WATERVILLE, Maine — The Middlebury College men’s hockey team opened its season this past weekend by splitting a pair of NESCAC road games in Maine.
Next up for the Panthers is the PrimeLink ShootOut, which is hosted by Norwich this year. The Panthers will take on Plattsburgh in Friday’s first round at 4 p.m.
On this past Friday the Panthers opened with a 4-1 win at Colby. The Panthers started the scoring with two goals late in the second period.
Owen Powers fired a loose puck in the slot through the legs of Colby goalie Andrew Tucci at 14:35, and Charlie Parsons doubled the lead two minutes later by one-timing a pass from Tyler Capello into an empty net after the Mule goalie turned the puck over in the corner.
In the final period, Parsons intercepted a clearing attempt and set up a Brendan Dawson goal, a shot from the high slot with 3:28 remaining.
Colby’s Nick O’Connor put in a rebound 39 seconds later, but the Panthers iced the victory when Emack Bentley scored an empty-netter with 2:09 to go for his first career goal.
Middlebury goalie Brian Ketchabaw earned his first collegiate win with 26 saves, while Tucci made 31 stops for the Mules. The Panthers held a 35-27 edge in shots on goal.
On Saturday host Bowdoin snapped a 3-3 tie with a third-period power-play goal to edge the Panthers, 4-3.
Bowdoin took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Christian Capello, on a Keenan Murray rebound, and Austin Ricci, from Cam Berube.
Late in the first period the Panthers made it 2-1 on a Bret Pastor rebound goal assisted by Jimmy McKee.
In the second period Polar Bear Bradley Ingersoll made it 3-1 on a 5-on-3 power play.
Two Zach Shapiro goals tied the score. Late in the second period Shapiro dove just outside the crease and hooked the puck into the net through a maze of players for his first collegiate tally.
Just under three minutes into the final period, Shapiro knocked home a Powers rebound.
At 6:40 of the third Graham Rutledge scored the game-winner with a one-timer from the right point set up by Cody Todesco.
Panther goalie Adam Wisco made 38 saves in his collegiate debut, while Eric Wurman had 28 stops for Bowdoin, including a pair of point-blank saves on shorthanded bids by the Panthers in the final minutes.