frick received a pass from Dobrowski at the top of the right faceoff circle and his slap shot beat Quattrocchi top shelf for his second goal this season. The visitors tacked on their fourth goal 52 seconds later on the power play. Neugold dumped a pass behind to Silcoff, and he skated across the front of the crease and scored on the backhand.
Hamilton got one back with 59.3 seconds left in the opening frame. Lovejoy hammered a slap shot from just inside the blue line near the right-hand boards, and Sen redirected the puck to Ferrell for his second goal this season. Middlebury led 4-1 at the first intermission.
The Panthers went up 5-1 at 5:12 of the second period on another power-play goal. Silcoff skated across the center of the offensive zone and dropped the puck back to Neugold for a one-timer near the right faceoff circle. Neugold has seven goals this season.
Both teams had shots ring off the post later in the second. A shot by Hamilton's Dom Jancaterino '14 hit the post seven minutes in, and Neugold hit the left post from the right faceoff circle with five minutes left in the period.
Dobrowski;s fourth goal rounded out the scoring with 8:39 left in the third period. Belisle took a shot from the left side that was turned away, but Dobrowski gathered the rebound and deposited the puck into the back of the goal.
Hamilton lost for the sixth time in the last seven games. The Continentals are tied for seventh place with Colby College in the conference standings with one game remaining. The top eight teams make the NESCAC championship, which begins on Saturday, Feb. 23.
Middlebury held a 31-21 shot advantage, and was 2-for-4 on the power play. The Panthers are ranked second in the NESCAC on the power play at 26.5 percent. Hamilton was held scoreless on its five opportunities. Middlebury leads the all-time series 84-31-3, including a 5-4 overtime win at home back on Dec. 7.
The Continentals host nationally ranked No. 11 Williams in the regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 16. The Panthers travel to No. 10 Amherst College in conference action on Saturday.
