Hamilton College’s Cade Groton ’23 led the offense with a goal and an assist, and the Continentals posted a 3-1 NESCAC win against the Middlebury College Panthers at Hamilton’s Russell Sage Rink on Friday evening.
How It Happened
The Continentals took a 1-0 lead with 7:34 remaining in the opening period. Grisha Gotovets ’25 sent a pass from above the right faceoff circle to Sam MacBean ’23, who fired a shot from the top of the slot. Groton found the rebound just outside the crease and snuck the puck past Middlebury’s Jake Horoho. Hamilton added to its lead 1:22 later. Jackson Krock ’26 worked the puck around the boards to Sean Thomson ’23 and he unleashed a hard wrist shot from the left faceoff circle. Sean McAvoy ’23 tipped it in for a two-goal cushion. The Panthers had a great scoring chance at the start of the second period. Antoine Belisle skated in one-on-one with Charlie Archer ’25 but Archer made the clutch save. Middlebury cut its deficit in half on a power-play goal with 61 seconds remaining in the second. The Panthers won the faceoff and Chris Garbe slipped it into the net from the circle. Hamilton responded just 50 seconds into the final period. The men in white scrambled behind the net to gain possession and Nick Hawkins ’23 picked up the insurance goal on passes from Carson Hall ’26 and Groton. Hamilton held a 26-23 shot advantage and went 0-for-3 on the power play. Middlebury posted a 34-27 edge in faceoffs and was 1-for-2 on the power play.
Notes
Hamilton improved to 4-3-0 (2-2 NESCAC) on the season. Middlebury (1-6-0, 1-3 NESCAC) dropped its second straight contest. Groton netted his fourth goal of the season and the 10th of his career. He also added his first assist and is second in points with five. McAvoy scored his first goal this season and the third of his career. Hawkins collected his first goal this season and the eighth of his career. MacBean and Thomson chipped in their first assists this season while Hall tallied his second. Gotovets and Krock picked up their fourth assists this season. Archer made 14 of his 22 saves in the third period and improved to 3-1 in the net. He owns a 1.51 goals against average and .946 save percentage. Garbe registered his second goal of the season for Middlebury. Horoho tallied 23 saves for the Panthers.
Next Game
Hamilton will return to Russell Sage Rink for another NESCAC matchup against Williams College (3-4-0, 2-3) on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.
