The Middlebury men's ice hockey team closed its regular season on Saturday with a 2-1 overtime victory at second-ranked Hamilton.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Continentals fired the first shot on target with 1:56 elapsed in the opening period. Ben Zimmerman hustled down the left side of the ice and fired toward the left post. Panther goalie Andrew Heinze read the chance and posted the save.
• Caden Morgan looked to get the Panthers on the board at the 6:02 mark, but his shot from the top of the faceoff circle ricocheted off netminder Askel Reid's chest. 
• With 8:06 expired, Jackson Krock hustled into the zone and flipped a shot that Heinze denied with his blocker.
• Middlebury turned up the pressure in the waning seconds of the first stanza. Jack Silverman collected the puck with 45 seconds left at the top of the zone and fired a riser that deflected off Reid's stick and over the crossbar. Dante Palombo had a backhanded bid on the doorstep with 45 ticks expired in the second frame that Reid denied with his pads.
• Hamilton looked to jump ahead at the 6:41 mark. Noah Leibl skated into the zone and ripped a one-timer, but Heinze smothered the bid.
• Middlebury broke the seal on the power play with 9:59 remaining in the second period. Jackson Morehouse settled a bouncing puck and poked the puck into the right side of the net for a 1-0 edge.
• The Continentals nearly tallied the equalizer with 2:28 remaining. Max Bulawka ripped a bid from the circle that trickled between Heinze's pads. The netminder grabbed the save to keep the one-goal advantage.
• Hamilton peppered Heinze with three shots over 46 seconds beginning at the 6:13 mark of the third period, but the goalie stonewalled each chance.
• Middlebury matched with shots by Dimitri Tzaferis (7:35), John Halverson (9:08) and Tyler Wishart (9:12) but Reid stood his ground to make each stop.
• The Continentals ramped up the pressure with five minutes to go, as John Wojciechowski and Clarence Beltz had point-blank chances. Heinze stood tall and denied the pair.
• Hamilton pulled Reid and knotted the contest with 1:24 left in regulation. Bulawka settled a puck between the circles and tucked his chance inside the right post.
• The Panthers had the final chance of regulation with 10 seconds remaining, but Silverman's chance was stonewalled, sending the contest to an extra session.
• Middlebury tallied the game-winner with 2:21 elapsed in overtime. Silverman collected the puck at the blue line and stopped on a dime to shake his defender. The forward wasted no time, firing a cross-ice pass for a one-timer off the stick of Morgan that snuck past a sprawled-out Reid to grab the 2-1 win.

NOTES

• Morgan tallied his first goal as a Panther in Saturday's victory.
• Heinze collected more than 30 saves for the eighth time this winter, stopping 38 of 39 shots.
• The Panthers earned their 93rd win in the series against Hamilton.

Middlebury awaits its seeding for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament to be announced in the coming days.