PANTHER SENIOR GOALIE Jake Horoho covers up a rebound during Saturday’s home gave vs. Tufts. Middlebury center Jin Lee defends Jumbo forward Marcus Sang on the play.
Independent photo/Steve James

MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s hockey team split a pair of hard-fought games in Kenyon Arena this past weekend, claiming their home opener on Friday night by coming back to defeat Connecticut College before Tufts pulled away late on Saturday to prevail, 4-1.

The Panthers are 1-3-2, 1-2-1 in NESCAC play, heading into their final two first-semester games this weekend, both at home vs. league foes. Hamilton will visit at 7 p.m. on Friday and Amherst on Saturday at 3 p.m.

In the early going this winter the Panthers appear to be showing signs of bouncing back from a disappointing 5-18-1 season a year ago. Under first-year Interim Head Coach Jack Ceglarski, the Panthers have been competitive in every one of their outings except one, that a first-round loss to a ranked Norwich squad on Nov. 24. That game was played in Plattsburgh in the LayerEight Shootout.

Ceglarski said he was happy with the efforts by his young team — only five seniors skated on Saturday — against Conn College and Tufts.

“It was a good weekend, I thought. On Friday obviously I think there were a little bit of nerves in the first period, but I thought we battled back,” Ceglarski said. “That’s a big thing for us, just staying with it and really battling.”

TUFTS GOALIE PEYTON Durand and defender Chris Throndson team up to deny a scoring bid by Panther senior Andrej Hromic during the Jumbos’ win on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

The players’ enthusiasm and work ethic has been a factor in their respectable play, he said, while there remains a learning curve with a combined 10 freshmen and sophomores playing major roles.

“The guys are having fun. That’s a huge thing. It all starts in practice. We’ve got to have fun practices. That carries onto the ice in the games,” Ceglarski said. “I think we’re still a young and immature team in a way, where we have to learn when it’s not just fun, and we have to really dial in and get ready for games. I think that shows in how we start some games.”

To iron out some of the remaining wrinkles the Panthers will have to strike the right balance of fun and focus, he said.

“Again, it starts in practice,” Ceglarski said. “If you don’t practice with high intensity it doesn’t carry into the game.”

If the program is to take a step forward this season, those seniors, notably senior goalie Jake Horoho, who Ceglarski said “keeps us in games,” should help with that element by providing leadership as well as production.

“Our senior class has been through a lot. They’re good kids. They’re good kids off the ice,” he said. “We need to rely on them, and we need the younger kids to step up as well. It’s not just the seniors. It’s not just the freshmen. We need all four classes to buy in.”

PANTHERS, 3-2

On Friday, the Panthers rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit to win their home opener, 3-2, over Connecticut.

The Camels got on the scoreboard just 34 seconds into the first period, when Kareem Alazem ripped a shot home from the right point after a Panther miscue.

PANTHER FRESHMAN DANTE Palumbo skates happily away from the Tufts goal, into which he has just deposited a game-tying score in Saturday’s first period. Tufts, however, went on to win.
Independent photo/Steve James

Middlebury’s best chance in the opening period came midway, but Camel goalie Sean Dynan knocked away a bid by Michael Fairfax. With  2:12 remaining in the period, Camel Rocco Testa-Basi hit a pipe.

Camel Cole Eichler made no such mistake 52 seconds later, picking up a turnover on his own blue line, skating in and lifting a shot into the top left corner.

The Panthers began to press in the second period. About six minutes in, Dynan got his right pad to deny a Bobby May shot that had deflected off a defender.

Middlebury broke through with two goals in the period’s final 2:15 to tie the game. The first came when Revy Mack collected his own rebound on the doorstep and flipped in a backhander. With 0.3 seconds remaining Andrej Hromic, stationed between the circles, redirected home Jake Oblak’s pass from the point. It was Hromic’s third goal in four games.

The Camels attacked 3:30 into the third period, but Horoho saved back-to-back shots from Testa-Basi and Alazem.

Panther Nolan Moore just over a minute later muscled his way to the front of the net, but Dynan denied his wrister with the top of his glove.

The Panthers got the game-winner from Matt Myers at 12:01. Mack found Myers cutting between the circles, and Myers blasted a left-handed shot just inside the right post. Mack’s goal and assist were his first career points.

Horoho finished with 24 saves, and Dynan made 20.

Ceglarski noted it was the second time this season the Panthers have bounced back from a two-goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead, although the first time it was at Bowdoin, and the Polar Bears countered to win in overtime, 4-3.

TUFTS, 4-1

On Saturday, Tufts (2-4-1, 2-2 NESCAC) defeated the Panthers by the somewhat misleading final of 4-1. The game was competitive most of the way, with the score 2-1 until the Jumbos tallied twice in the final 14:14, once on an empty net, to put the game away.

Tufts took a 1-0 lead 3:10 after the puck dropped, scoring on a power play after a probably ill-advised Panther roughing penalty. Harrison Bazianos one-timed a point-blank shot into the lower right corner after taking Cole Dubicki’s behind-the-net pass from the left side.

MIDDLEBURY SENIOR GOALIE Jake Horoho holds the near post against Tufts forward Tyler Sedlak for one of his 29 saves during Saturday’s game in Kenyon Arena.
Independent photo/Steve James

A minute later Jumbo goalie Peyton Durand did well to blocker away Panther defender John Burdett’s slapper through traffic from the right point. Seven minutes in Horoho snatched Matt Resnick’s bullet from the left circle.

The Panthers equalized with 8:24 left in the period on freshman Dante Palumbo’s strong solo effort, his first career goal. Linemate Myers picked off a Jumbo pass at center ice and sent Palumbo into the left side of the Tufts zone. Palumbo zipped around the lone defender before deking Durand and sliding the puck inside the left post.

Both teams had one more golden chance in the first period. Shortly after Palumbo scored, Horoho robbed Jacol Iida after the Jumbo found a loose puck in the crease, and Durand denied a Hromic backhander from the slot with about five minutes to go. The Panthers also smartly killed off a penalty.

The Jumbos came out strong in the second period. In the first minute Horoho stopped Iida on a partial breakaway as the Jumbo collided with the goalie in the crease. At 3:38 Tufts took the lead: Jack Mulvihill tipped in Dubicki’s shot from the right point.

Ninety seconds later Resnick hit the left post with a backhander from the left side, and shortly after that Horoho robbed Mulvihill on a one-timer from the slot.

MIDDLEBURY JUNIOR MATT Myers circles in the offensive zone and looks to make a play during the Panther men’s hockey team’s Saturday home game vs Tufts.
Independent photo/Steve James

The Panthers gained some traction later the period with the help of a power play. The best chance came when Durand stopped a Moore blast from just inside the blue line, and rebound skittered along the goal line, but a defender cleared the puck away.

In the final period, the Panthers’ best chance to knot the game came with 2:42 expired. Jin Lee and Hromic went in two on one, but Durand sprawled to thwart Hromic’s one-time bid from close range.

The Jumbos made it to 3-1 at 14:14, when Resnick shoveled in the rebound of a Tyler Sedlak shot.

A Panther penalty with 3:28 remaining hurt their comeback chances, and Dubicki capped his strong game with an empty-netter after the penalty expired.

Horoho finished with 29 saves, and Durand made 23 for the Jumbos.