After a month-long hiatus from intercollegiate play, the men’s hockey team resumed their season on Jan. 2 at the Ben McCabe Tournament, hosted by Amherst College. The Cardinals played their first game against the Lord Jeffs, losing just 3-2. Following their loss to Amherst, Wesleyan tied NESCAC rival Connecticut College in a 2-2 contest in which the Cardinals came from behind to tie the score in the final period.
Following play at the McCabe tournament, the Cardinals hosted a double-header at home. Despite scoring early, the Cardinals failed to maintain their lead or generate any further offense against the Skidmore Thoroughbreds, and again found themselves in a 1-1 tie. The Cardinals proceeded to drop a tightly contested match to the Castleton Spartans 3-2. The following weekend against perennial rival and powerhouse Williams, Wesleyan would endure another painful defeat, this one in overtime, 3-2.
In short, the team didn’t see the most promising results at the beginning of the New Year. In their first five games of 2011, the Cardinals had two ties and three losses, each by a deficit of only one goal. The Wesleyan men demonstrated their ability to compete with some of the best teams in Division III hockey, but had no victories to show for it.
After their overtime loss to Williams, the Cardinals traveled immediately to face Middlebury, a team that has either won or finished second in the NESCAC for the past five years. After a deadlocked first period, the Cardinals opened up the scoring with two goals in the second, from freshman Keith Buehler ’14 and sophomore John Guay ’13, to shock the Panthers on their home ice. The veteran Panthers would not go down so easily, as they came back in the third period with two goals of their own to tie the game. Wesleyan forward Brett Bandazian ’12 scored for the Cardinals late in the third period to take the lead with only six minutes remaining. The Cardinals failed to hold on to their lead, however, and Middlebury scored to tie the game again with only four seconds left on the clock. Having suffered three losses in one-goal games and two ties, the Cardinals were not about to let Middlebury get the best of them with the overtime period left: Guay found the net again just 30 seconds into overtime, sealing the team’s first win of the year against one of the top teams in the NESCAC.
The Cardinals’ next contest came against the Norwich Cadets, the third-ranked team in the country and the defending national champions. The Cardinals didn’t bat an eye for a second and again saw a scoreless first period before opening fire on the Cadets. In the second period, the Cardinals scored four unanswered goals, making Norwich look more like a JV team than the defending champions. After handily defeating the Cadets, Wesleyan faced St. Michael’s and won another high scoring game, downing the Purple Knights 6-2.
The team’s three-game winning streak has included two wins against teams who regularly vie for the national championship.
“Mainly, I think everyone’s very excited about the big wins, but it’s important that we not be complacent or satisfied and continue to work to get better,” said co-captain Henry Coxe ’11. “To get where we want to go, we need to peak at the right time.”
While Wesleyan’s record puts them in the lower half of NESCAC teams, there is still a lot of hockey left to play this season, and the pieces are finally falling into place for the Cardinals.
“Each and every guy believes in our ability as a team,” said co-captain Tom Salah ’12. “We are maturing as a unit and learning what it takes to be consistent. This league is so tight that if you take a night off, you could find yourself on the outside looking in. Beating Middlebury and Norwich in consecutive games is great, but our plans are bigger. We know we have a long road ahead, but we plan to take it one day at a time.”
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