Hamilton College’s Will Driscoll '15 tallied 15 saves and the Continentals upset nationally ranked No. 14 Connecticut College 5-4 in a NESCAC game at Hamilton’s Steuben Field on April 13.
The Continentals (6-5 overall, 3-5 NESCAC) held on to that slim lead the entire fourth quarter. Conn. College had three great looks at a scoring opportunity in the final 45 seconds, but Driscoll made two saves and the other shot hit the post. Hamilton was whistled for a delay of game penalty with 27.4 seconds remaining, which gave the Camels an extra-man opportunity. But after one last save by Driscoll, the Continentals ran out the clock.
Conn. College (8-3, 5-2) had won six games in a row entering today’s contest. Hamilton has won two of the three all-time meetings with the Camels, and the Continentals are 2-1 this year against ranked opponents.
Connor Morgan '15 posted two goals and Bryan Hopper '14 finished with one goal and two assists for the Continentals. Pax Anthos '14 added one goal and one assist. Nate Menninger '16 chipped in one goal and a game-high seven ground balls. Luke Walsh '13 and Matt Hill '13 recorded one assist apiece. Menninger won four faceoffs and Anthos was a perfect 2-for-2. Ed Reed '13 and Dylan Lahey '15 caused four turnovers apiece.
Chad Sawyer '15 scored three goals and Thomas Woessner '14 had the other one for Conn. College. Andrew Freedman '13 dished out one helper. Bobby Bleistein '16 made 10 saves and tied for the team lead with four ground balls. Jack Griffin '14 also scooped up four ground balls and Brogan O’Connor '13 caused five turnovers.
The Camels raced out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals less than two minutes into the first quarter. Freedman found Sawyer just 47 seconds in, and Sawyer added an unassisted tally 64 seconds later.
Hamilton responded with two goals 14 seconds apart that tied the score. Anthos scored from Hopper and cut the deficit in half. Menninger won the ensuing faceoff, Hill picked up the ground ball and passed it back to Menninger for the equalizer with 8:47 left in the first.
The teams traded goals in the final minute of the first. Woessner scored an unassisted goal with 59.8 seconds to go, and Hopper received a pass from Anthos and sent a shot by Bleistein with 15.8 seconds remaining. The score was tied 3-3 after one quarter.
With the score still tied late in the second, Morgan scored the first of his two goals on a pass from Walsh with 1:45 left in the half. The Continentals owned a 4-3 advantage at the break.
In the third quarter, Morgan picked up right where he left off in the second. His 10th goal this year off a feed from Hopper was the eventual game-winner 2:55 into the third. Sawyer completed his hat trick and rounded out the scoring on his 24th goal with 4:10 left to go in the third.
In the final quarter, Driscoll made five saves and the Camels hit the post twice. Conn. College held slight advantages in shots (30-22), ground balls (28-25) and faceoffs (7-6).
Hamilton stopped the Camels on all six of their man-up opportunities. The Continentals entered the week ranked seventh in Division III in man-down defense at 87.1 percent.
Hamilton wraps up its home slate with another NESCAC game against Williams College on Tuesday, April 16. The Camels stay on the road in NESCAC play at Amherst College on Tuesday.
