The men’s hockey team faced off against two of the best this past weekend, traveling to both Middlebury and Williams. While the team returned to campus with two losses, morale was high as the Cardinals remain in the playoff hunt. In Vermont on Friday, the Panthers handed Wesleyan a 5-2 loss after a second-period surge of three goals in five minutes. In the Little Three match up on Saturday, the men were lost 6-0 in a game filled with penalties. Looking ahead, the Cardinals have three more weekends of battle to strive for a playoff berth.

In front of a crowd of over 1,000 in Middlebury, the Wesleyan men went down 2-0 early in the first before rebounding with a power play goal by Henry Coxe ’11. Midway into the second period, Middlebury lit the lamp three times before the Cards were able to notch another tally in the third. David Layne ’10 remained hot after totaling three points last weekend, scoring a goal with assists from Woody Redpath ’10 and A.J. Ferraro ’12. Ryan Moses ’11 replaced Tim Archibald ’10 in goal after two periods and stopped all 13 shots he faced. Middlebury’s success came from their skating ability and their discipline.

Coach Chris Potter noted that Middlebury has an Olympic-sized rink, making the game more wide-open, which caters to quick teams that are less physical and allows for a distinct home advantage.

“It is always difficult to play them on the bigger ice,” Potter said. “They skate well and I was really impressed with their second effort on pucks, and away from the puck they never stop competing.”

While Wesleyan made the Panthers pay on the power play in the first period, it turned out to be the Cardinals’ only man-advantage of the game. Wesleyan’s penalty kill was also successful, killing off all five man-advantages for Middlebury.

“The goaltender is the most important part of any penalty kill unit and I think Tim and Ryan played well in the man-down situations,” said Todd Keats ’11.

The Williams game on Saturday brought disappointment for Cards fans. Wesleyan could not carry over any of the momentum from the Middlebury game, going 0-8 on the power play while giving up a shorthanded goal, and killing only three of its five penalties.

The game began with a power-play goal by the Ephs a minute and a half into the first period after Dallas Bossort ’09 went to the box for tripping. Williams never looked back and the period ended with the Cardinals down by two.

Early in the second, Williams scored again, prompting Potter to replace goaltender Mike Palladino ’09 with Moses. After two more goals, Scott Burns ’09 and John Wierzba ’09 both went to the sin bin 20 seconds apart in the final minutes of the game. Williams capitalized on this two-man advantage with only 13 seconds remaining. Wesleyan seemed to have trouble putting the puck in the net, and the team found the end to the weekend frustrating.

“We had trouble entering the offensive zone with speed, and thus we never really got a chance to put them on their heels,” Layne said.

With six games remaining, the men have the opportunity to play their best hockey at the most crucial point of the season.

“Every player on our roster needs to really buy into what we are doing on the ice,” Layne said. “When we have had success, it has been when all our guys [were] on the same page and everyone [was] filling their role to the best of their ability.”

The Cardinals are back at home this weekend with more NESCAC action. The men square off against Connecticut College on Saturday night before facing Tufts on Sunday afternoon.