The Wesleyan men’s ice hockey team is off to a promising start this winter, losing just one of their first four games. The first game of the season saw Wesleyan play Little Three Rival Amherst College in a contest where the Lord Jeffs handily beat the Cardinals 4-0. Despite more disciplined play by the Cardinals (Amherst had twice the amount of penalty minutes Wesleyan did), the Cards were unable to convert on any of their seven power play opportunities. Goalie Glenn Stowell ’13 collected 30 saves on the game.
Putting aside the loss to Amherst, the Cardinals focused their attention on their second game against the Hamilton College Continentals. History was not on Wesleyan’s side in this match, as heading into the game the Cards had a 3-30 all time record against Hamilton. While the first period remained scoreless, 13 seconds into the second period Hamilton was called for a two-minute minor, giving the Cardinals their first power play opportunity of the night. Nik Tasiopoulus ’14 scored just one minute later off an assist from Keith Buehler ’14. Hamilton evened out the score later in the second period on a power play goal of their own to tie the game at 1-1. With three minutes remaining in the second period, Wesleyan captain Todd Keats ’11 netted another power play goal off assists from Nick Craven ’13 and assistant captain Adam Kaiser ’13.
Heading into the third period up 2-1, the Cardinals netted what would prove to be the game-winning goal just 14 seconds in. Rushing into the Hamilton zone, Kaiser shoveled a pass to captain Tom Salah ’12, who threw another pass through the slot to Geoff Mucha ’12, who one-timed the shot home to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead over the Continentals. Hamilton scored again early in the third period on a power play, but outstanding defense from goalie Stowell, who collected 34 saves on the day, thwarted Hamilton’s chances to tie the game.
Wesleyan’s second win of the season came in a non-conference game against the Stonehill Skyhawks. The Cardinals found themselves in a hole early on, with the Skyhawks scoring twice in the first period while Wes failed to generate any offense. But the team didn’t lose any motivation and came to own the second period, scoring three unanswered goals, which would win them the game. First year Tommy Hartnett ’14 scored first for the Cardinals on an unassisted goal. Buehler and Craven each scored a goal, both of which were power play goals, assisted by Tasiopoulus and Kaiser. There was no scoring in the third period, and the Cardinals enjoyed their second triumph in three games. Goalie Matt Hadge ’13 collected 24 saves on the game, including six in the final period of the game to secure the victory.
The Cardinals’ faced the Wentworth Cougars in their fourth game of the season this past Sunday. Neither team scored in the first two periods despite many power play opportunities by the Cardinals. The Cougars totaled 33 minutes of penalty minutes throughout the game. Wentworth broke the scoring deadlock early in the third period. Cardinal Anthony DePietto ’11 tied the score halfway through the third period off assists from senior captain Henry Coxe ’11 and defenseman Chris MacDonald ’13. The low-scoring game ended in a tie, with goalie Stowell raking in a total of 22 saves.
“Everything we did in the offseason, from lifting weights to military training, brought us together as a team,” said Captain Tom Salah. “Every guy understood their responsibility and bought into our system. We are off to a pretty good start, but complacency is something that can really hurt us, especially being so young. This is a big weekend for us. Playing on the road in this league is always tough, but if we come out and execute we will have a good feeling going into break.”
The Cardinals will face off against the Babson Bobcats and UMass Amherst Minutemen this coming weekend.
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