The Wesleyan men’s hockey team lost some momentum this weekend, losing to two nonconference opponents. Prior to play this weekend, the Cardinals held a three-game winning streak, with two of the wins coming over two of the top teams in Division III hockey. The Cardinals had beaten the Middlebury Panthers, a perennial NESCAC powerhouse, and the Norwich Cadets, the defending national champions. Goaltender Matt Hadge ’13 earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors for his stellar performance against the Cadets.
Coming off a few hot wins, the Cardinals lost their footing against the New England College Pilgrims on Friday night. The Cardinals played catch-up for most of the game, as the Pilgrims scored twice before Brad Improta ’14 found the net in the second period to put the Cards on the board. Wesleyan got within one goal of tying the game twice during the second period, but failed to score any consecutive goals. New England College would score again to make it 3-1 about midway through the second period. Nick Craven ’13 responded in the tail-end of the second period to bring the Cardinals within one goal, but the Pilgrims found the net just a minute later, giving them a 4-2 lead heading into the third. Neither team was able to find the net in the third period, and the Pilgrims took the game by two goals.
The following day the Cardinals faced off against the St. Anselm’s Hawks in Vermont. The Cards struck first as Nik Tasiopoulos ’14 scored 10 minutes into the game. With time winding down, it seemed as though the Cardinals would end the first period with the only tally on the board, but the Hawks scored with only a minute and a half remaining in the period. The Cardinals suffered a penalty just 40 seconds later, and the Hawks capitalized just before time expired to take a 2-1 lead going into the second period. The second period was heavily contested and saw no scoring, despite both teams taking multiple penalties. The Hawks would score again to commence the third period, taking a 3-1 lead with 16 minutes remaining in the game. Wesleyan responded just two minutes later, with Keith Buehler ’14 scoring his fourth goal of the season. Unfortunately this would be the last of Wesleyan’s goals on the day, as the Hawks would score again to take a strong 4-2 lead eight minutes into the third period. In the remaining 12 minutes of the game, the Cardinals would serve 13 penalties while St. Anselm’s served just two. The Hawks would capitalize on their many power plays and scored twice more before the final buzzer, earning a 6-2 win over the Cards.
Despite falling to St. Anselm’s and New England College, Wesleyan is still optimistic for its upcoming games against NESCAC opponents Tufts and Connecticut College this weekend.
“It was a tough couple games for us,” said co-captain Todd Keats ’11, “But we are still set on [this] weekend’s games. In the standings, Tufts is right behind us and Conn is right in front of us, so with a couple of wins we can still change our destiny.”
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