The eighth-seeded Wesleyan men’s hockey team won the first playoff game in program history this past Saturday, upsetting the top-ranked Hamilton Continentals on the road by a 5-2 score.
The Continentals scored a goal in the second minute on a power play to take an early lead. Tommy Hartnett ’14 netted the Cardinals’ first goal of the game to tie the score at one later in the first period. The Cardinals would break the tie just one minute into the second period, with a goal coming from Nik Tasiopoulos ’14. Co-captain Tom Salah ’12 scored yet another goal for the Cardinals off a nifty assist from fellow co-captain Adam Kaiser ’13. Kaiser dug the puck out of the corner and slid it to Salah, who one-timed it into the twine to give the Cardinals a two-goal lead.
Hamilton refused to give up, rallying back with another goal to shrink the deficit to 3-2 midway through the third period. Geoff Mucha ’12 scored another goal for the Cardinals with five minutes remaining to give Wesleyan some insurance for the remainder of the game. The Continentals would pull their goalie in a last chance effort, but Salah ended Hamilton’s chances with an empty-net goal to give the Cardinals a decisive 5-2 victory.
Not only did men’s hockey win their first playoff game ever, they became only the second NESCAC team in any sport to beat the number one seed as an eighth seed in a playoff game. The first was Wesleyan’s men’s lacrosse team, who beat Conn. College last spring.
Wesleyan will face Williams in the NESCAC semi-finals next weekend. Williams, the second seed, was the only team not upset in the first round of the playoffs. #6 Colby upended #3 Middlebury, while #4 Bowdoin took down #3 Amherst in overtime. In the regular season, the Cardinals suffered a close overtime loss to Williams, and look for a competitive rematch this weekend in Williamstown.
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