The Middlebury men's ice hockey team stormed back from a three-goal deficit in the third period of Saturday's contest but ultimately fell 3-2 against Colby.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Mules struck just 11 seconds into the contest. Following a scrum on the opening faceoff, Wyatt Schmidek secured the loose puck and found Will Soloway for a top-shelf finish and 1-0 advantage.
• During a Colby power play with 18:03 left in the session, Bobby Landry raced forward on the ensuing faceoff to earn a one-on-one chance with Middlebury goalie Conor Sullivan. The Panther cut off the angle and denied the lone Mule opportunity in the power play with a pad save.
• Middlebury carved out a solid chance with 6:51 elapsed. Jackson Morehouse secured a loose puck in the Colby defensive zone and eyed the lower-right corner, but Mule goalie Cooper Rautenstrauch slid to his right and stuffed the bid.
• The hosts extended their advantage at the 11:53 mark. Bobby Landry and Riley Rosenthal escorted the puck from end-to-end, finding Colby Browne for a wrap-around finish inside the left post to lead 2-0.
• Middlebury looked to capitalize on its first power play of the evening, forcing three saves from Rautenstrauch. The top opportunity saw Revy Mack eye the five-hole with 14:37 elapsed, but the Mule goalie gloved the chance to outlast the penalty.
• Sullivan stood on his head in the final four minutes of the initial stanza, making four saves to maintain the two-goal margin.
• John Halverson manufactured two quick bids to begin the second session, the latter of which sailed by a defender and clipped the pipe just 2:52 into the session.
• Middlebury tallied the final nine shots on goal in the second session, including six in 2:48 of action. Rautenstrauch denied each chance to send the bout to the final period with a 2-0 score.
• Jayden Grier netted the third Colby goal with 8:24 expired in the final frame, dislodging the puck from a pair of Panthers on the left boards and tapping a shot into the right side of the net.
• Middlebury broke through just over a minute later following a Mule penalty. Revy Mack found Jack Silverman in front of the goal, whose shot was deflected out to Luc Malkhassian for a flick into the right side of the net, cutting the margin to 3-1.
• Halverson added to the pressure with 7:15 to play, cashing in feeds from May and Jake Stevens with a low-right deposit on the edge of the crease to trim the deficit to 3-2.
• Middlebury had a power play chance in the final three minutes, but Colby did not surrender a shot on goal to secure the one-goal triumph.

NOTES

• Six Panthers logged their first point of the new campaign.
• Conor Sullivan turned away 22 Mule bids in his first start of the season.
• The NESCAC foes squared off for the 92nd time with the Panthers owning a 61-27-4 edge.

The Panthers make their home debut on Friday, welcoming Tufts to Chip Kenyon '85 Arena at 7:00 p.m. for Charterhouse Coalition Night.