Men’s hockey won both of its NESCAC match-ups this weekend while on the road, moving the team two steps closer to securing home-ice playoff advantage.
In New London, C.T., the Continentals took on the last-place Connecticut College Camels (2–13–1 NESCAC, 6–15–1) on Friday, Feb. 8 in a resounding 2–1 win. Anthony Tirabassi ’20 was in net for Hamilton as he has been for every NESCAC game this season.
In NESCAC games, Tirabassi has a 0.915 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average, good for 9th and 10th place in the NESCAC respectively. He stopped 20 of 21 shots throughout the night to keep Hamilton in the game.
Ian Nichols ’19 scored the first goal off a blocked shot halfway through the first period to make the score 1–0, but the Camels responded six and a half minutes later.
The score remained tied up at 1–1 until the third period, when Justin Felhaber ’21 scored on a deflected shot. Felhaber, who also assisted on the first goal, had a goal and an assist during the 60 minutes of play, as well as an exemplary 64% face-off win percentage. Jon Stickel ’19 had assists on both of the goals as well, his seventh and eighth of the season.
The Camels’ luck seemed to turn with just over three minutes left in the third. Hamilton was called for a hooking penalty and went down a skater, giving the Camels the man-advantage.
However, Connecticut couldn’t capitalize on their power play, and the clock trickled down to 1:30 when Hamilton’s player skated out of the penalty box.
Connecticut pulled their goalie to the bench with 42 seconds left, but couldn’t pull off a goal. Indeed, they barely pulled off a shot; the Camels had only one shot in the last 3:30 of the game.
That one shot was right into Tirabassi’s pads, an easy stop for the red-hot goaltender. The clock ran out, and Hamilton took home the 2–1 game.
The next stop was Malden, M.A. for a date with the struggling Tufts University Jumbos (2–12–2 NESCAC, 5–15–2
overall) on Saturday, Feb. 9. Hamilton won a clutch 4–3 overtime win, their third win in a row, thanks to Stickel’s first multi-goal game of his Hamilton career.
Stickel had two goals and an assist during 60 minutes and 21 seconds of play, bringing his season total to 11 points.
The first period featured five goals between the two teams, with Stickel opening up scoring off a botched play from the Tufts goaltender.
The Jumbos net-minder skated behind the goal to play the puck but couldn’t hang on. Stickel snagged the puck and got off a quick shot into the empty net. Tufts responded with two goals in a row, but Stickel evened the score at 2–2 on a power play. Sean Allen ’21 and Nick Rutigliano ’21 assisted.
The assist was Rutigliano’s 13th of the season, which leads the team. The Jumbos ended the first period with a goal to pull ahead.
The second period saw another misplay from the Jumbos while Hamilton was on the penalty kill. Tufts’ defense, too far into Hamilton’s zone to get
back to their own zone, was caught off guard by a sudden clear by Hamilton. Felhaber fired off a shot from center ice and Nichols buried the rebound to make the score 3–3 on a shorthanded play.
The rest of the second period and the entirety of the third were uneventful, though Hamilton players combined for 18 penalty minutes compared to Tufts’ 8. Hamilton got 32 shots on goal during regulation but after 60 minutes of play. With the score locked at 3–3 at the end of regulation, the game moved into overtime. The Continentals only needed 21 seconds to win the game; a perfect centering pass from Nick Ursitti ’20 set up Sterling Bray ’20, who grabbed the game-winning goal.
Men’s hockey has two games remaining in the regular season and is competing with Amherst (8–4–4 NESCAC, 11–6–4 overall) for the 4-seed spot and its home-ice advantage. Both teams are playing Middlebury (5–8–3 NESCAC, 8–11–3 overall) and Williams (10–4–2 NESCAC, 14–6–2 overall) this weekend.
As long as Hamilton wins at least one more game than Amherst does, Hamilton will take Amherst’s 4-seed and gain the home ice advantage for the NESCAC quarterfinal game.
Neither Middlebury nor Williams can change their current situation much. No matter the outcomes of their games, Williams will have home-ice advantage and Middlebury will not.
Earlier this season, Hamilton beat Middlebury 4–3 and lost to Williams 3–0. Amherst previously tied with Middlebury 3–3 and lost to Williams 4–2.
If history repeats itself and Hamilton picks up one more point than Amherst, the Continentals look to move into the 4-seed and into the home-ice advantage.
Both of Hamilton’s remaining games are at home in the Sage Rink. Hamilton first takes on Middlebury on Friday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 PM, then Williams on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 3:00 PM. The first playoff game will take place on Saturday, Feb. 23, opponent, time, and location to be announced.
