This past weekend was a big one for Hamilton College’s men’s hockey team. The Continentals entered the weekend with a 9–4–1 record. The team was ranked in the top 15 of both polls at 10 and 13 respectively. The Continentals hosted Amherst College on Saturday and the State Univeristy of New York Canton on Sunday.
Saturday’s conference game against the Amherst College Mammoths had a little extra meaning. Through combined efforts with the Hamilton College Wish Makers Club, the Continental’s wore custom jerseys to raise money for the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The focus was on two local kids, Kyla and Melissa. Both Kyla and Melissa, along with the Continentals’ and Mammoths’ captains, dropped a ceremonial puck before the game.
The game itself was a very entertaining back-and-forth affair. The final score was 4–1 in favor of Amherst, but the vast majority of the game was intense. The Mammoths jumped out to a lead in the first period.
Nearly halfway through the period the Continentals had almost all of the momentum. They were on a powerplay and looked like they were going to score.
Right as the Continentals were pushing the puck forward on the attack, Amherst’s Max Roche poked the puck loose. Roche converted this breakaway opportunity for a goal. The Mammoths held on to their lead for the rest of the period. Amherst continued to lead with five minutes left in the second period when they attempted to dump the puck and change lines.
However, Josh Labonte ’21 seized this opportunity. Immediately after controlling the puck he fired it up toward the attacking zone. Sterling Bray ’20 was at the receiving end of the puck and drove towards the net. He snapped a quick pass to Jason Brochu ’19 as he darted towards the net. Brochu deked around Amherst’s goalie and used his backhand to bury the puck in the net.
The home crowd erupted.
The game was tied one to one heading into the final period.
Soon after, the Continental’s goalie, Anthony Tirabassi ’20, attempted to clear the puck from behind the goal. However, the pass was deflected. Tirabassi hustled back to his goal and dove to save a point-blank shot attempt. Tirabassi bounced back up and saved the shot off the rebound.
The Mammoths, however, regained control of the puck. Amherst College’s Noah Gilreath ripped a one-timer that whipped by Tirabassi. The third shot of the possession silenced the crowd and deflated the Continental’s hopes, but Hamilton continued to push hard till the final minutes.
Unfortunately, when Amherst put away two quick goals that put the game out of reach. The first was with seven minutes left in the game. Then, Will Vosejpka scored his first goal of the season to put the Mammoths up two goals.
With just two minutes left Amherst iced the game with a power play goal by Jack Fitzgerald. The conference loss was tough for the ranked and home Hamilton squad; however , they had little time to dwell on their performance as the next day they hosted State University of New York, Canton.
The Continentals controlled the puck for the majority of the game. They let loose 33 shots on goal compared to only 18 for the Roos. The Roos also committed five penalties compared to only two for the Continentals.
Less than five minutes into the game, the Continentals jumped on top. Sterling Bray ’20 scored his first goal of the season.
Fellow Sophomore Sam Jones ’20, stole the puck from the Roos and broke out towards the goal. He slid a pass to Bray who finished this opportunity. Hamilton held the lead through the end of the period.
In the second period, the Continentals doubled their lead, with great puck movement on the powerplay leading to their goal. Stephen Cochrane ’20 controlled the puck and passed it to Sean Allen ’21.
Allen then found Brandon Willett ’18 who fed the puck back to Allen, who rifled it past the Roos’ goalie.
It was Allen’s first ever career goal. Hamilton now had hockey’s most dangerous lead, two to nothing. Right before the period ended the Continentals committed a penalty.
The Roos took this momentum and converted on their chance. This cut Hamilton’s lead to one at the end of the period. The Continentals played smart hockey and controlled the flow of the third period. They held on and won two to one.
Brochu’s goal against Amherst propelled him to third in the NESCAC with 1.12 points per game (18 points in 16 games). Brochu has been a force in conference play, scoring 8 goals while notching five assists.
Rory Gagnon ’19 leads the Continentals in scoring with 10 goals, the second highest total in the NESCAC. Neil Conway ’18 leads Hamilton with 11 assists, placing him in a tie for fifth most in the conference.
Next weekend the Continentals have two huge conference road games.
First, they will face sixth and seventh ranked Trinity College on Saturday, and on Sunday will face the Cardinals of Wesleyan University.
