It seemed almost fitting that the Cardinals would deliver an all around team effort against Hamilton the same way they had just a month earlier. In their first match up against the Continentals, the Wesleyan men’s hockey team overcame a two-goal deficit for a dramatic and triumphant 4-3 OT victory on the road. In their most recent encounter with the conference foe, Wesleyan delivered more of the same thrashing they had handed to the Continentals in that third period. Powered by five goals from five separate players, four of whom also tallied assists, Wesleyan snatched an all-important NESCAC victory to raise their conference record to 5-6-1 and their overall margin to a solid 10-7-1.

The last time we checked in with the men’s hockey team, the players had pulled off what was undoubtedly the most satisfying victory of the year with their comeback against Hamilton. The team hoped that this victory would be the beginning of a reversal of fortune after a few heartbreaking, and frankly, unlucky, defeats. Following their overtime thriller on December 10th, the Cardinals won their next four games, outscoring their opponents 17-7 in the process. Two of these games were at the St. Michael’s Holiday Classic, which served as a welcome place to resume play after the holiday break. Wesleyan won a tough battle against Becker College and easily beat Salve Regina by a 5-0 margin. After their solid tournament performance, the Cardinals followed up their success with another conference victory over Middlebury, again in overtime.

Unfortunately, following their historic victory over the Panthers, Wesleyan managed to come away with only one victory and one tie in their next six games. The fact that the win over Colby College and tie against Connecticut College were both conference games provided some solace to the otherwise disappointing series of games. Cardinal goaltender Glenn Stowell ’13 allowed only one goal against 30 shots in the game against Colby, which may have served as the highlight of the six-game stetch.

With a second victory over Hamilton, the Cardinals hope that history will repeat itself and another winning streak will ensue. The remaining scheduled games are all against conference opponents, with a Saturday home rematch against Middlebury at 7 p.m. up next. Though the team may have experienced some adversity in the middle of their season, things once again seem to be headed in the right direction for this group of hungry and revamped Cardinal men.