Middlebury extended its winning streak to 10 games with a 6-1 win over archrival Williams in front of a crowd of over 2,000 fans at the Kenyon Arena. With the win, the Panthers will draw a first-round bye for the NESCAC playoffs, clinching the top seed and home ice.
Middlebury came out flying with a 10-0 shot advantage, including the first goal as Matt Skoglund’s shot from the left wing trickled through the pads of Michael Aroesty just 1:45 into the game. The Panthers took a 2-0 lead with 4:55 left in the period when John Dawson scored on a turn-around wrister from the right faceoff circle.
Just 3:12 later, the lead increased to 3-0 after Adam Foote used some great individual moves to score on his own rebound. Williams got on the board 5:27 into the third period when Eric Demment scored after a scramble in front.
Middlebury got the goal back midway through the period when Matt Dunn wristed a shot to the top corner of the net after some nice moves in the slot. Will Chang deflected in a pass from Andrew Helming to make it a 5-1 lead with 2:10 remaining in the second period.
Finally, just 45 seconds into the third period Dunn scored his second of the game after driving to the net.
Christian Carlsson made 17 saves in goal for Middlebury, while Aroesty and Benjamin Fash combined to make 36 saves for Williams.
