Men’s hockey makes history with Amherst shut-out

Two weeks ago, the men’s hockey team accomplished something they hadn’t in six years: they beat Amherst. It was a hard fought battle, one that culminated in an early third period goal by stud defensemen and captain Dallas Bossort ’09. Bossort skillfully skated up the left side of the ice and tucked the game winner with a quick wrist shot into the upper right hand corner of the net.

Wesleyan’s defense was superb, and it resulted in their first shutout of the Lord Jeffs in 81 meetings between the teams. Tim Archibald ’10 tended the net and recorded 34 saves during the game.

This great win came on Saturday afternoon, after a disheartening Friday night in which the team lost against Hamilton College. In that game, Wesleyan found themselves up 3-0 after the first period, against what looked to be a weaker squad. The first period goal scorers for the Cards were Tom Salah ’12, Jeff Beck ’10 and Todd Keats ’11. When the second period was over, however, the score was tied at three—three. After the intermission, Hamilton came out looking like an entirely different team. Less than four minutes into the third period, Woody Redpath ’10 broke the tie with a goal that gave Wesleyan the 4-3 edge.

But the Cardinals didn’t hold the lead for long. With 12 minutes left, the Continentals pulled ahead by a single point. Wesleyan pulled goalie Mike Palladino ’09 at the end. The team also gave up two goals on power plays, on account of their seven trips to the sin bin.

“Our home opener loss to Hamilton was a big disappointment, especially with the support we had from our fans, but our veteran team regrouped the next day,” said captain JJ Evans ’09. “We were able to stay focused, play smart hockey, and get a much needed win.”

After the 1-1 weekend against Hamilton and Amherst, Wesleyan entered the Doug Roberts tournament at Connecticut College while most students were home for Thanksgiving.

“Thanksgiving and Winter break are usually times for the team to gain camaraderie as well as a competitive edge,” said John Wierzba ’09. “Without schoolwork, winter break is an extremely important component in developing a winning attitude for the playoff push.”

Unfortunately, the team lost to both Trinity and Amherst on Friday and Saturday. The tournament seemed to start off for the best for Wesleyan, as they were up 2-1 on Trinity in the first period.

“We played solidly against Trinity despite the final score. We out shot them and certainly had more quality scoring chances,” said David Layne ’10.

The Cardinals ended up losing the Trinity game 3-2, after which they had to face Amherst in the consolation game. Once again Amherst proved a tough opponent, as the 0-0 tie had to be broken in the third period. This time, unfortunately for Wesleyan, the Lord Jeffs got better of them scoring, three goals in the third period. The hero of the game was Mike Palladino ’09, who recorded 50 saves on the day. Between Palladino’s performance and Archibald’s in the first Amherst game, Wesleyan goaltending has racked up over 85 saves against the Lord Jeffs, in a performance that has earned these two the nickname “The Great Wall of Middletown.”

“The two goalie system has worked great; everyone needs their teammates to push them to get to the next level. This year we just happen to have goalies that I would feel comfortable with in any situation,” explained Wierzba.

Through the ups and downs of the first two weeks of battle, the hockey team feels confident that they will progress as a team. With what Layne calls “the most driven and explosive team that Wesleyan has fielded in the last several years,” Wesleyan looks forward to their league games and a shot at doing some damage in the NESCAC playoffs.

This coming weekend, the Cardinals get a shot at UMass Boston and Babson College both in away game. The next time the team returns home to the Spurrier Snyder rink is on January 9th, when they face off against Salem State.