The Middlebury men's ice hockey team concluded first-semester action on Saturday, falling 6-0 at Hamilton.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Continentals had their first scoring chance 2:44 into the opening period, but the blocker of goalie Andrew Heinze saved a bid from the point by James Philpott.
• Middlebury produced an opportunity nearly two minutes later following a Hamilton turnover. Reece Brednich skated onto a loose puck in the neutral zone, firing a wrister that Charlie Archer saved with his right pad.
• The hosts continued to cycle the puck in the zone, but Heinze denied quick close-range shots by Vincent Gould and Jacob Ierfino with just over nine minutes elapsed.
• Skating between the circles, a knuckling shot from Dante Palombo was saved the right skate of Archer at 12:48.
• Hamilton found the back of the net with 42.3 seconds remaining in the stanza. Ierfino gathered a bouncing puck just outside the crease, muscling a shot inside the left post past a sprawling Heinze for a 1-0 lead.
• With the Continentals on the power play early in the second stanza, Matt Myers skated shorthanded onto a loose puck in the neutral zone and rifled a shot that was saved by the mask of Archer. The rebound was gathered by Jack Silverman, whose bid was denied on the right post by Archer with 2:05 elapsed.
• Hamilton broke the game open with three goals in a span of 2:23 with a pair coming with an extra skater. Alex Danis started the surge when he tipped in a shot from the left point for a 2-0 edge on the power play, while Max Bulawka blasted a shot through traffic 1:04 later with the additional skater. A tip-in from just outside the crease by Luke Tchor on the left post gave the hosts a 4-0 advantage at 16:46.
• Middlebury looked to get on the board 8:35 into the final period. The Panthers skated three-on-two into the zone, but back-to-back shots by Brednich and Jackson Morehouse were thwarted by Archer.
• The Continentals added an even-strength goal from Grisha Gotovets and a power-play tally from Ryan Sordillo in the closing minutes for the final 6-0 score.

NOTES

• Jin Lee won a game-high seven faceoffs, while Brednich claimed five.
• The programs squared off for the 139th meeting overall with the Panthers holding a 91-39-8 mark with the first game coming in 1924.

Middlebury has a break from competition for final exams and the holidays before returning to action on January 4 against SUNY Canton at 7:30 p.m. The contest is part of the Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational hosted by Nichols.