The Middlebury men's ice hockey team battled Colby to a 0-0 draw to open the season on Friday night. Goalie Jake Horoho was sensational, stopping all 24 shots faced during the contest. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Mules had a great chance to score with 11:24 expired in the opening period. Connor Gallagher skated into the zone with a head full of steam, flipped the puck onto his forehand and fired a shot from the left dot that Horoho thwarted. 
• A little over a minute later, Middlebury looked to get on the scoreboard. Dante Palombo weaved around a pair of Colby defenders and flicked a shot from the slot on goal, but netminder Andy Beran turned the bid away with his blocker. 
• The Mules had a flurry of shots in the final minute, but a strong Panther defense locked down as the teams skated into the break knotted at 0-0.
• Nearly three minutes into the middle frame, Colby was charged with a five-minute major. During the span, Middlebury had two great chances to score. The first came with 6:42 elapsed but an initial bid by Paddy Mangan was denied, and Bobby May's one-time backhanded chip was also turned away by Beran. With just six seconds left on the power play, Jin Lee rifled a shot that was snared by the glove of Beran to kill off the penalty.
• The Mules nearly scored with 10:31 showing on the clock. Jake MacDonald and Henry Molson barreled into the offensive zone for a two-on-one rush, with MacDonald sending a cross-ice pass to Molson on the right faceoff circle. Molson skated in and rifled a shot from the doorstep that Horoho thwarted with his blocker.
• The best opportunity so far in the game came with just under four minutes left in the stanza. Colby's MacDonald again found himself on the odd-man rush this time with Jayden Grier and the pair tried for a nice give-and-go. Grier attempted to deek Horoho with his backhand, but the Panther had a phenomenal sprawling save to deny the chance. 
• With 7:05 off the clock in the third period, Nick Stapleton took advantage of a Middlebury turnover, and fired a point-blank attempt on goal, but Horoho slid out his right pad to just deny the bid.
• Another quality change by the Mules came at the 10:08 mark, but Horoho's butterfly save robbed Clay Korpi of a marker. 
• The final good chance of regulation came with 7:29 remaining when the Panthers rushed into the offensive zone three-on-one, causing a scramble in the crease, but Beran was able to pin the puck under his leg on the left pipe. 
• The best opportunity to break the scoreless draw came at the 1:47 mark of the overtime session. Palombo had a breakaway attempt that sent Beran sprawling across the goal mouth, just getting his stick on the puck before it crossed the line as the teams ended in a 0-0 tie. 

NOTES

• The programs met for the 88th time, with Middlebury owning a 58-26-4 record in the series.

The Panthers continue their road weekend on Saturday, traveling to Bowdoin for a 3:00 p.m. puck drop.