The Middlebury men's hockey team capped off the regular season with a 3-2 triumph at Hamilton (10-9-1, 9-8-1) on Saturday, extending the team's winning streak to four games. Each of those victories have come on the road. The Panthers (6-12-3, 5-11-3) return to the ice on Friday for a first-round game in the NESCAC Tournament against an opponent to be announced.

Middlebury claimed an early 1-0 lead at the 3:26 mark, after creating a turnover in the Continental zone. Antoine Belisle gained possession of the puck below the goal line and slid a nifty backhanded pass to the slot that Andrej Hromic redirected inside the right post. The Panthers doubled the advantage late in the frame, as Andrew Malatesta intercepted a Hamilton clearing attempt and wristed a shot from the blue line that eluded Continental goalie Sean Storr with 3:04 remaining before the intermission.

The visitors made it a 3-0 at the 4:06 mark of the second stanza, as Tucker Lamb found himself all alone in front of the net after a pass from Matt Myers. Lamb picked the top-right corner with a wrist shot for his first collegiate tally. Hamilton broke through for a power-play marker with 5:08 left in the period, as Fred Allaire won a faceoff back to James Philpott, whose shot from the left point made it a 3-1 contest.

The Continentals almost closed to within a goal just under six minutes into the final period, as Matt Gellerman was denied on the rush by Panther goalie Jake Horoho and Grisha Gotovets misfired on the rebound. On the same shift, Gotovets picked up a loose puck in the Middlebury end of the ice, setting up Scott McKenzie for a one-timer in the slot to cut the margin to 3-2 with 13:09 on the clock.  

The Panthers passed one final test, killing off a Hamilton power play with 2:27 left to play. Horoho denied Allaire on a rising shot and then kicked out a bid from Gellerman before the first whistle on the advantage. After a timeout, Horoho snared a shot by Philpott from the point, securing the 3-2 victory.

Horoho turned aside 29-31 shots for the Panthers, while Storr had 25 saves for the Continentals.