Last weekend, Hamilton Men’s Ice Hockey was victorious in two games, including the Citrus Bowl. The Citrus Bowl, played on Friday, resulted in a 5–1 victory over Williams. The team’s Saturday game against Middlebury ended with a 6–0 win. After a weekend of success, Hamilton Men’s Ice Hockey has made its ranked debut at #12 in the country.
Friday’s game against Williams was set to be a competitive match as both teams had similar records. Williams was coming off a loss against rank four SUNY Geneseo the week before. The Citrus Bowl started slow with a scoreless first period. That does not mean there was no action, as a shot from Ben Zimmerman ’26 looked like it went in, causing a misfiring of an orange before it was called a no goal.
The Continentals broke the stalemate five minutes into the second period. Sebastian Hamming ’28 took a wrist shot from the point that deflected off the sticks of two William players before it was stopped by Williams’ goaltender Cal Sandquist ’25. The puck was knocked free from Sandquist to Jackson Krock ’26 near the crease. Krock’s backhand shot avoided the goaltender to score Hamilton’s first goal, causing oranges to rain down, though eagle-eyed viewers could spot lemons and grapefruit among the hundreds of oranges. The team would make it 2–0 a minute later with a pass by John Wojciechowski ’28 from the blue line that was received by Devon de Vries ’27 in the middle of the left faceoff circle. De Vries lifted a shot over the goaltender and a defender high into the back of the net from below the right faceoff circle.
As the third period began, Jacob Ierfino ’27 gave the Continentals a three-goal advantage three minutes in. Carson Hall ’26 won a faceoff in the right circle in Hamilton’s attacking zone and gave the puck to Ierfino along the boards. He scored on a shot from close range to put the Continentals up 3–0. This was the first goal of Ierfino’s career and he added a second seven minutes into the third. Vincent Gould ’27 skated behind the net and stopped below the right faceoff circle. Gould snapped a pass through the crease to Ierfino positioned near the right post where he stuffed the puck into the back of the net.
Williams avoided the shutout with eight minutes left in the game with a goal by Ziv Deener-Chodirker ’26 assisted by Conner Fitzpatrick ’27 and Brady Welsch ’27, who was playing his first game back from a preseason injury. The Continentals kept their four-goal lead with three minutes remaining as Vincent Gould ’27 beat the goalie on his blocker side.
The game ended 5–1 Hamilton. Gould recorded his first multi-point game with the Continentals with 1–1–2 and a +3. Hall had his second multi-point contest at Hamilton with 0–2–2. Hamming posted his first two collegiate points with 0–2–2. Despite letting in five goals, Williams’ Sandquist stopped 45 shots on goal.
Hamilton would finish the weekend at home in a win against Middlebury 6–0 to extend their current win streak to three. Ierfino would score his third goal on the weekend to give Hamilton a 1–0 lead with seconds left in the first period. A Hamming shot was blocked and Ierfino retrieved the loose puck in the slot and scored from close range. The Continentals extended their lead in the second period of their fourth power play of the afternoon with five minutes remaining off a tipped wrist shot by Justin Biraben ’27. A minute later, Hamilton was on the power play again and Max Bulawka ’26 made it 3–0. With three minutes left in the second period, Luke Tchor ’27 provided a four-goal advantage on a redirected shot.
The end of the second marked a goalie change for Middlebury as Conor Sullivan ’28 came in to play the third. Grisha Gotovets ’25 ended any hope of a Middlebury comeback with another redirected shot with three minutes left in the third to make it 5–0. With one minute remaining, Hamilton did not put its foot off the gas as Ryan Sordillo ’27 closed out the scoring on a 5-on-3 power play.
Goalie Charlie Archer ’25 managed to keep his shutout, his first of the season and fifth in his college career. Bulawka had his second mulipoint game of the season with 1–1–2. Gotovets added to his four-game point streak with 1–1–2 and with 3–3–6 during the stretch. Tchor is now tied for the team lead in goals and is tied for first in the NESCAC in points with 5–7–12. Liam Varmecky ’28 collected his first collegiate point with a secondary assist on the fifth goal of the game. Hamilton’s special teams was a highlight as they manged to kill all three of Middlebury’s penalty and managed to go 3–8 on their own power play.
The Continentals have scored five or more goals in all six wins this season, giving them the most goals per game in the NESCAC with 4.38. The six goals were the largest margin of victory for Hamilton against Middlebury since an 8–2 win during the 1946–47 season. The Continental’s next game is Friday, Dec. 13 where they will play a non-conference contest at Nazareth University (4–4–2 overall) at 7 p.m.