Four-Time Defending Champ Middlebury has Shot at Unprecedented Eighth Crown

HADLEY, Mass. - Top-seeded Colby College will continue its pursuit for the program’s first NESCAC title this weekend when the Mules host the remaining rounds of the 2008 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship at Alfond Rink in Waterville, Maine. Semifinal action begins Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with Colby taking to the ice against sixth seed Trinity, followed by four-time defending NESCAC champion and second seed Middlebury facing fourth seed Amherst at 4:00 p.m. The 2008 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship concludes with the final on Sunday, March 9 at 1:00 p.m. Tickets for Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship are $5 for adults and $2 for children and students. Fans unable to attend this weekend’s action will be able to follow all three games live via the Internet on D3Cast.com.

Colby (15-8-1, 13-5-1 NESCAC) earned the top seed for the first time in tournament history on the final day of the regular season with a little help from Norwich, the team that dashed the Mules’ hopes of gaining the number-one seed in last year’s championship. Colby’s 5-1 win over St. Michael’s on Feb. 23 combined with a 6-4 victory by Norwich over Bowdoin put the Mules in sole possession of first place in the NESCAC standings. Colby reached the semifinals for the sixth time in the championship’s eight-year history after picking up a 4-1 win over Wesleyan in the quarterfinals. The Mules are arguably the hottest team in the conference at the moment, going 8-2-1 over their last 11 outings. One of Colby’s two losses, however, came at the hands of semifinal opponent Trinity, a 2-1 setback in the lone meeting between the two teams on Feb. 15 in Hartford. The Mules feature an offense that ranks third overall in the conference this season, scoring on average 3.50 goals per game, while the defense has allowed a league-low 2.42 goals per contest. Colby’s special teams have also performed at a high level this year, with the power play clicking at 24.4 percent conversion rate (2nd NESCAC) and the penalty kill averaging 86.3 percent (2nd). The senior trio of T.J. Kelley (Ridgefield, Conn.), Josh Reber (Edina, Minn.), and Arthur Fritch (South Boston, Mass.) are among the top 10 skaters in the NESCAC in scoring, with forwards Kelley and Reber ranking one-two among all league players. Through 24 games, Kelley has a team-leading 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points. Reber has recovered from a mid-season injury to contribute 10 goals and 24 assists for 34 points in 19 appearances, collecting a NESCAC-best 20 points while on the power play. Fritch, an All-NESCAC selection a year ago, is fourth among conference blue liners in scoring and tied for ninth overall with nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points. In net, freshman goaltender Cody McKinney (Weston, Fla.) has shouldered the load for the Mules by playing in 22 of 24 games. McKinney (15-6-1) is second among NESCAC netminders in goals against average (2.22) and fourth in save percentage (.923).

Looking to stop Colby’s drive to reach the championship game will be sixth-seeded Trinity (13-10-2, 8-9-2 NESCAC). The Bantams have proven to be the Mules’ nemesis when it comes to tournament play. Trinity, which earned the NESCAC title in 2003, has won each of the three previous playoff contests with Colby - two victories coming in back-to-back semifinal meetings in 2003 and 2004. The last tournament game between the two went to the Bantams, as they upended the host Mules in overtime by a 3-2 score in the 2006 quarterfinals. Trinity advanced to this year’s semifinals by avenging a 2007 first round loss to Bowdoin with a 5-2 victory in Brunswick last weekend. The Bantams have been consistently inconsistent all season, neither winning nor losing more than two games in a row. Trinity is an even 6-6-0 in its last 12 outings, out-scoring its opponents 19-7 in its six victories but being out-scored by a 29-8 margin in its six losses. The Bantams’ offense is seventh in the NESCAC at 2.72 goals per game, as scoring has been by committee this season with only three players registering more than seven goals. Forwards Matthew Crum (Clearwater, Fla.) and Ryan Masucci (Winthrop, Mass.) share the team lead in points with 16 each. Crum, a senior, has a team-high nine goals to go along with seven assists, while Masucci, a junior, is first among the Bantams in assists with 11 in addition to scoring five goals. Sophomore David Murison (Woodstock, Vt.) and freshman Wesley Vesprini (Lexington, Mass.) have split time between the pipes this season. Vesprini has had a solid first year at Trinity, appearing for the Bantams in their last five victories and owning an 8-3-1 overall record with a 2.25 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. The two have contributed to a Trinity defense that ranks fourth in goals allowed at 2.48 and first in the penalty kill at 87.0 percent.

Winners of four consecutive NESCAC crowns and seven of the last eight, second-seeded Middlebury (17-6-2, 12-5-2 NESCAC) comes into the weekend with a 20-1 all-time tournament record. Although Panther fans have become accustomed to late-season winning streaks that turn into championships, Middlebury’s route to the semifinals was a bit different in 2007-08. Riding a 10-game winning streak and sitting in first place in the conference standings at the end of January, Middlebury opened the month of February with an uncharacteristic 1-4-1 record before bouncing back to win its last three games, the most recent a 6-0 shutout of travel partner Williams in the quarterfinals Feb. 23. The Panthers’ offense is the best among this weekend’s semifinal participants, ranking second overall in the NESCAC with a 3.68 goals per game average. Defensively, Middlebury is tied for second in the conference with its semifinal opponent, Amherst, at 2.48 goals per game. Senior defenseman Tom Maldonado (Bronx, N.Y.) paces the Panthers on the ice in scoring with nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points, good enough for third among the league’s defenders and ninth overall. Classmate Mickey Gilchrist (Ottawa, Ontario) is second for Middlebury, tallying a team-leading 10 goals and adding 13 assists for 23 points. Senior Ross Cherry (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and junior Doug Raeder (Needham, Mass.) have shared time in net for the Panthers, with Cherry seeing a majority of the minutes. Cherry is third among conference goaltenders with a 2.24 goals against average, while Raeder is seventh at 2.80.

Fourth-seeded Amherst (14-8-3, 11-6-2 NESCAC) needed overtime to get by Connecticut College in the quarterfinals, as the Lord Jeffs built a 2-0 lead last Saturday only to witness the Camels tie the game late in the third. Amherst senior defender Mike McIntosh (Soldotna, Alaska) put his team in the conference semifinals for the second year in a row by potting the game-winner, delivering head coach Jack Arena his 300th career victory in the process. The Jeffs will meet the Panthers this Saturday for the second time in roughly two weeks after Middlebury claimed a 4-2 win on Feb. 22 in Middlebury, Vt. The only contest between the two in playoff history came in the 2001 finals, a 4-3 overtime victory for Middlebury. Defense has been key as of late for Amherst, allowing on average 2.48 goals per game (T-2nd NESCAC) and surrendering more than two goals only twice in the last month. It all starts in net for the Lord Jeffs, as the rookie tandem of Cole Anderson (Eckville, Alberta) and Jonathan Larose (Boyle, Alberta) have had a stellar first season. Both puckstoppers are among the league leaders in goals against average and save percentage this year, with Larose (8-1-1) holding a conference-best 2.13 goals against and .929 save percentage while Anderson (6-7-1) has a 2.42 goals against (5th) and a .924 save percentage (3rd). At the other end of the ice, the Amherst offense is averaging 3.20 goals per game, fourth among NESCAC squads. Junior forward Joel Covelli (Carlisle, Ontario) is ninth in the conference in scoring with 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points. Senior captain Kyle Schoppel (Cambridge, Ontario), who is currently in the midst of a four-game point streak and two shy of 100 for his career, is first for the Jeffs and third among all conference skaters in goals with 14, including five power-play markers and both of Amherst’s shorthanded goals this season.