Quattrocchi '14 leads men's ice hockey to tie with No. 9 Williams

Joe Quattrocchi ’14 made a season-high 38 saves for Hamilton College and the Continentals played the nationally ranked No. 9 Williams College Ephs to a 1-1 tie in a NESCAC game at Hamilton’s Russell Sage Rink on Friday night.

Box score

The Continentals (2-3-1, 1-3-1 NESCAC), who snapped a four-game losing streak against the Ephs, had two chances at the winning goal in the waning seconds of overtime.

Williams’ Sean Dougherty ‘15, who ranks fourth nationally in goals against average and seventh in save percentage, stopped a long shot by Pat Curtis ’15 with 7 seconds left and needed to block a shot off the stick of Marko Brelih ’16 as time expired. Brelih’s shot came after Curtis won a faceoff in Williams’ zone after 1.8 seconds were put back on the clock by the officials. Dougherty finished with 25 saves, including three in overtime.

Brelih scored the Hamilton goal, breaking a scoreless tie with 5:10 left in the second period. He corralled a failed clearing attempt and sent a long shot from above the right faceoff circle through traffic and past Dougherty for his third goal (he leads the Continentals’ defensemen). It marked the first time the Ephs had trailed in 339 minutes this season.

Williams (4-0-2, 3-0-2) tied the score on a power-play goal 4:54 into the third. Craig Kitto ’15 put home a rebound 32 seconds into the Ephs’ fourth man advantage with Tyler Young ’17 and Paul Steinig ’14 picking up assists. The goal was Kitto’s team-leading fifth of the season.

Quattrocchi stopped 14 shots in the opening period as Williams outshot the Continentals 14-6 and owned a 38-26 advantage for the game.  He made nine saves during Williams' power-play attempts, including three with the score tied. Quattrocchi saved a booming slap shot by Zander Masucci ’16 that deflected over the glass and out of play in the final minute of regulation. He then thwarted George Hunkele ’17 with a skate save at the near post on Williams’ first overtime opportunity.

Both teams continue NESCAC play on Saturday as the Continentals host Middlebury College at 3 p.m. and Williams plays at No. 12 Amherst College.