Colby College scored three goals in the third period and the Mules rallied to force a 4-4 tie with Hamilton College in a New England Small College Athletic Conference men's ice hockey game at Hamilton's Russell Sage Rink on Feb. 4.
Joe Houk '13 scored two goals for Hamilton and leads the team with 15. Thomas Williams '14 chipped in one goal and two assists, and Andrew Jelinek '13 added two assists for the Continentals.
Joe Quattrocchi '14 started in goal and made 20 saves. Cam Gibbar '13 relieved Quattrocchi at 7:52 of the third period, and stopped all eight shots he faced.
Four players scored Colby's four goals. Mike Doherty '12 was credited with three assists, and he leads the team with 17. James Lemonias '11 started in goal and made five saves in the first period. Cody McKinney '11 came in for Lemonias at the start of the second period and finished with 23 stops.
Hamilton (10-6-3 overall, 7-4-3 NESCAC) grabbed a 2-0 lead after one period. Williams scored the first goal from the slot at 1:46 when he redirected a shot by Brandon Broad '12. Houk tallied the second goal with 3:00 left in the period. Anthony Scarpino '12 took a shot that was saved by Lemonias, but the rebound squirted over to Houk on the left side, and he had an open net to deposit the puck into.
The Mules (7-9-2, 6-6-2) cut their deficit in half at 5:24 of the second period. Just five seconds into a 4-on-4 situation, Chris Buonomo '12 unleashed a wrist shot off the faceoff from above the right circle that eluded Quattrocchi. The goal came just seconds after the Continentals' Joe Buicko '11 had a power-play goal disallowed due to a goaltender interference penalty called on a teammate.
Hamilton restored its two-goal lead with 8:27 left in the second. Jelinek skated up the right side on a break and found Houk all alone in the slot for a one-timer.
Colby went to work right away in the third period. Karl Burns '11 made the score 3-2 at 1:28 on a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle. The Continentals responded again 36 seconds later on the third goal this season by Anthony Ruberto '13. Tom McGinn '12 brought the Mules within one at 3:52 when he hammered in a loose puck in the slot. Scott Harff '13 registered the tying goal on a wrist shot from the left point at 7:31. The goal was Harff's third this season.
Hamilton held a 4-2 shot advantage in overtime. Both teams finished with 32 shots. Colby was 0-for-2 on the power play, and the Continentals were scoreless in three chances. The Mules lead the all-time series, 30-22-6.
Hamilton hosts nationally ranked No. 5 Bowdoin College for a NESCAC showdown on Saturday, Feb. 5. Colby travels to Amherst College for more NESCAC action on Saturday as well.
