Connecticut College's Ross Thompson '17 scored five goals and the Camels rallied in the fourth quarter for a 10-7 NESCAC win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Hamilton's Steuben Field on Saturday afternoon.
Box Score
Connecticut Coll. (3-11, 1-8 NESCAC) ended a five-game losing skid with its first conference win this year. The Camels trailed 7-6 with 9:59 left but scored the last four goals.
The Continentals (8-6, 4-6) ended their home schedule with their first loss in five games this year at Steuben Field. Despite the setback, Hamilton will make its third appearance in the NESCAC Championship quarterfinals in four years on Saturday, April 25. The Continentals' seed and opponent will be determined on Wednesday.
Ben Parens '18 took every faceoff for Connecticut Coll. and won 14 of 21. Parens scooped up eight ground balls and his fifth goal this year made it 10-7 with 3:03 remaining. Bobby Bleistein '16 made 10 saves and Jake Bank '17 was credited with four ground balls.
John Cunningham '17 helped pace the Camel offense with one goal and one assist. Max Luing '16, Briggs Barton '15 and Mack Dowling '17 scored one goal each. Barton leads the team with 29 goals and 41 points.
Sam Sweet '16 boasted two goals and an assist for Hamilton. Sweet leads the team with 24 goals and 40 points. John Zimmerman '15 added one goal and two assists and tops the Continentals with 17 helpers. Zimmerman was one of 11 seniors who played their final home game.
Ryan McCausland '16 scored two goals late in the third quarter and J.D. Brachman '17 recorded one goal and one assist for Hamilton. Dan Cahill '17 tallied his seventh goal and Joe Ricciuti '16 and Jack Gaul '18 picked up one assist apiece.
Will Driscoll '15 stopped 11 shots in the Hamilton goal and Baylis Treen '16 caused three turnovers. Driscoll is just the fourth goalie in program history with more than 500 career saves (506). Sellers Garrett '16 collected three ground balls and two caused turnovers, and Dylan Lahey '15 added two caused turnovers.
The Continentals held a 3-2 edge at the break but big momentum swings were in store for both teams in the second half.
Connecticut Coll. took its first lead of the afternoon with a four-goal run early in the third quarter. Thompson tied the score with 11:13 to go in the third and Barton gave the Camels a 4-3 advantage 48 seconds later. Luing made it a two-goal cushion with 6:16 left and Dowling increased the Connecticut Coll. lead to 6-3 with 5:19 remaining.
Hamilton responded with its own four-goal spurt that spanned the third and fourth quarters. McCausland found the back of the net twice in the final 4:17 of the third quarter and the Continentals trailed just 6-5 after three. Sweet tied the score with 10:09 to go and wrapped up a possession where Hamilton took five shots. Eric Zurmuehle '18 won the ensuing faceoff, passed to Sweet and he found Brachman for another goal that gave the Continentals a 7-6 lead 10 seconds later.
The Camels roared back with one more four-goal burst that was started by Thompson, who has 19 this year. He tied the score with 7:54 left and put Connecticut Coll. in the lead for good with 5:59 remaining. Cunningham gave the Camels a 9-7 cushion on his eighth goal with 3:11 to go. Parens won the next faceoff, scooped up the loose ball and scored the game's final goal eight seconds later.
Connecticut Coll. ended up with a 29-21 advantage in ground balls and was successful on 16 of 17 clear attempts. Hamilton committed just 12 turnovers.
The Continentals travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a non-conference game on Tuesday, April 21. The Camels host nationally ranked No. 20 Wesleyan University in NESCAC action on Wednesday.
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