The men’s hockey team’s season came to an abrupt end on Saturday in its first-ever home NESCAC playoff game. The fourth seeded Cards dropped the first round game to fifth seeded Amherst College by the score of 2-0 in front of a packed crowd at Spurrier-Snyder Rink.

The Lord Jeffs scored the game winner with 5:49 remaining in the second period, finishing a 2-on-1 opportunity by poking the puck past Wesleyan goalie Mike Palladino ’09. The Cards created a number of scoring opportunities in the third period, resulting in 14 shots, but they were unable to find the net. Williams added an empty-netter with 25 seconds remaining to ice the game.

“While it was obviously disappointing to lose, the team has a lot to be proud about and the program is clearly moving in the right direction,” said co-captain Ryan Hendrickson ’07.  “If asked a few years ago, I don’t think any of the seniors would have believed that we’d be ranked 11th in the nation during our time here. It’s been a special season and while it would have been great to make it a bit further in the playoffs, we are all proud of the impact we’ve made over the last four years.”

Will Bennett ’07, the team’s other captain and offensive leader, finished an outstanding four years at Wesleyan just one point shy of 100 points for his career. In 89 games played, Bennett finished with 45 goals and 54 assists for 99 points. This season, he finished second in the NESCAC in points with 35 (11 goals, 24 assists).

“It was very tough to lose that game on Saturday,” Bennett said. “We came a long way this season, though, and have taken a huge step in the right direction for the Wesleyan hockey program. With a solid core of talented young players, I’m confident the team will continue to improve each season. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of this team for the last four years. I will definitely miss it.”

Despite the loss, Palladino finished his sophomore campaign in typically impressive fashion. After his 30-save performance on Saturday, “Dino” finished the season as the NESCAC leader in goals against average and save percentage. He allowed only 2.12 goals per game, and stopped 92 percent of the shots he faced.

With the Wesleyan faithful chanting against Amherst, the players left it all on the ice in the third period. The team showed incredible grit in fighting until the final whistle and pressuring the Amherst defense ruthlessly for the entire final frame. Unfortunately, the Cards were unable to capitalize on the many opportunities and the 500 plus fans left Spurrier-Snyder Rink in silence and shock.

Looking ahead to next season, the Cards have reason to be optimistic.

“It will be important for some guys to step up next year as Will [Bennett] graduates, but as we saw this year, every game is winnable with Dino in net,” Hendrickson said.  “I will be checking the scores each weekend and look forward to watching Wesleyan hockey become more and more successful.”

David Layne ’10, the NESCAC freshman scoring leader and favorite choice for rookie of the year, finished the season with 13 goals and 12 assists. Taylor Evans ’07 ended his senior season third on the team in scoring with four goals and 14 assists. Other offensive leaders were J.J. Evans ’09 (six goals, seven assists), Dallas Bossort ’09 (five goals, eight assists), Jeff Beck ’10 (six goals, six assists), Sam Robinson ’10 (four goals, eight assists), and Ryan Hendrickson ’07 (six goals, five assists).

Overall, 2007 will be looked back on as the best season in team history. Wesleyan finished 11-8-5 overall, and 9-6-4 in league play. The team’s goal of hosting a NESCAC playoff game was achieved and the Cards gained a great deal of respect all over the country for their ability to compete with some of the nation’s top Division III squads.