In an eight-team tournament, the quarterfinal matchup between the fourth and fifth seeds is almost always a toss-up. Hamilton hockey fans learned that the hard way this past Saturday, as the men’s and women’s teams, both the fourth seed in their respective NESCAC playoffs, fell to their fifth-seeded opponents at Sage Rink in the quarterfinals.
The women began the doubleheader with a 1 PM matchup with the Bowdoin Polar Bears. The game was a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals when the then-sixth-seeded Polar Bears came to Clinton, NY and outlasted the third-seeded Continentals in a 1–0 double overtime heartbreaker.
Hamilton sought revenge this year and came into the game confident after going 1–0–1 in a series at Bowdoin in the regular season. Bowdoin struck first, 6:32 into the game, after Nell Fusco scored a redirect goal off assists from Jess Cloutier and Maureen Greason. The score remained 1–0 entering the second period. Hamilton outshot Bowdoin 12–7 in the second period, but one of the Polar Bears’ shots found the back of the net, while Bowdoin goalie Kerry St. Dennis saved all 12 Continental shots. Julie Dachille and Julia Surgenor assisted on a Brooke Solomon goal with 6:55 left in the second period to give Bowdoin a 2–0 lead.
Bowdoin stretched their lead to 3–0 at 9:27 into the third period when Marissa Fichter took a pass from Izzi Stoddard and slipped a wrist shot past Hamilton goalie Sam Walther ’18. The Continentals continually peppered St. Dennis with shots. They were all turned away until Missy Segall ’21 hit paydirt off assists from Kate Piacenza ’21 and Mairead Carey ’18. The goal was Segall’s team-leading eleventh and gave Hamilton life. The Continentals fought hard at the end of the game and even had a two-skater advantage for the last two minutes after a Bowdoin penalty and pulling Walther. Despite their best efforts, Hamilton would not score again, and the clock hit zero with the score still 3–1. The loss ended Hamilton’s season and was assuredly frustrating, as the Continentals outshot Bowdoin 35–24 and went scored on none of their eight power play opportunities.
Knop ’18 made the all-conference second team. Despite the loss, the women look poised for a successful 2018–19 season, as the team’s top six scorers, Giuttari, Segall, Andrea Rockey ’19, Maddie Beitler ’21, Piacenza, and Taegan Blackwell ’19 will all return. Despite losing the best goaltender in Division III women’s hockey the team looks to be in good hands, as Sammy Johnson ’20 has been strong in limited action and looks to be an effective anchor to the Hamilton defense.
After the women’s game, the ice was resurfaced, and the men took on the Wesleyan Cardinals at 4 PM. The Continentals split the regular season series with the Cardinals, winning at Middletown, CT, and falling at home. Wesleyan found the back of the net first 18:29 into the first period when Tyler Watt deflected a Chad Malinowski shot past Hamilton goaltender Evan Buitenhuis ’18. Hamilton struck back less than five minutes of gameplay later. At 3:14 of the second period, Hamilton went on the power play, and, five seconds later, the game was tied. Nick Ursitti ’20 won a face-off and passed to Bennett Morrison ’20, who fired a shot past Tim Sestak to level the score. The teams fought back and forth as the game wore on. As the clock ticked down inside the final two minutes of the third period, Wesleyan broke the deadlock. Matt Zandi sent a pass to Walter Harris in the corner, who brought the puck to the point and fired a wrist shot which was tipped by Andy Espinoza past Buitenhuis. The goal, with 1:46 remaining in the game, put Wesleyan in the lead for good. Hamilton pulled Buitenhuis with 1:10 left to no avail.
This week, however, the NESCAC announced that Jason Brochu ’19 had been named to the all-conference first team and Buitenhuis, who missed eleven games to injury, to the all-conference second team. While the loss was certainly disappointing, Hamilton men’s hockey has established a winning culture and many key contributors will be returning next year, including Brochu, forward Rory Gagnon ’19, Ursitti, Morrison, forward Sterling Brey ’20, defender Sam Jones ’20, defender Sean Allen ’21, and goaltender Anthony Tirabassi ’21, who transfered to Hamilton this year from the College of the Holy Cross and appears to be the goalie of the future.
While Saturday was a disappointing day at Sage Rink and marked an end to the 2017–18 Hamilton hockey seasons, the future is certainly bright; a winning tradition has been established and the Hamilton hockey programs are primed for success for years to come. The 2018–19 season holds a lot of promise for the men’s and women’s teams, and both teams figure to excite.
