The men’s ice hockey team fell to top-seeded Colby College 4-1 in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs, bringing its season to an end. The loss marked Wesleyan’s third consecutive first-round exit, falling 7-0 to Middlebury in 2006 and 2-0 to Amherst in 2007.
It was also the second time the Cardinals fell to the Mules in two weeks, following a 3-2 home defeat in overtime on Feb. 16. The victory moved Colby’s record to 15-8-1 as it advanced to the NESCAC semifinals, which it will host next weekend. It will take on Trinity, who upset third-seeded Bowdoin 5-2, and the winner will take on the winner of the Amherst-Middlebury semifinal.
The Mules came out quickly, scoring two goals in the first nine minutes. Less than two minutes after the first intermission, they tacked on two more goals within twenty seconds of each other to take a 4-0 lead. Scott Burns ’09 scored the lone goal for Wesleyan midway through the period, a power-play goal with assists from Sam Robinson ’10 and David Layne ’10.
It was a fitting final goal for the Cardinals, as Burns, Layne and Robinson ended the year as the three leading scorers. Robinson led the way with 19 points (3 goals, 16 assists), and Layne (10 goals, four assists) and Burns (three goals, 11 assists) each had 14.
Despite the disappointment, the future looks bright for men’s ice hockey at Wesleyan. The squad will return its seven leading scorers next season: Robinson, Layne, Burns, J.J. Evans ’09 (four goals, nine assists), Dallas Bossort ’09 (five goals, six assists), Woody Redpath ’10 (three goals, seven assists) and Jeff Beck ’10 (one goal, seven assists). Anthony DePietto ’11 (four goals, one assist) and Dan Sullivan ’11 (two goals, two assists) anchor a freshman class which will only look to improve in years to come. The Cardinals will also return two goaltenders with Mike Palladino ’09 (3.37 goals against average) and Tim Archibald ’10 (3.90).
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