WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass - Looking to rebound following
yesterday’s loss to Hobart College, the Williams College
men’s hockey team came out swarming against Framingham State
- netting two goals in the games first 2: 58 and three goals in the
first period en route to a 6-3 victory Sunday. The win marks the
first victory for the Ephs since the holiday break and ends a two
game slide in which they were outscored 14-2.
The first period was all Williams from the games first seconds as
Matt Draheim kicked things off with a glove side winner from ten
feet out only :41 seconds in. Zach Miller quickly followed suit
after converting a flurry of passes only 2:17 later, making the
score 2-0.
Williams would create several great scoring opportunities and a
few very near misses throughout the period, but didn’t
convert again until the 13:10 mark when Steve Bruch fired in a
Brandon Jackmuff deflection. The Ephs produced an impressive 19
shots on goal in the first period (they tallied 25 total shots
against Hobart), while simultaneously limiting the Rams to only 3
shots. The period would end with Williams holding a decisive
3-0 advantage, and the momentum.
The Ephs started the second period right where they left off,
specifically utilizing great puck movement on offense to catch the
Ram defense out of position. However, the Rams switched to a more
aggressive style wherein there forwards stayed deep in the Eph zone
forcing the Williams defense to stretch. This strategy was
effective as Ram forwards began to consistently find themselves in
one-on-ones and two-on-twos in front of the Williams net.
These situations ultimately led to two mid-period goals for the
Rams, first 5:28 in when Jeremy Schmidt exploited the power play
and fired in a slop shot from pointblank range, and again 3:03
later when Nicholas Glum beat Eph goaltender Rick Redmond (18
saves) one-on-one with a high glove side laser.
The Ephs were able to restore part of the advantage before the
period was out when Will Bruce converted a Steve Bruch pass with
2:48 remaining in the period. Despite the Rams goal advantage for
the period, the Ephs controlled play overall and recorded a 17 to 7
shot advantage.
The Ephs began the third period in dominating fashion, as
they controlled possession and forced play towards the Framingham
net, however the Rams refused to go quietly and exploited the Ephs
offensive pressure with a transition one-one-one goal from Jason
Akstin 8:03 into the final period. But the Ephs quickly erased the
Rams progress with a goal of their own 1:28 later when Ben Fields
took a Ryan Young pass and beat the goalie high stick side.
Alex Smigelski would add an insurance goal with less than four
minutes remaining, restoring the Ephs largest advantage at three
goals. The goal brought the score to 6-3 where it remain for the
remainder of the game. The Ephs finished with a season high 59
shots on goal, while limiting the Rams to 21 shots.
“The season is still young and we have a long way to
go.” remarked Eph coach Bill Kangas, “We just have to
stay hungry and continue to build on success and today was
definitely a step in the right direction.”
The Ephs next face Skidmore on January 11th at 7:00 PM.
