The Hamilton men’s hockey team had an exciting weekend against Colby College and Bowdoin College as they returned to their winning ways. The team is 13–6–1 overall and 7–6–1 in the NESCAC where they sit in the fifth spot out of ten teams.
On Friday Feb. 2, the Mules struck first and put up a fight until the third when Hamilton was able to jump and stay ahead for a 4–2 win.
Just 1:31 into the first period, Colby snuck a wrist shot past Hamilton’s Anthony Tirabassi ’20 from the face off circle to claim a 1–0 lead. The Continental’s Jon Berniers ’21 would respond 14 minutes later, scoring his second collegiate goal. Rory Gagnon ’19 dug the puck out from behind the net and dished it to Sterling Bray ’20 who wound around the face off circle and hit Berniers in the slot. Berniers wristed it past a Colby defender and goaltender to tie the game 1–1 in front of an energetic Friday night crowd.
Hamilton took its first lead of the game 9:09 into the second when Brandon Willett ’18 broke through with his eighth of the season. Gagnon fed the puck to Jason Brochu ’19 at the top of the zone. Brochu took a slapshot that Willett was able to redirect over the shoulder of the Colby goaltender and into the net giving Hamilton a 2–1 lead.
With just 2:21 left in the second, Colby evened the score at 2–2 on a break-away goal. Sean Allen ’21 was denied on his shot from the point, and the rebound bounced to Colby player Michael Rudolf, who fed teammate Justin Grillo in the neutral zone.
Hamilton bounced back just under halfway through the third, taking the lead for good when Gagnon shoved home a rebound for his first goal of the weekend. Blayne Oliver ’20 and Gagnon teamed up to dig the puck out of the corner, getting it to Berniers at the point. Berniers fed it across the blue line to Bray, who took a shot that was denied — Gagnon would not be as he pushed the rebound past the goaltender for a 3–2 lead.
With five minutes remaining, Willett added to the lead. Brochu received a breakout pass from Neil Conway ’18, carrying the puck up through the neutral zone and into Hamilton’s offensive end. Brochu fed Willett for a one-timer in the slot, which he rang off the post and into the back of the net.
This was Hamilton’s second tilt against Colby this season, the first of which they won 3–0 back on Jan. 5 in Waterville, Maine. The next day, they downed Bowdoin 5–1 in Brunswick, Maine, and they would take the win in similar fashion on Saturday Feb. 3 by a score of 5–3.
The Continentals got off to the right start on Saturday, scoring just 5:52 into the first. On the powerplay, Willet fed Allen at the point, who dished the puck to Gagnon in the far face-off circle. Gagnon wristed it underneath the glove of the Bowdoin goalie and into the net for his second goal of the weekend and team-leading thirteenth goal of the season.
In a five goal second period, the Continentals and the Polar Bears traded goals, until Hamilton took the lead for good with 2:32 left to play.
Bowdoin tied the game at one just three minutes into the period, but Hamilton regained the lead three minutes later on a goal from Nick Ursitti ’20. A shot by Ian Nichols ’19 from the blue line was stopped but not collected by the Bowdoin goaltender, but Ursitti was there to give it the extra push across the goal line.
Halfway through the period, Bowdoin was again able to tie up the score at two, but this would be their last burst as Ursitti and Bray put away goals just 1:30 apart to end the period.
Nichols dug the puck out of the corner and backhanded it to Ursitti in front of the net, who wristed it up and over the Bowdoin goalie for a 3–2 lead. Bray delivered the game-winner with just 47 seconds left in the second when Josh Labonte ’21 took a shot from the blue line that he deflected into the back of the net.
The Polar Bears challenged the Continentals for the last time when they put away a power play goal 5:49 into the third to make it 4–3. Hamilton’s defense and goaltender Anthony Tirabassi ’20 preserved the lead throughout the third until Conway hit the empty net goal with 27 seconds left making it 5–3. Tirabassi had 29 saves against Bowdoin and 24 against Colby. In 12 games this season, he owns a .929 save percentage and 1.88 goals against average.
The Continentals received goals from six different players on the weekend. Tyler Bruneteau ’18 said the team seems to have found their stride now; “A bunch of different guys are starting to finish, which is good as we find our stride to finish out this season. We are focusing on using our speed to our advantage and keeping every play simple. As we prepare for next weekend we hope to continue taking steps in the right direction and building off what we have accomplished.”
Next weekend, the Continentals face Connecticut College on Saturday Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. at Clinton Arena and Tufts University on Sunday Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. at Sage Rink. Saturday’s game is a celebration of 100 years of Hamilton College and Clinton hockey. Hamilton will provide buses for college students to get to the game.
Hamilton fell to Connecticut College 3–0 back on Jan. 13 and to Tufts 5–3 on Jan. 14. Bruneteau said, “we owe both these teams a better performance than we gave them last time.” If the Continentals can pull out a win against the Camels on Saturday night, they will put themselves in a good playoff position going into the last weekend of the regular season.
