The Middlebury men's hockey team battled Williams to a scoreless tie on Friday, but the Ephs scored twice in the shootout in the first game of a home-and-home series.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The hosts looked to jump on the scoreboard 38 seconds into the opening period when Brady Welsch ripped a wrister through traffic that goalie Andrew Heinze saved with his glove.
• Skating with an extra player three minutes later, the Panthers had their best scoring chance. Reece Brednich found space outside the crease and fired back-to-back bids that were denied by the pads of netminder Cal Sandquist.
• The Ephs retrieved the puck in their defensive zone, racing up the ice with 13:28 expired before Jake McManus rifled a shot that Heinze snagged.
• Middlebury had another quality chance with 3:00 left in the frame, but a one-timer by Jackson Morehouse was thwarted by Welsch to keep the contest scoreless.
• Williams had a great chance 2:17 into the middle stanza. Jared Lambright skated onto a pass between the circles before firing a bid that Heinze saved with his shoulder.
• The Panthers ripped off a trio of shots with 8:30 elapsed with their best opportunity coming on a wraparound chance from Tucker Lamb that was saved by Sandquist's skate.
• Ryan Pineault laced a shot through traffic from the blueline at the 5:51 mark that Sandquist saved using his blocker.
• The Ephs produced a solid opportunity two minutes later. Following a faceoff win, a shot from inside the left circle by Owen Stadheim was read by Heinze, who snared it with his glove.
• In the second minute of the third period, the Panthers peppered Sandquist with four shots. The best chance came when Matt Myers collected a loose puck, rifling a bid from the right circle that the Eph goalie denied.
• Middlebury cycled the puck around six minutes later before a wrister from the point by Jake Oblak was saved by Sandquist's glove with 7:44 left in regulation.
• Williams looked for the late tally with 36 seconds remaining, but a rising bid from William Yee was denied by Heinze to send the contest to overtime.
• Skating 3-on-3 in the extra frame, the Panthers had a quality chance. Jin Lee worked through traffic and wristed a shot that wrister was gloved by Sandquist with 2:03 showing on the clock. 
• The Ephs produced their best opportunity with 36 seconds left in the extra session.  Grant Fuchsen found space on the right circle, but his knuckling attempt was denied by the right pad of Heinze to send the game to a shootout.
• In the best-of-three format, Williams' Nicholas Rashkovsky and Myers found the back of the net. Heinze poked away an attempt by Welsch before Sandquist denied a shot to send it to a third round knotted at 1-1. Conner Fitzpatrick snuck the puck inside the left post before the Eph goalie poked away the puck for the final 2-1 decision.

NOTES

• Heinze finished with 31 saves, marking the second time in the last three games and the sixth overall with 30 or more stops. 
• The programs square off for the 143rd time in the home-and-home series with Middlebury holding an 81-50-12 advantage in the series that began in 1928.

The teams will face off again on Saturday with puck drop scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Chip Kenyon '85 Arena.