The Middlebury men's ice hockey team trailed 3-0 in the opening period, and was unable to overcome the deficit as Hamilton triumphed 5-1.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Continentals wasted little time out of the gates, scoring with just 1:31 expired. Luke Tchor received a pass from Ben Zimmerman on the left dot and tucked the puck under the crossbar for the 1-0 edge.
• Hamilton doubled its advantage at the 11:41 mark when Justin Biraben tipped in an initial blast by Devon de Vries.
• The Continentals took a 3-0 lead with 17:58 elapsed. Zimmerman stole the puck from a Panther, and skated end to end for the short-handed tally. 
• Middlebury cut the deficit to 3-1 less than a minute later when Jin Lee deked a defender and snuck the puck past goalie Charlie Archer.
• With exactly four minutes gone in the middle frame, Hamilton struck again. James Philpott sent a pass across the slot, before Max Bulawka one-timed the puck into the back of the net for the 4-1 advantage.
• The Panthers had a good opportunity to score with 3:27 left in the second period, but Matt Myers' spin-around attempt from between the circles was snared by the glove of Archer.
• Middlebury came out of the intermission firing, taking four shots in the opening two minutes. 
• The Panthers controlled most of the play during the third stanza, with their best chance coming with 12:24 left in the game. Andrew Seaman rifled a shot from the right dot that sent Archer sprawling, but Archer was able to come up with the puck.
• Hamilton added its fifth tally at the 15:59 mark when Bulawka one-timed a feed from de Vries for the 5-1 final.

NOTES

• The programs met for the 137th time with Middlebury holding a 91-37-8 advantage in a series that dates back to 1924.

The Panthers close out first-semester action on Saturday, hosting Amherst at 3:00 p.m.